Analysis of Reusability using ‘Marginal Reuse Rate’

While reuse is an effective lifecycle option in terms of reduction of environmental loads and value of reutilization, reuse has inherent difficulties. Our naive question is why component reuse of home appliances seems impossible while that of photocopiers succeeded. This paper clarifies an essential factor for successful reuse; that is, the balance between supply and demand of reusables, and proposes an index named ‘marginal reuse rate,’ which indicates upper limit of reusability. By using this index, reusability of several products is analyzed. The marginal reuse rate indicates that design of lifecycle, in addition to product design, is indispensable for successful reuse.     

Multi-level,multi-objective optimization in process engineering

This paper presents a method for feasible decomposition applicable to large-scale, non-linear, multi-objective problems. The method, comprising a multi-level problem formulation and an interactive algorithm, has distinct advantages for dealing with real-world multi-objective optimization which is carried out by hierarchically arranged units of decision-making. The method is illustrated by its application to the optimal design of a water use and treatment process system.     

Correction of color information of a 3D model using a range intensity image

Most active optical range sensors record, simultaneously with the range image, the amount of light reflected at each measured surface location: this information forms what is called a range intensity image, also known as a reflectance image. This paper proposes a method that uses this type of image for the correction of the color information of a textured 3D model. This color information is usually obtained from color images acquired using a digital camera. The lighting condition for the color images are usually not controlled, thus this color information may not be accurate. On the other hand, the illumination condition for the range intensity image is known since it is obtained from a controlled lighting and observation configuration, as required for the purpose of active optical range measurement. The paper describes a method for combining the two sources of information, towards the goal of compensating for a reference range intensity image is first obtained by considering factors such as sensor properties, or distance and relative surface orientation of the measured surface. The color image of the corresponding surface portion is then corrected using this reference range intensity image. A B-spline interpolation technique is applied to reduce the noise of range intensity images. Finally, a method for the estimation of the illumination color is applied to compensate for the light source color. Experiments show the effectiveness of the correction method using range intensity images.     

A 950-MHz rectifier circuit for sensor network tags with 10-m distance

This paper presents a 950-MHz wireless power transmission system and a high-sensitivity rectifier circuit for ubiquitous sensor network tags. The wireless power transmission offers a battery-life-free sensor tag by recharging the output power of a base station into a secondary battery implemented with the tag. For realizing the system, a high-sensitivity rectifier with dynamic gate-drain biasing has been developed in a 0.3-/spl mu/m CMOS process. The measurement results show that the proposed rectifier can recharge a 1.2-V secondary battery over -14-dBm input RF power at a power conversion efficiency of 1.2%. In the proposed wireless system, this sensitivity corresponds to 10-m distance communication at 4-W output power from a base station.     

Development of “STORK”, a watermelon-harvesting robot

Recently, the production of heavy fruit and vegetables has been decreasing in Japan because strenuous labor is require to harvest them. A robot would allow them to be harvested more easily. We have developed the robot “STORK” to harvest watermelons. STORK has a low mass and a long working range. The position accuracy and repeatability of the manipulator, the required vacuum, and the allowance for position error of the vacuum pad were tested.     

Poly(4-diphenylaminostyrene) with a well-defined polymer chain structure: Controllable optical and electrical properties

The effect of polymer chain structure on the optical and electrical properties are reported for poly(4-diphenylaminostyrene) (PDAS), which was prepared by the living anionic polymerization of 4-diphenylaminostyrene (DAS) with the benzyllithium (BzLi)/N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylethylenediamine (TMEDA) system. The optical properties of PDAS are strongly affected by the stereoregularity of the PDAS polymer chain; intramolecular excimer-forming fluorescence was observed from PDAS with a syndiotactic-rich configuration. The highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy levels of PDAS were approximately −5.4 and −2.0 eV, respectively, regardless of the polymer chain structure. The hole and electron drift mobilities for PDAS were in the order of 10⁻⁴ to 10⁻⁵ (cm²/V s) and 10⁻⁵ (cm²/V s), respectively, with negative slopes. The distance of each triphenylamino (TPA) group in the polymer chain was a major factor influencing the drift mobility of PDAS. The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of PDAS were controllable according to the polymer chain structure of PDAS.     

A Quasi-ARMAX approach to modelling of non-linear systems

This paper proposes a class of quasi-ARMAX models for non-linear systems. Similar to ordinary non-linear ARMAX models, the quasi-ARMAX models are flexible black-box models, but they have various linearity properties similar to those of linear ARMAX models. A modelling scheme is introduced to construct models consisting of two parts: a macro-part and a kernel-part. By using Taylor expansion and other mathematical transformation techniques, it is first constructed as a class of quasi-ARMAX interfaces (macro-parts) that have various linearity properties but contain some complicated coefficients. MIMO neurofuzzy models (kernel-parts) are then introduced to represent the complicated coefficients. It is shown that the proposed quasi-ARMAX models have both good approximation ability and some easy-to-use properties. The proposed models have been successfully applied to prediction, fault detection and adaptive control of non-linear systems.     

Effect of CNTs on Activation Volume and Mobile Dislocation Exhaustion Rate of CNTs/Al under Compression Loading

In this study, stress relaxation compression tests were performed to investigate the strain rate sensitivity, activation volume and mobile dislocations in carbon nanotubes/aluminum (CNTs/Al) composites. The results reveal that, with the addition of CNTs, the strain rate sensitivity of CNTs/Al increased. Meanwhile, a smaller V^* of CNTs/Al compared with pure Al was attributed mainly to the CNT-Al interfaces and partly to the increased forest dislocations cutting activities in grain interior, which was related to the tendency of short ranges order formation during plastic deformation. The incorporation of CNTs also improved the dislocation storage capability and reduced the dislocation velocity, leading to a lower mobile dislocation exhaustion rate.     

Immobilization of alkaline phosphatase on magnetic particles by site-specific and covalent cross-linking catalyzed by microbial transglutaminase

Bacterial alkaline phosphatase (BAP) was site-specifically and covalently immobilized on magnetic particles (MPs) using the enzymatic reaction of microbial transglutaminase (MTG). Immobilization efficiency was affected by the chemical surface treatment of MPs and immobilized BAP exhibited more than 90% of the initial activity after 10 rounds of recycling.