Superconductivity by Berry Connection from Many-body Wave Functions: Revisit to Andreev−Saint-James Reflection and Josephson Effect

Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism - Although the standard theory of superconductivity based on the BCS theory is a successful one, several experimental results indicate the necessity...     

Profile control of plastic sheet in an industrial polymer processing process

A control system was developed using a two-degree of freedom control structure with four input variables in the feedforward, and two inputs, the screw rotation speed and the gap of the forming roller, in the feedback loop. The feedforward signals were predetermined from first principles and the operators' heuristic rules for each changeover operation and prepared in a database. At the end of each changeover operation, the values in the database were rewritten by evaluating control performance. The magnitude of the true dead time changed as the production rate was changed. The rate of sampling and control action in the feedback control was adapted in each changeover operation so that the changing time delay was always expressed by a one-sampling-step time delay in the discrete models and dealt with by the controller robustness against parameter uncertainty. The developed control system was applied to an actual industrial plastic sheet production line and allowed one to easily perform the changeover operation and reduce material consumption.     

抗静电预涂钢板的开发

PCM（预涂金属）的涂膜主要由有机树脂（绝缘体）组成，涂膜表面与其它材料（如模具、皮带输送机）摩擦时产生静电，灰尘会粘附在PCM表面。在面涂中加入适当的树脂和添加剂，能抑制与其它材料摩擦所产生的表面静电压，从而防止灰尘的粘附。基于这种想法，开发了抗静电预涂钢板，抑制静电所导致的灰尘粘附。当静电压产生和灰尘粘附时，PCM显示了显著效果。通过选择底涂和预处理，也得到了一种不含铬酸盐型的PCM。希望这种抗静电的PCM将来能广泛应用于各个领域。     

Statistical data analysis method for multi-zonal airflow measurement using multiple kinds of perfluorocarbon tracer gas

Conventional multi-zonal ventilation measurement methods by multiple types of perfluorocarbon tracers use a number of different gases equal to the number of zones (n). The possible n×n+n airflows are estimated from the mass balance of the gases and the airflow balance. However, some airflows may not occur because of inter-zonal geometry, and the introduction of unnecessary, unknown parameters can impair the accuracy of the estimation. Also, various error factors often yield an irrational negative airflow rate. Conventional methods are insufficient for the evaluation of error. This study describes a way of using the least-squares technique to improve the precision of estimation and to evaluate reliability. From the equations’ residual, the error variance–covariance matrix Λ_q of the estimated airflow rate error is deduced. In addition, the coefficient of determinant using the residual sum of squares and total variation is introduced. Furthermore, the error matrix _mΛ_q from the measurement errors in the gas concentration and gas emission rate is deduced. The discrepancy ratio of the model premises is defined by dividing the diagonal elements of the former by those of the latter. Moreover, the index of irrationality of the estimated negative airflow rate is defined, based on the different results of the three estimation methods. Some numerical experiments are also carried out to verify the flow rate estimation and the reliability evaluation theory.     

Acoustic analysis of composite soft materials. I. Characterization of the core and boundary layer from compressibility of core/shell particles dispersed in poly(vinyl chloride)

The sound velocity of butyl acrylate rubber particles modified by poly(methyl methacrylate) in poly(vinyl chloride) was measured as a function of particle concentration. A model for estimating the adiabatic compressibility of the particle and the boundary layer was proposed. From the model, the partial specific adiabatic compressibility of the particles and the rubber core were evaluated. The adiabatic compressibility of the rubber core was estimated as 3.82 × 10⁻¹⁰ Pa⁻¹. The adiabatic compressibility of the poly(methyl methacrylate) shell is discussed based on the modified model. The study indicates that the shell, including the boundary layer between butyl rubber and poly(methyl methacrylate), is perturbed by the butyl acrylate molecules and is so soft as to be comparable to the rubber. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 81: 2089–2094, 2001     

Hotspot analysis of COVID-19 infection using mobile-phone location data

Artificial Life and Robotics - Restrictions on outdoor activities are required to suppress the COVID-19 pandemic. To monitor social risks and control the pandemic through sustainable restrictions,...     

Performance comparison of deep learning architectures for surgical instrument image removal in gastrointestinal endoscopic imaging

Artificial Life and Robotics - Endoscopic images typically contain several artifacts. The artifacts significantly impact image analysis result in computer-aided diagnosis. Convolutional neural...     

Broadbanding of a Planar Antenna with Three Frequency Bands and Its Application

This paper describes a line element planar antenna with three frequency bands. To obtain broadband characteristics, a modified planar antenna that has semielliptical elements based on the characteristics of a line element planar antenna is proposed and analyzed by the finite difference time domain method. Return loss characteristics are discussed as functions of the eccentricity values of semi‐ellipse at each element. The broadbanding of the modified planar antenna is implemented based on the results. The planar antenna with three systems (an 800 MHz band cellular phone, a third‐generation cellular phone, and a 2.4 GHz band wireless LAN system) is considered as an application example.     

The Effect of Ethanol on Disassembly of Amyloid-β1-42 Pentamer Revealed by Atomic Force Microscopy and Gel Electrophoresis

The most common type of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, is associated with senile plaques formed by the filamentous aggregation of hydrophobic amyloid-β (Aβ) in the brains of patients. Small oligomeric assemblies also occur and drugs and chemical compounds that can interact with such assemblies have attracted much attention. However, these compounds need to be solubilized in appropriate solvents, such as ethanol, which may also destabilize their protein structures. As the impact of ethanol on oligomeric Aβ assembly is unknown, we investigated the effect of various concentrations of ethanol (0 to 7.2 M) on Aβ pentameric assemblies (Aβp) by combining blue native-PAGE (BN-PAGE) and ambient air atomic force microscopy (AFM). This approach was proven to be very convenient and reliable for the quantitative analysis of Aβ assembly. The Gaussian analysis of the height histogram obtained from the AFM images was correlated with band intensity on BN-PAGE for the quantitative estimation of Aβp. Our observations indicated up to 1.4 M (8.3%) of added ethanol can be used as a solvent/vehicle without quantitatively affecting Aβ pentamer stability. Higher concentration induced significant destabilization of Aβp and eventually resulted in the complete disassembly of Aβp.