A VQ-based blind image restoration algorithm

Learning-based algorithms for image restoration and blind image restoration are proposed. Such algorithms deviate from the traditional approaches in this area, by utilizing priors that are learned from similar images. Original images and their degraded versions by the known degradation operator (restoration problem) are utilized for designing the VQ codebooks. The codevectors are designed using the blurred images. For each such vector, the high frequency information obtained from the original images is also available. During restoration, the high frequency information of a given degraded image is estimated from its low frequency information based on the codebooks. For the blind restoration problem, a number of codebooks are designed corresponding to various versions of the blurring function. Given a noisy and blurred image, one of the codebooks is chosen based on a similarity measure, therefore providing the identification of the blur. To make the restoration process computationally efficient, the principal component analysis (PCA) and VQ-nearest neighbor approaches are utilized. Simulation results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms.     

Further studies on elastic-plastic stable fracture utilizing the T integral

Herein, the T^* fracture parameter is shown to have relevance to the mechanics of elastic-plastic fracture. Specifically, it is shown to have certain advantages over the currently established plastic fracture parameters such as J and CTOA. Finite element analyses of experimental data were carried out as a means to obtain a comparison of the effectiveness of the plastic fracture parameters. T^* is clearly superior. A note on problems associated with satisfying the plastic incompressibility constraint is also included.     

Microorganisms in landfill bioreactors for accelerated stabilization of solid wastes

Landfill bioreactors (LBRs) with management of leachate and biogas have presented numerous advantages such as accelerated stabilization of solid wastes, reduced amount of leachate, and in situ leachate treatment. Such advantages have minimized environmental risks, have allowed extension of the useful life of the landfill site, and have fostered cost reduction. LBRs of three types have been developed using both anaerobic and aerobic modes: anaerobic, aerobic, and hybrid. Microorganisms in landfills cause various reactions related with organic fractions and heavy metals. Such functions have been stimulated in LBRs by recirculation of leachate with or without aeration. To date, most studies of microorganisms in LBRs have analyzed bacteria and archaea based on 16S rRNA genes and have analyzed fungi based on 18S rRNA genes from a taxonomical viewpoint. Indicator genes for specific functions in LBRs such as nitrification, denitrification, and methane production have also been monitored. The population dynamics of microorganisms in LBRs have been partially clarified, but the obtained data remain limited because of highly heterogeneous features of solid wastes inside LBRs. Systematic monitoring of microorganisms should be established to improve LBR performance.     

基于边界积分方程法的圆弧齿轮强度分析

提出用边界积分方程法(boundary integral equation method,BIEM)进行圆弧齿轮强度分析的设汁方法。在研究中依据弹性理论的柯西型积分,建立适合于各种载荷作用轮齿不同位置的齿轮强度分析数学模型。在理论方程式建模中采用间接式边界积分方程法,以应力函数作为解析对象,直接求解齿轮应力、轮齿刚度变形等。文中方法具有理论公式推导简捷、软件设计容易、使用方便的优点。本研究还进行了软件设计和实例应用解析,并通过与其他方法的结果比较证实本方法正确有效和实用价值。     

改定JASS 5における再生骨材コンクリ一トの規定の概要

日本建築学会建築工事標準仕様書JASS 5鉄筋コンクリート工事が2009年2月に大改定された.今回の改定では、新技術の取込みはもとより、エコセメントや再生骨材コンクリートの節の新設などによる環境配慮への取組みの強化、かぶり厚さなどの規定の検査方法の充実、計画供用期間の級の超長期への対応や耐久性向上にかかわる乾燥収縮率*ヤング係数*許容ひび割れ幅などのコンクリートの品質基準の設定、調合強度の定め方の合理化を目指した構造体強度補正値(S値)の適用の拡大など、きわめて多岐にわたっている.また、水密コンクリートをはじめ特別な仕様のコンクリートについて、より実情に即した形で規定の充実が図られている.この報告は、そのうち、再生骨材コンクリートに関する規定について紹介する.     

Electron-beam doping-electron radiation effects in impurity overlayers and semiconductor substrates

3-9 MeV electrons were used to introduce impurity Ge atoms into Si wafers from Ge sheets, which are in contact with a Si surface at 20-60‡C in water bath. Concentration-dependent diffusivities of ∼10-18-10^-14 cm²sec^-1 for Ge in Si were measured. Activation energies of sputtering yield for Ge and of the diffusivity of Ge in Si are estimated to be ∼0.3 eV and ∼0.58 eV, respectively. In a case of hot (∼250‡C) irradiation in ∼1x10^-3 Torr vacuum, also the similar concentration profiles of impurity atoms in the substrates were observed.     

Influence of Bile Salts on the Permeability Through the Nasal Mucosa of Rabbits of Insulin in Comparison with Dextran Derivatives

The nasal drug absorption and the effect of absorption promoters have been studied in rabbits. Nasal mucosa excised from rabbits was mounted as a flat sheet in an in vitro chamber. The result indicates that the change in the porosity of the membrane by pretreatment with bile salts increased the permeability coefficient of sodium chloride in the nasal membrane. The permeabilities of dextran derivatives were enhanced by pretreatment with sodium glycocholate (GC). The permeability coefficient (P) of fluorescein isothiocyanate diethylaminoethyl dextran     

Composition, distribution, and potential toxicity of organochlorine mixtures in bed sediments of streams

Mixtures of organochlorine compounds have the potential for additive or interactive toxicity to organisms exposed in the stream. This study uses a variety of methods to identify mixtures and a modified concentration-addition approach to estimate their potential toxicity at 845 stream sites across the United States sampled between 1992 and 2001 for organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in bed sediment. Principal-component (PC) analysis identified five PCs that account for 77% of the total variance in 14 organochlorine compounds in the original dataset. The five PCs represent: (1) chlordane-related compounds and dieldrin; (2) p,p′-DDT and its degradates; (3) o,p′-DDT and its degradates; (4) the pesticide degradates oxychlordane and heptachlor epoxide; and (5) PCBs. The PC analysis grouped compounds that have similar chemical structure (such as parent compound and degradate), common origin (in the same technical pesticide mixture), and(or) similar relation of concentrations to land use. For example, the highest concentrations of chlordane compounds and dieldrin occurred at urban sites, reflecting past use of parent pesticides for termite control. Two approaches to characterizing mixtures—PC-based mixtures and unique mixtures—were applied to all 299 samples with a detection of two or more organochlorine compounds. PC-based mixtures are defined by the presence (in the sample) of one or more compounds associated with that PC. Unique mixtures are defined as a specific combination of two or more compounds detected in a sample, regardless of how many other compounds were also detected in that sample. The simplest PC-based mixtures (containing compounds from 1 or 2 PCs) commonly occurred in a variety of land use settings. Complex mixtures (containing compounds from 3 or more PCs) were most common in samples from urban and mixed/urban sites, especially in the Northeast, reflecting high concentrations of multiple chlordane, dieldrin, DDT-related compounds, and(or) PCBs. The most commonly occurring unique mixture (p,p′-DDE, p,p′-DDD) occurred in both simple and complex PC-based mixtures, and at both urban and agricultural sites. Mean Probable Effect Concentration Quotients (PEC-Q) values, which estimate the potential toxicity of organochlorine contaminant mixtures, were highest for complex mixtures. Mean PEC-Q values were highest for urban sites in the Northeast, followed by mixed/urban sites in the Northeast and agricultural sites in cotton growing areas. These results demonstrate that the PEC-Q approach can be used in combination with PC-based and unique mixture analyses to relate potential aquatic toxicity of contaminant mixtures to mixture complexity, land use, and other surrogates for contaminant sources.     

Factors affecting soluble selenium removal by a selenate-reducing bacterium Bacillus sp. SF-1

High concentrations of soluble selenium, selenate and selenite, have acute and chronic toxicity toward living things. With the aim of developing a biological process for selenium removal, the effects of a variety of parameters on the reduction of soluble selenium by a Bacillus sp. strain SF-1, which is capable of reductively transforming selenate into selenite and, subsequently, into nontoxic insoluble elemental selenium, were studied. The bacterial strain could effectively reduce 20 mM of selenate to selenite and 2 mM of selenite to elemental selenium in the presence of an appropriate carbon source and in the absence of oxygen. The reduction rate of selenate to selenite was much higher than that of selenite to elemental selenium, resulting in the transient accumulation of selenite during selenate reduction. The selenate reduction rate increased with increases in the selenate concentration up to 20 mM, while the rate of selenite reduction decreased sharply at selenite concentrations of more than 2 mM. The elemental selenium transformed from selenate via selenite was found both inside and outside the cells. Bacillus sp. SF-1 was able to utilize a variety of organic acids or sugars as a carbon source in selenate reduction. Although the copresence of sulfate did not inhibit selenate reduction, it was completely inhibited by some other oxyanions, including nitrate. A model sequencing batch system using the bacterial strain was developed and exhibited good performance in the treatment of wastewater containing high concentrations of selenate.