Publications

Evaluating the seismic stability of a rock slope typically involves searching for the minimum value of calculated safety factors (SF) for each supposed sliding block. Because only the transient equilibrium is evaluated, the likelihood of any slope failure can be deemed negligible if all the calculated SFs are greater than unity. However, even if some of the calculated SF are less than unity, it cannot be assumed that all such slopes will collapse. Recently, in the wake of extremely large earthquakes in Japan, the design earthquake standards for nuclear power plants (NPP) have been extended. After the experience of the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake, the designer is expected to consider beyond design basis earthquakes to determine whether more can reasonably be done to reduce the potential for damage, especially where major consequences may ensue (IAEA, 2011). With this in mind, the method employed to evaluate the seismic performance of the slopes surrounding an NPP needs to be capable of doing more than determing the likelihood of failure: it must also to consider the process toward failure in the event of an earthquake beyond the design basis. In this paper, a detailed study of formations of a sliding surface was conducted by using a series of model shaking table tests, and then some issues to be considered toward inplementation of a new evaluation method on seismic performance of a slope are indicated.

Maturity group (based on the number of days to maturity) is an important growth trait for determining crop productivity, but there has been no attempt to examine the effects of elevated [CO(2)] on yield enhancement of rice cultivars with different maturity groups. Since early-maturing cultivars generally show higher plant N concentration than late-maturing cultivars, it is hypothesized that [CO(2)]-induced yield enhancement might be larger for early-maturing cultivars than late-maturing cultivars. To test this hypothesis, the effects of elevated [CO(2)] on yield components, biomass, N uptake, and leaf photosynthesis of cultivars with different maturity groups were examined for 2 years using a free-air CO(2) enrichment (FACE). Elevated [CO(2)] significantly increased grain yield and the magnitude significantly differed among the cultivars as detected by a significant [CO(2)] x cultivar interaction. Two cultivars (one with early and one with late maturity) responded more strongly to elevated [CO(2)] than those with intermediate maturity, resulting mainly from increases in spikelet density. Biomass and N uptake at the heading stage were closely correlated with grain yield and spikelet density over [CO(2)] and cultivars. Our 2 year field trial rejected the hypothesis that earlier cultivars would respond more to elevated [CO(2)] than later cultivars, but it is revealed that the magnitude of the growth enhancement before heading is a useful criterion for selecting rice cultivars capable of adapting to elevated [CO(2)].

Neopulchellin was found to show that the cycloheptane ring fused to the butyrolactone adopts a boat conformation both in solid and in solution, in contrast with the half-chair form in the translactone isomer, pulchellin (!), on the basis of X-ray diffraction of 1 " 1 and comparison of 400 MHz H-nmr and cd spectra of 1 and 3.

Abstract Punching shear capacity of deteriorated reinforced concrete slab is experimentally investigated in this study. Since horizontal crack near the upper side rebar is often observed in deteriorated reinforced concrete bridge deck slabs due to rebar corrosion, horizontal crack propagation behavior was investigated by accelerated electric corrosion test. Then, in order to evaluate the influence of the horizontal crack on punching shear capacity of slabs, loading tests were carried out using the test specimens with the corrosion‐induced crack and with an artificial horizontal crack. According to the test results, the horizontal crack near the upper side rebar has a significant impact on punching shear capacity of slabs, and it is confirmed that punching shear capacity of reinforced concrete slab correlates to the width of the horizontal crack. Also, it is revealed that cover concrete above horizontal crack does not effectively work if width of the horizontal crack grows to a certain amount.