Microbeam X-ray diffraction of non-banded polymer spherulites of it-polystyrene and it-poly(butene-1)

The orientation of lamellar crystals in non-banded spherulites of it-polystyrene and it-poly(butene-1) was investigated by microbeam X-ray diffraction. The two-dimensional intensity map of diffraction enables us to examine the local orientation of lamellar crystallites in the non-banded spherulites. The obtained results indicated the re-orientation of crystallites in non-banded spherulites and confirmed our previous observation on the anisotropic birefringence of a group of crystal stacks by polarizing optical microscopy.     

Pose-Invariant Facial Expression Recognition Using Variable-Intensity Templates

In this paper, we propose a method for pose-invariant facial expression recognition from monocular video sequences. The advantage of our method is that, unlike existing methods, our method uses a simple model, called the variable-intensity template, for describing different facial expressions. This makes it possible to prepare a model for each person with very little time and effort. Variable-intensity templates describe how the intensities of multiple points, defined in the vicinity of facial parts, vary with different facial expressions. By using this model in the framework of a particle filter, our method is capable of estimating facial poses and expressions simultaneously. Experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of our method. A recognition rate of over 90% is achieved for all facial orientations, horizontal, vertical, and in-plane, in the range of ±40 degrees, ±20 degrees, and ±40 degrees from the frontal view, respectively. Electronic Supplementary Material  The online version of this article () contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Structural phase transitions of methane+ethane mixed-gas hydrate induced by 1,1-dimethylcyclohexane

Methane+ethane+1,1-dimethylcyclohexane+water system was investigated by using Raman spectroscopy and isothermal phase equilibrium measurements under four-phase (gas+aqueous+large guest species+hydrate phases) equilibrium conditions at 288.15 K. The results suggest that three kinds of hydrate structures emerge at 288.15 K in the methane+ethane+1,1-dimethylcyclohexane+water system. The hydrate structure for this system changed from structure-H to structure-I via structure-II with increase in the mole ratio of ethane to methane.     

The preparation of copper fine particle paste and its application as the inner electrode material of a multilayered ceramic capacitor

Well size-controlled copper fine particles (diameter: 100-300?nm) were used as the inner electrode material of multilayered ceramic capacitors (MLCCs). The particles were dispersed in terpineol to form a printing paste with 50?wt% copper particles. The MLCC precursor modules prepared by the layer-by-layer printing of copper and BaTiO(3) particles were cosintered. Detailed observation of the particles, paste, and MLCCs before and after sintering was carried out by electron microscopy. The sintering temperature of Cu-MLCC was as low as 960?°C. The permittivity of these MLCCs was successfully measured with the copper inner layers.     

Gas sensitiveness of polypyrrole films doped chemically in the gas phase

Electropolymerized polypyrrole films were electrochemically reduced and then chemically doped with one of PCl₃, SO₂, NO₂ or iodine vapour in the gas phase. These chemically-doped polypyrrole films showed a resistance decrease when they were exposed to electron-acceptor gases having electron affinities larger than those used in the chemical doping, except for one case of exposure of iodine-doped polypyrrole films to NO₂, where (although iodine has reportedly a larger electron affinity than NO₂) a resistance increase was seen, which was caused by a partial substitution of the doped iodine with exposed NO₂. The phenomenon is discussed in terms of the stabilization of gaseous species on adsorption. The present study suggests that a selective gas sensitivity may be attached to polypyrrole films if they are doped with an appropriate gas in advance.     

Gas and vapor permeability of perfluoroalkylated polymers

Summary Three polymers bearing benzene rings: polystyrene, poly(2,6-dimethyl-p-phenylene oxide) and poly(diphenylacetylene), were chemically modified with bis(heptafluorobutyryl) peroxide. The heptafluoropropylated products have higher gas permeabilities than the parent polymers. In the pervaporation of aqueous ethanol, modified poly(diphenylacetylene) showed ethanol permselectivity.