Certification criteria in type I ecolabelling related to metals for sustainable materials management

A sustainable materials management for metals should be achieved to conserve resources of metal minerals. For the sustainable materials management, material flows through the whole life cycle of materials have been recognized by material flow analysis (MFA) studies. Former MFA studies pointed out that cyclic use of metals could be enhanced not only by increasing quantity of recovered scrap but also by upgrading quality of the scrap. In general, the quality is degraded by contaminants which commingle at disassembling processes. The mixture of contaminants depends on usage of materials in products. Here, Type I ecolabelling has a potential to convey messages for avoiding mixture of contaminants to the producers of finished products. In this study, on the basis of a survey on existing certification criteria related to metals in the world, a general concept of certification criteria on sustainable materials management for metals in Type I ecolabelling system is proposed. Finally, we propose six criteria in the form of certification criteria in Type I ecolabelling system.     

Evaluation of expected maximum values of forces acting on containers and lashing rods on a container ship

The appearance of a number of large container ships in the 8000 TEU range raises the importance of a plan for container lashing arrangements on deck in relation to the design of the ship. Therefore, it is expected that a new method for evaluating the lashing arrangements on deck will be introduced which is applicable regardless of the ship's size and the lashing pattern, instead of using the standards of several different societies, as happens at present. To evaluate the lashing arrangements on deck, the expected maximum values of the forces acting on the containers and lashing rods should be evaluated. This paper presents a new method of evaluating the container lashing arrangements on a container ship using an "acceleration ellipsoid." The applicability of the acceleration ellipsoid to an evaluation of the expected maximum values of the forces was examined by comparing the expected maximum values of the forces calculated by the long-term distribution calculation known as the "Fukuda method," to those calculated using the acceleration ellipsoid. By comparing these results, it was confirmed that the expected maximum values of the forces calculated using the acceleration ellipsoid were not less than those calculated through by the long-term distribution calculation. It is concluded that the acceleration ellipsoid can be used to evaluate the expected maximum values of the forces acting on containers and lashing rods. Received: December 14, 2000 / Accepted: March 22, 2001     

测量隧道、管道中的结构性运动：光纤测量应变

预测结构性地表沉降引起的地下结构运动是一件非常重要的任务，特别是牵涉到年久的基础设施时（例如砌筑隧道和管道）。我们对这方面的了解还很有限，例如，隧疏王引爱土体运动时，砖衬隧道将如何变化？现在英国剑桥大学工程部的研究人员提出了一种解决方案。     

Applications of a new ecosystem model to study the dynamics of phytoplankton and nutrients in the Ariake Sea,west coast of Kyushu,Japan

In this study, we present the development and application of a new ecosystem model coupled with a hydrodynamic model to describe the important physical, chemical and biological processes of an ecosystem in the marine environment, the Ariake Sea in the west coast of Kyushu, Japan. The model was calibrated and validated using in-situ field measurements from various monitoring stations in the sea. The presented results covered the period from January 1991 to December 2000. The results showed that chlorophyll-a, nutrients and dissolved oxygen levels varied seasonally in response to weather and boundary condition. Through this study, the model was shown to be able to handle the flooding and drying processes that usually exist and play an essential role over the estuarine-tidal flats of the sea.     

Measurements of hydrodynamic forces, surface pressure, and wake for obliquely towed tanker model and uncertainty analysis for CFD validation

This article presents hydrodynamic forces and moments, surface pressures, estimated side force distributions, and wakes under oblique towing conditions for a practical tanker model (model KVLCC2M), which was designed by the Korea Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering (KRISO). Ship offset data is readily available and can be obtained from the Internet. The model ship has no appendages and no rudder. Trim and sinkage were adjusted to zero in the static condition and the model ship was constrained against any motion. Although the drift angle β was primarily set to 0°, 6°, and 12°, other settings were used in some experiments. All experimental results were processed using uncertainty analysis. The uncertainty analyzing method follows the ANSI/ASME Performance Test Code (PTC19.1-1985) and the AIAA Standard S-071-1995. Only a few error components were considered here and they were empirically chosen because they had a heavy weighting when used in the uncertainty calculation. The results of these towing tank experiments will contribute to the development of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) research in ship hydrodynamics.     

Environmental factors which affect growth of Japanese common squid, Todarodes pacificus, analyzed by a bioenergetics model coupled with a lower trophic ecosystem model

Bioenergetics model is applied to Japanese common squid, Todarodes pacificus. The temporal change of wet weight of common squid, which migrates in the Sea of Japan, is simulated. The time dependent horizontal distribution of prey is calculated a priori by 3-D coupled physical–biological model. The biological model NEMURO (North Pacific Ecosystem Model for Understanding Regional Oceanography) is used to simulate the lower-trophic ecosystem including three kinds of zooplankton biomass two of which is used as prey of common squid. A bioenergetics model reproduced appropriate growth curve of common squid, migrating in the North Pacific and the Sea of Japan. The results show that the wet weight of common squid in the northern Sea of Japan is heavier than that migrating in the central Sea of Japan, because prey density of the northern Sea of Japan is higher than that of the central Sea of Japan. We also investigate the wet weight anomaly for a global warming scenario. In this case, wet weight of common squid decreases because water temperature exceeds the optimum temperature for common squid. This result indicates that migration route and spawning area of common squid might change with global warming.     

Prediction of Rain Groove Wandering

Summary A new theory to predict rain groove wandering was proposed in which the effect of pattern geometry, sipes, tread stiffness and pitch length on rain groove wandering could be predicted. The mechanism of rain groove wandering was explained by the residual lateral force generated at the interface of tire and road due to rain groove. The peak to peak value of the residual force F pp was found out as the criteria of rain groove wandering and the correlation of F pp and subjective feeling was 0.9, even though complicated practical patterns were included in this correlation study.     

濑户美浓窑对福建陶瓷的模仿和中日禅僧

12世纪以后的濑户美浓窑是对福建陶瓷的模仿,是福建陶瓷的日本化生产.濑户美浓窑的模仿生产,时间上正值东亚社会的国际局势发生动乱的时期,技术工艺上受福建陶工的直接指导,濑户美浓窑所模仿生产的产品,均为日本饮食文化和茶文化中所需要的器皿.为福建陶瓷工来到濑沪美浓提供方便的是福建和濑户美浓的禅僧以及福建和堺市的海商,而12世纪末期构建起来的福建与堺市的贸易体系基础--东海太平洋禅宗网络的存在使陶工的移动成为可能.     

Financial lessons from Asian experience in constructing and operating high speed train networks

A serious interest in high speed train has been increasing all over the world. However, recent experiences in Asian countries show that high speed rail projects are not financially viable even in areas seemingly favorable to rail operations. Considering the existing intensive highway and airline network, putting public subsidies to high speed rail projects are barely justifiable from a purely economic point of view. What is required of any government which contemplates high speed rail construction as a policy option is to show taxpayers the cost/revenues difference between constructing a high speed rail line and expanding a capacity of other means, before proceeding.