On Effects of the Hyogo Earthquake on Household Consumption : A Note

Consumption Insurance, Japanese Households, Earthquake Shocks

Milliwatt-Level Electromagnetic Induction-Type MEMS Air Turbine Generator

In this chapter, an electromagnetic induction-type MEMS air turbine generator that combined with the MEMS technology and the multilayer ceramic technology is proposed. Three types of MEMS air turbine generators that included the different bearing systems, shape of the rotor and shape of the magnetic circuits are discussed to achieve the high output power. In the MEMS air turbine, the purpose is to achieve high-speed rotational motion. As a result of the comparison between the different structures, a rim-type rotor and a miniature ball bearing system showed the high rotational speed than a flat-type rotor and a fluid dynamic bearing system. The maximum rotational speed of the fabricated air turbine was 290,135 rpm. Moreover, it is important to introduce the magnetic flux to the magnetic circuit. By the multilayer ceramic technology, the three-dimensional coil in miniature monolithic structure was fabricated. The magnetic core that was designed to introduce the magnetic flux showed the low magnetic flux loss. The fabricated MEMS air turbine and the multilayer ceramic magnetic circuit were combined, and the miniature electromagnetic induction-type generator was achieved. The output power was 2.41 mVA, when the load resistance and the output voltage were 8 Ω and 139 mV, respectively

Powder Process with Photoresist for Ceramic Electronic Components

This chapter proposed a patterning process for ceramic electronic components. The proposed process uses a photoresist, and it is combined with the photolithography process and the printing process. By using both technologies, a high-aspect-ratio and fine conductive pattern is achieved because the patterned photoresist hold the filling paste during the dry process. Moreover, a different material pattern in a ceramic sheet can be formed simultaneously when the photoresist covers on the ceramic sheet with a through-hole pattern. The examples of the patterning process and the fabricated pattern are shown. The fine conductive pattern was formed by using a liquid photoresist, and the line width and the thickness were 10.3 and 1.85 μm, respectively. In the ceramic pattern, the conductive paste and low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) slurry were filled to the ferrite sheet. As a result, the ceramic sheet that had three different materials was achieved. It realizes the miniature ceramic inductor suppressing the minor loop. However, the photoresist process showed some problems with the fine pattern and the different material pattern. These problems are solved by adjusting the viscosity and the composite ratio of the slurry. The optimization of the type and thickness of the photoresist is required

On the Relationship between Bond\u27s Work Index and Mechanical Properties of Brittle Materials

By a dimensional analysis method, we have obtained the following relationship between the Bond\u27s work index and the mechanical properties of brittle materials. Wi・ρ = 0.623 Y_1^ Sc^ St^ (1-ν_1^2)^ Rc^ Rt^ Where Wi [Kg-cm/kg] is the work index, ρ [kg/cm^3] is the density. Sc [Kg/cm^2] is the compressive strength. St [Kg/cm^2] is the tensile strength, Y_1 [Kg/cm^2] is the Young\u27s modulus, ν_1 [-] is the Poisson\u27s ratio, Rc [-] is the ratio of specific surface area of fractured product to the rod specimen and Rt [-] is the ratio of specific surface area to the spherical specimen, both under slow rate of compressive loading. Dividing Wi calculated from the above equation by 4.05×10^4 Kg-cm/kg, we can obtain Wi having the unit of [kWh/ton]. The above relationship is applicable to materials having the Moh\u27s hardness H=2.0-6.5

Application of the DEM in Simulation of the Media Motion in a Wet Bead Mill

The DEM (Discrete Element Method) technique for simulating the grinding media motion in a wet bead mill has been developed. Additional parameters related to the flow of slurry inside a grinding chamber have been introduced to the standard DEM code. The grinding beads motion was simulated and compared with real motion recorded with a video camera. From the beads motion the specific impact energy of the beads was calculated and compared with the grinding rate constant of a gibbsite powder sample obtained experimentally. It was shown that the correlation between experimental and simulated data makes it possible to predict the grinding performance of the mill for given conditions at the base of the computer simulation.報文Original Pape

A Test of the Full Insurance Hypothesis: The Case of Japan

Exploiting the panel data structure of the Family Income and Expenditure Survey, compiled from 1989 to 1997 by the Japanese Bureau of Statistics, this paper explores how effectively idiosyncratic shocks are shared among consumers in Japan. Tests are conducted for the total consumption, together with each category of consumption expenditures. In addition, the empirical analysis of the paper accounts for the disaster shock caused by the Hyogo Earthquake that took place in January 1995. While the overall empirical results indicate that the full insurance hypothesis is strongly rejected, they suggest that idiosyncratic shocks are insured at least partially. With respect to the effect of the earthquake shock, the residents in the earthquake area indeed bore more shocks than those in other regions. The paper also points out that the extent of risk-sharing among households in Japan is fairly similar to that in the US.

Surgical intervention in middle-ear cholesterol granuloma

Eleven patients who had been surgically treated from 1988 to 1999 were retrospectively reviewed in order to evaluate the efŽcacy of ventilation tube insertion and mastoidectomy with, or without, mastoid obliteration for intractable middle-ear cholesterol granuloma. The mean age registered was 17.2 years at the time of surgical treatment. All cases were unilaterally affected. Five ears were treated with simple mastoidectomy coupled with the insertion of a ventilation tube, while six others had additional mastoid obliteration. The hearing prognosis was excellent with an improved post-operative hearing level of 16.5.dB (cf. pre-operative 37.7.dB). However, morphological prognosis revealed two ears had a residual perforated tympanic membrane without otorrhoea after displacement of the ventilation tube. Of the remaining nine ears with intact placement of the ventilation tube, Žve had dry ears while four had occasional otorrhoea. Although the morphological prognosis was incomplete, treatments involving at least an insertion of a ventilation tube with thorough mastoidectomy were thought to be necessary.</p

Risk factors for cognitive dysfunction after coronary artery bypass graft surgery in patients with type 2 diabetes

ObjectivesThe mechanisms of postoperative cognitive dysfunction in patients with diabetes after coronary artery bypass grafting are not fully understood. We sought to determine which type 2 diabetes–related factors contributed to postoperative cognitive dysfunction at 7 days and 6 months after coronary artery bypass grafting.MethodsOne hundred eighty patients with type 2 diabetes who were scheduled for elective coronary artery bypass grafting were studied. As a control group, 100 patients without diabetes mellitus matched for age, sex, and educational level were examined. Hemodynamic parameters (arterial and jugular venous blood gas values) were measured during cardiopulmonary bypass. All patients underwent a battery of neurologic and neuropsychologic tests the day before surgery, 7 days after surgery, and 6 months after surgery.ResultsAge (odds ratio 1.5, 95% confidence interval 1.3-1.8, P = .03), presence of hypertension (odds ratio 1.8, 95% confidence interval 1.3-2.0, P = .01), jugular venous oxygen saturation less than 50% time (odds ratio 1.5, 95% confidence interval 1.1-2.0, P = .045), presence of ascending aorta atherosclerosis (odds ratio 1.5, 95% confidence interval 1.1-2.6, P = .01), diabetic retinopathy (odds ratio 2.0, 95% confidence interval 1.3-3.0, P = .01), and insulin therapy (odds ratio 2.0, 95% confidence interval 1.3-3.0, P = .05), were associated with cognitive impairment at 7 days. Insulin therapy (odds ratio 2.0, 95% confidence interval 1.3-3.8, P = .01), diabetic retinopathy (odds ratio 1.3, 95% confidence interval 1.2-2.9, P < .01), and hemoglobin A1c (odds ratio 1.9, 95% confidence interval 1.3-3.1, P = .047) were associated with cognitive impairment at 6 postoperative months.ConclusionsInsulin therapy, diabetic retinopathy, and hemoglobin A1c were factors in cognitive impairment at 7 days and 6 months after coronary artery bypass grafting in patients with type 2 diabetes

Gait Generation of Multilegged Robots by using Hardware Artificial Neural Networks

Living organisms can act autonomously because biological neural networks process the environmental information in continuous time. Therefore, living organisms have inspired many applications of autonomous control to small-sized robots. In this chapter, a small-sized robot is controlled by a hardware artificial neural network (ANN) without software programs. Previously, the authors constructed a multilegged walking robot. The link mechanism of the limbs was designed to reduce the number of actuators. The current paper describes the basic characteristics of hardware ANNs that generate the gait for multilegged robots. The pulses emitted by the hardware ANN generate oscillating patterns of electrical activity. The pulse-type hardware ANN model has the basic features of a class II neuron model, which behaves like a resonator. Thus, gait generation by the hardware ANNs mimics the synchronization phenomena in biological neural networks. Consequently, our constructed hardware ANNs can generate multilegged robot gaits without requiring software programs