Principle and operation of a new type motor consisting of piezoelectric device and strain wave gearing

The authors have developed a new type of motor consisting of a piezoelectric device and strain wave gearing, and is called a piezoelectric motor. This is a first step in realizing a low-speed, small-size and lightweight motor. The principle of the motor is that the traveling wave is produced by piezoelectric devices and displacement conversion devices without mechanical resonance, and the torque to rotate the motor is generated by a mechanism of strain wave gearing (circular spline and flexspline) without using friction. The motor is operated at variable frequency and its rotational position (angle) is controlled in open-loop because it is basically a synchronous motor. In this paper, the structure and principle of the proposed motor are explained and the driving method and the mechanical characteristics of an experimental motor also are described. The results are as follows:

• 1 The realizability of the proposed piezoelectric motor is verified experimentally. The experimental motor operates at 2920 steps per revolution, and its speed range is 0 to 960 pps [or 0 to 20 (rpms)].
• 2 The torque characteristics are clarified qualitatively.
• 3 The generated torque of the experimental motor is small (less than 0.03 Nm) and therefore the improvement of the torque is an important subject hereafter.
• 4 It is possible to construct the motor with nonmetallic material. This fact is considered to facilitate obtaining a means to lighten the weight of the motor in the future.

     

A tetrameric dialdehyde formed in the reaction of butyral dehyde and benzylamine: A possible intermediary component for protein cross-linking induced by lipid oxidation

We investigated the reaction of butyraldehyde and benzylamine and analyzed the products to identify the components that produce protein cross-linking in the reaction of butyraldehyde and proteins. When the mixtures of butyraldehyde and benzylamine were incubated at pH 7 and 37°C for 48 hr, many reaction products other than 2-ethyl-2-hexenal and Schiff bases of butyraldehyde and 2-ethyl-2-hexenal were produced. Fluorescent substance(s) were formed only in the presence of dissolved oxygen in the reaction mixture. Three new nonflourescent products—d,e andf—were isolated, and their structures are suggested to be 2,9-dibenzyl-4,6,8-triethyl-7-propyl-2,9-diazabicyclo[3,3,1] nona-3-ene (d), 1-phenyl-2-benzyl- 4,5,7-triethyl-6-propyl-1H,2H,3H,5H,6H,7H,8H-pyrido[1,2-clpyrimidine (e) and 1-phenyl-2-benzyl-4,5,7-triethyl-6-propyl-1H,2H,4aH,5H,6H,7H,8H-pyrido[1,2-c]pyrimidine (f). Formation of these compounds suggested that the protein, cross-linking with butyraldehyde is caused by the tretrameric dialdehyde formed by repeated aldol condensation and Michael reaction of butyraldehyde.     

In utero exposure to a low concentration of diesel exhaust affects spontaneous locomotor activity and monoaminergic system in male mice

Background

Epidemiological studies suggest that inhalation of carbonaceous particulate matter from biomass combustion increases susceptibility to bacterial pneumonia. In vitro studies report that phagocytosis of carbon black by alveolar macrophages (AM) impairs killing of Streptococcus pneumoniae. We have previously reported high levels of black carbon in AM from biomass smoke-exposed children and adults. We therefore aimed to use a mouse model to test the hypothesis that high levels of carbon loading of AM in vivo increases susceptibility to pneumococcal pneumonia.

Methods

Female outbred mice were treated with either intranasal phosphate buffered saline (PBS) or ultrafine carbon black (UF-CB in PBS; 500 μg on day 1 and day 4), and then infected with S. pneumoniae strain D39 on day 5. Survival was assessed over 72 h. The effect of UF-CB on AM carbon loading, airway inflammation, and a urinary marker of pulmonary oxidative stress was assessed in uninfected animals.

Results

Instillation of UF-CB in mice resulted a pattern of AM carbon loading similar to that of biomass-smoke exposed humans. In uninfected animals, UF-CB treated animals had increased urinary 8-oxodG (P = 0.055), and an increased airway neutrophil differential count (P < 0.01). All PBS-treated mice died within 72 h after infection with S. pneumoniae, whereas morbidity and mortality after infection was reduced in UF-CB treated animals (median survival 48 h vs. 30 h, P < 0.001). At 24 hr post-infection, UF-CB treated mice had lower lung and the blood S. pneumoniae colony forming unit counts, and lower airway levels of keratinocyte-derived chemokine/growth-related oncogene (KC/GRO), and interferon gamma.

Conclusion

Acute high level loading of AM with ultrafine carbon black particles per se does not increase the susceptibility of mice to pneumococcal infection in vivo.     

Characterization of carbonaceous films deposited on metal substrates by liquid-phase electrodeposition in methanol

In this study, we report the characterization of carbonaceous films deposited on metal substrates by liquid-phase electrodeposition in methanol. The characterization of carbonaceous films by electrodeposition was examined by means of Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), atom probe (AP) and high resolution-elastic recoil detection analysis (HR-ERDA). From these results, it was found that the films deposited on the metal substrates were composed of the sp² and sp³ carbon contents, of which the ratio was about 7:3. Furthermore, the films by electrodeposition contained much hydrogen. The hydrogen contents in the surface were about 60 at.% and those in the subsurface were a few 10 at.%.     

Guided-mode resonant grating filter with an antireflection structured surface

We describe a new structure of guided-mode resonant grating (GMRG) filters with low sideband reflectance. This GMRG filter consists of a high-index thin film on an antireflective structured surface called "moth-eye structure." Since the high-index film undulates along the surface structure, the film acts as a modulated optical waveguide. An incident light wave satisfying a resonant condition is reflected by the GMRG filter, and nonresonant light waves pass through the filter. This GMRG filter is valid for reducing reflection of nonresonant light waves in a wide spectral range. The resonant reflection of this new filter was investigated by numerical calculation based on an electromagnetic grating analysis. In the case of a triangular antireflective surface structure whose thickness is 2x greater than its period, the sideband reflectance for nonresonant light waves was lower than 0.5% for TM-polarized light in a wide range of wavelengths.     

Input system for part model in CAD from coloured hand-written illustration with use of ITV

An input system for CAD is developed to construct a part model within a computer from a hand-written sketch. The sketch is drawn based on the technical illustration method. The shape of the input part is constructed by the combination of cuboids and cylinders at present. A coloured illustration is adopted for the ease of the shape recognition and for the input of the technological information.

The illustration is fed into the computer via a black and white ITV. Colours are identified referring to the brightness of the input image. The constitutive bodies, the geometric element with the technological information and the content of the technological information are recognized through image processing such as noise filtering, thinning of the contours, detection of lines and so on. The input system outputs a set of commands to the modelling system. The integrated part model which includes not only the geometrical information but also the technological information of the part is constructed by the connected modelling system CIMS/MODE.

The combination of the input system and the modelling system can support the designer to construct the detailed part model within the computer effectively. It is expected to extend the ability of the input system to identify general hand-written illustrations so that the input method will be more practical and useful.     

Printed Low Velocity Delay Lines for Cathode Readout of Proportional Chambers

A new type of flat delay line was developed which has a low propagation velocity and very good delay to rise time ratio. It can be constructed by printed circuit techniques without crossovers. The magnetic loops of a shifted periodic structure yield high inductance per unit length. Geometric scaling factors are shown. This line, forming the cathode plane of a proportional chamber, allows simultaneously, a satisfactory induced signal and the readout of the second coordinate by time delay without disturbing the electric field configuration around the anode. Optimization of position resolution vs. noise is discussed. Experimental results are shown. Other properties of such delay lines are discussed.     

Measured resonance characteristics of a 2-ghz-fundamental quartz resonator

I fabricated an inverted-mesa AT-cut quartz resonator in which the thickness of the vibrating area was adjusted to 0.6 /spl mu/m by wet etching, and I demonstrated the excitation of a fundamental thickness vibration of 2.074 GHz. This main mode was inductive, and Q was 1037. However, all inharmonic modes were capacitive.     

Investigation of shrinkage and cracking of ophthalmic lens coating by a cycle test of UV radiation and high humidity

This paper presents some ophthalmic lens coating failures such as shrinkage, cracking, and cracking with delamination caused by UV radiation, elevated temperature, and moisture. These phenomena are caused by: 1) interactions at the interface between the plastic substrate and the hard coating (HC), and 2) plastic deformation with stress and relaxation of the HC/substrate interface. This phenomenon leads to an understanding of the mechanical properties of ophthalmic lenses through a QUV test which is found to be a useful method in developing better ophthalmic lens systems. The coating failures were investigated by means of different analysis techniques including optical microscope, scanning electron microscope, atomic force microscope, thermo mechanical analysis, and dynamic secondary ion mass spectrometry.     

Gradually intractable problems and nondeterministic log-space lower bounds

The paper places five different problems (thek-pebble game problem, two problems aboutk finite automata, the reachability problem for Petri nets withk tokens, and the teachability problem for graphs whose k-dimensional edge sets are described by Cartesian products ofk factors) into the hierarchyNL _k of problems solvable by nondeterministic Turing machines ink-log₂ n space (and binary tape alphabet, to avoid tape speed-up). The results, when combined with the conjecture thatNL _i contains problems that requireO(n ^k ) deterministic time, show that these problems, while inP for every fixed value ofk, have polynomial deterministic time complexities with the degree of the polynomial growing linearly with the parameterk, and hence are, in this sense, gradually intractable.