The High-Resolution X-Ray Microcalorimeter Spectrometer, SXS, on Astro-H

The science and an overview of the Soft X-ray Spectrometer onboard the STRO-H mission are presented. The SXS consists of X-ray focusing mirrors and a microcalorimeter array and is developed by international collaboration lead by JAXA and NASA with European participation. The detector is a 6×6 format microcalorimeter array operated at a cryogenic temperature of 50 mK and covers a 3′×3′ field of view of the X-ray telescope of 5.6 m focal length. We expect an energy resolution better than 7 eV (FWHM, requirement) with a goal of 4 eV. The effective area of the instrument will be 225 cm² at 7 keV; by a factor of about two larger than that of the X-ray microcalorimeter on board Suzaku. One of the main scientific objectives of the SXS is to investigate turbulent and/or macroscopic motions of hot gas in clusters of galaxies.     

Effect of diacylglycerol on the development of impaired glucose tolerance in sucrose-fed rats

The effects of DAG oil and TAG oil on impaired glucose tolerance in rats that were fed a diet containing high levels of sucrose were compared. Male Wistar rats (8 wk old and 32 wk old) were fed either high-sucrose (57.5% sucrose w/w) or control diets containing either 10% (w/w) DAG or TAG oil with a similar FA composition for 48 wk in 8-wk-old rats and for 24 wk in 32-wk-old rats. Plasma lipids, the size of the islets of Langerhans, and insulin, glucose, and adipocytokine levels were measured. An oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was carried out during the study period. For rats in both age groups that were fed a high-sucrose diet, the DAG oil group had lower plasma glucose and insulin response in an OGTT, and lower homeostasis model assessment-R levels, than the TAG oil group. Furthermore, in 8-wk-old rats that were fed a high-sucrose diet, the DAG oil group accumulated less visceral fat and showed decreases of plasma adiponectin and suppressed increases of plasma insulin, leptin, and the size of islet of Langerhans compared with the TAG oil group. No difference in the OGTT was found between the DAG and TAG oil groups in either age group of rats fed a control diet. In conclusion, these results suggest that DAG oil ingestion prevents the high-sucrose-diet-induced development of impaired glucose tolerance compared with TAG oil ingestion.     

An exact algorithm for single-machine scheduling without machine idle time

This study proposes an exact algorithm for the general single-machine scheduling problem without machine idle time to minimize the total job completion cost. Our algorithm is based on the Successive Sublimation Dynamic Programming (SSDP) method. Its major drawback is heavy memory usage to store dynamic programming states, although unnecessary states are eliminated in the course of the algorithm. To reduce both memory usage and computational efforts, several improvements to the previous algorithm based on the SSDP method are proposed. Numerical experiments show that our algorithm can optimally solve 300 jobs instances of the total weighted tardiness problem and the total weighted earliness-tardiness problem, and that it outperforms the previous algorithms specialized for these problems.     

Development of interior permanent magnet motors reducing harmonic iron losses under field weakening control

In this paper, we present the development of interior magnet motors reducing iron loss at high rotational speed under the flux weakening control. The rotor core and magnet shapes are determined by the automatic numerical calculation using combination of the optimization method and the adaptive finite element method. The optimized motor is manufactured to prove the effectiveness by the measurement of the iron loss. Both results of the calculation and the measurement indicate that the iron loss of the proposed motor at the high rotational speed under the flux weakening control is reduced by half compared with the initial rotor shape while the torque is nearly constant. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 168(3): 59–66, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience. wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20827     

Conversion of dry gel to microporous crystals in gas phase

Recently the dry gel conversion (DGC) technique, where a hydrogel is dried and the resultant dry gel is converted into microporous crystals in steam or in a mixed vapor of steam and organic structure-directing agents (SDAs), has been developed. It has been shown that a wide variety of microporous crystals, pure silica microporous crystals, aluminosilicates, metallosilicates, and aluminophosphates, can be synthesized using the DGC method. Remarkable results have been reported in the synthesis of BEA types zeolites, namely aluminosilicate, titaniumsilicate, zincosilicate, and borosilicate with BEA topology, using tetraethylammonium hydroxide, a commercially available SDA. It has also been found that zeolite OU-1, probably analogous to SSZ-31 and NCL-1, is formed via phase transformation from BEA. Dense zeolite coatings like membranes are possible using this method. Characteristics of the DGC method are discussed in detail. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Independence of older adults in performing instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) and the relation of this performance to visual abilities

A questionnaire study was undertaken of more than 2800 elderly people aged 60 years and over and living at home, to investigate the relationship between their performance of some instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) and their visual abilities. The IADL measured the ability of elderly participants to pick up coins, manage monthly financial matters, use the telephone and take medication as recommended. Visual abilities were assessed by means of each subject's answers to questions relating to resolution, focus, adaptation to bright or to dim lighting, dynamic acuity, distance perception and colour vision. The types of visual functions that, together with age and gender, contribute to determining the level of independence in the performance of IADL activities were identified using logistic regression analysis. The results indicated that elderly participants who had problems with either distance perception or yellowish vision also tended to have difficulties in picking up coins, using the telephone and taking medication as recommended. In addition, problems with adaptation and dynamic acuity were associated with difficulty in managing monthly financial matters. From an analysis of all subjects, distance perception was the significant factor that determined whether an elderly subject could pick up coins or use a telephone unaided. Yellowish vision was also significantly associated with a need for assistance or with an inability to manage monthly financial matters, use the telephone or take medication as recommended.     

m序列复合码的一种快速相关算法

在直扩系统中,PN码的快速捕获十分重要。由于m序列的优选对有限,故在实际应用中采用复合码作为PN 码。常用的复合码主要有Gold序列和Kasami小集合序列。本文提出了一种利用快速沃尔什变换(FWT)实现对复合码进行快速相关的算法。这种算法适用于由两个m序列模2加形成的复合码,并原则上可以推广到Kasami大集合序列的捕获上。分析表明,我们提出的算法与传统相关算法相比,降低了算法的时间复杂度。     

Revealing the Double‐Edged Sword Role of Graphene on Boosted Charge Transfer versus Active Site Control in TiO2 Nanotube Arrays@RGO/MoS2 Heterostructure

Charge separation/transfer is generally believed to be the most key factor affecting the efficiency of photocatalysis, which however will be counteracted if not taking the active site engineering into account for a specific photoredox reaction. Here, a 3D heterostructure composite is designed consisting of MoS₂ nanoplatelets decorated on reduced graphene oxide‐wrapped TiO₂ nanotube arrays (TNTAs@RGO/MoS₂). Such a cascade configuration renders a directional migration of charge carriers and controlled immobilization of active sites, thereby showing much higher photoactivity for water splitting to H₂ than binary TNTAs@RGO and TNTAs/MoS₂. The photoactivity comparison and mechanistic analysis reveal the double‐edged sword role of RGO on boosted charge separation/transfer versus active site control in this composite system. The as‐observed inconsistency between boosted charge transfer and lowered photoactivity over TNTAs@RGO is attributed to the decrease of active sites for H₂ evolution, which is significantly different from the previous reports in literature. The findings of the intrinsic relationship of balanced benefits from charge separation/transfer and active site control could promote the rational optimization of photocatalyst design by cooperatively manipulating charge flow and active site control, thereby improving the efficiency of photocatalysis for target photoredox processes.     

Recycle for Sludge Scrap of Nd-Fe-B Sintered Magnet as Isotropic Bonded Magnet

The reduction diffusion method was performed for the sludge scrap of Nd-Fe-B sintered magnets with adding Ca metal to recover the oxidized Nd-Fe-B phase. After washing the resultant powders to remove Ca metal component, the powders obtained were recycled as an isotropic magnetic powder by the melt spinning method. The magnetic properties of powders as recycled were inferior, especially for the coercivity value, due to the deletion of rare earth metals during the washing process. The adjustment of metal composition, i.e., the addition of Nd metal, at the melt spinning process improved the magnetic properties to be Br=～0.75 T, Hcj=～0.93 mA·m-1, and(BH)max=～91 kJ·m-3. The magnetic properties of the bonded magnets prepared from the composition-adjusted powders were Br=～0.66 T, Hcj=～0.92 mA·m-1, and(BH)max=～70 kJ·m-3, which are approximately comparable to the commercially available MQPB boned one(Br=～0.73 T, Hcj=～0.79 mA·m-1, and(BH)max=～86 kJ·m-3).