A Case Study of the Relationship between Real Time Drawing of Rainfall Index R’ Calculated Using AMeDAS Data and Sediment-Related Disasters Occurred in July 2018 in SW Japans

In order to predict the site at risk for the occurrence of sediment-related disaster, the author has developed a system in which the value of rainfall index R’ can automatically be calculated and the calculated results are represented as a contour map with interpolated information between AMeDAS stations. Verifying whether the R’ value that calculated in real time using only AMeDAS data has a correlation with the timing and the place of sediment-related disasters occurred caused by the heavy rainfall in July, 2018, it was shown that the contour map of R’ value is sufficiently effective for the prediction of“ time” and“ place” where sediment-related disasters would occur. Under existing circumstances, however, from the viewpoint of the guideline of evacuation, it should be emphasized that we have only a few minutes to judge the danger of landslide disaster on the basis of R’ value alone.

局在化一重項1,3-ジラジカルの反応性に及ぼす窒素原子効果

広島大学(Hiroshima University)博士(理学)Doctor of Sciencedoctora

Case-study of thermo active building systems in Japanese climate

Thermo active building systems (TABS) have been applied in office buildings as a promising energy efficient solution in many European countries. The utilization of building thermal mass helps to provide high quality thermal environments with less energy consumption. However, the concept of TABS is entirely new in Japan. This paper introduces and evaluates TABS under Tokyo weather conditions to clarify the potential of use TABS in Japan. Cooling capacity of thermo active building systems used in an office building was evaluated by means of dynamic simulations. Two central rooms of the office were selected for the analysis. Six water control strategies were studied and two of those were found reasonable and suitable for TABS use in Tokyo. These two strategies are: free-cooling using underground heat exchanger combined with TABS and free-cooling with desiccant dehumidification system. For these two cases, the operative temperature was between 22-27 °C during 97∼99% of the occupation time. The operative temperature drift was less than 4 °C per day. The pump running time was 7 hours per day and the cooling power of the TABS was 36 W/m2 floor area. For those free-cooling cases, the average supply water temperature was 20 °C, which shows that free-cooling is achievable using underground heat exchangers even considering the temperature increase of the ground during cooling season

Apparent Diversity of Igneous Rocks : Distribution of the granitic rocks and characteristic of lithologies

In junior high school, the students learn to observe igneous rocks, including plutonic and volcanic rocks. Igneous rocks exemplified in the textbook are only those of typical specimens. However, rocks, either igneous, sedimentary or metamorphic rocks, observed in the field are sometimes weathered and show various lithologies. In order to make it possible to correctly identify igneous rocks, it is necessary to correctly recognize both their textures and structures and their rock-forming minerals, rather than to learn the rock name and its photo solely on a one-to-one basis. Taking granites as an example, introduced are: (a) the distribution of the main granite bodies observed in Western Japan; (b) their lithologies and (c) their formation ages.本研究はJSPS 科研費JP22300272の助成を受けたものである

Learning context in Earth Science education using “water” as a material : the function of the water in the Energy circulation of the Earth’s surface

It is considered that the current school education is not sufficient to motivate children’s interest and concern and consequently their learning can hardly be proactive. In order to perform motivation of study, it is considered important to understand the meaning of why they should study. For this reason, in the present report, the author has rearranged the knowledge of systematic learning in the meteorological field which is learned during the course of elementary and junior high schools, and has also shown an example of a learning style to continue to expand study along the context, in order to clarify the meaning of learning knowledge.本研究は科学研究費補助金（課題番号：25242015）の助成を受けたものである

Significance of Learning the Diversity of Igneous Rocks: Focus on the identification of granite-like rocks

Igneous rocks are divided by the difference of constituent mineral and texture such as equigranular or porphyritic. In junior high school, it is required to observe the various volcanic and plutonic rocks and to understand that differences in their textures are caused by differences in their formation process. Although students of science teacher training course can correctly identify typical igneous rocks, but they often cannot identify rocks in the boundary region or untypical appearances. This study clarified that the beginners tend to identify igneous rocks based on uncertain features such as color and presence of magnetism rather than the combination of minerals.本研究の一部はJSPS科研費JP17H01980の助成を受けたものです

Predicting Solid–Liquid Equilibrium of Fatty Acid Methyl Ester and Monoglyceride Mixtures as Biodiesel Model Fuels

An erratum to this article is available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11746‐017‐3029‐4.Fatty acid methyl esters from plant oils are the main component of biodiesel and used as a substitute for petroleum diesel. Biodiesel generally contains a small amount of monoglycerides as intermediate compounds, which have high melting points and often solidify and clog fuel filters. The prediction of the cold‐flow property of biodiesel is of great importance for practical application. In this study, a thermodynamic study was conducted for mixtures of monoglycerides and fatty acid methyl esters. Temperatures of the solid–liquid equilibrium for the mixtures were measured by differential scanning calorimetry and visual observation, while the theoretical values were calculated using the modified Universal Quasi‐chemical Functional‐group Activity Coefficients (UNIFAC) model (Dortmund). The theoretical and experimental results were in good agreement, especially for binary mixtures of monoglycerides and methyl esters. The importance of monoglycerides on the cold‐flow properties of biodiesel was determined, and the effects could be well described by the modified UNIFAC model (Dortmund)