Otsuma Women's University

About: Otsuma Women's University is a education organization based out in Tokyo, Japan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Differential scanning calorimetry & Population. The organization has 422 authors who have published 913 publications receiving 12796 citations. The organization is also known as: Otsuma-Joshi-Daigaku.

Mobile Technology of Learning and Communication for Students With Disabilities

Abstract: This chapter presents a mobile application to support children and students with hearing difficulties and/or developmental disorders in interacting, understanding, and preparing for learning in their daily, school, and social lives. The authors think that a learning and communication support technique using a combination of characters, pictograms, and photographs is effective for people with disabilities. The application recognizes words spoken by their communication partners by using a speech recognition system and arranges the pictures corresponding to the words in a sequence. The results of two demonstration experiments show that PICTONGUE promotes mutual understanding between students who have hearing difficulties and/or developmental disorders by utilizing pictograms and photographs in combination with speech. The authors suggest that PICTONGUE supports visualization and feedback for planning and learning as a new way of communication for children and students with hearing difficulties and developmental disorders.

Thermal Decomposition of Carpets and Their Components

Abstract: Thermal decomposition in the initial stage of Nylon 66 carpets and their components was analyzed by thermogravimetry (TG), and TG-Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (TG-FTIR). The Ozawa-Flynn-Wall method was applied in the initial stage of thermal decomposition. It was found that the thermal stability of carpet depends on the characteristics of backing materials. Poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) backing is easily decomposed and mass residues was high due to the presence of additives. HCl gas was evolved from PVC backing in a temperature ranging from 300 to 400 °C where, in contrast, a-olefin backing showed stable performance.

Optimal Commodity Taxation with Tax Brackets Under Vertical Product Differentiation

Abstract: In this paper, we analyze the effects of commodity taxation with tax brackets under a vertically differentiated multiproduct monopoly and show an optimal taxation scheme. The tax brackets are classified by product qualities. A monopolist with two products determines the prices and qualities of the products that will maximize his profit, given the tax brackets. Based on this monopolistic behavior, the government determines taxation using tax brackets that will maximize social welfare (SW). In such a taxation plan, because there may be notches at different tax thresholds, by analyzing the effects of the notches on SW, we are able to show whether setting notches can improve SW. Our results are as follows. The optimal taxation plan levies a tax on the low-quality side of the tax bracket and grants a subsidy on the high-quality side of the bracket. On the high-quality side of the bracket, the subsidy helps give incentives to the monopolist to improve product qualities. On the other hand, on the low-quality side of the bracket, the tax levied helps reduce the monopolist’s incentive to position on the low-quality side of the bracket, that is, it induces the monopolist to position the product on the high-quality side of the bracket. Furthermore, the government can induce the monopolist to improve product qualities by raising the tax threshold and binding the low-quality product to the threshold. That is, the government can improve SW by inducing two products to locate on the high-quality side of the bracket to improve their quality.

The Triaxial Superdeformed Bands in 163Lu

Abstract: Triaxial superdeformed bands in 163 Lu are analysed by applying the Holstein-Primakoff transformation both to the total and single-particle angular momenta. Quite good agreements with the experimental values are reproduced in the energy difference between two superdeformed bands as a function of angular momentum, and also in the ratio of E2 transitions among these bands. The results coming from the exact diagonalization of the particle plus rotor Hamiltonian are compared with the approximate calculation. Recently, triaxial superdeformed bands in 163 Lu nucleus 1) have been observed, which are interpreted as the wobbling motion. 2) We have already proposed the theory for the triaxially deformed bands nearly thirty years ago. 3) The difference between our treatment and Bohr-Mottelson’s text book is in the quantization axis and in the order of approximation. We chose z-axis as the quantization axis, while BohrMottelson chose x-axis. We included the whole effect coming from 1/I where I is the total angular momentum. These two differences help us to get the exact energy eigenvalue at the axially symmetric limit. Moreover, our paper is the first work that applied the Holstein-Primakoff transformation to the nuclear physics. In this paper we extend our old theory to the odd nuclei by introducing two kinds of bosons for the total angular momentum I and the single-particle angular momentum j. Here, we pay attention to the symmetry of the nucleus. Both the rotor and the intrinsic Hamiltonian have D2-symmetry, and are also the function of deformations β and γ. There appears another symmetry in 5-dimensional space (three Eulerian angles, β and γ), which is called Bohr’s symmetry. 4) Thus, it is different from the classical precession around rigid body given in the text book by Landav-Lifshits. 5) We adopt an approximate wave function as, [D I φΩ +( −) I−j+κ D I −K φ−Ω], where κ = Ω − K is restricted to the even value because of the Bohr’s symmetry. Then the energy eigenvalue becomes the average of κ and −κ, and the energy difference between κ+2 and κ becomes constant independent from I. We adopt the irrotational flow formula for the moments of inertia as Ji = Cβ 2 sin 2 (γ− 2π 3 i), and the quadrupole moments are proportional to these moments of inertia. In the numerical analysis for 163 Lu, we adopt the state for the triaxially deformed superdeformed band 1 (TSD1) as K = 1 Ω = 1 (κ = 0), and for the triaxially deformed superdeformed band 2 (TSD2) as K = − 3 Ω = 1 (κ = 2). We adopt γ =1 9 ◦ , and unique-parity level i13/2 for the last nucleon. The band head energies of TSD1 and TSD2 are adjusted to the experimental energies. Three moments of inertia become J irr