Design and enhancement of painting interface for room lights

We propose a novel painting interface that enables users to design an illumination distribution for a real room using an array of computer-controlled lights. Users specify which area of the room is to be well-lit and which is to be dark by painting a target illumination distribution on a tablet device displaying the image obtained by a camera mounted in the room. The painting result is overlaid on the camera image as contour lines of the target illumination intensity. The system then runs an optimization to calculate light parameters to deliver the requested illumination condition. We implemented a GPU-based parallel search to achieve real-time processing. In our system, we used actuated lights that can change the lighting direction to generate the requested illumination condition more faithfully than static lights. We built a miniature-scale experimental environment and ran a user study to compare our method with a standard direct manipulation method using sliders. The results showed that the users preferred our method for informal light control.     

Phase-shifting interferometry with equal phase steps by use of a frequency-tunable diode laser and a Fabry-Perot cavity

A phase-shifting interferometry (PSI) with equal phase steps by use of a frequency-tunable diode laser and a Fabry-Perot cavity is proposed for the Carré algorithm. The measurement accuracy of the Carré algorithm depends on the equality of the phase steps. Using the Fabry-Perot cavity as a highly stable optical frequency reference, a high degree of phase step equality can be realized in PSI with an optical frequency shift. Our experimental scheme realizes an optical frequency step equality higher than 5.1 x 10(-5) and a measurement repeatability of lambda/800.     

Concentration quenching of a red emitting electroluminescent dye tetraphenylporphyrin: A time-resolved photoluminescence study

This work deals with the steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence study of a well-known red emitting electroluminescent dye, tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP), doped in poly(methylmethacrylate). From the time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) study, exponential decay of TPP emission was observed for these doped films in the studied concentrations region (10~mol/L). At lower doping concentrations below 10 mol/L, PL lifetimes of TPP were relatively constant (∼ 10 ns) and equal to that of TPP in dilute solution. A decrease in PL lifetime was observed at high doping concentration, down to 8 ns at a concentration of 10 mol/L. This observed decrease in PL lifetime of TPP with the increase of TPP concentration was due to the concentration quenching of TPP monomer emission by the TPP dimer/aggregate sites formed at such higher concentrations. The results of concentration quenching in TPP system were compared to that of tetraphenylchlorin system reported earlier.     

Röntgenographisehe und metallographische Untersuchungen an einem Stahl unterschiedlicher Korngröße unter Wechselbelastung

Dauerschwinguntersuchungen an Flachproben eines unlegierten Stahles mit 0,10% C und unterschiedlicher Korngröße some mit und ohne Gitterstörungen der Oberflächenkristallite. Ermittlung der Wähler- und Schadenslinie sowie der Grenzlinie der Verformungsspuren. Röntgenographisehe und metallographische Untersuchungen an biegewechselbeanspruchten Flachproben zur Bestimmung von Änderungen des Kristallit- und Gefügezustandes.     

Restriction of Flaviviruses by an Interferon-Stimulated Gene SHFL/C19orf66

Flaviviruses (the genus Flavivirus of the Flaviviridae family) include many arthropod-borne viruses, often causing life-threatening diseases in humans, such as hemorrhaging and encephalitis. Although the flaviviruses have a significant clinical impact, it has become apparent that flavivirus replication is restricted by cellular factors induced by the interferon (IFN) response, which are called IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs). SHFL (shiftless antiviral inhibitor of ribosomal frameshifting) is a novel ISG that inhibits dengue virus (DENV), West Nile virus (WNV), Zika virus (ZIKV), and Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) infections. Interestingly, SHFL functions as a broad-spectrum antiviral factor exhibiting suppressive activity against various types of RNA and DNA viruses. In this review, we summarize the current understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which SHFL inhibits flavivirus infection and discuss the molecular basis of the inhibitory mechanism using a predicted tertiary structure of SHFL generated by the program AlphaFold2.     

Development of a long‐life three‐phase flywheel UPS using an electrolytic capacitorless converter/inverter

A long‐life three‐phase flywheel (FW) uninterruptible power supply (UPS) using an electrolytic capacitorless converter/inverter and a transformerless isolating system rating of 200 V and 5 kW–1min is described. The UPS has the following characteristics: (1) electrolytic capacitorless converter/inverter configuration for long life and smaller size (2) transformerless isolating system to realize small size and correct weight (3) batteryless system for maintenance‐free long life of about 20 years The electrolytic capacitorless converter/inverter has a small‐film capacitor value of 1/50 times of a conventional one. The converter/inverter is controlled by a current and voltage follow‐up method using PWM control. Charging and discharging abilities of the FW energy is achieved only by controlling the instantaneous slip frequency of the induction machine. The UPS has obtained excellent test results, such as an input power factor of 99.8%, a small output voltage distortion of 1.03%, and 93.8% efficiency at full load. © 1999 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 127(3): 25–32, 1999     

Comparison of enrichment procedures for isolation of Escherichia coli O157:H7 from ground beef and radish sprouts

Enrichment procedures using Tryptic soy broth (TSB), modified TSB (mTSB), modified E. coli broth with novobiocin (mEC+n), mTSB (without novobiocin) with vancomycin, cefixime and cefsulodin (mTSB-VCC), or TSB with cefixime, tellurite and vancomycin (TSB-CTV) were evaluated by determining the rate of successful isolation of fifteen Escherichia coli O157:H7 strains from inoculated broth containing ground beef or radish sprout extract. E. coli O157:H7 tended to be isolated more efficiently after enrichment with TSB, mTSB and mEC+n than with the other broths. In order to identify the most efficient enrichmemt condition using these broths, E. coli O157:H7 were inoculated into 25 g ground beef or radish sprouts, which were then homogenized in 225 ml broth and incubated static at 37°C or 42°C for 6 h or 18 h. Attempts were made to isolate the inoculated bacteria by plating method in combination with the immunomagnetic separation method. The most effective enrichment condition was incubation in mTSB or mEC+n at 42°C for 18 h for ground beef, and in mEC+n at 42°C for 18 h for radish sprouts.     

O(2)-stable membrane-bound [NiFe]hydrogenase from a newly isolated Citrobacter sp. S-77

Hydrogenases are of great interest due to their potential use in H(2)-based technology. However, most hydrogenases are highly sensitive to O(2), which have been the major bottleneck in hydrogenase studies. Here we report an O(2)-stable membrane-bound [NiFe]hydrogenase (MBH) purified from a newly isolated strain, S-77. According to the 16S rRNA gene sequence and phylogenetic analysis of the strain S-77, it belongs to the genus of Citrobacter. In vitro experiments using the cytoplasmic membrane of strain S-77 suggested that a cytochrome b acts as the physiological electron acceptor of the MBH. The purified MBH was composed of a dimer of heterodimers, consisting of two distinct subunits with the molecular weights of 58.5 and 38.5?kDa. The enzyme showed a specific activity for H(2)-oxidation of 661U/mg, which is 35-fold greater than that for H(2)-production of 18.7U/mg. Notably, the MBH showed a remarkable O(2)-stability, maintaining almost 95% of its original activity even after incubation for 30?h in air at 4°C. These results suggest that the O(2)-stable MBH may play an important role in the H(2)-metabolic pathway under the aerobic conditions of Citrobacter sp. S-77. This is the first report of the purification and biochemical characterization of an O(2)-stable MBH from the genus of Citrobacter.