Prediction method of critical power by film flow rate measurement and subchannel analysis

This paper presents a method that can estimate the critical power of boiling water reactors, BWRs, with regard to spacer geometry. The current experimental method for estimating the critical power for BWR design requires many trained experts and expensive facilities to conduct the experiments. In the present method, the liquid film flow rate of adiabatic gas‐liquid two‐phase flow and a subchannel analysis of the actual BWR flow condition are measured experimentally and analyzed. In the experiment, deposition enhancement coefficients of three spacer geometries—a ferrule, an egg‐crate, and a ferrule spacer with twisted tape (CYCLONE spacer)—were estimated by measuring the liquid film flow rate of air‐water two‐phase flow flowing up in a vertical square (4 × 4) rod bundle that simulated the rod bundle of a BWR. Using these coefficients, the critical powers for bundles using each type of spacer geometry were calculated in the subchannel analysis. This method was validated using previous critical power data in the actual BWR flow condition. The critical powers predicted by this method agreed well with those of the experimental data. The result confirmed the effectiveness of this experiment‐simulation combined method, as well as the advantage over current experimental methods in terms of human and facility costs. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 34(5): 309–323, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20069     

Operation Assist by Vibration Suppression Control Using Impulse‐Shaped Signals for Power Assist Conveyance System

This paper presents an assist control method for a flexible parts conveyance task using a power assist conveyance system. The assist control method should be designed so as not only to suppress vibration but also to reduce the degradation of operating feel. For this purpose, multiple impulse‐shaped signals are used as feedforward signals in order to reduce the vibration of flexible parts during conveyance. In addition, the adjustment time is introduced to adjust the input timing of the impulse‐shaped signal and to suppress vibration. In order to improve the degradation of operating feel, the smaller amplitudes of the three impulse‐shaped signals are used and input repeatedly. The effectiveness of the proposed system was verified experimentally. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 186(2): 31–39, 2014; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.22476     

Solvent- and Light-Sensitive AIEE-Active Azo Dye: From Spherical to 1D and 2D Assemblies

Fluorescent molecular assembly systems provide an exciting platform for creating stimuli-responsive nano- and microstructured materials with optical, electronic, and sensing functions. To understand the relationship between (i) the plausible molecular structures preferentially adopted depending on the solvent polarity (such as N,N-dimethylformamide [DMF], tetrahydrofuran [THF], and toluene), (ii) the resulting spectroscopic features, and (iii) self-assembled nano-, micro-, and macrostructures, we chose a sterically crowded triangular azo dye (3Bu) composed of a polar molecular core and three peripheral biphenyl wings. The chromophore changed the solution color from yellow to pink-red depending on the solvent polarity. In a yellow DMF solution, a considerable amount of the twisted azo form could be kept stable with the help of favorable intermolecular interactions with the solvent molecules. By varying the concentration of the DMF solution, the morphology of self-assembled structures was transformed from nanoparticles to micrometer-sized one-dimensional (1D) structures such as sticks and fibers. In a pink-red toluene solution, the periphery of the central ring became more planar. The resulting significant amount of the keto-hydrazone tautomer grew into micro- and millimeter-sized 1D structures. Interestingly, when THF-H₂O (1:1) mixtures were stored at a low temperature, elongated fibers were stacked sideways and eventually developed into anisotropic two-dimensional (2D) sheets. Notably, subsequent exposure of visible-light-irradiated sphere samples to solvent vapor resulted in reversible fluorescence off↔on switching accompanied by morphological restoration. These findings suggest that rational selection of organic dyes, solvents, and light is important for developing reusable fluorescent materials.     

Traversable Region Estimation for Mobile Robots in an Outdoor Image

This paper describes a novel method to estimate appropriate traversable regions from an outdoor scene image. The traversable regions output by the proposed method reflect the common sense of people. For example, a candidate traversable region is “a paved road somewhat distant from the side ditch.” The input to the traversable region estimation is one color image. First, category is assigned to each pixel in the image. The categorization result is then input to the region estimator. Finally, the traversable region are estimated on the input image. An important aspect of this method is the application of two score functions in region estimation process. One score function places high value on categories selected as traversable paths by subjects. The other function places high value on categories that are not selected as traversable regions but are adjacent to categories with traversable paths. A combination of these two functions produces feasible estimation results. The effectiveness of the combined score functions was evaluated by experiments and a questionnaire.     

Interstitial pneumonia treated with intermittent cyclophosphamide pulse therapy

A 52-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital because of polyarthralgia and dry coughing. A chest X-ray film showed bilateral diffuse reticulo-nodular shadows. A specimen obtained by transbronchial lung biopsy revealed alveolar septal thickening and infiltration by mononuclear cells. Interstitial pneumonia associated with rheumatoid arthritis was diagnosed. Interstitial pneumonia relapsed soon after the first pulse of corticosteroid therapy. Cyclophosphamide pulse therapy was given in addition to a second pulse of corticosteroid therapy; 700 mg of cyclophosphamide (500 mg/m2) was administered intravenously every month and the dose of steroids was gradually reduced. Cyclophosphamide pulse therapy was repeated three times and the dose of oral corticosteroids was reduced from 60 mg to 35 mg. There was no bone marrow suppression or hemorrhagic cystitis after the cyclophosphamide pulses. Eventually, corticosteroid therapy was stopped with no clinical deterioration. This case suggests that intermittent cyclophosphamide pulse therapy can be effective for treatment of interstitial pneumonia unresponsive to corticosteroids.     

Analysis of upgraded solvent-refined coal (SRC) liquid products

Upgraded coal-derived liquids obtained from catalytic hydroprocessing of a 30–70(wt%) blend of SRC-1 with SRC-II have been studied by infrared and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and gel permeation chromatography techniques. Compared with the feed blend, the upgraded liquids exhibit a lower C/H ratio and decreased aromatic, heteroatom and pentane-insoluble contents, along with decreased specific gravity and viscosity. The amount of hydrogen-bonded structure in the upgraded liquid decreases with increases in residence time and processing temperature. The pseudo-first-order disappearance of phenolic OH and total nitrogen during processing indicates a relative reactivity of 2:1 of hydroxyl oxygen removal to total nitrogen removal in the upgrading process. Conversion of pentaneinsolubles to soluble oil also follows a pseudo-first-order reaction; under mild processing conditions, the heteroatom functionalities play a dominant role in the ease and extent of this conversion. Higher temperatures increase thermal cracking and hydrocracking of the ring structure resulting in more conversion of asphaltene to oil. The linear dependence of the logarithm of viscosity on the content of heteroatoms and toluene-insolubles (TI) indicates the importance of molecular interactions involving polar functional groups in defining the viscosity of coal-derived liquid.     

Recognition of substrates by membrane potential of immobilized glucose oxidase membranes

The shifts in membrane potential, caused by the injection of glucose into a permeation cell, were measured using immobilized (entrapped) glucose oxidase membranes. No, pH change in the permeation cell was observed upon injection of glucose, but the shift in membrane potential was definitely detected. The shift in membrane potential was observed under nitrogen bubbling (in the absence of oxygen) using initially used enzyme membranes. It was, therefore, suggested that the shifts in membrane potential were not caused by an enzyme-substrate reaction, but by binding of the substrate to the enzyme, which indues a conformational change in the enzyme and leads to a change in charge density in the enzyme membrane. This mechanism is also supported by the fact that the shifts in membrane potential were observed upon injection of not only D-glucose but also L-glucose as reported in our previous study [J. Chem. Soc. Faraday Trans., 87 , 695 (1991)]. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Surface modification of contact lenses using adsorption of ethylene oxide branched copolymers

To examine methods for reducing the amount of adsorbed protein on the surface of contact lenses during use, cationic copolymers containing poly(ethylene oxide) units were synthesized and evaluated as surface modifiers. Poly(ethylene oxide) graft‐branched copolymers of composition 70 mol % dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DM) and 30 mol % methoxy polyethylene glycol methacrylate (Mp0G; p = 2, 4, 9; the average number of the ethylene oxide units) were obtained using nonionic monomers containing poly(ethylene oxide) units. The copolymers very efficiently prevented protein adsorption on a contact lens. Contact angle measurements showed that immersion in tear fluid made the lens surface hydrophobic because of adsorption of proteins with hydrophobic residues. The copolymer pretreatment made the lens surface hydrophilic, even after dipping in artificial tear fluid. These results suggest that adsorption of the poly(ethylene oxide) branched copolymer on the contact lens would make the lens surface hydrophilic and prevent protein adsorption. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013     

Sequential slippage tests using Robbins-Lai's invariant confidence sequences

The paper deals with two kinds of location-slippage testing problems.The alternative hypothesis says that there is a single slippage in one kind of problems,and that there are multiple slippages in the other kind. In a location slippage model, by using Robbins' inequality, Robbins-Lai's invariant confidence sequences for slippage are constructed for both of the problems and sequential slippage tests using those confidence sequences are proposed.