Recently overbrowsing by fish in cultivation of the wakame Undaria pinnatifida has become problematic and the black scraper Thamnaconus modestus is suspected of the feeding damage for the cultured U. pinnatifida as well as a few herbivorous fishes and the Japanese black seabream Acanthopagrus schlegelii, but aspects on feeding behavior and bite scars of the species are extremely limited. We examined characteristics of bite scars left on thalli of the cultured U. pinnatifida by feedng of T. modestus in a tank experiment. The species showed active feeding behavor of the cultured U. pinnatifida and conspicuously consumed juveniles rather than adults. Bite marks left on blades were categorized into three shapes of arc, ellipse and serration and particularly the ellipse-shaped bite mark is characteristic of T. modestus, unknouwn for other overbrowsing fishes. Additionally cut surfaces of those bite marks were edged with irregular gentle concaves. The shape of bite marks on the thalli was thought to be useful for identifying the fish species that caused the feeding damage of the cultured U. pinnatifida.

Learners of thermodynamics learn a basic thermodynamic state quantity “entropy” which is challenging to understand owing to multiple reasons. First, entropy is explained using multiple defining equations； intuitively understanding the meaning from the equations can be difficult. Second, entropy is often explained in terms of “clutter” and “disorder” of energy； however, the correspondence between these concepts and the defining equation is not obtained intuitively. Therefore, in this study, we considered a virtual lattice space in which gas molecules are arranged and developed a model that enables intuitive understanding and quantitative calculations using defining equations. Specifically, the model was implemented in spreadsheet software with 100 gas molecules in a virtual space of 100 lattices. The model showed that even such a simple model can define thermodynamic quantities and quantify the number of cases Win Boltzmann’s equation from the viewpoint of the arrangement of molecules in lattice space. This is a tool that can calculate and quantitatively examine all entropy from multiple entropy-defining equations. This calculation sheet shows that the calculated values of entropy by the Sackur–Tetrode equation and Boltzmann’s equation are almost the same. Furthermore, the entropy difference calculated using the thermodynamic defining equation dS = dQ/T was also consistent with the values by other equations. Therefore, the model can specifically calculate the values of various entropy-defining equations.

In this research, aiming at efficient cooling of the locally concentrated heating part of the electronic element, a new concentric circular microchannel plate that can efficiently cool the CPU is designed in consideration of the heat generation characteristics of the CPU. Then, we conducted an experiment on heat transfer when water was used as the refrigerant for this new microchannel plate, and grasped the basic heat transfer characteristics. Furthermore, by comparing the results with the straight microchannel plate having a simple structure, the heat transfer promotion of the concentric microchannel plate was examined. By using a concentric microchannel plate, the temperature at the center of the heater can be maintained at about 25℃, and even when compared with a straight microchannel plate, the temperature rise can be suppressed by about 8 to 23℃. The heat transfer coefficient of the concentric circular microchannel plate is 6 to 8 kW/m^2 K, which is almost constant, and about four times higher than the heat transfer coefficient of the straight microchannel plate at the same heat quantity and the same flow rate. In addition, the research results were compared with the previously proposed experimental correlation equation for single phase forced convection laminar heat transfer of straight microchannnels.

In the fishery industry, fishing nets tend to be in the water for a long time. Therefore, there is a possibility that the fishing nets will be broken by marine animals or “Kyucho”； it stands for the violent currents caused by tides or typhoons. It is necessary to repair fishing nets as soon as possible for preventing fishes from escaping to outside of the fishing net. However, a great deal of labor is required to lift and repair fishing nets. In addition, high water pressure and low water temperature may make it difficult for divers to work underwater. Therefore, underwater robot is useful to work instead of divers under such severe situations. The author suggests development of the underwater ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) type robot that can move on fishing net with magnet tires and repair the net using manipulators. This paper introduces the development and performance evaluation of the underwater robot using magnetic mobile mechanism.