Development of the workflow kine systems for support on KAIZEN

In this paper, we introduce the new workflow line system consisted of the location and image recording, which led to the acquisition of workflow information and the analysis display. From the results of workflow line investigation, we considered the anticipated effects and the problems on KAIZEN. Workflow line information included the location information and action contents information. These technologies suggest the viewpoints to help improvement, for example, exclusion of useless movement, the redesign of layout and the review of work procedure. Manufacturing factory, it was clear that there was much movement from the standard operation place and accumulation residence time. The following was shown as a result of this investigation, to be concrete, the efficient layout was suggested by this system. In the case of the hospital, similarly, it is pointed out that the workflow has the problem of layout and setup operations based on the effective movement pattern of the experts. This system could adapt to routine work, including as well as non-routine work. By the development of this system which can fit and adapt to industrial diversification, more effective "visual management" (visualization of work) is expected in the future.     

强化学习型匝道控制模型的研究

高速公路上的交通堵塞造成了道路利用效率低下，并伴随着能源消耗和环境污染问题，因此各种各样的高速公路控制方法应用于缓解交通堵塞。本文提出强化学习型匝道控制模型，该模型以交通流模拟为预测工具，以人工智能的强化学习为最优化选择模型，并具有一定的自主性、有记忆功能和性能反馈功能，且是一种动态的过程。应用JAVA针对不同的交通状态进行模拟再现，模拟结果表明匝道控制模型对于减少交通堵塞具有显著的效果。     

Increasing Childlessness in Germany and Japan: Toward a Childless Society?

Abstract: This paper focuses on childlessness in Germany and Japan and its sociological meanings in family formation in postmodern societies. First, it shows the trends of fertility decline and increasing childlessness, and clarifies the similarities and differences in both countries, by comparing parity composition, educational attainment, and other socioeconomic correlates of childlessness. Second, using the data of attitudinal surveys, such as the 2003 Population Policy Acceptance Study (PPAS) in Germany and the 13th National Fertility Survey (JNFS; 2005) in Japan, the reasons for having no children are observed. Third, referring to the discussions of German scholars, it tries to explain the sociological meanings of childlessness and to describe the development toward a childless society (even if it's demographically not sustainable) as one of the possible consequences of the Second Demographic Transition. Important findings are as follows: (1) In Germany the fertility decline began early in the mid-1960s but in Japan later from mid-1970s so that the increase of childlessness has been a little delayed. The proportion of childless women in Western Germany increased to 28% for the 1967 cohort. In Japan, it has increased to 12.7% for the 1960 cohort, but is expected to reach 30% for the 1970 cohort. (2) The educational gap in childlessness is clearly observed in Germany; however, this is not so simple in Japan. Corresponding with the increase of childlessness, the desired number of children in average is declining. The emergence of a child-free culture is observed in Germany by PPAS, but not yet in Japan by JNFS. (3) Polarization may proceed further in both countries, between childless people and people with many children.     

Estimate of the Number of International Children in Japan, Based on Trends in Intermarriage

Abstract  This paper focuses on international children (that is, children whose parents have different nationalities) in Japanese society. Using statistics on intermarriage in Japan between 1965 and 1990, we project the numbers of such children from 1991 to 2000. The important findings are summarized below:
1. There were estimated 165,000 international children under the age of 21 in Japan as of 1991. The number will increase to 528,000 by the end of the century if the intermarriage rate continues to increase as it has recently, but this will still represent less than 2% of the Japanese population under 21.
2. By the year 2000 roughly 75% of these will be children of foreign mothers, due to the rapid increase in marriages between Japanese grooms and foreign brides.
3. The number of children with dual nationality continues to remain much lower in Japan than advanced countries in Europe, despite concern expressed when the Nationality Law was revised in 1985. The number of children born to international couples in Japan is surprisingly small with respect to the number of international marriages, so a dramatic increase is not likely.     

Risk Assessment of the Carbon Nanotube Group

This study assessed the health risks via inhalation and derived the occupational exposure limit (OEL) for the carbon nanotube (CNT) group rather than individual CNT material. We devised two methods: the integration of the intratracheal instillation (IT) data with the inhalation (IH) data, and the “biaxial approach.” A four‐week IH test and IT test were performed in rats exposed to representative materials to obtain the no observed adverse effect level, based on which the OEL was derived. We used the biaxial approach to conduct a relative toxicity assessment of six types of CNTs. An OEL of 0.03 mg/m³ was selected as the criterion for the CNT group. We proposed that the OEL be limited to 15 years. We adopted adaptive management, in which the values are reviewed whenever new data are obtained. The toxicity level was found to be correlated with the Brunauer‐Emmett‐Teller (BET)‐specific surface area (BET‐SSA) of CNT, suggesting the BET‐SSA to have potential for use in toxicity estimation. We used the published exposure data and measurement results of dustiness tests to compute the risk in relation to particle size at the workplace and showed that controlling micron‐sized respirable particles was of utmost importance. Our genotoxicity studies indicated that CNT did not directly interact with genetic materials. They supported the concept that, even if CNT is genotoxic, it is secondary genotoxicity mediated via a pathway of genotoxic damage resulting from oxidative DNA attack by free radicals generated during CNT‐elicited inflammation. Secondary genotoxicity appears to involve a threshold.     

Shoot growth dynamics and size-dependent shoot fate of a clonal plant,Festuca rubra, in a mountain grassland

The relation of the within-season and between-season patterns of shoot growth were compared in a clonal grass with long-lived shoots,Festuca rubra, in a mown mountain grassland. The growth rate of shoot length from spring to summer in a year was almost constant for each shoot irrespective of spring shoot length each year. The annual shoot growth rate from spring to spring was negatively correlated with the shoot length in the first spring. Shoots of different length and age therefore tended to converge over time to a population of identical shoot size, suggesting an equalizing effect of growth pattern on size structure. Shoot size (shoot length and number of leaves) influenced the fates of shoots. Larger shoots showed an increased incidence of both flowering and formation of intravaginal daughter shoots and a decreased incidence of death in the subsequent time period. The fates of shoots were independent of their age. Although the negatively size-dependent springto-spring annual shoot growth rate acted to decrease shoot size variation, the remaining variation within the shoot population was still sufficient to generate different fates of shoots. These fates were not related to the previous life history of individual shoots. There was a significantly positive effect of the shoot size at initiation on its life expectancy. This was mainly attributable to the positively size-dependent survival rate of shoots in the early stage (<1 year old) of shoot life history. Later on (> 1 year old), shoot size had little effect on the survival rate of shoots. Once small young shoots have survived this early stage (< 1 year old) in life history, they can grow vigorously, little affected by competition regardless of shoot size, and converge to a stable size structure of shoots of similar size. Only shoot size in the early stage ( < 1 year old) of life history is important for the persistence of a shoot population.     

在线超临界流体萃取-超高效液相色谱-光电二极管检测器联用分析胡椒粉中的胡椒碱

本文介绍的联用分析系统是将超临界流体萃取(SFE)系统与超高效液相色谱(UHPLC)系统联用。使用在线SFE-UHPLC系统,可以完成对胡椒粉中胡椒碱成分的高速萃取和分析。整个分析过程包括萃取时间在内只需要7min。将此方法的萃取回收率与其他萃取方法进行比较,SFE方法得到的回收率与其他方法相当。这种在线SFE-UHPLC方法操作简单,分析速度快。这一方法对于分析固体样品中的化合物组分非常有用,可以有效避免繁琐的样品预处理过程。     

Performance measures for asymmetric power loss functions

ABSTRACT

Robust parameter design, known as Taguchi’s design of experiments, are statistical optimization procedures designed to improve the quality of the functionality or quality characteristics of products or processes. In this article, we introduce a new performance measure based on asymmetric power loss functions for positive variables and discuss its applications to robust parameter design.