Field experiments and new design of a spilled oil tracking autonomous buoy

It is important to forecast the location of oil spills to realize effective and adequate oil spill response operations when huge oil spilsl occur. In order to enhance the accuracy of oil drifting simulations, one needs to obtain the meteorological and oceanographic data around the oil slick. In general, the drifting velocity vector of an oil spill contains a wind velocity vector and a water current velocity vector. SOTAB-II was developed for autonomous tracking of oil slicks drifting on the sea surface. It is equipped with a sail whose size and direction are controllable to drift along with the oil slick autonomously. In addition, SOTAB-II transmits its location and necessary measured data around it to the land base in real-time. The results of field experiments using SOTAB-II with a cylindrical hull brought us the effectiveness of the sail and its control. However, the drifting speed of SOTAB-II was lower than a theoretical speed for the oil slick. In order to overcome this problem, SOTAB-II was redesigned. A yacht shape was adopted to reduce the hydrodynamic drag in the water in the advancing direction. Transverse stability, scales of brake board and sail, maneuverability, and performance of tracking spilled oil on the sea surface were considered in the process of the design.     

Extensive application of TMCP steel plates to ship hulls: 40 kgf/mm class high yield stress steel

A study was performed on TMCP (thermo-mechanical control process) - manufactured high-tensile steel plates with yield point of 40 kgf/mm² (YP40), which were recently developed for use in ship production and whose ease of shop fabrication is almost equal to that of the well-proven ship high-tensile steel plates (HT50) with yield points at 32 and 36 kgf/mm² levels.

The authors' study addressed the performance required of the YP40 TMCP high-tensile steel for ship applications, including strength characteristics of base metal and high-heat-input welded joints, and also shop fabrication methods suitable to this material.     

Distribution of drifting seaweeds in eastern East China Sea

In offshore waters with relatively low primary production, drifting seaweeds composed of Sargassum species form an identical ecosystem such as an oasis in desert. Commercially important pelagic fishes such as jack mackerel (Trachurus japonicus) and yellow tail (Seriola quinqueradiata) spawn in East China Sea pass their juvenile period accompanying drifting seaweeds. Therefore drifting seaweeds are very important not only in offshore ecosystem but also fishery resources. However the distribution of drifting seaweeds in East China Sea has scarcely known. Then we conducted two research cruises of R/V Hakuho–Maru in May 2002 and in March 2004. During the cruises, drifting seaweeds were visually observed from the bridge and sampled with a towing net. The observation revealed that the drifting seaweeds were distributed along the front between the Kuroshio Current and coastal waters and mainly composed of one seaweed species, Sargassum horneri (Turner) C. Agardh from spring to early summer. There are no reports on geographical distribution of this species in the coasts south of southern Kyushu Island in Japan. Kuroshio Current flows northeastward there. Buoys with GPS attached to drifting seaweeds released off Zhejiang Province, China, in March 2005 to track their transport. Their positions monitored by ORBCOM satellite showed that they were transported to the area in East China Sea, where the drifting seaweeds were observed during the cruises, in 2 months. These facts suggest that S. horneri detached from Chinese coast in March or months earlier than March could be transported to fringe area of continental shelf and waters influenced by Kuroshio Current from March to May. Therefore the Sargassum forests, especially S. horneri, along the Chinese coast play a very important role in the ecosystem of the East China Sea as a source of drifting seaweeds.     

Experimental Study of Effects of Travel Time Distribution Information on Dynamic Route Choice Behavior

This study focuses on the possibility that providing travelers with information on travel time distribution, along with the existing travel time information, might affect their decision making and enhance traffic control. As an initial step to confirm the effectiveness of travel time distribution information, we use a laboratory experiment to obtain panel data of route choices when information is provided. The rationality of the behavior of the respondents and the characteristics of the route choice are first analyzed by aggregation analysis and then statistically examined by specifying a mixed logit route choice model. As a result, it is revealed that both travel time information and maximum travel time information significantly affect route choice behavior when a penalty is imposed for late arrival.     

Combustion characteristics of hydrotreated vegetable oil – diesel blend under EGR and supercharged conditions

This paper investigates the effects of Hydrotreated vegetable oil-diesel blend to combustion characteristics under various ambient oxygen concentrations and ambient pressure. Combustion characteristics were investigated using heat release rate analysis, two color method, soot concentration measurement and NOx concentration measurement. The experiments were carried out on a rapid compression expansion machine to simulate the ambient condition of a CI engine at TDC. Synthetic gas with oxygen concentrations of 21 %, 15 % and 10 % were used to simulate EGR conditions. A single hole injector was used with five different fuels: commercial diesel, HVO-commercial diesel blends and HVO. The results showed that increasing HVO blending percentages decreased ignition delay, flame temperature, soot concentration and NOx concentration. Heat release at oxygen concentration of 10 % dramatically dropped due to a shortened ignition delay, which resulted in less combustion. A decreased oxygen concentration from applied EGR conditions not only increased ignition delay, heat release, flame temperature and NO_x concentration, but also increased soot concentration. A combination of EGR and supercharged conditions by increasing ambient pressure and decreasing oxygen concentrations resulted in increased heat release, decreased flame temperature, ignition delay and soot concentration, compared to EGR conditions.     

Three-dimensional hydrostatic modeling of a bay coastal area

This article describes the development of a three-dimensional (3D) multilayer hydrostatic model of tidal motions in the Ariake Sea and its application. The governing equations were derived from 3D Navier-Stokes equations and were solved using the fractional step method, which combines the finite difference method in the horizontal plane and the finite element method in the vertical plane. This study introduced a 3D, time-dependent, hydrostatic, tidal current model that can compute wetting and drying in tidal flats due to tidal motion. The 3D model was first tested against analytical solutions for three standard cases in a rectangular basin in order to investigate the performance of the model. Then, the model was applied to Saigo fishery port and the Ariake Sea. For standard cases, the numerical solutions were almost identical to the analytical solutions. Finally, the model results for Saigo port and the Ariake Sea show good agreement with the field observations.     

EXPRESSION OF PCNA，P53，KI－67，EGFR AND ONCOGEN CerbB－2 IN HUMAN SUPERFICIAL SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA OF ESOPHAGUS

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