High-resolution PEA charge distribution measurement system

The pulsed electroacoustic (PEA) method is widely known to be an excellent method for measuring the space charge distribution that accumulates in thick dielectric materials (1 to 5 mm). We have refined the PEA measurement system for use on thin dielectric materials. With FFT deconvolution to compensate for the frequency characteristics of the piezoelectric sensor, the resolution in the depth direction is improved to ~3 μm. This improved system is thus expected to be useful for the quantitative and nondestructive measurement of the space charge distribution in dielectric films     

Mechanical and AC loss properties in mono-and multi-filamentary Bi-223 Ag-sheathed tapes

The evaluation of the bending strain tolerance and AC loss properties for monoand multi-filamentary Bi-2223 Ag-sheathed tape were carried out at liquid nitrogen temperature. For tapes with a filament number of over 19, the critical current (I_c) was maintained at the same values up to the bending strain of 0.3%, although the I_c of the mono-filamentary tape at the condition of 0.2% strain degraded to 90% of the value for the no-strain condition. The AC loss of the monofilamentary tape was the hysteresis type. On the contrary, the AC loss of the multi-filamentary tape was substantially dominated by the eddy current loss in the Ag matrix.     

Surface structures of synthetic diamonds

Diamond crystals of about 2 mm in size were grown by the temperature gradient method using Ni, Ni-Fe alloy and Fe as solvent metals. Several characteristic patterns were seen on the surfaces of the grown diamonds and were found to correspond to the texture of the quenched solvent metals. A vague vein-like pattern appeared when Ni was used. The surface patterns became finer with the increase of the content of Fe in Ni-Fe alloy, and when 70 wt% Fe-30 wt% Ni alloy was used, very fine dendritic patterns were seen on all of the faces of diamond in accordance with the symmetries of the lattice. The patterns are formed by the precipitation of carbon atoms in the space of the dendrites of the solvent metals during the quenching process. Lamellar patterns and etch pits were seen when Fe was used. The patterns are formed when Fe dissolves the diamond surfaces to produce Fe₃C during the quenching process.     

Acoustic surface-wave filters without apodisation loss with electrodes with inclined apodisation

The letter reports a new apodisation of electrodes which provides surface-acoustic-wave filters capable of operation without apodisation loss and with sufficiently large stopband attenuation. The effectiveness of the apodisation was shown by experiments.     

Fatigue characteristics of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene with different molecular weight for implant material

In order to investigate the effect of molecular weight on fatigue characteristics in the ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), tension–tension fatigue tests of notched specimens were carried out in the present study. The effects of frequency and stress ratio on the fatigue characteristics were also investigated and fractography was discussed. The fatigue strength does not increase with increasing molecular weight. The fatigue strength might be influenced by the high degree of crystallinity in spite of the decreased tie molecule density in this study. Almost no effect of frequency on the number of cycles to failure can be observed. However, the higher the frequency, the higher the crack tip temperature. The effects of heat and strain rate on the fatigue strength must be considered in polymer materials. At a high stress ratio, the stress–number of cycles to failure (S–N) curves shift to high number cycles to failure side. Both stress amplitude and mean stress influence the fatigue life of UHMWPE. © 2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers     

Network Design with Edge-Connectivity and Degree Constraints

We consider the following network design problem; Given a vertex set V with a metric cost c on V, an integer k≥1, and a degree specification b, find a minimum cost k-edge-connected multigraph on V under the constraint that the degree of each vertex v∈V is equal to b(v). This problem generalizes metric TSP. In this paper, we show that the problem admits a ρ-approximation algorithm if b(v)≥2, v∈V, where ρ=2.5 if k is even, and ρ=2.5+1.5/k if k is odd. We also prove that the digraph version of this problem admits a 2.5-approximation algorithm and discuss some generalization of metric TSP.     

Abnormal metabolism of polyunsaturated fatty acids and phospholipids in diabetic glomeruli

Studies were done on changes in phospholipid content and fatty acid composition of phospholipids and on the role of the acylation pathway in synthesis of phospholipids in the development of abnormal fatty acid composition in the glomeruli of rats 2 and 10 mo after induction of diabetes with streptozotocin. The proportions of individual phospholipids in the glomeruli of rats were not changed 2 mo after induction of diabetes, but the proportion of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) decreased and that of sphingomyelin increased 10 mo after induction of diabetes. In contrast, in liver the proportion of PE was increased and that of phosphatidylcholine was decreased. These results showed that changes of individual phospholipids in glomeruli were time-dependent and tissue-specific. Two mo after induction of diabetes, the main change in the phospholipid fatty acid composition of diabetic glomeruli was a decrease in arachidonic acid (AA); the main change in serum free fatty acids (FFA) was an increase in linoleic acid (LA) and a decrease in AA. Ten mo after induction of diabetes, the main changes in the phospholipid fatty acid composition of glomeruli were an increase in LA and a decrease in AA; the main change of the serum FFA composition was a decrease in AA. Thus, the fatty acid composition of glomerular phospholipids was not directly correlated to that of the serum in diabetic rats. Acyl-CoA synthetase and acyltransferase activities increased in diabetic glomeruli with either AA or LA as substrate, but activity toward LA increased more at 2 mo after induction of diabetes. Acyl-CoA synthetase activity increased in diabetic glomeruli with LA as substrate, but that did not change with AA as substrate at 10 mo after induction of diabetes. Furthermore, acyltransferase activity decreased in diabetic glomeruli with AA as substrate, although that did not change with LA as substrate at 10 mo after induction of diabetes.     

Residual Stress in Siliceous Glass Between Mullite Crystals

A birefringence of siliceous glass, which is coexisting with mullite crystals, was studied by an optical polarizing microscope. The cause of the birefringence was assumed to be the residual stress induced by a large contraction difference between the mullite and glass on cooling. The stress has been evaluated to be as high as—0.3 GPa, and to correspond to the elastic one which began to develop at the glass transition point.     

Measurement of specific movement power application: evaluation of weight lifters

A new dynamometer was developed for the measurement of specific movement power (SMP) exerted by mono- or multi-articular movements. To determine the reproducibility of SMP, two identical test protocols were carried out on separate days for six movement types on seven adult males. The movement types were arm pull (AP), leg rise (LR), knee extension (KE), elbow flexion (EF), hip extension (HE) and squat movement (SQ). Variations in peak power obtained in two tests ranged from 0.7% (AP) to 9.6% (SQ). Coefficients of the test-re-test correlation in peak power ranged from 0.805 (SQ) to 0.961 (AP) and standard errors ranged from 4 W (EF) to 14 W (SQ). SMP in upper extremities increased from 166 W (EF) to 307 W (AP) resulting from the increase in velocity. However, in the movements of lower extremities, SMP increased from 506 W (KE) to 1351 W (SQ) as a result of the increase in force. To evaluate the validity of the SMP, a pull movement in weightlifting was tested and related to the athletic performance on weightlifters. Positive linear correlation (r = 0.862, p<0.001) was observed between SMP and the total weight best records. It is concluded that this newly developed dynamometer has enough reproducibility and validity for evaluating the SMP, which is developed by various joint movement patterns related to the sport. The feasibility of applying this measuring protocol to the testing and training programmes for improving the daily living activities and athletic performances should now be assessed.     

Transient phenomena of space charge distributions in polypropylene laminated paper

In a multilayer insulator made of two or more materials with different dielectric constants and conductivities, internal space change accumulates at their interfaces. If the local field is increased by the accumulated charge, the electric durability of the insulator should be decreased. In this paper, we describe the space charge accumulation measured when oil-impregnated PPLP (polypropylene laminated paper), which consists of three layers, kraft paper, polypropylene (PP), and kraft paper, was subjected to a strong dc electric field. The experimental results suggest that internal space charge accumulates at both surfaces of a PP layer and that the electric field in the kraft paper layers disappears. © 1998 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 124(1): 1–6, 1998