A model for selecting appropriate technology for incubator-university collaboration by considering the technology transfer mechanism

A technology incubator provides an important support for a technology transfer mechanism. A technology incubator bridges the incubatees to the technology provider. In our research, we propose a technology selection model for the incubatees. Incubator managers, as decision-makers, attempt to evaluate new technology for the incubatees by comparing its profit with that of the old or established technology. The technology is proposed by a technology provider, which in this case is a university. In the technology selection activity, the distance between the technology level of incubatees and transferred technology should be considered. Unfortunately, there has been no effort to formulate a technology selection model in the technology incubator that considers the technology distance and is linked to the incubatees’ profit as financial performance. We examine the impact of the technological-level and technology assimilation rate in the technology selection process in the technology incubator. We analyse the external factor of customer acceptance of new technology with a probabilistic value and technology obsolescence. Furthermore, we introduce a profit-sharing scheme to share the profit of the incubatees with the university as a technology provider. Utilising a profit-sharing scheme means sharing the risk between incubatees and the university.     

Pulmonary actinomycosis with "balls-in-a hole" appearance diagnosed by examination of bronchial lavage fluid

A 49-year-old man was referred to our hospital because of abnormal chest X-ray findings. Chest X-ray films showed infiltrative opacities in the right lung, and histological findings of a transbronchial biopsy specimen showed non-specific inflammation. The patient was treated with Ofloxacin for one month. After the treatment, chest X-ray films showed that the infiltrative opacities in the right upper lobe had decreased, but that opacities in the right lower lobe had increased, with an air meniscus sign. A chest computed tomography scan at the same time revealed that the remaining opacities contained multiple mass-like lesions within a cavity in the right S6, appearing as "balls in a hole". One year after the first visit, the patient visited the hospital again because of cough and sputum. A chest X-ray film showed that the size of the cavity in the right lower lobe had increased. The histological findings from a fresh transbronchial biopsy specimen revealed a non-specific inflammation again; however, black clots obtained from bronchial lavage fluid after biopsy were histologically identified as sulfur granules, a classic pathological indication of actinomycosis. This confirmed the diagnosis of pulmonary actinomycosis. The patient was treated with penicillin, and the opacities in the right lower lobe subsided.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">In Situ</Emphasis> Study of Reduction Process of CuO Paste and Its Effect on Bondability of Cu-to-Cu Joints

A bonding method utilizing redox reactions of metallic oxide microparticles achieves metal-to-metal bonding in air, which can be alternative to lead-rich high-melting point solder. However, it is known that the degree of the reduction of metallic oxide microparticles have an influence on the joint strength using this bonding method. In this paper, the reduction behavior of CuO paste and its effect on Cu-to-Cu joints were investigated through simultaneous microstructure-related x-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry measurements. The CuO microparticles in the paste were gradually reduced to submicron Cu₂O particles at 210–250°C. Subsequently, Cu nanoparticles were generated instantaneously at 300–315°C. There was a marked difference in the strengths of the joints formed at 300°C and 350°C. Thus, the Cu nanoparticles play a critical role in sintering-based bonding using CuO paste. Furthermore, once the Cu nanoparticles have formed, the joint strength increases with higher bonding temperature (from 350°C to 500°C) and pressure (5–15 MPa), which can exceed the strength of Pb-5Sn solder at higher temperature and pressure.     

Hydrolysis of polyurea under high pressure of carbon dioxide

A chemical decomposition of polyurea (PUA) by hydrolysis under high pressure of carbon dioxide (CO₂) was proposed. The hydrolysis of PUA was carried out at 190 °C for 2 h under 7.0 MPa of CO₂ in the presence of water. The hydrolysis reaction gave white residual solid and water soluble compound. The white residual solid was characterized to be degraded PUA by FT-IR spectrum and elemental analysis. ¹H-NMR spectra of the water soluble compound revealed that the hydrolysis of PUA produced diamine only from repeating unit of PUA, which was a component of PUA. This hydrolysis gave the corresponding diamine for quantitative yields.     

A wind-tunnel study on exhaust gas dispersion from road vehicles—Part I: Velocity and concentration fields behind single vehicles

By a reduced-scale model in a wind tunnel, we investigate the dispersion behavior of exhaust gas from automobiles. Two types of vehicles are considered, a passenger car and a small-size truck. Tracer gas experiments show that the exhaust gas dispersion is enhanced significantly by the vehicle wake compared to the case when the vehicle body is absent. The passenger car and the truck promote dispersion in the horizontal and the vertical direction, respectively. The wake field is analyzed by particle image velocimetry (PIV), and the distribution of the mean and the fluctuation fields is found to conform to the concentration field of the exhaust gas. The buoyancy of the exhaust gas has minor effect except on the vertical spread behind the truck whose wake flow amplifies the vertical displacement generated near the pipe exit.     

Experiment study on fracture fixation with low rigidity titanium alloy

In order to investigate bone tissue reaction to the low rigidity titanium alloy of TNTZ in bone plate fixation, animal experiment with rabbit was performed with X-ray follow-up and histological observation. Experimental fractures were made in rabbit tibiae, and fixed by different bone plates of SUS316L, Ti–6Al–4V and TNTZ. Although there was no significant difference in fracture healing, bone atrophy was observed in cortical bone especially under the bone plate, which was different in time course among three materials. The bone atrophy under the bone plate was confirmed as porous or poor bone tissue in histological observation. In addition, the diameter of the tibia bone was increased in TNTZ as the result of bone remodeling with a new cortical bone. It is confirmed that the elastic modulus of the bone plate will naturally influence bone tissue reaction to the bone plate fixation according to the Wolff’s law of functional restoration.     

Transfer by direct photo etching of poly(vinylidene flouride) usingX-rays

A direct pattern transfer method has been developed by photo etching poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) using X rays (1-16 keV) from a synchrotron storage ring. The ability to pattern thin film of PVDF, a piezoelectric, pyroelectric and ferroelectric polymer, has potential applications in the areas of MEMS, nonlinear optics, and nonvolatile ferroelectric random access memory technology. Without the use of any reactive chemical gas, a maximum etched depth in excess of 9 μm is achieved. The etched depth for a given photon energy approaches saturation with respect to exposure time. An in situ mass spectrometry revealed the evolution of hydrogen, fluorine, and hydrogen fluoride species. The etched regions turned dark in color indicating a possible increase in the fraction of carbon atoms. The X-ray transmittance of photo etched PVDF approached that of a pure carbon as the exposure time is increased. Upon etching the root mean-square surface roughness of the etched portion increased by more than a factor of two. The rate of etching increased at elevated sample temperatures     

Preparation and characterization of electrospun nanofibers based on silk sericin powders

The present contribution reports the fabrication and characterization of silk sericin (SS) nanofibers via electrospinning. The function of solution concentration on morphological appearance and average diameter of the electrospun SS membranes was investigated by scanning electron microscopy. The structure and physical properties were observed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermogravimetric analysis (TG). All beads were acquired in lower concentration of SS solution, 1.3–8.5 wt% of SS solutions, and beaded fibers were produced from 9.6, 11.7, 14.2, and 16.5 wt% of SS solution. The perfect nanofibers acquiring average diameters of 145 and 184 nm were fabricated from 20.9 to 22.9 wt% of SS solution, respectively. Results from FT-IR showed that in the as-spun fibers, SS was present in a random coil conformation, while after heat treatment, the molecular structure of SS was transformed into a β-sheet containing structure. DSC and TG analysis illustrated that trifluoroacetic acid can be eliminated by heating. The availability of SS nanofibers introduces a new set of possible uses of these amazing fibers at a scale not explored before. New uses include small diameter fibers for cell proliferation purposes, nanocomposite reinforcing fibers for nanotechnology, wound dressing, scaffolds for tissue engineering, and other biomedical applications.