Satellite data visualization system for education

It is important for environment protection to monitor changes in the environment by natural and human causes. It is also important to educate the next generation on the importance of the global environment issues. Recently, it has become possible to continually monitor the global environment using various satellite sensor data. But these satellite data are used for highly specialized analysis by experts in such fields, and the data cannot easily be used by non-experts. In this paper, we propose a satellite data visualization system for educational use. In the proposed system, a gray-scale 2-dimensional image is created from the satellite data. Next, a pseudo-color image is created from the gray-scale image to assist the comprehension of the data. A 3-dimensional data representation of the image is also created, to assist the comparison of the individual data. The aim of the created image is for educational use, and the image is created with emphasis on comprehension of the data, rather than presentation of data details. The aim of the proposed system is presenting the satellite data visually so that non-experts can easily understand. The target of this research is to apply the proposed system for natural science education and to improve the awareness of global environmental issues.     

Preparation of bismuth nanowire encased in quartz template for Hall measurements using focused ion beam processing

ABSTRACT: Forming electrodes on opposite sides of an individual bismuth nanowire was attempted to prepare for Hall measurements. Although a 1-mm-long bismuth nanowire which is completely covered with a quartz template has been successfully fabricated to prevent oxidation, it is very difficult to attach Hall electrodes on the opposite sides of the nanowire due to the quartz covering. One side of the cylindrical quartz template was removed by polishing without exposure of the nanowire to the atmosphere; the thickness between the polished template surface and the nanowire was estimated to be several micrometers. Focused ion beam processing was successfully employed to expose both surfaces of the nanowire under high vacuum by removing part of the quartz template. A carbon thin film was then deposited in situ on the wire surface to fabricate an electrical contact on the bismuth nanowire sample. Furthermore, the energy dispersive X-ray analysis was performed to the area processed by focused ion beam, and the bismuth component of the nanowire was successfully detected. It was confirmed that the focused ion beam processing was applicable to attach electrodes to bismuth nanowire for Hall measurement.     

How to identify water from thickener aqueous solutions by touch

Water detection is one of the most crucial psychological processes for many animals. However, nobody knows the perception mechanism of water through our tactile sense. In the present study, we found that a characteristic frictional stimulus with large acceleration is one of the cues to differentiate water from water contaminated with thickener. When subjects applied small amounts of water to a glass plate, strong stick-slip phenomena with a friction force of 0.46 ± 0.30 N and a vertical force of 0.57 ± 0.36 N were observed at the skin surface, as shown in previous studies. Surprisingly, periodic shears with acceleration seven times greater than gravitational acceleration occurred during the application process. Finite-element analyses predicted that these strong stimuli could activate tactile receptors: Meissner''s corpuscle and Pacinians. When such stimuli were applied to the fingertips by an ultrasonic vibrator, a water-like tactile texture was perceived by some subjects, even though no liquid was present between the fingertip and the vibrator surface. These findings could potentially be applied in the following areas: materials science, information technology, medical treatment and entertainment.     

Measurement of Flow Stress in Supercooled Austenite for High Hardenability Steel

In this article, the isothermal flow stress in supercooled austenite was measured for a high hardenability steel. Supercooled austenite forms at the nonequilibrium phase and changes into other phases within a short time. It was confirmed that conventional tensile tests, which require maintaining a constant temperature before stretching, cannot accurately measure the flow stress in supercooled austenite. Therefore, a new tensile test named “the continuous cooling tensile test” was developed. In this test, stretching is conducted during continuous cooling. In the continuous cooling tensile test, the flow stress between 673 K and 973 K (400 °C and 700 °C) was measured. Microscopic observations of the continuous cooling test results verified that the microstructures were supercooled austenite.     

Characterization of Proteoglycan and Hyaluronan in Hot Water Extract from Salmon Cartilage

Salmon cartilage proteoglycan fractions have recently gained favor as ingredients of functional food and cosmetics. An optimal hot water method to extract proteoglycan from salmon cartilage has recently been developed. The extracted cartilage includes hyaluronan and collagen in addition to proteoglycan as counterparts that interact with each other. In this study, biochemical analyses and atomic force microscopical analysis revealed global molecular images of proteoglycan in the hot water extract. More than seventy percent of proteoglycans in this extract maintained their whole native structures. Hyaluronan purified from the hot water extract showed a distribution with high molecular weight similar to hyaluronan considered to be native hyaluronan in cartilage. The current data is evidence of the quality of this hot water cartilage extract.     

Sieving of aerosol particles with metal screens

Metal screens with uniform micrometer-sized opening were employed to sieve aerosol particles by suppressing the adhesion of particles smaller than the openings. The collection efficiencies of monodispersed polystyrene latex (PSL) particles were experimentally determined using the metal screens with 1.2, 1.8, 2.5, and 4.2 μm openings at various filtration velocities. The particles smaller than the mesh opening adhered on the metal screen at a low filtration velocity, but the bounce-off of particles on the mesh surface suppressed the adhesion at a high velocity. As a result, we found that the adhesion of PSL particles larger than 0.3 μm mostly suppressed at a filtration velocity higher than 10 m s^?1 and therefore we can sieve aerosol particles according to the opening size of metal screens. We also found that the particle number concentration could be determined by measuring the increase in pressure drop since the clogging of metal screen openings takes place by the individual particles.

© 2016 American Association for Aerosol Research     

Magnetovolume effects in manganese nitrides with antiperovskite structure

Magnetostructural correlations in antiperovskite manganese nitrides were investigated systematically for stoichiometric and solid solution Mn₃Cu_1?xA_xN (A = Co, Ni, Zn, Ga, Ge, Rh, Pd, Ag, In, Sn or Sb). This class of nitrides is attracting great attention because of their giant negative thermal expansion, which is achieved by doping Ge or Sn into the A site as a relaxant of the sharp volume contraction on heating (spontaneous volume magnetostriction ω_s) because of the magnetovolume effects. The physical background of large ω_s and mechanism of how the volume contraction becomes gradual with temperature are central concerns for the physics and applications of these nitrides. An entire dataset of thermal expansion, crystal structure and magnetization demonstrates that the cubic triangular antiferromagnetic state is crucial for large ω_s. The intimate relationship between ω_s and the magnetic structure is discussed in terms of geometrical frustration related to the Mn₆N octahedron and magnetic stress concept. The results presented herein also show that ω_s depends on the number of d electrons in the A atom, suggesting the important role of the d orbitals of the A atom. Not all the dopants in the A site, but the elements that disturb the cubic triangular antiferromagnetic state, are effective in broadening the volume change. This fact suggests that instability neighboring the phase boundary is related to the broadening. The relation between the gradual volume change and the local structure anomaly is suggested by recent microprobe studies.     

To react or not to react? Intrinsic stochasticity of human control in virtual stick balancing

Understanding how humans control unstable systems is central to many research problems, with applications ranging from quiet standing to aircraft landing. Increasingly, much evidence appears in favour of event-driven control hypothesis: human operators only start actively controlling the system when the discrepancy between the current and desired system states becomes large enough. The event-driven models based on the concept of threshold can explain many features of the experimentally observed dynamics. However, much still remains unclear about the dynamics of human-controlled systems, which likely indicates that humans use more intricate control mechanisms. This paper argues that control activation in humans may be not threshold-driven, but instead intrinsically stochastic, noise-driven. Specifically, we suggest that control activation stems from stochastic interplay between the operator''s need to keep the controlled system near the goal state, on the one hand, and the tendency to postpone interrupting the system dynamics, on the other hand. We propose a model capturing this interplay and show that it matches the experimental data on human balancing of virtual overdamped stick. Our results illuminate that the noise-driven activation mechanism plays a crucial role at least in the considered task, and, hypothetically, in a broad range of human-controlled processes.     

Recent Developments in Iron‐Making Technologies in Japan

The environment surrounding the iron and steel industry has changed greatly. This paper describes the technology adopted by the Japanese iron and steel industry to cope with changes in global demand, changes in the availability of coal and iron ore resources, correspondence to the extension of plant life, and energy conservation. In addition, efforts to reduce the amount of exhausted CO₂ due to environmental concerns are discussed.