Synthesis and Characterization of Poly(tetramethyl-1,4-silphenylenesiloxane) Derivatives with Oxyethylene Substituent on Phenylene Moiety

Summary Novel poly(tetramethyl-1,4-silphenylenesiloxane) derivatives having 2-methoxy-ethoxy or 2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethoxy substituents at both 2- and 5-positions on phenylene moieties were synthesized and characterized by differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetry analyses. Poly(tetramethyl-1,4-silphenylene-siloxane) derivatives were obtained by condensation polymerization of the corresponding disilanol derivatives, i.e., 1,4-bis(dimethylhydroxysilyl)-2,5-bis(2-methoxyethoxy)benzene and 1,4-bis(dimethylhydroxysilyl)-2,5-bis[2-(2-methoxy-ethoxy)ethoxy]benzene, which were prepared by the Grignard reaction using chlorodimethylsilane and the corresponding dibromobenzene derivatives followed by the hydrolyses, catalyzed by palladium on charcoal. The introduction of 2-methoxyethoxy groups on the phenylene moiety made the melting point high, compared with poly(tetramethyl-1,4-silphenylenesiloxane); however, that of 2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethoxy groups made it low, indicating the longer oxyethylene moiety induced the lowering of the melting point. There were no significant differences in the thermostabilities of both present polymers, suggesting the length of oxyethylene moiety would not affect the thermostability, though the introduction of polar oxyethylene group onto the phenylene moiety induced a decline of thermostability.     

Effect of different pasteurization conditions on bioactivities of Lupinus albus protein isolates

Lupin protein isolate was extracted following the procedure in European Patent (EP 1024 706 B1) in order to use lupin protein for food and pharmaceutical applications. The acid insoluble/neutral pH soluble protein isolate was pasteurized at 65-125 °C for 10-1000 s. The objective of this study is finding out reasonable pasteurization condition for food use, or for good bioactivities like radical scavenging, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibition, and bile acid binding activity. Pasteurization at 65 °C for 10 s did not reduce the microbial count of the protein sufficiently for use in foods. The chemical composition of lupin protein isolates had no change by various pasteurization. The angiotensin converting enzyme inhibition decreased and the DPPH radical scavenging capacity increased after high temperature treatment at 125 °C. The sodium cholate binding capacity was not affected by tested conditions. Pasteurization at higher temperature is useful for producing selective bioactive fractions with suitable microbiological properties.     

The Formation of β‐Damascenone in Sweet Potato Shochu

The formation of β‐damascenone during shochu manufacture was investigated by quantifying β‐damascenone at each stage of manufacturing. Steamed sweet potato has a low level of free β‐damascenone (0.02–0.1 μg/g). During fermentation, β‐damascenone was produced in small quantities that were degraded by yeast. Thus, the second mash accumulates little free β‐damascenone (approximately 17 μg/L). The concentration profile in the fractionated distillate showed that β‐damascenone was produced during heating. Most β‐damascenone in shochu was formed during distillation, not during steam heating and fermentation. It is suggested that the level of β‐damascenone in shochu could be increased by reducing the pH of the second mash and prolonging the distillation period. Sweet potato cultivars differed in total free and hydrolyzed β‐damascenone content and there was a strong association between each cultivar and its shochu β‐damascenone content. The selection of the sweet potato cultivar is important for determining the quantity of β‐damascenone in a shochu brew.     

Viscosity measurement of gelcasting slurry during in-situ gelation by a micro X-ray CT scan system

This paper reports the use of a micro X-ray CT scan system to measure the viscosity increase during in-situ gelation of a gelcasting slurry. Three small steel balls were dropped in the slurry at a desired time interval after the addition of the gelling agent, while being monitored by the CT scan system. It was determined that the plot of the logarithm of the calculated viscosities based on the settling velocity of the falling ball versus the gelation time can be classified into three regions with increasing slopes. The first region is designated as the idle time during which the gelcasting slurry can be further processed and cast into a mold. The second region is the onset of gelation during which the polymer networks start to form with a gradual increase in the viscosity, whereas the third region is attributed to the increased concentration of the polymerized networks as typified by the significant increase in the slurry viscosity. Moreover, the falling ball method was found to be more sensitive to detecting the onset of gel formation in the gelcasting slurry than stress-controlled rheometric analyses.     

A multibranch exchange method for distribution loss minimization

This paper presents a multibranch exchange method for reconfiguration of distribution systems to reduce their line losses. In this method several switches are closed and opened simultaneously in each branch exchange operation to expand the search neighborhood. The switches to be closed are selected as the intermediate systems will be meshed configuration. Sequential branch opening method can be applied to open the switches to obtain the radial configuration efficiently. Test examples show the effectiveness of the proposed method in the case of double branch exchange. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 174(1): 40–48, 2011; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.21015     

Socio-demographic Variations of Homeowners and Differential Effects of Parental Homeownership on Offspring's Housing Tenure

Previous research indicates a positive effect of parental homeownership on offspring's homeownership, but rarely tests whether the effect is due to self-selectivity. In the context of socio-demographic variations of American homeowners, this study extends previous research by examining the differential effects of parental ownership of a single-family home. The current study employs the Panel Studies of Income Dynamics data, using propensity score matching to address self-selection problems. The results suggest that the intergenerational effect of parental housing tenure has been differentiated by race, income and the housing tenure history of parents while reinforcing inequality. Even within the same housing tenure, offspring of socio-economically disadvantaged groups are less likely to take advantage of parental homeownership in attaining a single-family owner-occupied home.     

Highly efficient photochemical hydrogen production system using zinc porphyrin and hydrogenase in CTAB micellar system

Photochemical hydrogen production with the system containing triethanolamine, zinc tetraphenylporphyrin tetrasulfonate, methylviologen and hydrogenase in cationic surfactant, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) was investigated. The effective photoreduction of methylviologen and an effective hydrogen production with hydrogenase were accomplished in the presence of CTAB micellar system by optimizing the reaction condition.     

Categorization of Japanese TV Viewers Based on Program Genres They Watch

Although programpreferences can be characterized on the basis of demographic attributes like sex, age or occupation or by taking the cultural studies approach focused on ethnic or social traits, preferences for programs often differ among people of the same sex, age, occupation and social class. We think that nothing can describe subjects’ viewing preferences more accurately than what programs they had watched in the past. To verify our hypothesis, we surveyed the viewing behavior of more than 1,600 randomly chosen individuals, and utilized this data to analyze people’s program choices. We categorized the respondents by the similarity of the programs they had watched and examined the groupings that emerged and the features of these groups.From our analysis, it became clear that a ‘more/less serious’ and ‘more/less fictional’ axes are involved in program selection.Our results show that eight groups (stereotypes) explain viewers’ contact with television, their motivation for choosing programs to watch, and their interest in matters other than television. Applying these stereotypes to the process of program selection or recommendation will be useful for the future design of personalized adaptive systems.     

Combinatorial catalyst approach for high-density growth of horizontally aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes on sapphire

We studied effects of metal catalyst and gas composition on the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) growth of horizontally aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) on r-plane sapphire substrates. The SWCNTs are sitting on the substrate and aligned along [10] direction of the sapphire surface. A combinatorial metal deposition method was applied for single and binary metal catalysts to systematically investigate the thickness and the composition dependence. The horizontally-aligned SWCNTs grown from stripe-patterned catalysts enable the direct comparison of the catalytic activity based on nanotube density. We found that the SWCNT density strongly depends on the metal catalyst in the order Fe > Co ? Ni ≈ Cu, while no nanotubes were grown over Mo. In addition, the methane concentration during CVD strongly influenced the nanotube density, and the optimal concentration varied depending on the metal species and its thickness. The study on the binary metal catalysts revealed that Fe–Co combination increases the SWCNT density (7–9 tubes/μm) about twice of the original metal film. The Co–Cu binary catalyst also showed the high density (8–10 tubes/μm) under a limited methane concentration. Different catalytic activity of each metal is discussed.