Binding of Taurocholate by Pectin in the Presence of Calcium Ions

Binding of taurocholate by pectin was examined in vitro, using low-methoxyl pectin and calcium lactate. Water in calcium pectate gel was partially separated from the gel by filtration through a glass-filter. Taurocholate bound by pectin was calculated after measurement of taurocholate in the filtrate by the UV absorption method. The amount of taurocholate bound by pectin increased linearly with increase in pectin concentration but independent of time. One gram pectin bound a maximum of 6.0 μmole of taurocholate.     

Effect of Axial Slit on Metallic Tube for Wireless Power Transfer via Magnetic Resonance Coupling

Wireless power transfer using a metallic tube with an axial slit was attempted to demonstrate the wireless power transfer using magnetic resonance coupling to the diagnostics infrastructure. The transmission efficiency with variable distance was measured using the transmission and receiver resonators in the tube. Besides, the transmission and receiver resonators were, respectively, set outside and inside the tube. These experiments are carried out in the computational study using FDTD method.     

A new bias-compensating LS method for continuous system identification in the presence of coloured noise

A new bias-compensating least squares (LS) method is presented for the parameter estimation of linear single-input single-output (SISO) continuous-time systems. A discrete-time model obtained by using the linear integral filter is augmented by introducing a pre-filter on the input and then the parameters of the augmented model are estimated by the conventional LS method. The distinct characteristic roots of the pre-filter are used to estimate the bias in the LS estimate. The pre-filter should be chosen so that its frequency bandwidth is wider than those of the system and the input signals. Since the new method requires minimal information on the noise characteristics, it is easily applicable to the case of coloured noise.     

MILK BASIC PROTEIN ENHANCES THE BONE STRENGTH IN OVARIECTOMIZED RATS

We studied the effects of milk basic protein (MBP) on bone metabolism in ovariectomized (OVX) rats. Five‐week‐old female Sprague‐Dawley rats were ovariectomized and fed a low‐calcium diet (0.009% Ca) for 5 weeks. The OVX rats were divided into three experimental groups: Control group (20% casein), MBP‐L group (19.9% casein, 0.1% MBP), and MBP‐H (19% casein, 1% MBP) of six animals. The rats were fed each experimental diet for 3 weeks. The bone breaking strength and energy of femur in the MBP‐H group were significantly higher than those in the control group. The bone breaking energy of femur in the MBP‐L group was also significantly higher than those in the control group. There were no differences in the amount of femoral calcium and phosphorus among the three groups, however, the amounts of femoral proline, hydroxyproline and hydroxylysine (typical amino acids of collagen) in the MBP groups were significantly higher than those in the control group. These data indicate that MBP in the whey protein increases the amount of the bone collagen and enhances the bone strength.     

Single-machine scheduling for minimizing total cost with identical,asymmetrical earliness and tardiness penalties

Costs of flowtime, earliness and tardiness should be incorporated in real production scheduling. This paper constructs a single-machine scheduling model with a common due date to minimize the total cost including an identical, asymmetric earliness-tardiness cost. Several dominance conditions necessary for an optimal schedule are derived. A branch and bound algorithm exploiting the conditions is proposed to find an optimal schedule for an unconstrained version of the scheduling problem. Numerical experiments are demonstrated to show the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

The optimal operation planning of Kanban to minimize the total operation cost†

This paper derives two formulae to calculate the average inventory yielded by fixed interval withdrawal Kanban and supplier Kanban, respectively, in a just-in-time production system. By using the formulae, another two formulae to determine the minimum number of Kanbans to be required for the fixed interval withdrawal Kanban and the supplier Kanban are also shown. An algorithm to obtain the optimal order interval is proposed to minimize the total operation cost composed of the inventory cost and the withdrawal cost for the Kanban system     

Effect of Ionizing Radiation on Sterility and Functional Qualities of Dehydrated Blood Plasma

Effects of irradiation with gamma-rays and electron beams on dehydrated blood plasma as well as heat treatment and fumigation were examined in terms of the sterility and functional properties to compare pasteurization techniques. Fumigation and irradiation reduced microorganisms in dehydrated plasma to less than 10/g, whereas heat treatment (63°C, 30 min) did not reduce microbe count below 1 × 10³/g. Fumigation lowered solubility of plasma proteins and heat treatment decreased emulsifying capacity considerably while gamma-irradiation and electron-irradiation did not significantly affect functional properties. Results indicated irradiation with gamma-rays or electron beams was an efficacious blood plasma pasteurization method.     

A line-scanning semi-confocal multi-photon fluorescence microscope with a simultaneous broadband spectral acquisition and its application to the study of the thylakoid membrane of a cyanobacterium Anabaena PCC7120

We describe the construction and characterization of a laser‐line‐scanning microscope capable of detection of broad fluorescence spectra with a resolution of 1 nm. A near‐infrared femtosecond pulse train at 800 nm was illuminated on a line (one lateral axis, denoted as X axis) in a specimen by a resonant scanning mirror oscillating at 7.9 kHz, and total multi‐photon–induced fluorescence from the linear region was focused on the slit of an imaging polychromator. An electron‐multiplying CCD camera was used to resolve fluorescence of different colours at different horizontal pixels and fluorescence of different spatial positions in a specimen at different vertical pixels. Scanning on the other two axes (Y and Z) was achieved by a closed‐loop controlled sample scanning stage and a piezo‐driven objective actuator. The full widths at half maximum of the point‐spread function of the system were estimated to be 0.39–0.40, 0.33 and 0.56–0.59 μm for the X (lateral axis along the line‐scan), Y (the other lateral axis) and Z axes (the axial direction), respectively, at fluorescence wavelengths between 644 and 690 nm. A biological application of this microscope was demonstrated in a study of the sub‐cellular fluorescence spectra of thylakoid membranes in a cyanobacterium, Anabaena PCC7120. It was found that the fluorescence intensity ratio between chlorophyll molecules mainly of photosystem II and phycobilin molecules of phycobilisome (chlorophyll/phycobilin), in the thylakoid membranes, became lower as one probed deeper inside the cells. This was attributable not to position dependence of re‐absorption or scattering effects, but to an intrinsic change in the local physiological state of the thylakoid membrane, with the help of a transmission spectral measurement of sub‐cellular domains. The efficiency of the new line‐scanning spectromicroscope was estimated in comparison with our own point‐by‐point scanning spectromicroscope. Under typical conditions of observing cyanobacterial cells, the total exposure time became shorter by about 50 times for a constant excitation density. The improvement factor was proportional to the length of the line‐scanned region, as expected.     

Decision analysis for determining the optimum planning horizon in aggregate production planning: Part 2: Difference between planning horizons in weekly and in monthly schedulings

The effects of changing a unit time length of a planning horizon from a month to a week on the optimum planning horizon were examined by calculating the optimum planning horizon through the methods proposed by Nagasawa, Nishiyama, and Hitomi (1982). It was found that the optimum planning horizon decreased by 20-30% in calendar time when the unit time length was changed from a month (monthly scheduling) to a week (weekly scheduling). However, the degree of this decrease was much smaller than the (65% shown by Bernardo (1978 BERNARDO , J. J. , 1978 ], The effect of inventory and production costs on the optimal planning horizon , International Journal of Production Research , 16 , 103 .[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), and it followed that the optimum planning horizon largely increased in the number of periods with this change of the unit time length. It was also clarified that the large amount of the decrease shown by Bernardo was derived on the basis of the erroneous analysis of the relation between cost coefficients and the unit time length. Consequently, weekly scheduling was not always preferred to monthly scheduling     

Permeability and Diffusivity of d-Limonene Vapor in Polymeric Sealant Films

The permeability (P) and Diffusivity (D) of d-limonene vapor in nine polymeric sealant films were measured and compared at a vapor concentration of 0.719 mg/L over the range 25–45°C. The sorption of d-limonene (q_s) was determined by a temperature programmed desorption (TPD) method. Equations to predict P and D for the different films were derived as a function of q_s or temperature (T_mp) of differential scanning calorimeter measured melting points (DSCmp) of the films. Results indicated a tendency of test films with smaller values of q_s and higher T_mp to have higher barriers against loss of d-limonene due to absorption.