Inside or Outside the Pits : Variable Mobility in Conspecific Sea Urchin, Anthocidaris crassispina (A. Agassiz)

The sea urchin Anthocidaris crassispina (A. Agassiz) lives either in small pits or outside the pits on rock surfaces. Difference in movement between individuals living inside and outside the pits was investigated. Sea urchins living inside the pits never moved out of their pits either in summer or winter, or during the day or night, while urchins living outside the pits moved in both seasons, especially during the night. Among urchins living outside the pits, individuals occupying relatively sheltered microhabitats (hollows or edges; see Fig. 1) exhibited less movement than individuals occupying open flats. On transplantation to an open area without pits, some individuals previously occupying the pits showed slight movement. On the other hand, most of the individuals previously outside the pits, when transplanted into an area with many vacant pits, occupied them and showed reduced movement, although neither transplanted groups of individuals adjusted their movement perfectly to their new microhabitats during the observation period. These results suggest that the movement of the sea urchins is, to some extent, flexible and dependent on microhabitats and that they preferred sheltered microhabitats. A morphological and physiological investigation showed that sea urchins inside the pits had similar gut weight (with the content), shorter lateral spines and heavier gonads than sea urchins outside the pits of similar test diameter. The adaptive significance of pit-dwelling in A. crassispina is discussed

Universal scaling for the spin-electricity conversion on surface states of topological insulators

We have investigated spin-electricity conversion on surface states of bulk-insulating topological insulator (TI) materials using a spin pumping technique. The sample structure is Ni-Fe|Cu|TI trilayers, in which magnetic proximity effects on the TI surfaces are negligibly small owing to the inserted Cu layer. Voltage signals produced by the spin-electricity conversion are clearly observed, and enhanced with decreasing temperature in line with the dominated surface transport at lower temperatures. The efficiency of the spin-electricity conversion is greater for TI samples with higher resistivity of bulk states and longer mean free path of surface states, consistent with the surface spin-electricity conversion

Acoustic Hologram Optimisation Using Automatic Differentiation

Acoustic holograms are the keystone of modern acoustics. It encodes three-dimensional acoustic fields in two dimensions, and its quality determine the performance of acoustic systems. Optimisation methods that control only the phase of an acoustic wave are considered inferior to methods that control both the amplitude and phase of the wave. In this paper, we present Diff-PAT, an acoustic hologram optimisation algorithm with automatic differentiation. We demonstrate that our method achieves superior accuracy than conventional methods. The performance of Diff-PAT was evaluated by randomly generating 1000 sets of up to 32 control points for single-sided arrays and single-axis arrays. The improved acoustic hologram can be used in wide range of applications of PATs without introducing any changes to existing systems that control the PATs. In addition, we applied Diff-PAT to acoustic metamaterial and achieved an >8 dB increase in the peak noise-to-signal ratio of acoustic hologram.Comment: 25 pages, 5 figures, manuscrip

Identification and Expression Analysis of Minichromosome Maintenance Proteins in the Silkworm, Bombyx mori

The minichromosome maintenance protein (MCM) family is involved in the regulatory role of DNA replication in eukaryotic organisms. A cDNA encoding of an MCM of the silkworm, Bombyx mori L. (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae), was cloned by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and sequenced. The resultant amino acid sequence and phylogenetic analysis revealed high identity to MCM, and specifically to MCM7, of vertebrates and invertebrates. An RT-PCR showed that the bmMCM7 transcript was present in the ovaries, testes, silk glands, and fat bodies of larval silkworms. Expression plasmids were transformed into competent Escherichia coli and overexpressed. This is the first report on the identification of MCM helicase of the silkworm, B. mori

Effect of Furnish on Temperature and Vapor Pressure Behavior in the Center of Mat Panels during Hot Pressing

Particleboard achieves its overall performance characteristics during hot pressing process. As this process is influenced by several factors, particularly temperature and pressure, it is very important to understand the behavior of both. This study investigates the effects of furnish materials on temperature and vapor pressure behavior inside particleboard mat panels during hot pressing. Strand type particles from hinoki and ring-flaker recycled wood particles were used as furnish for laboratory-scale particleboard panels with a target density of 0.76 g/cm³. Mat panels with a moisture content of about 10% were hot pressed at a platen temperature of 180°C and an initial pressure of 3 MPa until the mat center reached the same temperature as the platen. A press monitoring device (PressMAN Lite) was used for detecting the temperature and vapor pressure change in the center of the mat panels. The study showed that the furnish type affected the temperature and vapor behavior inside the mat panels. Particleboard made of hinoki strand resulted in a longer plateau time, a higher plateau temperature and a higher gas pressure generated during hot pressing than those of ring-flaker recycled wood particles. Mixed board resulted in values between those of the two other furnish materials

Asunto-osakeyhtiöiden odotukset isännöinniltä

Tämän opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena oli perehtyä asunto-osakeyhtiöiden toimintaan sekä isännöintiin ja isännöitsijän tehtäviin ja merkitykseen asunto-osakeyhtiöissä. Opinnäytetyö pohjautuu lainsäädäntöön, alan kirjallisuuteen, artikkeleihin ja julkaisuihin. Opinnäytetyöhön sisältyy kyselytutkimus, jonka tarkoituksena oli selvittää, millaisia odotuksia asunto-osakeyhtiön osakkeenomistajat asettavat isännöinnille ja isännöitsijän toiminnalle. Opinnäytetyöllä ei ole varsinaista toimeksiantajaa, mutta kyselytutkimuksen osalta yhteistyökumppanina toimi valtakunnallinen isännöintiyritys, jolla on konttori Kuopiossa. Kyselyn tulosten perusteella vastaajat odottivat isännöitsijältä eniten taloudellista osaamista sekä riittävää tiedottamista ja viestintää asioista. Myös tekninen osaaminen ja kiinteistön elinkaarihallinta koettiin tärkeiksi. Kyselyn tulosten perusteella voidaan todeta, että isännöitsijän tulisi panostaa tiedottamiseen ja viestintään. Perinteisiin viestintäkanaviin oltiin tyytyväisiä ja vastaajat toivoivat tehokkaampaa viestintää. Vastaajat kokivat myös taloudellisen ja teknisen osaamisen tärkeäksi, joten isännöitsijän tulisi pitää osaamisensa ajan tasalla ja tarvittaessa käyttää apunaan eri alojen asiantuntijoita. Tämä opinnäytetyö voi toimia erityisesti yhteistyökumppaniyrityksen apuna isännöintitoiminnan suunnittelussa ja kehittämisessä, mutta voi myös auttaa muita toimialalla toimivia yrityksiä.The purpose of this thesis was familiarize with working of housing companies and real estate management in housing companies. Thesis is based on legislation, literature, articles and other publications of the industry. In the research of this thesis is handle expectations in housing companies about real estate management. In the research is made by cooperation with the corporation which offers real estate agencies in Kuopio. According to the research economical expertisement, informing and good communication skills are important in the real estate management. Technical expertisement is important, too. The estate manager have to put an effort to develop communication and own expertisement and use consultants if needed. This thesis can help cooperation partner by planning and developing it’s real estate agencies. It gives information about customer’s needs about real estate management