Fe-K line probing of material around the AGN central engine with Suzaku

We systematically analyzed the high-quality Suzaku data of 88 Seyfert galaxies. We obtained a clear relation between the absorption column density and the equivalent width of the 6.4 keV line above 10$^{23}$ cm$^{-2}$, suggesting a wide-ranging column density of $10^{23-24.5}$ cm$^{-2}$ with a similar solid and a Fe abundance of 0.7--1.3 solar for Seyfert 2 galaxies. The EW of the 6.4 keV line for Seyfert 1 galaxies are typically 40--120 eV, suggesting the existence of Compton-thick matter like the torus with a column density of $>10^{23}$ cm$^{-2}$ and a solid angle of $(0.15-0.4)*4pi$, and no difference of neutral matter is visible between Seyfert 1 and 2 galaxies. An absorber with a lower column density of $10^{21-23}$ cm$^{-2}$ for Compton-thin Seyfert 2 galaxies is suggested to be not a torus but an interstellar medium. These constraints can be understood by the fact that the 6.4 keV line intensity ratio against the 10--50 keV flux is almost identical within a range of 2--3 in many Seyfert galaxies. Interestingly, objects exist with a low EW, 10--30 eV, of the 6.4 keV line, suggesting that those torus subtends only a small solid angle of $<0.2*4pi$. Ionized Fe-K$\alpha$ emission or absorption lines are detected from several percents of AGNs. Considering the ionization state and equivalent width, emitters and absorbers of ionized Fe-K lines can be explained by the same origin, and highly ionized matter is located at the broad line region. The rapid increase in EW of the ionized Fe-K emission lines at $N_{H}>10^{23}$ cm$^{-2}$ is found, like that of the cold material. It is found that these features seem to change for brighter objects with more than several $10^{44}$ erg/s such that the Fe-K line features become weak. We discuss this feature, together with the torus structure.Comment: 32 pages, 20 figures, ApJ accepte

The ASTRO-H X-ray Observatory

The joint JAXA/NASA ASTRO-H mission is the sixth in a series of highly successful X-ray missions initiated by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS). ASTRO-H will investigate the physics of the high-energy universe via a suite of four instruments, covering a very wide energy range, from 0.3 keV to 600 keV. These instruments include a high-resolution, high-throughput spectrometer sensitive over 0.3-2 keV with high spectral resolution of Delta E < 7 eV, enabled by a micro-calorimeter array located in the focal plane of thin-foil X-ray optics; hard X-ray imaging spectrometers covering 5-80 keV, located in the focal plane of multilayer-coated, focusing hard X-ray mirrors; a wide-field imaging spectrometer sensitive over 0.4-12 keV, with an X-ray CCD camera in the focal plane of a soft X-ray telescope; and a non-focusing Compton-camera type soft gamma-ray detector, sensitive in the 40-600 keV band. The simultaneous broad bandpass, coupled with high spectral resolution, will enable the pursuit of a wide variety of important science themes.Comment: 22 pages, 17 figures, Proceedings of the SPIE Astronomical Instrumentation "Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2012: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray

The Quiescent Intracluster Medium in the Core of the Perseus Cluster

Clusters of galaxies are the most massive gravitationally-bound objects in the Universe and are still forming. They are thus important probes of cosmological parameters and a host of astrophysical processes. Knowledge of the dynamics of the pervasive hot gas, which dominates in mass over stars in a cluster, is a crucial missing ingredient. It can enable new insights into mechanical energy injection by the central supermassive black hole and the use of hydrostatic equilibrium for the determination of cluster masses. X-rays from the core of the Perseus cluster are emitted by the 50 million K diffuse hot plasma filling its gravitational potential well. The Active Galactic Nucleus of the central galaxy NGC1275 is pumping jetted energy into the surrounding intracluster medium, creating buoyant bubbles filled with relativistic plasma. These likely induce motions in the intracluster medium and heat the inner gas preventing runaway radiative cooling; a process known as Active Galactic Nucleus Feedback. Here we report on Hitomi X-ray observations of the Perseus cluster core, which reveal a remarkably quiescent atmosphere where the gas has a line-of-sight velocity dispersion of 164+/-10 km/s in a region 30-60 kpc from the central nucleus. A gradient in the line-of-sight velocity of 150+/-70 km/s is found across the 60 kpc image of the cluster core. Turbulent pressure support in the gas is 4% or less of the thermodynamic pressure, with large scale shear at most doubling that estimate. We infer that total cluster masses determined from hydrostatic equilibrium in the central regions need little correction for turbulent pressure.Comment: 31 pages, 11 Figs, published in Nature July

Hitomi (ASTRO-H) X-ray Astronomy Satellite

The Hitomi (ASTRO-H) mission is the sixth Japanese x-ray astronomy satellite developed by a large international collaboration, including Japan, USA, Canada, and Europe. The mission aimed to provide the highest energy resolution ever achieved at E  >  2  keV, using a microcalorimeter instrument, and to cover a wide energy range spanning four decades in energy from soft x-rays to gamma rays. After a successful launch on February 17, 2016, the spacecraft lost its function on March 26, 2016, but the commissioning phase for about a month provided valuable information on the onboard instruments and the spacecraft system, including astrophysical results obtained from first light observations. The paper describes the Hitomi (ASTRO-H) mission, its capabilities, the initial operation, and the instruments/spacecraft performances confirmed during the commissioning operations for about a month

Hitomi X-Ray Studies of Giant Radio Pulses from the Crab Pulsar

To search for giant X-ray pulses correlated with the giant radio pulses (GRPs) from the Crab pulsar, we performed a simultaneous observation of the Crab pulsar with the X-ray satellite Hitomi in the 2300 keV band and the Kashima NICT radio telescope in the 1.41.7 GHz band with a net exposure of about 2 ks on 2016 March 25, just before the loss of the Hitomi mission. The timing performance of the Hitomi instruments was confirmed to meet the timing requirement and about 1000 and 100 GRPs were simultaneously observed at the main pulse and inter-pulse phases, respectively, and we found no apparent correlation between the giant radio pulses and the X-ray emission in either the main pulse or inter-pulse phase. All variations are within the 2 fluctuations of the X-ray fluxes at the pulse peaks, and the 3 upper limits of variations of main pulse or inter-pulse GRPs are 22% or 80% of the peak flux in a 0.20 phase width, respectively, in the 2300 keV band. The values for main pulse or inter-pulse GRPs become 25% or 110%, respectively, when the phase width is restricted to the 0.03 phase. Among the upper limits from the Hitomi satellite, those in the 4.510 keV and 70300 keV bands are obtained for the first time, and those in other bands are consistent with previous reports. Numerically, the upper limits of the main pulse and inter-pulse GRPs in the 0.20 phase width are about (2.4 and 9.3) 10(exp 11) erg cm(exp 2), respectively. No significant variability in pulse profiles implies that the GRPs originated from a local place within the magnetosphere. Although the number of photon-emitting particles should temporarily increase to account for the brightening of the radio emission, the results do not statistically rule out variations correlated with the GRPs, because the possible X-ray enhancement may appear due to a >0.02% brightening of the pulse-peak flux under such conditions

When can we give general anesthesia to an infant with anticipated difficult airway management caused by facial vascular malformation?

Abstract A 13-month-old infant weighing 8.3 kg with a height of 72.3 cm visited our hospital for surgical resection of facial vascular malformation detected at birth. Because we anticipated the patient would have difficult airway management and massive perioperative bleeding, we postponed surgery to discuss the appropriate timing and general anesthesia approach with anesthesiologists at other institutions, while explaining the risk of general anesthesia and bleeding to the parents. When the patient was 21 months old and 10 kg, he started bleeding while undressing, when his lips touched his clothes. Because the cricothyroid membrane puncture kit (QuickTrach Child™ (VBM Medizintechnik GmbH, Sulz am Neckar, Germany)) can be used on infants weighing over 10 kg, we decided to give him general anesthesia. The infant was successfully intubated by Airwayscope™ and the lesion was surgically removed in accordance with the preoperative plan. The procedure took 65 min and created 8 g of bleeding. The infant had no postoperative bleeding or respiratory complications. There is no data on the timing of safe anesthesia management in infants with difficult airway management. Thus, taking the time to discuss the case with surgeons, other anesthesiologists, and the parents can be helpful

A basic study on the development of listening ability (2) : Discussion on the measuring method of music listening ability

本研究では,中学校1年生を対象として,14の評価語を含む単極評定法を用いた印象評価によって音楽を感受する能力を試行的に測定した。研究の目的は,音楽的内容の異なる楽曲を聴いて,生徒がどのような印象を感受するのか,またそれには音楽的経験の有無がどう影響するのかを明らかにし,それらの結果から測定方法の妥当性を検討することである。 調査データの分析・考察の結果,被験者が14の評価語を含む単極評価法を用いて,大きな矛盾なく音楽の印象を評価していることがわかった。また,音楽経験有無別に印象評価を比較した結果,音楽経験あり群の方が音楽経験なし群よりも比較的明確に印象を評価する傾向にあることもわかった。これらのことから,この評価方法が音楽を感受する能力を適切に測定しうることが確認された。さらに,自由記述の内容を6項目に分類し,音楽経験あり群と音楽経験なし群とで比較した結果,音楽から感受した内容を言語化する能力には様々な階層があり,聴取内容を言語化したテキストを分析することによって,評価語を用いた印象評価からは明らかにできない感受の方法を補足的に明らかにできることがわかった

ROC Estimation from Clustered Data with an Application to Liver Cancer Data

本研究は，音楽科における実習生の指導力を向上させるために，①生徒の学習意欲を高めることができたか（生徒指導・生徒理解の観点）と②音楽授業の質（クオリティー）は高いものであったか（教科専門の観点）の２点を柱として，附属中・高等学校，附属東雲中学校，附属三原中学校，附属福山中・高等学校の４校と広島大学とが提携して行った研究である。　　 附属中・高等学校と附属三原中学校，附属東雲中学校と附属福山中・高等学校間で，実習生の特質や課題を共有し，９月実習，10月実習を通して各実習生の教師力向上をめざして実習指導にあたった。４校共通の，実習生自身の「自己評価表」や生徒による「授業評価カード」を考案し実施した。本稿は主として「自己評価表」の分析を通して，この取り組みの成果を明らかにするものである。分析の結果，実習生は９月，10月実習を通して，上記①②の２点に留意して実習を行い教師力を高めることができたことが明らかになった。そして何より，４校の指導教員が連携して，共通認識のもとに指導にあたることができたことは，非常に意義あることであった。This study aimed to clarify the results of teaching practice to improve pre-service music teachers’ teaching skills in terms of student guidance and music. The teaching practice was conducted in association with four schools attached to Hiroshima University. The pre-service teachers received comments on their teaching from students in each class, and they also made self-assessments of their teaching behavior and musical teaching skills following a period of teaching practice. After the teaching practice had been completed, the pre-service teachers reflected on how they could apply their learning in the next stage of teaching practice as well as on how comments from the students were useful for developing their teaching skills. The results of the analysis showed that the teaching practice that was undertaken in cooperation with the four schools was effective in improving pre-service teachers’ teaching skills