Homogeneous surface coating of bolts, nuts, and screws by barrel-sputtering technique

Our newly developed “barrel-sputtering” technique has been employed for the surface coating of solid substrates with complex shapes such as bolts, nuts, and screws. The entire surface of the iron bolts and nuts including the flank and the root in the thread is homogeneously coated with the Au film. SEM measurements reveals that the surface of the Au film is very smooth. In the SEM measurements of the cross-sectional area, it is found that the Au film possess uniform thickness without any significant defects and/or pits. The Au film coating can also be successfully conducted on polycarbonate bolts and small SUS screws. The results provide evidences that the sputter deposition takes place in “three-dimensionally.”     

The effect of sputter etching on the surface characteristics of dyed aramid fabrics

Three kinds of aramid fabrics, Technora (modified p-aramid), Conex (m-aramid) and Kevlar (p-aramid), were subjected to sputter etching and argon low-temperature plasma treatments after dyeing in black with disperse dyes. The depth of shade increased considerably on Technora and Kevlar with the sputter etching treatment, but not on Conex fabrics. Argon low-temperature plasma treatment had virtually no effect on the depth of shade on the aramid fabrics.     

Investigation report of geotechnical disaster on river area due to typhoon landfall three times on Okhotsk region,Hokkaido, Japan

For one week from August 17 to 23, 2016, three consecutive typhoons made landfall in Hokkaido for the first time on record. These typhoons and the front they stimulated brought record-breaking torrential rain over the eastern part of Hokkaido. To investigate the damage to grounds and rivers resulting from this rainfall, the Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE) and the Japanese Geotechnical Society (JGS) formed a disaster research group to conduct an investigation. This report provides the results of the investigation into damage to the grounds of areas along the Tokoro River of the Okhotsk region, Hokkaido, that suffered from this tremendous and diverse disaster. Specifically, the report describes the situation of the levees which were broken and eroded by the overflowing water, the shape of the levee bodies, the levee body soil properties examined by observation of the sections, as well as the occurrence of sand boiling and air blows. The washout of road embankments as well as damage to road bridge mounting fills and abutment backfills were also investigated. The investigation has demonstrated the need to clarify the resistance of the abutment backfills and levee bodies to flowing water as well as the geotechnical predominant factors in order to clarify the mechanisms behind erosion and washout, the need to review new measures that allow for the scale of sand boiling and resultant changes in levee body stability, and the fact that the existing embankments were able to temporarily suppress the flooding water which had spilled over from the river. Furthermore, although it has been identified that the findings of a study on an embankment washout associated with a tsunami can be applied to measures taken against the overflowing water, it has also been found necessary to clarify the predominant geotechnical factors using model tests and to use a more sophisticated analytical approach to establish a geotechnical stability review as soon as possible in order to prevent the levees and embankments from being eroded and washed out due to overflowing water.     

Synthetic approach to alloy thermodynamics and kinetics by cluster variation method and path probability method

The cluster variation method of equilibrium thermodynamics is employed to calculate the Ll₀-disorder phase diagram. The stability analysis based on the second-order derivative of the free energy functional with respect to the deviation of correlation functions from their equilibrium values yields the 100 instability locus in the phase diagram. The time evolution of cluster probabilities at the phase transition is investigated on the basis of the path probability method of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics. Thereby the synthetic study of thermodynamics and kinetics based on the cluster variation method and the path probability method is attempted. It is shown that the fluctuation is necessary to drive the ordering reaction above the instability temperature, whereas the spinodal-like ordering transition takes place below the instability temperature. The extension of the present study of a spin system to an alloy system is briefly discussed and a critical problem to be settled is pointed out.     

Quantitative analysis of the number of antigens immobilized on a glass surface by AFM

To develop force measurements using an atomic force microscope (AFM) in a quantitative manner, it is necessary to estimate the number density of target molecules on a sample surface, and for this, the sensitivity of detection should be known. In this study, the AFM was used as a mechanical detector and an antigen and its antibody were used as a model to evaluate the sensitivity of detection. Antigens were immobilized on a glass surface and number density was estimated by monitoring optical absorbance due to product formation by the reaction of crosslinkers. The concentration of antigen was controlled by mixing control peptides. A microbead was used as a probe and antibodies were immobilized on the bead. AFM force measurements were then made for a range of number densities in the order of 10–10⁶ antigen molecules per square micrometer of surface and were compared to evaluate the sensitivity of detection. Our result establishes the reliability of estimating a number of molecules like receptors on the cell surface, and indicates that the AFM is useful as a mechanical detector with high sensitivity.     

A surface motor-driven planar motion stage integrated with an XYθZ surface encoder for precision positioning

This paper describes a surface motor-driven XY planar motion stage equipped with a newly developed XYθ_Z surface encoder for sub-micron positioning. The surface motor consists of four linear motors placed on the same surface, two pairs in the XY-axes. The magnetic array and the stator winding of the linear motor are mounted on the platen (the moving element) and the stage base, respectively. The platen can be moved in the X-direction by the X-linear motors, and in the Y-direction by the Y-linear motors. It can also be rotated about the Z-axis if the X- or Y-linear motors generate a moment about the Z-axis. The surface encoder consists of two two-dimensional angle sensors and an angle grid with two-dimensional sinusoidal waves on its surface. The angle grid is mounted on the platen of the stage which is levitated by air-bearings. The angle sensors and the air-bearing pads are fixed on the stage base so that the motion of the platen is not affected by the electronic cables and air hoses. The XY-positions and θ_Z rotation of the platen can be obtained from the angle sensor outputs with resolutions of approximately 20 nm and 0.2′′, respectively. The surface encoder is placed inside the stage so that the stage system is very compact in size. Experimental results indicate that precision positioning can be carried out independently in X, Y and θ_Z with resolutions of 200 nm and 1′′, respectively.     

Enrichment of bacteria possessing catechol dioxygenase genes in the rhizosphere of Spirodela polyrrhiza: A mechanism of accelerated biodegradation of phenol

The bacterial community structure in bulk water and in rhizosphere fractions of giant duckweed, Spirodela polyrrhiza, was quantitatively and qualitatively investigated by PCR-based methods using 6 environmental water samples to elucidate the mechanisms underlying selective accumulation of aromatic compound-degrading bacteria in the rhizosphere of S. polyrrhiza. S. polyrrhiza selectively accumulated a diverse range of aromatic compound-degrading bacteria in its rhizosphere, regardless of the origin of water samples, despite no exposure to phenol. The relative abundances of the catechol 1,2-dioxygenase (C12O) gene (C12O DNA) and catechol 2,3-dioxygenase (C23O) gene (C23O DNA) were calculated as the ratios of the copy numbers of these genes to the copy number of 16S rDNA and are referred to as the rhizosphere effect (RE) value. The RE values for C12O DNA and C23O DNA were 1.0 × 10¹–9.3 × 10³ and 1.7 × 10²–1.5 × 10⁴ times as high, respectively, in rhizosphere fractions as in bulk water fractions, and these higher values were associated with a notably higher sequence diversity of C12O DNA and C23O DNA. The RE values during phenol degradation were 3.6 × 10⁰–4.3 × 10² and 2.2 × 10⁰–1.7 × 10², respectively, indicating the ability of S. polyrrhiza to selectively accumulate aromatic compound-degrading bacteria in its rhizosphere during phenol degradation. The bacterial communities in the rhizosphere fractions differed from those in the bulk water fractions, and those in the bulk water fractions were notably affected by the rhizosphere bacterial communities. S. polyrrhiza released more than 100 types of phenolic compound into its rhizosphere as root exudates at the considerably high specific release rate of 1520 mg TOC and 214 mg phenolic compounds/d/g root (wet weight). This ability of S. polyrrhiza might result in the selective recruitment and accumulation of a diverse range of bacteria harboring genes encoding C12O and C23O, and the subsequent accelerated degradation of phenol in the rhizosphere.     

Removal mechanisms for endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) in wastewater treatment - physical means, biodegradation, and chemical advanced oxidation: a review

Endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) are pollutants with estrogenic or androgenic activity at very low concentrations and are emerging as a major concern for water quality. Within the past few decades, more and more target chemicals were monitored as the source of estrogenic or androgenic activity in wastewater, and great endeavors have been done on the removal of EDCs in wastewater. This article reviewed removal of EDCs from three aspects, that is, physical means, biodegradation, and chemical advanced oxidation (CAO).