Possible debonding mode of coated film under thermal loading

Deformation modes in thin films are discussed in order to evaluate the possible debonding mechanism. A combined simulation technique is employed in order to evaluate the thermo-mechanical response of a thin film layer attached to a substrate. A thermo-elasto-plastic finite element analysis is carried out on a jointed system, while only the film layer is picked up and both the deformation and eigen-mode analyses are implemented with reference to the data obtained in the former analysis. This approach enables us to capture the mechanical stiffness of the thin film layer. The effects of crystal morphology of substrate are discussed in terms of the interfacial force and the out-of-plane deformation of the thin film.     

Video based estimation of pedestrian walking direction for pedestrian protection system

Pedestrian protection has played an important role for driver assistance systems. Our aim is to develop a video based driver assistance system for the detection of the potentially dangerous situation between the vehicle and pedestrian, in order to warn the driver. In this paper, we address the problem of detecting pedestrian in real-world scenes and estimation of the walking direction with a single camera from a moving vehicle. Considering all the available cues for predicting the possibility of collision is very important. The direction in which the pedestrian is facing is one of the most important cues predicting where the pedestrian may move in the future. So we first address the problem of single-frame pedestrian orientation estimation in real-world scenes. Then again, we estimate the pedestrian walking direction using multi-frame based on the result of single-frame orientation estimation. We propose a three-step method: pedestrian detection for single-frame step, orientation estimation for single-frame step and walking direction estimation for multi-frame step. To evaluate the proposed method in its robustness and accuracy, the experiments have been performed between numbers of images which is highly challenging uncontrolled conditions in real world. It shows a significant performance improvement in octant orientation estimation of about 64% accuracy in the orientation estimation step and achieved surprisingly good accuracy in estimating the walking direction against 212 targeted objects.     

Incentive‐rewarding mechanism to stimulate activities in social networking services

We have developed an incentive‐rewarding mechanism that stimulates activities in social networking services (SNSs), including content uploading and link establishment. We particularly focus on changing the reward assignment ratio based on the different risks users perceive when uploading content with different privacy settings: public‐open and friend‐limited. Learning‐based simulation allowed us to observe that SNS activity, which we measured as the amount of browsed content within a certain period, can be controlled by a rewarding assignment ratio. We then analyzed how the amount of uploaded content and the increase of established links affect SNS activity. Results suggested that the optimal reward assignment ratio to maximize SNS activity changes depending on the total amount of available reward resources. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Absorption and Fluorescence Spectra of Nitrobenzanthrones

To identify nitrobenzanthrones (NBAs) such as 3-nitro-7 H -benz[ de ]anthracene-7-one (3-NBA) on the basis of their electronic spectral data, we have synthesized 1-, 2-, 3-, 9-, and 10-NBAs and measured their absorption and emission spectra. The first strong absorption band of the NBAs appeared in the region 350-440 nm; the band of 10-NBA was red-shifted by about 20 nm. The molar absorptivities of 3- and 9-NBA were about two times as large as those of the others. The fluorescence spectra of the NBAs varied more largely with the position of the nitro group compared to the absorption spectra. The quantum yields of fluorescence were very small, ranging from ～10 m 2 for 2- and 10-NBA to ～10 m 4 for 1- and 3-NBA. 3-NBA exhibited a characteristic spectrum with two broad bands at 450 and 530 nm. On excitation causing an n ~ * transition in the NBAs, their fluorescence intensities increased by a factor of 10. Phosphorescence was observed at 77 K for all compounds though that of 1-NBA was very weak. These results give the promise of characterizing individual isomers of NBAs on the basis of their spectroscopic data.     

Enzymatic digestion of corncobs pretreated with low strength of sulfuric acid for bioethanol production

In this study, the effect and the optimum pretreatment condition of corncobs using low strength of H₂SO₄ were investigated, in which H₂SO₄ was used to improve the enzymatic digestibility of corncobs for saccharification without degradation of sugars released. The optimum pretreatment condition was found to be the addition of 0.5% (vol./vol.) H₂SO₄ and autoclaving at 122 °C for 20 min. Under this condition, the structural integrity of corncob was altered to make cellulose microfibrils more accessible for cellulase enzymes, and the enzymatic digestion of corncobs could be significantly enhanced. A high yield of sugar, 80% (wt./wt.), could be obtained at a low enzyme dosage of 0.024 g enzymes/g cobs, when pretreated. As a result, the ethanol production was obviously improved by the pretreatment, i.e., the ethanol yield of 77% (wt./wt.) was obtained within 36 h in the SSF fermentation using Saccharomyces cerevisiae NBRC2114.     

Pb-free surface-finishing on electronic components’ terminals for Pb-free soldering assembly

Pb-free solderable surface finishing is essential to implement Pb-free solder assembly in order to meet with the growing demand of environmental consciousness to eliminate Pb from electronic products. Two types of widely applicable Pb-free surface finishing technologies are developed. One is the multilayer-system including Pd with Ni undercoat. Heat-resistance of Pd enables whole-surface-plating on to leadframe before IC-assembling process. The other is the double-layer-system with low-melting-point-materials, for example, thicker Sn underlayer and thinner Sn-Bi alloy overlayer, dilutes Sn-Bi alloy’s defects of harmful reactivity along with substrate metal and mechanical brittleness with keeping its advantages of solder-wettability and no whisker.     

Deep-sea water supplementation and swimming exercise improves bone metabolism in growing rats fed a high-fat diet

This study was examined the effects of deepsea water (DSW) supplementation and swimming exercise on bone metabolism in growing male rats. Thirty-two Sprague-Dawley male rats, 6 weeks of age, were randomly divided into high-fat diet sedentary (HS, n=8) or exercised group (HE, n=8) and DSW supplemented sedentary (DS, n=8) or exercised group (DE, n=8), given a high fat diet to all groups for 8 weeks. In the results, serum osteocalcin level of the DS was significantly lower than that of the HS (p<0.01). In addition, femoral bone mineral density (BMD), tibial bone mineral content (BMC), and breaking force of the DS were significantly higher than that of the HS (p<0.05). Furthermore, femoral BMD and tibial weight of DE were significantly higher than that of the HE (p<0.05). These results suggest that drinking deep-sea water and exercise has a crucial role for prevent osteoporosis and increase peak bone mass in growing male rats.     

Attenuation of cochlear damage from noise trauma by an iron chelator, a free radical scavenger and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor in vivo

Tissue injury by reactive oxygen species (ROS) may play a role in noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). Since iron is involved in ROS generation, we studied if an iron chelator, deferoxamine mesylate (DFO), alone or in combination with mannitol, a hydroxyl scavenger and weak iron chelator, attenuates NIHL. Further, we investigated if glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) provides additive or synergistic protection of the cochlea from acoustic trauma when given together with DFO and mannitol. Pigmented female guinea pigs were exposed to noise (4 kHz octave band, 115 dB SPL, 5 h). One hour before, immediately after, and 5 h after noise exposure, subjects received an injection of 5 ml saline/kg (control, group I), 100 mg DFO/kg (group II), 15 mg mannitol/kg (group III), or both DFO and mannitol (group IV and V). Animals in group V underwent implantation of an osmotic pump filled with GDNF (100 ng/ml) in the left ear 4 days before noise. Each treatment afforded some protection from noise damage. Group I showed significantly greater outer hair cell loss and threshold shifts at two or more frequencies compared to groups II through V. GDNF provided an additive functional, but not morphological, protection with DFO and mannitol. These findings indicate that iron chelators can attenuate NIHL, as do ROS scavengers, supporting the notion that ROS generation plays a role in NIHL. Additional functional protection provided with GDNF suggests that GDNF may attenuate noise-induced cochlear damage through a mechanism that is additive with antioxidants.     

Effects of loading mode and water chemistry on stress corrosion crack growth behavior of 316L HAZ and weld metal materials in high temperature pure water

The stress corrosion cracking (SCC) growth rates of 316L weld heat-affected zone (HAZ) and weld metal materials in high temperature pure water at 288 °C were measured using contoured double cantilever beam (CDCB) specimens and an alternating current potential drop (ACPD) in situ crack-length monitoring system. The effects of loading mode and dissolved oxygen and hydrogen on crack growth rate (CGR) were experimentally quantified. Typical intergranular SCC was found in the HAZ specimen and interdendritic SCC was identified in the weld metal specimen. The HAZ specimen and the weld metal specimen showed quite a similar response to the applied loading modes and the water chemistry, even though their absolute CGR values were different. The crack growth rates under trapezoidal loading were moderately higher than those under constant loading by several tenths percent. Switching the water chemistry from the oxygen-bearing water to the hydrogen-bearing water drastically decreased the electrochemical potential and the crack growth rate, and vice versa. A time-lag period for crack growth was observed after switching the water chemistry back to the oxygen-bearing water, where the crack growth rate was low even the dissolved oxygen concentration and the electrochemical potential had become high. Strain hardening and the resultant uneven distribution of deformation contribute to the enhanced intergranular SCC growth behavior in the HAZ area. The crack growth kinetics is analyzed based on the deformation/oxidation interaction at the crack tip, considering the importance of the electric-charge transfer, mass transport kinetics and the crack tip strain rate.