Demixing of Materials under Chemical Potential Gradients

A steady-state demixing of initially homogeneous solid solution which occurs in binary oxides under oxygen partial pressure gradient is treated by the path probability method of irreversible statistical mechanics from an atomistic point of view. The larger the difference between the diffusion coefficients of constituent species is, the larger is the degree of demixing. Essential features of demixing by diffusion, however, do not depend on whether the driving force is the chemical potential gradient, the electric field, or others.     

Demixing of Oxides under a Temperature Gradient

The microscopic mechanism of a demixing of binary oxide solid solution in an oxidizing atmosphere under a temperature gradient is investigated by the path probability method of irreversibly statistical mechanics. The problem is reduced to a steady-state metal ion transport under the coexistence of an oxygen partial pressure gradient and a temperature gradient. Calculations are performed under two different conditions: (i) demixing in a steady-state diffusion process under the two driving forces and (ii) a redistribution of constituent metal ions in a closed system under a given temperature gradient (Soret effect). The results can be interpreted as the superposition of the contributions of two driving forces plus a cross term which tends to zero as the driving forces become small. The difference between these two cases is discussed in detail and some controversies in the past work with respect to the difference are pointed out.     

Corrosion of Silicon Nitride Ceramics in Aqueous Hydrogen Chloride Solutions

The leaching behavior of pressureless sintered and hotpressed Si₃N₄ containing Y₂O₃, Al₂O₃, and AlN and hot isostatically pressed Si₃N₄ without additives was studied in 0.1 M to 10 M HCl aqueous solutions at 50° to 100°C. Y and Al ions contained in the grain-boundary phase dissolved in HCl solutions, but dissolution of the Si ion from the matrix was negligible. The dissolution of Y and Al ions in HCl solutions was adequately described by a surface-chemical-reaction-controlled, shrinking-core model in <1 M HCl solutions and by a diffusion-controlled, shrinking-core model in >5 M HCl solutions. The rates of dissolution of both Y and Al ions decreased as the degree of crystallinity of the grain-boundary phase increased. The fracture strength of the corroded samples linearly decreased with increasing degree of dissolution of soluble Y and Al ions.     

Calculi of meta-variables

The notion of meta-variable plays a fundamental role when we define formal systems such as logical and computational calculi. Yet it has been usually understood only informally as is seen in most textbooks of logic. Based on our observations of the usages of metavariables in textbooks, we propose two formal systems that have the notion of meta-variable. In both calculi, each variable is given a level (non-negative integer), which classifies variables into object variables (level 0), meta-variables (level 1), metameta-variables (level 2) and so on. Then, simple arity systems are used to exclude meaningless terms like a meta-level function operating on the metameta-level. A main difference of the two calculi lies in the definitions of substitution. The first calculus uses textual substitution, which can often be found in definitions of quantified formulae: when a term is substituted for a meta-variable, free object-level variables in the term may be captured. The second calculus is based on the observation that predicates can be regarded as meta-level functions on object-level terms, hence uses capture-avoiding substitution. We show that both calculi enjoy a number of properties including Church-Rosser and Strong Normalization, which are indispensable when we use them as frameworks to define logical systems.     

Measurement and correlation of supercritical CO2 and ionic liquid systems for design of advanced unit operations

Ionicliquids combined with supercritical fluid technology hold great promise as working solvents for developing compact processes. Ionic liquids, which are organic molten salts, typically have extremely low volatility and high functionality, but possess high viscosities, surface tensions and low diffusion coefficients, which can limit their applicability. CO₂, on the other hand, especially in its supercritical state, is a green solvent that can be used advantageously when combined with the ionic liquid to provide viscosity and surface tension reduction and to promote mass transfer. The solubility of CO₂ in the ionic liquid is key to estimating the important physical properties that include partition coefficients, viscosities, densities, interfacial tensions, thermal conductivities and heat capacities needed in contactor design. In this work, we examine a subset of available high pressure pure component ionic liquid PVT data and high pressure CO₂ - ionic liquid solubility data and report new correlations for CO₂-ionic liquid systems with equations of state that have some industrial applications including: (1) general, (2) fuel desulfurization, (3) CO₂ capture, and (4) chiral separation. New measurements of solubility data for the CO₂ and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium octyl sulfate, [bmim][OcSO₄] system are reported and correlated. In the correlation of the CO₂ ionic liquid phase behavior, the Peng-Robinson and the Sanchez-Lacombe equations of state were considered and are compared. It is shown that excellent correlation of CO₂ solubility can be obtained with either equation and they share some common characteristics regarding interaction parameters. In the Sanchez-Lacombe equation, parameters that are derived from the supercritical region were found to be important for obtaining good correlation of the CO₂-ionic liquid solubility data.     

氮硫掺杂介孔TiO2薄膜结构及其光催化性能

分别以Ti(OBuⁿ)₄和Pluronic F127为无机前驱体和模板剂, 以硫脲为添加剂, 采用sol-gel法结合蒸发致自组装法（EISA）制备了锐钛矿结构的介孔TiO₂薄膜材料.采用SEM、 XPS、N₂ 吸附-脱吸、XRD和 UV-Vis光谱对其进行了表征. 研究发现, 向前驱体溶液添加硫脲一方面改变了TiO₂的介孔结构, 另一方面对介孔TiO₂进行了N、S共掺杂. 当溶液中硫脲与Ti(OBuⁿ)₄的摩尔比为2.5%时, 介孔TiO₂的孔径由未掺杂的7.0nm增至12.4nm, 光催化降解甲基橙实验表明其在紫外光区具有最优的光催化活性; 当溶液中硫脲与Ti(OBuⁿ)₄的摩尔比为5%时, 其吸收边由380nm扩展至520nm, 光催化降解罗丹明B实验表明其在可见光下显示出最优的光催化活性.     

Electron Temperature Measurement by Floating Probe Method Using AC Voltage

This study presents a novel floating probe method to measure electron temperatures using a hollow cathode-type discharge tube. The proposed method detects a shift in the floating potential when an AC voltage is applied to a probe through an intermediary blocking capacitor.The shift in the floating potential is described as a function of the electron temperature and the applied AC voltage. The floating probe method is simpler than the Langmuir probe method because it does not require the measurement of volt-ampere characteristics. As the input AC voltage increases, the electron temperature converges. The electron temperature measured using the floating probe method with an applied sinusoidal voltage shows a value close to the first(tail)electron temperature in the range of the floating potential.     

DISCUSSION OF THE BINDING QUALITY OF MINCED MEATS BASED ON THEIR RHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES BEFORE AND AFTER HEATING

Abstract Raw fish meat and three muscle groupings of cockerel meat were analyzed for total nitrogen, myofibrillar and sarcoplasmic proteins, non-protein and residual nitrogen, fat, pH, moisture and hydration capacity. Stress relaxation measurements were made on both raw and heat coagulated samples. Tensile strength measurements were made on heat coagulated samples. Using breaking energy as an index of binding, myofibrillar protein content and hydration were tentatively related to binding quality. Equilibrium modulus values offered an indication of the presence of crosslinking after heating. The rheological behavior of fish meat could be explained by a seven element model and that of cockerel meat by a five element model before heating. An analysis is presented of the mathematical treatment of rheological measurements and their relationship to binding quality and chemical composition of the tested samples.     

Low damage lamella preparation of metallic materials by FIB processing with low acceleration voltage and a low incident angle Ar ion milling finish

Metallic materials are known to be very sensitive to Gallium (Ga) focused ion beam (FIB) processing. Crystal defects formed by FIB irradiation degrade the transmission electron microscope image quality, and it is difficult to distinguish original defects from FIB process-induced damage. A solution to this problem is the low acceleration voltage and low incident angle (LVLA) Argon ion milling, which can be incorporated as an extensional countermeasure for FIB damage removal and eventually for preparation of high-quality lamellae. The transmission electron microscope image quality of iron single crystal could be improved by removing crystal defects using the low acceleration voltage and low incident angle Argon ion milling finish. Lamella quality of the processing result was almost similar with that of the conventional electrolytic polishing. As a practical application of the process, low damage lamella of stainless cast steel could be prepared. Effectiveness of the FIB system equipped with the low acceleration voltage and low incident angle Argon ion milling function as a tool to make high-quality metallic material lamellae is illustrated.     

Effects of docosahexaenoic acid or arachidonic acid supplementation on gene expression and contractile force of rat cardiomyocytes in primary culture

While fatty acids play essential roles in the physiology of the myocardium, conventional culture media contain little lipid. We previously revealed that rat neonatal myocardium mainly contains docosahexaenoic (DHA), linoleic (LA), and arachidonic (AA) acids as polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), and these contents in cultured cardiomyocytes derived from fetal rats were markedly lower than those in the neonatal myocardium. In this study, we first assessed the effects of supplementation of DHA, LA, or AA on the fatty acid contents and the percentage change of contractile area in primarily cultured rat cardiomyocytes. Based on this assessment, we then evaluated the effects of DHA or AA supplementation on mRNA expression and further directly measured the contractile force of cardiomyocytes with the supplementations. This study revealed that percentage change of contractile area was maximized under 20 μM DHA or 50 μM AA supplementation while LA supplementation did not affect this contraction index, and that a widespread upregulation tendency of the mRNA expression related to differentiation, maturity, fatty acid metabolism, and cell adhesion was seen in the cultured cardiomyocytes with supplementation of DHA or AA. In particular, upregulation of the gene expression of cellular adhesion molecules connexin43 and N-cadherin were remarkable, whereas the effects on differentiation and maturation were less pronounced. Correspondingly, the increase of the percentage change of the contractile area of cardiomyocyte clusters in culture dishes with the supplementations was significant, whereas the enhancement of the contractile force was modest. These results suggest that supplementation of DHA or AA to the fetal cardiomyocyte culture may play effective roles in preventing the de-differentiation of the cardiomyocytes in culture and that the enhancement of the contractile performance may be mainly attributed to the improvement of intercellular connection.