Establishment of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) and its detection in the sera of biliary atresia

Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) is a mitogenic, chemotactic, and cell matrix-inducing factor for fibroblasts. We generated murine monoclonal antibodies against CTGF and established a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detection of CTGF. By using the ELISA, we confirmed that CTGF was specifically induced in human fibroblasts by TGF-beta but not by PDGF, FGF, IGF-I, or EGF. We also found that the serum levels of CTGF were significantly correlated with the progression of hepatic fibrosis in biliary atresia. These results indicated that CTGF is potentially a useful parameter for monitoring certain types of fibrotic disorders.     

Adaptive remeshing process with quadrangular finite elements

Since the quality of FEM analysis directly depends on the quality of meshes, various mesh adaptation schemes have been researched. There are two stages on adaptive finite element analysis; to derive error measure and to control meshes based on error measure. The former has been well researched among applied mathematicians. However, the importance of the latter aspect wasn't considered enough. Even if the error measures were well estimated, the total performance of mesh adaptation might be poor with a poor mesh control. This paper proposes an effective mesh control scheme for h-adaptation, or adaptive remeshing scheme with the explicit relation between interpolation theory based on error measure and desirable mesh size. Total mesh adaptation is controlled by introducing Quality Index, or the ratio between the total error norm and the total energy norm which represents the quality of the total meshes; specifying the desirable value of Quality Index, then the adaptive remeshing process can handle it and Quality Index is almost converged to the given value. Since the full automatic feature of the mesh generator is a prerequisite for adaptive remeshing, the author also discusses the algorithm of the quadrangular mesh generator for arbitrary domains. After evaluation on a linear problem, it's confirmed that the proposed mesh control scheme and the proposed error measure-mesh size relations are acceptable. The incompatible case for mesh adaptation is also discussed in this paper.     

Carbon tax for subsidizing photovoltaic power generation systems and its effect on carbon dioxide emissions

This paper proposes a new framework for evaluating quantitatively the effect of carbon taxation. In this study, the tax revenues are supposed to be used only as a subsidy for installing Photovoltaic Power Generation (PV) Systems on houses. The evaluation model developed in this study comprises three sequential modules. The first module is for estimating the demand for the PV system under the subsidy and the carbon taxation policy, the second is the module for life-cycle inventory analysis based on the modified Input–Output table, and the third is the module for calculating the amount of carbon-dioxide emissions from the final-demand vector of the Input–Output table. Major findings of this study are as follows: (1) The amount of CO₂-emission reduction increases by advertising the PV system with subsidy policy even under the same tax-rate. (2) The CO₂-payback time of the PV system reduces by half if the GDP is assumed not to change after the introduction of carbon taxation.     

Radical copolymerization of 2-acetoxyacrylates with nitrile monomers and properties of the copolymers

Radical copolymerization of captodatively (cd) substituted methyl and ethyl 2-acetoxyacrylates (MAA and EAA) with electron-withdrawing olefins including vinylidene cyanide and acrylonitrile is studied using azobisisobutylonitrile as a radical initiator at 60 °C, and the structure of copolymers is examined by ¹³C NMR spectra. It is found that the copolymerization of MAA and EAA with vinylidene cyanide provides a 1:1 alternating copolymer with ε-tacticity of 0.540 and 0.517, respectively, but that with acrylonitrile gives a random copolymer containing a larger amount of acetoxyacrylate unit. Addition of zinc chloride to the copolymerization of MAA and acrylonitrile, however, leads to the increase of acrylonitrile unit contents in the copolymer. Dielectric constant, gas permeability, and deformation by elongation of the copolymer film of MAA and vinylidene cyanide are also examined.     

Highly spin-polarized materials and devices for spintronics?

The performance of spintronics depends on the spin polarization of the current. In this study half-metallic Co-based full-Heusler alloys and a spin filtering device (SFD) using a ferromagnetic barrier have been investigated as highly spin-polarized current sources. The multilayers were prepared by magnetron sputtering in an ultrahigh vacuum and microfabricated using photolithography and Ar ion etching. We investigated two systems of Co-based full-Heusler alloys, Co₂Cr_{1 − x}Fe_xAl (CCFA(x)) and Co₂FeSi_{1 − x}Al_x (CFSA(x)) and revealed the structure and magnetic and transport properties. We demonstrated giant tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) of up to 220% at room temperature and 390% at 5 K for the magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) using Co₂FeSi_0.5Al_0.5 (CFSA(0.5)) Heusler alloy electrodes. The 390% TMR corresponds to 0.81 spin polarization for CFSA(0.5) at 5 K. We also investigated the crystalline structure and local structure around Co atoms by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analyses, respectively, for CFSA films sputtered on a Cr-buffered MgO (001) substrate followed by post-annealing at various temperatures in an ultrahigh vacuum. The disordered structures in CFSA films were clarified by NMR measurements and the relationship between TMR and the disordered structure was discussed. We clarified that the TMR of the MTJs with CFSA(0.5) electrodes depends on the structure, and is significantly higher for L2₁ than B2 in the crystalline structure. The second part of this paper is devoted to a SFD using a ferromagnetic barrier. The Co ferrite is investigated as a ferromagnetic barrier because of its high Curie temperature and high resistivity. We demonstrate the strong spin filtering effect through an ultrathin insulating ferrimagnetic Co-ferrite barrier at a low temperature. The barrier was prepared by the surface plasma oxidization of a CoFe₂ film deposited on a MgO (001) single crystal substrate, wherein the spinel structure of CoFe₂O₄ (CFO) and an epitaxial relationship of MgO(001)[100]/CoFe₂ (001)]110]/CFO(001)[100] were induced. A SFD consisting of CoFe₂ /CFO/Ta on a MgO (001) substrate exhibits the inverse TMR of - 124% at 10 K when the configuration of the magnetizations of CFO and CoFe₂ changes from parallel to antiparallel. The inverse TMR suggests the negative spin polarization of CFO, which is consistent with the band structure of CFO obtained by first principle calculation. The - 124% TMR corresponds to the spin filtering efficiency of 77% by the CFO barrier.     

Effect of low-frequency ultrasound on flow rate measurements using the ultrasonic velocity profile method

This study presents a low-frequency ultrasonic propagation analysis using the finite-element method (FEM). Experimental results of flow rate measurements using the ultrasonic velocity profile (UVP) method are also presented. The ultrasound frequency, pipe diameter, and pipe wall thickness are 0.274 MHz, 590.6 mm, and 9.5 mm, respectively. Six waves are generated per ultrasound pulse. To analyze the entire pipe region, the FEM is combined with the Kirchhoff method. The experiments of flow rate measurements are conducted using the high Reynolds number calibration facility at the National Metrology Institute of Japan. The range of the Reynolds number is from 4.4×10⁶ to 1.7×10⁷. Wide spreading of the ultrasonic beam in the axial direction of the pipe is observed because of multiple reflections in the pipe wall. This wide beam affects the measured velocity profile, particularly in the region near the pipe wall. In addition, the flow rate errors are approximately 10% (deviating by 1.1%) across the investigated range of Reynolds number. This result suggests that the experimental flow rate errors might be used as correction factors of flow rate measurements using the UVP method.     

Study on combustion and ignition characteristics of natural gas components in a micro flow reactor with a controlled temperature profile

Combustion and ignition characteristics of natural gas components such as methane, ethane, propane and n-butane were investigated experimentally and computationally using a micro flow reactor with a controlled temperature profile. Special attention was paid to weak flames which were observed in a low flow velocity region. The observed weak flame responses for the above fuels were successfully simulated by one-dimensional computations with a detailed kinetic model for natural gas. Since the position of the weak flame indicates the ignition characteristics as well as the reactivity of each fuel, the experimental and computational results were compared with research octane number (RON) which is a general index for ignition characteristics of ordinary fuels. At 1 atm, ethane showed the highest reactivity among these fuels, although RON of ethane (115) is between those of methane (120) and propane (112). Since the pressure conditions are different between the present experiment and the general RON test, weak flame responses to the pressure were investigated computationally for these fuels. The order of the fuel reactivity by the reactor agreed with that by RON test when the pressure was higher than 4 atm. Reaction path analysis was carried out to clarify the reasons of the highest reactivity of ethane at 1 atm among the employed fuels in this study. The analysis revealed that C₂H₅ + O₂ ⇔ C₂H₄ + HO₂ is a key reaction and promotes ethane oxidation at 1 atm. The effect of the pressure on the fuel oxidation process in the present reactor was also clarified by the analysis. In addition, weak flame responses to various mixing ratios of methane/n-butane blends were investigated experimentally and computationally. The results indicated a significant effect of n-butane addition in the blends on combustion and ignition characteristics of the blended fuels.     

Stabilized three-stage oxidation of DME/air mixture in a micro flow reactor with a controlled temperature profile

Ignition and combustion characteristics of a stoichiometric dimethyl ether (DME)/air mixture in a micro flow reactor with a controlled temperature profile which was smoothly ramped from room temperature to ignition temperature were investigated. Special attention was paid to the multi-stage oxidation in low temperature condition.Normal stable flames in a mixture flow in the high velocity region, and non-stationary pulsating flames and/or repetitive extinction and ignition (FREI) in the medium velocity region were experimentally confirmed as expected from our previous study on a methane/air mixture. In addition, stable double weak flames were observed in the low velocity region for the present DME/air mixture case. It is the first observation of stable double flames by the present methodology. Gas sampling was conducted to obtain major species distributions in the flow reactor. The results indicated that existence of low-temperature oxidation was conjectured by the production of CH₂O occured in the upstream side of the experimental first luminous flame, while no chemiluminescence from it was seen.One-dimensional computation with detailed chemistry and transport was conducted. At low mixture velocities, three-stage oxidation was confirmed from profiles of the heat release rate and major chemical species, which was broadly in agreement with the experimental results.Since the present micro flow reactor with a controlled temperature profile successfully presented the multi-stage oxidations as spatially separated flames, it is shown that this flow reactor can be utilized as a methodology to separate sets of reactions, even for other practical fuels, at different temperature.     

Economic evaluation of a photovoltaic power generation introduced into an electric power system with electricity storage

Renewable energy utilization and electricity storage will soon be introduced into the conventional electric power system. This study assumes that a photovoltaic (PV) power generation system, a set of the PV units, is installed into the electric power system with electricity storage; moreover, the effects of uncertain variation characteristics of the PV system output on the operations of the conventional power generation system and the storage units are evaluated by simulations, with cost a major consideration. According to the simulation results, it is clearly demonstrated that the costs of the PV system are influence sharply by the prediction accuracy of their output.