Enhanced photoconductivity and trapping rate through control of bulk state in organic triphenylamine-based photorefractive materials

In organic optical semiconductors, it is rather challenging to achieve precise control of photoconductivity and charge trapping, which determines the device performance. This paper reports on enhanced photorefractive response rate through control of the photoconductivity and trapping rate in organic triphenylamine-based photorefractive materials by means of bulk state tuning. The bulk state in organic triphenylamine-based photorefractive composites was controlled through a rapid cooling process from various melting temperatures during sample fabrication. The photoconductivity and trapping rate were determined from photocurrent measurements. Fabrication at lower melting temperatures enhanced the trapping rate for deep traps, whereas it reduced the trapping rate for shallow traps. As a result, a faster photorefractive response was obtained.     

Equilibrium and nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations of heat conduction in uranium oxide and mixed uranium-plutonium oxide

The thermal conductivity of nuclear fuels such as UO_2+x and (U,Pu)O_2−x has been calculated by the molecular dynamics (MD) simulation in terms of oxygen stoichiometric parameter x, temperature and Pu content. In the present study, the MD calculations were carried out in both equilibrium (EMD) and nonequilibrium (NEMD) systems. In the EMD simulation, the thermal conductivity was defined as the time-integral of the correlation function of heat fluxes according to the Green-Kubo relationship. Meanwhile, in the homogeneous NEMD, it was given by the ratio of the time-averaged heat flux to the perturbed external force subjected to each particle in the simulated cell. NEMD, as compared with EMD, gave somewhat precise results efficiently. Furthermore, both MD calculations showed that the thermal conductivity of these oxide fuels decreased with increase of temperature and defects, i.e. excess oxygen or vacancy, and was rather insensitive to Pu content for the stoichiometric fuel.     

The use of streptokinase preparations in pleural empyema and pyopneumothorax

Prevailing fibrin-formation in the pleural cavity entails hypoactivity of trypsin-like proteinases and a high inhibitory potential in the serum and pleural exudate. Streptokinase preparations appeared an effective means of pharmacological pulmonary decortication in patients with high pleural levels of plasminogen. The authors obtained higher efficacy of conservative therapy for pyothorax when they used a specially designed technique of intrapleural administration of streptokinase-activated fresh frozen plasma of the same group. The outcomes of the disease were also improved noticeably.     

Spectral Broadening in Ultrasonic Doppler Flowmeters Due to Unsteady Flow

It is shown that time-varying velocity produces frequency modulation of the backscattered signal in ultrasonic Doppler flowmeters. Further, for blood flow in the ascending aorta, it is estimated that the spectrum of the backscattered signal would have a very wide bandwidth in the acceleration phase.     

A new equivalent non-linearization technique

In this paper we propose a new technique for obtaining an approximate probability density for the response of a general non-linear system under Gaussian white noise excitations. In this new technique, the original non-linear system is replaced by another equivalent non-linear system structured by a polynomial formula, for which the exact solution of a stationary probability density function is obtainable. Since the equivalent non-linear system structured in this paper originates directly from certain classes of real non-linear mechanical systems, we will apply this technique to some very challenging non-linear systems in order to show its power and efficiency. The result of the calculations shows that applying the techniques presented here can yield the exact stationary solutions for non-linear oscillators. This is obtained by using an energy-dependent system, and for a non-linearity of a more complex type. A more accurate approximate solution is then available, and is compared with the approximation. Application of the technique is illustrated by examples.     

Value of thyroid stimulating antibody in the diagnosis of thyroid associated ophthalmopathy of euthyroid patients

AIMS/BACKGROUND: Thyroid associated ophthalmopathy (TAO) of euthyroid patients is difficult to diagnose because clinical findings overlap with other conditions, and no confirmatory diagnostic tests are available. Recently, it was reported that TSH binding inhibitor immunoglobulin (TBII) and thyroid stimulating antibody (TSAb) are sensitive markers of TAO. The sensitivity of these antibodies in the detection of TAO were therefore studied to determine if they could be a useful criterion in the diagnosis of TAO of euthyroid patients. METHODS: Serum values of TBII and TSAb of 35 patients with euthyroid TAO (group A) were compared with those of 27 patients with Graves' disease and TAO (group B). The relation between the serum value of TSAb and the eye symptoms of patients with euthyroid TAO were also examined by multiple linear regression analysis. RESULTS: In group A, TBII was positive in 10 cases (28.6%) and TSAb was positive in 29 cases (82.9%). In group B, both TBII and TSAb were positive in all cases (100%). The titre of serum TBII in group A (15.6% (SD 18.0%)) was significantly lower (p < 0.0001) than in group B (57.9% (21.5%)). The titre of serum TSAb in group A (1400.9% (2163.9%)) was significantly lower (p = 0.0026) than in group B (2243.9% (1472.8%)). Among the eye findings of patients with euthyroid TAO, keratopathy was significantly (p = 0.034) related to the value of TSAb. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the activity of TSAb is a more sensitive marker of euthyroid TAO than is TBII, and could be a useful criterion in the diagnosis of TAO of euthyroid patients.     

The antigen-bearing eye and the spleen are indispensable in maintaining anterior chamber-associated immune deviation

PURPOSE: To investigate the role of the eye and the spleen in maintaining suppression of delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) after anterior chamber (AC) inoculation of allogeneic splenocytes. METHODS: Suppression of DTH response was tested in BALB/c mice after AC inoculation of allogeneic B10.D2 splenocytes. Seven days after AC injection, the antigen-inoculated eyes were enucleated or the spleens were removed. After enculeation or splenectomy at different time intervals, DTH responses in groups of the BALB/c mice were examined. Spleen components obtained from BALB/c mice that had been primed by B10.D2 splenocytes in the AC 7 days earlier were transferred intravenously to groups of naive syngeneic acceptors. At various intervals after adoptive transfer, variations of DTH responses were tested. RESULTS: Inoculation of B10.D2 splenocytes to the AC of BALB/c mice induced antigen-specific suppression of DTH. Either enucleation of the antigen-inoculated eyes or splenectomy weakened the DTH-suppressive effect within 5 weeks and abolished it within 9 weeks, whereas the mice retaining both antigen-inoculated eyes and spleens maintained longstanding DTH suppression. Adoptive transfer of spleen components to syngeneic acceptors demonstrated DTH suppression for only 3 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: The antigen-inoculated eye and spleen are required for long-standing suppression of DTH after AC inoculation of allogeneic splenocytes.     

Layered clay/epoxy nanocomposites: Thermomechanical,flame retardancy,and optical properties

In this study, layered clay/polymer nanocomposites were developed based on epoxy resins and montmorillonite as the nanoplatelet reinforcement. Clay particles were treated with hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride (HTCA) through an ion exchange reaction. In this way, Na⁺ interlayer cations of the clay is exchanged with onium cation of the surfactant that turns the hydrophilic clays (MMT) to organophilic (OMMT) characteristics. Thermal analysis results revealed that the glass transition temperature (T_g) and the dynamic mechanical properties including the storage and loss modulus of the neat epoxy resin increases by the incorporation of clay particles. It was also found that flame resistance of the polymer is improved by the addition of the clay particles. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

A Multivariate Process Capability Index Based on the First Principal Component Only

Often the quality of a process is determined by several correlated univariate variables. In such cases, the considered quality characteristic should be treated as a vector. Several different multivariate process capability indices (MPCIs) have been developed for such a situation, but confidence intervals or tests have been derived for only a handful of these. In practice, the conclusion about process capability needs to be drawn from a random sample, making confidence intervals or tests for the MPCIs important. Principal component analysis (PCA) is a well‐known tool to use in multivariate situations. We present, under the assumption of multivariate normality, a new MPCI by applying PCA to a set of suitably transformed variables. We also propose a decision procedure, based on a test of this new index, to be used to decide whether a process can be claimed capable or not at a stated significance level. This new MPCI and its accompanying decision procedure avoid drawbacks found for previously published MPCIs with confidence intervals. By transforming the original variables, we need to consider the first principal component only. Hence, a multivariate situation can be converted into a familiar univariate process capability index. Furthermore, the proposed new MPCI has the property that if the index exceeds a given threshold value the probability of non‐conformance is bounded by a known value. Properties, like significance level and power, of the proposed decision procedure is evaluated through a simulation study in the two‐dimensional case. A comparative simulation study between our new MPCI and an MPCI previously suggested in the literature is also performed. These studies show that our proposed MPCI with accompanying decision procedure has desirable properties and is worth to study further. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.