A content search system considering the activity and context of a mobile user

People routinely carry mobile devices in their daily lives and obtain a variety of information from the Internet in many different situations. In searching for information (content) with a mobile device, a user’s activity (e.g., moving or stationary) and context (e.g., commuting in the morning or going downtown in the evening) often change, and such changes can affect the user’s degree of concentration on his or her mobile device’s display and information needs. Therefore, a search system should provide the user with an amount of information suitable for the current activity and a type of information suitable for the current context. In this study, we present the design and implementation of a content search system that considers a mobile user’s activity and context, with the goal of reducing the user’s operation load for content search. The proposed system switches between two kinds of content search systems according to the user’s activity: the location-based content search system is activated when the user is stationary (e.g., standing and sitting), while a menu-based content search system is activated when the user is moving (e.g., walking). Both systems present information according to user context. The location-based system presents detailed information via menus and a map according to location-based categories. The menu-based system presents only a few options to enable users to get content easily. Through user experiments, we confirmed that participants could get desired information more easily with this system than with a commercial search system.     

Co-enzyme specificity of 3-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase from Thermits thermophilus HB8

The co–enzyme specificity of 3–isopropylmalate dehydrogenasefrom an extreme thermophile, Thermus thermophilus HB8, was changedfrom NAD to NADP by site–directed mutagenesis Based onsequence comparison of 3–isopropylmalate dehydrogenasesfrom various organisms with NAD– and NADP–dependentisocitrate dehydrogenases, Ser226, Ser253 and De279 of 3–isopropylmalatedehydrogenase were suggested as determining the co–enzymespecificity. These residues were replaced with the correspondingresidues of NADP–dependent isocitrate dehydrogenases;Arg, Gly and Tyr respectively. The single–mutated enzymes,S226R and I279Y, enhanced the activities towards NADP 10–and 3–fold respectively, whereas S253G reduced the activity.Among the multiple–mutated enzymes, the double–mutatedS226R/I279Y increased the catalytic efficiency against NADP( fold) and shifted the specificity for NAD towards NADP mostsignificantly ( 173–fold).     

Proposal of variable sequential sampling plan having desired operating characteristics indexed by quality loss

The proportion of non-conforming items has been traditionally utilised as an evaluation criterion for quality of items. However, the proportion of non-conforming items is not necessarily useful as a proper evaluation criterion for controlling high-quality manufacturing in recent years. Accordingly, in order to achieve further quality improvement and innovation, more careful quality evaluation has been required newly. Then, a concept of quality loss in the Taguchi methods has been devised as a severe criterion of quality evaluation. Hereby, a variable single sampling plan having desired operating characteristics (OCs) indexed by quality loss has been proposed in the area of statistical quality control. By the way, the most economical sampling inspection in the average sample number (ASN) is the sequential sampling plan based on the Wald’s sequential probability ratio test. Then, from the viewpoint of cost reduction, we discuss a variable sequential sampling plan having desired OC indexed by quality loss with the aim of expansion of the utility of variable sampling plan for quality loss. As the result, the design procedure of the sequential sampling plan for satisfying some required design conditions indexed by quality loss is provided. In addition, the effectiveness of the proposed sequential sampling plan is verified through some numerical examples.     

Effects of core machining configuration on the debonding toughness of foam core sandwich panels

Core machining is often applied to improve the formativeness of foam core and the manufacturing effectiveness of sandwich panels. This paper investigates the effects of core machining configuration on the interfacial debonding toughness of foam core sandwich panels fabricated by vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding process. Several machining configurations are conducted to foam core, and skin–core debonding toughness of fabricated sandwich panels is evaluated using double-cantilever-beam tests. The sandwich panels with core cuts exhibited higher apparent fracture toughness than the panels without core cut, specifically in the case of perforated core. The relationship between core machining configuration and measured fracture toughness is discussed based on the experimental observations and the numerical analyses of energy release rates.     

Mechanical property enhancement of aligned multi-walled carbon nanotube sheets and composites through press-drawing process

A solid-state drawing and winding process was done to create thin aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) sheets from CNT arrays. However, waviness and poor packing of CNTs in the sheets are two main weaknesses restricting their reinforcing efficiency in composites. This report proposes a simple press-drawing technique to reduce wavy CNTs and to enhance dense packing of CNTs in the sheets. Non-pressed and pressed CNT/epoxy composites were developed using prepreg processing with a vacuum-assisted system. Effects of pressing on the mechanical properties of the aligned CNT sheets and CNT/epoxy composites were examined. Pressing with distributed loads of 147, 221, and 294 N/m showed a substantial increase in the tensile strength and the elastic modulus of the aligned CNT sheets and their composites. The CNT sheets under a press load of 221 N/m exhibited the best mechanical properties found in this study. With a press load of 221 N/m, the pressed CNT sheet and its composite, respectively, enhanced the tensile strength by 139.1 and 141.9%, and the elastic modulus by 489 and 77.6% when compared with non-pressed ones. The pressed CNT/epoxy composites achieved high tensile strength (526.2 MPa) and elastic modulus (100.2 GPa). Results show that press-drawing is an important step to produce superior CNT sheets for development of high-performance CNT composites.     

Estimating potential disaster waste generation for pre-disaster waste management

The paper discusses development of a method for estimating disaster waste that can be potentially generated by a natural disaster in the future for pre-disaster waste management. In particular, this research focuses on micro-disaster waste originating from household consumer durables. We documented the number of household consumer durables and built a mass per unit database of major consumer durables using web-based and statistical surveys. We also estimated present and future figures of disaster waste that can be generated in the study area. The estimated total amount of disaster waste that could be generated in 2015 was 24.1 kt (18.1–29.8 kt) and 108 kt (81.8–133 kt) for Kobe City and Ise-Shima region, respectively. The total quantities of TV sets, air conditioners, refrigerators, and washing machines generated in Kobe and Ise-Shima will range between 10.9 and 22.8 kt (247,000–545,000 units) in 2015, and 10.7 kt to 22.8 kt (249,000–550,000 units) in 2035. The quantity estimated for 2015 is equal to 61 % of the annual processing capacity of Plant A, Japan’s leading home appliances recycling plant. Finally, we discussed the contribution of the estimation results and geographic information systems in future recycling planning.     

A biped static balance control and torque pattern learning under unknown periodic external forces

This paper addresses a biped balancing task in which an unknown external force is exerted, using the so-called ‘ankle strategy’ model. When an external force is periodic, a human adaptively maintains the balance, next learns how much force should be produced at the ankle joint from its repeatability, and finally memorized it as a motion pattern. To acquire motion patterns with balancing, we propose a control and learning method: as the control method, we adopt ground reaction force feedback to cope with an uncertain external force, while, as the learning method, we introduce a motion pattern generator that memorizes the torque pattern of the ankle joint by use of Fourier series expansion. In this learning process, the period estimation of the external force is crucial; this estimation is achieved based on local autocorrelation of joint trajectories. Computer simulations and robot experiments show effective control and learning results with respect to unknown periodic external forces.     

Lane-change detection using a computational driver model

OBJECTIVE: This paper introduces a robust, real-time system for detecting driver lane changes. Background: As intelligent transportation systems evolve to assist drivers in their intended behaviors, the systems have demonstrated a need for methods of inferring driver intentions and detecting intended maneuvers. METHOD: Using a "model tracing" methodology, our system simulates a set of possible driver intentions and their resulting behaviors using a simplification of a previously validated computational model of driver behavior. The system compares the model's simulated behavior with a driver's actual observed behavior and thus continually infers the driver's unobservable intentions from her or his observable actions. RESULTS: For data collected in a driving simulator, the system detects 82% of lane changes within 0.5 s of maneuver onset (assuming a 5% false alarm rate), 93% within 1 s, and 95% before the vehicle moves one fourth of the lane width laterally. For data collected from an instrumented vehicle, the system detects 61% within 0.5 s, 77% within 1 s, and 84% before the vehicle moves one-fourth of the lane width laterally. CONCLUSION: The model-tracing system is the first system to demonstrate high sample-by-sample accuracy at low false alarm rates as well as high accuracy over the course of a lane change with respect to time and lateral movement. APPLICATION: By providing robust real-time detection of driver lane changes, the system shows good promise for incorporation into the next generation of intelligent transportation systems.     

Prospective study of "early" gastric cancer

In order to elucidate the natural history of early gastric cancer, we followed up non-concurrently certain patients who had been diagnosed endoscopically as having "early' gastric cancer and who had histological evidence of cancer by biopsy, but on whom surgical resection had been delayed or had not been conducted. At the Center for Adult Diseases, Osaka, 56 cases were eligible for this study. Out of these, 27 cases progressed to advanced cancer and 16 remained at the early stage during the follow-up period (6-88 months, mean: 29 months). The remaining 13 cases had had neither surgical resection nor examinations. The survivorship function for the duration of "early" gastric cancer was estimated by the life-table method of Kaplan and Meier. The median of the duration was estimated as 37 months. The 5-year survival rate of the 34 cases on whom surgical resection had not been conducted was estimated as 64.5%. These results suggest that early diagnosis and early treatment may lead to a reduction of mortality from stomach cancer.