Anisotropic orthodontic force from the hollow super-elastic Ti-Ni alloy wire by transforming the wire cross-section

The purpose of this research was to devise a method for transforming the cross-section of the hollow super-elastic Ti-Ni alloy round wire and to examine the changes in its bending properties for clinical orthodontic application. The specimen wires were pressed with the use of heated pliers to transform the cross-sectional shape. As a result, transformation of the wire cross-section with super-elasticity was possible. As a verified by cantilever test and three-point bending test of the transformed specimens, a two-dimensional orthodontic force, which was different in each bending direction, was obtained. The hollow wire showed considerably high load level in the long axis along with markedly low load level in the short axis, which was mainly caused by the change in the moment of inertia by transforming the cross-section. It was revealed that, by transforming the wire cross-section of the hollow super-elastic Ti-Ni alloy round wires, anisotropic orthodontic force in bending properties could be obtained with super-elasticity.     

Influence of aging heat treatment on mechanical properties of biomedical Ti–Zr based ternary alloys containing niobium

Titanium–zirconium based alloys containing a small amount of niobium were investigated in order to evaluate their possible use as biomedical materials. Zirconium, which belongs to the IVa group, is known to have good corrosion resistance and biocompatibility similar to titanium. As the titanium–zirconium system shows a complete solid solution, a wide variation of alloy design is available and large quantities of solid-solution hardening must be possible. Niobium, having a -phase stabilizing effect, was chosen as a ternary element in order to control desirably the microstructure. There have been no reports which suggest its harm to a living body. The alloys containing 2% or 3% niobium showed the highest hardness value after aging heat treatment at 773 K. In contrast to this, no alteration of hardness was seen in specimens aged at 1073 K. Through conventional X-ray diffractometry and in situ X-ray analysis using a hot stage, -phase precipitation in the A matrix was identified. From the above results, it is concluded that alloys containing 2%–3% niobium are hopeful candidates for new kinds of biomedical alloys, when they are heat treated under suitable conditions. © 1998 Kluwer Academic Publishers     

Evaluation of sludge properties in a pilot-scale UASB reactor for sewage treatment in a temperate region

In this study, continuous operation of a pilot-scale upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor for sewage treatment was conducted for 630 days to investigate the physical and microbial characteristics of the retained sludge. The UASB reactor with a working volume of 20.2 m(3) was operated at ambient temperature (16-29 °C) and seeded with digested sludge. After 180 days of operation, when the sewage temperature had dropped to 20 °C or lower, the removal efficiency of both total suspended solids (TSS) and total biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) deteriorated due to washout of retained sludge. At low temperature, the cellulose concentration of the UASB sludge increased owing to the rate limitation of the hydrolytic reaction of suspended solids in the sewage. However, after an improvement in sludge retention (settleability and concentration) in the UASB reactor, the process performance stabilized and gave sufficient results (68% of TSS removal, 75% of total BOD removal) at an hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 9.7 h. The methanogenic activity of the retained sludge significantly increased after day 246 due to the accumulation of Methanosaeta and Methanobacterium following the improvement in sludge retention in the UASB reactor. Acid-forming bacteria from phylum Bacteroidetes were detected at high frequency; thus, these bacteria may have an important role in suspended solids degradation.     

Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Study of the Anomalous Metallic Phases in θ-(BEDT-TTF)2 MZn(SCN)4 (M= Rb, Cs)

We have studied metallic phases of the title organic conductors by means of STM at room temperature. An image obtained in the salt with M=Rb is very different from a typical one in the salt with M=Cs. We suggest “vertical stripe” charge ordering in the salt with M=Rb at room temperature, which can naturally explain its anomalous metallic behavior.     

New Robust Stability Conditions and Design of Robust Stabilizing Controllers for Takagi–Sugeno Fuzzy Time-Delay Systems

In this paper, we consider robust stability and stabilization of uncertain Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy time-delay systems where uncertainties come into the state and input matrices. Some stability conditions and robust stability conditions for fuzzy time-delay systems have already been obtained in the literature. However, those conditions are rather conservative and do not guarantee the stability of a wide class of fuzzy systems. This is true in case of designing stabilizing controllers for fuzzy time-delay systems and it thus leads to a conservative fuzzy controller design as well. We first consider rather relaxed robust stability conditions of uncertain fuzzy systems. To this end, we introduce an auxiliary system to the original fuzzy time-delay system to obtain generalized delay-dependent stability conditions. Such an auxiliary system has some arbitrary matrices that generalize not only the system representation but also delay-dependent stability conditions. Conditions we obtain here are delay-dependent conditions that depend on the upper bound of time-delay, and are given in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). Then, we compare our delay-dependent stability conditions with other conditions in the literature, and show that our conditions guarantee the stability of a wider class of systems than others. Next, we consider the robust stabilization problem with memoryless and delayed state feedback controllers. Based on our generalized robust stability conditions, we obtain delay-dependent sufficient conditions for the closed-loop system to be robustly stable, and give a design method of robustly stabilizing controllers. Finally, we give three examples that illustrate our results.     

Inter-laboratory validation studies of analytical method for determination of chloramphenicol in royal jelly

Inter-laboratory validation studies were conducted in 6 laboratories to validate the analytical method for determination of chloramphenicol in royal jelly. Chloramphenicol spiked at the levels of 0.1 and 0.5 ppm was analyzed. Mean recoveries were 89 and 89%, reproducibility relative standard deviations (RSD(R)) were 10.5 and 6.8%, HORRAT(R) values were 0.5 and 0.4. Samples containing residues at the levels of 0.25 and 0.80 ppm were analyzed. Mean recoveries were 89 and 84%, RSD(R) were 9.8 and 12.3%, and HORRAT(R) values were 0.5 and 0.7. The determination limit was 0.05 ppm. These results show that this method has good performance.     

Anodization of lead in sulphuric acid solutions containing antimony species

The influence of antimony in solution on the oxidation behaviour of lead in 5 M H₂SO₄ was studied by measuring the current-time curves during potentiostatic oxidation at 1.5 and 1.6V, and by analysing the incorporated antimony in the resulting oxide layer as a function of depth. Antimony (III) species greatly influence the oxidation behaviour, but not so antimony (V). The amount of antimony incorporated was found to increase with the oxidation time in the electrolyte containing antimony (III), but in the antimony (V) solution it was almost constant at a relatively low level. The antimony incorporated from the antimony (III) solution was eluted by reoxidizing the oxide layer in an antimony-free solution, and the elution process was found to be accompanied by rearrangement of the oxide layer structure. The incorporation of antimony from the antimony (III) solution seems to be related to a complicated oxide formation process.     

Effects of heat-degraded sugars on survival and growth of Vibrio parahaemolyticus and other bacteria

We studied the effects of autoclaved (121 degrees C, 15 min) sugar solutions on the survival and growth of Vibrio parahaemolyticus and other bacteria. The growth and survival of V. parahaemolyticus in Luria-Bertani media and phosphate buffer, respectively, were inhibited by the addition of D-glucose autoclaved in pH 8.0 phosphate buffer. The bactericidal effect of autoclaved D-glucose was very small when autoclaved in pH 7.0 phosphate buffer, but larger effects were observed when autoclaved in the buffer at an alkaline pH. The autoclaving of D-glucose in CH3COONa, NaHCO3, and Na2HPO4 solutions at pH 7.6 to 8.5 also generated bactericidal effects, but it was not the case when D-glucose was autoclaved in Na2SO4, (NH4)2SO4, or NH4Cl solution at pH 8.0. The same effects as autoclaved D-glucose were observed in autoclaved lactose, D-fructose, and D-ribose. The bactericidal effects of autoclaved D-glucose were also noted in Salmonella Enteritidis, Listeria monocytogenes, and E. coli strains, but the effects were smaller than those seen in V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus. The growth of V. parahaemolyticus in clam extracts was also inhibited by the addition of autoclaved D-glucose, indicating that heat-treated reduced sugars can exert bactericidal effects in foods.     

A robust controller for insulin pumps based on H-infinity theory

The feedback control of insulin pumps for diabetic patients is discussed. Because the parameters in the mathematical model of the blood glucose dynamics present a considerable amount of uncertainty, the H-∞ framework is well suited for the design of controllers that take into account a nice compromise between robust closed-loop regulation of a constant set point and performance expressed in terms of peak values of the plasma glucose concentration     

Carcinosarcoma of the esophagus: three cases with immunohistological examination

Carcinosarcoma of the esophagus is a rare malignant tumor with both carcinomatous and sarcomatous components. We present 3 cases of carcinosarcoma of the esophagus and discuss the histogenesis of the tumors. We performed immunohistochemical studies using various antibodies: anti-cytokeratin, anti-vimentin, anti-smooth muscle actin, anti-p53, and MIB 1 reacting with Ki-67 nuclear antigen.