This paper examines how the guiding principle of human-centered AI can be reflected in the social acceptance of self-driving cars in relation to the reduction in the number of traffic accidents, which has been cited as a benefit of self-driving car development. First, we point out the discrepancy between the benefits of automated vehicle development and social implementation and the current state of technological development. Second, recent research trends related to the social acceptance of automated vehicles will be described, and based on this, third, the importance of turning our attention from the dilemma problem to social needs will be discussed. Fourth, we will address the position of the benefit of reducing the number of traffic accidents against people in the social needs of automated vehicles. Although the reduction in the number of traffic accidents is often cited as the first benefit of introducing automated vehicles to society, this section discusses how this benefit is positioned in terms of actual technological development, and points out that technological development to reduce the number of traffic accidents is not necessarily being promoted. Fifth, the importance of reducing the number of traffic accidents involving bodily injury is discussed, and the importance of paying attention to ethical and social acceptability in this regard. Sixth, we will discuss the trends revealed by the statistics of traffic accidents in Japan. Seventh, the number of traffic accidents involving vulnerable road users will be discussed, and the characteristics of accidents resulting in death or serious injury of vulnerable road users will be examined by type of traffic accident. The importance of prioritizing the development of automated driving technology to reduce the number of traffic accidents involving vulnerable road users will be discussed.

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The correlation between the current interrupted transient response and the cycle deterioration of a commercially available lithium-ion secondary battery have been analyzed by applying a two-stage distributed constant circuit. It was better to take cycle deterioration by elapsed time rather than the charge/discharge cycles. The capacity deterioration rate depends on the upper limit of SOC. The capacity deterioration rate of SOC = 0-70 % and 0-90 % was similar but increased at SOC = 0-100 %. In the transient response analysis, the iR jump and the overvoltage at the composite electrode was similar for SOC = 50 % charge, 100 % charge, and 50 % discharge, but the iR jump at SOC = 0 % discharge was 1.7 times larger, and the overvoltage of the composite electrode was about 6 times larger. Contrary to the hypothesis that the overvoltage at both of the composite electrode and of iR jump increases with the capacity deterioration, only the conductance as the reciprocal of the iR jump showed good linear correlation to deterioration. The conductance of iR jump became the half of the initial value, the capacity loss became 25 %. On the other hand, there was no correlation with the overvoltage and conductance of the composite electrode. From these results, it was concluded that it was recommended to adopt the conductance of iR jump as the control item of BMS.

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Sargassum macrocarpum is a perennial brown macroalga that forms the most important portion of seaweed beds with sufficient biomass. Algae have been proven to be beneficial functional food and pharmaceutical material. There have been a few reports on the bioactivity of algal components. The algal population discovered growing naturally on the coast of Nishinoshima town, Shimane Prefecture, Japan was collected as experimental samples. They were collected from the sea at depths of 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25-m. In this study, an 80% methanol extract of the alga was prepared. Its bioactivity or an anti-allergic effect was demonstrated by reducing ear swelling in Institute of Cancer Research mice, suppressing degranulation in rat basophile leukemia-2H3 cells without inducing cell death, and inhibiting inflammatory-related enzymatic activities (phospholipase A2, lipoxygenase, cyclooxygenase-2, and hyaluronidase). Thus, S. macrocarpum could be utilized as healthy functional food and pharmaceutical material.

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The reserve actuators used in the optimization calculation of the musculoskeletal software OpenSim apply reserve torques to the rotational movement of each joint. In this study, we verify range of reserve actuator settings that can appropriately estimate muscle forces. Seven healthy adult men walk during the experiment. The results of the estimated lower limb muscle forces during walking and the reserve torques indicate that the biarticular muscles, including rectus femoris and biceps femoris long head, and the monoarticular muscles which have many muscle attachment points, including gluteus maximus and psoas muscles, are not affected by the reserve actuators. While soleus muscle, gastrocnemius muscle, tibialis anterior muscle, and biceps femoris short head, which have few muscle attachment points are easily affected by the reserve actuators.

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One of the factors for lithium-ion battery degradation is the disruption of electron paths inside electrodes, due to the expansion and contraction of the active material caused by charging and discharging. High-resolution Crystal Structure Analysis using SPring-8 synchrotron radiation has clarified the relationship between the state of charge (S.O.C.) and the expansion and contraction of the active material. As a result, it was found that the expansion and contraction of the lithium-rich ternary active material (NMC) is not monotonous with respect to the S.O.C.s.

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Fixed asset tax is assessed based on land use and is an essential financial resource for Japanese municipalities. Therefore, the evaluation of fixed asset tax is important for local governments. A real estate appraiser uses the road price index to determine the fixed asset tax on land; therefore, the appropriate road price should be specified. The local government typically decides the road price based on expert experience and knowledge. Hence, there is need for an objective and transparent basis for road price decisions, and municipal officials currently devote considerable time and effort to surveys for appropriate evaluation. In this study, large-scale data, such as public and private sector data, with machine learning, are utilized to construct a road price estimation system under an industry–government–academia collaboration. An ensemble model utilizing a machine-learning algorithm was applied, i.e., the gradient boosting decision tree, to learn previous road price data and the various factors that affect road prices. In addition, via visualization, the importance of each element that affects road prices was quantified, thereby enabling the determination of the effect of each element or feature objectively. Our proposed system can be used to develop a road price estimation model and predict road prices for new roads. Its usage is aimed at promoting data utilization in local governments to reduce manual labor as well as to improve efficiency and transparency in formulating road prices. Furthermore, it creates new possibilities for the activation and utilization of public and private sector data, such as fixed asset data.

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Recently, various issues in self-propelled multi-storey car parks are becoming social concerns: accidents thefts, difficulty in finding a parking space, limited space for getting in/out of cars, and less friendly environment for novice/elderly users. These issues can be solved by introducing a valet parking system where car parking staff receives a car key from a user and drive the car to the parking space. However, the operator of the parking system needs to employ these staff, which impacts negatively financially. This paper aims to solve these conflicting demands by proposing an automated valet parking system by incorporating automatic pallets, which are mobile parking spaces. An automatic pallet is an equipment dedicated specifically for transferring a car: it enables automatic entrance and exit procedures. The proposed system requires no human intervention and enables complete automated parking procedures.

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The starting material was melted at 1,100-1,300 °C in an air atmosphere and then naturally cooled, and Ca(La1-xDyx)B7O13 (x = 0.01-0.30), MII(La0.94Dy0.06)B7O13 (MII: Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba), Ca(REIII0.94Dy0.06)B7O13 (REIII: La, Gd, Y) and Ca(La0.94Dy0.06)ByO13 glasses were produced. Fluorescence peaks were observed at 483 nm (4F9/2 → 6H15/2) and 574 nm (4F9/2 → 6H13/2) at an excitation wavelength of 351 nm for all glasses. The fluorescence peak intensity at 483 nm and 574 nm of Ca(La1-xDyx)B7O13 glass increased with increasing Dy content at x = 0.01 to 0.06. On the other hand, it decreased at x = 0.06 or more, confirming the concentration quenching. The chromaticity coordinate at x = 0.06 was (0.295, 0.346). In the MII(La0.94Dy0.06)B7O13 glass, the fluorescence intensity of Mg was slightly stronger than that of Ca, Sr and Ba. Moreover, in Ca(La0.94Dy0.06)ByO13 glasses, the intensity at y = 3-6 was slightly stronger than that at y = 7. It is considered that the low symmetry around Dy3+ has an effect.

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Novel main-chain liquid crystal polyurethanes were synthesized by the polyaddition of an asymmetric mesogenic diol and diisocyanates. The asymmetric mesogenic diol (MD62), 1-hydroxy-6-(4-(4-(2-(hydroxy)ethyl)phenylazo)phenoxy)hexane, was synthesized by a combination of an azo coupling method and the Williamson ether synthesis. Tolylene-2,4-diisocyanate (TDI), 1,3-bis(isocyanatomethyl)cyclohexane (13CH), 1,3-bis(isocyanatomethyl)benzene (13X) and 1,6-diisocyanatohexane (16H) were used as diisocyanates. The liquid crystalline polyurethane (PU62-TDI) obtained from MD62 and TDI formed a nematic phase on heating and cooling processes. PU62-TDI exhibited glass-nematic and nematic-isotropic phase transition. The liquid crystalline polyurethane (PU62-13CH) synthesized from 13CH instead of TDI also formed the nematic phase and revealed the same phase behavior. By a variable-temperature IR spectroscopy, hydrogen bonds between the urethane units are linked to the phase transitions of the liquid crystalline polyurethane.

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Starting materials of ZrO2 – 0 ppm-P, 140 ppm-P and 600 ppm-P were prepared using high-purity ZrO2 and NH4H2PO4. Using Y2O3 as a stabilizer, (ZrO2)0.95(Y2O3)0.05 ceramics were fabricated at a sintering temperature of 1400-1600 ℃. The crystal phase consisted of tetragonal and cubic systems. There was no significant difference in conductivity among the ceramics sintered above 1500℃. In the ceramics sintered at 1400 ℃, the conductivity increased in the order of ZrO2 – 0 ppm-P, ZrO2 – 140 ppm-P, ZrO2 – 600 ppm-P. In ceramics sintered at 1450 ℃, ZrO2 – 600 ppm-P showed higher conductivity than ZrO2 – 0 ppm-P and ZrO2 – 140 ppm-P. In the Nyquist plot of ceramics sintered at 1450 ℃, the circular arc caused by the grain boundary resistance component decreased in the order of ZrO2 – 0 ppm-P, ZrO2 – 140 ppm-P, ZrO2 – 600 ppm-P. It is considered that as the P content in the ZrO2 raw material increased, the ceramics were easily sintered and the pores decreased. In the thermal shock resistance test, cracks were confirmed in all ceramics sintered at 1450°C or higher. In ceramics sintered at 1400℃, ZrO2 – 0 ppm-P and ZrO2 – 140 ppm-P had high thermal shock resistance and were almost equivalent. Therefore, ceramics fabricated from ZrO2 – 140 ppm-P at 1400 ℃ were excellent in both ionic conductivity and thermal shock resistance.

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