Cs–Te corrosion depth dependence on distribution of chromium carbide precipitation in high chromium steel

In an attempt to investigate Cs–Te corrosion depth dependence on distribution of chromium carbide precipitation in high chromium steel, Cs–Te corrosion out-pile tests of two 9Cr steels with different distributions of chromium carbide were carried out at 975 K for 100 h, and their corrosion depths were compared. The corrosion is obviously more advanced in a specimen which has grain boundary carbide than in the one that does not. A considerable reason of the result is that the carbide distributed at grain boundaries promoted the corrosion reaction and the corrosion extended along the grain boundary. This is the first case in which the Cs–Te corrosion depth dependence on distribution of chromium carbide precipitation in Fe–Cr steel is clarified experimentally.     

Draft Genome of Tanacetum Coccineum: Genomic Comparison of Closely Related Tanacetum-Family Plants

The plant Tanacetum coccineum (painted daisy) is closely related to Tanacetum cinerariifolium (pyrethrum daisy). However, T. cinerariifolium produces large amounts of pyrethrins, a class of natural insecticides, whereas T. coccineum produces much smaller amounts of these compounds. Thus, comparative genomic analysis is expected to contribute a great deal to investigating the differences in biological defense systems, including pyrethrin biosynthesis. Here, we elucidated the 9.4 Gb draft genome of T. coccineum, consisting of 2,836,647 scaffolds and 103,680 genes. Comparative analyses of the draft genome of T. coccineum and that of T. cinerariifolium, generated in our previous study, revealed distinct features of T. coccineum genes. While the T. coccineum genome contains more numerous ribosome-inactivating protein (RIP)-encoding genes, the number of higher-toxicity type-II RIP-encoding genes is larger in T. cinerariifolium. Furthermore, the number of histidine kinases encoded by the T. coccineum genome is smaller than that of T. cinerariifolium, suggesting a biological correlation with pyrethrin biosynthesis. Moreover, the flanking regions of pyrethrin biosynthesis-related genes are also distinct between these two plants. These results provide clues to the elucidation of species-specific biodefense systems, including the regulatory mechanisms underlying pyrethrin production.     

Simplified flocculation model for inorganic and polymer flocculants

Simulation of the flocculation process using both inorganic and polymer flocculants is very difficult because there are many factors that influence the process. In this study, a model that enables the visual understanding of the qualitative trends of the flocculation system using both inorganic and polymer flocculants is proposed. It is a simplified one-dimensional model that expresses flocculation under various additive manners of the flocculant. Various kinds of thought experiments as well as experimental runs with model flocculants were carried out based on the model; the results demonstrate that the model can express many empirical qualitative trends of flocculation.     

Viscoelastic properties and coating performance of acrylic copolymers crosslinked with melamine resin

For 8 carboxy and hydroxy functional acrylic copolymers crosslinked with melamine resin, glass transition temperature (T_g), molecular weight of chain segments between crosslinked point (M_c), and polymer-solvent interaction parameters (χ_g ) were determined by dynamic mechanical measurements and swelling measurements. T_g increases and M_c decreases with the increase of hydroxyl value and the molecular weight of acrylic copolymers. T_g decreases and M_c increases with the increase of alkyl chain length of acrylate in acrylic copolymers. The film hardness, T_g and polarity of methyl methacrylate (MMA) containing acrylic-melamine-cured films are higher than those of styrene-containing acrylic-melamine-cured films, but both films are almost the same in the degree of crosslinking (maximum loss tangent, tan δ_max, and M_c). T_g increases and M_c decreases with the increase of melamine resin content for acrylic-melamine coatings. The cured film consists of the acrylic-melamine segments and the melamine-melamine segments at crosslinking points. The carboxy group enhances the crosslinking reactions at low temperatures. All films crosslinked have single glass transition temperatures and broad damping peaks, which show good compatibility. The values of χ_g of acrylic copolymer-melamine films in polar and nonpolar solvents depend on the polarity of acrylic composition and the degree of crosslinking. χ_g values of carboxy functional acrylic-melamine film in any solvents are smaller than that of carboxy and hydroxy functional acrylic-melamine film. χ_g values of MMA-containing acrylic-melamine film in polar solvents are smaller than those of styrene-containing acrylic-melamine film, but χ_g values of MMA-containing acrylic-melamine film in nonpolar solvents are larger than those of styrene-containing acrylic-melamine film. χ_g values of acrylic-melamine film in polar and nonpolar solvents increase with the increase of alkyl chain length of acrylate. The χ_g values of acrylic-melamine coatings in toluene are less than 0.3 and smaller than those of alkyd coatings.     

Antioxidant activity of pea bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) extract

Antioxidative activity of pea bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) extract was evaluated by using a linoleic acid system, and the methanol extract exhibited strong antioxidative activity as measured by the thiocyanate method. The crude methanol extract was partitioned between then-butanol phase (BP) and the water phase (WP). Then, the antioxidative activity of the BP and the WP was determined by using a linoleic acid system. The WP showed strong antioxidative activity, while BP showed only weak activity as measured by the thiocyanate method. Next, the synergistic antioxidative action of WP with α-tocopherol was examined by using linoleic acid and liposome systems. The WP had a synergistic effect with α-tocopherol in both the food model and liposome systems. For purification and isolation of the antioxidative substances of the pea bean, preparative high-performance liquid chromatography was carried out with an octadecylsilyl column. Five fractions were collected, and antioxidative activity was determined in a linoleic acid system. Although fraction 1 had strong activity by the thiocyanate method, the purification of this active fraction was difficult; therefore, the partly characterized active fraction was investigated. The contents of total phenolics and sugars were 0.31±0.01 mg/g of fraction 1 and 406.1±0.1 mg/g, respectively. The ninhydrin chromogenic reaction was positive, and the ultraviolet absorption spectral λ max value in distilled water was 264.0 nm, indicating that the water-soluble antioxidative components from pea bean may be a new type of antioxidant. Isolation and identification are currently being investigated.     

Influence of temperature and salinity on microbial structure of marine anammox bacteria

Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) is a type of biological oxidation mediated by a group of Planctomycete-like bacteria. Members of the genus Candidatus Scalindua are mainly found in marine environments, but not exclusively. This group is cultured using different inoculums and conditions; however, its optimal growth conditions are not clear. Additionally, little information is known about the factors that influence the activity and the selection of a population of marine anammox bacteria. This study was conducted to investigate the influence of temperature and salinity on the marine anammox community. To accomplish this, an up-flow fixed-bed column reactor was operated, and quantitative fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with probes specific to dominant marine anammox bacteria was conducted. Anammox activity was observed at 20 and 30 °C, but not at 10 °C. A nitrogen removal rate of 0.32 kg TN m(-3) day(-1) was obtained at 20 °C. These results suggest that temperature affects the activity (nitrogen removal rate) of anammox bacteria, while salinity does not affect the activity in the marine anammox biofilm.     

On the Rainbow Connectivity of Graphs: Complexity and FPT Algorithms

For a graph G=(V,E) and a color set C, let f:E→C be an edge-coloring of G in which two adjacent edges may have the same color. Then, the graph G edge-colored by f is rainbow connected if every two vertices of G have a path in which all edges are assigned distinct colors. Chakraborty et al. defined the problem of determining whether the graph colored by a given edge-coloring is rainbow connected. Chen et al. introduced the vertex-coloring version of the problem as a variant, and we introduce the total-coloring version in this paper. We settle the precise computational complexities of all the three problems with regards to graph diameters, and also characterize these with regards to certain graph classes: cacti, outer planer and series-parallel graphs. We then give FPT algorithms for the three problems on general graphs when parameterized by the number of colors in C; our FPT algorithms imply that all the three problems can be solved in polynomial time for any graph with n vertices if |C|=O(logn).     

CAD/CAM-based force controller using a neural network-based effective stiffness estimator

In industries manufacturing metallic molds, various NC machine tools are used. We have already proposed a desktop NC machine tool with compliance control capability to automatically cope with the finishing process of LED lens molds. The NC machine tool has the ability to control the polishing force acting between an abrasive tool and a work piece. The force control method is called impedance model force control. The most effective gain is the desired damping of the impedance model. Ideally, the desired damping is calculated from the critical damping condition after considering the effective stiffness in the force control system. However, there is a problem in that the effective stiffness of the NC machine tool has undesirable nonlinearity. The nonlinearity has a bad influence on the force control stability. In this article, a fine tuning method of the desired damping is considered using neural networks. The neural networks acquire the nonlinearity of effective stiffness. The promise is evaluated through an experiment.     

Backward movement control with two-trailer truck system using genetic programming

In this paper, we propose a control system using genetic programming (GP) for backward movement control of a two-trailer truck, known as a nonholonomic system. We have already achieved the control of a single trailer using GP. In this study, we aim to design a control system for complex problem of two trailers. In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, it is compared to neuro controller (NC) system evolved by genetic algorithm (GA). This work was presented in part at the 13th International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics, Oita, Japan, January 31–February 2, 2008