Predicting the Life Span of Dies Used for Soft Magnetic Core Motors

This paper describes a method of predicting the life span of the dies used in motor manufacture from soft magnetic composites (SMCs). In the present study, a clawtooth motor was used. The method involves performing a stress analysis of a die followed by fatigue testing of test pieces. In the analysis, the SMC was assumed to be in powder form and its yield function was derived by a simple method. In addition to the analysis, we describe a simpler and more effective method in which the properties of the SMC are treated as boundary conditions. In the fatigue tests, we used test pieces that simulated the shape and construction material of the die. To predict the life span of the die, we evaluate the SN diagram, which represents the relationship between the maximum stress and fatigue life with respect to the stress generated in the die. The life expectancy of a new die, which is about 100 cycles of use, is found to agree substantially with its actual life. Furthermore, we explain how to extend the life span of a die to the targeted life span, namely, more than 200,000 cycles of use, by changing its shape to reduce stress.     

Calculation of the Characteristics of Salient‐Pole Synchronous Machines Assisted by Permanent Magnets on the Basis of the Operating Principle

In this study we investigate a method for accurately calculating the characteristics of salient‐pole synchronous machines assisted by permanent magnets. First, the operating principle of the machines is investigated by using both finite element analysis and a simple magnetic circuit. Then, a theoretical representation of the assist effect on the permanent magnets is derived based on the magnetic circuit. Finally, the measured and calculated results are compared in order to confirm the validity of the proposed calculation method. We show that the load characteristics of the proposed machine can be accurately estimated from the no‐load and short‐circuit characteristics of the conventional machine without permanent magnets, and the size and magnetization of the inserted permanent magnets.     

Correlation between gas transport properties and the morphology/dynamics of crystalline fluorinated copolymer membranes

The crystalline structure, dynamics, and gas transport properties (i.e., the gas permeability, gas diffusion coefficient, and gas solubility coefficient) of poly(tetrafluoroethylene‐co‐perfluoroethylvinylether) (PFA) membranes were systematically investigated via differential scanning calorimetry, wide/small/ultra‐small‐angle X‐ray scattering, and quasielastic neutron scattering measurements. We evaluated the gas transport properties using a constant‐volume/variable‐pressure method. The gas permeability and the gas diffusion coefficient decreased with increasing crystallinity of the PFA membranes at crystallinities below 32%. However, in membranes with a crystallinity of 32% or greater, these parameters depended on the characteristics of the gas molecules, such as their kinetic diameter. The so‐called long spacing period and the thickness of the crystalline/amorphous regions increased with crystallinity according to the small/ultra‐small‐angle X‐ray scattering results. Furthermore, the quasielastic neutron scattering measurements indicated that the scattering law was well fitted to a sum of narrow and broad Lorentzian components. In particular, the narrow components, that is, the local motion of amorphous components and side chains, increased with crystallinity. These results suggest that large gas molecules could pass through the PFA membranes, assisted by the motion in the amorphous region. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135, 45665.     

Ex Vivo Expanded and Activated Natural Killer Cells Prolong the Overall Survival of Mice with Glioblastoma-like Cell-Derived Tumors

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the leading malignant intracranial tumor and is associated with a poor prognosis. Highly purified, activated natural killer (NK) cells, designated as genuine induced NK cells (GiNKs), represent a promising immunotherapy for GBM. We evaluated the anti-tumor effect of GiNKs in association with the programmed death 1(PD-1)/PD-ligand 1 (PD-L1) immune checkpoint pathway. We determined the level of PD-1 expression, a receptor known to down-regulate the immune response against malignancy, on GiNKs. PD-L1 expression on glioma cell lines (GBM-like cell line U87MG, and GBM cell line T98G) was also determined. To evaluate the anti-tumor activity of GiNKs in vivo, we used a xenograft model of subcutaneously implanted U87MG cells in immunocompromised NOG mice. The GiNKs expressed very low levels of PD-1. Although PD-L1 was expressed on U87MG and T98G cells, the expression levels were highly variable. Our xenograft model revealed that the retro-orbital administration of GiNKs and interleukin-2 (IL-2) prolonged the survival of NOG mice bearing subcutaneous U87MG-derived tumors. PD-1 blocking antibodies did not have an additive effect with GiNKs for prolonging survival. GiNKs may represent a promising cell-based immunotherapy for patients with GBM and are minimally affected by the PD-1/PD-L1 immune evasion axis in GBM.     

Organocatalytic Enantioselective Conjugate Addition of Malonic Acid Half Thioesters to Coumarin‐3‐carboxylic Acids Using N‐Heteroarenesulfonyl Cinchona Alkaloid Amides

We disclose herein an efficient enantioselective conjugate addition reaction between coumarin‐3‐carboxylic acids and malonic acid half thioesters (MAHTs). The reaction was catalyzed by N‐heteroarenesulfonyl Cinchona alkaloid amides to afford double‐decarboxylative conjugate addition products in good yield with high enantioselectivity. The reaction of various coumarin‐3‐carboxylic acids with MAHTs gave products in high yield with high enantioselectivity.

     

Mechanical Reinforcement of Low‐Concentration Alginate Fibers by Microfluidic Embedding of Multiple Cores

This paper presents mechanically reinforced low‐concentration alginate fibers by embedding inner cores of high‐concentration alginate. 3D structures by stacking multiple polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) layers allow the microfluidic formation and control of the isolated cores in the continuous flow. The alginate hydrogel fibers are simply spun, and the compartments, central core, surrounding cores, and outer shell layer are successfully verified. The results demonstrate the great potential for the development of complex fibrous materials, particularly for biological applications, which require specific morphology and composition of the fibers.     

Magnetic Torque Measurements on Bi2201 Single Crystal in High Magnetic Fields

The magnetic field direction dependence of the magnetic torque in the superconducting state of Bi ₂ Sr _1.65 La _0.35 CuO ₆₊ (Bi2201) single crystal has been measured in several static magnetic fields up to 200 kOe. The applied field dependence of the anisotropy parameter, , defined by the square root of the effective mass ratio has been obtained by fitting the magnetic torque curves at 17 K by means of the effective mass model. For Bi ₂ Sr ₂ CaCu ₂ O ₈₊ (Bi2212), the values up to 210 kOe were reported previously. At each field, for Bi2201 is larger than that for Bi2212. Since the value decreases as the field increases both for Bi2201 and Bi2212, the reduction of by the application of the high magnetic field is considered to be common for Bi-based layered superconductors.     

Orchestration of network instruments: a way to de-emphasize the partition between incremental change and innovation?

Incremental change and innovation are often regarded as two separate concepts, with some interconnections. Based on two practical cases that emphasize respectively incremental change and innovation, the article discusses whether a division between these concepts can be maintained. Action research is seen as having a central role, offering an integral working method in industrial networks.

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Design of a grid service-based platform for in silico protein-ligand screenings

Grid computing offers the powerful alternative of sharing resources on a worldwide scale, across different institutions to run computationally intensive, scientific applications without the need for a centralized supercomputer. Much effort has been put into development of software that deploys legacy applications on a grid-based infrastructure and efficiently uses available resources. One field that can benefit greatly from the use of grid resources is that of drug discovery since molecular docking simulations are an integral part of the discovery process. In this paper, we present a scalable, reusable platform to choreograph large virtual screening experiments over a computational grid using the molecular docking simulation software DOCK. Software components are applied on multiple levels to create automated workflows consisting of input data delivery, job scheduling, status query, and collection of output to be displayed in a manageable fashion for further analysis. This was achieved using Opal OP to wrap the DOCK application as a grid service and PERL for data manipulation purposes, alleviating the requirement for extensive knowledge of grid infrastructure. With the platform in place, a screening of the ZINC 2,066,906 compound "drug-like" subset database against an enzyme's catalytic site was successfully performed using the MPI version of DOCK 5.4 on the PRAGMA grid testbed. The screening required 11.56 days laboratory time and utilized 200 processors over 7 clusters.     

Information systems effectiveness: research designs for causal inference

Abstract. This paper examines the capacity of the research designs of 37 empirical studies of information systems (IS) effectiveness to provide a basis for the development of theories about behaviour related to IS effectiveness. The power of each study to support causal inference was evaluated in terms of (a) its handling of the time dimension, (b) its ability to weigh differences and (c) its resistance to internal validity threats that pose alternative explanations for its reported findings. Of the reviewed studies, 29.7% could account for the time dimension, 32.4% employed a comparison group and 16.2% were not susceptible to any internal validity threats. Only 13.5% of the studies combined an accounting for the time dimension with the use of a comparison group. Of these, however, only 5.4% were also invulnerable to internal validity threats. The research designs of nearly 95% of these published studies were deficient in supporting causal inference. In those studies, suggestions that one variable was causally related to another variable could not be substantiated. Encouragement for the future capacity of IS effectiveness research to support causal inference was found in a trend towards the use of quasiexperimental designs. Recommendations are made regarding ways to increase the inferential capacity of research designs employed in the study of IS effectiveness.