Classification of handprinted Kanji characters by the structured segment matching method

A method for handprinted Kanji character classificatin is proposed in this paper. After extraction of directional line segments and partitioning of the character frame area, a feature vector that represents the distribution of strokes is generated and is matched with average vectors in a dictionary.     

Prediction of air pollutant concentrations in Tokushima Prefecture,Japan

This paper deals with the prediction problem of air pollutant concentrations over the industrial area of Tokushima Prefecture, Japan. The mathematical model used for the prediction of air pollution, which describes the transport and diffusion of pollutants from stack emissions into the atmosphere, is expressed by the three-dimensional partial differential equation known as the advection diffusion model with initial and boundary conditions. Diffusion coefficients characterizing this model are determined effectively from the statistical processing of the available measured data obtained at two monitoring stations. The measured data of sulpher dioxide concentrations are classified by season, weather and wind speed, and then the identification of these coefficients for each class is carried out by using a line search method because of its numerical stability. The estimation theory is extensively applied to this model for obtaining the useful estimates of the spatial and temporal concentration distributions on the basis of actual measured data, in which the analytical solution of this model is given by using the Green's function under some reasonable assumptions and the suitable transformation. The effectiveness of the proposed approach for the prediction of air pollutant is indicated in simulation results.     

Nanoarchitectonics for Transition‐Metal‐Sulfide‐Based Electrocatalysts for Water Splitting

Heterogenous electrocatalysts based on transition metal sulfides (TMS) are being actively explored in renewable energy research because nanostructured forms support high intrinsic activities for both the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Herein, it is described how researchers are working to improve the performance of TMS‐based materials by manipulating their internal and external nanoarchitectures. A general introduction to the water‐splitting reaction is initially provided to explain the most important parameters in accessing the catalytic performance of nanomaterials catalysts. Later, the general synthetic methods used to prepare TMS‐based materials are explained in order to delve into the various strategies being used to achieve higher electrocatalytic performance in the HER. Complementary strategies can be used to increase the OER performance of TMS, resulting in bifunctional water‐splitting electrocatalysts for both the HER and the OER. Finally, the current challenges and future opportunities of TMS materials in the context of water splitting are summarized. The aim herein is to provide insights gathered in the process of studying TMS, and describe valuable guidelines for engineering other kinds of nanomaterial catalysts for energy conversion and storage technologies.     

Measurement method for dispersion states of filler particles in particulate composite materials by macroscopic permittivity

A new model for estimating macroscopic permittivity was proposed to predict filler particles' dispersion states in a particulate composite material. In the model, the estimation targets are randomly packed composite materials. The composite materials were represented as a cluster of unit cells. A proposed layer structure model connected the unit cells. The macroscopic permittivity was estimated by calculating the synthetic capacity of the cluster. The proposed model was validated by comparisons between estimated and measured macroscopic permittivity of several particulate composite materials. It was also identified that the proposed model could estimate the permittivity more accurately than an existing theoretical equation's one due to considering the effects for the dispersion states of filler particles. Furthermore, it was indicated that the proposed model could also estimate the dispersion states of filler particles by the measured permittivity. The applicability of the method was confirmed by comparisons between estimated and experimental dispersion states of filler particles.     

Effect of microstructure of simulated heat‐affected zone on low‐ to high‐cycle fatigue properties of low‐carbon steels

To clarify the effect of microstructural changes on the fatigue property of the weld heat‐affected zone (HAZ), low‐ to high‐cycle fatigue tests were conducted on 16 types of simulated HAZ specimens that had been prepared using thermal processes. The results showed the fatigue S‐N curves of the HAZ to be widely scattered as a function of strength level. These fatigue data were divided into two groups: coarse grain (CG) and fine grain (FG) HAZ, when strain amplitude was used to represent S‐N curves. The fatigue data for the CGHAZ group showed a relatively short fatigue life. Based on surface observations, the initiated fatigue crack size of CGHAZ was larger than that of FGHAZ as a function of microstructural unit size. Hence, fatigue crack growth life, which is almost the same as total fatigue life of CGHAZ, decreased.     

基于Bootstrap滤波的非线性系统的识别

Bootstrap滤波是一种基于贝叶斯状态估计和蒙特卡罗方法的新的海波方法，相对于经典的卡尔曼滤波而言，它不受状态方程须为线性以及状态与噪声须是高斯分布的限制，具有很强的适应性。对贝叶斯估计及Bootstrap滤波方法在非线性系统识别中的应用进行了分析与数值模拟，计算结果表明了该方法的有效性和实用性。     

Anatomic site‐specific proteomic signatures of gastrointestinal stromal tumors

The gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is the most common mesenchymal malignancy of the gastrointestinal tract. Its clinical course ranges widely from a curable disorder to a highly malignant disease. Although its clinical and molecular characteristics depend on the anatomic site of origin, the molecular background of GIST arising in different anatomical site has not been studied yet. To investigate the proteomic background of GIST, we examined the proteomic features corresponding to the anatomic site of tumor origin. Comparison of the proteomic profile of gastric (23 cases) and small intestinal (9 cases) GIST by 2‐DE revealed 105 protein spots with significantly different intensity (p <0.01) between the two groups. Mass spectrometric study identified 68 distinct proteins for these 105 protein spots, including cancer‐associated ones such as prohibitin, pigment epithelium‐derived factor, and alpha‐actinin 4. The intensity of 37/105 (35.2%) protein spots was significantly concordant with the corresponding mRNA levels (p <0.01). Although both 2‐D DIGE and microarray experiments showed significant up‐regulation of vimentin expression in small intestinal GIST, Western blotting did not show a significant difference between the two groups. In conclusion, our study demonstrates the proteins specially expressed in GIST depending on their site of origin, as well as the unique advantage offered by use of proteomics to acquire such data. The identified proteins may provide clues to understanding the different characteristics of GIST depending on their site of origin.     

Macro-informatics of cognition and its application for design

This paper describes Macro-informatics of cognition that is the guideline for mathematical formulation of macroscopic feature. The macroscopic feature emerges from the total of shape elements, and the feature is important in the styling design. The mathematical formulation of macroscopic feature is difficult using conventional microscopic shape information such as dimension and curvature. In this paper, for formulation of macroscopic feature, the importance of “condition” that is various physical elements in the circumstance is mentioned. Moreover, this paper describes the mathematical formulation of macroscopic feature “complexity,” and its application for design. The formulation consists of curvature integration and multi-resolution representation. In application, shape generation method based on a genetic algorithm is introduced.     

Defluorination-enhanced hydrogen adsorptivity of activated carbon fibers

Fluorinated activated carbon fibers (F-ACFs) were prepared by direct thermal fluorination of pristine activated carbon fibers. By the pyrolysis of F-ACFs at 1073 K under nitrogen gas flow, fluorine was subsequently eliminated and the sp²-bonded ACF structures were recovered. The micropore widths were 1.1 and 0.8 nm, and the isosteric heats of adsorption of nitrogen were 11.3 and 12.8 kJ/mol for pristine and defluorinated ACFs, respectively. These results strongly suggest that changes occurred in the structural properties of micropores in defluorinated ACFs. The hydrogen adsorption isotherms showed that the defluorinated ACFs adsorbed more hydrogen gas than pristine ACFs at 77 K, suggesting that the potential for interaction between hydrogen molecules and the defluorinated slit nanospaces was increased due to the changes in the pore structural properties and/or to the induced polarization of the pore walls making up the modified π-electron systems.