Decomposing regional income inequality in China and Indonesia using two-stage nested Theil decomposition method

The objective of this paper is to present an inequality decomposition method, the two-stage nested Theil decomposition method, which is an extension of the ordinary one-stage Theil decomposition method. The method is analogous to a two-stage nested design in the analysis of variance (ANOVA). It considers the three-level hierarchical structure of a country: region-province-district, and decomposes overall regional inequality, as measured by Theil indices based on district-level mean incomes, into three components: the between-region, between-province, and within-province inequality components. The within-province component is a weighted-average of within-province income inequalities for each province, while the between-province component is a weighted-average of between-province income inequalities within each region. The method uses a district as the underlying regional unit to measure regional income inequality, rather than a province, and thus can analyze the contribution of within-province inequalities as well as between-province and between-region inequalities to the overall regional income inequality in a coherent framework. This paper applies the two-stage nested Theil decomposition method to district-level income and population data in China and Indonesia and explores factors determining regional income inequality in China and Indonesia. Received: October 2000/Accepted: June 2002 The author is grateful to the Foundation of International Education (Kokusai Kyoiku Zaidan) and Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research No. 12630073) for their financial support, and to anonymous referees for helpful comments.     

Analysis of degradation in PEMFC caused by cell reversal during air starvation

The damage caused by cell reversal during proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) operation with air starvation was investigated by a single-cell experiment. Samples from degraded membrane–electrode assemblies (MEAs) were characterized. The loss of electrochemical surface area of the cathode platinum was detected by in situ cyclic voltammetry, and platinum sintering was detected by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis. Degradation at the anode was not detected in the chemical analysis of the anode catalyst layer of MEA samples by energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) and TEM. An obvious decrease in the performance of PEMFC was observed in a sample degraded by cell reversal for 120 min.     

Reductive activation of dioxygen: A new concept for the catalytic oxidation

Transition metal–dioxygen complexes, which have been studied intensively in relevance to the active species of oxygenation with dioxygen molecule, are classified according to the extent of electron transfer from the metal center(s) to the O₂ ligand. A new O₂-activation method via a higher valent bis(μ-oxo) dimetal species resulting from extensive electron transfer is proposed on the basis of the results of our bioinorganic studies on the dioxygen complexes supported by the hydrotris(3,5-diisopropylpyrazolyl)borate ligand (Tp^iPr).     

High‐cycle fatigue properties of beta Ti alloy 55Ti–30Nb–10Ta–5Zr,gum metal

This paper describes the fatigue properties of the beta titanium alloy 55Ti–30Nb–10Ta–5Zr, generally referred to as ‘Gum Metal’. Rotating bending fatigue tests have been performed in laboratory air and in a 3% NaCl aqueous solution. The results obtained were compared with those of a conventional beta titanium alloy, Ti–22V–4Al. In tensile tests, 55Ti–30Nb–10Ta–5Zr indicated elasticity and microplasticity in the elastic region. Thus, the elastic modulus slightly decreased with an increasing strain, and the work hardening was minimal during plastic deformation. The mechanical properties of both of the alloys were comparable. The fatigue strength of 55Ti–30Nb–10Ta–5Zr in laboratory air was higher than that of Ti–22V–4Al, which could be attributed to the higher fatigue crack initiation resistance of 55Ti–30Nb–10Ta–5Zr than Ti–22V–4Al, while the resistance to small fatigue crack growth was similar. The fatigue strength of 55Ti–30Nb–10Ta–5Zr in laboratory air and in the 3% NaCl aqueous solution was analogous. In addition, corrosion pits were not observed in the run‐out specimen in the 3% NaCl aqueous solution, indicating a high resistance of 55Ti–30Nb–10Ta–5Zr against corrosion fatigue.     

Survey bacterial isolates from blood samples during 1987-1993 in our department

We analyzed the changes in frequency of bacterial isolates from the blood samples in our department from May 1987 to December 1993. 565 isolates from 4887 samples (11.6%) were detected. Among the detected microorganisms, the rate of gram-positivecocci (GPC) was much higher than the other kinds of the isolates each year. Especially, 80-90% of GPC were occupied by only 2 kinds of microorganisms, coagulase negative Staphylococci (CNS) and S. aureus. Among gram-negative-rods (GNR), constant increase of S. marcescens and transient increase of Enterobacter and P. aeruginosa were recognized. In 30 cases (5.3%), 2-3 kinds of microorganisms were isolated concomitantly, and in 55 cases (9.7%), the microorganisms, which was mainly caused by CNS, S. aureus and Candida, was isolated from both blood samples and the tip of the IVH catheter concomitantly. 42.5% of the bacterial positive cases in 1933 underwent 2 more kinds of the indwelling catheters and 48.3% were administrated antibiotics. Most of the cases had underlying diseases including mainly malignant tumor (leukemia, solid tumor), cerebrovascular diseases, and multiple injuries.     

A simple computer implementation of membrane wrinkle behaviour via a projection technique

A simple computer implementation of membrane wrinkle behaviour is presented within the classical elastic plane stress constitutive model. In the present method, a projection technique is utilized for modelling of the wrinkle mechanisms, in which the total strains in wrinkled membranes are decomposed into elastic and zero‐strain energy parts, and a projection matrix that extracts the elastic parts from the total strains is derived. The resulting modified elasticity matrix that represents the stress–strain relations in wrinkled membranes is thus obtained as product of the classical elasticity matrix and the projection matrix. The modified elasticity matrix is straightforward to implement within the context of the finite element method. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed method. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Gait Phase Measurement System Using Treadmill Motor Current

The article describes the development of a gait phase time-based split-belt treadmill measurement system. Conventional methods of measuring gait phase, such as the foot switch and force plate, require significant preparation and are costly. In this article, we propose a simple, cheap, and accurate gait phase measurement system that utilizes only the treadmill motor current value. Comparison of this algorithm with conventional methods reveals that the proposed algorithm is as accurate as the foot switch. Moreover, the proposed algorithm can estimate stance phase within a 0.2?s error of the measured value of the force plate in most cases (four out of five healthy subjects). This accuracy is higher than that of the foot switch which is widely used in the clinical field.