Evidence of Oxygen Ferromagnetism in ZnO Based Materials

Discoveries of room‐temperature ferromagnetism (RTFM) in semiconductors hold great promise in future spintronics technologies. Unfortunately, this ferromagnetism remains poorly understood and the debate concerning the nature, carrier‐mediated versus defect‐mediated, of this ferromagnetism in semiconducting oxides is still open. Here, by using X‐ray absorption (XAS) and X‐ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD), it is demonstrated that the oxygen ions have a ferromagnetic response in different ZnO‐based compounds showing RTFM behavior: ZnO nanoparticles capped with organic molecules and ZnO/ZnS heterostructures. These results demonstrate the intrinsic occurrence of RTFM in these systems, and point out that it is not related to the metallic cation but it relays on the conduction band of the semiconductor.     

Analysis of platelet adhesion to a collagen-coated surface under flow conditions: the involvement of glycoprotein VI in the platelet adhesion

Platelet adhesion to the exposed surface of the extracellular matrix in flowing blood is the first and critical reaction for in vivo thrombus formation. However, the mechanism of this in vivo platelet adhesion has yet to be studied extensively. One of the reasons for this is the lack of a practical assay method for assessing platelet adhesion under flow conditions. We have devised an assay method (the fluorescent adhesion assay) that is based on the technique originally reported by Hubbell and McIntire (Biomaterials 7:354, 1986) with some modifications to make it more amenable for assaying small samples and have developed an analysis method to quantify the extent of platelet adhesion and aggregation from fluorescence images by using a computer-assisted image analysis system. In our assay, platelet adhesion, expressed as the percentage of the area covered by adhered platelets, was found to increase biphasically as a function of time. In the first phase, platelets interacted with the coated collagen, transiently stopping on the surface; we called this reaction the temporary arrest. In the second phase, platelets adhered much more rapidly and permanently on the surface, and this adhesion was dependent on the shear rate; platelets formed aggregates in this phase. We used our assay to analyze the effects of platelet aggregation inhibitors on platelet adhesion. All three examined inhibitors, EDTA (10 mmol/L), antiglycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa, and GRGDS peptide (1 mmol/L), inhibited the second phase adhesion in flowing blood. Furthermore, GPVI-deficient platelets also showed defective second-phase adhesion under the same conditions. These results suggested that GPIIb/IIIa activation and GPVI contribute to the reaction inducing the second phase. The second-phase adhesion has been extensively investigated, and the consensus is that this reaction is mainly attributable to the platelet-platelet interaction. In this report, we were able to detect an earlier reaction, the temporary arrest. This temporary arrest would reflect the fast and weak interaction between platelet GPIb/IX and collagen-von Willebrand factor complexes on the collagen-coated surface.     

Interpretation of Hydrated States of Sodium Silicate Glasses by Infrared and Raman Analysis

Infrared spectra of thin films (a few micrometers) of hydrated sodium silicate glasses after heating at temperatures from 100° to 400°C were measured in the spectral region from 400 to 4300 cm⁻¹. Also, Raman spectra of hydrated glasses were measured in the region from 100 to 1400 cm⁻¹. Water molecules in hydrated glasses were classified into three types by the bonding configuration: water molecules interacting with Si–OH groups, nonbridging oxygens, and bridging oxygens. On the basis of the fundamental bands observed here, we calculated the wave numbers of the combination-overtone bands of water molecules and SiOH groups in hydrated glasses. The calculated wave numbers satisfactorily agreed with observed wave numbers in the nearinfrared region.     

Effect of Magnetic Plane Defects on Thermal Conductivity of Solid 3He in U2D2 Phase

We calculate the thermal conductivity of solid ³ He in U2D2 phase. In this system, magnons are the dominant heat carriers. The experiment by Feng et al. shows that scattering magnon by some kind of magnetic defects becomes important at low temperature. We suppose the defects are the magnetic plane defects (MPD) which are originated by lattice dislocation and calculate the thermal conductivity with Kapitza Resistance Model (KRM).     

Seeding effects on solidification behavior of cocoa butter and dark chocolate. I. Kinetics of solidification

Effects of seeding of fat crystals on the crystallization kinetics of cocoa butter and dark chocolate were examined with a rotational viscometer. The seed crystals employed were cocoa butter, 1,3-distearoyl-2-oleoylglycerol (SOS), 1,3-dibehenoyl-2-oleoylglycerol (BOB) and 1,2,3-tristearoylglycerol (SSS). The seed powders were prepared by pulverization below —50°C, the dimensions being in a range from 20–70 μm. Particular attention was paid to the influence of polymorphism of the seed crystal. We found that all of the above seed materials accelerated the crystallization, the degree of acceleration being in a following order; SOS (β ₁) > cocoa butter (Form V) > SOS (a mixture ofβ’ andβ ₂) > BOB (β ₂) > BOB (pseudo-β’) > SSS (β). Precise measurements of the crystallization kinetics showed that the most influential factors in the seeding effects are the physical properties of the seed materials—above all, thermodynamic stability, and similarity in the crystal structure to cocoa butter are the most determinative.     

Electrophoretic deposition of aqueous nano-sized zinc oxide suspensions on a zinc electrode

Electrophoretic deposition (EPD) was used to form ZnO deposits. ZnO with an average particle size of 40 nm was dispersed in water with the addition of an appropriate amount of anionic polyelectrolyte. Uniform and bubble-free ZnO deposits have been obtained via EPD on a zinc anode in an aqueous suspension. The obtained deposits showed good sinterability.     

Study on explosion characteristics of natural gas and methane in semi-open space for the HTTR hydrogen production system

It is important to grasp the explosion characteristics of object gases: natural gas and methane, in order to evaluate the influence of a gas explosion accident in the HTTR hydrogen production system on the reactor. Thus, we carried out explosion experiments of the object gases in semi-open space, and verified a numerical analysis code for the simulation of the explosion accident. It was confirmed that NG–air mixture or methane-air mixture in semi-open space did not result in DDT although 10 g of C-4 explosive was used as an ignition source, and the numerical results agreed relatively with the experimental results. As a result, we could have the prospects for predicting the influence of the explosion accident on the reactor.     

Numerical analysis of bubble motion with the VOF method

Numerical analyses of a two-dimensional single bubble in a stagnant liquid and in a linear shear flow were conducted in the present study using the volume of fluid method, which is based on the local-instantaneous field equations. It was clarified that this method gives qualitatively appropriate predictions for the effects of the Morton number and the Eotvos number on fluctuating bubble motion in a stagnant liquid. Calculated velocity and pressure distributions indicated that the Karman vortex causes a sinuous movement of the bubble. As for the bubble motion in a linear shear flow, calculated bubbles migrated in a lateral direction. The direction of the lateral migration agreed to available experimental data. It was also confirmed that (i) the direction or the magnitude of the lateral migration is affected by the Eotvos and the Morton numbers, and (ii) the interaction among the internal flow of the bubble, the wake of the bubble and the external shear flow plays an essential role for the lateral migration.     

Synthesis and photovoltaic properties of soluble fulleropyrrolidine derivatives for organic solar cells

Organic solar cells made from bi-layer thin-film heterojunctions having poly((2-methoxy-5-(2′-ethylhexyloxy)-p-phenylene)vinylene) (MEH-PPV) as an electron donor and fulleropyrrolidine derivatives as an electron acceptor were investigated. We synthesized soluble fulleropyrrolidine derivatives substituted different chain lengths for the organic solar cell. Due to the high solubility and sufficiently long chain length of fulleropyrrolidine derivatives, though those are monomers, a thin film (about 80–90 nm) could be fabricated individually by the spin-coating method. The fill factor of the bi-layer device was achieved to be 0.46, which is higher than that of the single-layer device by a polymer/fulleropyrrolidine derivative blend film of 0.37, due to the decrease of the recombination.