Experimental and modeling study on CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> absorption in a cyclone scrubber by phenomenological model and neural networks

Experimental and modeling studies have been conducted on CO₂ absorption in a cyclone scrubber operated at room temperature. The effects of parameters such as the initial concentration of alkali in the solution and the liquid - gas ratio on the CO₂ absorbed flux were experimentally and theoretically investigated. A phenomenological model and three-layer feed-forward neural networks have been applied to estimate the CO₂ absorbed flux in the cyclone scrubber. It was shown that the neural networks’ values agreed well with the experimental data, while the values by phenomenological model partly agreed with the experimental data around the initial concentration of alkali in the solution, C_Bo≤0.001 kmol/m³ (pH≤11).     

Silica-nanoparticle-dispersed methacrylate photopolymers with net diffraction efficiency near 100%

We demonstrate volume holographic recording in silica-nanoparticle-dispersed methacrylate photopolymers with reduced scattering loss as low as 2%. This is made possible by use of 13-nm silica nanoparticles. As a result a net diffraction efficiency near 100% is achieved for a transmission volume hologram of 45-microm thickness. Grating buildup dynamics are measured for various nanoparticle concentrations, and the effects of nanoparticle size on refractive-index modulation and polymerization shrinkage are also evaluated.     

Measurement and numerical analysis of flammability limits of halogenated hydrocarbons

Flammability limits measurement was made for a number of halogenated compounds by the ASHRAE method. Most of compounds measured are the ones for which discrepancy was noted between the literature values and predicted values of flammability limits. As a result, it has been found that most of the newly obtained values of flammability limits are not in accordance with the literature values. Numerical analysis was carried out for a set of flammability limits data including the newly obtained ones using a modified analytical method based on F-number scheme. In this method, fitting procedure was done directly to flammability limits themselves instead of fitting to F-number. After the fitting process, the average relative deviation between the observed and calculated values is 9.3% for the lower limits and 14.6% for the upper limits.     

Analysis of specific gene by integration of isothermal amplification and electrophoresis on poly(methyl methacrylate) microchips

We have successfully achieved the integration of isothermal amplification and the subsequent analysis of specific gene fragments on poly(methyl methacrylate) microchips. In our experiments, loop-mediated isothermal amplification, which can offer higher specificity and efficiency than PCR, has been performed at a constant temperature (65 degrees C). After amplification, products could be either examined by the integrated microchip-based electrophoresis or directly observed by naked eye with SYBR Green I added into the reaction solution. By such an integrated microsystem, the amplification and the subsequent analysis of prostate-specific antigen gene with template concentration at 23 fg/microL could be finished within 15 min, which demonstrates its advantages of high specificity, good reproducibility, and fast speed in gene detection.     

Water vapor absorption and proton conductivity of (Ba1−x La x )2In2O5+x

The proton conductivity of (Ba_1−x La _x )₂In₂O_5+x system has been investigated as a function of the La content, temperature and amount of absorbed water. The proton conductivity increased with La content up to x = 0.10, to reach a maximum of 1.12 × 10⁻⁵ (S/cm) at 400 °C. From that point on, it decreased. From the results of thermogravimetry and mass spectra, we confirmed that the water was absorbed in the (Ba_1−x La _x )₂In₂O_5+x system, in a maximum quantity of 0.14 mol/mol (sample). The proton conductivity increased monotonically with the quantity of water uptake, suggesting that this variable is one of the dominant parameter of proton conductivity in this system.     

Hollow fibers containing various display elements: A novel structure for electronic paper

Abstract— A novel structure for electronic‐paper displays using hollow fibers has been developed, where the hollow fiber is comprised of an outer transparent polymer tube and inner display elements (rotating balls, electrophoretic dispersion fluid, or cholesteric liquid crystals). The structure composed of thin polymer fibers is capable of realizing paper‐like visibility and flexibility, which are vital properties required for electronic‐paper displays. Hollow fibers containing display elements were produced through an industrial manufacturing process using a conventional melt spinning method for the first time and showed electro‐optical switching when the voltage was applied. The hollow fibers were then woven into fabric sheets. The structure and the production process for electronic paper in this study will be a candidate for a simple method to produce large‐area electronic‐paper displays.     

Pump–Probe Spectroscopy of Exciton Spin Injection Process in Diluted Magnetic Quantum Wells

Ultrafast spin dynamics of excitons is studied in a double quantum well composed of Cd_0.92Mn_0.08Te and CdTe wells with a Cd_0.80Mg_0.20Te tunnel barrier, in magnetic fields, by pump-and-probe absorption spectroscopy. The excitonic injection process is clarified with the injection time of 30 ps from the Cd_0.92Mn_0.08Te spin aligner to the CdTe spin detector. The time dependencies of circularly polarized differential absorbances show directly the spin injection into the CdTe well. The spin relaxation of the injected excitons is observed as a function of energy in the exciton band of the CdTe well. In addition, ultrafast relaxation processes of spin-polarized carriers in the Cd_0.78Mn_0.05Mg_0.17Te barrier are studied, when it is stacked directly with the CdTe well.     

Development of Mine Hands: Extended Prodder for Protected Demining Operation

The over 100 million landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) are buried in disaster-affected countries.Although significant efforts have been made at addressing this problem, few have resulted in practical removal tools, especially in the hazardous, yet essential, LV-3 survey.     

Large-scale prediction of cationic metabolite identity and migration time in capillary electrophoresis mass spectrometry using artificial neural networks

We developed a computational technique to assist in the large-scale identification of charged metabolites. The electrophoretic mobility of metabolites in capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry (CE-MS) was predicted from their structure, using an ensemble of artificial neural networks (ANNs). Comparison between relative migration times of 241 various cations measured by CE-MS and predicted by a trained ANN ensemble produced a correlation coefficient of 0.931. When we used our technique to characterize all metabolites listed in the KEGG ligand database, the correct compounds among the top three candidates were predicted in 78.0% of cases. We suggest that this approach can be used for the prediction of the migration time of any cation and that it represents a powerful method for the identification of uncharacterized CE-MS peaks in metabolome analysis.     

Reaction properties of catalytic antibodies encapsulated in organo substituted SiO2 sol-gel materials

Catalytic antibodies (38C2 and 84G3) were encapsulated in hybrid organic-inorganic sol-gel powder prepared from tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and organoalkoxysilanes, then used to catalyze enantioselective aldol reactions. Sol-gel immobilization enhanced antibody stability with respect to the effect of temperature and organic solvent concentration.