Fe-O纳米晶合金膜的软磁和高频特性

采用等离子体增强射频磁控溅射沉积方法,在室温下制备了Fe-O合金薄膜.研究了氧的掺杂量和薄膜厚度对薄膜软磁和高频特性的影响.结果发现少量氧的掺杂不导致低饱和磁化强度铁氧化物的形成,但可使薄膜晶粒细化,矫顽力下降.在薄膜厚度低于150 nm且氧气与氩气相对流量比为2.4%的条件下,薄膜的实部磁导率高达1100且能够维持到1GHz.     

Numerical study on in-tube laminar heat transfer of supercritical fluids

Numerical calculations were carried out for supercritical carbon dioxide flowing in miniature tubes with Re less than 1000. The heat transfer coefficient α and friction factor f were numerically studied for different values of the tube diameter, pressure, mass flux, and heat flux. When compared with the constant property flow, where Nu = 4.364 and f = 64/Re for a circular tube under a constant heat flux condition, a large divergence from the constant value was obtained for both Nu and f·Re in the vicinity of the pseudocritical temperature T_m. When cooled under a constant heat flux, Nu attained its peak value when T_b > T_m and its minimum value when T_b < T_m, while f·Re attained its peak value at T_b = T_m. With regard to the heating process, the reverse tendencies were confirmed. The variations of the specific heat with temperature were found to be the dominant factor for Nu. In addition, empirical correlations that considered the cross-sectional distribution of thermophysical properties were proposed to predict the values of Nu and f both in the near-pseudocritical temperature region and in the thermal entrance region of the tube. The proposed correlations were also verified by comparing the predicted results with numerical results obtained by using supercritical water.     

Creating and modulating rhythms by controlling the physics of the body

The motion behaviors of vertebrates require the correct coordination of the muscles and of the body limbs even for the most stereotyped ones like the rhythmical patterns. It means that the neural circuits have to share some part of the control with the material properties and the body morphology in order to rise any of these motor synergies. To this respect, the chemical downward neuromodulators that supervise the pattern generators in the spinal cord create the conditions to merge (or to disrupt) them by matching the phase of the neural controllers to the body dynamics. In this paper, we replicate this control based on phase synchronization to implement neuromodulators and investigate the interplay between control, morphology and material. We employ this mechanism to control three robotic setups of gradual complexity and actuated by McKibben type air muscles: a single air muscle, an elbow-like system and a leg-like articulation. We show that for specific values, the control parameters modulate the internal dynamics to match those of the body and of the material physics to either the rhythmical and non-rhythmical gait patterns.     

Spherical tokamak generation and merging on UTST using ex‐vessel poloidal field coils only

We successfully generated two spherical tokamaks (ST) at two null points by using ex‐vessel poloidal field (PF) coils only and succeeded in merging them. This scheme is called a double null merging (DNM) scheme. First, two pairs of ex‐vessel PF coils generate two null points where the poloidal field is zero at the upper and lower regions inside the vacuum vessel. Then a poloidal flux swing generates two STs at two null points, because the distance to the wall along the magnetic field is long at the null points. Finally, the coil currents push two STs toward the mid‐plane and merge them into a single ST. Since a magnetic reconnection during merging transforms magnetic energy into thermal energy, this merged ST plasma is expected to have a high beta. It must be noted that the DNM scheme generates an ST without a center solenoid coil. The DNM scheme was demonstrated on the TS‐3/4 (Japan) and MAST (UKAEA). However, these devices have all PF coils inside the vacuum vessels, and the initial plasmas were generated around the PF coils, not the null points. Since internal coils are not feasible in a fusion reactor due to high neutron flux, it is important to demonstrate the DNM scheme by using ex‐vessel PF coils. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 179(4): 18–24, 2012; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.21254     

Fracture origins of optical fibers fabricated by hybridized process

Fracture origins of single-mode optical fibers that were produced by the CIP hybridized process consisting of overcladding a VAD-derived core rod with silica glass made from commercial silica powder were studied. It was found that there were many inclusions that caused failure of the fiber at the screening test. To identify the inclusions, the EPMA technique was successfully used and new internal defects such as a Cr, a Cr-Fe, and a Zr inclusions were found. By investigating the manufacturing process precisely, stainless steel particles and Cr₂ O₃ particles in the silica powder were found to become origins of the fractures. Further, the removal of Cr₂O₃ particles by the reaction with chlorine gas at high temperature was studied, and its dependence on the reaction temperature and on the chlorine content was clarified. It was also suggested that the initial particle size of a Cr₂O₃ particle was an important factor for its elimination. The results obtained by this study should be used to remove both the Cr and the Cr-Fe inclusions     

Structural and optical properties of Ti oxide cluster-assembled films prepared by plasma-gas-condensation

Ti and Ti oxide cluster-assembled films have been prepared using a plasma-gas-condensation apparatus. Transmission electron microscopy and electron diffraction measurement indicates that their structures vary from a face-centered-cubic (fcc) Ti phase, via an NaCl-type TiO_x phase, to an amorphous and rutile-type TiO₂ mixture phase with increasing the O₂ flow rate in the Ar/He gas mixture. Cluster shapes are spherical for the fcc phase, cubic for the NaCl-type, and spherical for the amorphous and rutile-type mixture, while the cluster size monotonically decreases with increasing O₂ flow rate. The Ti and Ti oxide cluster-assembled films have a sooty appearance, showing a very porous morphology in the scanning electron microscopy images. The electrical resistivity dramatically increases between R_O2 = 0.065 and 0.075 sccm, while the optical transmittance spectra in the visible wavelength range rapidly increases between R_O2 = 0.1 and 0.12 sccm, well reflecting the structure variations in these Ti and Ti oxide cluster-assembled films.     

Interaction of Bnr1p with a novel Src homology 3 domain-containing Hof1p. Implication in cytokinesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Proteins containing the formin homology (FH) domains FH1 and FH2 are involved in cytokinesis or establishment of cell polarity in a variety of organisms. We have shown that the FH proteins Bni1p and Bnr1p are potential targets of the Rho family small GTP-binding proteins and bind to an actin-binding protein, profilin, at their proline-rich FH1 domains to regulate reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We found here that a novel Src homology 3 (SH3) domain-containing protein, encoded by YMR032w, interacted with Bnr1p in a GTP-Rho4p-dependent manner through the FH1 domain of Bnr1p and the SH3 domain of Ymr032wp. Ymr032wp weakly bound to Bni1p. Ymr032wp was homologous to cdc15p, which is involved in cytokinesis in Schizosaccharomyces pombe, and we named this gene HOF1 (homolog of cdc 15). Both Bnr1p and Hof1p were localized at the bud neck, and both the bnr1 and hof1 mutations showed synthetic lethal interactions with the bni1 mutation. The hof1 mutant cells showed phenotypes similar to those of the septin mutants, indicating that HOF1 is involved in cytokinesis. These results indicate that Bnr1p directly interacts with Hof1p as well as with profilin to regulate cytoskeletal functions in S. cerevisiae.     

Identification of anti-α-enolase autoantibody as a novel serum marker for endometriosis

Diagnosis of endometriosis needs invasive maneuvers. New serum marker that possesses both high sensitivity and high specificity has long been desired. To establish novel serum marker for endometriosis, serum autoantibodies (autoAbs) were investigated using proteomic approach. AutoAbs in sera of endometriotic patients and healthy controls were analyzed using a mesothelial cell line, 2-DE and Western blotting. Proteins in reacted spots were identified using MALDI TOF-MS with MASCOT analysis. ELISAs were established using recombinant proteins and autoAb-titers were estimated in sera of endometriotic patients, disease and healthy controls. Several autoAbs were identified. Anti-α-enolase (Eno1)-autoAb levels in endometriotic patients were significantly elevated compared with both healthy and disease controls. Sensitivity and specificity of serum anti-Eno1-autoAb was nearly comparable to serum CA125. When anti-Eno1-autoAb and CA125 assays were combined, diagnostic sensitivity and accuracy improved. Serum anti-Eno1-autoAb can be a new serum endometriotic marker and it is useful as a supplement assay for CA125. This study validates further clinical evaluation of this novel marker.