Denture base materials reinforced with glass fibres

Glass fibres for industrial use were laid on denture base materials such as self-curing and heat-curing resins to reinforce them. The use of heat-curing rather than self-curing resin as a base resin indicated a superior effect on bending properties.     

A design of high optical efficiency wedge type light guide plate adopting twin inclined cylindrical surface

We propose wedge type light guide plate (LGP) adopting twin inclined cylindrical surfaces (TICS) at the incident part of a LGP. It has higher optical efficiency than conventional wedge type LGP. In dimension of LGP which the thickness of incident part is 1.5 mm and that of luminance part is 0.7 mm, the optical efficiency of wedge type LGP adopting TICS is expected to be 96% in comparison with a normal flat LGP. In addition, there is an advantage to reduce the non‐uniformity of vicinity of light emitted diodes (LEDs) by TICS reflecting light laterally. However, it is necessary that the LED centers are aligned with the intersections of TICS. The misalignment of LED causes non‐uniformity of optical profile that is slightly larger than a normal LGP.     

Repeatedly foldable AMOLED display

In this study, a 5.9‐inch foldable active‐matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) display was developed. A folding test was performed repeatedly. The display survived the folding test (100,000 folds) with a curvature radius of 2 mm. To protect an organic light emitting diode (OLED) against moisture, inorganic passivation layers are provided on the upper and lower sides of the flexible display. Using our transfer technology, high density passivation layers can be obtained. The measured water vapor transmission rate of the layer is 7 × 10^?6 g/m²?day or less, which improves OLED reliability. With these techniques, we have developed a book‐type display, which is repeatedly foldable like a book, and a tri‐fold display including a display area, which is foldable in three.     

HSPF Simulation of Runoff and Sediment Loads in the Upper Changjiang River Basin, China

To evaluate the performance of a computer model simulating runoff and sediment load in the upper region of the Changjiang (Yangtze River) basin over a relatively short time interval, including examining the applicability of the input precipitation data generated from global circulation models and satellite data, we used a spatially distributed model, HSPF with the International Satellite Land Surface Climatology Project (ISLSCP) precipitation data for 1987 and 1988 as input data. The Nash–Sutcliffe coefficient (R2) for 5-day average streamflow was 0.94 in the calibration period and 0.95 in the verification period for the whole upper region. Moreover, the model simulated the 5-day average streamflow well in each main tributary, as shown by R2 values of 0.46–0.96, except that it underestimated the peak flow rates during the flood season over 2 years by up to 71% in Tuojiang and 61% in Jialingjiang. The model simulated the 5-day concentrations of suspended solids (SS) fairly well in the headwaters and upper regions of the Jinshajiang, Yalongjiang, and Minjiang watersheds, as shown by R2 values of 0.31–0.65. In the other regions, however, the model underestimated the SS load by up to 72%, and rarely simulated the fluctuation of SS concentration in each river channel during the flood season. These errors led to the underestimation of sediment runoff volume from the whole upper region during the flood season, as shown by the ratio of the simulated sediment load to the observed data at Yichang: 0.69 in the calibration period and 0.68 in the verification period. The ISLSCP precipitation tended to be more frequent and less intense than the measured precipitation. This was probably the main reason why the HSPF did not perform well in all regions at all times.     

Multipoint cure monitoring of CFRP laminates using a flexible matrix sensor

Since a carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) structure is complicated in the adoption of integral molding, local molding faults such as under curing and dry spots are liable to occur. To solve this problem, the distribution of the degree of curing for the entire composite structure must be measured. In the present study, we propose a patch-type flexible matrix sensor based on permittivity measurements. Multiple electrodes and wirings are readily fabricated simultaneously using a photolithographic process. Moreover, the sensor has only m + n wirings for m × n sensors, and is thereby suitable for multipoint cure monitoring. We also constructed a method for estimating the degree of curing considering the effect of frequency dependence of the permittivity of resin and viscosity variation due to temperature change. Experiments of multipoint cure monitoring are carried out using a CFRP plate and an actual aircraft structure. As a result, we confirmed the effectiveness of this method by comparing with results using a conventional differential scanning calorimeter.     

Nanofork for single cells adhesion measurement via ESEM-nanomanipulator system

In this paper, single cells adhesion force was measured using a nanofork. The nanofork was used to pick up a single cell on a line array substrate inside an environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM). The line array substrate was used to provide small gaps between the single cells and the substrate. Therefore, the nanofork could be inserted through these gaps in order to successfully pick up a single cell. Adhesion force was measured during the cell pick-up process from the deflection of the cantilever beam. The nanofork was fabricated using focused ion beam (FIB) etching process while the line array substrate was fabricated using nanoimprinting technology. As to investigate the effect of contact area on the strength of the adhesion force, two sizes of gap distance of line array substrate were used, i.e., 1 μm and 2 μm. Results showed that cells attached on the 1 μm gap line array substrate required more force to be released as compared to the cells attached on the 1 μm gap line array substrate.     

Morphologies of carbon micro-coils grown by chemical vapor deposition

The carbon micro-coils were obtained by the Ni-catalyzed pyrolysis of acetylene. The carbon micro-coils with various coiling morphology: regular double coils, coils built up by circular or flat fibers, super helix coils, single coils, etc. can be observed. The carbon coils with various coil diameters and coil pitches were obtained by controlling reaction conditions, such as reaction temperature, source gas flow rate of sulfur-impurity, acetylene or hydrogen.     

Chaotic transport in antidot lattices

A review is given of quantum effects and roles of chaos in transport in antidot lattices mainly from a theoretical point of view. The topics include diffusive orbits combined with a magnetic focusing effect as the origin of the commensurability peaks, semiclassical quantization of periodic orbits as the origin of the Aharonov-Bohm type oscillation superimposed, and the importance of inherent disorder in the antidot potential itself.     

Liquidus and solidus temperatures of Ni-solid solution in Ni-Al-X (X: V, Nb and Ta) ternary systems

A systematic investigation was carried out to determine both liquidus and solidus surfaces of the Ni-solid solution (γ) in the Ni-Al-X ternary phase diagrams successively by differential thermal analysis (DTA) technique. Each of the Group V elements of the periodic table, V, Nb, and Ta, was chosen as a ternary additive X in the present study. The γ-solvus was also taken into account in determining a temperature range for a solid solution treatment above the γ-solvus, i.e., “the window,” as well as the maximum solubility limit of γ-Ni solid solution.     

Optical and electrical anisotropies of polydiacetylene derivative film aligned by shear stress

The molecular alignment of polydiacetylene (PDA) derivatives and their optical and electrical properties of thin films based on PDA derivatives have been studied. The PDA derivatives were aligned depending on the direction of applied shear stress in the film. From measurements of the polarized absorption and current–voltage characteristics, the optical and electrical anisotropies have been observed, that was discussed by taking the PDA main chain alignment into consideration.