Gas and vapor sorption in polymers just below Tg

Generally, sorption isotherms for gases like CO₂ in glassy polymers are concave to the pressure axis, whereas in the rubbery state these isotherms are linear for gases or sometimes convex to the pressure axis for more condensable vapors. Examples of CO₂ isotherms are reported here that show at low pressure the curvature characteristic of glasses and then become linear at higher pressures. This is observed when the glass transition temperature T_g is not much greater than the observation temperature T, and plasticization of the polymer by sorbed CO₂ causes T_g to become equal to T within the range of pressures employed in the isotherm measurement. For the sorption of vapors in glassy polymers, this can lead to sigmoidal isotherms, as discussed using an illustration from the literature.     

Effective renaturation of reduced lysozyme by gentle removal of urea

To increase the folding yield of concentrated reduced lysozyme,we developed a renaturation method by means of dialysis fromconcentrated urea with redox agents. After lysozyme was incubatedin the reducing buffer (8 M urea solution) with oxidized glutathione,renaturation of reduced lysozyme was started by dialysis againstthe dialyzing buffer containing 8 M urea with redox agents.The urea concentration of the dialyzing bottle was graduallydiluted with dialyzing buffer without urea at a flow rate of0.1 ml/min by high pressure pump. Using this systematic dialysis,a concentration as high as 5 mg/ml of reduced lysozyme couldbe renaturated in 80% yield, while the folding yield was <5%even at a concentration of 1 mg/ml using a conventional rapiddilution method [Goldberg et al. (1991) Biochemistry, 30, 2790–2797].Therefore, it was concluded that gentle removal of urea fromdenatured proteins, dissolved in concentrated urea solution,by means of dialysis should be useful to renature denaturedproteins effectively.     

Analytical study on cantilever resonance type magnet-integrated sensor device for micro-magnetic field detection

A beam-shaped cantilever resonance type magnetic sensor device has been proposed with a micro magnet. Two structural designs, named as design 1 and design 2, have been comparatively analyzed using ANSYS in order to obtain larger frequency shifts (higher magnetism sensitivity) due to the applied exterior magnetic field. The analytical results show that, in the range of 0–10 mT, the frequency shifts are small, while under 100 mT, a relatively larger frequency shift of about 30 Hz can be theoretically obtained. The power consumption of the proposed devices has been further theoretically studied for preliminary understanding. Using the well-known displacement equations, the estimated power consumption is around 0.21 μW, which is very lower than that of the reported magnetic field sensors. This implies that it is possible to fabricate higher sensitive magnetic field sensor with lower power consumption.     

Set-based particle swarm optimization with status memory for knapsack problem

Set-based particle swarm optimization (S-PSO) operates on discrete space. S-PSO can solve combinatorial optimization problem with high quality and is successful to apply to the large-scale problem. In S-PSO, a velocity is a set with possibility and a position is a candidate solution. In this paper, we present a novel algorithm of set-based particle swarm optimization with status memory (S-PSOSM) to decide the position based on the previous position for solving knapsack problem. Some operators are redefined for S-PSOSM. S-PSOSM is a simple algorithm because the state of probability reduces. In addition, the weight of S-PSOSM is discussed. S-PSOSM shows high qualities in experimental results.     

Development of a high pressure automated lag time apparatus for experimental studies and statistical analyses of nucleation and growth of gas hydrates

Nucleation in a supercooled or a supersaturated medium is a stochastic event, and hence statistical analyses are required for the understanding and prediction of such events. The development of reliable statistical methods for quantifying nucleation probability is highly desirable for applications where control of nucleation is required. The nucleation of gas hydrates in supercooled conditions is one such application. We describe the design and development of a high pressure automated lag time apparatus (HP-ALTA) for the statistical study of gas hydrate nucleation and growth at elevated gas pressures. The apparatus allows a small volume (≈150 μl) of water to be cooled at a controlled rate in a pressurized gas atmosphere, and the temperature of gas hydrate nucleation, T(f), to be detected. The instrument then raises the sample temperature under controlled conditions to facilitate dissociation of the gas hydrate before repeating the cooling-nucleation cycle again. This process of forming and dissociating gas hydrates can be automatically repeated for a statistically significant (>100) number of nucleation events. The HP-ALTA can be operated in two modes, one for the detection of hydrate in the bulk of the sample, under a stirring action, and the other for the detection of the formation of hydrate films across the water-gas interface of a quiescent sample. The technique can be applied to the study of several parameters, such as gas pressure, cooling rate and gas composition, on the gas hydrate nucleation probability distribution for supercooled water samples.     

Shadow Doppler technique for sizing particles of arbitrary shape

The output from a linear diode array is used in a modified laser Doppler velocimeter to measure the size and shape of irregular particles. The sizing accuracy for transparent and opaque particles between 30 and 140 μm is better than 10%. The inaccuracy caused by trajectories that lay at angles of less than 24° to the axis of the array was less than +5%, and a further inaccuracy of +5% was caused by defocusing of the particle from the center of the velocimeter measuring volume by up to ±500 μm. The advantages of the shadow Doppler technique over other techniques for sizing irregular particles, such as amplitude systems with pointer volumes, are that the shadow Doppler technique records shape, the optical arrangement is more robust, less precise alignment is required, and the equipment can be constructed at low cost.     

Optical signal inverter of erbium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet with red shift of laser diodes

An optical signal inverter was demonstrated in a simple structure that combined a laser diode with Er-doped YAG crystal. The optical signal inversion occurred at a response time of 7 ns and was caused by the decrease of transmission of Er:YAG against the red shift of the wavelength of the laser diode.     

Evaluation of vector magnetic property in a three-phase induction motor model core with visualization of streamline

In this paper, a streamline display method for magnetic flux density and magnetic field strength vectors in a three-phase induction motor model core is presented, and the relationship between streamlines and magnetic properties is investigated. It is possible to visualize the vector magnetic properties distribution by representing the magnetic flux density and the magnetic field strength vector with the streamlines. In addition, the time variation of the streamlines of the magnetic flux density and magnetic field strength vectors, and magnetic energy was compared. It was clear that the magnetic energy did not necessarily increase in the areas where the magnetic flux density and magnetic field strength increased because these vectors have the spatial phase difference.     

Threshold for Millimeter-Wave (60 GHz)-Induced Ocular Injury

Journal of Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves - Millimeter waves (MMW) absorbed by skin or cornea may induce damage by heat. We have developed a 60&nbsp;GHz MMW exposure-induced eye...     

Quantized Massive Gauge Fields and Hole-Induced Spin Glass Mechanism in Underdoped Cuprates

We have discussed the restoration mechanism of the spontaneous symmetry breaking, C ₂ spatial symmetry breaking mechanism, and spin glass-like mechanism in high- T _c cuprates from the standpoint of field-theoretical formula. It is suggested strongly that quantized massive gauge fields, which contain effects of spin fluctuations, charge fluctuations, and phonons, might be mediating Cooper pairing in high- T _c cuprates.