A method for compensating customer voltage drops due to nighttime simultaneous charging of evs utilizing reactive power injection from battery chargers

When we consider global warming, the reduction of CO₂ emissions is one of the most important issues which require urgent solutions. One option is to integrate low‐CO₂‐emission generators to the grid as much as possible. Another option is to replace ine?cient vehicles based on internal‐combustion engines with electric ones (EVs). Due to the latter, we can easily predict that most consumers will charge EVs' batteries during nighttime. Thus, excessive voltage drops due to nighttime simultaneous charging are expected to be a possible future problem. This paper proposes a method for compensating the voltage drops by injecting reactive power from EV battery chargers. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 184(1): 19–29, 2013; Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI 10.1002/eej.22390     

A study on Swirling Flows in a Rectangular Channel （LDV Measurement,Flow Visualization and Large Eddy Simulation）

IntroductionPipelines with non-circular section have beenwidely used in the industrial fields. The inner fiowsbecome more complex compared with those ofcircular section due to production of secondary flows.On the other hand, flows, which pass throughmulhple bends and discharge from fluid machinerysuch as an axial fan and blower and a water turbine,are usually accompanied by a directional swirling.When such swiriing flows discharge into the pipeline,it oscillates and happens to be broken becaus…     

Triphase Hydrogenation Reactions Utilizing Palladium‐Immobilized Capillary Column Reactors and a Demonstration of Suitability for Large Scale Synthesis

We have developed a practical and highly productive system for hydrogenation reactions utilizing capillary column reactors, which occupy less space than ordinary batch systems, are low cost and easy to handle, and show feasibility toward large‐scale chemical synthesis. Palladium‐containing micelles were immobilized onto the inner surface of the capillaries. Nine palladium‐immobilized capillaries were assembled and connected to a T‐shaped connector, and hydrogen and a substrate solution were fed to capillaries via the connector. Hydrogenation of 1‐phenyl‐1‐cyclohexene ( 1 ) proceeded smoothly to give phenylcyclohexane in quantitative yield. The capillaries themselves occupy only ca. 0.4 mL and a high space‐time yield has been achieved (124.3 mg/17 min/0.4 mL). In addition, leaching of palladium was not detected by ICP analysis after reactions.     

Mitochondrial Unfolded Protein Responses in White Adipose Tissue: Lipoatrophy,Whole-Body Metabolism and Lifespan

The mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPR^mt) is a stress response mediated by the expression of genes such as chaperones, proteases, and mitokines to maintain mitochondrial proteostasis. Certain genetically modified mice, which defect mitochondrial proteins specifically in adipocytes, developed atrophy of the white adipose tissue, resisted diet-induced obesity, and had altered whole-body metabolism. UPR^mt, which has beneficial functions for living organisms, is termed “mitohormesis”, but its specific characteristics and detailed regulatory mechanism have not been elucidated to date. In this review, we discuss the function of UPR^mt in adipose atrophy (lipoatrophy), whole-body metabolism, and lifespan based on the concept of mitohormesis.     

Robotic question support system to reduce hesitation for face-to-face questions in lectures

Encouraging students to actively ask questions during lectures is a formidable challenge that can be addressed through innovative use of information technology. We developed a robotic system that allows students in a lecture to collaboratively decide questions to be asked by a humanoid robot. To verify whether the system reduces hesitation to ask questions during lectures, 62 university students were divided into two groups, and each attended two different mock lectures on the Nobel Prize in Physics. Two lectures were conducted with and without the proposed system in counterbalanced order. Results suggested that students who were usually hesitant to ask questions during lectures became less hesitant to ask questions face-to-face when they could use the proposed system. Moreover, the perceived activeness in the lectures increased when using the system. Multiple regression analyses revealed that certain student actions, particularly tweeting and showing agreement with the questions posted by others, were correlated with an increase in perceived activeness.     

Motion and force control with a nonlinear force error filter for underwater vehicle-manipulator systems

This paper deals with a control scheme for autonomous underwater robots equipped with manipulators. Several motion and force controllers have been developed. Most of them were designed in disregard of the dynamics of marine thrusters to develop a controller with a simple structure. However, the robot body propelled by thrusters generally has a considerably slower time response than the manipulator driven by electrical motors. Therefore, it may be difficult to construct a high-gain feedback control system to achieve a good control performance, because the high gain may excite the slow thruster dynamics ignored in the controller design, and the excitation will degrade the control performance. In this paper, we develop a motion and force controller for mathematical models with the dynamics of thrusters. It includes a nonlinear force error filter which allows us to construct a stable motion and force control system. To investigate its control performance, we conducted numerical simulations for comparing the proposed control scheme with an existing control scheme designed in disregard of the thruster dynamics. Simulation results demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed controller.     

Large Closed-Circuit Seebeck Current in Quaternary (Ti,Zr)NiSn Heusler Alloys

In the (Ti _x ,Zr _y )Ni _w Sn _z quaternary system with a composition near (x + y):w:z = 1:1:1 the existence of the half-Heusler (HH) phase has been confirmed, where Ti and Zr occupy one of the three lattice positions substitutionally. The goal of this study is to characterize the thermoelectric (TE) properties of such materials. TE properties were measured at large temperature differences up to ΔT = 800 K, exhibiting Seebeck voltages of about ±50 mV corresponding to Seebeck coefficients above 0.07 mV/K, with the highest value measured for the (Ti_0.4Zr_0.6)Ni_0.9Sn_1.1 composition. Fe and Mn doping could not improve these values further. Measurements under closed-circuit conditions showed very high currents of 0.4 mA for specimens at this particular composition. According to the composition, interfaces between full-Heusler and HH phases are responsible for an electron pull-out phenomenon due to the electric field at their interfaces. First-principle calculations of the electronic band structure confirm this explanation for why (TiZr)NiSn and CrNiSn are p-type TEs whereas NbNiSn is an n-type TE. These considerations will be useful in the search for other such systems.     

Doping of MgB 2 Using Molecular Magnets as Precursors

We present the effect of single molecular magnet ([Fe(bpca) ₂Dy(NO ₃)₄] ?H ₂ O?4.5 CH ₃ NO ₂ and [Mn ₂(naften) ₂(CH ₃COO)(CH ₃OH)] ?BPh ₄) thermolysis on the superconducting properties of polycrystalline MgB ₂ samples when inserted and sintered by spark plasma sintering technique. As a result of pyrolysis, Fe- and Dy-magnetic compounds grow within the MgB ₂ matrix and give a paramagnetic behavior in normal state, whereas the Mn-based compounds display negligible magnetic properties. We find that the magnetic critical current density of the as-obtained superconducting composites, as well as the pinning mechanism, is dependent on the magnetic background, with a noticeable advantage for the sample with magnetic compounds.