Polymer-polymer interaction parameters in the ternary system polystyrene/poly(α-methyl styrene)/n-butyl chloride

The polymer-polymer interaction parameter χ′12, for the polystyrene/poly(α-methyl styrene)/n-butyl chloride ternary system, has been determined from activity coefficients of the solution measured using piezoelectric vapour sorption methods in the temperature range 30°–60°C. (These measurements where carried out in the concentration range 0.06 < ψ₀ < 0.26, where ψ is the segment fraction of the solvent). The values of χ¹⁰₁₂ extrapolated to zero solvent concentration over the range 30°–60°C, are large and negative (−0.2 to −0.9) χ¹₁₂ was found to increase with ψ₀. The negative values of χ¹₁₂ in this work are in agreement with the T_g in the polystyrene

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M_w = 9.09 × 10⁴) blends on the point of blend compatibility. The polymer-polymer interaction parameters obtained in this work are discussed by taking into account the high susceptibility of polymers in the glassy state to solution of organic solvents.     

Electrorheological fluid-assisted ultra-precision polishing for small three-dimensional parts

This paper deals with a new machining method (electrorheological fluid-assisted polishing) for small three-dimensional parts such as micro-aspherical lens, die and mirror. The behavior of electrorheological particles and abrasive particles in the vicinity of the tip of the tool was observed by CCD microscope, and the electric field strength, electrode shape, and type of abrasive particles were investigated. It was clear that the electrorheological effect facilitates collection of the abrasive particles at the tool tip, even while the tool is rotating. Then, electrorheological fluid-assisted micro-aspherical generator system was developed, which is capable of micro-grinding and micro-polishing on the same machine. The system demonstrated the excellent polishing performance of small area after grinding process.     

Data‐driven loop‐shaping design of PID controllers for stable plants

In this paper, a loop‐shaping design method of PID controllers is proposed for stable plants under the condition that the plant is linear time invariant and a finite‐time plant response is available. The integral gain of the PID controller is maximized subject to a stability margin constraint, and the optimal solution can be found by linear programming. A filter bank is used for extracting useful information from the finite‐time response data. Numerical examples show that this method is applicable to a wide range of plants including non‐minimum phase and/or time‐delay plants. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

In vitro digestion of major allergen in salmon roe and its peptide portion with proteolytic resistance

A fish yolk protein, β′-component (β′-c), is the major allergen in chum salmon roe. The effect of proteolysis on the allergenicity of β′-c was estimated. Changes in the IgE-binding ability of β′-c upon pepsin and trypsin digestion were investigated by monitoring the proteolytic cleavage. In the pepsin–trypsin digestion of chum salmon yolk protein, the β′-c contained therein was degraded in a manner similar to that of other yolk proteins, but digestion fragments with a molecular mass of >10 kDa remained throughout the digestion process. Specifically, the peptide sequence between 31-Y and 119-Q (10 kDa) was stable to pepsin–trypsin digestion and the portion showed high IgE-binding ability. As a result, pepsin–trypsin digestion had little effect on the IgE-binding ability of β′-c. These results suggest that β′-c reaches the small intestine in the form of high-molecular-mass components with IgE-binding ability in vivo.     

Adaptive finite element meshing at each iterative calculation for electromagnetic field analysis of rotating machines

In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm of the nonlinear time‐stepping finite element method for analyses of rotating machines. In the method, the adaptive finite element meshing is applied at each nonlinear and time‐stepping iterative calculation with the interpolate calculations of the potentials from the previous step. The primary finite element mesh at each time step is obtained from the final mesh of the previous time step with minor modification due to the movement of the rotor. The proposed method is applied to the characteristics calculations of a permanent magnet motor and an induction motor to verify the method's validity and its usefulness. It is clarified that the proposed method gives almost identical results to the conventional adaptive meshing method whereas the calculation time is reduced to less than 1/10 in most cases. As a result, the proposed method can reduce not only the time of making mesh manually but also the calculation time compared with the usual finite element method without adaptive meshing. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 164(3): 78–91, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20308     

Vibratory Separation of Plastic Mixtures Using Triboelectric Charging

This article presents the results of experimental and analytical studies of the performance of a novel vibratory separator of plastic mixtures for recycling. The separator unit consists of a vibratory conveyor equipped with two plate electrodes. The principle behind the separation technique is based on the difference in Coulomb force acting on the plastic particles after triboelectric charging. The separation of a mixture of 50% polyvinylchloride (PVC) and 50% polyethylene terephthalate (PET) using this method was studied. An analytical model describing the relative distribution of the two types of plastic particles in the collection trays was developed. The effect of triboelectric charging time and electric-field strength on the separation efficiency was investigated.     

Evaluation of the introduction of a micro‐cogeneration system into residential houses based on monitored daily‐basis energy demand data

In order to reduce CO₂ emission from residential sectors in Japan, PEFC with high efficiency and low environmental impact is expected as one of the promising micro‐cogeneration (µCGS) systems. However, the energy demands in houses largely differ from each other and the profiles are also changed every day. Thus, when µCGS is actually introduced, it is necessary to examine the equipment capacity and operation of µCGS in each house. In this paper, the optimization model is developed in order to evaluate the µCGS based on daily‐basis demand data. Using actually monitored energy demand data in four households, the differences between using daily‐basis data and using the monthly‐average data are evaluated from viewpoints of economic and environmental performance of µCGS systems. Moreover, by adding the penalty factor to disposal heat of µCGS, it is seen that system configuration and system operation of µCGS can attain CO₂ reduction and energy conservation as well as cost reduction. ©2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 166(4): 20–30, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20653     

Photovoltaic performance and charge carrier mobility of dendritic oligothiophene bearing perylene bis(dicarboximide) groups

We have developed dendritic oligothiophenes bearing perylene bis(dicarboximide) units and investigated the photophysical and electrochemical properties, photovoltaic performance, and charge carrier mobility. The extended conjugation of the central oligothiophene unit led to an improved performance of the thin-film photovoltaic device and charge carrier mobility of 1.3 × 10^?2 cm² V^?1 s^?1 estimated by the combination of time-resolved microwave conductivity (TRMC) and transient absorption spectroscopy (TAS) measurements.