Characteristic Evaluation for Volatile Components of Soluble Coffee Depending on Freeze-Drying Conditions

Abstract

Volatile aroma compounds of freeze-dried soluble coffee were investigated to evaluate the effects of freeze-drying temperature conditions on their intensities and aroma characteristics by employing both GC/MS and charm-analysis, which is a GC/Olfactometry (GC/O) method. The coffee solutions with 40% solid content were freeze-dried changing freezing and drying temperatures. According to the results, it was demonstrated that the compounds identified based on human olfactory sense were different from those detected by GC/MS, and that the GC/O analysis method enabled evaluation of the characteristics and intensity of each compound as well as aroma profiles under various freezing and drying temperatures. Subsequently, GC/O method was found to be effective to detect and identify the volatile compounds giving the aroma peculiar to freeze-dried coffee, and useful to obtain the fundamental information for designing the optimal aroma characteristics of final product to conform the consumer preference based on the characteristic changes in aroma affected by freeze-drying conditions.     

Mixed P3HT/PCBM Organic Thin-Film Transistors： Relation between Morphology and Electrical Characteristics

The mixed P3HT （poly（3-hexylthiophene）） and [6,6]-PCBM （phenyl C61-butyric acid methyl ester） organic thin films were investigated for electronic structure using UV-Vis spectrophotometer and PESA （photo-electron spectroscopy in air）. Furthermore, ESR （electron spin resonance） and AFM （atomic force microscopy） were used to investigate the surface morphology and molecular orientation, respectively. ESR analysis indicated the molecular orientation of the P3HT crystalline in the blend thin films, which the crystalline oriented normal to the substrate with distribution of 35°. AFM images indicated that the surface morphology of P3HT film was affected by the presence of PCBM nanoparticles. Solution-processed OTFTs （organic thin-film transistors） based on P3HT/PCBM blend thin film in a top source-drain contact structure was fabricated, and the electrical characteristics of the devices were also investigated. A unipolar property with p-channel characteristics were obtained in glove box measurement.     

A novel polymer critical re-melting treatment for improving corrosion resistance of magnesium alloy stent

Polymer coating was widely used as a protective coating on Mg alloy stent due to its excellent deformability. However, the polymer coating with lots of macro- and micro-holes after solvent evaporation during forming process would make corrosion medium permeate easier and decrease the corrosion resistance of Mg alloy stent. In this study, a novel critical re-melting method was adopted to improve the polymer coating densification, which was evaluated by the surface morphology of coating. The corrosion resistance of Mg alloy stent after critical re-melting treatment was examined by the electrochemical and immersion tests. The results indicated that the corrosion resistance of Mg alloy stent with polymer coating was improved significantly by polymer critical re-melting treatment.     

Initiation and growth behaviour of small internal fatigue cracks in Ti‐6Al‐4V via synchrotron radiation microcomputed tomography

Small internal fatigue cracks initiated in Ti‐6Al‐4V in the very high cycle regime were detected by synchrotron radiation microcomputed tomography (SR‐μCT) at SPring‐8 in Japan. The initiation and growth behaviours of the cracks were nondestructively observed, and the da/dN‐ΔK relationship was measured and compared with that obtained in a high vacuum environment. SR‐μCT revealed that more than 20 cracks were initiated in one specimen. The crack initiation life varied widely from 20% to 70% of the average fatigue life and had little influence on the growth behaviour that followed. The initiation site size of each internal crack detected in one specimen was comparable with the size of the fracture origins obtained in ordinary fatigue tests. These results suggest that the surrounding microstructures around the initiation site are likely a dominant factor on the internal fracture rather than the potential initiation site itself. The internal crack growth rates were lower than 10^?10 m/cycle, and extremely slow rates ranging from 10^?13 to 10^?11 m/cycle were measured in a lower ΔK regime below 5 MPa√m. The internal crack growth rate closely matched that of surface cracks in a high vacuum, and the reason for the very long life of internal fatigue fractures was believed to result from the vacuum‐like environment inside the internal cracks.     

Method of design and specification of web services based on quality system documentation

In this paper, we present a method for development and specification of web services based on the quality system documentation. The general assumption is that service oriented architecture is based on business services and these business services mostly correspond to exchanged documentation in a real business system. Documentation of a quality system is recognized in form of documents that describe business processes in a real business system and identify exchanged documentation with environment. Presented method uses documentation of quality system and documentation flow for web service specification. We developed the CASE tool for web service specification based on a new approach, and we compare it to other existing tools.

High‐mobility oxide TFT for circuit integration of AMOLEDs

Abstract— A high‐mobility and high‐reliability oxide thin‐film transistor (TFT) that uses In‐Sn‐Zn‐O (ITZO) as a channel material has been developed. The mobility was 30.9 cm²/V‐sec and the threshold voltage shift after 20,000 sec of a bias‐temperature‐stress (BTS) test (with a stress condition of Vg = 15 V, Vd = 15 V, and T = 50°C) was smaller than 0.1 V. In addition, a method of obtaining a stable enhancement‐type TFT, which realizes circuit integration for active‐matrix organic light‐emitting diode (AMOLED) displays has been developed.     

Production of ketones from sewage sludge over zirconia-supporting iron oxide catalysts in a steam atmosphere

Recovering useful hydrocarbons from sewage sludge using zirconia-supporting iron oxide catalysts was investigated. Zirconia has activity for decomposing water molecules to generate active oxygen and hydrogen species. These oxygen species spill over to the surface of iron oxide and react with hydrocarbons to produce oxygen-containing organic chemicals such as acetone. Thus, zirconia-supporting iron oxide catalyst has two kinds of active sites on zirconia and on iron oxide. Sewage sludge was hydrothermally liquefied at 573 K in advance, yielding black water containing various hydrocarbons, to enhance the contact of reactant molecules with the catalysts. It was found that the hydrocarbons in the black water converted well to a mixture containing primarily acetone without any carbonaceous residue over zirconia-supporting iron oxide catalysts under the conditions of one atmospheric pressure and superheating steam atmosphere. Furthermore, it was confirmed that acetone was produced continuously from the sewage-derived black water over the catalysts using a bench scale flow reactor.     

Thermoelectric properties of Mn-doped iron disilicide ceramics fabricated from radio-frequency plasma-treated fine powders

Fine particles of Fe0.92Mn0.08Si2.00, 200 nm in size, were produced using a high-frequency plasma. The powders were sintered at temperatures between 1323 and 1423 K in vacuum and then heat treated at 1073 K to transform them into thermoelectric semiconducting iron disilicide. The relative density of the samples was as low as 70–77%, and the microstructure was composed of several tens of micrometre grains and continuous pores. The sample sintered at 1423 K, in particular, showed a figure of merit, Z, of 2.0×10-4K-1 at 870 K which was 20% larger than those previously reported. The increase in Z was found to be attributable to the increase in Seebeck coefficient and the decrease in thermal conductivity. This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A 250-622 MHz deskew and jitter-suppressed clock buffer usingtwo-loop architecture

A 250-622 MHz clock buffer has been developed, using a two-loop architecture: a delay-locked loop (DLL) for deskew, and a frequency-locked loop (FLL) for reference frequency supply to the DLL. The DLL incorporates a current-mode phase detector which utilizes a flip-flop metastability to detect a phase difference in the order of 20 ps. A measured jitter is suppressed to less than 40 ps RMS over the operating frequency range. A DLL acquisition time of 150 ns typical is simulated at 400 MHz. A 0.4-μm CMOS technology is used to fabricate the chip