THE UNSOLVED MESSAGES OF PEARL HARBOR

In 1941, the United States Navy intercepted enough Japanese naval messages to predict the attack on Pearl Harbor if the code which protected them had been solved. The messages would have disclosed that, while the Japanese government cynically conducted diplomatic negotiations with the United States, the Japanese Combined Fleet under Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, beginning as early as September 1941, systematically prepared ships, crews, weapons, tactics, and a complicated fuel supply system for the most ambitious operation ever undertaken by the Japanese navy. Details of Japan's intentions were hidden from Navy cryptanalysts because of limited manpower resources and because all Japanese navy codes were assigned a lower priority than Japanese diplomatic codes and German submarine threat.     

Chemical quality and sensory attributes of marinated Pacific saury (Cololabis saira) during vacuum-packaged storage at 4 °C

This study was carried out to evaluate the chemical changes and sensory attributes of Pacific saury (Cololabis saira), brined (12% NaCl brine solution) or marinated (12% NaCl + 2% acetic acid; or 12% NaCl + 3% acetic acid solutions) followed by vacuum-packaging and storage at 4 °C for 90 days. The chemical analysis revealed a significant reduction in the pH value, total volatile bases nitrogen (TVBN), and trimethylamine (TMA) contents in marinated versus brined fillets. Lipid oxidation, as indicated by the 2-thiobarbituric acid (TBA) values, was significantly delayed in marinated fillets in comparison with the brined fillets. The growth rate of psychrotrophic bacteria was significantly (P < 0.05) reduced in marinated versus brined fillets. No significant differences were detected for the sensory attributes between the two marinating conditions although the overall acceptability was significantly higher in marinated versus brined fish. Both conditions of the marinating process resulted in an extension of the shelf life of the product to more than 90 days versus only 60 days for the control brined fillets. The study concluded that marination of Pacific saury can delay the undesirable chemical changes, retard lipid oxidation, improve the sensory attributes and extend the shelf life of the product during refrigerated storage.     

NONLINEAR DYNAMICAL ANALYSIS OF BIFURCATION AND CONFLUENCE OF THE PACIFIC WESTERN BOUNDARY CURRENTS

In this paper, we analyze the bifurcation and the confluence of the Pacific western boundary currents by an analytical approach. Applying the conservation law, the geostrophic balance relation and the Bernoulli integral to a reduced gravity model, we get a quantitative relation for the outflow and the inflow, and establish the related formulae for the width and the veering angle of offshore currents under the inflow condition. Furthermore, a comparison between the volume transport based on the observation data and the analytical value for the Pacific western boundary currents is presented, which validates the theoretical analysis.     

Influence of longitudinal structural connectivity on seismic performance of three-hinged precast arch culverts

The hinge type of precast concrete arch culvert was introduced to Japan from France in the 1990s in consideration of the saving of labor, shortening of the construction period, and high quality control of the concrete members. However, due to the 2011 off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake (March 11, 2011), the three-hinged precast arch culverts that had been constructed in Japan at the beginning of the period when precast arch culverts were firstly introduced, suffered damage, which spoiled their serviceability. According to the extent of the damage and the type of culverts that were damaged, the longitudinal structural connectivity of the culverts was assumed to be one of the possible reasons for the reported damage mechanism. Therefore, the objective of this paper was to clarify how strongly the longitudinal structural connectivity influenced the longitudinal seismic behavior of the three-hinged arch culverts. To achieve this objective, an elasto-plastic finite element analysis was conducted with an analytical model that could capture the characteristics of the damaged culverts. Simultaneously, a penalty method with the bi-linear spring model was applied as a solution to the contact-impact problems of the precast segmental arch members. As a result, it was found that the weaker longitudinal structural connectivity in the damaged culverts allowed the torsional displacements of the arch members to induce critical damage to the arch members, namely, edge defects in the arch crown and concrete foundation. The numerical results proved the unignorable influence of the longitudinal structural connection on the possible damage to three-hinged arch culverts.     

Chilled storage of high pressure and heat-induced gels of blue whithing (Micromesistius poutassou) muscle

 Microbiological, rheological and chemical characteristics were examined in gels made from the muscle of blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou) and subjected to three different combinations of pressure, temperature and time: 200 MPa at 3  °C for 10 min (lot L), 375 MPa at 38  °C for 20 min (lot H) and atmospheric pressure at 37  °C for 30 min followed by 90  °C for 50 min (lot T), and kept in chilled storage for 20 days. The microorganism content dropped at the outset as pressurizing took effect, the highest microbial content being found in lot L; however as the effect was not lethal, the total load increased over the following days. Microbial load was significantly lower in lot T. During chilled storage, the values of breaking deformation, breaking force and cohesiveness of lot L were higher than those of the other lots, although they did decrease with storage. The heat-induced gel was much harder, had greater water-holding capacity and was considerably more stable than the high-pressure-induced gels. The lightness value was higher in lot H than in the other two lots. In general, changes in protein solubility tended towards the cleavage of strong bonds as a result of microbial action. The electrophoretic profiles evolved differently in each of the lots over the chilled storage period. However, all of them exhibited large numbers of bands of lower molecular mass which could have been the result of degradation. This was particularly evident in lot H. The heat-induced gels exhibited a highly porous ultrastructure, quite different from the high-pressure-induced gels; these had a more compact matrix which expanded as storage progressed. Received: 26 May 1997     

The fate of cyanogens during the cooking of cassava in mumu, a traditional oven in Papua New Guinea

Summary Four (Alotau, Mt. Hagen, Goroka, and Rabaul) types of mumu (earth-oven) in Papua New Guinea were evaluated to ascertain their potential to detoxify cassava. The acid hydrolysis method was used for the determination of cyanogens. Each mumu exhibited different detoxification capacity. The loss of cyanogens in the (coconut) creamed cassava dough was lower than in the uncreamed dough. This was more evident when coconut cream–cassava mixture was cooked in boiling water than in a conventional oven set at 180 °C. Certain interactions were suspected to exist between the coconut cream and cyanogens or between the coconut cream and the appropriate enzymes that are responsible for the hydrolysis of the cyanogens. Such interactions resisted the loss of cyanogens and/or their quantification by the analytical method. The results are discussed in the light of nutritional consequences of such interactions, as coconut cream is a popular dietary item in Papua New Guinea (and the South Pacific islands).     

Consumption effects of electricity decarbonization: Evidence from California and the Pacific Northwest

This paper estimates the price-induced impacts of decarbonization policy on CO₂ emissions in California and the Pacific Northwest. We document that retail demands for electricity and natural gas by customer class are highly price-inelastic. Based on the heat rates of natural-gas-fired generation, we find that a 10% electricity rate increase due to electricity decarbonization may not have the consumption effects of further reducing the region’s CO₂ emissions.     

The evolution of hard coal trade in the Pacific market

This article analyses the evolution of hard coal trade in the Asia Pacific region, known as the Pacific market, from the 1980s to the present years. It investigates the development of the trade pattern, the nature of contracts, the price setting, the supply demand and the future of trade.     

亚太地区石油制品需求形势分析

据估算,与2001年相比,2002年亚太地区石油制品需求的增长值为215千桶/天,其中中国的需求增长量占总增长量的65%(与上年相比,中国在2002年的增长值为140千桶/天)。与此同时,尽管由于核电厂问题的影响使得日本更多的开始使用燃料油,但是,日本在石油制品方面的需求仍呈负增长,当年的需求量比起2001年又有减少,减幅达165千桶/天,这对整个亚太地区石油制品需求的增长都产生了负面影响。预计在2003年,日本石油消费市场的低迷形势将有所回升,届时其对石油制品的需求即便不会增长也将不至于继续下跌。这就使得在2003年,亚太地区对石油制品的消费需求可以有进一步增长,年增长率有望回复到相对“正常”的水平上(尽管该值仍低于常规水平),约可达到422千桶/天。从长期来说,中国和印度将成为亚太地区石油制品需求的主要增长国,在2002～2005年,2005～2010年和2010～2015年的三个时期中,他们的需求增长量将占到这一地区需求增长总量34%～37%的比例。与世界其它地区相比,过去的亚太石油消费市场对油价变动并不十分敏感,然而,现在的情况已经今非昔比。由于市场放开,这一地区的消费者远比在5至10年前更能切身的感受到油价变动所带来的影响。因此,正如人们所想象的那样,市场开放后,消费者也开始用行动来抵制高油价,即他们可     

亚太地区多媒体业务发展概况

本文介绍了与多媒体有关的业务近年来在亚太地区国家投资立项、开发、试验、标准化、网络互连等应用的情况，侧重于多媒体业务的工程实施，文中既举例讲述各国的发展动态，还按技术分类作了详细的进展介绍。