An Indolocarbazole‐Based Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Host for Solution‐Processed Phosphorescent Tandem Organic Light‐Emitting Devices Exhibiting Extremely Small Efficiency Roll‐Off

The study reports the development of a solution‐processed phosphorescent tandem organic light‐emitting device (OLED) exhibiting extremely small efficiency roll‐off. The OLED comprises two light‐emitting units (LEUs) connected by an interconnecting unit and employs a thermally activated delayed fluorescence host material. One of the most difficult tasks in the fabrication of OLEDs is to form a multilayer structure without dissolving the underlayer during the coating of the upper layer. The developed host materials exhibit high tolerance to methanol. The upper‐layer adjacent to the light‐emitting layer consists of ZnO nanoparticles, which could be dispersed in methanol by improving the preparation method. This results in the successful fabrication of a solution‐processed phosphorescent tandem OLED comprising two LEUs. The maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE) of the tandem device is 22.8%, and the EQE is 21.9% even at a high luminance of 10 000 cd m^?2. The suppression of efficiency roll‐off is among the best of those previously reported. Moreover, the operational stability of the tandem device is much higher compared with single‐LEU devices.     

A pilot test plan of the thermochemical water-splitting iodine–sulfur process

Research and development (R&D) of hydrogen production systems using high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGR) are being conducted by the Japan Atomic Research Institute (JAERI). To develop the systems, superior hydrogen production methods are essential. The thermochemical hydrogen production cycle, the IS (iodine–sulfur) process, is a prospective candidate, in which heat supplied by HTGR can be consumed for the thermal driving load. With this attractive feature, JAERI will conduct pilot-scale tests, aiming to establish technical bases for practical plant designs using HTGR. The hydrogen will be produced at a maximum rate of 30 m³/h, continuously using high-temperature helium gas supplied by a helium gas loop, with an electric heater of about 400 kW. The plant will employ an advanced hydroiodic acid-processing device for efficient hydrogen production, and the usefulness of the device was confirmed from mass and heat balance analysis. Through design works and the hydrogen production tests, valuable data for construction and operation will be acquired to evaluate detailed process performance for practical systems. After completing the pilot-scale tests, JAERI will move onto the next R&D step, which will be demonstrations of the IS process to which heat is supplied from a high-temperature engineering test reactor (HTTR).     

Experimental study on heat transfer and pressure drop in mercury flow system for spallation neutron source

In the design of MW-class spallation target system, using mercury to produce practical neutron applications, keeping the highest level of safety is vitally important. To establish the safety of spallation target system, it is essential to understand the thermal hydraulic properties of mercury. Through thermal hydraulic experiments using a mercury experimental loop, which flows at the rate of 1.2 m³/hr maximum, the following facts were experimentally confirmed. The wall friction factor was relatively larger than the Blasius correlation due to the effects of wall roughness. The heat transfer coefficients agreed well with the Subbotin correlation. Furthermore, for validation of the design analysis code, thermal hydraulic analyses were conducted by using the STAR-CD code under the same conditions as the experiments. Analytical results showed good agreement with the experimental results, using optimized turbulent Prandtl number and mesh size.     

Fracture strength estimation of SiC block for IS process

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency has been conducting R&D on thermochemical water-splitting Iodine–Sulfur (IS) process for hydrogen production to meet massive demand in the future hydrogen economy. A concept of sulfuric acid decomposer was developed featuring a heat exchanger block made of SiC. Recent activity has focused on the reliability assessment of SiC block. Although knowing the strength of SiC block is important for the reliability assessment, it is difficult to evaluate a large-scale ceramics structure without destructive test. In this study, a novel approach for strength estimation of SiC structure was proposed. Since accurate strength estimation of individual ceramics structure is difficult, a prediction method of minimum strength in the structure of the same design was proposed based on effective volume theory and optimized Weibull modulus. Optimum value of the Weibull modulus was determined for estimating the lowest strength. The strength estimation line was developed by using the determined modulus. The validity of the line was verified by destructive test of SiC block model, which is small-scale model of the SiC block. The fracture strength of small-scale model satisfied the predicted strength.     

Functional Domain Order of an Anti-EGFR × Anti-CD16 Bispecific Diabody Involving NK Cell Activation

Bispecific antibodies (bsAbs) have emerged as promising therapeutics. A bispecific diabody (bsDb) is a small bsAb consisting of two distinct chimeric single-chain components, with two possible arrangements of the domains. We previously reported the effect of domain order on the function of a humanized bsDb targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) on cancer cells, and CD3 on T cells. Notably, the co-localization of a T-cell receptor (TCR) with CD3 is bulky, potentially affecting the cross-linking ability of bsDbs, due to steric hindrance. Here, we constructed and evaluated humanized bsDbs, with different domain orders, targeting EGFR and CD16 on natural killer (NK) cells (hEx16-Dbs). We predicted minimal effects due to steric hindrance, as CD16 lacks accessory molecules. Interestingly, one domain arrangement displayed superior cytotoxicity in growth inhibition assays, despite similar cross-linking abilities for both domain orders tested. In hEx16-Dbs specifically, domain order might affect the agonistic activity of the anti-CD16 portion, which was supported by a cytokine production test, and likely contributed to the superiority of one of the hEx16-Dbs. Our results indicate that both the target antigen and mode of action of an antibody must be considered in the construction of highly functional bsAbs.     

Study on tool wear mechanisms in milling laser sintered material

This paper investigates tool wear mechanisms of a ball end mill in cutting laser sintered material. Cutting edge temperature is measured by using a three-color pyrometer with an optical fiber. Bulk carbon steel JIS S55C is selected as the standard steel. Experimental results show that tool life in cutting sintered material is shorter than that in cutting JIS S55C. Observations by SEM show that adhesion of the work material and micro chipping are the main wear mechanisms in cutting sintered material. The corresponding cutting edge temperature shows a continuous increase as wear evolves with cutting time.     

Identification of Physiological and Toxic Conformations in Aβ42 Aggregates

Aggregation of the 42‐residue amyloid β‐protein (Aβ42) plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Despite numerous structural studies on Aβ aggregates, the relationship between tertiary structure and toxicity remains unclear. Our proline scanning and solid‐state NMR studies suggested that aggregates both of wild‐type Aβ42 and of E22K‐Aβ42 (one of the mutants related to cerebral amyloid angiopathy) contain two conformers: a major one with a turn at positions 25 and 26, and a minor one with a turn at positions 22 and 23. To identify the toxic conformer, the derivative Aβ42‐lactam(22K–23E), in which the side chains at positions 22 and 23 were covalently linked, was synthesized as a minor conformer surrogate, along with Aβ42‐lactam(25K–26E) as a major conformer surrogate. The Aβ42‐lactam(22K–23E) showed stronger aggregation, neurotoxicity, radical generation, and oligomerization than wild‐type Aβ42, whereas in Aβ42‐lactam(25K–26E) were weak. The transition from the physiological conformation with a turn at positions 25 and 26 to the toxic conformation with a turn at positions 22 and 23 might be a key event in the pathogenesis of AD.     

Profiles of ion beams and plasma parameters on a multi-frequencies microwaves large bore electron cyclotron resonance ion source with permanent magnets

In order to contribute to various applications of plasma and beams based on an electron cyclotron resonance, a new concept on magnetic field with all magnets on plasma production and confinement has been proposed with enhanced efficiency for broad and dense ion beam. The magnetic field configuration consists of a pair of comb-shaped magnet surrounding plasma chamber cylindrically. Resonance zones corresponding for 2.45 GHz and 11-13 GHz frequencies are positioned at spatially different positions. We launch simultaneously multiplex frequencies microwaves operated individually, try to control profiles of the plasma parameters and the extracted ion beams, and to measure them in detail.     

Degradation Mechanism and Stability Improvement Strategy for an Organic Laser Gain Material 4,4′‐Bis[(N‐carbazole)styryl]biphenyl (BSBCz)

The organic material 4,4′‐bis[(N‐carbazole)styryl]biphenyl (BSBCz) is an excellent gain medium for laser devices. However, BSBCz laser output quickly degrades during photoexcitation, which is an issue that must be overcome before it can be used for practical applications. In this study, the photodegradation mechanisms of BSBCz are investigated with the aim of enhancing its excited‐state stability. The photodegradation of BSBCz is attributed to instability of the triplet excited states that would occasionally decompose into other species. This decomposition reduces absorption and introduces exciton quenchers. Incorporating the triplet managing material 9,10‐di(naphtha‐2‐yl)anthracene (ADN) into BSBCz films greatly improves photoluminescence and amplified spontaneous emission stability because of the effective removal of the unstable triplets by ADN. This triplet managing method makes it possible to increase operational stability for BSBCz‐based organic light‐emitting diodes. Therefore, these results will contribute toward the fabrication of stable optically and electrically pumped organic laser diodes.     

Machinability of BN free-machining steel in turning

In the past few years, extensive researches have been done to improve the machinability of work materials in order to increase productivity and reduce the effect on the environment. To satisfy these demands, various free-machining steels have been researched and developed. One of them is BN free-machining steel that contains hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN). However, the machinability was not stable. In this study, machining tests were carried out to clarify the machinability of steels and appropriate chemical composition of work material and tool material to achieve high efficient machining. Tested work materials were plane carbon steel JIS S45C and BN free-machining steels. The JIS S45C was used as the standard. The tool wear in turning BN free-machining steel was smaller than that in turning standard steel. In case of turning BN1 with P30 at 200, 300 m/min, the wear progress rate of flank wear and crater depth were about half as much as that in turning standard steel. BN free-machining steel showed slightly lower cutting temperature and smaller cutting force in comparison with standard steel at the tested cutting speeds. Al and N were detected as a layer at the tool wear region of P grade carbide tools after turning BN free-machining steel at high cutting speed. It is thought that one of the main reasons of outstanding machinability of BN free-machining steel is that the deposited layer containing Al and N acts as diffusion barrier at the tool–chip interface. In turning larger Al content BN-added steel with higher Ti content cutting tools, a larger wear reduction was observed. Therefore, it is said that not only added BN but also appropriate Al is necessary in work material.