Examination of the Mode II fracture behaviour of wood with a short crack in an asymmetric four-point bending test

Asymmetric four-point bending tests of agathis specimens with a short crack along the neutral axis in a tangential–longitudinal system were conducted onto analyse the failure behaviour of wood with a short crack. The nominal shear strength and Mode II critical stress intensity factors of the specimens with various crack lengths were measured, and the influence of crack length on these properties was examined. The nominal shear strength of the cracked specimens was significantly lower than the strength of a crack-free specimen, even when the crack was extremely short. This finding suggests that the fracture mechanics theory is effective for analysing the failure behaviour of wood with a very short crack in this loading condition. However, the Mode II critical stress intensity factor still depends on the crack length. When the crack length was corrected with considering the formation of fracture process zone ahead of the crack tip, the critical intensity factor could be predicted effectively as well as the nominal shear strength.     

Classification of particles by centrifugal separator and analysis of the fluid behavior

This study gives fundamental knowledge on the particle classification performance by centrifugal separator.It is found that the cut size of a centrifugal separator decreases as the rotational speed increases and the liquid flow rate decreases. Fitting our experimental results with the theory, they agree with each other at high flow rate. However, the difference between them generates at low flow rate. This is because dead spaces are generated in the centrifugal separator at the low flow rate. Also, the computer simulation of the fluid behavior in the centrifugal separator can find the decrease of the velocity near the wall under the low flow rate, which suggests the possibility of the formation of dead spaces in the separator.     

Burning Rate Augmentation of BAMO Based Propellants

Thermal decomposition and the burning properties of BAMO based propellants with HMX or AN/HMX have been investigated. The heat generated by the azide binder decomposition initiated and accelerated the thermal decomposition of HMX and AN. Ammonium perchlorate (AP) and lead stearate with carbon black significantly altered the mechanisms of the thermal decomposition and the burning properties of the HMX based propellants. AP showed an increase in burning rate with a slight decrease in burning rate pressure exponent. The lead catalyst yielded high value of the burning rate with the lowest pressure exponent. The ammonium dichromate also influenced the mechanisms of the thermal decomposition and the burning properties of the AN/HMX samples. The combination of ammonium dichromate and copper chromite was the most effective on the burning rate augmentation of AN/HMX based propellants. AN sublimed and evaporated from the condensed phase and mainly reacted exothermically in the gas phase HMX and AN/HMX based propellants showed smokeless burning characteristics in the small rocket motor combustion tests.     

Composition of Corn Hull Dietary Fiber

The corn hull dietary fiber was decomposed into their components such as cellulose, hemicellulose-A, -B, -C, -other and lignin by the Siegel method, and their contents were 16%, 1%, 57%, 14% and 2%, respectivity. The components of ordinary corn fiber were insoluble in water, but several decomposed fractions were able to dissolved. The solubility in water of hemicellulose-B was well and of hemicellulose A was slightly, but other fractions were insoluble. Hemicellulose-A, -B, -C and -other fractions were made up of about 30% of arabinose and 50% of xylose. Uronic acid contents and solubility in water of each hemicellulose fraction were mutually related.     

GPC Profile Change of Potato Starch with Extrusion Processing

Native potato starch (moisture content 15%) was treated by twin screw extruder under four operating conditions with varying barrel temperatures (110°C–230°C). These modified starch samples were compared to native and drum-dried starch. Starch sample solution for gel chromatography was prepared by the three methods (acidic, alkaline, and neutral methods). They were subjected to gel chromatography on Toyopearl HW-75, and some difference was found among the three gel chromatographic patterns obtained from the same starch solution. This discrepancy among GPC patterns suggests formation of some types of anhydro-bonds between chains of amylopectin and or amylose in the extrusion process. Elevating barrel temperature increases degree of depolymerization. The size of fragments formed with the treatment is bigger than that of oligosaccharides but smaller than that of amylose.     

Comparison of RRR-α- and all-rac-α-tocopherol uptake by permanent rat skeletal muscle myoblasts (L6 cells): Effects of exogenous lipoprotein lipase

The purpose of the present investigation was to test whether permanent skeletal muscle cells (rat L6 cells) could serve as an in vitro model for α-tocopherol (αTocH) biodiscrimination studies. L6 cells were incubated in the presence of high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL), and very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) labeled in the lipid moiety with either all-rac-or RRR-[¹⁴C]αTocH. These incubations were performed either in the absence or in the presence of exogenously added bovine lipoprotein lipase (LPL) since skeletal muscle is one of the major expression sites of LPL in vivo. Time-dependent uptake studies (up to 24 h) in the absence of LPL have shown that equipotent doses of all-rac- and RRR-[¹⁴C]αTocH (1.36∶1) led to almost identical accumulation of the tracer, independent of the lipoprotein class used as αTocH carrier. With regard to αTocH donor capacity, it appeared that HDL is the most potent αTocH donor, followed by LDL and VLDL. In the presence of LPL, all-rac- and RRR-[¹⁴C]αTocH uptake was significantly enhanced (between two- and tenfold). Biodiscrimination studies using chiral high-performance liquid chromatographic analysis with radiometric detection of the corresponding methyl ether derivatives on a Chiralcel OD column have demonstrated that the 2S-and 2R-isomers of αTocH were taken up in a 1∶1 ratio by L6 cells independent of the absence or presence of LPL. In addition, we have not observed biodiscrimination between the four 2R-isomers, i.e., there was no preferential accumulation of the RRR-isomer. These data suggest that L6 cells do not discriminate between different αTocH isomers and that the addition of endogenous LPL significantly enhances the uptake of RRR- and all-rac-αTocH.     

Evaluation of drug toxicity with hepatocytes cultured in a micro-space cell culture system

A micro-space cell culture system was recently developed in which cells such as hepatocytes can be cultured and formed into a multicellular three-dimensional (3D) architecture. In this study, we assessed the performance of HepG2 cells cultured in this micro-space cell culture system in a drug toxicity test, and evaluated the effects of micro-space culture on their hepatocyte-specific functions. The micro-space cell culture facilitated the formation of 3D HepG2 cell architecture. HepG2 cells cultured in a micro-space culture plate exhibited increased albumin secretion and enhanced mRNA expression levels of cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzyme compared to those cultured in a monolayer culture. When the cells were exposed to acetaminophen, a hepatotoxic drug, the damage to the HepG2 cells grown in micro-space culture was greater than the damage to the HepG2 cells grown in monolayer culture. In addition, human primary hepatocytes grown in micro-space culture also exhibited increased albumin secretion, enhanced CYP mRNA expression levels and increased sensitivity to acetaminophen compared to those grown in monolayer culture. These results suggest that this micro-space culture method enhances the hepatocyte-specific functions of hepatocytes, including drug-metabolizing enzyme activities, making hepatocytes grown in the micro-space culture system a useful tool for evaluating drug toxicity in vitro.     

Package Design of Ready-to-Drink Coffee Beverages Based on Food <Emphasis Type="Italic">Kansei</Emphasis> Model—Effects of Straw and Cognition Terms on Consumer’s Pleasantness

To design a consumer-oriented package that complements the taste and aroma of ready-to-drink chilled-cup coffee beverages by using the food kansei model, the effects of the diameter and the color of drinking straws as well as the cognition terms of coffee on consumer sensory characteristics and preferences were investigated. Variance and factor analyses of the sensory scores for chilled-cup coffee with milk and sugar using straws of different diameters, as rated by consumer panelists, extracted two perceived factors (F1, contribution ratio 36.5%, and F2, 28.6%). A two-dimensional plot of the average F1 and F2 scores of 123 panelists showed that the perceived characteristics of the same taste and aroma varied according to the straw diameter. An image investigation of different straw colors and another sensory evaluation using “black,” “brown,” and “green” straws were also performed. A principal component analysis of the image data revealed that the sensory characteristics of coffee with milk and sugar were imaged from the straw color. The second evaluation suggested that the images of straw colors affected the sensory characteristics. In addition, cluster and multiple-comparison analyses of Internet research data from consumers regarding the cognition terms for coffee exhibited three clusters representing the cognitive characteristics of terms by consumers and by developers and the differences of attractiveness degree on the cognition terms due to the consumers’ personal attributes. These studies provide useful information for the development of packages of chilled-cup coffee beverages.     

Grain Growth in Sintered ZnO and ZnO-Bi2O3 Ceramics

Grain growth in a high-purity ZnO and for the same ZnO with Bi₂O₃ additions from 0.5 to 4 wt% was studied for sintering from 900° to 1400°C in air. The results are discussed and compared with previous studies in terms of the phenomenological kinetic grain growth expression: G ⁿ— G ⁿ₀= K ₀ t exp(— Q/RT ). For the pure ZnO, the grain growth exponent or n value was observed to be 3 while the apparent activation energy was 224 ± 16 kJ/mol. These parameters substantiate the Gupta and Coble conclusion of a Zn²⁺ lattice diffusion mechanism. Additions of Bi₂O₃ to promote liquidphase sintering increased the ZnO grain size and the grain growth exponent to about 5, but reduced the apparent activation energy to about 150 kJ/mol, independent of Bi₂O₃ content. The preexponential term K ₀ was also independent of Bi₂O₃ content. It is concluded that the grain growth of ZnO in liquid-phase-sintered ZnO-Bi₂O₃ ceramics is controlled by the phase boundary reaction of the solid ZnO grains and the Bi₂O₃-rich liquid phase.     

MD study on temperature dependence of sputtering yield

Temperature dependence of sputtering yield is studied through molecular dynamics (MD) simulation that is performed for Ag sputtered by 12.6 keV Ar impacting at normal incidence. The target temperature is considered from 300 to 1235 K. It is found that the target temperature has little effect on the monomer yield because it comes from the energetic collision cascade. On the other hand, the sputtered cluster yield increases with the target temperature. It seems that the sputtered cluster is produced due to the thermal spike near the surface and the thermal spike is strongly influenced by the target temperature.