Characterization of Pea Starches in the Presence of Alkali and Borax

Refined field pea (Pisum sativum L.) starches were prepared from air‐classified pea starch by washing or from whole pea by wet milling, and analyzed for their physicochemical and pasting characteristics in the presence of alkali and borax. Commercial corn and high amylose corn starches were included in the study for comparative purposes. The two pea starches exhibited similar physicochemical characteristics. Amylose content markedly influenced pasting and other characteristics of the corn starches. Pea starch and high amylose corn starch exhibited little viscosity development during pasting in deionized water. The presence of alkali or borax significantly altered the peak viscosities and cold paste stabilities of all four starches in a concentration dependent manner. Alkali and borax increased peak and cold paste viscosity and reduced syneresis in all cases.     

Reactive data collection protocol using mobile sink in wireless sensor network

We suggest event collection protocol in a specific region where sensors are deployed to detect and collect events.In the traditional multi-hop routing in wireless sensor networks reporting events to a ...     

Nanocomposite-carbon coated at low-temperature: A new coating material for metallic bipolar plates of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

A nanocomposite-carbon layer is coated onto the surface of 316L stainless steel (SS316) using a beam of accelerated C₆₀ ions at low temperature. The coating is composed of textured graphite nanocrystals ranging in size from 1 to 2 nm, with the graphene plane normal to the coating plane; the nanocrystals are separated by amorphous carbon. This orientation of the graphene layer provides low film resistivity in the direction of the substrate normal. Corrosion resistance tests performed in aggressive anodic and cathodic environments of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) show that the nanocomposite-carbon coated SS316L exhibits better anticorrosion properties than does bare SS316L. The interfacial contact resistance (ICR) of the nanocomposite-carbon coated SS316L is 12 mΩ cm², which is similar to that of graphite at a compaction force of 150 N cm⁻² and lower than a target of ∼20 mΩ cm². A low value of ICR is maintained even after corrosion tests in aggressive anodic and cathodic environments. The fabricated nanocomposite-carbon coated SS316L exhibits excellent corrosion resistance and low interfacial contact resistance under simulated PEMFC bipolar plate conditions.     

The role of Di(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid as a cosurfactant on the morphology control of mesoporous silica microspheres

Synthesis of mesoporous silica microspheres larger than 10 microm via surfactant template approach has rarely been reported. According to the previous studies, particle morphologies were highly variable, depending on the synthesis conditions and impeller design such as impeller type, size, and agitation speed. A new robust surfactant-template synthesis strategy for the stable suspension of large silica microspheres was investigated by introducing an additional cosurfactant. Di(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid (HDEHP) as a cosurfactant played a key role in suspension stabilization without distorting the spherical morphology as well as in the formation of uniform pore structures. High quality of mesoporous silica microspheres was obtained and compared with the Kosuge's silica under different conditions such as stirring rate, acid concentration, the amount of solvent in a mother liquor.     

Fluorescence intensity ratio stereoscopic transform

A novel approach to 3-D information processing of 2-D cell images is presented, called fluorescence intensity ratio stereoscopic transform (FIRST). Here, we describe its basic principle of image processing and show the results for the ratio of total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) to fluorescence intensity. A simple, intuitive transform algorithm would help us to easily obtain a clear stereoscopic image from two 2-D cell images with different fluorescence intensity. For this purpose, nonlinear evanescent-field (EF) imaging of cell-membrane surface and its intracellular structures by using on-chip grating coupler is achieved. This method enabled us to obtain cell images with different signal-to-background ratio and resolution under microfluidic environments. Specifically, we manipulated optic pathway to partially illuminate microscale objects within the microfluidic channel. These findings imply this method will enable selectively to detect optical signals of biomolecular interaction within the cell membrane in a controlled manner. Furthermore, we believe this approach will help to develop an optofluidic sensor for individually detecting dynamic behaviors of intracellular molecules in living cells under microfluidic cell culture environments.     

Optimization of the number of quantum well pairs for high-brightness AlGaLnP-based light emitting diodes

We investigated high-brightness light emitting diodes (LEDs) appropriate for general lighting applications in terms of their temperature dependent photoluminescence characteristics and device performance according to the change of quantum well pairs (QWs). As the number of QWs was increased from 2 to 35 pairs, radiative recombination efficiency and device performances significantly improved, due to the suppression of carrier overflow by decreasing the carrier density in the active region and shortening the carrier transfer time from barrier to well. At a further increase in the number of QWs to 50 pairs, however, the optical and device performances started to degrade because of the increase in internal loss in the active region, such as the well volume itself acting as light absorbing layer and due to the aluminum oxide complexes in the barrier.     

Sensing margin trend with technology scaling in MRAM

Magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) is a leading candidate for future memory applications because it may provide compelling advantages by combining desirable attributes of SRAM, DRAM, and Flash. Process technology has recently scaled down to the nano‐meter regime, which accordingly has resulted in lowering supply voltage, increasing short channel effect, and rapidly increasing process variation. MRAM is also affected by technology scaling, which significantly reduces the sensing margin. In this paper, several circuit design parameters, such as supply voltage, transistor size, and transistor gate voltage in the sensing circuit, are evaluated to discover the root causes of reduced sensing margin with technology scaling. The lowered supply voltage and lowered output resistance of the transistor, which occurs with technology scaling, are verified as the root causes of reduced sensing margin. It is also shown that increased process variation due to technology scaling aggravates the problem. A high supply voltage with power gating combined with optimized transistor size and gate voltage, and a power gating scheme using an IO device with an IO voltage are suggested as effective design solutions for reliably increasing the sensing margin in the presence of process variation. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.