Reflection and absorption characteristics of electromagnetic waves for PV modules

In this paper, the authors investigated the reflection and absorption characteristics of a general photovoltaic (PV) module. As a result, the electromagnetic waves could be attenuated only 6 dB in typical PV module. However, if the PV module is installed in the outer wall of buildings, electromagnetic interference is caused by the surroundings. To reduce this electromagnetic interference, the authors suggested a method to absorb electromagnetic wave using multiple PV modules that have deference impedance, and simulation was performed. As a result, it was confirmed that using a typical PV module and the PV module including electronic device, the reflection waves of those PV modules could be attenuated up to 12 dB.     

Liquid phase synthesis of ZnO microrods highly oriented on the hexagonal ZnO sheets

We have successfully synthesized zinc oxide microrods perpendicularly oriented on hexagonal ZnO sheets by a simple heat treatment approach using LDH (layered double hydroxide) precursor in an aqueous solution. The synthesized ZnO microrods have an average diameter of 500 nm and length of 2–3 μm, and form highly-oriented array. In this work, the effect of heating temperature and time on morphology and orientation of ZnO microrods was studied experimentally and the formation mechanism was discussed in detail. Transformation from hexagonal precursor to ZnO microrods can be attributed to dissolution and re-precipitation of the precursor, which should be caused by its thermal unstability under heating temperature.     

Local electrical modification of a conductivity-switching polyimide film formed by molecular layer deposition

The electrical modification of a conductivity-switching polyimide film via molecular layer deposition (MLD) is studied for ultrahigh density data storage based on a scanning probe microscope (SPM). A PMDA-ODA (PMDA = 1, 2, 3, 5-benzenetetracarboxylic anhydride, ODA = 4, 4-oxydianiline) film as a recording medium is uniformly formed from a self-assembled monolayer on a Au surface by MLD. It is demonstrated that the conductivity of the film can be changed by applying a voltage between a SPM probe and the film. This conductivity-switching phenomenon is discussed by the molecular orbital approach and considered to be caused by the charge transfer effect or carrier trapping effect of PMDA-ODA.     

Chromosomal DNA patterns and gene stability of Pichia pastoris

We have clearly resolved four chromosomal bands from four Pichia pastoris (Komagataella pastoris) strains by using contour-clamped homogeneous electric field gel electrophoresis. The size of the P. pastoris chromosomal bands ranged from 1.7 Mb to 3.5 Mb and total genome size was estimated to be 9.5 Mb to 9.8 Mb; however, chromosome-length polymorphisms existed among four strains. Thirteen cloned genes isolated from strain GTS115 were assigned to the separated chromosomes, revealing that different hybridization patterns were observed in the AOX2 and URA3 genes among strains. P. pastoris is frequently used as an efficient host for heterologous gene expressions. We analysed chromosomal stability of strain GTS115-derived recombinant cell expressing human serum albumin during serial cultivation under the condition of vegetative and non-selective growth. No chromosomal rearrangements were observed and the expression constructs integrated into the his4 locus on chromosome I were very stable even at 83 generations, suggesting that stable expression would be carried out even in large-scale fermentation.     

A Fail-safe Logic Operator Using an Insulated Planar Transformer

A fail-safe logic circuit must switch the output signal to the logical value “0” when an operation circuit fails. A transformer has such favorable characteristics for fail-safe logic circuits as only the magnetic flux change is transmitted and a superposition of magnetic flux is realized. Thus those characteristics arc applied to a failsafe logic operator. A new fail-safe logic operator using an insulated planar transformer was developed for a fail-safe majority operation and a fail-safe interlocking. In this paper, the principle, structure, design and fundamental characteristics of the new fail-safe logic operator are described.     

Differential interleukin 12 responsiveness for interferon gamma production in advanced stages of cancer patients correlates with performance status

Interleukin 12 (IL-12) has been shown to exhibit potent antitumor activity in murine tumor models through various mechanisms including the capacity to stimulate IFN-gamma production by T cells and natural killer cells. The aim of the present study was to examine the efficacy of IL-12 in inducing IFN-gamma secretion in cancer patients. A comparison was made between healthy individuals who served as controls and cancer patients for IFN-gamma production induced after the stimulation of whole blood samples with 1000 pg/ml IL-12. Samples from all healthy individuals showed positive IL-12 responsiveness. Approximately half of the samples from patients displayed levels of IFN-gamma production comparable to those observed for controls, whereas the rest of the samples exhibited almost-null responses. The incidences for reduced capacity of IFN-gamma production and null IL-12 responsiveness in cancer patients at all cancer stages or at a given advanced stage (stage IV) increased along with performance status. However, these correlated with neither the number of lymphocytes contained in the blood samples nor the tumor types. When peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated from patient blood samples showing null/marginal responses, and their responsiveness was examined, 7 of 13 samples exhibited positive responses. Whereas enhanced tumor necrosis factor alpha production was also observed in some patients after IL-12 stimulation, the elevation of tumor necrosis factor alpha was induced only in blood samples that showed IL-12-stimulated IFN-gamma production. These observations indicate that a remarkable difference exists in IL-12 reactivity among cancer patients, and that differential IL-12 responsiveness depends largely on performance status.     

Design for 2-D error feedback networks with identical coefficient sets

In realization of recursive digital filters with fixed point arithmetic, an error caused by roundoff arises. It is known that the level of the roundoff noise of an IIR filter tends to be high when the poles are close to the unit circle. Error feedback (EF) is an effective method to reduce the roundoff noise. It is desirable to design an EF network using as few parameters as possible in order to keep computational costs low. In this paper, we propose a method for designing a 2D EF network with identical coefficient sets. That is, the EF coefficients are divided into several subsets such that all the elements within each set have the same absolute value. In order to optimize the coefficient sets, we propose an algorithm by using the genetic algorithm. In the numerical example, we demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Marginal adaptation of resin-bonded light-cured glass ionomers in dentin cavities

PURPOSE: To investigate the marginal adaptation of resin-modified glass ionomer cements in dentin cavities placed with or without additional application of resin bonding systems. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three resin-modified materials (Fuji II LC, Photac-Fil, Vitremer), one compomer (Dyract) and as reference an adhesively bonded resin composite system (Gluma CPS-Pekafill) were used. Flat peripheral dentin surfaces on human molar teeth were produced by wet grinding on SiC paper. Cylindrical cavities, 3.5 mm wide, were prepared in these dentin areas and restored with the individual materials. Sixty cavities were pretreated and restored as requested by the respective manufacturers. Following water storage of the specimens for 15 minutes or 24 hours, excess was gently removed by wet grinding for microscopic inspection of the marginal area. Additionally, in 30 cavities an experimental one-component adhesive resin system, a proprietary dimethacrylate and HEMA mixture dissolved in acetone, was combined with each of the restoratives for evaluation after 15-minutes water storage. Finally, in six cavities each, Dyract was combined with Prime and Bond 2.0, and Vitremer with Scotchbond Multi-Purpose Plus for assessment after 15 minutes. Maximum marginal gap widths (MGW) were measured. One-way ANOVA by ranks (Kruskal-Wallis-Test) followed by Wilcoxon's Two-Sample test were used to study the statistical difference of MGW among the treatment groups at a rejection level P = 0.05. RESULTS: Neither the conventionally placed material systems nor the restorations in combination with adhesives showed consistently gap-free margins after 15-minute water storage. After 24-hour storage with Vitremer 4 of the 6 restorations were gap-free, whereas with all other materials only perfect margins were registered. There was, however, no significant difference between the groups. Application of the experimental and/or the specific resin bonding agents had no effect on early MGW except for the Photac-Fil group, which was significantly reduced.