A Two‐Stage Stochastic Mixed‐Integer Programming Approach to the Smart House Scheduling Problem

A “smart house” is a highly energy‐optimized house equipped with photovoltaic (PV) systems, electric battery systems, fuel cell (FC) cogeneration systems, electric vehicles (EVs), and so on. Smart houses are attracting much attention recently because of their enhanced ability to save energy by making full use of renewable energy and by achieving power grid stability despite an increased power draw for installed PV systems. Yet running a smart house's power system, with its multiple power sources and power storages, is no simple task. In this paper, we consider the problem of power scheduling for a smart house with a PV system, an FC cogeneration system, and an EV. We formulate the problem as a mixed‐integer programming problem, and then extend it to a stochastic programming problem involving recourse costs to cope with uncertain electricity demand, heat demand, and PV power generation. Using our method, we seek to achieve the optimal power schedule running at the minimum expected operation cost. We present some results of numerical experiments with data on real‐life demands and PV power generation to show the effectiveness of our method. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 186(4): 48–58, 2014; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.22336     

Experimental study on relationship between heat parameter and angular distortion

It is well known that weld residual stress and distortion should be controlled appropriately for structural integrity. Recently, it has become much more necessary to control weld distortion to highly improve manufacturing efficiency. Various studies on control of weld distortion had been conducted based on clarification of influential dominant factors for that. The influential dominant factors had been studied from a viewpoint of temperature distribution in plate thickness section. Without considering moving the weld heat source, the temperature distribution is controlled by weld heat input (Q_net) per weld length. Angular distortion, which is controlled by temperature distribution along the direction of plate thickness (h), is controlled by heat input parameter (Q_net/h²). However, it has recently become known that the conventional results cannot be applied to all welding processes because such processes are becoming more diversified. It is significant for more accurate control of angular distortion to investigate once again the relationship between the heat input parameter and angular distortion. In this study, a series of experiments on the relationship between heat input parameter and angular distortion are carried out. The effects of welding current and welding speed are investigated individually in both TIG and MAG welding. The difference between these welding methods is also investigated. Based on the result, the effects of them are discussed in relation to temperature distribution during welding. It is considered that angular distortion is affected by temperature distribution not only in plate thickness section but also along welding direction. So, angular distortion is not always controlled by only the conventional heat input parameter because the heat input parameter is proposed as the influential dominant factor for temperature distribution in plate thickness section. It is concluded that generation characteristics of inherent strain should be considered in relation to three-dimensional temperature distributions during welding for more accurate control of angular distortion.     

Source identification of nitrous oxide on autotrophic partial nitrification in a granular sludge reactor

Emission of nitrous oxide (N₂O) during biological wastewater treatment is of growing concern since N₂O is a major stratospheric ozone-depleting substance and an important greenhouse gas. The emission of N₂O from a lab-scale granular sequencing batch reactor (SBR) for partial nitrification (PN) treating synthetic wastewater without organic carbon was therefore determined in this study, because PN process is known to produce more N₂O than conventional nitrification processes. The average N₂O emission rate from the SBR was 0.32 ± 0.17 mg-N L⁻¹ h⁻¹, corresponding to the average emission of N₂O of 0.8 ± 0.4% of the incoming nitrogen load (1.5 ± 0.8% of the converted NH₄⁺). Analysis of dynamic concentration profiles during one cycle of the SBR operation demonstrated that N₂O concentration in off-gas was the highest just after starting aeration whereas N₂O concentration in effluent was gradually increased in the initial 40 min of the aeration period and was decreased thereafter. Isotopomer analysis was conducted to identify the main N₂O production pathway in the reactor during one cycle. The hydroxylamine (NH₂OH) oxidation pathway accounted for 65% of the total N₂O production in the initial phase during one cycle, whereas contribution of the NO₂⁻ reduction pathway to N₂O production was comparable with that of the NH₂OH oxidation pathway in the latter phase. In addition, spatial distributions of bacteria and their activities in single microbial granules taken from the reactor were determined with microsensors and by in situ hybridization. Partial nitrification occurred mainly in the oxic surface layer of the granules and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria were abundant in this layer. N₂O production was also found mainly in the oxic surface layer. Based on these results, although N₂O was produced mainly via NH₂OH oxidation pathway in the autotrophic partial nitrification reactor, N₂O production mechanisms were complex and could involve multiple N₂O production pathways.     

New Natural Pigment Fraction Isolated from Saw Palmetto: Potential for Adjuvant Therapy of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

For the first time, we discovered a small proportion of aqueous fraction from Saw Palmetto apart from the fatty acid-rich fraction exhibited pharmacological activity. Therefore, this study aims to explore the anti-tumor potential of red pigmented aqueous fraction of Saw Palmetto, NYG on human hepatocellular carcinoma and its possible targets. Subcutaneous xenograft and orthotopic implantation models of HCC were used to evaluate the tumor inhibitory effect of NYG. Human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell lines and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were used as in vitro model. The mRNA expression was conducted by qPCR. Protein expression was monitored by immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry. Cell migration and blood vessel formation were determined by chamber assay and tube formation assay, respectively. Significant tumor inhibition of NYG in dose-dependent manner was observed on subcutaneous xenograft and orthotopic HCC model. NYG has no direct action on cell viability or VEGF secretion of HCC cells. However, NYG reduced in vitro migration and vessel formation activities of HUVEC cells, as well as in vivo intratumoral neovascularization. NYG attenuated extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK) activation in endothelial cells, which may be associated with the suppression of migration and tube formation of HUVEC. NYG suppressed tumor expansion of HCC via inhibiting neovascularization, and may be potential adjuvant treatment for HCC.     

Toughening of cyanate ester resin by N‐phenylmaleimide–N‐(p‐hydroxy)phenyl‐maleimide–styrene terpolymers and their hybrid modifiers

N‐Phenylmaleimide–N‐(p‐hydroxy)phenylmaleimide–styrene terpolymer (HPMS), carrying reactive p‐hydroxyphenyl groups, was prepared and used to improve the toughness of cyanate ester resins. Hybrid modifiers composed of N‐phenylmaleimide–styrene copolymer (PMS) and HPMS were also examined for further improvement in toughness. Balanced properties of the modified resins were obtained by using the hybrid modifiers. The morphology of the modified resins depends on HPMS structure, molecular weight and content, and hybrid modifier compositions. The most effective modification of the cyanate ester resin was attained because of the co‐continuous phase structure of the modified resin. Inclusion of the modifier composed of 10 wt% PMS (M_w 136 000 g mol^?1) and 2.5 wt% HPMS (hydroxyphenyl unit 3 mol%, M_w 15 500 g mol^?1) led to 135% increase in the fracture toughness (K_IC) for the modified resin with a slight loss of flexural strength and retention of flexural modulus and glass transition temperature, compared with the values for the unmodified resin. Furthermore, the effect of the curing conditions on the mechanical and thermal properties of the modified resins was examined. The toughening mechanism is discussed in terms of the morphological and dynamic viscoelastic behaviour of the modified cyanate ester resin system. © 2001 Society of Chemical Industry     

Effect of substituting elements on hydrogen uptake for Pd–Rh–H and Pd–Ag–H systems evaluated by magnetic susceptibility measurement

The magnetic susceptibility and the pressure-composition isotherm were measured simultaneously for Pd–Rh–H and Pd–Ag–H systems in order to clarify the effect of Rh or Ag substitution on the hydrogen uptake from viewpoint of the electronic band structure. The magnetic susceptibility of all Pd binary alloys prepared decreased monotonically with increasing hydrogen content. At high hydrogen contents, the magnetic susceptibility became approximately zero for Pd–Rh–H and Pd–Ag–H system, and the hydrogen content at which the magnetic susceptibility gives zero corresponded with the terminal of the plateau region in the isotherm curve. The results indicated that the magnetic susceptibility of hydride phase was almost zero for all Pd binary alloys. On the basis of the band structure of Pd metal, we concluded that atom substitution only affected shift of the energy at Fermi level, and the amount of the hydrogen uptake was dominated by the number of unoccupied d-band in the alloys.     

Wireless Body Area Network Combined with Satellite Communication for Remote Medical and Healthcare Applications

Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) is expected to play an important role in supporting medical and healthcare services with increased convenience and comfort. One main advantage of WBAN is that it enables automatic biosignal collection in real time which is essential in medical treatment and healthcare vigilance. To harmonize with the strong demands from both medical and healthcare societies, and information and communications technology industries, IEEE 802 Standard Committee set up a task group of TG15.6 to develop an IEEE wireless standard on WBAN. In this paper, we first review the main activities of TG15.6 with the updated status. Then, we present a prototype WBAN system that is implemented by using ultra-wideband technology. Multi-hop mechanism is adopted to guarantee reliable connection. Finally, we describe an experimental system that uses the developed WBAN system by combining with satellite communication in supporting remote medical treatment and healthcare. In case of less of medical resources such as in emergency, in rural or isolated areas, such a system is important in sending the corresponding biosignal to a remote hospital in real time to help patient management. The relative delay of WBAN data delivery via satellite is measured which is dependent on the satellite link capacity.     

Electro-mechanical coupling in ionic gels

An ionic-polymer–metal-composite film shows electro-mechanical coupling. When the film is bent, electric current is induced. Measurement of the induced current indicates that the current depends on the speed of bending, but the total amount of the charge transferred across the film is independent of the speed, and depends only on the magnitude of the bending. The result indicates that in addition to previously proposed dynamical coupling effect, there is a static electro-mechanical coupling effect. Mathematical model is proposed to describe this phenomena.     

Comparison of soyasaponin and isoflavone contents between genetically modified (GM) and non-GM soybeans

Soyasaponins and isoflavones are main secondary metabolites in soybeans. In this report we compared the content of secondary metabolites between genetically modified (GM) and non-GM soybeans. Six cultivars/lines of GM and six cultivars/lines of non-GM soybeans were extracted with methanol. Each extract was partitioned with aqueous methanol and hexane and the aqueous methanol fraction was partially purified by HP-20 and LH-20 column chromatography to afford crude soyasaponin and isoflavone fractions. The main A-type soyasaponin, acetylsoyasaponin A1 (AcA1), and the main B-type soyasaponins, soyasaponins I and II (I and II), in the crude fractions were identified by LC/MS analyses with authentic samples. The main isoflavones, daidzin, genistin, daidzein and genistein (DI, GI, DE and GE), in the crude fractions were identified by LC photo-diode array analyses with authentic samples. The contents of AcA1, I and II in the crude soyasaponin fractions and those of DI, GI, DE and GE in the crude isoflavone fractions were analyzed by reversed-phase HPLC. The average contents (mg/100 g) of AcA1, I, II and total of B-type soyasaponins in GM soybeans were 36.4 +/- 24.2, 51.2 +/- 11.8, 26.4 +/- 7.6 and 77.7 +/- 18.5, respectively, and those in non-GM ones were 22.3 +/- 14.7, 46.3 +/- 17.8, 19.8 +/- 9.1 and 65.9 +/- 26.9, respectively. The average contents (mg/100 g) of DI, GI, DE, GE and total isoflavones in GM soybeans were 93.1 +/- 15.5, 121.8 +/- 19.4, 0.073 +/- 0.178, 0.320 +/- 0.082 and 215.3 +/- 33.3, respectively, and those in non-GM ones were 78.8 +/- 34.6, 106.7 +/- 28.3, 2.206 +/- 4.468, 0.822 +/- 0.754 and 188.5 +/- 26.7, respectively. There were no statistically significant differences in soyasaponin and isoflavone contents between GM and non-GM soybeans. Therefore, it was estimated that the GM soybeans are equivalent to the non-GM ones in terms of the composition of the main secondary metabolites.     

Development of mushrooms for thrombosis prevention by protoplast fusion

With thrombosis a major cause of death in Japan and the Western world, thrombin-inhibitory agents that constrain the formation of fibrin are sought. We screened for basidiomycetes showing anti-thrombin activity and isolated Laetiporus sulphureus. However, it was difficult to cultivate and its form was not satisfactory. We therefore used protoplast fusion between L. sulphureus and the commonly cultivated basidiomycete Hypsizygus marmoreaus to obtain cultivable basidiomycetes that produced an anti-thrombin substance. For the protoplast fusion of L. sulphureus and H. marmoreaus, the protoplast concentration, alternating electric field intensity, dielectrophoresis duration, and field pulse intensity used were of 1 x 10(7) protoplasts/ml, 100 V/cm.1 MHz, 60 s, and 8 kV/cm, respectively. The number of regenerated colonies obtained was 4961, from which 43 strains were selected for electrophoretic analysis. Four of the fusants were found to have a band from each parent in isozyme patterns obtained using their crude extract. The fruiting bodies of the fusants were very similar to those of H. marmoreaus. Crude extract from each of the fusants and from L. sulphureus showed anti-coagulative activity in terms of the thrombin clotting time. We thus obtained improved basidiomycetes that produce an anti-thrombin substance, are easily cultivated, and whose form resembles H. marmoreaus, a commonly used culinary mushroom.