A FAST METHOD OF RADIATIVE HEAT TRANSFER ANALYSIS BETWEEN ARBITRARY THREE-DIMENSIONAL BODIES COMPOSED OF SPECULAR AND DIFFUSE SURFACES

The radiation element method by ray emission model (REM²) has been improved by using the law of reciprocity for the specular view factor and the incomplete Cholesky conjugate gradient (ICCG) method to reduce computational time. This improved method was applied to analyze the radiative heat transfer between arbitrary three-dimensional bodies composed of specular and diffuse surfaces. The accuracy of the improved method was evaluated by comparing analytical solutions. And the method was used to calculate radiative heat transfer between machine elements and heater panels. CPU time to calculate the radiative exchange for a model composed of 3193 elements was reduced to 1/430 of that by the previous numerical method using a decomposition method.     

Effects of counselor race and counseling approach on Asian Americans' perceptions of counselor credibility and utility.

Conducted 2 studies in which Asian Americans rated a counselor's performance in a simulated counseling session with an Asian American student. Two tape recordings of a contrived counseling session were prepared in which the client responses were identical but the counselor responses differed, 1 depicting a "directive" counseling approach and 1 a "nondirective" approach. Each tape recording was paired with 2 different introductions, 1 in which the counselor was identified as Asian American and 1 in which the counselor was described as Caucasian American. In the 1st study, 52 Asian American university students were randomly assigned to 1 of the 4 introduction–approach combinations. In the 2nd study, 48 Japanese Americans who were members of the Young Buddhist Association were randomly assigned to the 4 introduction–approach combinations. In both studies, the counselor was rated as more credible and approachable when employing the directive counseling approach than when using the nondirective counseling approach. Evidence was found that Asian American university students see Asian American counselors as more credible and approachable than Caucasian American counselors, while the association members viewed them as equally credible and approachable. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Turbulent burning velocity of hydrogen–air premixed propagating flames at elevated pressures

Lewis number represents the thermo-diffusive effects on laminar flames. That of hydrogen–air mixture varies extensively with the equivalence ratio due to the high molecular diffusivity of hydrogen. In this study, the influences of pressure and thermo-diffusive effects on spherically propagating premixed hydrogen–air turbulent flames were studied using a constant volume fan-stirred combustion vessel. It was noted that the ratio of the turbulent to unstretched laminar burning velocity increased with decreasing equivalence ratio and increasing mixture pressure. Turbulent burning velocity was dominated by three factors: (1) purely hydrodynamic factor, turbulence Reynolds number, (2) relative turbulence intensity to reaction speed, the ratio of turbulence intensity to unstretched laminar burning velocity, and (3) sensitivity of the flame to the stretch due to the thermo-diffusive effects, Lewis and Markstein numbers. A turbulent burning velocity correlation in terms of Reynolds and Lewis numbers is presented.     

The rise of community wind power in Japan: Enhanced acceptance through social innovation

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the socio-economic dynamics that are brought about by renewable energy technologies. We call this dynamic “Social Innovation” as it changes the rules of risk–benefit distribution and the roles of social actors. For this purpose, we take up a typical case in Japan, community wind power in which the initial cost is funded by the investment of citizens. Through this case study, we examine how the citizens’ initiative can affect the social acceptance of renewable energy as well as social change. Based on interviews with those involved in these projects, we analyze the interests of the various actors involved in community wind power projects in a framework of “actor network theory”, which enables us to understand the detail of each actor's position. This study also involved a quantitative survey of investors. The case study clarified that there was a remarkable difference in the interests of the main actors in the community wind power projects, the networks are complex and actors share various interests such as economic interests and a sense of social commitment, participation and contribution. These incentives are also clarified in quantitative data. However, the variety of incentives differs in each project.     

Profiles of mean wind speeds and vertical turbulence intensities measured at seashore and two inland sites using Doppler sodars

The authors’ group has been conducting full-scale measurements of wind velocities with Doppler sodars. It is very important to accurately assess the profiles of mean wind speeds and turbulence intensities in relation to terrain roughness. In this study, the profiles were evaluated for all data measured over a long period at a seashore and two inland sites. It is confirmed that for strong winds the profiles can be approximated by a single power law at altitudes between 50 and 340 m. The power law exponents of the mean wind speed profiles are approximately 0.1 for wind from the sea and 0.2-0.3 for wind blown over land. Those of the turbulence intensity profiles are approximately 0 and −0.2 to 0.4, respectively.     

Angiotensin-I converting enzyme inhibitory peptide derived from porcine skeletal muscle myosin and its antihypertensive activity in spontaneously hypertensive rats

ABSTRACT:  Crude myosin light chain was extracted from Japanese domestic pork loin and digested with pepsin. Antihypertensive peptide was isolated from this digest as a measure of its inhibitory activity for angiotensin-I converting enzyme (ACE). Through isolation with some chromatographies, a single active fraction was isolated, and it was detected as an octapeptide, Val-Lys-Lys-Val-Leu-Gly-Asn-Pro, from 47th to 54th positions of myosin light chain. The 50% inhibitory concentration of this peptide was 28.5 μM. Kinetic evaluation showed that this peptide was a noncompetitive inhibitor, but it was slowly hydrolyzed by ACE. At the dose of 10 mg/kg, this peptide showed antihypertensive activity after a maximum of 3 h of administration and was estimated as a temporally effective hypotensor.     

Angiosarcoma of the tongue: report of a case with immunohistochemical findings

Angiosarcomas are rare, accounting for only 1-2% of all soft tissue sarcomas. Primary abdominal angiosarcomas usually arise in the liver or spleen. We report the first color Doppler findings of a rare, low-grade splenic angiosarcoma in a 52-year-old woman.     

Stabilization of entrapped catalase using photo‐crosslinked resin gel for use in wastewater containing hydrogen peroxide

Catalase immobilized using photo‐crosslinkable resin was applied to treatment of wastewater containing a low concentration of hydrogen peroxide. The structure of photo‐crosslinked resin gel was stable even in the acceleration test of concentrated hydrogen peroxide for a long period. Accordingly, the most important subject of this process was maintaining long term catalase activity. The stabilization of immobilized catalase was investigated by modifying gel carriers with some prepolymers and functional monomers, and adding some stabilizing materials without modification of catalase itself. But these gel carriers did not improve the stability beyond 20%. Addition of Tween 80, polyoxyethylene (5) sorbitan monooleate (hydrophilic/lipophilic balance, HLB: 10.0), to catalase was most effective for maintenance of the activity when the enzyme was immobilized in hydrophilic photo‐crosslinked resin, resulting in 80% of its initial activity. It was assumed that this surfactant did not influence the permeation of hydrogen peroxide into gel, but acted as a stabilizer for catalase in the gel carrier. © 2000 Society of Chemical Industry     

Frequency stabilization of a semiconductor laser under direct FSK modulation: The modulation method and evaluation of stability

The frequency stability of a semiconductor laser deteriorated under direct frequency shift keying (FSK) when stabilization depended entirely upon an external frequency reference. Therefore, the PEAK method was devised for the purpose of improving frequency stability. This method requires two distinct frequency components and, therefore, will not work effectively in a communications system that produces a succession of identical frequencies, as does the FSK method on occasion. This paper, then, explains the results of our comparative analysis of the two modulation methods. The evaluation of frequency stability requires us to use a beat note between two stabilized laser beams, referred to here, as “signal” and “reference,” lasers. The reference laser is stabilized by a method that takes advantage of the magneto-optical effect. This laser restrains the tendency of the beat note frequency to broaden in other stabilization methods, and even makes it possible to predetermine the beat frequency to be employed. The improvement in frequency stability obtained is about one order of magnitude. © 1998 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 125(2): 44–51, 1998     

Enrichment of arachidonic acid: Selective hydrolysis of a single-cell oil fromMortierella withCandida cylindracea lipase

Three lipases, isolated previously in our laboratory, and a known lipase fromCandida cylindracea were screened for the enrichment of arachidonic acid (AA). The enzyme fromC. cylindracea was the most effective for the production of oil with high concentration of AA. When a single-cell oil fromMortierella alpina, containing 25% AA, was hydrolyzed with this lipase for 16 h at 35°C, the resulting glycerides contained 50% AA at 52% hydrolysis. After this, no further hydrolysis occurred, even with additional lipase. However, when the glycerides were extracted from the hydrolyzate and were hydrolyzed again with new lipase, the resulting oil contained 60% AA, with a recovery of 75% of its initial AA content. Triglycerides were the main components of the resulting oil. The release of each fatty acid from the oil depended on the hydrolysis rate of its ester. The fatty acid, whose ester is the poorest substrate for the enzyme, is concentrated in the glycerides.