Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Hydrological Provision Ecosystem Services for Watershed Conservation Planning of Water Resources

Spatial planning for sustainable water resources development requires precise information on the local potential for providing water yield in a watershed. For water resource conservation, we analyzed spatial and temporal patterns of hydrological provision ecosystem services in the upper Teshio watershed of northernmost Japan. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was applied to simulate hydrologic processes and determine parameters affecting the water cycle. The spatial increase of water yield at flat area near river channel in winter was explained by low field capacity of soil water, absence of water uptake by crops and gentle topography. The spatial patterns of snowmelt and rainfall were important drivers of the spatial pattern in water yield during other periods. The zonation model was applied to investigate dynamic changes in spatial conservation prioritization of hydrological provision ecosystem services, according to simulated water yields in February, April and October. The results showed that the conservation priority ranking dynamically changed spatially and temporally. Our economic assessment of hydrological provisioning services (irrigation, electricity production and household usage) indicated that the spatial pattern of the priority for water resources was different from that of economic value of the provisioning services. Our results indicated that a combination of hydrologic and cost zonation models would improve sustainable management planning of water resources and their hydrological ecosystem services have great spatiotemporal fluctuation.     

DNA promotes the activation of oxygen molecules by binuclear cobalt(II) compounds

We have observed that binuclear cobalt(II) compounds with H(HPTP), Co₂(HPTP)(CH₃COO)(ClO₄)₂ and Co₂(HPTP)Cl(ClO₄)₂, react with oxygen molecules when DNA is present in the solution, cleaving the DNA (H(HPTP) denotes N,N,N′,N′-tetrakis(2-pyridylmethyl)-1,3-diaminopropane-2- ol).     

Analysis of Dispatching Rules of AGV Systems with Multiple Vehicles

We study automated guided vehicle systems that contain multiple vehicles. Each vehicle transports an item from a certain point to its destination. The inter-arrival time of items to each node is assumed to be independently and geometrically distributed. Each node has an infinite buffer capacity, and thus no item is lost. The deadhead time of the empty vehicle and the transportation time of the loaded vehicle are assumed to be arbitrarily distributed. We propose two empty vehicle dispatching policies, and numerically calculate the waiting time distributions of the items for each policy using a state-space reduction technique for Markov chains. Several examples are given to demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages of each policy.     

Preparation of SrBi 2 Ta 2 O 9 Thin Films by Liquid-Delivery MOCVD Without Additional Solvents

SrBi 2 Ta 2 O 9 thin films were prepared by ECR plasma enhanced metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (ECR-MOCVD) with a liquid-delivery system using one cocktail source without an additional solvent. The strontium-tantalum double alkoxide, Sr{Ta[OC 2 H 4 H(CH 3 ) 2 ](OC 2 H 5 ) 5 } 2 , was dissolved in stabilized trimethyl bismuth, Bi(CH 3 ) 3 / dioxane. This source system has been used in a conventional bubbling system. Deposition rate and the composition of the films were strictly controlled by the concentration and the composition of the cocktail source. Therefore, high reproducibility was realized by using this system. The constituent phase of the stoichiometric SBT film as-deposited at 500 C on a (111)Pt/TiO 2 /SiO 2 /Si substrate was a fluorite phase and transformed to the single phase of SBT by the post annealing at 800 C. It showed almost the same ferroelectricity as the stoichiometric composition film.     

SOLUBILITY IN ORGANIC DILUENTS AND EXTRACTION BEHAVIOR OF CALIX[4]ARENE CARBOXYLATES WITH DIFFERENT ALKYL CHAINS

ABSTRACT

Two types of alkylcalix[4]arene carboxylates with different alkyl chains, together with three types with the same alkyl chains were synthesized to investigate their solubility in four different organic diluents. The solubility was found to be enhanced by using the calixarene compounds with longer alkyl chains and by using mixtures of compounds with different alkyl chains. The order of solubility in the different organic diluents was found to be:

chloroform > toluene ? EXXSOL D80 ≈ hexane.

The stoichiometry of the copper complex with the compounds having the same alkyl chains was also determined and the maximum loading capacity of copper with each extractant was estimated.     

Electrical Properties of Silica-Based Nanocomposites with Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes

Fully dense multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT)/SiO₂ nanocomposites with MWCNTs contents of 5 and 10 vol% have been processed by spark plasma sintering, and the electrical conductivities of the nanocomposites were evaluated at temperatures ranging from 5 to 300 K. It has been found that the incorporation of MWCNTs converted an insulating silica nanoceramic into metallically conductive composites. The room-temperature conductivities of the nanocomposites, with over 14 orders of magnitude compared with pure silica, are in the range of 8 and 65 S/m. Also, it was interestingly found that the conductivity increased linearly with temperature from 5 to 300 K.     

Experimental verification of a dynamic voltage restorer capable of significantly reducing energy‐storage element requirements

This paper deals with a dynamic voltage restorer (DVR) characterized by installing the shunt converter at the load side. The DVR can compensate for the load voltage when a voltage sag appears in the supply voltage. An existing DVR requires a large capacitor bank or other energy‐storage elements such as double‐layer capacitors or batteries. The DVR presented in this paper requires only a small DC capacitor intended for smoothing the DC‐link voltage. Moreover, three control methods for the series converter are compared and discussed to reduce the series‐converter rating, paying attention to the zero‐sequence voltages included in the supply voltage and the compensating voltage. Experimental results obtained from a 200‐V, 5‐kW laboratory system are shown to verify the viability of the system configuration and the control methods. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 165(3): 73–82, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20460     

Effect of Contact Stiffness on Creep-Groan Occurrence on a Simple Caliper-Slider Experimental Model

In this paper, a fundamental mechanism for creep-groan generation is investigated by adopting a simple yet effective caliper-slider experimental model. Contact condition, which is a function of three parameters, namely normal force, contact roughness, and material combination, is connected with the creep-groan phenomenon in terms of contact stiffness. Creep-groan generation is determined by analyzing the frequency characteristic of the generated vibration acceleration when the sliding commences due to a simultaneous application and release of force in the tangential and normal directions, respectively. As per the obtained results, creep-groan occurrence or absence in the employed experimental model may be classified into three regions based upon the value of the contact stiffness, i.e., occurrence, non-occurrence, and mixed regions. The results also indicate that creep-groan occurrence in this caliper-slider experimental model can be avoided by controlling the value of contact stiffness in an effective manner.     

Noninvasive Measurement of the Volume Elastic Modulus in Finger Arteries Using Photoelectric Plethysmography

A method for the nonivasive measurement of the volume elastic modulus (Ev) in human finger arteries was developed. The volume change ratio and pulse pressure in the arteries were simultaneously determined by a transmittance type infrared photoelectric plethysmograph and a volume oscillometric sphygmomanometer using an occlusive cuff. The Ev values could be obtained at a desired transmural pressure level of the arteries which was controlled by the cuff. A clear difference was revealed between the Ev values obtained in the fingers of two male subjects of 33 and 65 years old. The values determined by this method were compared to those calculated from pulse wave propagation velocity (Evp) obtained simultaneously in the fingers of 11 subjects. The linear regression equation was Ev = 1.31 Evp ?0.117 with a correlation coefficient r = 0.893 (n = 39). These results suggest that this should be a useful and noninvasive method of evaluating changes in arterial elasticity accompanying aging and perhaps influenced by accompanying hypertension or arteriosclerosis.     

The initial step of the thermal unfolding of 3-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase detected by the temperature-jump Laue method

A temperature-jump (T-jump) time-resolved X-ray crystallographictechnique using the Laue method was developed to detect small,localized structural changes of proteins in crystals exposedto a temperature increase induced by laser irradiation. In achimeric protein between thermophilic and mesophilic 3-isopropylmalatedehydrogenases (2T2M6T), the initial structural change uponT-jump to a denaturing temperature (~90°C) was found tobe localized at a region which includes a ß-turn and aloop located between the two domains of the enzyme. A mutant,2T2M6T-E110P/S111G/S113E, having amino acid replacements inthis ß-turn region with the corresponding residues ofthe thermophilic enzyme, showed greater stability than the originalchimera (increase of T_m by ~10°C) and no T-jump-inducedstructural change in this region was detected by our method.These results indicate that thermal unfolding of the originalchimeric enzyme, 2T2M6T, is triggered in this ß-turn region.