Influence of Sr2+ on Calcium‐Deficient Hydroxyapatite Formation Kinetics and Morphology in Partially Amorphized α‐TCP

Hydration of partially amorphized α‐TCP powders with Sr²⁺ concentrations ranging from 0 to 10 mol% substitution for Ca²⁺ was analyzed by isothermal calorimetry and quantitative in‐situ XRD. Hydration of both crystalline α‐TCP and amorphous TCP (ATCP) forming CDHA was retarded to an increasing extent with increasing Sr²⁺ content. Sr²⁺ slightly reduced the crystallite size (XRD coherent scattering domains) of the CDHA formed during hydration, while the size of crystals visible under SEM was not noticeably affected. Reaction enthalpies of ΔH_{R(Sr‐α‐TCP→Sr‐CDHA)} = 122 ± 8 J/g_TCP and ΔH_{R(Sr‐ATCP→Sr‐CDHA)} = 257 ± 8 J/g_TCP were determined for the hydration of crystalline α‐TCP and ATCP containing 5 mol% Sr²⁺ substitution for Ca²⁺. This is comparable with the corresponding reaction enthalpies previously obtained for undoped samples, which are 106 ± 7 J/g_TCP for α‐TCP and 250 ± 7 J/g_TCP for ATCP.     

Effects of display design on performance in a simulated ship navigation environment

Although automation is playing an increasing role on the ship's bridge, empirical research on the effectiveness of alternative bridge designs is limited. In this paper, we describe an experimental study of the benefits of integrated information display, using a computerized simulation of a highly automated ship's bridge. The study compared three types of interface design, which presented radar and electronic chart information to the operator in different ways: (a) integrated display, (b) functionally-separate display, and (c) spatially-separate display. Effects were examined in relation to time on watch and scenario complexity. Following extensive training on the task, 39 participants were tested over a 4-h experimental session, during which they encountered a sequence of collision scenarios of varying complexity. Using a dual-task methodology, a range of measures of primary and secondary task performance were taken, together with assessment of information sampling behaviour and subjective operator state (workload, fatigue, anxiety and situation awareness). The results indicated slight navigational advantages of the integrated display over the two alternative display types, although it also incurred higher levels of operator cost, particularly fatigue. There were no marked effects of time on watch, but more complex scenarios were associated with impaired performance, increased workload and reduced situation awareness. Overall, the findings have suggested some benefits of integrating primary information sources in a ship's bridge environment. The study further confirms the value of experimental simulations as tools for investigating design issues for ship's bridge automation.     

Reduction of stable differential–algebraic equation systems via projections and system identification

Most large-scale process models derived from first principles are represented by nonlinear differential–algebraic equation (DAE) systems. Since such models are often computationally too expensive for real-time control, techniques for model reduction of these systems need to be investigated. However, models of DAE type have received little attention in the literature on nonlinear model reduction. In order to address this, a new technique for reducing nonlinear DAE systems is presented in this work. This method reduces the order of the differential equations as well as the number and complexity of the algebraic equations. Additionally, the algebraic equations of the resulting system can be replaced by an explicit expression for the algebraic variables such as a feedforward neural network. This last property is important insofar as the reduced model does not require a DAE solver for its solution but system trajectories can instead be computed with regular ODE solvers. This technique is illustrated with a case study where responses of several different reduced-order models of a distillation column with 32 differential equations and 32 algebraic equations are compared.     

Density and Thermal Expansion of Liquid Au-Cu Alloys

The density of liquid Cu-Au alloys is measured using the technique of electromagnetic levitation, which entails producing a shadow image of the sample. The shadow is recorded by a digital CCD-camera, and the volume of the sample is calculated by an image processing algorithm. The density and thermal expansion of several alloys and the pure elements copper and gold are investigated at various temperatures above their melting points. In addition, the densities are also investigated as a function of the gold concentration at constant temperature. The measured values agree with literature data and with predictions obtained by molecular dynamics. It was found from data analysis that the ideal solution model applies.     

Polyplexes of polyethylenimine and per-N-methylated polyethylenimine-cytotoxicity and transfection efficiency

For non-viral gene delivery, the carriers for DNA transfer into cells must be vastly improved. The branched cationic polymer polyethylenimine has been described as an efficient gene carrier. However, polyethylenimine was demonstrated to mediate substantial cytotoxicity. Therefore, this study is aimed at investigating per-N-methylated polyethylenimine, which is thought to have a much lower cytotoxicity due to its lower charge density. Results from a gel retardation assay and laser light scattering indicated that per-N-methylated polyethylenimine condenses DNA into small and compact nanoparticles with a mean diameter <150 nm. Furthermore, polyplexes of polyethylenimine and per-N-methylated polyethylenimine with DNA had a positive zeta potential and the polymers protected DNA from nuclease-mediated digestion. The transfection efficiency of polyethylenimine and per-N-methylated polyethylenimine was tested in CHO-K1 cells. Using green fluorescent protein as reporter gene and flow cytometry analysis, we demonstrated that per-N-methylated polyethylenimine has a lower cytotoxicity, but also a significantly lower transfection efficiency. Using propidium iodide staining, we could additionally distinguish between viable and dead cells. At NP > or = 12, per-N-methylated polyethylenimine showed a much higher cell viability and the ratio of viable and transfected cells to dead and transfected cells was about 1.5 to 1.7 fold higher than for polyethylenimine. The results of cell viability from flow cytometry analysis were confirmed by the MTS assay. Using luciferase reporter gene for transfection experiments, the gene expression of per-N-methylated polyethylenimine was lower at NP 6, 12 and 18 as compared to polyethylenimine, but at NP 24 it yielded similar levels.     

A Semantics for Distributed Execution of Statemate

We present a semantics for the statechart variant implemented in the Statemate product of i-Logix. Our semantics enables distributed code generation for Statemate models in the context of rapid prototyping for embedded control applications. We argue that it seems impossible to efficiently generate distributed code using the original Statemate semantics. The new, distributed semantics has the advantages that, first, it enables the generation of efficient distributed code, second, it preserves many aspects of the original semantics for those parts of a model that are not distributed, and third, the changes made regarding the interaction of distributed model parts are similar to the interaction between the model and its environment in the original semantics, thus giving designers a familiar execution model. The semantics has been implemented in Grace, a framework for rapid prototyping code generation for embedded control applications.     

Process conditions in X-ray lithography for the fabrication of devices with sub-micron feature sizes

This article describes the fabrication of polymer structures with lateral dimensions in the sub-micron regime using hard X-rays (λ_c ≈ 0.4 nm) from the electron storage ring ANKA. Spincoated polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) grades have been analyzed with respect to development rates and contrast. The contrast has been determined to be constant over a wide dose regime but rapidly decreases for dose values below 1 kJ/cm³. Films with a thickness from 2 to 11 μm have been patterned using a high resolution X-ray mask consisting of 2 μm thick gold absorbers on a suspended 1 μm thick silicon nitride membrane. The fabrication of sub-micron X-ray lithography structures with feature sizes down to 400 nm is confined by the mechanical parameters of the resist material and the process conditions. Surface tension after development limits the achievable aspect ratio of isolated pillars and walls, depending on the actual resist height. PMMA structures have been successfully used as template for electroplating of 1 μm thick gold to demonstrate the fabrication capability of sub-micron scale metal parts.     

Application of a chromium‐free photoresist to CRT screen processing

In 1998, Toyo Gosei Co. published a paper on the development of a new water‐soluble photopolymer of high sensitivity, PVA‐ARBB. In close co‐operation with LG. Philips Displays, the new material was further developed to be applicable in patterning the phosphor layer of a CRT screen. The new material shows about 3 times higher light sensitivity, gives 4–5% higher luminance, has no dark reaction, and is chromium‐free. It is the first chromium‐free photoresist used for phosphor patterning in CRT mass production. A comparison is presented between the conventional resist and the new resist. A survey is given of the most important process conditions.     

热湿存储环境下须状晶体的生长机理与影响因素

纯哑锡表面的晶须特性已经成为IC封装中无铅焊接工艺实施的主要影响因素之一。由于其它替代方法,例如预先在引脚上镀Ni/Pd/Au层,会导致成本无法预估以及可靠性下降等问题,因此,目前的关注点是进一步减少纯锡表面须状晶体的生长。     

一种用于实时体绘制系统的自适应采样算法

本文讨论了一种用于体绘制的、支持基于空间跳跃和自适应光线终止等优化算法的高效硬件结构及一种加速半透明物体绘制的新技术.这种硬件结构用于绘制规模为256³体元的数据时可达到70Hz的帧频,但这样的帧频只是在体元的透明度都被置为0(完全透明)或1(完全不透明)的情况下才能取得.引入新的加速技术后,绘制半透明物体的帧频也可接近上述数值.新的加速技术采用自适应采样步长减少体绘制过程中冗余的体元重采样,从而使算法的复杂度和对存储器的带宽要求大大减小.新的加速技术对半透明体数据可取得高达4.7倍的加速比.采用新的加速技术需要在开始交互绘制前对体数据进行距离编码.优化后的距离编码对有8兆体元的体数据的预处理时间仅需要8~30秒.