Te concentration dependent photoemission and inverse-photoemission study of FeSe1?xTex

We have characterized the electronic structure of FeSe_1−xTe_x for various x values using soft x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (SXPES), high-resolution photoemission spectroscopy (HRPES) and inverse photoemission spectroscopy (IPES). The SXPES valence band spectral shape shows that the 2 eV feature in FeSe, which was ascribed to the lower Hubbard band in previous theoretical studies, becomes less prominent with increasing x. HRPES exhibits systematic x dependence of the structure near the Fermi level (E_F): its splitting near E_F and filling of the pseudogap in FeSe. IPES shows two features, near E_F and approximately 6 eV above E_F; the former may be related to the Fe 3d states hybridized with chalcogenide p states, while the latter may consist of plane-wave-like and Se d components. In the incident electron energy dependence of IPES, the density of states near E_F for FeSe and FeTe has the Fano lineshape characteristic of resonant behavior. These compounds exhibit different resonance profiles, which may reflect the differences in their electronic structures. By combining the PES and IPES data the on-site Coulomb energy was estimated at 3.5 eV for FeSe.     

Augmented reality-based block piling game with superimposed collapse prediction

Understanding what cannot be seen is difficult. Physical behavior can be explained on the basis of physical theories even if the behavior cannot be observed. Explanation of what is physically happening in the real world would become easy, however, if annotations were superimposed on the real objects. Herein, the authors demonstrate how an understanding of a physical event can be facilitated by overlapping a real-world situation with a simulation that predicts a future state. This idea is demonstrated in a game application in which a player stacks blocks into a pile until it collapses. In general, it is easy to estimate whether a block on the edge of a table will fall or not. However, it is more difficult to predict whether a stack of many blocks will collapse, and in what manner the stack will collapse. Even though previous research has demonstrated that the problem of how two-dimensionally stacked blocks collapse can be reduced to solving a sequence of convex quadratic programs, algorithms for convex quadratic programs require massive computational resources. Hence, the authors developed a fast and new algorithm based on a linear program. The proposed algorithm realizes real-time simulation based on physics that superimposes predicted collapse. The block that is predicted to fall is superimposed on the real block with a lit background projection. The system was evaluated in an experiment, and superimposed augmented reality annotation was observed to be efficient. The system was also demonstrated in game contests and received positive feedback and comments.     

Human behavior in a staircase during a total evacuation drill in a high‐rise building

Many studies have been conducted on the evacuation behavior on the staircases of buildings, but very little data are available for a situation with many occupants in a crowded high‐rise building. Therefore, this study investigated the evacuation behavior of a large number of evacuees on the staircase of a 25‐story high‐rise building. A total evacuation drill was conducted with 2088 evacuees, and the behavior of 1136 evacuees on the landings of the south staircase was recorded by a video recorder on the ceiling. The relationship between the density and speed of the evacuees on the landings was analyzed from the evacuation data for two situations: without and with merging in the stair flow. The evacuation stair flow in this drill had merging occupants entering from the floors, but no one entered from the lower floors during the latter period of the drill. Therefore, the flow during the latter period was treated as non‐merging flow, for which it was observed that, when the staircase was fully crowded, the density on the landings in the moving situation was different from that in the stopped situation. Moreover, the density on the landings was different from that on the treads. Furthermore, in the merging flow, a merging ratio of approximately 50:50 occurred during the congested evacuation. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Visualized measurement of extremely high-speed droplets in Venturi scrubber

Venturi scrubbers for filtered venting have been installed in nuclear power plants worldwide. Venturi scrubbers can eliminate fission products from a polluted gas by interaction through gas–liquid interfaces. Therefore, droplet diameter is important from the viewpoint of decontamination. When Venturi scrubbers are used in severe accidents, the gas flow velocity might be extremely high. In these studies, the authors did not measure droplet diameter under extremely high gas velocity conditions. In the scenarios, experimental data pertaining to droplet diameter, under the extremely high gas flow velocity, are required. Therefore, this objective is to evaluate the diameter of extremely high-speed droplets. A visualization experiment was conducted using a Venturi scrubber. The droplet diameter distribution and the Sauter mean diameter (SMD) were determined. By comparing between the experimental value of SMDs and the one evaluated using Nukiyama–Tanasawa equation, it was confirmed that the Nukiyama–Tanasawa equation can be used to evaluate SMD with good accuracy in the gas velocity range of 82–250 m/s, except the highest gas velocity conditions. Furthermore, the droplet generation mechanism in the Venturi scrubber was considered to clarify the main reason why the Nukiyama–Tanasawa equation can be used to evaluate SMD droplet diameter.     

Synthesis of New Pb-Based 1222 Cuprates Containing Phosphorus, (Pb0.75P0.25)Sr2(RE2–x–y Ce x Sr y )Cu2O z (RE = Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Y)

New Pb-based 1222 cuprates containing phosphorus have been synthesized in the (Pb_0.75P_0.25)Sr₂- (RE_2–x–y Ce _x Sr _y )Cu₂O _z (RE = Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Y) systems. The almost-single phase samples are obtained for 0.5≤x≤1.0 and y=0.1 in the cases of RE = Nd, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb and Y, while for 0.3≤x≤1.0 and y=0.1 in the cases of RE = Sm, Eu and Gd. The samples crystallize in a tetragonal lattice, the lattice parameters a and c are decreasing with the decrease of the ionic radius of the RE element. Even after annealing under 143 atm O₂ atmosphere at 400 °C, almost all the samples with the common values x=0.5 and y=0.1 are semiconductors with a transport process followed by three-dimensional variable range hopping. However, the samples of RE = Sm, Eu and Gd, which are of almost single 1222 phase, even for x=0.3 and y=0.1, show superconductivity with the onsets at about 25 K, 20 K and 22 K, respectively. Through this study, we find very important procedure for discovery of new superconducting 1222 compound.     

Inter-comparison of various global sea surface temperature products

In this study, eight global sea surface temperature (SST) products for 2009 are compared to clarify their characteristics. The median of eight daily values, the Ensemble Median as Reference Product (EMRP), is used as a reference product for inter-comparison. The results show that the absolute value of mean differences and the value of root mean square (RMS) differences are higher in single-microwave products such as Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for the Earth observing system (AMSR-E), Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Microwave Imager (TMI), and WindSat, than in products such as MicroWave Optimally Interpolated SST (MWOI), Merged satellite and in situ data Global Daily SST (MGD), and Operational Sea Surface Temperature and Sea Ice Analysis (OSTIA) constructed by merging several SST data. It is of note that the characteristics of SST products depend on the type of SST used within the product, rather than the data source used. A comparison of SST products was also conducted using EMRP and data observed by moored buoys. The results show that only AMSR-E has a warm bias (+0.06°C) while other products have a cool bias (maximum value ?0.10°C). The RMS error of TMI is the highest (0.57°C), and that of EMRP the lowest (0.28°C). Furthermore, the temporal variability between the data in each SST product was compared to those observed by the Kuroshio Extension Observatory (KEO) buoy. Results show that the temporal variability of EMRP corresponds well to that of buoy data, and that the RMS error of EMRP is lower than that of the other SST products.     

Present Status of the Nd:YAG Thomson Scattering System Development for Time Evolution Measurement of Plasma Profile on Heliotron J

A new high repetition rate Nd:YAG Thomson scattering system is developed for the Heliotron J helical device.A main purpose of installing the new system is the temporal evolution measurement of a plasma profile for improved confinement physics such as the edge transport barrier (H-mode) or the internal transport barrier of the helical plasma.The system has 25 spatial points with ～10mm resolution.Two high repetition Nd:YAG lasers (>550mJ@ 50Hz) realize the measurement of the time evolution of the plasma profile with ～10ms time intervals.Scattered light is collected by a large concave mirror (D=800 mm,f/2.25) with a solid angle of ～100 mstr and transferred to interference filter polychromators by optical fiber bundles in a staircase form.The signal is amplified by newly designed fast preamplifiers with DC and AC output,which reduces the low frequency background noise.The signals are digitized with a multi-event QDC,fast gated integrators.The data acquisition is performed by a VME-based system operated by the CINOS.     

Analysis of spatial smoothing effect of short‐term fluctuation of global solar radiation based on data including quantization error

Photovoltaic (PV) systems are attracting attention as one of the promising countermeasures against global warming and the environmental issues. However, the generation output from PV systems is generally unstable and unpredictable. Therefore, large penetration of PV systems may cause some serious impacts on power system operation, such as load frequency control, voltage regulation, etc. Estimation of the influences of PV system installation is becoming important, but it requires simultaneous multipoint solar radiation measurements. The Japan Meteorological Business Support Center has provided 1‐minute meteorological data observed in Japan, but its solar radiation data includes quantization errors. This paper proposes a regeneration method for solar radiation data including quantization errors. It also analyzes the spatial smoothing effect of global solar radiation fluctuations. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 180(3): 55–63, 2012; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.21274