On the solar cycle variation in the barometer coefficients of high latitude neutron monitors

Evaluation of barometer coefficients of neutron monitors located at high latitudes has been performed by using the results of the spherical harmonic analysis based on the records from around twenty stations for twelve years from January 1966 to December 1977. The average of data at eight stations, where continuous records are available for twelve years, show that the absolute value of barometer coefficient is in positive correlation with the cosmic ray neutron intensity. The variation rate of the barometer coefficient to the cosmic ray neutron intensity is influenced by the changes in the cutoff rigidity and in the primary spectrum

An a posteriori verification method for generalized real-symmetric eigenvalue problems in large-scale electronic state calculations

An a posteriori verification method is proposed for the generalized real-symmetric eigenvalue problem and is applied to densely clustered eigenvalue problems in large-scale electronic state calculations. The proposed method is realized by a two-stage process in which the approximate solution is computed by existing numerical libraries and is then verified in a moderate computational time. The procedure returns intervals containing one exact eigenvalue in each interval. Test calculations were carried out for organic device materials, and the verification method confirms that all exact eigenvalues are well separated in the obtained intervals. This verification method will be integrated into EigenKernel (https://github.com/eigenkernel/), which is middleware for various parallel solvers for the generalized eigenvalue problem. Such an a posteriori verification method will be important in future computational science.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure

Parallel Dual Tabu Search for Capacitor Placement in Smart Grids

AbstractThis paper proposes parallel dual tabu search (PDTS) for capacitor placement in smart grids. The proposed method makes use of the dual code of the initial vale to make solution candidates diverse. The capacitor placement is one of important problems to maintain the nodal voltage profile in the distribution network level of smart grids. The problem formulation of capacitor placement may be expressed as a combinatorial optimization problem of capacitor banks. In this paper, a new method is proposed to improve the performance of tabu search (TS) of meta-heuristics. Although meta-heuristics are not affected by the initial value in smaller systems, they are inclined to give different solutions with different initial values in large-scale problems. In practice, it is very important to set up a good initial value for tabu search although a priori knowledge is not available in general. This paper focuses on the dual code of the initial value to create another initial value systematically. Mathematically, the dual code is orthogonal to the original one so that the solution search is carried out to keep the diversity of solution candidates from two most different directions. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated in a sample system

Experimental Study Concerning Safety Dosage of OK-432 for Intrauterine Treatment

ObjectiveClinical intrauterine treatment for fetal cystic hygroma has so far been performed in a few patients; however, it is still difficult to evaluate the results. The aim of this study is to establish the safe dosage of OK-432 in the intrauterine treatment of fetal cystic hygroma.MethodsOK-432 was injected either subcutaneously behind the neck of the fetuses or into the amniotic cavity through the uterine wall of pregnant Japanese white rabbits at 27 days of gestation. Saline was administered to the controls. The dosage and the site of injection were as follows: group 1, OK-432, 0.01 KE (0.25 KE/kg) in 0.2 mL saline per fetus, subcutis; group 2, OK-432, 0.02 KE (0.5 KE/kg) in 0.2 mL saline per fetus, subcutis; group 3, OK-432, 0.04 KE (1 KE/kg) in 0.2 mL saline per fetus, subcutis; group 4, OK-432, 0.01 KE in 0.2 mL saline per fetus, amniotic cavity; group 5, OK-432, 0.04 KE in 0.2 mL saline per fetus, amniotic cavity; group 6, saline, 0.2 mL per fetus, subcutis; group 7, saline, 0.2 mL per fetus, amniotic cavity. All fetuses were delivered at 29 days of gestation.ResultsThe mother's rectal temperature was mostly in the normal range throughout the experiment. There was no significant difference between any of the seven groups in fetal body weight. The C reactive protein values of all fetuses were negative. The appearance of the skin of all the fetuses was normal. The histopathological findings of the skin in the OK-432 groups showed a moderate infiltration of monocytes and plasma cells. No pathological changes were observed in the heart, lung, liver or kidneys of any of the fetuses.ConclusionBased on this rabbit experiment, we determined that OK-432 may be safely used at a dose of up to 1 KE/1 kg of fetal body weight as an intrauterine treatment for fetal cystic hygroma

Gd3+ rattling triggered by a "weak" M-I transition at 140-160 K in the Ce1-xGdxFe4$P12 x ~ 0.001 skutterudite compounds: an ESR study

In this work we report electron spin resonance (ESR) measurements in the semiconducting Ce1-xGdxFe4P12 (x ~ 0.001) filled skutterudite compounds. Investigation of the temperature (T) dependence of the ESR spectra and relaxation process suggests, that in the T-interval of 140-160 K, the onset of a "weak" metal-insulator (M-I) transition takes place due to the increasing density of thermally activated carriers across the semiconducting gap of ~ 1500 K. In addition, the observed low-T fine and hyperfine structures start to collapse at ~ 140 K and is completely absent for > 160 K. We claim that the increasing carrier density is able to trigger the rattling of the Gd3+ ions which in turn is responsible, via a motional narrowing mechanism, for the collapse of the ESR spectra.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, presented at QCNP2009, to appear in pss

Nodular-Type Lichen Myxedematosus: A Case Report

An 18-year-old Japanese woman noticed a progressive appearance of nodules on both forearms and on the left cubital fossa and left thigh one year before her initial consultation at our department. Physical examination showed elastic hard, slightly elevated, shiny and yellowish to skin-colored nodules of 6 to 10 mm in size on her extremities. From laboratory and histopathological findings, nodular-type lichen myxedematosus was diagnosed and nodules showed complete remission following local injection of triamcinolone acetonide

Plant stress : hitting pause on the cell cycle

Two recently discovered transcription factors stop cells from dividing when plants face extreme heat and DNA damage