Development of high water-content cutting fluids with a new concept: Fire prevention and environmental protection

Using water-insoluble cutting fluids, which are good in lubricity but easy to mist, always risks firing and environmental problems. On the other hand, the current water-soluble coolants fail to deliver sufficient lubricity to heavy cutting applications. This study has newly proposed and developed a high water-content cutting fluid, based upon a new concept of having high lubricity despite of its water-soluble nature. As compared to the commercialized water-insoluble cutting fluid, the new cutting fluids shows a better capability of preventing oil mist and is fully applicable into cutting of various metallic materials, particularly effective in cutting of S45C and SUS304. The study also reveals a fact that a sulfur-type extreme pressure agent is the key element to enhance the cutting performance at high temperature.     

Study on inverse spinel zinc stannate, Zn2SnO4, as transparent conductive films deposited by rf magnetron sputtering

Inverse spinel zinc stannate (Zn₂SnO₄, ZTO) films were deposited onto fused quartz glass substrates heated at 800 °C by rf magnetron sputtering using a ceramic ZTO target (Zn:Sn = 2:1). H₂ flow ratios [H₂/(Ar + H₂)] were controlled from 0 to 30% during the depositions. ZTO films deposited at 800 °C possessed a polycrystalline inverse spinel structure. The lowest resistivity of 1.1 × 10^− 2 Ω cm was obtained for a ZTO film deposited at 20% H₂ flow ratio. The transmittance of the ZTO film was approximately 80% in the visible region.     

Preparation and electrochemical properties of pure lithium cobalt oxide films by electron cyclotron resonance sputtering

Positive Li–Co–O films for all-solid-state thin-film lithium batteries were prepared by electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) sputtering using Li_xCoO₂ targets (x = 1.0, 1.2, 1.7 and 2.0). The Li–Co–O films prepared using the x = 1.0, 1.2 and 1.7 targets contained a Co₃O₄ impurity phase with high-temperature phase LiCoO₂. The film prepared using the x = 2.0 target was found to contain only a pure LiCoO₂ phase by Raman spectrometry and the inductively coupled plasma/atomic emission spectrometry (ICP/AES) method, and a thin-film battery using this film exhibited good electrochemical properties as a result of the improved utilization of the positive film.     

Facile Preparation of an Enzyme‐Immobilized Microreactor using a Cross‐Linking Enzyme Membrane on a Microchannel Surface

The enzyme microreactor has considerable potential for use in biotechnological syntheses and analytical studies. Simplifying the procedure of enzyme immobilization in a microreactor is attractive, and it is achievable by utilizing enzyme immobilization techniques and taking advantage of the characteristics of microfluidics. We previously developed a facile and inexpensive preparation method for an enzyme‐immobilized microreactor. The immobilization of enzymes can be achieved by the formation of an enzyme‐polymeric membrane on the inner wall of the microchannel through cross‐linking polymerization in a laminar flow. However, this method is unsuitable for use in conjunction with electronegative enzymes. Therefore, a novel preparation method using poly‐L ‐lysine [poly(Lys)] as a booster and an adjunct for the effective polymerization of electronegative enzymes was developed in this study. Using aminoacylase as a model for an electronegative enzyme, the reaction conditions for the enzyme‐cross‐linked aggregation were optimized. On the basis of the determined conditions, an acylase‐immobilized tubing microreactor was successfully prepared by cross‐linking polymerization in a concentric laminar flow. The resulting microreactor showed a higher stability against heat and organic solvents compared to those of the free enzyme. The developed method using poly(Lys) was applicable to various enzymes with low isoelectric points, suggesting that this microreactor preparation utilizing a cross‐linked enzyme in a laminar flow could be expanded to microreactors in which a broad range of functional proteins are employed.     

Developmental changes in enzyme activities and in structural features of rat masticatory muscle mitochondria

The functional ability of a muscle is closely related to the activities of the mitochondria, which are energy-producing organelles in muscle cells. The development of the mammalian masticatory muscle progresses dramatically when feeding behavior changes from suckling to mastication, but it is unclear how the energy-producing systems of the mitochondria change. In this paper, the development of rat masticatory muscle mitochondria was investigated in terms of enzyme activities of the mitochondrial respiratory chain and the structural and numerical development of mitochondria, especially regarding the change in feeding behavior from suckling to mastication. Using isolated mitochondria from the masticatory muscle, we measured succinate dehydrogenase, NADH dehydrogenase, succinate-O2 oxidoreductase, and NADH-O2 oxidoreductase. These were found to be increased in the 15-day postnatal rat compared with the 0- to 10-day postnatal rat. The structural development of mitochondria was gradual in the 0- to 15-day postnatal rat. However, a notable increase was found in the cross-sectional area of mitochondria between 10 and 15 days postnatally. The number of mitochondria per muscle fiber was apparently constant during the same period. We demonstrated that the change in feeding behavior was well-correlated with an increase in mitochondrial enzyme activity, also supported by the early structural development of mitochondria.     

Theoretical study on vapour phase Beckmann rearrangement of cyclohexanone oxime over a high silica MFI zeolite

We have studied an activation mechanism of cyclohexanone oxime in a cavity of high silica MFI zeolite by using PIO analysis proposed by Fujimoto et al. DFT calculation reveals that the bond length of N–OH becomes longer when water coordinates on oxygen of oxime. The PIO clearly shows out-of-phase interaction between N and O. This out-of-phase interaction is also observed in the PIO of oxime/MFI zeolite cluster model and weakens the N---O bond. Hydrogen bond of Si–OH of nest silanols to oxime is a trigger of vapour phase Beckmann rearrangement.     

Daily peak electric load forecasting using an artificial neural network and an improvement method for reducing the forecasting errors

This paper proposes a forecasting method for shortterm peak electric loads using a 3-layer neural network of locally active units. Each unit in the hidden layer of the neural network is activated only by input vectors in a bounded domain of vector space. This characteristic enables additional learning. Furthermore, it is supposed to provide the network structure with information that helps to improve forecasting accuracy. The neural network is applied to daily peak load forecasting simulations in summer. The results show that the proposed method is superior to a conventional neural network with the backpropagation algorithm. To make the best use of the neural network, an error-oriented method of parameter modification is also examined.     

New water-soluble cutting fluid additives derived from aromatic hydroxycarboxylic acids

A variety of alkoxyaromatic carboxylic acids and acyloxyaromatic carboxylic acids were prepared from various hydroxyaromatic carboxylic acids, and screened for anti-rust properties, lubrication properties and antimicrobial activity in spent coolants of water-soluble cutting fluids. The triethanolamine salt of alkoxydiphenyl carboxylic acids showed good anti-rust activity and lubrication properties. The triethanolamine salts ofp-alkoxyphenyl propionic acid showed good antimicrobial activity together with good anti-rust properties and lubrication properties.