Rogo^® is a new type of mathematical puzzle, invented in 2009. Rogo is a prize-collecting subset-selection TSP on a grid. Grid squares can be blank, forbidden, or show a reward value. The object is to accumulate the biggest score using a given number of steps in a loop around the grid. This paper introduces Rogo as a discrete optimisation problem. An IP formulation is given for the problem with two alternative sets of subtour elimination constraints. Enumeration-based algorithms are also proposed based on properties of solutions and Rogo instances. Some results of computational experiments are reported.

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Rogo^® is a new type of mathematical puzzle, invented in 2009. Rogo is a prize-collecting subset-selection TSP on a grid. Grid squares can be blank, forbidden, or show a reward value. The object is to accumulate the biggest score using a given number of steps in a loop around the grid. This paper introduces Rogo as a discrete optimisation problem. An IP formulation is given for the problem with two alternative sets of subtour elimination constraints. Enumeration-based algorithms are also proposed based on properties of solutions and Rogo instances. Some results of computational experiments are reported.

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Some photosensitizing cyanine dyes act on the immune system to enhance the phagocytic capacity of macrophages. In this study, we examined whether these dyes have neurotrophin-like activities and neuroprotective effects in vitro and in vivo. By screening more than 250 cyanine dyes, we found that NK-4 and NK-150, which belong to a group of pentamethine trinuclear cyanine dyes, significantly potentiated nerve growth factor (NGF)-primed neurite outgrowth of PC12HS cells in nanomolar to micromolar concentrations. Both NK-4 and NK-150 showed a remarkable hydroxyl radical-scavenging activity using an in vitro electron spin resonance (ESR)-based technique. They also effectively scavenged peroxy radicals, and in addition, NK-4 acted on superoxides to a similar extent as ascorbate. In vivo, NK-4 and NK-150 prevented cerebral ischemic injury induced by 2 h middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) and 24 h reperfusion in rats. Dyes were intravenously administrated twice 1 h after the occlusion and immediately after the start of reperfusion. NK-4 and NK-150 (100 μg/kg) reduced cerebral infarct volumes by 57.0% and 46.0%, respectively. Those dyes also decreased brain swelling in the ischemic semispheres. As a result, administration of NK-4 and NK-150 provided substantial improvements in MCAO-induced neurological deficits in a dose-dependent manner. These results suggest that NK-4 and NK-150 effectively prevented ischemia-induced brain injury through their potent neurotrophin-like activity as well as antioxidative activity.

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オリーブアナアキゾウムシ成虫の飛翔行動発現に及ぼす環境要因の影響を室内条件下で実験的に調査した。通常の飼育と同様に餌と水を与えて飼育した場合(対照区),実験期間中(28日間)の死亡個体はなく,作業中に飛翔行動あるいはその徴候を示す個体もなかった。水のみを与えた場合(給水区)あるいは何も与えなかった場合(完全絶食区)には時折一部の個体が飛翔行動あるいはその徴候を示し,実験期間中に全供試個体が死亡した。乾燥ヒノキ棒を飛翔台として4日間雌の行動を調べた結果,歩行と飛翔は夜間多く見られた。最も活発に飛翔したのは給水区の雌で,実験期間中に死亡個体が現れた完全絶食区の雌は翅を開いても飛翔しないものが大半であった。給水区の状態で4日間飼育した雌雄をオリーブの健全木と枯死木に放飼し夕刻から夜間にかけて観察した結果,健全木では5%が歩行して離脱したのに対して,枯死木では20%が歩行して,60%が飛翔して離脱した。

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This research investigated in

intensity which was affected by three extraction methods on two types of onion peels that are bulb onion(BO)and red onion(RO).The results portrayed that RO was the highest content of the when it was extracted by soaking method and also revealed the red shade with a maximum lambda (λmax)of 410 nm. Whilst both of RO and BO solutions were continuously changed in their colors from light-pink to darker when the alkaline solution was added into the solution. The absorbent spectrum and the color transition kinetic of this extracted onion dyes, as well as the possible use of this extracted as a colorant in intelligent packaging technology.

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The activity of the aluminum hydroxide-montmorillonite complex as an adsorbent, Al_2.09 (OH) _5.68Cl^0.44+_0.23·nH₂O/unit formula weight of montmorillonite, to organic substances has been investigated by adsorption from aqueous solution. The relations between the soluble components of the complex and the mechanisms of anionic and of basic adsorptions have been discussed.
When the complex is suspended in water, aluminum and chlorine ions dissolve in the ratio of 1: 3 (AlCl₃). The aluminum ion in solution changes by hydrolytic polymerization into polynuclear hydroxy-aluminum ion, resulting in the formation of H⁺ ions. Most of anions are probably adsorbed by electrostatic attraction onto Al-OH⁺₂ sites of the complex formed by protonation. The rest of the anions is bonded with the polymeric hydroxy-aluminum ion. Another important function of H⁺ ions is that the H⁺ ions give a favorable circumstance for adsorption of anionic since the solubility of anion is lowered. The adsorption of anionic is of Langmuir type and its amount of saturated adsorption is measured to be about 3×10^-4eq/g of charge which is nearly equivalent to the dissolved aluminum ion from the complex.
The adsorption of basic is a competitive cation-exchange reaction with the aluminum ion or H⁺ ion at the negatively charged surface of the complex. Therefore the adsorbed amount of basic increases in case that some parts of these cations drain out from the adsorption system as a column bed type apparatus is employed. A part of cations penetrates into the interlayer of the complex to be strongly adsorbed and the rest exchanges the H⁺ ions to be weakly adsorbed on the surface. The adsorption of basic is slow and of Freundlich type. The adsorbed amount of basic in isothermal adsorption is more temperature-dependent than that of anionic adsorption. This is mainly attributed to the strongly aggregated structure of the adsorbent particles which may be peptized at elevated temperatures.

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The recovery of organic molecules from aqueous solution was accomplished using a magnetic colloid seeding process under high-gradient magnetic separation. The recovery fraction of the molecule using prepared magnetic colloid was found to be much higher than that using magnetite particles. It was found that the recovery fraction of the molecule was dependent on the adsorption capacity of the molecule. We also confirmed that, among the dyes with various kinds of molecular structures and functional groups, the molecules having the azo group could adsorb more easily onto the colloid particles than the without the azo group.

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-sensitized solar cells are expected to be used as future clean energy. Most of the researchers in the field of the -sensitized solar cells use Ruthenium complex as . On the other hand, we have proposed the -sensitized solar cells using natural dyes, such as of red-cabbage and curcumin. In this paper, we use new electrolyte solution for the solar cells using of curcumin. As a result, a conversion efficiency of about 1.3% has been obtained (light source: halogen lamp).

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To evaluate the effect of the surface plasmon resonance of Ag nanoparticles on -sensitized solar cells, we measured the photocurrent of electrochemical cells using dense -adsorbed TiO₂ thin films with and without Ag nanoparticles at different adsorbed- concentrations. At lower concentrations, the photocurrent of the cells with Ag was found to be enhanced by the effect of the surface plasmon resonance compared to that of the cells without Ag. On the other hand, the photocurrent of the cells with Ag decreased at higher concentrations, which was caused by increased trap levels and band-edge fluctuations with Ag incorporation. It is revealed that the control of the structure and quantity of Ag particles is important to apply the surface plasmon resonance effect to -sensitized solar cells.

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Experiments were carried out on the effects of the containing sodium sulfate and detergent concentration in soaping bath regarding the fastness against rubbing and washing of the cloth dyed with a vat . The presence of sodium sulfate in soaping caused remarkable decrease in the extracted amount of in the bath and also lowered the degree of washing fastness. However, it had little effect on the fastness of rubbing except for the case of soaping with water or soap.
As for the fastness of washing there was a certain but definite correlation observed between the redeposition of onto the white cotton cloth and the amount of the removed in the soaping bath.
These results suggested that several factors such as the physical state of adsorbed on the fiber would certainly be influencing the fastness of rubbing, while the amount of adherent on the fiber was probably the primary factor with regard to the fastness of washing.

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Fluorescent brightening of polyester-cotton blend is carried out by dyeing polyester part first with disperse type , and then cotton part with direct type .
Brightening effect of this combination method, however, is not always satisfactory, and under a certain condition, fluorescence even decreases after the second process of dyeing.
In order to make clear the mechanism and find out the effective process of combined brightening, the authors have studied the reflectance of polyester-cotton blend, polyester and cotton cloths treated with disperse (Uvitex ERN), direct (Whitex BK) and both dyes in successive way. respectively, as well as with the soaping prior to the second dyeing.
Main results obtained are as follows :
1. The disperse absorbed by cotton in the first process had no effect on the amount of direct taken by cotton in the second process, but affected the final fluorescent intensity.
2. The more the soaping cycles were made, the better the brightening effect was obtained.

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ZnO nanoplates and ZnO nanostructure flowers were successfully synthesized in alkaline solutions containing different contents of sodium hydroxide by a cyclic-microwave method. The as-synthesized products were characterized by X-ray Diffraction, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy and ultraviolet (UV)–visible spectroscopy. The crystal structure of ZnO nanoplates and nanostructure flowers are wurtzite structure with energy band gap of 3.201–3.217 eV. In this research, these products were applied as energy harvesting materials in

sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) and also used photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) under UV irradiation. In the case of photo conversion materials, the DSSCs based ZnO nanoplates showed the best performance of photoconversion to electricity at 1.5 AM illumination. Moreover, it also well performed at degradation of MB under UV irradiation.

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We made the following experiments to compare and discuss the effects of laser iridotomy with various wavelength.
1) Laser photocoagulations were made on brown polyester sheets in piles with various wavelength of argon, krypton and lasers, and the transmission of the laser beams were evaluated.
2) Laser iridotomy was performed on rabbit's iris with various wavelength. Furthermore, laser iridotomy with laser (orange, 590nm) was performed on 9 eyes of 9 patients clinically.
Consequently, we have successfully performed laser iridotomy with laser (590nm) by fewer numbers of photocoagulations than argon laser.

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  The near infrared light with 0.7-1.0 μm wavelength is widely used for nondestructive decipherment of obliterated writings. However, the near-infrared light is absorbed by oil-based nigrosine black marking-pen ink. On the other hand, the near-infrared light is not absorbed by oil-based black ballpoint pen ink. For this reason, when a letter, which is written using an oil-based black ballpoint pen, is obliterated with an oil-based nigrosine black marking pen, the letter is not detected in 0.7-1.0 μm wavelength region.
  In the present report we describe the decipherment of obliterated writings by middle infrared light (2.5-14 μm wavelength). In a preliminary measurement using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, we found that the absorption spectra of all oil-based black ballpoint pen ink had a specific peak of 1585 cm⁻¹, and that the spectra of any oil-based nigrosine black marking-pen ink did not have the peak at 1585 cm⁻¹.
  For the preparation of simulated samples of obliterated writing on a piece of PPC paper, a Japanese character [よ] was written using an oil-based black ballpoint pen and the character was obliterated using an oil-based nigrosine black marking-pen. The obliterated writing was measured by the FTIR-ATR method. The obliterated writing could be deciphered by mapping the peak area at 1585 cm⁻¹.
  As a result of this experiment， we conclude that the FTIR-ATR mapping with the middle infrared light will be useful to decipher obliterated writings.

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A molecular tagging technique utilizing evanescent wave illumination was developed to investigate the motion of a caged fluorescent in the vicinity of the microchannel wall surface in electroosmotic and pressure-driven flows. A line pattern in a buffer solution was written by a pulsed UV laser and the uncaged was excited by the evanescent wave with total internal reflection inside the glass wall using an objective lens. The velocities calculated by the measured displacement of the near-wall tagged region were compared with the results of molecular tagging using volume illumination, which represents the bulk flow information. Concerning electroosmotic flow, the micro-PIV technique using a confocal microscope system was applied to the microchannel rinsed by the caged fluorescein beforehand in comparison with a pure glass-PDMS microchannel to examine the effect of adsorption to the wall on the electroosmotic mobility. The electroosmotic mobility obtained by evanescent wave molecular tagging (EWMT) showed close to the micro-PIV measurement result near the glass wall for the rinsed case and the uncaged at the almost constant velocity remained in the depthwise illumination region. On the other hand, the velocity in pressure-driven flow by EWMT increased rapidly with respect to time. The uncaged convected to the streamwise direction dispersed toward the wall due to the concentration gradient of the , which was confirmed by the numerical simulations.

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It is important for citizens to get interested in science, energy, and environmental problems in order to be able to make scientifically sound judgments. For the purpose of this activity we have chosen the example of -sensitized solar cells. Although -sensitized solar cells are known as a handmade experiment, they still require high-technology such as nanotechnology and have a very high cost. We have invented -sensitized solar cells with materials that are closely used in everyday life. The efficiency of the -sensitized solar cells is lower, but it is possible for citizens to make handmade -sensitized solar cells by themselves. We expect this invention will generate increased interest in science, energy, and environmental problems and aid citizens in making more scientifically sound judgments.

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