Laser pyrolysis of some polymers in the presence of sodium borohydride

The effect of sodium borohydride on laser pyrolysis of some polymers was investigated. It was observed that monomer yield was remarkably increased in the presence of sodium borohydride. The characteristic pyrogram was obtained under the conditions of low laser intensity and addition of sodium borohydride.     

Polymorphism of Fostedil: Chracterization and Polymophic Change by Mechanical Treatments

Two crystal forms of fostedil were characterized using X-ray diffraction patterns and infrared spectra. The melting points of polymorph I and II were 95.3 °C and 96.4 °C, respectively.

Solubility studies demonstrated that, of the two fostedil polymorphs, form II was slightly more soluble than form I. The free energy difference between two polymorphs was small (71.8 cal/mol at 37 °C). Both crystals melted at about 60 °C in water considerably below the melting points.

Compression of form II at a compression force of 500 - 1000 kg/cm² induced polymorphic changes in the crystal. Similar changes also were produced through grinding. The effects of some diluents on the polymorphic transformation from form II into form I by grinding were also studied. Microcrystalline cellulose and corn starch showed a polymorphic transfomation-accelerating effects.

Form I is more suitable for the pharmaceutical preparation.     

Control of coercive force of Co-Cr sputtered films

The role of c-axis orientation of the crystallites in the sputtered Co-Cr thin films has been investigated aiming for the control of the coercive force of the film. It has been confirmed that the c-axis orientation plays a very important role to control the coercive force, Hcperpand Hcparellel. When the c-axis of the film is well oriented, only Hcperpchanges with the increase of the substrate temperature Ts leaving Hcparellelrather constant. However, both Hcperpand Hcparellelchange together with the increase of Ts when the film is poorly oriented. It has been considered that Ts is only the factor adjustable for controlling Hc of the films, but the results in this study indicate that the c-axis orientation is the another factor to control Hcperpand Hcparellel, separately.     

Modified, Discrete Replacement Models

This paper proposes four modified replacement policies where a unit may be replaced only at periodic times nT (n = 1, 2, ...) for a fixed T > 0. Age, block, periodic, and inspection models can be transformed to discrete replacement ones. The mean cost-rates of each model are obtained and the optimal numbers to minimize the cost-rates are discussed when the hazard rate is monotonely increasing. Derivations are given in a separately available Supplement.     

Production of ultrahigh modulus polyoxymethylene by drawing under dielectric heating

A tensile drawing process under dielectric heating has been developed for polyoxymethylene. The influence of ambient temperature, electric field strength, and strain rate on the maximum draw ratio and the tensile modulus has been examined. Tubes possessing tensile moduli up to 63GPa were produced by the new drawing technique. It is speculated that the achievement of such ultrahigh moduli is due to the fact that the stress by drawing is used effectively to orient the molecular chains in the noncrystalline regions and at defect regions within the crystal lamellae. This is because these regions are heated to higher temperatures than the crystalline regions during dielectric heating.     

Circuits using uniform TFTs based on amorphous In‐Ga‐Zn‐O

Abstract— High‐performance and excellent‐uniformity thin‐film transistors (TFTs) having bottom‐gate structures are fabricated using an amorphous indium‐gallium‐zinc‐oxide (IGZO) film and an amorphous‐silicon dioxide film as the channel layer and the gate insulator layer, respectively. All of the 94 TFTs fabricated with an area 1 cm² show almost identical transfer characteristics: the average saturation mobility is 14.6 cm²/(V‐sec) with a small standard deviation of 0.11 cm²/(V‐sec). A five‐stage ring‐oscillator composed of these TFTs operates at 410 kHz at an input voltage of 18 V. Pixel‐driving circuits based on these TFTs are also fabricated with organic light‐emitting diodes (OLED) which are monolithically integrated on the same substrate. It is demonstrated that light emission from the OLED cells can be switched and modulated by a 120‐Hz ac signal input. Amorphous‐IGZO‐based TFTs are prominent candidates for building blocks of large‐area OLED‐display electronics.     

Purification and characterization of organic solvent-stable lipase from organic solvent-tolerant Pseudomonas aeruginosa LST-03

An organic solvent-stable lipase (LST-03 lipase) secreted into the culture broth of the organic solvent-tolerant Pseudomonas aeruginosa LST-03 was purified by ion-exchange and hydrophobic interaction chromatography in the presence of 2-propanol. The purified enzyme was homogeneous as determined by SDS-PAGE. The molecular mass of the lipase was estimated to be 27.1 kDa by SDS-PAGE and 36 kDa by gel filtration. The optimum pH and temperature were 6.0 and 37 degrees C. LST-03 lipase was stable at pH 5-8 and below 40 degrees C. Its hydrolytic activity was highest against tricaproin (C6), methyl octanoate (C8), and coconut oil respectively among the triacylglycerols, fatty acid methyl esters, and natural oils investigated. The enzyme cleaved not only the 1,3-positioned ester bonds, but also the 2-positioned ester bond of triolein. It exhibited high levels of activity in the presence of n-decane, n-octane, DMSO, and DMF as well as in the absence of an organic solvent. In addition, LST-03 lipase was stabler in the presence of n-decane, ethyleneglycol, DMSO, n-octane, n-heptane, isooctane, and cyclohexane than in the absence of an organic solvent.     

Reliability of wire-bonding and solder joint for high temperature operation of power semiconductor device

Thick Al wires bonded on chips of power semiconductor devices were examined for thermal cycle tests, then the bonded joints were cut using microtome method, after that those were observed by scanning electron microscope and analyzed by electron back scattered diffraction. Some cracks were observed between Al wires and the chips, unexpectedly the crack lengths were almost constant for −40/150 °C, −40/200 °C and −40/250 °C tests. It is considered that re-crystallization has been progressed during the high temperature side of the thermal cycle tests.Furthermore, joint samples were prepared using high temperature solders such as Zn–Al and Bi with CuAlMn, Direct Bonded Copper insulated substrates and Mo heatsinks. The fabricated samples were evaluated by scanning acoustic microscope before and after thermal cycle tests. Consequently, almost neither serious damages nor delaminations were observed for −40/200 °C and −40/250 °C tests.     

Photochromism induced magnetization changes in Prussian Blue ultrathin films fabricated into the Langmuir-Blodgett films composed of an amphiphilic azobenzene and a deoxyribonucleic acid

A photomagnetic ultrathin film consisting of an azobenzene, a deoxyribonucleic acid, and Prussian Blue has been fabricated by the Langmuir-Blodgett method. Prussian Blue layers in the films were a two-dimensional structure with the height of 50 Å and the average coherence length of 210 Å. Reversible photoisomerization of the azobenzenes was observed even in the films. The films exhibit the long-range ferromagnetic order below 4.2 K and moreover, upon photoillumination at 2 K, reversible changes in the magnetization were realized with the value of ca. 1.0%. This photoswitching in the magnetization is due to changes in the electrostatic field induced by photoisomerization.     

Peroxisomal metabolism is regulated by an oxygen-recognition system through organelle crosstalk between the mitochondria and peroxisomes

In the present study using Pichia methanolica, it was found that expressions of methanol-metabolic enzymes were strictly regulated by the presence of oxygen, and that induction of alcohol oxidase (AOD) isozymes was completely dependent on oxygen concentrations. A proportion of AOD-isozyme species responded to oxygen conditions, e.g. in a low oxygen condition, Mod1p was dominant, but with an increase in the oxygen concentration, the ratio of Mod2p increased. The K(m) value of Mod1p for oxygen was ca. one-seventh lower than that of Mod2p (0.47 and 3.51 mM, respectively). This shows that Mod1p is suitable at low oxygen concentrations and Mod2p at high oxygen concentrations. Also, zymogram changes for AOD isozymes were observed by inhibition of respiratory chain activity. These indicated that P. methanolica has the ability to recognize oxygen conditions and the respiratory chain should participate in the sensor for available oxygen. These facts indicate that there is organelle crosstalk between mitochondria and peroxisomes through nucleus gene regulation in order to control the consumption balance of available oxygen between the mitochondrial respiratory chain and peroxisomal AODs.