Freeze-dried solid foams prepared from carbon nanotube aqueous suspension: Application to gas diffusion layers of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell

Freeze-dried macroporous solid foams were prepared from the multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) aqueous suspensions dispersed by chitosan. Thin film shaped CNT solid foams were prepared, and applied to the gas diffusion layers (GDLs) of a laboratory scale proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). It was demonstrated that the prepared carbon foams in this study were useful to a fuel cell GDL material. The prepared cell performances were fairly comparable to the cell prepared with conventional carbon paper for GDL material. The microstructures of the prepared carbon foams were found to affect on the PEMFC performances. It was suggested that the interconnected carbon networks formed during the freezing step closely link to the cell performances. Hence, the defection of the interconnected microstructure lead degradation of the GDL quality. The impedance measurement made clear that the prepared foam materials were also advantageous for reducing the ohmic resistance in PEMFC assembly. The kinetic resistance values and the thermal conductive characteristics suggested that the freezing process would also control the degree of overlaps among single CNTs in a freeze-dried bulk that influenced on the electrochemical properties.     

Prenatal Exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Birth Outcomes

The effect of prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) at the environmental level on birth size was examined. The concentration of 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) in spot urine samples collected from 50 pregnant women in Tokyo was measured and was related to birth weight, length, and head circumference of the newborns the subjects delivered. Analysis of inter- and intra-individual variation in 1-OHP concentration in spot urine samples from non-smoking subjects revealed that single spot urine can represent the subject's exposure to PAHs over several weeks and utility of spot urine for assessing PAHs exposure level of non-smokers was indicated. Geometric mean urinary concentration of 1-OHP of the subjects was 0.056 μmol/mol creatinine, and smoking mothers (n = 7) excreted more 1-OHP (0.200 μmol/mol-cre) than non-smoking mothers (0.046 μmol/mol-cre). Multiple regression analysis using birth outcomes as the dependent variable and urinary 1-OHP and other covariates as independent variables revealed that urinary 1-OHP was not a significant variable to explain birth outcomes among non-smoking mothers.     

Mixing mechanism of three‐tip kneading block in twin screw extruders

In recent years, twin screw extruders have been applied to various kinds of polymer processing. It has been important to find their optimum geometrical configurations and operational processing conditions for the best performance of extrusions and products. Many engineers have been evolving numerical and the experimental methods to characterize the mixing performance for twin screw extruders. We have carried out three‐dimensional flow simulations of kneading blocks in intermeshing co‐rotating twin screw extruders by using the finite element method to quantify their ability in distributive and dispersive mixing. We discuss their performance in distributive mixing for three different type of kneading blocks in terms of the residence time distribution and the nearest distance between markers at various periods of time, by using the marker tracking method. Those numerical techniques and applications of mixing indices have enabled us to quantify and evaluate their abilities in distributive mixing of kneading blocks in twin screw extruders.     

Reduced model of discrete‐time dynamic image segmentation system and its bifurcation analysis

We have developed a discrete‐time dynamic image segmentation system consisting of chaotic neurons and a global inhibitor. Our system receives an image with isolated regions and can output segmented images in time series based on oscillatory responses of chaotic neurons. In this article, we derive a reduced model to find intrinsic properties of the system of dynamic image segmentation. Using numerical method for analyzing dynamical systems, we investigated bifurcation phenomena of a fixed point observed in the reduced model. As the results, in a model of two coupled chaotic neurons, we found that a set of Neimark‐Sacker bifurcations causes the generation of an in‐phase oscillatory response, which is unsuitable for the purpose of dynamic image segmentation. The bifurcation analysis gives appropriate parameter values to exclude the generation of in‐phase oscillatory responses, i.e., our dynamic image segmentation system can work well. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 19, 283–289, 2009     

Absolute Stereochemistry of TXIB,a Bioactive Plasticizer That Inhibits Oviposition of the Peach Fruit Moth,Carposina sasakii (Lepidoptera: Carposinidae)

Journal of Chemical Ecology - TXIB (2,2,4-trimethyl-1,3-pentanediol diisobutyrate), a common plasticizer, inhibits the peach fruit moth, Carposina sasakii from ovipositing on young apple fruits....     

Analysis of cases allowed to cease erythromycin therapy for diffuse panbronchiolitis--comparative study between patients with cessation of the therapy and patients continuing the therapy

We investigated the effect of erythromycin (EM) in patients with diffuse panbronchiolitis (DPB) who were divided into 2 groups, the short term group with 8 patients who were treated for at least 2 years and the long term group with 7 patients who were treated for more than 3 years. Each mean value of %VC, FEV1.0, FEV1.0% and PaO2 two years after administration to these patients was improved than before administration of EM, with the exception of PaO2 in the long term group. There was no change in %VC, FEV1.0, FEV1.0% or PaO2 in each group between one year after the therapy and thereafter, with the exception of the fact that FEV1.0% in the short term group, except patients restarting EM therapy, 2 years after the therapy was significantly higher than in the long term group. One patient was readministered EM because of recurrence of DPB after cessation of EM therapy, whose %VC, FEV1.0 and PaO2, but not FEV1.0%, one year after the therapy were increased in those before the therapy. The Neutrophil proportion in the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid in this patient was still high after the therapy (94.5%), while that in the patients with cessation of the therapy was improved to the level of less than 8%. Neutrophil proportion in BAL fluids in the patients with continuation of the therapy revealed a high or low level after the therapy. These results suggest that the patients, whose %VC, FEB1.0% and PaO2 were improved and whose proportion of neutrophils in BAL fluid reduced to a normal level compared with those before EM therapy, can be allowed to cease therapy after 2 years or more of EM therapy.     

Fully engineered multi-channel FM-SCM video distribution systems

This paper reports the design and performance of a multi-channel FM-SCM video distribution system that can be placed into practical use. Fifty FM video channels can be delivered to more than 10 000 customers through three-cascaded erbium-doped fiber amplifiers, and wideband/low-noise analog SCM links. As the outdoor plant is completely passive, reliability and easy maintenance can be expected. An evaluation of fabricated equipment shows good transmission quality and stable operation     

Preparation of monodispersed polymer-modified silica particles by radical polymerization using silica colloid and introduction of functional groups on the composite surface

Summary Radical polymerizations of vinyl monomers using a initiator of 2,2-azobis(2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride on monodispersed silica colloid led to formation of spherical polymer/SiO₂ composites, retained particle size. Addition of hydroxypropyl cellulose to the reaction system resulted in yielding excellent dispersible composites into ethanol by short period ultrasonic irradiation. The polymerization of styrene in the presence of mercapto-amine or carboxylic acid derivatives could successfully introduce amino or carboxyl group on the Poly(styrene)/SiO₂ composite.     

Viewer,converter and preprocessor for smart machining process using an industrial robot

In this paper, viewer and converter softwares are presented for smart machining process using an industrial robot. The viewers for NC, CLS, DXF and STL files illustrate their surface representation with normal direction vectors. For example, the DXF is a data format developed by Autodesk to realize data interoperability among different makers’ CAD systems. The STL means Stereolithography which is a file format proposed by 3D Systems and recently is supported by many design tools and CAD/CAM softwares. In addition, the converters for DXF and STL files generate the corresponding CLS files with normal direction vectors for machining. Further, the proposed preprocessor allows the developed machining robot to work based on information included in STL files. The convenience and user-friendliness of the proposed integrated system are confirmed through experiments of viewing, converting and machining.     

Pore Structure and Shape Selectivity of Platinum-Promoted Cesium Salts of 12-Tungstophosphoric Acid

Pore-widths and pore-size distributions of 0.5 wt% Pt-Cs_xH_3-xPW₁₂O₄₀ have been studied by means of adsorption of various molecules. For the distributions of micropore and mesopore, isotherms of Ar and N₂ adsorption were analyzed, respectively. Pt-Cs_2.1H_0.9PW₁₂O₄₀ possessed only ultramicropores. On the other hand, the pores of Pt-Cs_xH_3-xPW₁₂O₄₀ (x = 2.3, 2.5, 2.8 and 3.0) showed bimodal distributions in the range from micropore to mesopore, and the widths of both pores tended to increase as the Cs content increased. From the amounts and rates of adsorption for n-butane and isobutane, the pore width of Pt-Cs_2.1H_0.9PW₁₂O₄₀ was determined to be close to the molecular size of n-butane, that is, 0.43 nm. The fraction of external surface area in the total surface area of Pt-Cs_2.1H_0.9PW₁₂O₄₀ was estimated to be only 0.06 from the adsorption of 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene and t-plot of N₂ adsorption. Pt- Cs_2.1H_0.9PW₁₂O₄₀ exhibited a shape selectivity due to the uniform ultramicropores and small external surface area; it catalyzed the oxidation of n-butane but not that of isobutane. SEM and TEM measurements revealed the primary crystallites and their aggregated states.