Biotransformation of isoflavones by Aspergillus niger as biocatalyst

Biotransformation of the isoflavones, 6,7,4′‐trimethoxyisoflavone ( 1 ) and 5,7,4′‐trimethoxyisoflavone ( 2 ) by Aspergillus niger was investigated. Compound 1 was transformed to 4′‐hydroxy‐6,7‐dimethoxyisoflavone ( 3 ) and 2 to 4′‐hydroxy‐5,7‐dimethoxyisoflavone ( 4 ). This suggested that 1 and 2 were demethylated at the C‐4′ position with regioselectivity by Aspergillus niger. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry     

Dynamic driving/braking force distribution in electric vehicles with independently driven four wheels

A novel algorithm for the dynamic driving/braking force distribution is proposed for electric vehicles (EV) with four in‐wheel motors. In such EVs, the vehicle lateral motion can be controlled by a yaw moment, generated by the torque difference between wheels. This method is known as DYC (Direct Yaw moment Control) in ordinary engine vehicle engineering; however, the torque difference can be generated more directly with in‐wheel motors. One problem of DYC is its instability on slippery roads, such as wet or snowy asphalt. To achieve high stability, the loads of wheels are preferably equal. The load on each wheel can be evaluated as the square root of the sum of squares of driving/braking force and side force. Therefore, the driving/braking forces, or motor torques, should be distributed depending on the side forces of the wheels, to minimize the load imbalance between wheels. The proposed algorithm can solve this optimization problem approximately with little calculation cost, and thus this method can be applied for real‐time calculation within a control period. Approximate solutions obtained with the proposed method are evaluated by comparison with numerical solutions that require much calculation time. The difference between these solutions is shown to be negligible, indicating the effectiveness of the proposed method. © 2001 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 138(1): 79–89, 2002     

Magnetization dynamics and related phenomena in semiconductors with ferromagnetism

We review ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) and related phenomena in the ferromagnetic semiconductor (Ga,Mn)As and single crystalline Fe/GaAs (001) hybrid structures. In both systems, spin-orbit interaction is the key ingredient for various intriguing phenomena.     

Double-supply-frequency pressure pulsation in annular linear induction pump: Part I: Measurement and numerical analysis

This paper describes an experimental and analytical study of double-supply-frequency pressure pulsation arising in an annular linear induction pump. In a large-scale induction pump, it is known that the supply frequency should be relatively low in order to satisfy a magnetohydrodynamic stability criterion. Under such a low supply frequency, however, double-supply-frequency pressure and flow rate pulsation generated in an induction pump may be of concern. The experimental data obtained in the present work shows that the amplitude of the pressure pulsation increases with decreasing supply frequency, number of poles and/or slip. The numerical result reveals that the pressure pulsation comes from a disturbance of the electromagnetic force near the stator ends.     

Measurements of gamma-ray emission probabilities of 241, 243Am and 239Np

Gamma-ray emission probabilities of ^{241, 243}Am and ²³⁹Np have been precisely measured with gamma- and alpha-ray spectroscopic methods. The activities of the samples were determined by measuring alpha particles using a Si semiconductor detector. Gamma rays emitted from the samples were measured with a planar type High-Purity Germanium (HPGe) detector. An efficiency curve of the HPGe detector was derived with uncertainties from 0.7% to 2.5% by combining measured efficiencies and Monte Carlo simulation. The gamma-ray emission probabilities for the major gamma rays of these nuclides were determined with uncertainties less than 1.2%.     

Slow crack growth and acoustic emission characteristics in COD test

Brittle material fractures at a critical value of stress intensity factor or crack opening displacement (COD) without any prior crack growth. In the ductile materials, however unstable fracture initiation may be preceded by a period of slow crack growth from the notch tip. Such slow crack growth may be an essential prelude to unstable fast fracture and thus COD at the start of slow crack growth can also be regarded as a critical value of the fracture characteristics. We have tried to apply the acoustic emission techniques to the COD test. Acoustic emission techniques can be used to detect the onset of slow crack growth and to obtain a relation between COD and AE characteristics in the COD test.     

A Quick Rendering Method Using Basis Functions for Interactive Lighting Design

When designing interior lighting effects, it is desirable to compare a variety of lighting designs involving different lighting devices and directions of light. It is, however, time-consuming to generate images with many different lighting parameters, taking interreflection into account, because all luminances must be calculated and recalculated. This makes it difficult to design lighting effects interactively. To address this problem, this paper proposes a method of quickly generating images of a given scene illustrating an interreflective environment illuminated by sources with arbitrary luminous intensity distributions. In the proposed method, the luminous intensity ditribution is expressed with basis functions. The proposed method uses a series of spherical harmonic functions as basis functions, and calculates in advance each intensity on surfaces lit by the light sources whose luminous intensity distribution are the same as the spherical harmonic functions. The proposed method makes it possible to generate images so quickly that we can change the luminous intensity distribution interactively. Combining the proposed method with an interactive walk-through that employs intensity mapping, an interactive system for lighting design is implemented. The usefulness of the proposed method is demonstrated by its application to interactive lighting design, where many images are generated by altering lighting devices and/or direction of light.     

Photovoltaic system using buck-boost PWM power inverter

This paper presents a buck-boost PWM power inverter and its application for the residential photovoltaic system. The PWM power inverter is realized by driving an inverter constructed with a high-frequency buck-boost chopper in the discontinuous conduction mode (DCM). The photovoltaic system with the power inverter has the following advantages: (1) the power generated by the photovoltaic array can be transferred to the load and the utility line under any array voltage; (2) isolation between the photovoltaic array and the utility line is performed by a small high-frequency reactor operating as energy storage element; (3) there is no need of a reactor to link the utility line; (4) unity power factor operation is provided; and (5) the system configuration is very simple. the input-output characteristics of the system are analyzed. As a result, the ripple component of the array current and the power flow between the interface and the utility line are derived and verified experimentally.     

Angular resolution of the Ohya air shower detector

Accurate measurements of the total number of muons in an air shower are important for the discrimination of showers produced by astronomical gamma rays from those produced by protons. In order to perform this discrimination, muon detectors with a total area of about 400 m² have been constructed in the Ohya stone mine. At ground level, scintillation detectors have been distributed for determining the total number of electrons in the air shower. The arrival direction of the air shower determined by usual timing information was examined using independent data on the arrival direction determined by muons in the shower. The angular resolution thus obtained at the shower maximum is 1.7° in the south-north plane and 2° in the east-west plane. The difference of the resolution is due to the asymmetric arrangement of scintillation detectors.     

Diagnosis of perioperative myocardial infarction by cardiac troponin T following coronary artery bypass grafting

The determinations of cardiac troponin T provide the highest diagnostic efficiency for the detection of myocardial cell necrosis. To assess perioperative myocardial infarction, serum levels of cardiac troponin T were determined in 14 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). The patients were divided into two groups: group I (n = 9), those whose troponin T was less than 1.00 ng/ml on the first postoperative day; group II (n = 5), those whose troponin T was more than 1.00 ng/ml on the first postoperative day. Troponin T levels in group II patients were significantly higher than in group I from the second to the seventh postoperative day. Two patients in group II had specific changes on the electrocardiogram detecting perioperative myocardial infarction as a new Q wave and R wave reduction. These results suggest that troponin T is a valuable marker of perioperative myocardial infarction following CABG.