重庆水晶郦城

水晶郦城环境自然、外观简洁、户型独特,是一个高层低密度的经典实例,是对高层创新性的完美演绎,代表了健康住宅的一个新方向。     

Permeability changes in granite with crack growth during immersion in hot water

Permeability tests and observation of induced, as well as inherent, cracks have been carried out to quantitatively explain permeability changes in granite taking place during a weathering test in terms of micro-structure by cracks. To this end, permeability tensors were estimated from observations of crack systems using the Replica Method and of the crack apertures with a scanning electron microscope. The following conclusions were reached: the drastic increase in permeability around an immersion of 1000 d in 90°C water could not be explained by the existence of a percolation threshold because all the specimens were percolative in the sense that the traces of crack tensor were above the critical density for percolation. On the other hand, SEM observation revealed that, with immersion, crack apertures widened and their distribution spread. Permeability estimated using the third (not the first) moment of observed apertures showed the increase in measured permeability well. When evaluating the connectivity parameter λ to give a quantitative accordance between measured and estimated permeability, it had a constant value as low as 0.17, irrespective of the immersion period, in spite of the higher density of micro-cracks than the percolation threshold. It can be said that, in considering the natural three-dimensional crack system, the third moment of physical apertures plays a more important role in predicting the permeability and λ is greatly affected by the spread of crack apertures.     

Development of a method to lower recontamination after chemical decontamination by depositing Pt nano particles: (I) Consideration of the suppression mechanism using a quantum dynamics calculation

The Pt coating (Pt-C) process has been developed to lower the recontamination by radioactive elements after chemical decontamination of piping surfaces. In this process, a layer of fine Pt nano particles is formed in an aqueous solution on the base metal of the piping following the chemical decontamination. In this study, we confirmed that the suppression effect by the Pt-C toward ⁶⁰Co deposition on type 316 stainless steel using a ⁶⁰Co deposition test under hydrogen water chemistry. Furthermore, we investigated the suppression mechanism of deposition of radioactive elements by a quantum molecular simulation. The deposition amounts of ⁶⁰Co which were incorporated in oxides after 1000 h with and without the Pt-C process were about 90 and 10.2 Bq/cm², respectively. The amount of ⁶⁰Co deposition with Pt-C is about 10% that of non-coated specimens. The ⁶⁰Co incorporation for the Pt-C specimen was suppressed by decreasing the formation of oxides. We considered this phenomenon using a quantum dynamics calculation and concluded that the Fe–O bonds in oxides were weakened by the effect of Pt and hydrogen radicals which were produced in the reaction between H₂ and Pt, and then oxides were dissolved into the water.     

Culture characteristics of carotenoid-producing filamentous fungus T-1, and carotenoid production

The culture characteristics, carotenoid production, and associated biosynthetic pathway of strain T-1 were examined. As a result of examining the culture temperature and light irradiation, an increase of neurosporaxanthin and neurosporaxanthin beta-D-glucopyranoside was observed at a low temperature and 0 lx. It was suggested that highly polar carotenoids, such as neurosporaxanthin, and carotenoid glycosides were involved in the stabilization of membrane during nutrition storage other than the defense function of fungus bodies. Strain T-1 produced lycopene, beta-carotene, gamma-carotene, torulene, neurosporaxanthin, and neurosporaxanthin beta-D-glucopyranoside, as assessed by HPLC, LC-MS, and NMR analysis. Carotenoid biosynthesis begins with neurosporene, passing to lycopene and gamma-carotene through cyclization, and produces beta-carotene. In addition, it is saturated, gamma-carotene is converted to torulene, and neurosporaxanthin is produced. Thus, the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway in strain T-1 was estimated.     

New water-soluble metal working fluids additives from phosphonic acid derivatives for aluminum alloy materials

Water-soluble metal working fluids are used for processing of aluminum alloy materials. This short paper describes properties of new additives for water-soluble cutting fluids for aluminum alloy materials. Some alkyldiphosphonic acids were prepared with known method. Amine salts of these phosphonic acids showed anti-corrosion property for aluminum alloy materials. However, they have no hard water tolerance. Monoesters of octylphosphonic acid were prepared by the reaction of octylphosphonic acid dichloride with various alcohols in the presence of triethylamine. Amine salts of monoester of octylphosphonic acid with diethyleneglycol monomethyl ether, ethyleneglycol monomethyl ether and triethyleneglycol monomethyl ether showed both of a good anti-corrosion property for aluminum alloy materials and hard water tolerance.     

Distance measurement between Tyr10 and Met35 in amyloid beta by site-directed spin-labeling ESR spectroscopy: implications for the stronger neurotoxicity of Abeta42 than Abeta40

The neurotoxicity of the 42-mer and 40-mer amyloid beta peptides (Abeta42 and Abeta40) is closely related to the radicalization at both Tyr10 and Met35. Abeta42 is more neurotoxic than Abeta40. Our previous structural analyses of Abeta42 suggested that Tyr10 and Met35 are brought closer together by the turn at positions 22 and 23, and the S-oxidized radical cation at position 35, which is the ultimate toxic radical species, can be produced effectively through oxidation by the phenoxy radical at position 10. To verify this idea, their separation was measured by site-directed spin labeling (MTSSL) by using ESR spectroscopy. Among the three kinds of Abeta42 derivatives, which are doubly or singly spin-labeled at position 10 and 35, only 10,35-MTSSL-Abeta42 showed a clear dipole coupling in continuous-wave ESR; this suggests that the intramolecular spin labels at position 10 and 35 in Abeta42 are located within approximately 15 A. In contrast, 10,35-MTSSL-Abeta40 did not give such signals. The distance between Tyr10 and Met35 in 10,35-MTSSL-Abeta40, which was successfully measured by pulsed ESR spectroscopy was 30 A long. The difference in the distance between Abeta42 and Abeta40 could explain in part the stronger neurotoxicity of Abeta42 compared to Abeta40.     

AI as Complex Information Processing

In this article, I present a software architecture for intelligent agents. The essence of AI is complex information processing. It is impossible, in principle, to process complex information as a whole. We need some partial processing strategy that is still somehow connected to the whole. We also need flexible processing that can adapt to changes in the environment. One of the candidates for both of these is situated reasoning, which makes use of the fact that an agent is in a situation, so it only processes some of the information – the part that is relevant to that situation. The combination of situated reasoning and context reflection leads to the idea of organic programming, which introduces a new building block of programs called a cell. Cells contain situated programs and the combination of cells is controlled by those programs.     

A study on the preparation of supported metal oxide catalysts using JRC-reference catalysts. I. Preparation of a molybdena–alumina catalyst. Part 4. Preparation parameters and impact index

The effects of the volume and pH of the impregnation solution and of the calcination conditions were examined on the physicochemical and catalytic properties of a 13 wt% MoO₃/Al₂O₃ extrudate catalyst. The Al₂O₃ support and drying procedures (static conditions without flowing air) were fixed in the preparations. In the present series of catalysts, the amount of crystalline MoO₃ was marginally small. It was found that the dispersion of Mo oxide species increased as the volume of the impregnation solution increased, gradually approaching a maximum value. The increase in pH (2–8) of the impregnation solution was found to reduce the dispersion of Mo oxide species. The Mo dispersion increased slightly for the impregnation catalysts as the calcination temperature increased (673–873 K), whereas it decreased for the equilibrium adsorption catalysts. The effects of the calcination atmosphere (with or without flowing air, or with flowing humid air) were very small on the dispersion of Mo oxide species under the present preparation conditions. On the other hand, the methanol oxidation activity of MoO₃/Al₂O₃ was sensitive to the preparation parameters examined here. It was demonstrated by means of EPMA and XPS that a considerable migration of Mo took place during the calcination.

In the present study on the preparation of a 13 wt% MoO₃/Al₂O₃ catalyst, an impact index is proposed to measure the magnitude of the effects of the respective parameter(s) on the physicochemical and catalytic properties. With the Mo dispersion, the effects of the preparation parameter decreased in the order, surface area of the support >> drying process > volume of the impregnation solution > pH, calcination temperature and atmosphere. The size of the impact index for the dispersion of Mo sulfide species is 70–75% of that for the Mo oxide species. The HDS activity of the catalyst was less affected by the preparation parameters than the Mo sulfide dispersion. The preparation parameters affected the segregation of Mo on the outer surface of extrudates in a decreasing order: drying process > volume of the impregnation solution > pH, calcination conditions. It was found that the oxidation of methanol was affected most intensely by the drying procedures. The volume of the impregnation solution, calcination conditions and pH of the impregnation solution also strongly affected the oxidation activity. The impact index suggests that the sensitivity to the preparation variables of the physicochemical and catalytic properties of MoO₃/Al₂O₃ decreases in the order, methanol oxidation activity > surface Mo segregation > Mo oxide dispersion > Mo sulfide dispersion > HDS activity.     

Ethanolamine Is a New Anti-Prion Compound

Prion diseases are a group of fatal neurodegenerative disorders caused by accumulation of proteinaceous infectious particles, or prions, which mainly consist of the abnormally folded, amyloidogenic prion protein, designated PrP^Sc. PrP^Sc is produced through conformational conversion of the cellular isoform of prion protein, PrP^C, in the brain. To date, no effective therapies for prion diseases have been developed. In this study, we incidentally noticed that mouse neuroblastoma N2a cells persistently infected with 22L scrapie prions, termed N2aC24L1-3 cells, reduced PrP^Sc levels when cultured in advanced Dulbecco’s modified eagle medium (DMEM) but not in classic DMEM. PrP^C levels remained unchanged in prion-uninfected parent N2aC24 cells cultured in advanced DMEM. These results suggest that advanced DMEM may contain an anti-prion compound(s). We then successfully identified ethanolamine in advanced DMEM has an anti-prion activity. Ethanolamine reduced PrP^Sc levels in N2aC24L1-3 cells, but not PrP^C levels in N2aC24 cells. Also, oral administration of ethanolamine through drinking water delayed prion disease in mice intracerebrally inoculated with RML scrapie prions. These results suggest that ethanolamine could be a new anti-prion compound.     

Teleoperation via computer network

In a teleoperation system, providing force information to a human operator can improve task performance. When a communication block between a master and a slave has a transmission delay, the system is easily destabilized. Anderson and Spong guaranteed passivity in the communication block by using scattering transformation and overcame this instability caused by the time delay. But this method can be applied to the communication block with a constant time delay. In a traditional teleoperation system, its communication block has a constant time delay. But time delay irregularly changes in a computer network because many users share telecommunication lines. This paper shows that the variable time delay destabilizes bilateral master-slave manipulator with scattering transformation and a new compensation method which keeps the time delay constant. This new compensation method has been implemented in a single-axis master-slave manipulator.