Prediction of starting performance of PM motors by DC decay testingmethod

This paper presents a method to predict the direct- and quadrature-axes operational impedances and starting performance of permanent-magnet (PM) motors by a simple standstill response testing method using a small-capacity DC power supply unit. In this method, not only the starting performance but also the direct- and quadrature-axes synchronous machine constants (synchronous, transient, and subtransient reactances) and equivalent circuit constants are calculated. This proposed strategy, tentatively named the DC decay testing method, is carried out on a 3.7-kW 200-V 22. A 100-Hz four-pole interior PM motor with a damper winding. The results measured by on-load tests and those predicted by the proposed method on starting performance demonstrate the validity and usefulness of the proposed method     

Current steel forgings and their properties for steam generator of nuclear power plant

Current steel forgings used for the construction of steam generators (SGs) for a nuclear power plant (NPP) were introduced from the following three (3) features. (1) Integral type steel forgings such as (i) primary head integrated with nozzles, manways and supports, (ii) steam drum head integrated with nozzle and handhole, (iii) conical shell integrated with cylindrical sections and handholes, have been developed to enhance the structural integrity of the component and to make fabrication and inspection including in-service inspection easier. (2) The high strength steel such as SA508 Cl.3a has been adopted to decrease the weight of components, resulting in enhancement of aseismatic properties of SG. (3) Low Si SA508 Cl.3 steel with the addition of Al was investigated and was applied to a heavy thick tube sheet forging, to minimize the macro- and micro-segregations in the ingot.     

Harmonic blue light generation in periodically poled bulk near-stoichiometric MgO:LiNbO/sub 3/

A periodically poled structure with 6.95 /spl mu/m period and 10 mm interaction length was fabricated in a 1 mm-thick 1.8 mol% MgO doped near-stoichiometric LiNbO/sub 3/ (MgSLN) by using a multi-pulse poling technique. Blue SHG characteristics of this periodically poled MgSLN were investigated, in comparison with a periodically poled 5 mol% MgO doped congruent LiNbO/sub 3/.     

Statistical analysis on stimulated Raman crosstalk in dispersion-managed fiber links

Power impairments due to stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) in dispersion-managed (DM) fiber links are evaluated theoretically. We extend previous work on the statistical analysis of SRS crosstalk to the case of multiple fiber segments. Closed-form formulas are derived, and the applicable range is presented by comparison with simulation results. The SRS crosstalk in DM fiber links is evaluated using derived formulas, and the preferable configuration of DM fiber links for suppressing SRS crosstalk is discussed. We also evaluate the exact power penalty induced by the SRS crosstalk in consideration of the log-normal waveform distribution due to SRS and non-Gaussian noise and clarify the system bounds in some typical DM fiber links. The developed approach provides a design rule for DM fiber links from the viewpoint of SRS crosstalk suppression.     

Sulfated Hyaluronan Binds to Heparanase and Blocks Its Enzymatic and Cellular Actions in Carcinoma Cells

We examined whether sulfated hyaluronan exerts inhibitory effects on enzymatic and biological actions of heparanase, a sole endo-beta-glucuronidase implicated in cancer malignancy and inflammation. Degradation of heparan sulfate by human and mouse heparanase was inhibited by sulfated hyaluronan. In particular, high-sulfated hyaluronan modified with approximately 2.5 sulfate groups per disaccharide unit effectively inhibited the enzymatic activity at a lower concentration than heparin. Human and mouse heparanase bound to immobilized sulfated hyaluronan. Invasion of heparanase-positive colon-26 cells and 4T1 cells under 3D culture conditions was significantly suppressed in the presence of high-sulfated hyaluronan. Heparanase-induced release of CCL2 from colon-26 cells was suppressed in the presence of sulfated hyaluronan via blocking of cell surface binding and subsequent intracellular NF-κB-dependent signaling. The inhibitory effect of sulfated hyaluronan is likely due to competitive binding to the heparanase molecule, which antagonizes the heparanase-substrate interaction. Fragment molecular orbital calculation revealed a strong binding of sulfated hyaluronan tetrasaccharide to the heparanase molecule based on electrostatic interactions, particularly characterized by interactions of (−1)- and (−2)-positioned sulfated sugar residues with basic amino acid residues composing the heparin-binding domain-1 of heparanase. These results propose a relevance for sulfated hyaluronan in the blocking of heparanase-mediated enzymatic and cellular actions.     

Mutated KIT Tyrosine Kinase as a Novel Molecular Target in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

KIT is a type-III receptor tyrosine kinase that contributes to cell signaling in various cells. Since KIT is activated by overexpression or mutation and plays an important role in the development of some cancers, such as gastrointestinal stromal tumors and mast cell disease, molecular therapies targeting KIT mutations are being developed. In acute myeloid leukemia (AML), genome profiling via next-generation sequencing has shown that several genes that are mutated in patients with AML impact patients’ prognosis. Moreover, it was suggested that precision-medicine-based treatment using genomic data will improve treatment outcomes for AML patients. This paper presents (1) previous studies regarding the role of KIT mutations in AML, (2) the data in AML with KIT mutations from the HM-SCREEN-Japan-01 study, a genome profiling study for patients newly diagnosed with AML who are unsuitable for the standard first-line treatment (unfit) or have relapsed/refractory AML, and (3) new therapies targeting KIT mutations, such as tyrosine kinase inhibitors and heat shock protein 90 inhibitors. In this era when genome profiling via next-generation sequencing is becoming more common, KIT mutations are attractive novel molecular targets in AML.     

Room temperature c.w. operation of InGaAsP/InP heterostructure lasers emitting at 1.56 ?m

Room-temperature c.w. operation of InGaAsP/InP heterostructure lasers grown by liquid-phase epitaxy was achieved at 1.56 ?m. An active InGaAsP layer was essentially sandwiched by InP, though a thin InGaAsP buffer layer was deposited to prevent the melt-back of the active layer. Threshold current was typically 300 mA for a 17 ?m wide oxide-defined stripe laser.     

Asymptotic properties on codeword lengths of an optimal FV code for general sources

This correspondence is concerned with asymptotic properties on the codeword length of a fixed-to-variable length code (FV code) for a general source {X/sup n/}/sub n=1//sup /spl infin// with a finite or countably infinite alphabet. Suppose that for each n /spl ges/ 1 X/sup n/ is encoded to a binary codeword /spl phi//sub n/(X/sup n/) of length l(/spl phi//sub n/(X/sup n/)). Letting /spl epsiv//sub n/ denote the decoding error probability, we consider the following two criteria on FV codes: i) /spl epsiv//sub n/ = 0 for all n /spl ges/ 1 and ii) lim sup/sub n/spl rarr//spl infin///spl epsiv//sub n/ /spl les/ /spl epsiv/ for an arbitrarily given /spl epsiv/ /spl isin/ [0,1). Under criterion i), we show that, if X/sup n/ is encoded by an arbitrary prefix-free FV code asymptotically achieving the entropy, 1/nl(/spl phi//sub n/(X/sup n/)) - 1/nlog/sub 2/ 1/PX/sup n/(X/sup n/) /spl rarr/ 0 in probability as n /spl rarr/ /spl infin/ under a certain condition, where P/sub X//sup n/ denotes the probability distribution of X/sup n/. Under criterion ii), we first determine the minimum rate achieved by FV codes. Next, we show that 1/nl(/spl phi//sub n/(X/sup n/)) of an arbitrary FV code achieving the minimum rate in a certain sense has a property similar to the lossless case.     

H optimal approximation for causal spline interpolation

In this paper, we give a causal solution to the problem of spline interpolation using H^∞ optimal approximation. Generally speaking, spline interpolation requires filtering the whole sampled data, the past and the future, to reconstruct the inter-sample values. This leads to non-causality of the filter, and this becomes a critical issue for real-time applications.Our objective here is to derive a causal system which approximates spline interpolation by H^∞ optimization for the filter. The advantage of H^∞ optimization is that it can address uncertainty in the input signals to be interpolated in design, and hence the optimized system has robustness property against signal uncertainty.We give a closed-form solution to the H^∞ optimization in the case of the cubic splines. For higher-order splines, the optimal filter can be effectively solved by a numerical computation. We also show that the optimal FIR (finite impulse response) filter can be designed by an LMI (linear matrix inequality), which can also be effectively solved numerically. A design example is presented to illustrate the result.