Light-induced changes in the solar cell parameters and temperature coefficient of n-C/p-Si heterojunction solar cell

Amorphous carbon (a-C) is a potential material for the development of low-cost and high-efficiency solar cell. We report the study of the influence of light soaking up to 100 h on n-C/p-Si heterojunction solar cell. It is observed that the deterioration in the fill factor and the efficiency are significantly smaller as compared to that observed in a-Si:H solar cell. Variations in the temperature coefficients of the I–V characteristics subjected to light degradation and recovery has also been investigated. A good correlation between change in the temperature coefficient and the degradation/recovery state of cell's conversion efficiency has been observed.     

Estimation of effective dose from CT examination

Tissue or organ doses related to radiological risk were determined for four different types of CT scanners with a spiral scan function. Dose measurements were performed using a Rando phantom and two types of thermoluminescent dosimeters. The effective doses recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection in 1990 were evaluated using the tissue or organ doses determined with the phantom measurement. The resultant effective dose per CT examination ranged from 4.6 to 10.8 mSv for chest examination and from 6.7 to 13.3 mSv for upper abdominal examination. It should be noted that the effective dose from CT examination will be increased by increasing in the frequency of CT examinations and technical development of CT scanners.     

The dependency of the crack growth rate on the loading pattern and temperature in stress corrosion cracking of strain-hardened 316L stainless steels in a simulated BWR environment

The stress corrosion cracking (SCC) growth rate of a warm-rolled (WR) 316L stainless steel contoured double cantilever (CDCB) specimen was measured in high purity water at various temperatures and under various loading patterns. An alternating current potential drop (ACPD) technique was used to monitor the crack growth kinetics throughout the tests. The fracture surface exhibited typical intergranular SCC characteristics. Depending on the test conditions, three kinds of crack growth kinetics, i.e., increasing with time then becoming steady, being constant during the whole period, decreasing with time then becoming steady, were identified and are described. The steady state crack growth rate (CGR) values are used to quantify the effects of the loading pattern and the environmental temperature. A moderate increase in the crack growth rate was encountered by employing periods of unloading and reloading to form a trapezoidal loading pattern and the enhancement factor was found to depend on the holding time and the times for unloading and reloading. It was found that the crack growth is thermally activated; however, the apparent activation energy is not constant but seems to be greater at higher temperatures. Several types of temperature-dependent crack growth kinetics are proposed based on the rate-determining step for the crack growth. The present experimental results can be rationalized by considering multiple element processes such as aqueous mass transport and solid-state mass transport in the crack growth. The cracking mode, the temperature dependence of the crack growth rate, and the transient crack growth behavior for WR 316L SS after changing the environmental temperature are quite similar to those for a cold-worked(CW) 316L SS tested in the same environment, despite their different absolute crack growth rate values. The effect of yield strength on CGR is more significant at lower temperatures and the apparent activation energy for the crack growth rate seems to be lower in the material with a higher yield strength. Time-lag crack growth behavior was found at points during several test steps on WR 316L SS, for example, just after in situ pre-cracking and after increasing or decreasing the temperature, which is quite consistent with the results obtained with CW 316L SS. The importance of in situ monitoring of the crack growth for obtaining steady state crack growth rates is emphasized, especially for those steps for which a nonlinear crack growth period occurs after changing the test condition.     

Studies on the reaction mechanism between urushiol and organic silane

A lacquer hybridized with an organic silane compound has been synthesized, and the reaction mechanism between the urushiol and organic silane has been evaluated based on IR, NMR, TGA, and DSC measurements.     

Structures and properties of injection moldings of crystallization nucleator-added polypropylenes. I. Structure–property relationships

Flexural test specimens were injection-molded from polypropylenes added with 0.5 wt % of calcium carbonate, talc, p-tert- dibutyl-benzoic acid monohydroxy aluminum, or p-di-methyl-benzylidene sorbitol under cylinder temperatures of 200–;320°C. Properties such as flexural modulus, flexural strength, heat distortion temperature, Izod impact strength, hardness, and mold shrinkage and higher-order structures such as crystalline texture, crystallinity, a^*-axis-oriented component fraction, and degree of crystalline orientation were measured and structure–property relationships were studied. By the addition of crystallization nucleators, the flexural modulus, flexural strength, heat distortion temperature, hardness, and mold shrinkage were increased and Izod impact strength was decreased. The degrees of crystalline orientation such as the orientation fraction OF and c-axis orientation function f_c were increased by the addition of nucleators. The degree of the increase was higher as the crystallization temperature was higher. Close relationships were observed between some properties and the degrees of crystalline orientation.     

Application of principal-component analysis on near-infrared spectroscopic data of vegetable oils for their classification

In the near-infrared (NIR) spectra of oil, information about fatty acid composition is concentrated in the range of 1600–2200 nm. Principal-component analysis (PCA) was applied on the standardized full NIR spectral data of this region for vegetable oils to totally capture the NIR spectral pattern. Nine varieties of vegetable oils (soybean, corn, cottonseed, olive, rice bran, peanut, rapeseed, sesame and coconut oil) could be successfully classified from their PCA scores. Examining the contribution of wavelengths to PCA scores showed that wavelengths with a high loading weight were assigned to characteristic absorption regions that correspond to specific fatty acid moieties. This classification is related to the fatty acid composition of an oil, and it can be carried out rapidly and easily after eigenvectors were obtained.     

Palladium‐Catalyzed Hydroxymethylation of Aryl‐ and Heteroarylboronic Acids using Aqueous Formaldehyde

Cyclometallated NHC palladium complexes prepared from palladium(II) acetate [Pd(OAc)₂] and unsymmetrical 1,3‐diarylimidazolinium salts catalyzed the hydroxymethylation of (hetero)arylboronic acids using an excess amount of formalin to afford (hetero)arylmethanols in good to satisfactory yields.

     

Dose measurement for medical staff with glass dosemeters and thermoluminescence dosemeters during 125I brachytherapy for prostate cancer

Photoluminescence glass dosemeters (PLDs) and thermoluminescence dosemeters (TLDs) are commonly used as a personal monitoring dosemeter. PLDs and TLDs were used for surface dose monitoring of medical staff involved in (125)I brachytherapy for prostate cancer because these dosemeters have a wide dose-response linearity and high sensitivity for low photon energy. Surface doses measured with PLDs agreed with those with TLDs within ～20 % except for a few cases. Surface doses at a surgeon's left hand and arm were higher than those at the other measuring points. A surgeon received a maximum dose of 650 μGy at the back of left hand. Surface doses to an assistant were <100 μGy. Surface doses to a nurse, a radiologist, an anaesthesiologist and a radiological technologist were <10 μGy. The occupational exposure to a surgeon could be reduced by the adjustment of fluoroscopic parameters and the use of lead gloves.     

Simultaneous induction of calcium transients in embryoid bodies using microfabricated electrode substrates

Precise control of differentiation processes of pluripotent stem cells is a key component for the further development of regenerative medicine. For this purpose, combining a cell-aggregate-size treatment for regulating intercellular signal transmissions and an electrical stimulation technique for inducing cellular responses is a promising approach. In the present study, we developed microfabricated electrode substrates that allow simultaneous stimulation of embryoid bodies (EBs) of P19 cells. Mouse embryonal carcinoma P19 cells can be induced to differentiate into three germ layers and serve as a promising stem cell model. Microcavity–array patterns were fabricated onto indium–tin–oxide (ITO) substrates using a standard photo-lithography technique, and uniform-sized EBs of P19 cells were inserted into each microcavity. Electrical stimulation was applied to the EBs through substrate electrodes and stimulus-induced intracellular calcium transients were monitored. We confirmed that the developed electrode device could simultaneously stimulate smaller (200 μm diameter) and larger (500 μm diameter) EBs inserted in the microcavities and induce specific spatio-temporal patterns of intracellular calcium transients in the EBs with fine reproducibility. We concluded that the developed microcavity array with embedded electrodes could simultaneously and effectively stimulate uniform-sized EBs inserted in it. Therefore, it is a promising experimental tool for precisely controlling cell differentiation processes.     

Effect of high frequency magnetic field on CZ silicon melt convection

Melt flow structure during the silicon single crystal growth process strongly affects the crystal quality. Therefore, melt convection control technique should be developed to obtain the high quality single crystal. For this purpose, we proposed a high frequency magnetic field applied method, and numerically investigated the effect of high frequency magnetic field on Czochralski (CZ) silicon melt convection. The results revealed that the melt convection was strongly affected by the applied electric current and frequency. The temperature distribution just below the crystal became flat if the applied electric current and frequency were selected as optimized value.