Cationic polymerization behavior of β‐methylglycidyl ether derivatives and physical properties of their cationically cured materials

β‐Methylglycidyl ethers have been applied to Electrical and Electronic adhesives. However, there is no report about the detailed polymerization behavior and physical properties of their cured products. Hence, we investigated cationic polymerization behavior of bisphenol A di(β‐methylglycidyl) ether (Me‐BADGE) and physical properties of the cured products containing Me‐BADGE. DSC analysis suggested that Me‐BADGE could be cured completely at lower temperature than bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (BADGE). Physical properties were analyzed by dynamic viscoelastic analysis. Glass transition temperature (T_g) of BADGE homopolymer was 194°C. In contrast, the copolymer of BADGE (50 wt %) with Me‐BADGE (50 wt %) showed T_g at 124°C. According to the data of E’ and tan δ, crosslink density of the cured products decreased with increasing the Me‐BADGE content. The analysis of cationic polymerization of monofunctional β‐methylglycidyl ether suggested that the cationic polymerization proceeded not only through oxonium cation but also through carbocation formed by ring‐opening reaction of oxonium cation. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 42377.     

Regional income disparities in an OLG structure

This study examines a two-region OLG mode, in which parents educate their children and choose their location freely; that is, the population distribution and each worker’s productivity are determined endogenously. Owing to the setting of both agglomeration economies in wage and agglomeration diseconomies in utility and thereby different consumption patterns between regions, the present model represents a generation of inequality in educational level between regions even when households with equivalent education are given. Incentive for interregional segregation by educational level is also assumed and inequality is persistent in the result. This model demonstrates a development process starting with a low-developed initial state that represents population concentration accompanied with human capital growth and expansion of interregional inequalities. In addition, the effects of policies on long-run equilibria are addressed along with lock-in effects against these policies.     

Correlations of Hepatic Hemodynamics,Liver Function,and Fibrosis Markers in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Comparison with Chronic Hepatitis Related to Hepatitis C Virus

The progression of chronic liver disease differs by etiology. The aim of this study was to elucidate the difference in disease progression between chronic hepatitis C (CHC) and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) by means of fibrosis markers, liver function, and hepatic tissue blood flow (TBF). Xenon computed tomography (Xe-CT) was performed in 139 patients with NAFLD and 152 patients with CHC (including liver cirrhosis (LC)). The cutoff values for fibrosis markers were compared between NAFLD and CHC, and correlations between hepatic TBF and liver function tests were examined at each fibrosis stage. The cutoff values for detection of the advanced fibrosis stage were lower in NAFLD than in CHC. Although portal venous TBF (PVTBF) correlated with liver function tests, PVTBF in initial LC caused by nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH-LC) was significantly lower than that in hepatitis C virus (C-LC) (p = 0.014). Conversely, the liver function tests in NASH-LC were higher than those in C-LC (p < 0.05). It is important to recognize the difference between NAFLD and CHC. We concluded that changes in hepatic blood flow occurred during the earliest stage of hepatic fibrosis in patients with NAFLD; therefore, patients with NAFLD need to be followed carefully.     

The Association of Cholesterol Uptake and Synthesis with Histology and Genotype in Cortisol-Producing Adenoma (CPA)

Cortisol-producing adenoma (CPA) is composed of clear and compact cells. Clear cells are lipid abundant, and compact ones lipid poor but associated with higher production of steroid hormones. PRKACA mutation (PRKACA mt) in CPA patients was reported to be associated with more pronounced clinical manifestation of Cushing’s syndrome. In this study, we examined the association of histological features and genotypes with cholesterol uptake receptors and synthetic enzymes in 40 CPA cases, and with the quantitative results obtained by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis in 33 cases to explore their biological and clinical significance. Both cholesterol uptake receptors and synthetic enzymes were more abundant in compact cells. GC-MS analysis demonstrated that the percentage of compact cells was inversely correlated with the concentrations of cholesterol and cholesterol esters, and positively with the activity of cholesterol biosynthesis from cholesterol esters. In addition, hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL), which catalyzes cholesterol biosynthesis from cholesterol esters, tended to be more abundant in compact cells of PRKACA mt CPAs. These results demonstrated that both cholesterol uptake and biosynthesis were more pronounced in compact cells in CPA. In addition, more pronounced HSL expression in compact cells of PRKACA mt CPA could contribute to their more pronounced clinical manifestation.     

Genetic Study of Four Candidate Holliday Junction Processing Proteins in the Thermophilic Crenarchaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldarius

Homologous recombination (HR) is thought to be important for the repair of stalled replication forks in hyperthermophilic archaea. Previous biochemical studies identified two branch migration helicases (Hjm and PINA) and two Holliday junction (HJ) resolvases (Hjc and Hje) as HJ-processing proteins; however, due to the lack of genetic evidence, it is still unclear whether these proteins are actually involved in HR in vivo and how their functional relation is associated with the process. To address the above questions, we constructed hjc-, hje-, hjm-, and pina single-knockout strains and double-knockout strains of the thermophilic crenarchaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldarius and characterized the mutant phenotypes. Notably, we succeeded in isolating the hjm- and/or pina-deleted strains, suggesting that the functions of Hjm and PINA are not essential for cellular growth in this archaeon, as they were previously thought to be essential. Growth retardation in Δpina was observed at low temperatures (cold sensitivity). When deletion of the HJ resolvase genes was combined, Δpina Δhjc and Δpina Δhje exhibited severe cold sensitivity. Δhjm exhibited severe sensitivity to interstrand crosslinkers, suggesting that Hjm is involved in repairing stalled replication forks, as previously demonstrated in euryarchaea. Our findings suggest that the function of PINA and HJ resolvases is functionally related at lower temperatures to support robust cellular growth, and Hjm is important for the repair of stalled replication forks in vivo.     

Study on high performance evaporator with micro‐grooves (Measurement of capillary force in a single groove and modeling of heat and mass transfer)

A micro‐grooved evaporator is composed of µm‐wide grooves on a heat transfer plate in which the inter‐line regions at the liquid–vapor meniscus of coolant become identifiable. The high‐heat performance of the evaporator is realized by this inter‐line region (ILR) where the liquid thin film reduces the thermal resistance on the heat transfer surface. In this report, we propose a numerical simulation model of heat and mass transfer in a single groove to predict its capillary force and heat flux. The capillary force performance (capillary‐rise length in a groove) of a single groove was measured for samples of varying width, superheat, and inclination. The performance was found to be a maximum at a specific groove width of 200–400 µm, which is in good agreement with the predicted results calculated by the proposed model. For a better prediction of capillary‐rise length, the effective capillary force and the effective flow resistance were considered. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20257     

A Multistate Friction Model Described by Continuous Differential Equations

This paper proposes a multistate friction model derived from a set of differential-algebraic inclusions. This model is described as a set of continuous differential equations that describe both the presliding and sliding regimes in a unified expression. It reproduces major features of friction phenomena reported in the literature, such as the Stribeck effect, nondrifting property, stick–slip oscillation, presliding hysteresis with nonlocal memory, and frictional lag. Moreover, the new model does not produce unbounded positional drift or nonsmooth forces, which are major problems of previous models due to the mathematical difficulty in dealing with transitions between the presliding and sliding regimes. The model is validated through comparison between its simulation results and empirical results in the literature.     

Effect of packed structure on flow behaviour in a trickle bed biofilter

The effects of operation conditions on the flow behaviour in gas–liquid countercurrent trickle bed biofilter were experimentally examined. In order to prevent gas channelling in the biofilter, packings with a relatively large void fraction, which have a role to maintain a high void fraction in the bed, were added. The gas and liquid velocities of the packed structure and the packings were changed, and the residence time distributions (RTDs) of the gas and liquid were measured. It was found that the addition of void supporters was very effective in the suppression of gas channelling.     

Analysis of inflation deformation of knitted fabrics by the theory of elastic membrane

This study examined the applicability of the theory of elastic membranes to the inflation deformation of knitted fabrics. Membrane theory was developed originally for the inflation deformation of a uniform and isotropic rubber membrane. The theory was composed of several equations that related extension ratio and biaxial stress in the equilibrium state of a membrane. Those equations needed numerical analysis since they could not be solved analytically. Although knitted fabrics had mechanical anisotropy due to the directions of wale and cource, numerical analysis could be carried out when the biaxial stresses of fabrics were expressed by the involution equations of extension ratio. In experimentation, a knitted fabric layered on a rubber sheet was inflated spherically by air pressure, then internal pressure, and the deformation were measured. From the experimental results it was concluded that the membrane theory could predict the inflation deformation of knitted fabrics like the burst test, and so on.