Spatial correlation coefficients of rainfall intensity inferred from statistics of rainfall intensity and rain attenuation

On the basis of the reliable statistics of rainfall rate and rainfall attenuation for 8 localities in Europe, the spatial correlation coefficient of point rainfall intensity was inferred for each locality from the cumulative distributions of attenuation and rainfall intensity by inversely applying the modified Morita and Higuti rainfall attenuation prediction method. It was found that for European regions the spatial correlation coefficient with an exponential dependence on the horizontal distance is more appropriate for the prediction of rainfall attenuation than that proposed by Morita and Higuti for the Japanese climate. It was also found that although the spatial correlation characteristic varies significantly from one locality to another its variance is not so significant within a particular ccir rainfall climatic zone. This suggests that in predicting the rainfall attenuation it is desirable to employ the spatial correlation coefficient appropriate for the locality to be estimated.     

Functional analysis of genes encoding putative oxidoreductases in Aspergillus oryzae, which are similar to fungal fructosyl-amino acid oxidase

We found 11 genes (FAO1-11) encoding putative oxidoreductases in the Aspergillus oryzae genome, which are similar to fungal fructosyl-amino acid oxidases. The cDNAs corresponding to the genes were cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. rFao2 had fructosyl-amino acid oxidase activity, whereas rFao1 did not show any enzyme activity, even though the deduced amino acid sequence of Fao1 is identical to that of one of the fructosyl-amino acid oxidase isozymes from Aspergillus oryzae. rFao7 and rFao8 showed oxidase activity toward sarcosine, L-pipecolate, and L-proline. rFao10 was active toward only sarcosine, of the substrates tested. The functions of the other proteins were also predicted from a phylogenetic analysis.     

Quantitative evaluation of reheat cracking susceptibility by in situ observation and measurement using laser confocal microscope*

In the post-weld heat treatment process, the reheat cracking which might occur in the weldments of low-alloy steels has been a serious problem. So, it is considered to be important to predict the possibility of occurrence of reheat cracking in these steels. It is however recognized as a time-consuming procedure to evaluate quantitatively the susceptibility to this type of cracking. In the present study, a new quantitative evaluation method of reheat cracking susceptibility by in situ observation and measurement using a laser confocal microscope has been proposed. Through this new method, the reheat cracking susceptibility of any kind of steels can be evaluated with the same standard. Moreover, because the position of the initial crack can be focused and the critical ductility to initiate the crack is measured by in situ observation, the reheat cracking susceptibility can be evaluated using only one specimen. So the newly developed method can provide efficient quantitative assessment of the reheat cracking sensitivity with high accuracy.     

Investigation of Ozone Concentration Measurement by Visible Photo Absorption Method

The measurement of ozone concentration based on the visible photo absorption method is investigated. An LED having an emission peak at 609 nm and a photo diode sensitive at visible light frequencies are used as the light source and the photo detector, respectively. The transmittance is measured as a function of ozone concentration, which is in reasonable agreement with the Beer–Lambert relationship. The effective absorption cross-section can therefore be estimated from the fitting procedure. The concentrations determined by both the UV and visible photo absorptions agree well with each other in the range from 7.1 to 68.4 g/m³(N). The relative error in these concentrations is discussed on the basis of the Twyman–Lothian curve. The ozone measurement for the air-fed ozone generation is also investigated. The effect of photo absorption due to NOx species is unavoidable. The present results provide useful data if the ozone measurement based on the visible photo absorption method is applied to ozone monitoring instruments or used for laboratory experiments.     

Thermal unfolding of three acclimation temperature-associated isoforms of carp light meromyosin expressed by recombinant DNAs

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was performed to investigate thermodynamic properties of three carp fast skeletal light meromyosin (LMM) isoforms expressed in Escherichia coli by recombinant DNAs. Three isoforms were the 10 degreesC-, intermediate-, and 30 degreesC-type LMM predominantly expressed in carp acclimated to 10, 20, and 30 degreesC. The isoforms expressed in E. coli by recombinant DNAs exhibited a typical pattern of alpha-helix in CD spectroscopy with two minima at 222 and 208 nm. Moreover, the three isoforms formed paracrystals typical of LMM, suggesting that expressed proteins retained intact structural properties. When the LMM isoforms were subjected to DSC analysis, the 10 degreesC and 30 degreesC types showed endotherms having transition temperatures (Tm) at 35.1 and 39.5 degreesC, respectively, which are responsible for thermal unfolding of alpha-helix. The intermediate type exhibited two comparable endotherms with Tm values at 34.9 and 40.6 degreesC, implying that it has intermediate thermodynamic properties between those of 10 degreesC and 30 degreesC types. However, a chimeric LMM having the 10 degreesC and 30 degreesC type as N- and C-terminal halves, respectively, showed the DSC pattern typical of the whole 30 degreesC-type molecule. On the other hand, another chimeric LMM composed of the N-terminal 30 degreesC type and C-terminal 10 degreesC type gave the pattern of the full 10 degreesC type. These results suggest that thermodynamic properties of the C-terminal half largely account for thermal unfolding of the whole molecule.     

Learning of real robot's inverse dynamics by a forward‐propagation learning rule

A forward‐propagation learning rule (FPL) has been proposed for a neural network (NN) to learn an inverse model of a controlled object. A feature of FPL is that the trajectory error propagates forward in NN and appropriate values of two learning parameters are required to be set. FPL has only been simulated to several kinds of controlled objects such as a two‐link arm in a horizontal plane. In this work, we applied FPL to AIBO and showed the validity of FPL on a real controlled object. At first, we tested a learning experiment of an inverse dynamic of a two‐link arm in a sagittal plane with viscosity and Coulomb friction by computer simulation. In this simulation, a low‐pass filter (LPF) was applied to realized trajectories because coulomb friction vibrates them. From the simulation results, we found that the learning process is stable by some adequate sets of the learning parameters although it is more sensitive to the values of the parameters owing to friction and gravity terms. Finally, we tested applying FPL to motor control of AIBO's leg. The inverse dynamics model was acquired by FPL with only about 150 learning iterations. From these results, the validity of the FPL was confirmed by the real robot control experiments. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 161(4): 38–48, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20456     

Preparation of platinum(II) complexes with L-serine using KI. X-ray crystal structure, HPLC and 195Pt NMR spectra

The preparation of platinum(II) complexes containing L-serine using K(2)[PtCl(4)] and KI as raw materials was undertaken. The cis-trans isomer ratio of the complexes in the reaction mixture differed significantly depending on whether KI was present or absent in the reaction mixture. One of the two [Pt(L-ser-N,O)(2)] complexes (L-ser=L-serinate anion) prepared using KI crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2(1)2(1)2(1) with unit cell dimensions a=8.710(2) A, b=9.773(3) A, c=11.355(3) A, Z=4. The crystal data revealed that this complex has a cis configuration. The other [Pt(L-ser-N,O)(2)] complex also crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2(1)2(1)2(1) with unit cell dimensions a=7.0190(9) A, b=7.7445(6) A, c=20.946(2) A, Z=4. The crystal data revealed that this complex has a trans configuration. The 195Pt NMR chemical shifts of trans-[Pt(L-ser-N,O)(2)] and cis-[Pt(L-ser-N,O)(2)] complexes are -1632 and -1832 ppm, respectively. 195Pt NMR and HPLC measurements were conducted to monitor the reactions of the two [Pt(L-ser-N,O)(2)] complexes with HCl. Both 195Pt NMR and HPLC showed that the reactivities of cis- and trans-[Pt(L-ser-N,O)(2)] toward HCl are different: coordinated carboxyl oxygen atoms of trans-[Pt(L-ser-N,O)(2)] were detached faster than those for cis-[Pt(L-ser-N,O)(2)].     

Evolution of the spread of crystal orientation with plastic deformation in a cold-rolled Cu single crystal

Using scanning electron microscopy, we investigated how the microstructure of a Cu single crystal with a {15 12 9}〈9 10 3〉 orientation evolved from cold rolling. The first 50 % rolling caused its crystal orientation to rotate to {211}〈111〉. Although orientation splitting occurred near the surface of the single crystal, band-like regions with near-{211}〈111〉 orientations were still present after the fourth 50 % rolling. We measured the spread of crystal orientation in the near-{211}〈111〉 regions as a function of the total plastic equivalent strain induced by all rolling steps. When 50 % rolling was performed less than twice, the spread of crystal orientation was proportional to the square root of the plastic equivalent strain. Based on our results, we discussed the relationship between the spread of crystal orientation and the plastic equivalent strain generated by rolling.     

Grain-boundary diffusion and precipitate trapping of hydrogen in ultrafine-grained austenitic stainless steels processed by high-pressure torsion

This study was conducted to clarify the effects of grain boundaries and precipitates on room-temperature hydrogen transport in two types of austenitic stainless steels with ultrafine-grained structures produced by high-pressure torsion (HPT) and subsequent annealing. The grains in the Fe-25Ni-15Cr (in mass%) alloy containing Ti and the Fe-25Cr-20Ni alloy were refined by the HPT-processing to ∼150 and ∼85 nm, respectively. The high-temperature annealing after the HPT processing led to the precipitation of η-Ni₃Ti for the former and σ-FeCr for the latter. In the HPT-processed specimens, hydrogen diffusivity was enhanced through short-circuit diffusion because of the increased population of grain boundaries in comparison with the increased opportunity of hydrogen trapping on dislocations. As for the post-HPT-annealed specimens having the precipitates, the hydrogen diffusion was hindered by the hydrogen trapping on η-Ni₃Ti precipitates, but was not affected by σ-FeCr precipitation. This depends on the affinity between hydrogen and constituting elements.