A SIMPLE DECISION RULE ON FUZZY EVENTS

Decision making in real problems is done in a fuzzy environment. Thus, Fuzzy-Bayes decision rules have been proposed to cope with a fuzzy state of nature. These decision rules are based on the probability of fuzzy events, or the possibility measure of fuzzy events. Furthermore, a decision rule based on fuzzy utility functions and the possibility distribution of fuzzy events are constructed. However, in these decision rules the fuzziness of the fuzzy expected utility is very big, because these decision rules are based on the extension principle for calculation of the fuzzy expected utility. In this article, avoiding the large fuzziness of the expected utility, we proposed a simple decision rule based on the representation interval of the possibility distributions of fuzzy events and the representation value of the fuzzy utility function. Further, we discuss the application of this simple decision rule to the decision problems, in which the decision maker obtains the one-peak symmetric possibility distribution of a state of nature and the one-peak symmetric membership functions of fuzzy events on a state of nature, by his or her knowledge and his or her belief.     

Functional Improvement of Alginic Acid by Conjugating with β-Lactoglobulin

Two bovine β-lactoglobulin-alginic acid (β-LG-ALG) conjugates were prepared to improve the function of ALG by using water-soluble carbodiimide and the Maillard reaction. Fluorescence studies suggested that the conformation around Trp had been changed in each conjugate and that the surface of each conjugate was covered with polysaccharide chain. Structural analyses with monoclonal antibodies indicated that the conformation around 15Val-29IIe (β -sheet) in each conjugate had changed, while the native structure was maintained around 125Thr-135Lys (α-helix). After conjugating with β -LG, ALG showed retinol-binding and high emulsifying ability. The aggregating property of ALG in acid and in the presence of Ca²⁺ was improved in each conjugate.     

Unified Theory of Electromagnetic Induction and Magnetic Resonant Coupling

The difference between electromagnetic induction and magnetic resonant coupling was pointed out in the first proposal of electromagnetic resonant coupling. However, there was no clear technical comparison between the two methods. Therefore, in this study, five circuits are compared by using a phasor diagram, which is a basic and well‐known method in electric circuit theory. The transition from typical electromagnetic induction to magnetic resonant coupling is shown. The mechanism of the high efficiency and high‐power transfer across a large air gap and displacement is discussed, where the primary‐ and secondary‐side resonant frequencies are the same. From the above discussion, we conclude that when the specific conditions of electromagnetic induction are satisfied, the wireless power transfer can be categorized as electromagnetic resonant coupling. The unified theory of electromagnetic induction and magnetic resonant coupling is verified through experiment.     

Changes of soy protein under ultra-high hydraulic pressure

High pressure (<500 MPa) was applied to soy milk and the protein changes were examined. Soy milk remained a liquid within the range of examined pressures, although its viscosity increased when the time of pressurization was less than 10 min. However, the soy milk changed from a liquid to a sol after treatment at 500 MPa for 30 min. the liquid soy milk showed improved emulsifying activity and stability but reduced emulsifying capacity. Sulfhydryl content of this soy milk was increased slightly after anaerobic pressurization. Harder tofu could be made from pressurized soy milk with CaC1₂ than could be made with unpressurized soy milk. Electrophoresis and isoelectrofocusing revealed that soy proteins were dissociated and some of them coagulated by high pressure. Fluorescence analysis also revealed that soy proteins were modified by high pressure to have larger hydrophobic regions. After pressure treatment, soy milk showed a higher affinity for beany flavour components and saponins which would lead to better use of soy milk in soy foods.     

Method of Shortening Settling Time Using Final State Control for High‐Precision Stage with Decouplable Structure of Fine and Coarse Parts

High‐precision stages require high‐speed and high‐precision control to improve their production throughput and quality. However, their motion speed and accuracy are expected to reach a limit in the near future if the conventional high‐precision stage structure is used. Therefore, the authors designed and fabricated a “catapult stage,” which has a structure that can be decoupled into a fine stage and coarse stage. The catapult stage is different from conventional dual stages in which the fine stage is disturbed by the coarse stage because they contact each other. This paper proposes a novel control system design for the catapult stage and a control method that shortens the settling time by using final state control (FSC). So far, FSC has mainly been used for applications such as hard disk drives, for which the initial states are zero. However, it is important to consider the initial states for the catapult stage because the initial position, velocity, and acceleration of the catapult stage are not equal to zero. Simulations and experiments were performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods.     

Structure and hardness of nanocrystalline silver

Nanocrystalline silver (Ag) was prepared by in situ compacting of ultra-fine silver particles. The structures of as-compacted and annealed specimens were analysed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Vickers microhardness was measured on the specimens. The ultra-fine particles aggregate before compaction. It is found that the nanocrystalline specimens are obtained by the compaction of the aggregates. Microstructure inside the aggregates does not change as the compacting pressure increases from 0.25 to 2.00 GPa. The compacting pressure affects on the structure and density of the boundaries between the aggregates, i.e. the formation of the crack-type defects of about 1 μm at the boundaries. Thermal stability of nanocrystalline Ag is significantly low; grain coarsening starts below 200 °C. However, a nanometre-sized layered structure forms in local regions upon annealing and is stable up to 800 °C. Vickers microhardness of as-compacted specimens increases with increasing compacting pressure. The increase is attributed to the decrease of the number of crack-type defects. Vickers microhardness of nanocrystalline Ag begins to decrease due to grain coarsening upon annealing around 200 °C. The microhardness of nanocrystalline Ag deviates from the HalI–Petch relation. This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Ohmic heating of Japanese white radish Rhaphanus sativus L.

Ohmic heating was applied to Japanese white radish, Rhaphanus sativus L. at 50 Hz-10 kHz and 40 V cm⁻¹ to examine the effects of frequency on the heat generation. Of the frequencies examined, 50 Hz gave the sharpest initial rise of temperature and the shortest time to raise the temperature at the mid-part of radish to 80°C. The heating rates above 60°C were found to be almost the same and linear for all the frequencies. The pressurization (400 MPa, 25°C, for 10 min) of radish eliminated the sharp initial increase of temperature observed at 50 Hz, and gave an almost linear rise of temperature similar to those above 60°C. When radish was treated with a square wave (10 ms with 10 ms interval) of 45 V cm⁻¹ for 30 s, its impedance decreased and never recovered even after storage at room temperature for 20 h. When radish was treated at 50 Hz and 40 V cm⁻¹ until its mid-part reached 30°C, or heated to 80°C in hot water and then cooled to 30°C, ¹H-NMR imaging analysis showed more free movement of liquid components than in untreated radish. These results suggest that the initial rapid heating up at low frequency is caused by the electroporation of radish tissue membrane, resulting in the reduction of its impedance.     

Scaling Law of Coupling Coefficient and Coil Size in Wireless Power Transfer Design via Magnetic Coupling

Wireless Power Transfer (WPT), such as magnetic resonant coupling using a magnetic field, is being studied and discussed for a wide variety of applications. When the transmission distances are large, very large transmitters and receivers need to be considered. However, in the early stages of an investigation, it might be prohibitive to manufacture and evaluate coils of such a large size. To reduce costs and effort, a scaling law can be used to estimate the WPT efficiency of very large coils using the results of smaller coils. In this paper, a scaling law is proposed that relates the coil size to the coupling coefficient, assuming the ratio between the coil diameter and coil length remains constant. The coupling coefficient is one of the parameters that determine the maximum efficiency of magnetic field WPT. The proposed method was verified by an electromagnetic field simulator and experiment. The results of this study provide an easy method for estimating the WPT efficiency of very large coils.     

Transient Study of Synchronous Machine Field Characteristic

The type of excitation systems mainly used for synchronous generators are the static excitation system and the blushless excitation system. In both cases, it is important to estimate the field characteristic. The authors derived about new knowledge of three‐phase sudden short circuit and mismatched synchronizing using the electromagnetic transients program (ATP‐EMTP). This paper studied these phenomena.