Roles of emotional separation and parental trust on autonomy in elementary and junior high school students

Several theories have proposed that emotional separation and parental trust in parent–adolescent relationships have significant roles on adolescent autonomy development. Although these associations have been demonstrated among middle-to-late adolescents, no empirical study has tested them among children and early adolescents. The present study aimed to investigate the associations of emotional separation and parental trust with diverseindicators of behavioral autonomy, including communication behaviors with parents (i.e., individuality-oriented and connectedness-oriented communications) and behaviors at homeand school (i.e., waking up at regular times, doing homework, reviewing learning contents, and observing rules at school), among children and early adolescents. Elementary school students (n = 857; 49.59% girls; Mage = 10.80) and junior high school students (n = 518; 47.68% girls; Mage = 13.56) completed the questionnaires. Emotional separation was positively associated with individuality-oriented communication and negatively associated with connectedness-oriented communications, doing homework, and reviewing learning contents. Meanwhile, parental trust was positively related to both individuality-oriented and connectedness-oriented communications, waking up at regular times, doing homework, reviewing learning contents, and observing rules at school. These results indicate that emotional separation may promote one’s firm sense of self differing from his/her parents; however, emotional separation generally works negatively in autonomy development, whereas parental trust works positively. Overall, the present study provides further understandings of the roles of emotional separation and parental trust on autonomy in childhood and early adolescence, which have not been examined to date.本研究は，国際的／青年期発達探究プロジェクト (都筑学・中間玲子・畑野快・杉村和美: http://web.hyogo-u.ac.jp/nakama/iappj/src/index.html) の予備調査の一部として実施された

Experimental investigation on up-flow boiling of R1234yf in aluminum multi-port extruded tubes

The local characteristics of heat transfer and pressure drop were investigated experimentally for the vertical upflow boiling of low GWP refrigerant R1234yf in two types of aluminum multi-port extruded tubes having 16 channels with a cross section of 0.9×0.2 mm2 and 40 channels with a cross section of 0.3×0.2 mm2 respectively. At an evaporating temperature of 15 ℃, the local heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop at heat flux of 4-16 kW/m2 and mass flux of 60-240 kg/(m2s) were measured. Combined with previous results of multi-port extruded tubes having 16 channels with a cross section of 0.9×0.9 mm2, the effect of tube dimension on boiling heat transfer was reported. In addition, based on the heat transfer coefficient at various heat flux and mass flux, the boiling heat transfer mechanism was briefly analyzed.

Development of a Compact Absorption Chiller Using Hydrophobic Flat Sheet Membrane

Automotive absorption refrigeration system has enormous potential to conserve energy using the exhaust gas from the car engine. The absorption system, however, has not yet been attracted to automobile application owing to its large volume, weight, and weakness for unexpected vibration and the slop while driving. By the vibration, the LiBr solution is scattered not on the cooling tube in the absorber, that is leading to mal-function of absorber. Also by sloping road, the free surface of solution in the generator and absorber causes mixing of the refrigerant and LiBr solution. To solve the problems, we used hydrophobic flat sheet membrane. Membrane is a porous media that has microscale porous and used for filtration to separate specific substances. By the hydrophobicity of the membrane, the LiBr solution can not penetrate the pores of the membrane. Only vapor, however, can penetrate the pores. That means the membrane can separate the working fluids and vapor refrigerant. By using the membrane for all the components of absorption refrigeration system, the free surface of working fluid is eliminated and the mixing of fluids does not occur by the sloping road. To reduce volume of components, we provide the design of combined generator-condenser and absorber-evaporator using the membranes. In this study, we focused on the theoretical models for heat and mass transfer in membrane based combined unit, and evaluated the performance. Then, we constructed an experimental apparatus using flat membranes and measured the performance

Investigating Eating Behaviors and Symptoms of Oral Frailty Using Questionnaires

A questionnaire survey was conducted to investigate eating behavior and the subjective symptoms of oral frailty, and to examine the relationship between them. A total of 744 subjects with ages over 65 years were included. The questionnaire comprised 18 question items indicating eating behavior and seven question items indicating oral frailty. All items were assessed according to 4 grades on a scale of 1 (not applicable) to 4 (applicable). The total score of oral frailty gradually increased with age. Regarding the scores for “eating recognition” and “eating habits”, no changes were observed, however the scores for “eating action” demonstrated a decreasing tendency with age and the scores of ≥ 85 years age group was significantly lower than the 65–69, 70–74, and 75–79 years age groups. As a result of multiple regression analysis, among the significant independent variable, the scores of “I do not chew foods well” under the category of “eating action” showed the highest standard partial regression coefficients for dependent variable of symptoms of oral frailty. The significant association was found between the eating behavior and subjective symptoms of oral frailty, and this study suggests that the good chewing habit might be an important criterion for the prevention of oral frailty

Thermal Decomposition of Lower-GWP Refrigerants

The use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) has been widely restricted. They have been replaced with hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in order to protect the ozone layer. However, the leakage of refrigerant into air from active or end-of-life air conditioners has been a serious environmental issue owing to the high global warming potential (GWP) of HFCs. It has therefore been widely recognized that the replacement of HFCs with lower-GWP refrigerants is a reasonable solution of the problem. In Japan, the lower-GWP refrigerants such as R1234yf, R1234ze, and R32 are considered as candidate alternatives for conventional HFC refrigerants. However, these lower-GWP refrigerants are often chemically unstable. To assess the risks when lower-GWP refrigerants are exposed to high-temperature solid surface, it is necessary to clarify their decomposabilities and products. However, the high reactivities of products like hydrogen fluoride (HF) make this quantification difficult. Moreover, in case of combustion, some researchers proposed that the reactivity of a molecule with more fluorine atoms than hydrogen atoms, like R1234yf, is affected by humidity. Thus, its flammability limits and product composition are influenced by temperature and humidity. In this study, to discuss on the effects of temperature and humidity in thermal decomposition, mixtures of refrigerants and air were decomposed in heated tube and the products were analyzed with FT-IR to quantify decomposed refrigerants and hydrogen fluoride which was the main toxic product. The tested refrigerants were R1234yf, R32 and R134a. The temperature of the heated tube and humidity in the mixture were systematically changed. Because the concentration of hydrogen fluoride was influenced by the tube material due to the chemical reaction between hydrogen fluoride and the tube material, several kinds of heated tubes, made with ceramics, Inconel alloy or stainless steel, were used. The thermal decomposition characteristics of lower-GWP refrigerants were compared with those of conventional non-flammable refrigerants

Theoretical Model For Buoyancy-Induced Heat Transfer Deterioration Under Supercritical Pressure

In an organic Rankine cycle system which utilizes the low-grade heat sources in various industrial processes, operating the heating process at supercritical pressure provides a possibility to increase the system efficiency because more work can be recovered. Under this background, it is necessary to investigate the supercritical heat transfer characteristics of the organic working fluids. In this study, the characteristics of supercritical heat transfer of fluid R245fa, which is commonly applied in the commercial ORC power plant, and R1233zd(E), which is recognized as an alternative working fluid owing to its low-global-warming-potential value, were investigated experimentally under the heating condition in a vertical tube. The test tube has an inner diameter of 4 mm and a length of 1040 mm. The heat flux ranging from 15 to 100 kW/m2 for R245fa and 20 to 80 kW/m2 for R1233zd(E), and mass flux from 400 to 800 kg/m2s for R245fa and 400 to 600 kg/m2sfor R1233zd(E). The experiments were conducted at a pressure of 4.0, 4.5 and 5.0 MPa for R245fa and 3.93 and 4.40 MPa for R1233zd(E). The local heat transfer coefficients were calculated from the measurement parameters. The abrupt deteriorations of heat transfer were found in moderate heat flux and low mass flux at three operating pressure for R245fa, while such a characteristics were not found in the experiment of R1233zd(E). This abrupt deterioration can be attributed to the buoyancy, which was induced by severe variation of density when fluid temperature experienced pseudocritical temperature. When the mass flux is large, there is no abrupt deterioration of heat transfer, and the heat transfer coefficient changes smoothly.For all the experimental conditions, the heat transfer coefficients of R1233zd(E) were higher than that of R245fa

Flow Boiling Heat Transfer of Binary Mixtures HFO1234yf/R32 in a Smooth Horizontal Tube

HFO1234yf is a promising alternative for automobile air conditioners because of its low GWP of 4 and thermophysical properties similar to those of R134a. However, its performance is inferior to R410A. This makes it difficult to be applied to residential air-conditioners. A mixture of HFO1234yf and R32 is expected to balance both the GWP and COP requirement when applied to residential air-conditioning systems. In this study, flow boiling heat transfer coefficients of HFO1234yf and R32 (80:20 and 50:50 by wt%) were measured in a smooth horizontal tube at a saturation temperature of 15°C. The inner diameter (ID) of the test section is 4 mm. The mass flux ranges from 100 to 300 kg/m2·s, and the heat flux changes from 6 to 24 kW/m2. Heat transfer coefficients of the mixtures and pure HFO1234yf were summarized at three Bo numbers. The influence of Bo on mass discussion was observed and discussed. It is found that there is notable influence of mass diffusion on heat transfer when Bo is large. When Bo is small, the convective heat transfer at high vapor qualities seems to be suppressed due to the effects of mass diffusion. Results show that the heat transfer coefficient of the 50:50 wt% mixture of HFO1234yf and R32 is higher than that of the 80:20 wt% mixture and is also the same or even higher than that of pure HFO1234yf. A theoretical model was proposed to predict the heat transfer coefficients of the mixtures HFO1234yf and R32 under two concentrations. The prediction model can catch 80% of the data within deviation of ±20%

Cascade between oral function and physical frailty

Background: No report has yet examined the impact of oral hypofunction on physical frailty in relation to intra‐relationships of physical frailty assessment items. The purpose of this study was to verify the potential of a clinical cascade between oral hypofunction and physical frailty, and especially to support the hypothesis that the influence of oral hypofunction on physical frailty is greater than the intra‐relationships among elements of physical frailty, and that sex differences significantly affect these relationships. Methods: The participants were 272 older adults (101 men and 171 women; mean age 75.1 ± 7.5 years). Maximum occlusal force (MOF) and oral dryness (OD), as indicators of oral hypofunction, and grip strength (GS) and walking speed (WS), as indicators of physical frailty, were measured. Mutual relationship of four variables was verified using covariance structure analysis. Results: In men, three paths from MOF to WS and GS and from WS to GS were confirmed, and those from MOF to WS and from WS to GS were found to be significant (p < 0.01). In women, three paths from MOF to WS and GS and from WS to GS were also confirmed, as with the men, and those from MOF to WS and from MOF to GS were found to be significant (p < 0.01). Model adaptability was shown to be good for both men and women. Conclusion: The results suggest our hypothesis was verified, and it is expected that the early detection of oral hypofunction, that is, MOF, may be important for assessing physical frailty, especially in women