Damage Analysis of Hanshin Expressway Viaducts during 1995 Kobe Earthquake. III: Three-Span Continuous Girder Bridges

Almost all the single reinforced concrete (RC) piers from P35 to P350 received consistently severe damage, considering the large residual inclination of piers included in earthquake-induced severe damage. However, some of the piers in the section from P35 to P350 remained lightly damaged, and this phenomenon is observed especially in many piers under fixed bearings in continuous girder bridges. In this study, using experimentally based models for metal bearings and installing them to an existing FEM code, a nonlinear dynamic response analysis of a continuous girder bridge system is conducted. It is shown that the results depend on the ground motion, but the fuse effect of the breaking of the bearings could have been a reason for the phenomenon.     

Partition of Mn during the growth of proeutectoid ferrite allotriomorphs in an Fe-1.6 at. pct C-2.8 at. pct Mn alloy

A STEM analysis is made of the Mn distribution around grain boundary allotriomorphs of proeutectoid ferrite in an Fe-1.6 at. Pct C-2.8 at. Pct Mn alloy. Whereas the Mn enriched region is readily observed to extend along the austenite grain boundary, no substantial build-up or depletion of Mn near the ferrite : austenite interface is detected, consistent with the electron probe microanalysis previously reported. In the temperature range where the partition-local equilibrium (P-LE) mode has been proposed to prevail, measured parabolic growth rate constantsfall 1 to 2 orders of magnitude above that predicted from this model, but also below that calculated from the paraequilibrium (PE) model by roughly the same amount. A modification of the theory of grain boundary diffusion-aided growth of precipitates,i.e., the collector/rejector plate mechanism, on the other hand, accounts fairly well for the observed growth kinetics of ferrite allotriomorphs. However, only a slightly better accounting than the P-LE model is provided by this mechanism for the temperature dependence of Mn partition. Data on Ni partition, obtained in an Fe-0.5 at. Pct C-3.1 at. Pct Ni alloy, are also analyzed with the rejector plate model.     

Optical rotation sensing by the geometric effect of fiber-loop twisting

An optical technique for sensing a rotation angle is described and experimental results are presented. When a loop of an ideal fiber that exerts no linear birefringence is deformed into a nonplanar curve, the azimuth angle of linearly polarized light propagated in the fiber is rotated. The technique is based on this effect of geometric polarization rotation in an optical fiber. A twisted single-mode fiber is substituted for the ideal fiber. Experimental results include studies of polarization rotation and variations of light propagated in a loop of a twisted single-mode fiber under deformation.     

Growth and led evaluation ofN-type conductive lec gaas co-doped with in and si

Dislocation-free and low dislocation densityn-type conductive GaAs crystals, 50 mm in diameter, were grown by the In and Si co-doping LEC technique. Two-dimensional LED arrays were fabricated on substrates obtained from these crystals by the MOCVD technique and the influence of the In doping on the LED characteristics was examined. The light output power of LEDs fabricated on co-doped substrate with an In concentration of 1 ×10²⁰atoms/cm³ are low and are non-uniformly distributed, as compared with the boat-grown substrate, even though the co-doped substrate is dislocation-free. However, the LED properties of a substrate with an In concentration of 2 × 10¹⁸atoms/cm³ are the same as those of a boat-grown substrate. The light output power of the LEDs becomes higher as the In concentration in the substrate decreased.     

Lightning occurrence data observed with lightning location systems of electric power companies in Japan: 2009–2013

Nine electric power companies in Japan have been collecting lightning data with lightning location systems. Five years of the lightning data (2009–2013) are summarized and analyzed in this paper. The recent annual number of lightning flashes of which the current is more than 10 kA in Japan is around 1 million. The variations of lightning occurrence characteristics by areas, seasons, and so on, are clarified. Meteorological conditions that may affect lightning occurrence are also discussed. Furthermore, we show that there is a clear correlation between the number of lightning strikes and the outage rate of transmission lines. © 2016 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Structural Analysis of the Complex between Penta-EF-Hand ALG-2 Protein and Sec31A Peptide Reveals a Novel Target Recognition Mechanism of ALG-2

ALG-2, a 22-kDa penta-EF-hand protein, is involved in cell death, signal transduction, membrane trafficking, etc., by interacting with various proteins in mammalian cells in a Ca²⁺-dependent manner. Most known ALG-2-interacting proteins contain proline-rich regions in which either PPYPXnYP (type 1 motif) or PXPGF (type 2 motif) is commonly found. Previous X-ray crystal structural analysis of the complex between ALG-2 and an ALIX peptide revealed that the peptide binds to the two hydrophobic pockets. In the present study, we resolved the crystal structure of the complex between ALG-2 and a peptide of Sec31A (outer shell component of coat complex II, COPII; containing the type 2 motif) and found that the peptide binds to the third hydrophobic pocket (Pocket 3). While amino acid substitution of Phe⁸⁵, a Pocket 3 residue, with Ala abrogated the interaction with Sec31A, it did not affect the interaction with ALIX. On the other hand, amino acid substitution of Tyr¹⁸⁰, a Pocket 1 residue, with Ala caused loss of binding to ALIX, but maintained binding to Sec31A. We conclude that ALG-2 recognizes two types of motifs at different hydrophobic surfaces. Furthermore, based on the results of serial mutational analysis of the ALG-2-binding sites in Sec31A, the type 2 motif was newly defined.     

Evaluation of MPN method combined with PCR procedure for detection and enumeration of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in seafood

Vibrio parahaemolyticus densities in spiked and naturally contaminated seafood samples were enumerated by the MPN method combined with a PCR procedure (MPN-PCR method) targeting the species-specific thermolabile hemolysin gene (tlh), and by the MPN method using subcultivation of alkaline-peptone-water (APW) enrichment culture on thiosulfate-citrate-bile-sucrose (TCBS) agar (MPN-TCBS method). In the samples spiked with both V. parahaemolyticus and V. alginolyticus, the numbers of V. parahaemolyticus enumerated by the MPN-PCR method were similar to, or higher than the numbers of spiked cells, whereas those enumerated by the MPN-TCBS method were below the numbers of spiked cells. In naturally contaminated seafood samples, the numbers of V. parahaemolyticus enumerated by the MPN-PCR method were higher than those by the MPN-TCBS method. In the case of the MPN-TCBS method, isolation of V. parahaemolyticus from some APW cultures was difficult because of the overgrowth of many colonies other than V. parahaemolyticus (e.g., V. alginolyticus) on TCBS agar. In contrast, the PCR technique could detect tlh from APW culture without isolation of V. parahaemolyticus, so the possibility of failing to obtain a positive result in APW culture by the MPN-PCR method was considered to be lower than that by the MPN-TCBS method. Furthermore, utilization of the PCR technique reduces the time and labor required for the biochemical identification tests used in the MPN-TCBS method. For the detection and enumeration of V. parahaemolyticus in seafood, especially for samples that show many colonies other than V. parahaemolyticus on TCBS agar, the MPN-PCR method may be more convenient and reliable than the MPN-TCBS method.     

Numerical computation on the control of aerial flow by the magnetizing force in gravitational and nongravitational fields

Two-dimensional numerical computations were carried out in order to examine the effect of magnetizing force for the air in a cylindrical container with thermal and magnetic field gradients. In a gravitational field, the air was driven by both gravitational and magnetizing forces, and flow pattern and the heat transfer rate greatly depended on the axial position of the coil. Moreover, when the magnetizing and gravitational forces cancel out each other, convection became almost quiescent. On the other hand, the aerial flow was induced by the magnetizing force even in a nongravitational field, and the air behaved like an electrically conducting fluid.     

A circulating current control scheme for multiple three‐level NPC inverter systems

In recent years, motor drive systems for steel rolling mills have been steadily increasing in capacity. In particular, the development of three‐level NPC (Neutral Point Clamped) inverters is now focusing on the replacement of cycloconverters. In order to satisfy such a requirement, in this paper a multiple three‐level NPC inverter system is proposed. The configuration consists of two three‐level NPC inverters with the same configuration connected in parallel by current limiting reactors. In this case, the circulating current flowing between the two three‐level NPC inverters must be controlled to prevent a decrease in the maximum output capacity. In particular, a new method for control of the circulating current is a major topic of discussion. The method is based on space voltage vector‐based PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) control for the three‐level NPC inverters and the circulating current is controlled by adjusting the output durations of the respective space voltage vectors. In this method the circulating current controller can be decoupled from the motor current controller. Therefore, it is possible to design the different controllers independently. In addition, the experimental results obtained using an induction motor show that the circulating current can be reduced to within 2% of the rated motor current when the motor current response exceeds 1000 rad/s. © 2001 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 136(2): 38–48, 2001