A CAD system for building structures in ‘BUILDING RC/SRC/S’

A CAD software system is described for the structural design of buildings. While generally similar to GENESYS-RC-BUILDING/1 of England and DEMOS-E of Japan, this system allows for greater freedom of design than the above two systems. As the system is intended for the design of buildings in Japan, a country prone to strong earthquakes, special care is paid to ensure aseismic designs. The system is designed to comply with the basic requirements of the Japanese building codes and structural standards and can be applied to the structural design of reinforced concrete, steel-reinforced concrete and steel structures.     

Reversible change in the optical rotatory power of poly(L-glutamate) thin film induced by photochromism of a spiropyran

Summary When the thin film of poly(L-glutamate) containing 6-nitroindolinospiropyran was exposed to uv light(mainly 365nm), measurable change in the optical rotatory power was observed, accompanied with the coloration due to the formation of the photo-merocyanine. The change was reversible upon exposure to visible light(>480nm). The extent of the reversible change of the optical rotatory power was found to depend on the concentration of the spiropyran as well as casting concentration. Discussion was made on the mechanism of the appearance of the optical rotatory power.     

First-order phase transition with a moving boundary. II. Theory of ice formation

An exact solution of the parabolic partial differential equation with a moving boundary condition is found. Applications to the problem of ice formation are discussed.     

Temperature dependence of critical fiber length for glass fiber-reinforced thermosetting resins

In discontinuous fiber-reinforced composites, the critical fiber length plays an essential role in determining the mechanical properties. A method was devised to accurately determine the critical fiber length and the temperature dependence of the critical fiber length was studied for glass fiberepoxy and glass fiber-unsaturated polyester resin composites. If a continuous glass fiber is embedded in the matrix and the system is subjected to a tensile strain greater than the fiber ultimate tensile strain, the fiber breaks into many pieces. If the average length of these broken pieces (l?) is measured, the critical fiber length (lc) is expressed as l_c = 4/3l?. The critical fiber length greatly increases with increasing temperature and the apparent shear strength at the interface, calculated from the critical fiber length, decreases linearly with increasing temperature.     

Occurrence of plant sterols in aquatic vertebrates

Plant sterols were found by gas liquid chromatography in the sterols of five species of aquatic vertebrates; mackerel (Scomber japonicus), rainbow trout (Salmo gairdnerii), smelt (Osmerus dentex), sardine (Sardinops melanosticta) and chimera (Chimera phantasma). The sterols of chimera liver, sardine flesh and sardine viscera contained 9.0, 2.4 and 3.1% of C₂₈ and C₂₉ sterols in addition to 86.7, 96.6 and 95.2% of cholesterol. The occurrence of norcholestandienol, campesterol, β-sitosterol and C₂₈ stanol was shown by combined gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Sperm whale (Physeter catodon) sterols consisted of more than 99% cholesterol with only traces of 22-dehydrocholesterol.     

Muscle stiffness sensor to control an assistance device for the disabled

An innovative sensor has been developed as a man–machine interface to control an assistance device for people with disabilities. This sensor is applied to a mechanical glove that has a grasping function, and its usefulness is demonstrated through experiments. The sensor is attached to the operators skin and detects noninvasively how much the muscle under the sensor has stiffened.This work was presented in part at the 8th International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics, Oita, Japan, January 24–26, 2003     

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for monitoring toxic dioxin congeners in milk based on a newly generated monoclonal anti-dioxin antibody

To develop an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for monitoring the toxicity due to polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans contaminated in human breast milk, we have generated novel monoclonal antibodies using some haptenic derivatives linked to bovine serum albumin via the C-1 or C-2 position on the dioxin skeleton. BALB/c or A/J mice were repeatedly immunized with the immunogen, and spleen cells were fused with P3/NS1/1-Ag4-1 myeloma cells. After five fusion experiments, a hybridoma clone was established that secretes an antibody D9-36 group specifically recognizing the major toxic congeners, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (2,3,7,8-TCDD), 1,2,3,7,8-pentachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, and 2,3,4,7,8-pentachlorodibenzofran. An ELISA is developed on the basis of the competitive and labeled-antigen format. The toxic congeners extracted from butter or milk specimens by a novel extraction cartridge and a peroxidase-labeled dioxin analogue were sequentially reacted with a fixed amount of D9-36 in the presence of Triton X-100. The bound fraction was captured on a microtiter plate, immobilizing a second antibody, and the enzyme activity was colorimetrically determined. This ELISA afforded a practical sensitivity (measurable range, 1-100 pg/assay; detection limit, 1.0 pg/assay as 2,3,7,8-TCDD equivalent). The assay values for milk and butter samples were in reasonable accordance with the sum of the toxicity-equivalent quantity of each congener, which had been determined by a high-resolution gas chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry method.     

High resolution for single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis by capillary electrophoresis

Since the successful completion of the Human Genome Project, increasing concern is being directed toward the polymorphic aspect of the genome and its clinical relevance. A form of single-strand DNA-conformation polymorphism analysis (SSCP) employing nondenaturing slab-gel electrophoresis (SGE) is applicable to the genetic diagnosis of bladder cancer from urine samples. To bring this technique into routine clinical practice, the use of capillary electrophoresis (CE) is naturally favorable in terms of speed and automation. However, the resolving power of SSCP, a prerequisite basis for reliability required in diagnostics, remains as a challenge for CE systems. We thus focused on this topic and conducted studies on CE instruments equipped with a single capillary or an array of multiple capillaries, using the resolution (Rs) as a quantitative scale for the resolving power. Polymer concentration and buffer are shown to be the decisive parameters. High Rs values of >2.5 are achieved for representative SNPs markers under the optimized conditions, without sacrificing such intrinsic advantages of CE over SGE as the 10-fold quicker migration time and operation that is reproducible, continuous, and automatic. The strategies presented broaden the limits of CE in both the current and related applications.