The reaction of glass fiber with diisocyanate and its application

The synthesis of reactive glass fiber having isocyanate groups were tried by reacting silanol groups on the surface of glass fiber with diisocyanate compounds. The effect of solvent, influence of the structure of diisocyanate, and effect of amine catalyst were examined, and results that the reactivity increased with increasing the polarity of solvent, when aromatic diisocyanate was used, and with increasing the basicity of amine catalyst were obtained. Further, glass fiber having isocyanate groups was addition-reacted with diol, and diol added glass fiber was synthesized.     

Synthesis and piezoelectric properties of Li-doped BaTiO3 by a solvothermal approach

Li-doped BaTiO₃ particles with the Li⁺ mole fraction, x, of 0–0.06 were synthesized by a solvothermal approach at 200 °C. The products consisted of nanoparticles of 50–100 nm in diameter. The sinterability and piezoelectric property of Li-doped BaTiO₃ were improved by doping with Li ion, i.e., the Li-doped BaTiO₃ samples could be sintered to almost full theoretical density (>95%) at a low temperature such as 1100 °C, and the highest piezoelectric constant, d₃₃ (260 pC/N) and electromechanical coupling factor, k_p (43.7%) could be realized at x value of 0.03. The Curie temperatures of all samples were around 130 °C, and did not change very much depending on the amount of Li-doping.     

Remarkable difference of phase transition behaviors between Langmuir monolayers and aqueous bilayer vesicles of oligopeptide-carrying lipids

In this research, we synthesized six kinds of oligopeptide-carrying lipids which possessing glycine, diglycine, triglycine, alanine, dialanine, and trialanine residues (see Figure 1 for their formulae), and systematically investigated their phase transition behaviors both at the air-water interface and in aqueous bilayer vesicles. pi-A Isotherms of Langmuir monolayers of these lipids were measured at the air-water interfaces under varied temperature conditions and were analyzed based on compressibility of the monolayers. Above the specific temperature, the transition pressure from its expanded phase to condensed phase is not distinguishable with the collapse pressure of the monolayer, i.e., the monolayer collapses directly from the expanded phase without forming the condensed phase. This temperature was defined as the phase transition temperature of the monolayer, which was compared with the phase transition temperature of the corresponding bilayer vesicle in water. The phase transition temperatures of the oligoglycine-carrying lipids and oligoalanine-carrying lipids are significantly different at the air-water interface, while the corresponding difference is not obvious in their aqueous bilayer vesicles. Consideration based on molecular structures suggests necessity of the water mediation for effective formation of hydrogen bonding between the oligopeptide residues directly connected to dialkyl chains. Therefore, the differences in water accessibility to the films may cause the difference of the phase transition behaviors of the oligopeptide-carrying lipids between the Langmuir monolayers and the aqueous bilayer vesicles. Although the proposed mechanism is not fully supported by experimental evidences, the data presented here clearly demonstrated the presence of significant difference of the phase transition properties between the Langmuir monolayers at the air-water interface and aqueous bilayer vesicles of the oligopeptide-carrying lipids.     

Investigation of wall stress development and packing ratio distribution in the metal hydride reactor

The strains generated in a reaction vessel of hydrogen storage alloys and the packing ratio distribution inside the vessel were measured in order to analyze the effects of packing on stress. More specifically strains generated on the vessel’s surface were measured when hydrogen is repeatedly absorbed and desorbed by the packed bed in the reaction vessel. The amount of deformation, local packing ratios and relative particle volumes in the vessel were also measured after repeated hydrogen absorption–desorption. As absorption–desorption was performed repeatedly, agglomeration regions where the value of the local packing ratio was around 0.6 were formed, and particularly strong stress was generated in these regions, causing deformation. More hydrogen packing causes agglomeration regions to form over a wider area. Since alloys are pulverized by repeated absorption–desorption, and concentrate in the lower parts of the vessel, agglomeration regions are also formed in the lower parts. Our experiments also revealed that the resulting agglomeration regions have a packing ratio of about 0.6.     

Influence of fermentation temperature on volatile thiols concentrations in Sauvignon blanc wines

The effect of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains on the amount of 4-mercapto-4-methylpentan-2-one, a major varietal aroma of Sauvignon blanc wines, was demonstrated by previous research work. However, the influence of different alcoholic fermentation parameters on the levels of volatile thiols (4-mercapto-4-methylpentan-2-one, 3-mercaptohexan-1-ol and 3-mercaptohexyl acetate) in wines has not yet been investigated. The impact of fermentation temperature on the final amount of volatiles thiols and on some other analytical parameters (ethanol, total acidity, residual sugars, volatile acidity) was determined in a model medium and in grape juice. Interaction between fermentation temperature and yeast strain was also tested. The fermentation temperature influenced the amount of volatile thiols irrespective of the yeast strain used. The final levels of 4MMP and 3MH in model medium and in wines were higher when the alcoholic fermentation is conducted at 20 degrees C than at 13 degrees C. The 3MHA, which was correlated with the amount of 3MH determined in wines, was also higher when the alcoholic fermentation was conducted at 20 degrees C. From a technological point of view, the choice of yeast strain and fermentation temperature has a decisive influence on the concentrations of the varietal aromas of Sauvignon blanc wines.     

VT Compensation Circuit for AM OLED Displays Composed of Two TFTs and One Capacitor

In this paper, we propose the threshold-voltage compensation pixel circuit that is composed of two thin-film transistors (TFTs) and one capacitor (2T1C). It not only compensates the deviation of the threshold voltage of the driver TFT but also actualizes the large aperture ratio for organic light-emitting diode (OLED) devices as well as the traditional 2T1C circuit. We show the result of SPICE simulation for the pixel circuit; it indicates that the circuit can allocate the relatively large aperture ratio for OLED devices     

Solubilization behavior ofn-octane andn-octanol in polyoxyethylated nonionic micelles

The solubilization ofn-octane andn-octanol in nonionic micelles was investigated by means of various techniques including solubilization, fluorescence and dynamic light-scattering measurements. With respect to the effect of oxyethylene chainlength of the surfactants, different solubilization behavior was observed betweenn-octane andn-octanoli.e., the solubilization ofn-octane decreases with an increase in oxyethylene chainlength, while that ofn-octanol increases. This solubilization behavior is explained from the standpoint of the volume of hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions in a micelle.     

Early hospital readmission was less likely for hemodialysis patients from facilities with longer median length of stay in the DOPPS study

The length of hospital stay is considered to influence hospital readmission in general. The Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (DOPPS), an international prospective observational study undertaken to establish a relationship between facility practices and dialysis outcomes, started in 1996. Results suggest that the duration of hospital stay is significantly correlated with the probability of early readmission in dialysis patients. Thus, early hospital readmission was observed to be less likely for hemodialysis patients from facilities with longer median length of stay. The lengths of hospital stay for hemodialysis patients differed in the three continents studied. Although socioeconomic pressures may drive the lengths of hospital stay, the duration of hospitalization should be determined keeping in mind the safety of clinical course for each disease. In this forum, a 47-year-old female hemodialysis patient with severe secondary hyperparathyroidism, who had been treated with hemodialysis for 21 years, was hospitalized with severe clinical symptoms. Although the clinical symptoms disappeared 10 days after total parathyroidectomy with autotransplantation, severe hypocalcemia persisted despite large amounts of intravenous calcium gluconate. This patient was hospitalized for a long duration owing to the large calcium deficit in her body. Had the length of her hospital stay been shortened, either she could have needed rehospitalization or her condition could have worsened.