Transmittance and cathodoluminescence of AlN ceramics sintered with Ca3Al2O6 as sintering additive

Aluminum nitride ceramics were prepared by sintering with 0–4.8 mass% of Ca₃Al₂O₆ (C₃A) as a sintering additive. The transmittance in the range of 260–550 nm increased with increasing amount of C₃A. The cathodoluminescence intensity attributed to oxygen-induced defects decreased with increasing amount of C₃A. From the results, the increase of the transmittance in the range of 260–550 nm was considered to be related to the decrease of the oxygen-induced defect density.     

A demonstrative study for the wind and solar hybrid power system

In March 1995, a small scale wind and solar hybrid power system was installed at Ashikaga Institute of Technology. Until now, the authors have acquired the data of the output of the hybrid power plant along with wind speed, wind direction, and the solar radiation, in order to demonstrate a complementary relationship between solar energy and wind energy.After nine months operation of the system, the authors confirmed that there exists a complementary relationship between solar energy and wind energy. We also found, however, that the power output by wind does not have much prospect compared to that by solar cell especially in summer season in Ashikaga area.     

Dyeing properties of oxygen low-temperature plasma-treated wool and nylon 6 fibres with acid and basic dyes

Wool and nylon 6 fibres treated with oxygen low-temperature plasma were dyed with acid and basic dyes. Despite the increase of electronegativity of the fibre surface caused by the plasma treatment, the rate of dyeing of wool was increased with both dyes, while that of nylon 6 was decreased with the acid dye and increased with the basic dye.     

CUDA programs for the GPU computing of the Swendsen–Wang multi-cluster spin flip algorithm: 2D and 3D Ising,Potts, and XY models

We present sample CUDA programs for the GPU computing of the Swendsen–Wang multi-cluster spin flip algorithm. We deal with the classical spin models; the Ising model, the q$q$-state Potts model, and the classical XY model. As for the lattice, both the 2D (square) lattice and the 3D (simple cubic) lattice are treated. We already reported the idea of the GPU implementation for 2D models (Komura and Okabe, 2012). We here explain the details of sample programs, and discuss the performance of the present GPU implementation for the 3D Ising and XY models. We also show the calculated results of the moment ratio for these models, and discuss phase transitions.     

A novel radial orientation treatment of nematic liquid crystals using magnetic field lines with permanent magnet and applying the assisted electric field

Recently, there has been considerable research on optical devices, such as liquid crystal (LC) lenses and special optical plates, using LCs. In such devices, relatively small LC cells are frequently used, or unique LC orientations are required. As an LC orientation process, we focused on the LC director's orientation induced by the magnetic force line distribution of a small neodymium magnet. We propose a simple method for obtaining radial orientation, which is rather difficult to obtain using the ordinary rubbing method. The initial orientation in the LC cell is a vertical orientation cell with almost zero azimuth anchoring. With the proposed method, the reorientation process is performed with an assisting electric field and a small permanent magnet, unlike the conventional magnetic field orientation process that requires a large electromagnet. Furthermore, a polymer stabilization treatment is used to fix the obtained radial orientation pattern in the LC cell. After the treatment, the applying voltage can control the tilt angle of the director in weak polymer treatment, and a completely fixed orientation pattern can be obtained that in strong.     

Triglyceride analysis by combined argentation/nonaqueous reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography

Full analysis of triglycerides of natural fats and oils has been investigated by the combination of argentation high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with nonaqueous reversed phase (NARP) HPLC. An infrared detector was used in argentation HPLC, because it indicated molar responsibility to all triglycerides. After peak trapping with argentation HPLC, each triglyceride fraction was analyzed with NARP chromatography using the glyceride-selective post-column reactor detector. The results of the analyses of triglycerides of palm oil and cocoa butter by the proposed method agreed well with those reported earlier.     

Improvement in impact strength of modified cardanol‐bonded cellulose thermoplastic resin by using olefin resins

Impact strength of a modified cardanol‐bonded cellulose thermoplastic resin was greatly improved by using a small amount of olefin resins. As we showed, this thermoplastic resin (3‐pentadecylphenoxy acetic acid (PAA)‐bonded cellulose diacetate (CDA): PAA‐bonded CDA) exhibited high practical properties such as bending strength, heat resistance, and water resistance. However, its impact strength was insufficient for use in durable products. We improved the impact strength of PAA‐bonded CDA by adding hydrophobic olefin resins, such as polyethylene or polypropylene, while maintaining good bending strength and breaking strain. Furthermore, the application of olefin resins also increased water resistance and fluidity. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 39829.     

Improvement in impact strength of modified cardanol‐bonded cellulose thermoplastic resin by adding modified silicones

The impact strength of cellulose diacetate (CDA) bonded with a modified cardanol (3‐pentadecylphenoxy acetic acid: PAA) was greatly improved up to 9 kJ/m² by adding a relatively small amount of modified silicones while suppressing a decrease in bending strength. In our recent research, this thermoplastic resin (PAA‐bonded CDA) exhibited high rigidity, glass transition temperature, and water resistance. However, its impact strength was insufficient for use in durable products. Therefore, silicones modified with polyether, amino, and epoxy groups were investigated as possible ways to improve the impact strength. The results show that adding polyether‐modified silicone (polyether silicone) with moderate polarity relative to PAA‐bonded CDA resulted in shearing deformation greatly enhances its impact strength while maintaining other properties, including glass transition temperature (T_g), water resistance, and thermoplasticity. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 40366.     

Modeling real objects for Kansei-based shape retrieval

A large number of 3D models are created on computers and available for networks. Some content-based retrieval technologies are indispensable to find out particular data from such anonymous datasets. Though several shape retrieval technologies have been developed, little attention has been given to the points on human＇s sense and impression （as known as Kansei） in the conventional techniques, In this paper, the authors propose a novel method of shape retrieval based on shape impression of human＇s Kansei. The key to the method is the Gaussian curvature distribution from 3D models as features for shape retrieval. Then it classifies the 3D models by extracted feature and measures similarity among models in storage.