239 research outputs found
The Dynamics and Sensitivity Analysis of a Plunger-type Pressure Control Valve
This paper is concerned with an analytical study of the
dynamics of a plunger-type pneumatic pressure control
valve, already proposed by the authors, which maintains a
constant secondary pressure lower than the primary pressure,
in spite of the change of the primary pressure or
the fluctuation of the load connected with this valve.
At first, the dynamics of the secondary pressure and the
plunger movement, caused by changes of the primary pressure
and the load, is analyzed by means of the state variable
method. Furthermore, for improvement of responsibility,
the conditions for adjusting system parameters are
found through the root locus method. Next, the sensitivity
analysis is applied to the investigation of the influences
of parameter variations on the dynamics of the control
valve. By means of simulation studies of sensitivity
functions, we have shown which parameters are really significant
and also which are not. Throughout these analytical
and simulation studies, guidelines for improving
the performance of a plunger-type pressure control valve
are obtained
Photopolarimetric Monitoring of Blazars in the Optical and Near-Infrared Bands with the Kanata Telescope. I. Correlations between Flux, Color, and Polarization
We report on the correlation between the flux, color and polarization
variations on time scales of days--months in blazars, and discuss their
universal aspects. We performed monitoring of 42 blazars in the optical and
near-infrared bands from 2008 to 2010 using TRISPEC attached to the "Kanata"
1.5-m telescope. We found that 28 blazars exhibited "bluer-when-brighter"
trends in their whole or a part of time-series data sets. This corresponds to
88% of objects that were observed for >10 days. Thus, our observation
unambiguously confirmed that the "bluer-when-brighter" trend is common in the
emission from blazar jets. This trend was apparently generated by a variation
component with a constant and relatively blue color and an underlying red
component. Prominent short-term flares on time scales of days--weeks tended to
exhibit a spectral hysteresis; their rising phases were bluer than their decay
phases around the flare maxima. In contrast to the strong flux--color
correlation, the correlation of the flux and polarization degree was relatively
weak; only 10 objects showed significant positive correlations. Rotations of
polarization were detected only in three objects: PKS 1510-089, 3C 454.3, and
PKS 1749+096, and possibly in S5 0716+714. We also investigated the dependence
of the degree of variability on the luminosity and the synchrotron peak
frequency, \nu_peak. As a result, we found that lower luminosity and higher
\nu_peak objects had smaller variations in their amplitudes both in the flux,
color, and polarization degree. Our observation suggests the presence of
several distinct emitting sources, which have different variation time-scales,
colors, and polarizations. We propose that the energy injection by, for
example, internal shocks in relativistic shells is a major factor for blazar
variations on time scales of both days and months.Comment: 39 pages, accepted for publication in PAS
High Incubation Investment of Females Paired to Attractive Males in Barn Swallows
Differential parental investment is the sexual selection process in which females that have acquired an attractive male invest relatively more in his offspring than females that are paired to an unattractive male. However, it is often difficult to distinguish between differential parental investment and compensation for a decrease in parental investment by an attractive mate. Using Barn Swallows Hirundo rustica gutturalis, in which males rarely participate in incubation, we investigated differential incubation investment of females. We made the following four observations: (1) Females participate in 94% of total nest attentiveness (time that eggs were incubated). (2) Female nest attentiveness was positively correlated with the ornamentation of their mates, the size of white spots in the tail, which is a measure of male attractiveness in this population. (3) Male nest attentiveness was not related to male ornaments. (4) Total nest attentiveness was positively correlated with the size of white spots in the tail. These results are consistent with differential parental investment, but not with compensation for a decrease in parental investment by a mate. Therefore, we conclude that female Barn Swallows that have acquired an attractive male invest differentially in incubation
Oseltamivir Prescription and Regulatory Actions Vis-à-Vis Abnormal Behavior Risk in Japan: Drug Utilization Study Using a Nationwide Pharmacy Database
BACKGROUND: In March 2007, a regulatory advisory was issued in Japan to restrict oseltamivir use in children aged 10-19 years because of safety concerns over abnormal behavior. The effectiveness and validity of regulatory risk minimization actions remain to be reviewed, despite their significant public health implications. To assess the impact of the regulatory actions on prescribing practices and safety reporting. METHODOLOY/PRINICPAL FINDINGS: In this retrospective review of a nationwide pharmacy database, we analyzed 100,344 dispensation records for oseltamivir and zanamivir for the period from November 2006 to March 2009. The time trend in dispensations for these antiviral agents was presented before and after the regulatory actions, contrasted with intensity of media coverage and the numbers of spontaneous adverse reaction reports with regard to antivirals. The 2007 regulatory actions, together with its intense media coverage, reduced oseltamivir dispensation in targeted patients in fiscal year 2008 to 20.4% of that in fiscal year 2006, although influenza activities were comparable between these fiscal years. In contrast, zanamivir dispensation increased approximately nine-fold across all age groups. The number of abnormal behavior reports associated with oseltamivir in children aged 10-19 years decreased from fiscal year 2006 to 2008 (24 to 9 cases); this decline was offset by the increased number of reports of abnormal behavior in children under age 10 (12 to 28 cases). The number of reports associated with zanamivir increased in proportion to increased dispensation of this drug (11 to 114 cases). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The 2007 actions effectively reduced oseltamivir prescriptions and the number of reports of abnormal behavior in the targeted group. The observed increase in abnormal behavior reports in oseltamivir patients under age 10 and in zanamivir patients suggests that these patient groups may also be at risk, calling into question the validity of the current discrimination by age and agent (Abstract translation is available in Japanese: Appendix S1)
Detection of Polarimetric Variations Associated with the Shortest Time-Scale Variability in S5 0716714
We present the result of near-infrared and optical observations of the BL Lac
object S5 0716714 carried out by the KANATA telescope. S5 0716714 has
both a long term high-amplitude variability and a short-term variability within
a night. The shortest variability (microvariability) time-scale is important
for understanding the geometry of jets and magnetic field, because it provides
a possible minimum size of variation sources. Here, we report the detection of
15-min variability in S5 0716714, which is one of the shortest time-scales
in optical and near-infrared variations observed in blazars. The detected
microvariation had an amplitude of mag in band and a blue
color of . Furthermore, we successfully detected
an unprecedented, short time-scale polarimetric variation which correlated with
the brightness change. We revealed that the microvariation had a specific
polarization component. The polarization degree of the variation component was
higher than that of the total flux. These results suggest that the
microvariability originated from a small and local region where the magnetic
field is aligned.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures; Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan
letter accepte
Dwarf Novae in the Shortest Orbital Period Regime: I. A New Short Period Dwarf Nova, OT J055717+683226
We report the observation of a new dwarf nova, OT J055717+683226, during its
first-ever recorded superoutburst in December 2006. Our observation shows that
this object is an SU UMa-type dwarf nova having a very short superhump period
of 76.67+/- 0.03 min (0.05324+/-0.00002 d). The next superoutburst was observed
in March 2008. The recurrence time of superoutbursts (supercycle) is, hence,
estimated to be ~480 d. The supercycle is much shorter than those of WZ
Sge-type dwarf novae having supercycles of >~ 10 yr, which are a major
population of dwarf novae in the shortest orbital period regime (<~85 min).
Using a hierarchical cluster analysis, we identified seven groups of dwarf
novae in the shortest orbital period regime. We identified a small group of
objects that have short supercycles, small outburst amplitudes, and large
superhump period excesses, compared with those of WZ Sge stars. OT
J055717+683226 probably belongs to this group.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in PAS
Optical and Near-Infrared Photometry of Nova V2362 Cyg : Rebrightening Event and Dust Formation
We present optical and near-infrared (NIR) photometry of a classical nova,
V2362 Cyg (= Nova Cygni 2006). V2362 Cyg experienced a peculiar rebrightening
with a long duration from 100 to 240 d after the maximum of the nova. Our
multicolor observation indicates an emergence of a pseudophotosphere with an
effective temperature of 9000 K at the rebrightening maximum. After the
rebrightening maximum, the object showed a slow fading homogeneously in all of
the used bands for one week. This implies that the fading just after the
rebrightening maximum ( less or equal 1 week ) was caused by a slowly shrinking
pseudophotosphere. Then, the NIR flux drastically increased, while the optical
flux steeply declined. The optical and NIR flux was consistent with blackbody
radiation with a temperature of 1500 K during this NIR rising phase. These
facts are likely to be explained by dust formation in the nova ejecta. Assuming
an optically thin case, we estimate the dust mass of 10^(-8) -- 10^(-10)
M_solar, which is less than those in typical dust-forming novae. These results
support the senario that a second, long-lasting outflow, which caused the
rebrightening, interacted with a fraction of the initial outflow and formed
dust grains.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, 2010, PASJ, 62, 1103--1108, in pres
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