Fingering behavior of flame spread over solid combustibles

In this study, the fingering pattern formation and the following flamelet spreading over three different kinds of thick combustibles, i.e., Poly methacrylate (PMMA), Poly ethylene (PE) and Poly carbonate (PC) were observed and the effective Lewis number correlation was validated. Experiments were performed with a narrow channel apparatus. In addition to the kinds of solid fuel materials, the channel height and the oxidizer velocity were varied as experimental parameters. An image analysis method was developed to quantify the number, diameter and spread rate of the flamelets. Replacing the fuel thickness into the thermal thickness, the effective Lewis number which is proposed for the smoldering combustion of thin fuel is remedied to include heat transfer perpendicular to the fuel surface. The result validates that the appearance condition of the fingering instability for thick combustibles is determined by the effective Lewis number. Hence, it is concluded that the observed phenomenon is inherently similar to that of smoldering. Further, it is shown that the non-dimensional flame diameter becomes nearly constant when the fingering instability occurs. It is believed that the correlation is useful when one wants to reproduce this phenomenon in a larger scale experiment

The quality of life among persons with severe mental illness enrolled in an assertive community treatment program in Japan: 1-year follow-up and analyses

BACKGROUND: Toward effective community care for persons with severe mental illness and deinstitutionalization in Japan, we assessed the impact of the first trial of an assertive community treatment program on the lives and subjective perceptions of persons with mental illness without closing hospitals. METHODS: Forty-three subjects were enrolled from the newly admitted patients of a hospital, who met our criteria of problematic hospital use, severity of psychiatric disorders, and behavioral problems. The intervention team aimed to intensively support them in various life domains in their communities to decrease clients' admissions. The Quality of Life Interview was administered at baseline and after 12 months. Data were analyzed to assess the pre-post changes in their QOL, and were explained in association with other descriptive variables. RESULTS: The objective changes included increase in persons whose longest residence in a year were in communities, increase in income, and decrease in family contacts. Most subjective items were not changed except the decrease in satisfaction with family relationships. Satisfaction with family relationships was negatively correlated with hospital days at 1 year follow-up after controlling for symptoms, but was not so at baseline. Also, correlation between satisfaction with family relationships and global well-being was attenuated. A change in the positioning of family by clients and the autonomy of clients were suggested. However, previous studies showed that dissatisfaction with family relationships predicted rehospitalizations independently from symptoms, and our findings suggest our subjects' characteristics and a possible improvement in community-based care. CONCLUSION: Our program predominantly fulfilled the primary goal, but it must be further refined to reflect the detailed characteristics of the target population and resource distribution. Assessing subjective perceptions, or the QOL of clients is useful for evaluating the program localization

Identification of principal factors of fabric aesthetics by the evaluation from experts on textiles and from untrained consumers

One of the important end-use performance measures of fabrics and other textile products is the handle, which measures the quality of fabrics as evaluated by reactions obtained not only tactilely but also visually. The well-known Kawabata Evaluation System includes both an objective evaluation and a prediction method of the handle. However, objective evaluations of the handle based on a visual perception of fabric aesthetics have not been investigated systematically. Thus, as the first step of a systematic study, we attempted to carry out a sensory evaluation of fabric aesthetics by experts on textile and untrained consumers using worsted and spun silk woven fabrics, which have different material effect and structural effect. Thereafter, the mean preference scores were examined by factor analysis to identify the principal factors of fabric aesthetics. From the result, it was found that two common factors-'luster and depth sensation' and 'surface roughness sensation'-were identified tentatively as the principal factors of fabric aesthetics.ArticleTEXTILE RESEARCH JOURNAL. 81(12):1216-1225 (2011)journal articl

GIPC-phospholipase D in plants

Previously, we detected an unknown sphingophospholipid in cabbage leaves and identified it as phytoceramide-1-phosphate (PC1P). We also found an enzyme activity that produces PC1P by glycosylinositol phosphoceramide (GIPC)-specific hydrolysis in cabbage leaves. To characterize the GIPC-specific phospholipase D (GIPC-PLD) activity, we investigated distributions of GIPC-PLD activity in 25 tissues of 10 plants. In most plants, the GIPC-PLD activity was the highest in roots. Young leaves of cabbage and Welsh onion had higher activities than corresponding aged outer leaves. The GIPC-PLD activities in leaves, stems and roots of mung bean were higher in the sprouting stage than in more mature stages. We also examined distribution of substrate GIPC and product PC1P, and found that GIPC was ubiquitously distributed at 50-280 nmol/g (wet wt) in tissues of plants, whereas PC1P was detectable (3-60 nmol/g wet wt.) only in tissues showing considerable GIPC-PLD activity. These results suggest a possibility that GIPC-PLD activity is involved in plant growth

New readout and data-acquisition system in an electron-tracking Compton camera for MeV gamma-ray astronomy (SMILE-II)

For MeV gamma-ray astronomy, we have developed an electron-tracking Compton camera (ETCC) as a MeV gamma-ray telescope capable of rejecting the radiation background and attaining the high sensitivity of near 1 mCrab in space. Our ETCC comprises a gaseous time-projection chamber (TPC) with a micro pattern gas detector for tracking recoil electrons and a position-sensitive scintillation camera for detecting scattered gamma rays. After the success of a first balloon experiment in 2006 with a small ETCC (using a 10$\times$10$\times$15 cm$^3$ TPC) for measuring diffuse cosmic and atmospheric sub-MeV gamma rays (Sub-MeV gamma-ray Imaging Loaded-on-balloon Experiment I; SMILE-I), a (30 cm)$^{3}$ medium-sized ETCC was developed to measure MeV gamma-ray spectra from celestial sources, such as the Crab Nebula, with single-day balloon flights (SMILE-II). To achieve this goal, a 100-times-larger detection area compared with that of SMILE-I is required without changing the weight or power consumption of the detector system. In addition, the event rate is also expected to dramatically increase during observation. Here, we describe both the concept and the performance of the new data-acquisition system with this (30 cm)$^{3}$ ETCC to manage 100 times more data while satisfying the severe restrictions regarding the weight and power consumption imposed by a balloon-borne observation. In particular, to improve the detection efficiency of the fine tracks in the TPC from $\sim$10\% to $\sim$100\%, we introduce a new data-handling algorithm in the TPC. Therefore, for efficient management of such large amounts of data, we developed a data-acquisition system with parallel data flow.Comment: 11 pages, 24 figure

Quantitative evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 inactivation using a deep ultraviolet light-emitting diode

Inactivation technology for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is certainly a critical measure to mitigate the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). A deep ultraviolet light-emitting diode (DUV-LED) would be a promising candidate to inactivate SARS-CoV-2, based on the well-known antiviral effects of DUV on microorganisms and viruses. However, due to variations in the inactivation effects across different viruses, quantitative evaluations of the inactivation profile of SARS-CoV-2 by DUV-LED irradiation need to be performed. In the present study, we quantify the irradiation dose of DUV-LED necessary to inactivate SARS-CoV-2. For this purpose, we determined the culture media suitable for the irradiation of SARS-CoV-2 and optimized the irradiation apparatus using commercially available DUV-LEDs that operate at a center wavelength of 265, 280, or 300 nm. Under these conditions, we successfully analyzed the relationship between SARS-CoV-2 infectivity and the irradiation dose of the DUV-LEDs at each wavelength without irrelevant biological effects. In conclusion, total doses of 1.8 mJ/cm2 for 265 nm, 3.0 mJ/cm2 for 280 nm, and 23 mJ/cm2 for 300 nm are required to inactivate 99.9% of SARS-CoV-2. Our results provide quantitative antiviral effects of DUV irradiation on SARS-CoV-2, serving as basic knowledge of inactivation technologies against SARS-CoV-2

Bioorganic synthesis of a recombinant HIV-1 fusion inhibitor, SC35EK, with an N-terminal pyroglutamate capping group.

The bioorganic synthesis of an end-capped anti-HIV peptide from a recombinant protein was investigated. Cyanogen bromide-mediated cleavage of two Met-Gln sites across the target anti-HIV sequence generated an HIV-1 fusion inhibitor (SC35EK) analog bearing an N-terminal pyroglutamate (pGlu) residue and a C-terminal homoserine lactone (Hsl) residue. The end-capped peptide, pGlu-SC35EK-Hsl, had similar bioactivity and biophysical properties to the parent peptide, and an improved resistance to peptidase-mediated degradation was observed compared with the non-end-capped peptide obtained using standard recombinant technology

Hyper-luminous Dust Obscured Galaxies discovered by the Hyper Suprime-Cam on Subaru and WISE

We present the photometric properties of a sample of infrared (IR) bright dust obscured galaxies (DOGs). Combining wide and deep optical images obtained with the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) on the Subaru Telescope and all-sky mid-IR (MIR) images taken with Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), we discovered 48 DOGs with $i - K_\mathrm{s} > 1.2$ and $i - [22] > 7.0$, where $i$, $K_\mathrm{s}$, and [22] represent AB magnitude in the $i$-band, $K_\mathrm{s}$-band, and 22 $\mu$m, respectively, in the GAMA 14hr field ($\sim$ 9 deg$^2$). Among these objects, 31 ($\sim$ 65 %) show power-law spectral energy distributions (SEDs) in the near-IR (NIR) and MIR regime, while the remainder show a NIR bump in their SEDs. Assuming that the redshift distribution for our DOGs sample is Gaussian, with mean and sigma $z$ = 1.99 $\pm$ 0.45, we calculated their total IR luminosity using an empirical relation between 22 $\mu$m luminosity and total IR luminosity. The average value of the total IR luminosity is (3.5 $\pm$ 1.1) $\times$ $10^{13}$ L$_{\odot}$, which classifies them as hyper-luminous infrared galaxies (HyLIRGs). We also derived the total IR luminosity function (LF) and IR luminosity density (LD) for a flux-limited subsample of 18 DOGs with 22 $\mu$m flux greater than 3.0 mJy and with $i$-band magnitude brighter than 24 AB magnitude. The derived space density for this subsample is log $\phi$ = -6.59 $\pm$ 0.11 [Mpc$^{-3}$]. The IR LF for DOGs including data obtained from the literature is well fitted by a double-power law. The derived lower limit for the IR LD for our sample is $\rho_{\mathrm{IR}}$ $\sim$ 3.8 $\times$ 10$^7$ [L$_{\odot}$ Mpc$^{-3}$] and its contributions to the total IR LD, IR LD of all ultra-luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs), and that of all DOGs are $>$ 3 %, $>$ 9 %, and $>$ 15 %, respectively.Comment: 15 pages, 15 figures, and 3 tables, accepted for publication in PASJ (Subaru special issue