The Study of International Cultural Relations of Postwar Japan

The paper examines policies and activities of cultural exchange carried out by Japanese national, local and private agents since the end of WWII. Methodologically, we distinctively use the notion culture as a tool and as an object of study, and to synthesize the two in full intention, based on the debate among IR students about so called Cultural Turn in IR theories. As case studies, the Japanese experiences are examined from two points. Firstly, it is compared with the German experiences in Europe, with special attention to the construction of national identity.In both countries, the peoples tried to make use of cultural exchange activities in the management of international relations. The actual developments of cultural relations by the two countries, however, were in striking contrast to each other. Secondly, our study focuses on the explosive expansion of private sector's international cultural exchange in the 1980s in association with so called "emerging civil society" phenomenon observed worldwide throughout 1970s and 1980s. By using our original approach mentioned in the Chapter 1, the paper tries to sketch out that the increase of the private organizations is largely the response of the Japanese society to outside influences, not something genuinely outgrown from within the society itself due to mainly domestic causes.

An Experimental and Numerical Study of Ballistic Impacts on a Turbine Casing Material at Varying Temperatures

An experimental and numerical study of ballistic impacts on steel plates at various temperatures (700ºC, 400ºC and room temperature) has been carried out. The motivation for this work is the blade‐off event that may occur inside a jet engine turbine. However, as a first attempt to understand this complex loading process, a somewhat simpler approach is carried out in the present work. The material used in this study is the FV535 martensitic stainless steel, which is one of the most commonly used materials for turbine casings. Based on material test data, a Modified Johnson‐Cook (MJC) model was calibrated for numerical simulations using the LS‐DYNA explicit finite element code (see Figure 1). To check the mesh size sensitivity, 2D axisymmetric finite element models with three different mesh sizes and configurations were used for the various temperatures. Two fixed meshes with 64 and 128 elements over the 2mm thick plate and one mesh with 32 elements over the thickness with adaptive remeshing were used in the simulations. The formation of adiabatic shear bands in the perforation process has been found critical in order to achieve good results. Adiabatic shear bands are formed by the temperature rise due to the accumulation of plastic strain during impact (see Figure 2). The influence of the thermal softening in the plastic model has hence been analyzed for the room temperature impact tests, where the temperature gradient is highest

Comparison of fractal dimensions based on segmented NDVI fields obtained from different remote sensors.

Satellite image data have become an important source of information for monitoring vegetation and mapping land cover at several scales. Beside this, the distribution and phenology of vegetation is largely associated with climate, terrain characteristics and human activity. Various vegetation indices have been developed for qualitative and quantitative assessment of vegetation using remote spectral measurements. In particular, sensors with spectral bands in the red (RED) and near-infrared (NIR) lend themselves well to vegetation monitoring and based on them [(NIR - RED) / (NIR + RED)] Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) has been widespread used. Given that the characteristics of spectral bands in RED and NIR vary distinctly from sensor to sensor, NDVI values based on data from different instruments will not be directly comparable. The spatial resolution also varies significantly between sensors, as well as within a given scene in the case of wide-angle and oblique sensors. As a result, NDVI values will vary according to combinations of the heterogeneity and scale of terrestrial surfaces and pixel footprint sizes. Therefore, the question arises as to the impact of differences in spectral and spatial resolutions on vegetation indices like the NDVI. The aim of this study is to establish a comparison between two different sensors in their NDVI values at different spatial resolutions.

Comparison of NDVI fields obtained from different remote sensors

Satellite image data have become an important source of information for monitoring vegetation and mapping land cover at several scales. Beside this, the distribution and phenology of vegetation is largely associated with climate, terrain characteristics and human activity. Various vegetation indices have been developed for qualitative and quantitative assessment of vegetation using remote spectral measurements. In particular, sensors with spectral bands in the red (RED) and near-infrared (NIR) lend themselves well to vegetation monitoring and based on them [(NIR - RED) / (NIR + RED)] Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) has been widespread used. Given that the characteristics of spectral bands in RED and NIR vary distinctly from sensor to sensor, NDVI values based on data from different instruments will not be directly comparable. The spatial resolution also varies significantly between sensors, as well as within a given scene in the case of wide-angle and oblique sensors. As a result, NDVI values will vary according to combinations of the heterogeneity and scale of terrestrial surfaces and pixel footprint sizes. Therefore, the question arises as to the impact of differences in spectral and spatial resolutions on vegetation indices like the NDVI and their interpretation as a drought index. During 2012 three locations (at Salamanca, Granada and Córdoba) were selected and a periodic pasture monitoring and botanic composition were achieved. Daily precipitation, temperature and monthly soil water content were measurement as well as fresh and dry pasture weight. At the same time, remote sensing images were capture by DEIMOS-1 and MODIS of the chosen places. DEIMOS-1 is based on the concept Microsat-100 from Surrey. It is conceived for obtaining Earth images with a good enough resolution to study the terrestrial vegetation cover (20x20 m), although with a great range of visual field (600 km) in order to obtain those images with high temporal resolution and at a reduced cost. By contranst, MODIS images present a much lower spatial resolution (500x500 m). The aim of this study is to establish a comparison between two different sensors in their NDVI values at different spatial resolutions. Acknowledgements. This work was partially supported by ENESA under project P10 0220C-823. Funding provided by Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN) through project no. MTM2009-14621 and i-MATH No. CSD2006-00032 is greatly appreciated.

Antenas básicas para comunicaciones móviles

Debido al gran auge en las comunicaciones móviles, los terminales cada vez son más finos a la par que más grandes, pues cada vez los usuarios quieren tener terminales delgados pero con pantallas mayores. Por ello, el objetivo principal del proyecto es aprender y analizar las antenas usadas en los teléfonos móviles, concretamente las antenas impresas. En los últimos años con el aumento de los servicios ofrecidos por los terminales móviles se han ido añadiendo distintas bandas de frecuencia en las que trabajan estos terminales. Por ello, ha sido necesario diseñar antenas que no funcionen únicamente en una banda de frecuencia, sino antenas multibanda, es decir, antenas capaces de funcionar en las distintas bandas de frecuencias. Para realizar las simulaciones y pruebas de este proyecto se utilizó el software FEKO, tanto el CAD FEKO como el POST FEKO. El CAD FEKO se empleó para el diseño de la antena, mientras que el POST FEKO sirvió para analizar las simulaciones. Por último, hay que añadir que FEKO aunque está basado en el Método de los Momentos (MoM) es una herramienta que puede utilizar varios métodos numéricos. Además del MoM puede utilizar otras técnicas (por separado o hibridizadas) como son el Métodos de Elementos Finitos (FEM), Óptica Física (PO), Lanzamiento de rayos con Óptica Geométrica (RL-GO), Teoría Uniforme de la Difracción (UTD), Método de las Diferencias Finitas en el Dominio del Tiempo (FDTD), ... ABSTRACT. Because of the boom in mobile communications, terminals are thinner and so large, because users want to thin terminals but with large screens. Therefore, the main objective of the project is to learn and analyse the antennas used in mobile phones, specifically printed antennas. In recent years with the rise of the services offered by mobile terminals have been adding different frequency bands in which these terminals work. For that reason, it has been necessary to design antennas that not work only in a frequency band, but multiband antennas, i.e., antennas capable of operating in different frequency bands. For performing simulations and testing in this project will be used software FEKO, as the CAD FEKO and POST FEKO. The CAD FEKO is used for the design of the antenna, whereas the POST FEKO is used for simulation analysis. Finally, it has to add that FEKO is based on the Method of Moments (MoM) but also it can use several numerical methods. Besides the MoM, FEKO can use other techniques (separated or hybridized) such as the Finite Element Method (FEM), Physical Optics (PO), Ray-launching Geometrical Optics (RL-GO), Uniform Theory of Diffraction (UTD), Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) …

Sistemas de comunicación por satélite: utilización en los sistemas de navegación aeronáuticos

Este Proyecto Fin de Carrera tiene como principal objetivo analizar la evolución de los Sistemas de Comunicación por Satélite, así como dar a conocer al lector la tecnología EGNOS y su aplicabilidad como ayuda a la navegación Aeronáutica. Este trabajo comenzará con una primera parte, la cual está dedicada a conocer qué es un satélite y como ha sido su evolución a lo largo de la historia, desde la aparición del primer satélite hasta nuestros días, así como mostrar las partes que lo componen y su proceso de lanzamiento. Todo este capítulo, sirve de base para poder entender mejor las siguientes partes del proyecto. En la segunda parte de esta memoria, se entra más en detalle y se desarrollan los temas principales de este documento. Podríamos decir que este segundo capítulo se divide a su vez en dos subpartes claramente diferenciadas: En la primera, se analiza la estructura de un sistema de comunicaciones por satélite, los diferentes tipos de satélites según su órbita o según su finalidad, viendo unos claros ejemplos de cada uno de ellos, así como las bandas de frecuencias en las que trabajan. Para concluir esta sección se habla de los diferentes tipos de servicios que ofrecen las comunicaciones por satélite para centrarnos más adelante en los servicios aeronáuticos. En la segunda parte, se habla de la aplicación de la tecnología EGNOS como ayuda a la navegación aeronáutica. Para ello, primero se explican los diferentes sistemas de navegación que usan las aeronaves, entre los que se encuentran los sistemas VOR, DME, ADF y TACAN, y después se introduce al usuario a la tecnología EGNOS, viendo su arquitectura y explicando su funcionamiento. Como ejemplo de aplicabilidad de esta tecnología se explica el novedoso sistema SLS que llevan las aeronaves. Toda esta segunda parte constituye el cuerpo del proyecto y el punto más importante de esta memoria. Para finalizar, en la última parte del Proyecto Fin de Carrera, se habla del presente y futuro del sistema EGNOS evaluando sus principales ventajas y las conclusiones que se han sacado al hacer esta memoria. ABSTRACT. This thesis has as main objective to analyze the evolution of satellite communication systems, as well as to inform the reader about EGNOS technology and its applicability as an aid to aeronautical navigation. This document will begin with a first part, which is dedicated to know what a satellite is and how has its evolution been throughout history, from the appearance of the first satellite until nowadays, as well as showing the parts that it is composed of and different launch processes. This chapter serves as a base to a better understanding of these parts of the project. In the second part of this report, more detail is introduced and it is developed the main themes of this document. We could say that this second chapter is divided in two clearly differentiated subparts: The first, analyzes the structure of a communications system by satellite, different types of satellites according to its orbit or according to their purpose, seeing some clear examples of each of them, as well as the frequency bands in which they work. To conclude, this section refers to different types of services offered by satellite communications to focus later in the aeronautical services. In the second part, application of EGNOS technology is referred as an aid to the aeronautical navigation. To do this, first they are explained the different navigation systems that the aircraft uses, which include VOR, DME, ADF and TACAN systems, and then EGNOS technology is introduced to the user, seeing its architecture and explaining its operation. As an example of applicability of this technology, the new system SLS carried by the aircraft is explained. Throughout this second part it is constituted the body of the project and the most important point of this report. Finally, in the last part of the thesis, the present and future of the EGNOS system are analyzed evaluating the main advantages and conclusions that have been obtained to make this memory.