Containerless solidification of highly undercooled mullite melts: Crystal growth behavior and microstructure formation

A mullite (3Al₂O₃·2SiO₂) sample has been levitated and undercooled in an aero-acoustic levitator, so as to investigate the solidification behavior in a containerless condition. Crystal-growth velocities are measured as a function of melt undercoolings, which increase slowly with melt undercoolings up to 380 K and then increase quickly when undercoolings exceed 400 K. In order to elucidate the crystal growth and solidification behavior, the relationship of melt viscosities as a function of melt undercoolings is established on the basis of the fact that molten mullite melts are fragile, from which the atomic diffusivity is calculated via the Einstein-Stokes equation. The interface kinetics is analyzed when considering atomic diffusivities. The crystal-growth velocity vs melt undercooling is calculated based on the classical rate theory. Interestingly, two different microstructures are observed; one exhibits a straight, faceted rod without any branching with melt undercoolings up to 400 K, and the other is a feathery faceted dendrite when undercoolings exceed 400 K. The formation of these morphologies is discussed, taking into account the contributions of constitutional and kinetic undercoolings at different bulk undercoolings.     

Tunable laser for sensing atmospheric transmission in the infrared region of 11 ∼ 16 µm

We succeeded in observing the continuously tunable, pulsed InSb SFR (Spin-Flip Raman) laser emission in the infrared region of 11～16µm (11.4～16.3µm) from only one InSb device, merely by adjusting the pumping wavelength (11 lines from the infrared NH₃ laser) and the applied magnetic field (0～80 kGauss).     

Permeation of Zidovudine and Probenecid from Oily Bases Containing Alcohols Through Rat Skin

Permeation of zidovudine (3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine, AZT) and probenecid from oily bases containing an alcohol through rat skin was examined. Isopropyl myristate (IPM), as an oily vehicle, showed a penetration enhancing effect for AZT and probenecid. Ethanol, n-propanol, and n-butanol were used as additives in IPM and were examined for their own permeation and the enhancing effect on the permeation of AZT and probenecid. The skin permeation of AZT and probenecid from IPM was enhanced by addition of the alcohol in IPM. The degree of the enhancement was decreased with increasing lipophilicity of the alcohol used. me permeation rate of the drug from those systems was shown to be governed by penetration-enhancing effects of the oily base and alcohol, and the penetration of the alcohol itself through the skin.     

An investigation of water-gas transport processes in the gas-diffusion-layer of a PEM fuel cell by a multiphase multiple-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann model

In order to study water-gas transport processes in the gas-diffusion-layer (GDL) of a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell system, a multiphase, multiple-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann model is presented in this work. The model is based on the mean-field diffuse interface theory and can handle the multiphase flows with large density ratios and various viscosities. By using the standard bounce back boundary condition and an approximate average scheme for the non-slip and wetting boundary walls, respectively, detailed liquid-gas transportation in the GDL, in which exact boundary condition is difficult to be implemented, can be simulated. Unlike most of lattice Boltzmann methods based on the Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook collision operator, the present model shows a viscosity-independent velocity field, which is very important in simulating multiphase flows where various viscosities coexist. We validate our model by simulating a static droplet on a wetting wall and compare with theoretical predictions. Then, we simulate a water-gas flow in the GDL of a PEM fuel cell and investigate the saturation-dependent transport properties under different conditions. The results are shown to be qualitatively consistent with the previous numerical and theoretical works.     

Safety evaluation on the depressurization accident in the gas turbine high temperature reactor (GTHTR300)

Japan Atomic Energy Agency has been developing a gas turbine high temperature reactor (GTHTR300) with electric power of approximately 300 MW. One of the unique safety design concepts of this system is that events with frequency of occurrence of higher than 10⁻⁸/reactor-year are evaluated as design basis events in order to show that the frequency of large amount of FP release is less than 10⁻⁸/reactor-year. According to this concept, a depressurization accident by a large break of helium piping is postulated as a design basis event. This accident is one of the most serious accidents in the high-temperature gas-cooled reactors from the viewpoint of loss of coolability. The safety evaluation on the accident was conducted based on the actual design of the system. The short-term and long-term behaviors of fuel temperature after occurrence of the accident, internal pressure of the reactor building, oxidation behavior of fuels and graphite structures were evaluated and exposure dose of general public was also estimated using the results of evaluation of fuel temperature and fuel failure by oxidation. All of the evaluation results meet the safety criteria and feasibility of the GTHTR300 was shown by this study.     

Theory and characteristics of novel variable reluctance 1X resolver

Although brushless resolvers have been used widely as angular position transducers, they are expensive due to their intricate construction, involving a rotary transformer to supply the exciting coils wound on the rotor poles with the current. It is shown theoretically in this paper that the resolver without rotary transformer or brushes can be realized by simple construction, which consists of the stator core with both 4-poles exciting windings and 2-poles output ones and the rotor core carrying no windings. In this resolver the rotor core has minimum gap at one side and a maximum gap at another side of the diameter. It is characterized by an outer surface form that makes the fluctuation part of gap permeance very in proportion to cos θ, where θ represents the angular position of a point in the air gap with respect to the origin on the rotor, the point of minimum air gap. The method determining the rotor form to embody the aforementioned gap permeance variation is also shown. It has been confirmed not only by simulation but also experiment that the 2-phase output voltages of a model designed based on the theory have sinusoidal waveforms with very small harmonic contents. Moreover, the rotor position detected by processing the output voltages through the conventional resolver/digital converter was within acceptable engineering accuracy.     

Transdermal Absorption of Zidovudine from Ethanol-Isopropyl Myristate Mixed System and Influence of Probenecid on It in Rats

Transdermal absorption of zidovudine (AZT) from an ethanol-isopropyl myristate (IPM) mixed system was examined in rats. For comparison of bioavailability (BA) after topical applications, 0.25 ml of the ethanol/IPM system containing 40% ethanol and 60 mM AZT was applied as a standard formulation. Values of the area under the plasma concentration-time curves of AZT for 8 hr (AUC_0-8), as indices of BA, following application of various formulations were compared with that of the standard formulation. Then the influence of content of the drug and ethanol, and application volume of the system was evaluated. BA was effectively improved only when the total amount of ethanol applied on the skin was increased. On the other hand, simultaneous transdermal application of AZT and probenecid increased the AU_0-8, of AZT without necessitating the increase in ethanol content in the formulation. In addition, coadministered probenecid improved cerebrospinal fluid/plasma concentration ratio of AZT.     

Sensitivity of an anadically oxidized aluminium film on a surface acoustic wave sensor to humidity

The sensitivity, transient response and sensitivity mechanism of a surface acoustic wave humidity sensor using porous anodically oxidized aluminium (alumina) films as mechanical interfaces have been studied theoretically and experimentally. It is found that the sensitivity of alumina films of 1.0 μm thickness is -0.034 m/(s %RH) and is the same order as that of polyimide films. The transient response of alumina films to humidity is about one order faster than that of polyimide films. For the sensitivity mechanism, the phase-velocity change is attributed to the mechanical perturbation caused by the absorption of water molecules. The equivalent density change of alumina films between 0 and 100%RH is about 0.7%. In addition, the actual stiffness constants of alumina films are two orders less than those of bulk alumina.     

Development of flexible organic light‐emitting diode on barrier film and roll‐to‐roll manufacturing

To come out with a successful organic light‐emitting diode (OLED) lighting business, it is very important to have clear differentiation of OLED from LEDs. Flexible OLED has merits, such as capability to be mounted on the curved wall, which is not easy for LEDs to achieve the feature. There are several approaches to make flexible OLEDs especially among those plastic barrier films that can bring high level of flexibility, which could not be achieved by any conventional lighting method. In this paper, barrier films with various water vapor transmission rate values, including 10^{? 6} order, are applied, and the conditions to have almost no dark spot growth under 85 °C and 85% high temperature/humidity test are shown. Flexible OLED panels are manufactured with the world's first roll‐to‐roll equipment using plastic barrier film.     

ORBIT: A parallel computing model of Prolog

This paper proposes a parallel processing model of the Prolog language. The model modifies Or-parallelism by introducing the “process bundle” as a candidate for simultaneous execution. The Process bundle is a subset of backtrack points stacked in depth-first execution. The process bundle includes one or more backtrack points, so it provides a longer process life cycle than the Or-parallel process. A process bundle is dispatched when an idle processor requests a job from an executing processor. The executing processor dispatches a message containing the full environment by which the idle processor can execute the process without any communication with other processors.