Properties of novel diallyl phthalate resin modified with sulfur‐containing allyl ester compounds

Sulfur‐containing allyl ester, which reacts with diallyl phthalate (DAP) resin to have allyl groups, was synthesized by the reaction of allyl phthalic acid with bisphenol having sulfur atoms. The sulfur‐containing allyl ester compound was blended with DAP resin to improve the adhesive properties to copper. By modification with sulfur‐containing allyl ester compound, the T‐peel adhesive strength and the lap shear adhesive strength to copper was improved. In particular, the adhesive strength was greatly improved when the resin was modified with the allyl ester compound having a disulfide bond (?S?S?) (DADS). It is concluded that this result is due to the improvement of the interfacial adhesive strength because the sulfur atom was found to be located in the surface of the copper by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis. The glass transition temperature (T_g) and the thermal decomposition temperature (T_d) of the cured DAP resin modified with DADS slightly decreased with increasing concentration of DADS. The lowering of T_g is because the crosslinking density of the DAP resin modified with DADS is smaller than that of DAP resin. Moreover, from thermogravimetric analysis, the lowering of Td of the DAP resin modified with DADS is because DADS is likely to pyrolyze. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry     

An Estimation Method to Determine Equivalent Circuit Parameters for Harmonic Analysis

This paper proposes a new estimation method to determine arbitrary circuit parameters for the harmonic analysis of a distribution network. Harmonic analysis is important in maintaining electric power quality. An interesting phenomenon, a temporary cut‐down of the harmonic voltage level at dawn, even if demand is slightly increasing at this time, is often observed in actual power systems. This paper proposes to utilize observations of this phenomenon to estimate circuit parameters. In addition, it is claimed that a detailed equivalent circuit is preferable to a conventional simplified equivalent circuit for explaining the phenomenon. This paper also discusses the usefulness of the Harmonic Characteristics Curve, which is proposed in this paper as a new concept, at the secondary winding of the distribution transformer, and the correlation of PQ, the monitored values of the active and reactive power at the secondary winding of distribution transformer. This correlation should determine the equivalent fundamental frequency admittance of the shunt capacitors installed for distribution lines. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 187(1): 16–23, 2014; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.22451     

An approach to the formal analysis of license interoperability

With recent advances in information and telecommunications technologies, a large range of digital content is distributed over the Internet. Whereas diverse licenses are provided to protect the content legally and have the advantage of offering authors many choices, the obstruction of smooth content distribution may occur if the relationships between licenses are not revealed because of differences between the restrictions imposed by each license. To activate digital content distribution, license interoperability must be revealed. In this paper, we propose a framework for formally examining license interoperability by using many-sorted first-order logic. We formalize five actual licenses and examine their interoperability to prove the effectiveness of our proposed framework. The results show that the framework reveals the relationships between licenses.     

A three-dimensional heterogeneity analysis of electrochemical energy conversion in SOFC anodes using electron nanotomography and mathematical modeling

In this paper a fully three dimensional, multiphase, micro-scale solid oxide fuel cell anode transport phenomena numerical model is proposed and verified. The Butler-Volmer model was combined with empirical relations for conductivity and diffusivity - notably the Fuller-Shetler-Giddings equation, and the Fickian model for transport of gas reagents. FIB-SEM tomography of a commercial SOFC stack anode was performed and the resulting images were processed to acquire input data. A novel method for estimating local values of Triple Phase Boundary length density for use in a three-phase, three-dimensional numerical mesh was proposed. The model equations are solved using an in-house code and the results were verified by comparison to an analytical solution within the range of its applicability. A limited parametric study was performed to qualitatively assess simulation performance and impact of heterogeneity. Despite the high dependence of the SOFC anode performance on the geometry of its anisotropic, three-phase microstructure there are very few micro-scale numerical models simulating transport phenomena within these electrodes.     

An intermittent control model of flexible human gait using a stable manifold of saddle-type unstable limit cycle dynamics

Stability of human gait is the ability to maintain upright posture during walking against external perturbations. It is a complex process determined by a number of cross-related factors, including gait trajectory, joint impedance and neural control strategies. Here, we consider a control strategy that can achieve stable steady-state periodic gait while maintaining joint flexibility with the lowest possible joint impedance. To this end, we carried out a simulation study of a heel-toe footed biped model with hip, knee and ankle joints and a heavy head-arms-trunk element, working in the sagittal plane. For simplicity, the model assumes a periodic desired joint angle trajectory and joint torques generated by a set of feed-forward and proportional-derivative feedback controllers, whereby the joint impedance is parametrized by the feedback gains. We could show that a desired steady-state gait accompanied by the desired joint angle trajectory can be established as a stable limit cycle (LC) for the feedback controller with an appropriate set of large feedback gains. Moreover, as the feedback gains are decreased for lowering the joint stiffness, stability of the LC is lost only in a few dimensions, while leaving the remaining large number of dimensions quite stable: this means that the LC becomes saddle-type, with a low-dimensional unstable manifold and a high-dimensional stable manifold. Remarkably, the unstable manifold remains of low dimensionality even when the feedback gains are decreased far below the instability point. We then developed an intermittent neural feedback controller that is activated only for short periods of time at an optimal phase of each gait stride. We characterized the robustness of this design by showing that it can better stabilize the unstable LC with small feedback gains, leading to a flexible gait, and in particular we demonstrated that such an intermittent controller performs better if it drives the state point to the stable manifold, rather than directly to the LC. The proposed intermittent control strategy might have a high affinity for the inverted pendulum analogy of biped gait, providing a dynamic view of how the step-to-step transition from one pendular stance to the next can be achieved stably in a robust manner by a well-timed neural intervention that exploits the stable modes embedded in the unstable dynamics.     

Texture,sensory and swallowing characteristics of high-pressure-heat-treated pork meat gel as a dysphagia diet

To develop a soft meat product for a dysphagia diet, high-pressure technology was applied. Pressure-heat-treated ground pork meat (PH) was prepared from ground pork mixed with water (ground meat: water, 1:0.5 or 1:1) and salt (1.5%). PH-gels were made from these meat homogenates by treatment at 400 MPa for 20 min, followed by heat treatment. Heat-treated pork meat homogenates (H) were also prepared. The hardness and adhesiveness of the 1:1PH-gel was lower than those of the 1:1H-gel. The PH-gel scored higher in sensory evaluations of elasticity, smoothness and ease of swallowing. Scanning electron micrographs indicated that the superior textural property of the 1:1PH-gel was caused by a network of myosin filaments. Videofluoroscopic examination of swallowing revealed that the 1:1PH-gel was easy to swallow and left little residue in the oropharynx. These results proved the utility of pressurization in creating a dysphagia meat diet.     

Study on performance and flow field of an undershot cross-flow water turbine comprising different number of blades

Recently,small hydroelectric generators have gained attention as a further development in water turbine technology for ultra low head drops in open channels.The authors have evaluated the application of cross-flow water turbines in open channels as an undershot type after removing the casings and guide vanes to substantially simplify these water turbines.However,because undershot cross-flow water turbines are designed on the basis of cross-flow water turbine runners used in typical pipelines,it remains unclear whether the number of blades has an effect on the performance or flow fields.Thus,in this research,experiments and numerical analyses are employed to study the performance and flow fields of undershot cross-flow water turbines with varying number of blades.The findings show that the turbine output and torque are lower,the fluctuation is significantly higher,and the turbine efficiency is higher for runners with 8 blades as opposed to those with 24 blades.     

Immunomodulatory Properties and Osteogenic Activity of Polyetheretherketone Coated with Titanate Nanonetwork Structures

Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) is a potential substitute for conventional metallic biomedical implants owing to its superior mechanical and chemical properties, as well as biocompatibility. However, its inherent bio-inertness and poor osseointegration limit its use in clinical applications. Herein, thin titanium films were deposited on the PEEK substrate by plasma sputtering, and porous nanonetwork structures were incorporated on the PEEK surface by alkali treatment (PEEK-TNS). Changes in the physical and chemical characteristics of the PEEK surface were analyzed to establish the interactions with cell behaviors. The osteoimmunomodulatory properties were evaluated using macrophage cells and osteoblast lineage cells. The functionalized nanostructured surface of PEEK-TNS effectively promoted initial cell adhesion and proliferation, suppressed inflammatory responses, and induced macrophages to anti-inflammatory M2 polarization. Compared with PEEK, PEEK-TNS provided a more beneficial osteoimmune environment, including increased levels of osteogenic, angiogenic, and fibrogenic gene expression, and balanced osteoclast activities. Furthermore, the crosstalk between macrophages and osteoblast cells showed that PEEK-TNS could provide favorable osteoimmunodulatory environment for bone regeneration. PEEK-TNS exhibited high osteogenic activity, as indicated by alkaline phosphatase activity, osteogenic factor production, and the osteogenesis/osteoclastogenesis-related gene expression of osteoblasts. The study establishes that the fabrication of titanate nanonetwork structures on PEEK surfaces could extract an adequate immune response and favorable osteogenesis for functional bone regeneration. Furthermore, it indicates the potential of PEEK-TNS in implant applications.     

Three-dimensional simulating of concentrator photovoltaic modules using ray trace and equivalent circuit simulators

A 3-dimensional (3D) simulation for a concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) module using a triple-junction solar cell was developed. By connecting ray-trace simulation for an optics model and 3D equivalent circuit simulation for a triple-junction solar cell, the operating characteristics of a CPV module were calculated. By using the 3D simulation, we considered the influence of tracking error on the CPV module. It was found that maximum output power was not correlated with optical efficiency of the optics system and was strongly dependent on fill factor. We can use this total 3D simulation for the evaluation and optimization of CPV modules.