Color registration error reduction method compensating the influence of belt thickness variation in electrophotographic process

This paper proposes a new belt drive control method for reducing a belt velocity-fluctuation that is caused by a belt thickness-variation in the circumferential direction. A belt driving system performs feedback control with a rotary encoder-output mounted on a driven roller. This proposed method correct the reference value of the feedback control for the purpose of the belt velocity regulation. The correction includes two steps. The first step acquires the encoder-output of the driven roller and calculates the rotational angular velocity-fluctuation with one cycle of the belt rotation. The second step converts from the velocity-fluctuation to the correction value of the feedback reference. The correction value cancels a detection error of the driven roller caused by the belt thickness-variation. After these steps, the belt driving system controls the belt velocity as compensating the belt velocity-fluctuation. Experimental result showed the significant fluctuation reduction on a typical tandem-engine printer.     

Hydrolysis of nonionic ester surfactants facilitated by potassium β-glycyrrhizinate: Implication of catalytic functions played by the carboxyl groups

Two different types of methyl esters of β-glycyrrhizinate (GK2) have been prepared to delineate the mechanism of the catalytic action of each carboxyl group of GK2 in the hydrolysis of nonionic fatty acid surfactants. In the acidic pH region of less than 4, the hydrolysis is catalyzed by the carboxyl groups of the sugar moiety, while in the close-to-neutral acidic region, the carboxyl group at the hydrophobic triterpenoid end becomes important in catalysis.     

Proposal of GaAs stacked DCFL circuit

The proposed stacked GaAs DCFL circuit structure can not only equalise a power supply voltage value (3-5 V) used in Si ICs, but can also reduce circuit current (30-50%) due to current sharing within a stacked circuit. A divide by 128/129 and 64/65 prescalar IC has been fabricated to confirm this concept.<>     

Efficient Assembly of Bridged β‐Ga2O3 Nanowires for Solar‐Blind Photodetection

An increasing number of applications using ultraviolet radiation have renewed interest in ultraviolet photodetector research. Particularly, solar‐blind photodetectors sensitive to only deep UV (<280 nm), have attracted growing attention because of their wide applicability. Among recent advances in UV detection, nanowire (NW)‐based photodetectors seem promising, however, none of the reported devices possesses the required attributes for practical solar‐blind photodetection, namely, an efficient fabrication process, a high solar light rejection ratio, a low photocurrent noise, and a fast response. Herein, the assembly of β‐Ga₂O₃ NWs into high‐performance solar‐blind photodetectors by use of an efficient bridging method is reported. The device is made in a single‐step chemical vapor deposition process and has a high 250‐to‐280‐nm rejection ratio (～2 × 10³), low photocurrent fluctuation (<3%), and a fast decay time (<<20 ms). Further, variations in the synthesis parameters of the NWs induce drastic changes in the photoresponse properties, which suggest a possibility for tuning the performance of the photodetectors. The efficient fabrication method and high performance of the bridged β‐Ga₂O₃ NW photodetectors make them highly suitable for solar‐blind photodetection.     

Engineering of Lipid Nanoparticles by the Multifunctionalization of the Surface with Amino Acid Derivatives for the Neutralization of a Target Toxic Peptide

Protein affinity reagents (e.g., antibodies) are often used for basic research, diagnostics, separations, and disease therapy. Although a lot of “synthetic” protein affinity reagents have been developed as a cost-effective alternative to antibodies, their low biocompatibility is a considerable problem for clinical application. Lipid nanoparticles (LNP) represent a highly biocompatible drug delivery agent. However, little has been reported that LNP itself works as a protein affinity reagent in living animals. Here, LNP is engineered for binding to and neutralizing a target toxic peptide in living animals by multifunctionalization with amino acid derivatives. Multifunctionalized LNP (MF-LNP) is prepared using amino acid derivative-conjugated lipids. Optimized MF-LNP exhibits nanomolar affinity to the target toxic peptide and inhibits toxic peptide-dependent hemolysis and cytotoxicity. In addition, MF-LNP captures and neutralizes the toxic peptide after intravenous injection in the bloodstream; in addition, MF-LNP does not release the toxic peptide in the accumulated organ. These results reveal the potential of using LNP as a highly biocompatible protein affinity reagent such as an antidote.     

Effects of Using Alternative Extreme Pressure (EP) and Anti-Wear (AW) Additives with Oxy-Nitrided Samples

Oxy-nitriding is a widely used industrial process aiming to improve the tribological properties and performance of components. Previous studies have shown the effectiveness of the treatment with friction and wear performance, but very few have focussed on optimising this behaviour. The lubrication properties of several EP and AW additives were examined to investigate their effectiveness in improving the tribological properties of the layers formed after treatment. Previous studies showed the presence of an oxide layer on the sample could improve the effectiveness of the sulphurised olefin (SO) and tricresyl phosphate (TCP) additives. The friction and wear behaviour of oxy-nitrided samples were analysed using a tribometer and surface profiler. Scanning electron microscope, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were employed to identify the morphologies and chemical compositions of the treated surface before and after testing. No real effect on friction was observed when using the SO or TCP additives, mostly due to lack of interaction with the less reactive iron nitride layer and their roles as anti-wear additives. However, when the zinc dialkyldithiophosphate-containing lubricant was used, a higher friction coefficient was observed. Greater improvements in anti-wear properties with the presence of additives in comparison with only using base oil were reported, with the TCP additive producing the lowest wear rates. The study effectively demonstrated that the additive package type used could impact the tribological and tribochemical properties of oxy-nitrided surfaces.     

Force sensorless robust tracking servo system suppressing periodic disturbance and sudden disturbance for optical disk system

This paper proposes a new force sensorless robust tracking servo system, which detects and suppresses both the periodic disturbance and the sudden disturbance without force sensor. The proposed system estimates both the periodic disturbance and the sudden disturbance and the sudden disturbance by using a new sudden disturbance observer and the memory of tracking error. In the proposed system, the influence of sudden disturbance is suppressed by the proposed sudden disturbance observer. On the other hand, the influence of periodic disturbance is suppressed by means of ZPET feed‐forward servo system. The experimental results point out that the proposed tracking servo system has a precise tracking response against both the periodic disturbance and the sudden disturbance. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 166(1): 82–90, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20614     

Imprinting of Igf2 and H19 from a 130 kb YAC transgene

A stringent test for imprint control elements is to examine their function at ectopic loci in transgenic experiments. Igf2 and H19 are part of a larger imprinting region and as a first step, we examined these reciprocally imprinted genes in transgenic experiments using a 130 kb YAC clone. After paternal inheritance, H19 was appropriately repressed and Igf2 was expressed, irrespective of copy number or genetic background. After maternal inheritance H19 was consistently expressed, albeit with some variability. The levels of H19 expression per copy of the transgene inversely correlated with Igf2 (-lacZ) expression in cis. The consistent imprinting of H19 from this YAC contrasts with the previously described imprinting of mini-H19 transgenes, which only occurs at multi-copy loci, is inconsistent, and is prone to genetic background effects. We propose a novel model in which silencing of the H19 gene is the default state and its activation after maternal inheritance is the key mechanistic event for imprinting in this region. In addition, in situ analysis of the Igf2-lacZ reporter indicates that additional mesoderm-specific enhancers are present within the YAC clone. No obvious phenotype was detected from the excess gene dosage of H19.     

Increase in the expression of biglycan mRNA expression Co-localized closely with that of type I collagen mRNA in the infarct zone after experimentally-induced myocardial infarction in rats

Biglycan, a small dermatan sulphate proteoglycan, has been postulated to interact with other components of the extracellular matrix (ECM), specifically collagens. We hypothesized that biglycan messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) is increased in the myocardial infarct zone. Biglycan mRNA expression after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in rats was determined with the use of Northern blotting and in situ hybridization, and its expression pattern was compared to that of type I collagen mRNA [alpha1(I) collagen]. The left coronary artery was ligated in male Sprague-Dawley rats, and the hearts were excised on days 2 and 7. The Northern blot analysis demonstrated that expression of biglycan mRNA in the infarct on days 2 and 7 were 4.0- and 6.8-fold higher, respectively, compared to the sham-operated hearts. The in situ hybridization revealed intense signals for both biglycan and alpha1(I) collagen mRNA on day 2 in the spindle-shaped mesenchymal cells located between the surviving myocytes in the infarct peripheral zone. On day 7, biglycan mRNA signals were observed in the interior of the infarct around the infarct granulation tissue, a distribution that was essentially the same as that of alpha1(I) collagen. These results demonstrated that the increases in the infarct biglycan mRNA expression produced by mesenchymal cells (presumably myofibroblasts and fibroblasts) was closely co-localized with that of type I collagen mRNA, indicating that biglycan contributes to the infarct healing processes.