Simulation of dispersion of agglomerates in gas phase – acceleration field and impact on cylindrical obstacle

The dispersion of agglomerates by acceleration field and impact onto cylindrical obstacles in gas phase was successfully simulated by the three-dimensional modified discrete element method qualitatively. In case of gas-phase acceleration fields, agglomerates are dispersed into much smaller fragments comparing to the dispersion in liquid-phase shear or elongation flows. The microscopic structure of agglomerates much affects the dispersibility of agglomerates and the agglomerates containing particle of single-point contact with other particles are extremely easy to be dispersed. The impact onto obstacles is more effective dispersion mechanism than acceleration fields, since rigid agglomerates, which cannot be dispersed by acceleration fields, can be dispersed at rather low gas velocity. Although when the gas velocity is very low, agglomerates are only deformed and stuck to the obstacle surface. Then the dispersion becomes significant and size of fragments decreases with the increase in gas velocity.     

Simulation of dispersion and collection process of agglomerated particles in collision with fibers using discrete element method

The behavior of agglomerates in collision with fibers was simulated using the three-dimensional modified discrete element method and the influences of several factors on the fraction of collected particles were examined. Furthermore the single fiber collection efficiency for agglomerated particles was also investigated. In the case where gas velocity is quite low, agglomerates are only deformed but barely dispersed and thus collected as a single deformable particle. By contrast above some critical gas velocity, constituent particles are dispersed and at the same time partly collected on fibers. The fraction of collected particles first increases then decreases as the van der Waals attractive force between particle and fiber increases. The reason for the decrease in fraction of collected particles in strong adhesion region is that the smooth deformation of agglomerates along the fiber surface is inhibited by too strong adhesion. It was also suggested that there exists an optimum size ratio between the agglomerate size and fiber radius for the collection fraction. This is also closely related to the deformation of agglomerate along the fiber surface. In case of non-agglomerated particle collision, all the particles entering within the collision region are collected by fiber. By contrast in case of agglomerate collision, the dispersion of agglomerates as well as collection occurs in the same process and all the particles colliding with the fiber are not necessarily collected. Consequently the single fiber collection efficiency considerably decreases comparing to that for non-agglomerated particle collision.     

Modeling and compensation for angular transmission error in harmonic drive gearings

This paper presents a novel modeling and compensation approach for the angular transmission error in harmonic drive gearings. In the modeling, physical phenomena of the transmission error due to nonlinear elastic deformations in micro-displacement region are especially dealt with, as well as the synchronous component which has been discussed in a variety of conventional studies. On the basis of the analyses of the phenomena, the nonlinear elastic component is mathematically modeled by applying a modeling framework for the rolling friction with hysteresis attributes. The proposed transmission error model has been adopted to the positioning system as a model-based feedforward compensation manner. Experimental results using a prototype show the effectiveness of the proposed modeling and compensation. Copyright © 2009 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Intraoperative magnetic tracker calibration using a magneto-optic hybrid tracker for 3-D ultrasound-based navigation in laparoscopic surgery

This paper describes a ultrasound (3-D US) system that aims to achieve augmented reality (AR) visualization during laparoscopic surgery, especially for the liver. To acquire 3-D US data of the liver, the tip of a laparoscopic ultrasound probe is tracked inside the abdominal cavity using a magnetic tracker. The accuracy of magnetic trackers, however, is greatly affected by magnetic field distortion that results from the close proximity of metal objects and electronic equipment, which is usually unavoidable in the operating room. In this paper, we describe a calibration method for intraoperative magnetic distortion that can be applied to laparoscopic 3-D US data acquisition; we evaluate the accuracy and feasibility of the method by in vitro and in vivo experiments. Although calibration data can be acquired freehand using a magneto-optic hybrid tracker, there are two problems associated with this method--error caused by the time delay between measurements of the optical and magnetic trackers, and instability of the calibration accuracy that results from the uniformity and density of calibration data. A temporal calibration procedure is developed to estimate the time delay, which is then integrated into the calibration, and a distortion model is formulated by zeroth-degree to fourth-degree polynomial fitting to the calibration data. In the in vivo experiment using a pig, the positional error caused by magnetic distortion was reduced from 44.1 to 2.9 mm. The standard deviation of corrected target positions was less than 1.0 mm. Freehand acquisition of calibration data was performed smoothly using a magneto-optic hybrid sampling tool through a trocar under guidance by realtime 3-D monitoring of the tool trajectory; data acquisition time was less than 2 min. The present study suggests that our proposed method could correct for magnetic field distortion inside the patient's abdomen during a laparoscopic procedure within a clinically permissible period of time, as well as enabling an accurate 3-D US reconstruction to be obtained that can be superimposed onto live endoscopic images.     

Comparative Analysis of Single-Molecule Dynamics of TRPV1 and TRPV4 Channels in Living Cells

TRPV1 and TRPV4, members of the transient receptor potential vanilloid family, are multimodal ion channels activated by various stimuli, including temperature and chemicals. It has been demonstrated that TRPV channels function as tetramers; however, the dynamics of the diffusion, oligomerization, and endocytosis of these channels in living cells are unclear. Here we undertook single-molecule time-lapse imaging of TRPV1 and TRPV4 in HEK 293 cells. Differences were observed between TRPV1 and TRPV4 before and after agonist stimulation. In the resting state, TRPV4 was more likely to form higher-order oligomers within immobile membrane domains than TRPV1. TRPV1 became immobile after capsaicin stimulation, followed by its gradual endocytosis. In contrast, TRPV4 was rapidly internalized upon stimulation with GSK1016790A. The selective loss of immobile higher-order oligomers from the cell surface through endocytosis increased the proportion of the fast-diffusing state for both subtypes. With the increase in the fast state, the association rate constants of TRPV1 and TRPV4 increased, regenerating the higher-order oligomers. Our results provide a possible mechanism for the different rates of endocytosis of TRPV1 and TRPV4 based on the spatial organization of the higher-order structures of the two TRPV channels.     

Low‐molecular‐weight materials from heavily roasted barley and malt with strong foam‐stabilising potential

Extracts of roasted barley and black malt made both at room temperature and using a ramped temperature mashing regime contained relatively low concentrations of protein. However cold water extracts displayed strong foaming power even at very low measurable protein concentrations. The observation that very little material appeared to be precipitated out by ammonium sulphate based salt fractionation is consistent with the very low protein levels and it is inferred that the powerful foaming potential is not due to polypeptides. The foaming material in black malt was investigated in some detail. It was purified under conditions that indicated that it is of molecular weight <4000 and is relatively anionic. A solitary foam‐active fraction was recovered using preparative HPLC and time of flight mass spectrometry revealed one large peak and two small peaks. The larger peak is tentatively identified as pyridyl pyrazine, while we believe that the smaller peaks are due to peptides, which we tentatively identify as a hexa‐ and a tetrapeptide. The Fourier transform infrared spectrum is consistent with pyridine, pyrazine and peptide being components of this foaming entity. © 2018 The Institute of Brewing & Distilling     

Numerical investigation on detonation wave through U-bend

Pulse detonation engine （PDE） is expected for a next-generation propulsion system. PDE is a promising engine that can generates power and thrust by using intermittent detonation. Promotion of deflagration to detonation transition （below DDT） is a key issue to realize this system. PDE has experimentally been investigated, and it was confirmed that detonation tubes with U-shaped bends are useful for fast DDT. However, the mechanism of DDT promotion due to U-bends has not been well clarified. In the present study, the influence of a U-bend on detonation wave propagation is researched with computational fluid dynamics （CFD）. The numerical results show that detonation wave disappears once near the U-bend inlet and restarts after passing through it. In addition, it was found that the use of the U-bend with small channel width and curvature radius can induce fast DDT.     

Site-selective electroless nickel plating on patterned thin films of macromolecular metal complexes

We demonstrate a simple route to depositing nickel layer patterns using photocross-linked polymer thin films containing palladium catalysts, which can be used as adhesive interlayers for fabrication of nickel patterns on glass and plastic substrates. Electroless nickel patterns can be obtained in three steps: (i) the pattern formation of partially quaterized poly(vinyl pyridine) by UV irradiation, (ii) the formation of macromolecular metal complex with palladium, and (iii) the nickel metallization using electroless plating bath. Metallization is site-selective and allows for a high resolution. And the resulting nickel layered structure shows good adhesion with glass and plastic substrates. The direct patterning of metallic layers onto insulating substrates indicates a great potential for fabricating micro/nano devices.     

Advanced research and development for plasma processing of polymers with combinatorial plasma-process analyzer

A plasma-process analyzer has been developed on the basis of combinatorial method, in which process examinations with continuous variations of plasma-process conditions can be carried out on a substrate holder with an inclined distribution of process parameters. Combinatorial plasma-process analyses have been demonstrated for examinations of plasma-polymer interactions in terms of etching characteristics and surface morphologies in order to show feasibility and effectiveness of the methodology as advanced research and development for next-generation plasma nano processes. The etching properties and surface morphologies have been investigated for polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films exposed to argon-oxygen mixture plasmas. The etching depth data obtained from three independent batches of the experiments showed universal and almost linear dependence with increasing product of (ion saturation current) × (exposure time); i.e. ion dose. Surface roughness of the polymer slightly increased with increasing ion dose, while the mean spacing after plasma exposure was found to decrease monotonically with increasing ion dose but was saturated at the level of approximately 250 nm.