Resistances to benzalkonium chloride of bacteria dried with food elements on stainless steel surface

To confirm the importance of washing food sediments from the surface of food-related environments, we examined resistances against benzalkonium chloride of pathogenic bacterial (Escherichia coli O26, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus) cells dried and adhered on stainless steel dishes with milk, beef gravy or tuna gravy. Suspensions (0.1 ml) of these bacteria (8-9 log cfu/ml) were put on a 5 cm ? stainless steel dish and dried at room temperature (20-24 °C) for 90 min in a bio-clean bench with ventilation. Though these bacteria suspended with distilled water decreased 30-40 fold during the drying period, milk and the gravies protected the bacteria. Without the food elements, the adhered E. coli and Stap. aureus were decreased from 6 to<2 log cfu/dish by 0.5 mg/ml benzalkonium chloride (BKC) for 10 min treatment. Although Ps. aeruginosa showed resistance to BKC, the adhered cells were inactivated by 2.0 mg/ml BKC. However, the bactericidal effect disappeared by the food elements, particularly with milk, even at 1.0 and/or 2.0 mg/ml BKC levels. The protective efficiency of milk on bacteria disappeared if washed with water.     

Proton conductivities and structures of BaO–ZnO–P2O5 glasses in the ultraphosphate region for intermediate temperature fuel cells

Phosphate glasses are promising materials for electrolytes of intermediate temperature fuel cells, because they have good proton conductivity at 150–250 °C. However, the effects of the glass composition and melting condition on proton conductivities are unclear yet. In this work, the structures of BaO–ZnO–P₂O₅ glasses were investigated by magic angle spinning-nuclear magnetic resonance (MAS-NMR) and Raman spectroscopy, and the proton conductivities were measured by an AC impedance method. The proton conductivity of 30 mol%ZnO-70 mol%P₂O₅ glass melted at 800 °C reached 1 × 10⁻³ S/cm at 250 °C for. The proton transportation number of the ZnO–P₂O₅ glass was almost unity, confirmed by a hydrogen concentration cell. The power density of 0.4 mW/cm² was obtained for a fuel cell using the ZnO–P₂O₅ glass electrolyte at 250 °C. A branching phosphate structure was transformed into a middle phosphate structure by substituting BaO with ZnO, which caused an improvement in proton mobility.     

Effect of a phase-transfer catalyst on the chemical modification of poly(vinyl chloride) by substitution with thiocyanate as a nucleophile

This study examined the effect of the phase-transfer catalysts tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB) and tetrabutylammonium hydrogen sulfate (TBAHS) on the chemical modification of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) by substitution with thiocyanate as a nucleophile. TBAB accelerated the dechlorination of PVC in SCN/ethylene glycol (EG) solution. Furthermore, the addition of TBAB to SCN/EG solution improved the substitution of the Cl in PVC with SCN in solution. The addition of TBAB or TBAHS to SCN/H₂O solution promoted the dechlorination of PVC, whereas dechlorination did not occur without the catalyst. The catalysts preferred substitution to the elimination of HCl in SCN/H₂O solution, and TBAB was slightly superior to TBAHS in terms of the degree and selectivity of the substitution. The addition of nitrobenzene to SCN/H₂O solution with TBAB increased the degree of substitution. Consequently, phase-transfer catalysts, particularly TBAB, were very effective at promoting the substitution of Cl in PVC with SCN in solution.     

Organic thin-film solar cell employing a novel electron-donor material

A highly efficient organic thin-film solar cell based on a heterojunction structure employing a novel electron-donor (ED) material, tetraphenyldibenzoperiflanthene (DBP), has been demonstrated for the first time. An organic photovoltaic (OPV) cell with 0.033-cm² active area, comprising DBP as an ED layer, fullerene C₆₀ as an electron-acceptor (EA) layer, and 2,9-dimethyl-4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline as an exciton-blocking (EB) layer, has exhibited an open-circuit voltage (V_oc) of 0.92 V, a short-circuit current density (J_sc) of 6.3 mA/cm² and a conversion efficiency of 3.6% at 100-mW/cm² simulated AM1.5G sunlight. Meanwhile, those of a conventional cell employing copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) for an ED layer are 0.51 V, 4.3 mA/cm², and 1.4%, respectively. The high V_oc and J_sc of the DBP-based cell is attributed to the DBP's highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) level 5.5 eV and the effective light absorption, respectively.     

An embedded processor core for consumer appliances with 5.6 GFLOPS and 73M polygons/s FPU

A SuperH^? embedded processor core, SH-X2, implemented in a 90-nm CMOS process running at 800 MHz achieved 1440 Dhrystone MIPS, 5.6 GFLOPS, and 73M polygons/s. It has a dual-issue eight-stage pipeline architecture, but maintains the 1.8 MIPS/MHz of the previous seven-stage processor core SH-X. The processor meets the requirements of a wide range of applications, and is suitable for digital appliances aimed at the consumer market, such as cellular phones, digital still/video cameras, and car navigation systems. This paper focuses on the implementation of floating-point units in the SH-X2 and its resulting performance, and considers ways of enhancing this performance in future.     

Highly thermal conductive metal/carbon composites by pulsed electric current sintering

Various composites with metals such as aluminum and copper, and carbons such as pitch based carbon fiber and carbon nanotube, and scale-like graphite have been prepared to realize high thermal conductive materials utilizing pulsed electric current sintering method. The composites have high thermal conductivity and one- or two-dimensional low thermal expansion coefficient.     

High-Strength Mica-Containing Glass-Ceramics

Glass-ceramics containing barium–mica in the system Ba_0.5 Mg₃ (Si₃AIO₁₀)F₂–2MgO · 2Al₂O₃· 5SiO₂–Ca₃ (PO₄)₂ are two to three times stronger than conventional mica-containing glass-ceramics. Moreover, the barium-mica glass-ceramics are easier to machine, as confirmed by a drilling test using conventional steel tools. Such mechanical properties are attributable to the microstructure of the barium–mica glass-ceramics. Very fine, interlocking mica crystals are precipitated in the glass, and a crack-deflection mechanism is observed by scanning electron microscopy.     

Optimum insulating design of asymmetrical structure GCB

An asymmetrical structure GCB that employed the closing resistor method has an interrupter and a closing resistor contact in one shield, and so the shield diameter becomes large. In this study, we investigated the optimum tank diameter and major radius of shield electrode of asymmetrical structure GCB by three‐dimensional electric field calculation. We also investigated these optimum structures of symmetrical structure GCB and compared the result with that of the asymmetrical structure GCB. We found that the tank diameter of asymmetrical structure GCB becomes larger than the tank diameter of symmetrical structure GCB by 24%. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 169(2): 14–20, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20741     

(24R-14α-methyl-24-ethyl-5α-cholest-9(11)-en-3β-ol: A new 14α-methylsterol fromCucumis sativus

The structure of a new 14α-methylsterol isolated fromCucumis sativus has been shown to be (24R)-14α-methyl-24-ethyl-5α-cholest-9(11)-en-3β-ol. Characterization of the 14α-methyl-Δ⁹⁽¹¹⁾ skeletal structure was undertaken based on the comparison with 14α,24-dimethyl-5α-cholest-9(11)-en-3β-ol obtained from 24-methylpollinastanol by acid-catalyzed isomerization. Isolation and identification of an additional 14α-methylsterol, 24-methylene-pollinastanol, from the plant also is described.