Effects of phenol on the properties of pitch produced thermally from the petroleum vacuum residue

A petroleum vacuum residue was thermally treated at 430 °C, with continuous addition of phenol to either the vapour phase or the liquid phase of the reacting system. Addition of phenol to the vapour phase increased the yield of the cracked oil and the fixed carbon of the residual pitch. When phenol was charged to the liquid phase, the yield of the oil remained unchanged, but the amount of the benzeneinsoluble matter in the pitch decreased, probably owing to the inhibition by phenol of the polymerization-condensation reactions of aromatic compounds. In both additions the cracked oil had a higher boiling point than that produced without phenol. Substitution of phenol with methyl groups increased the extent of cracking and coking properties (Roga Index) of the pitch. The effective order of phenol and its derivatives is: Phenol < m-Cresol < o-Cresol < p-Cresol < 2, 4-Dimethylphenol < 2, 6-Dimethylphenol < 2, 4, 6-Trimethylphenol Polyhydric phenol, e.g. catechol, and naphthol also enhanced the cracking reactivity of the residue.     

Hole Doping Mechanism in Bismuth Cuprates

The role of oxygen for the hole doping has been investigated for single-phased (Bi,Pb)₂Sr₂Ca₂Cu₃O. _z Defects introduced by oxygen have been clarified to be interstitial atoms by pycnometric density measurements. The c axis decreases and the modulation periods along the b axis also decrease with increasing oxygen content in the crystal. It is likely that extra oxygen ions exist between the BiO double layers and those oxygen ions are responsible for the modulation. Samples with oxygen content ranging from 9.99 to 10.18 showed superconductivity. The critical temperature T _c , exhibited a maximum value (109 K) at 10.07 oxygen atoms in the formula unit, which coincided with the average Cu valence of 2.13. The data indicated that hole formation was governed by oxygenation reaction in this system.     

Possible Mechanism of Inhibition of 6-Methoxy-Benzoxazolin-2(3H)-One on Germination of Cress (Lepidium sativum L.)

6-Methoxy-benzoxazolin-2(3H)-one (MBOA) inhibited the germination of cress (Lepidium sativum L.) seeds at concentrations greater than 0.03 mM. Inhibition was overcome by sucrose, suggesting that MBOA may inhibit sugar metabolism in cress seeds. Induction of α-amylase activity in seeds was also inhibited by MBOA at concentrations greater than 0.03 mM. Inhibition of both germination and induction of α-amylase activity increased with increasing concentrations of MBOA, and the extent of germination correlated positively with the activity of α-amylase in the seeds. MBOA added to a reaction mixture for α-amylase assay did not affect enzyme activity, indicating that MBOA does not inhibit in vitro α-amylase activity. Cress seeds germinated approximately 16 hr after incubation, and inhibition of α-amylase by MBOA occurred within 6 hr after incubation. These results suggest that MBOA may inhibit the germination of cress seeds by inhibiting the induction of α-amylase activity, because α-amylase plays a key role in the conversion of reserve carbohydrate into soluble sugars, a prerequisite for seed germination.     

Geometrical Characteristics and Surface Polarity of Inclined Crystallographic Planes of the Wurtzite and Zincblende Structures

Inclined crystallographic planes of the wurtzite structure were investigated in comparison with the zincblende structure in terms of surface geometry characteristics. The ball–stick model indicates that the semipolar surface possesses a surface polarity resembling the anion polarity, which agrees with the common experimental observations of epitaxial growth preference for the cation-polarity surface over the surface. The wurtzite surface was found to share geometrical similarities with the zincblende {100} surface uniquely among the possible semipolar planes. This finding encourages epitaxial growth on the plane of wurtzite semiconductors, e.g., GaN, with the potential of avoiding atomic step formations typically associated with off-axis crystallographic planes.     

Application of step‐response test for evaluation of uncertainty of standard measuring system for lightning‐impulse high voltage

In evaluating the uncertainty of the standard measuring system for lightning‐impulse high voltages, which is composed of a standard voltage divider, a digital recorder, and calibrators, step‐response tests of the standard voltage divider may be useful. In this paper, a convolution algorithm is employed to calculate the output impulse voltage waveforms from measured step‐response waveforms. The uncertainties of peak‐value measurement due to the influence of the nominal epoch, uncertainty of the peak‐value measurement due to dispersion of the AC scale factor, and uncertainty of the virtual front‐time measurement due to long‐term stability are evaluated. Furthermore, the error of the virtual front time of the output waveforms is discussed. The front part of the step‐response waveform, t≤ T₃₀%, does not influence the error of the virtual front time. Therefore, for the standard voltage divider, the step‐response parameters, that is, the experimental response time, partial response time, settling time, and overshoot, have almost nothing to do with the error of the virtual front time. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 180(2): 24–32, 2012; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.21279     

An FPGA implementation of hard‐wired sequence control system based on PLC software

Although a programmable logic controller (PLC) has been widely adopted for the sequence control of industrial machinery, its performance does not always satisfy the recent requirements in large and highly responsive systems. With the state‐of‐the‐art field programmable gate array (FPGA) technology, it is possible to implement a control program with hard‐wired logic for higher response and reduced implementation cost/space. This approach is also worthwhile for transmigration of legacy PLC software into forthcoming FPGA‐based control hardware. This study presents a systematic method to implement a hard‐wired sequence control from PLC software. PLC instructions are converted into VHDL codes, and then implemented as logic circuit with various peripheral functions. Productive PLC programs were examined with Mitsubishi Electric FX2N PLC and Altera Stratix II FPGA, and were shown to fit into a common FPGA chip. A straightforward Sequential design was estimated to be 184 times faster than PLC, while a performance‐oriented Flat design was estimated to be 44 times faster than Sequential design (i.e., 8050 times faster than PLC). A practical perfect layer winder system was actually built and successfully operated with our FPGA control board, whose logic design was implemented with our tools. © 2011 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

日本寒冷地带北海道优良食味粳稻育种研究（网络首发、推荐阅读）

长久以来，北海道产大米的食味口碑一直不高，也未出现像“越光”一样全日本知名的优良食味品种，因此，自1980年开始历时28年，北海道立（现称道总研）农业试验场致力于粳稻优良食味品种快速研究项目的实施。为实现快速研发的目标，通过世代促进栽培法和花药培养法成功缩短了育种年限；采用扩大育种规模的方式，并利用优良食味、耐寒性等内外部有效基因培育兼具优良食味及早熟耐寒性的品种；初期世代开始主要通过分析大米的蛋白质含量、尤其是直链淀粉含量，中间世代则通过少量蒸饭的方式进行食味品鉴，选育出优良食味种系。在食味遗传基因的改良方面，先是集聚北海道优良食味的遗传基因培育出品种“雪光”，再经由北海道品种引进“越光”的优良食味遗传基因，之后以日本东北优良食味遗传基因品种“秋田小町”作为直接杂交母本，分别成功培育出品种“闪光397”和“星之梦”，其直链淀粉含量与以往多肥多产品种的22%相比降低了2%。在此基础之上，引进美国品种“国宝玫瑰”优良食味遗传基因的品种“七星”成功问世，其直链淀粉含量又降低了1%；以变异低直链淀粉种系“北海287号”为母本，成功培育出“梦美”，其直链淀粉含量15%~16%，粘度和软度俱佳，食味亦可与“越光”媲美。