An effect of microstructure on the interface resistance between a perovskite-type oxide electrode and yttria-stabilized zirconia

The electrode characteristics of perovskite-type oxides, La_0.6Sr_0.4CoO₃ and La_0.6Sr_0.4MnO₃, on ceria-based oxide and stabilized zirconia were analysed by the a.c. impedance method. The ionic conductivities of the electrolyte and electrode conductivities from the a.c. impedance analysis agreed with those obtained from the current interruption and d.c. four-probe methods. Two semicircles from the charge transfer and diffusion processes appeared as the electrode resistance. The relative contribution of these two processes to the overall electrode resistance strongly depended on the microstructure of the electrode. The electrode microstructure could be controlled by the dispersion medium used for the electrode slurry. The La_0.6Sr_0.4MnO₃ electrode coated with n-butyl acetate slurry exhibited the smallest electrode resistance.     

Basic fibroblast growth factor as one of the essential factors regulating lens transdifferentiation of pigmented epithelial cells

In vitro transdifferentiation of retinal pigmented epithelial cells of the chick embryo into lens cells can be markedly enhanced by culture in the presence of testicular hyaluronidase and phenylthiourea. Since the commercial preparations of hyaluronidase that had previously been used were very crude, a search for the actual effective molecule(s) enhancing lens transdifferentiation was conducted. First, we purified the enzyme and tested the effect of the purified hyaluronidase. Highly purified hyaluronidase itself did not enhance lens transdifferentiation. The crude hyaluronidase was then separated according to affinity with heparin, considering the possibility that the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) is contained in the crude hyaluronidase. Transdifferentiation-enhancing activity was detected in the fraction which was bound to heparin and eluted with 2 M NaCl, where no hyaluronate-degrading activity existed. Analysis of the fraction by SDS-PAGE revealed the existence of an 18 kDa protein whose NH2-terminal sequence was identical to that of basic FGF. The basic FGF derived from bovine brain also enhanced lens transdifferentiation of pigmented epithelial cells. These findings suggest that basic FGF must play a major role in enhancing transdifferentiation of pigmented epithelial cells to lens cells.     

Interactive postprocessor and animation system using a microcomputer

This paper is concerned with the development of a microcomputer-aided graphic system. In this system the difficult task of computation for graphical representation is carried out on a large computer, whereas a microcomputer is used as the graphic terminal. Interface programs are newly developed for this purpose. A technique is proposed here to minimize the transfer time of graphic data from the large computer to the microcomputer. Finally, the animation and the interactive tomography systems are developed as extensions of the graphic system.     

Mass Current at a Domain Wall in Superfluid 3He A-Phase

In the superfluid ³He A-phase, the amplitude and direction of angular momentum by topological edge mass current coincide with the expected amplitude and direction of ground-state angular momentum by Cooper pairs. The topological mass current also flows at a domain wall in the A-phase, namely, an interface between the A-phases with the opposite direction of l-vector. We show that the amplitude of the topological mass current at the energetically favorable domain wall is almost equal to that at the specular edge; however, the topological mass current flows toward the opposite direction expected from angular momentum of Cooper pairs. Thus, the direction of topological mass current cannot be fixed only by the topological nature which is related to angular momentum of Cooper pairs.     

pH-dependent network formation of quantum dots and fluorescent quenching by Au nanoparticle embedding

A simple approach to the creation of colloidal assemblies is in high demand for the development of functional devices. Here, we present the preparation of CdTe-QD (quantum dot) networks in as little as 1 day simply by pH modification without the use of oxidants. The QD network was tractable in water and casting from a droplet produced a porous networked film on both hydrophobic and hydrophilic solid substrates. Further, we found that citrate-protected gold nanoparticles (AuNPs, d = 5 nm) could be incorporated into the QD networks to afford a QD/Au composite network, and that the fluorescence from the QDs was largely decreased by the addition of a small proportion of AuNPs (QD:AuNP = 99.4:0.6), probably due to the efficient charge transfer through the network. These data indicate that our method is suitable for application to the creation of metal/QD hybrid materials that can be integrated into wet-based processes.     

Bending loss of elliptical-hole core circular-hole holey fibers bent in arbitrary bending directions

A holey fiber having a core with an elliptical-hole lattice structure, which is referred to as an elliptical-hole core circular-hole holey fiber (EC-CHF), can be easily designed as a single-polarization fiber by using the fundamental space-filling modes of the core and cladding lattices. However, because the guided mode in an EC-CHF has a polarization that arises from the large geometric anisotropy of the core lattice, the influence of the bending direction on the bending loss is a crucial issue for the practical implementation of EC-CHFs. Here, the bending losses of an EC-CHF bent in arbitrary angular orientations with respect to the core cross section are calculated numerically using the equivalent anisotropic step-index circular fiber model for a real EC-CHF, and the influence of the bending direction of the fiber on the bending loss is discussed.     

Novel structured yttria-stabilized zirconia coatings fabricated by hybrid thermal plasma spraying

Yttria-stabilized ZrO₂ powders with initial sizes of 5–22 mm were chsosen as feedstock for hybrid thermal plasma deposition. At 100 kW RF input power, the microstructures of the deposited coatings varied from mostly sprayed splats to physical-vapor-deposited nanostructures when the powder feeding rate was reduced from 4 to 1 g/min. At a powder feeding rate of 2 g/min, a peculiar layered coating consisting of both structures was deposited at a rate over 50 mm/min, which is promising for the fabrication of next-generation novel thermal barrier coatings.     

Microstructure and press formability of a cross-rolled magnesium alloy sheet

Cross-rolling, in which the roll axis is tilted by 7.5° towards the TD-direction, was carried out on a commercial magnesium alloy. The (0002) texture intensity of the cross-rolled specimen was lower than that of the unidirectionally rolled specimen, and the (0002) texture of the cross-rolled specimen was inclined about 10° towards the TD-direction. Also, the grain size of the cross-rolled specimen was smaller than that of the unidirectionally rolled specimen. As a result of the Erichsen tests at 433-493 K, the press formability of the cross-rolled specimen was higher than that of the unidirectionally rolled specimen. The high formability of the cross-rolled specimen is attributed to both the modification of (0002) texture and the enhancement of grain refinement by the cross-rolling.