A method for calculating the electromagnetic noise of a motor-driven thin blade fan

An urgent need exists to develop a method of predicting the noise level of a blade fan attached to a motor shaft. To satisfy this requirement, we developed a method for calculating the sound generated when a rotating blade is excited by the torque pulsation of a motor. The sound pressure values calculated by the new method for a rotating blade were found to correspond well with experimentally measured ones.     

Analysis of pulse transformer by distributed parameter theory

The pulse responses of magnetically coupled pulse transformers of arbitrary turn ratio n:1 are considered in the framework of a distributed parameter theory. Equivalent circuits for the calculation of pulse risetime and flat-top responses are introduced for inverting- and noninverting-type transformers, respectively. With these equivalent circuits, the pulse risetime responses are calculated more precisely than with the lumped-parameter circuit theory. Measured responses of pulse transformers agree well with the theoretical predictions     

Measurements of plastic strain around indentations caused by the impact of round and angular particles, and the origin of erosion

The aim of this paper is to examine plastic strain distributions around indentations and to consider the mechanisms of erosion damage caused by solid particle impact. A WC ball and an angular SiC particle of 3 mm in diameter were used to compare the effect of particle shape on plastic strain. Measurements of principal shearing strain distributions around the indentations were performed on surfaces of aluminum, iron and cast iron at impact angles of 20°, 30°, 40°, 60° and 90° at impact velocities from 50 to 200 m s⁻¹. It was found that the impact angle dependence was roughly consistent with the maximum principal shearing strain and erosion damage data, which have been published in previous papers and obtained during additional works in this study. The surface topography of the impact craters suggested that depth, contact area and volume of indentation are affected by the particle density and the hardness of both particle and target material. Measurements of volume ratio of lips to craters proved that material removal did not necessarily occur at a single impact of the WC ball, but occurred at the impact of the angular SiC particle at low impact angles. It is concluded that the origin of erosion is probably attributed to the conjoint actions of high plastic strains followed by subsequent removal and the cutting process caused by particle impact.     

Coexpression of platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha and fetal liver kinase 1 enhances cardiogenic potential in embryonic stem cell differentiation in vitro

Nascent mesodermal cells derived from EB5 embryonic stem (ES) cells were sorted in terms of cardiogenic potential on the basis of their expression levels of platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRalpha) and fetal liver kinase 1 (Flk-1). The sorted cells were cocultured with OP9 stromal cells to induce terminal differentiation into contractile cardiac colonies. A significant number of cardiac colonies were found in the Flk-1+/PDGFRalpha+ fraction. The enrichment double-positive fraction produced approximately fivefold more cardiac colonies than the Flk-1+/PDGFRalpha- fraction and 10-fold more than the Flk-1-/PDGFRalpha+ fraction. To investigate the involvement of these markers in embryonic cardiogenesis, the cells that disseminated from the E7.5-7.75 embryos were fractionated and seeded on OP9 cells. The cardiogenic potential was markedly enhanced in the Flk-1+/PDGFRalpha+ fraction. These results suggest that some of the precursor cells coexpressing these markers are selectively involved in cardiogenic events, and that the identification of ES-cell-derived precursors with these markers will contribute to the effective production of cardiomyocytes for cell therapies.     

Growth of Cu2ZnSnS4 thin films on Si (100) substrates by multisource evaporation

Cu₂ZnSnS₄ films were grown on Si (100) by vacuum evaporation using elemental Cu, Sn, S and binary ZnS as sources. X-ray diffraction patterns of films grown at different substrate temperatures indicated that polycrystalline growth was suppressed and the orientational growths were relatively induced in a film grown at higher temperatures. Tetragonal structure of Cu₂ZnSnS₄ films was confirmed by studying RHEED patterns. The existence of c-axis ([001] direction) growth, two kinds of a-axis (〈100〉 direction) growth and four kinds of {112} twins which can be classified as two symmetrical pairs is proposed. Broad emissions at around 1.45 eV and 1.31 eV were observed in the photoluminescence spectrum measured at 13 K.     

Dynamic forces on an immersed cylindrical tube and analysis of particle interaction in 2D-gas fluidized beds

The interactions of bubbles and particles with fixed cylindrical tubes in two-dimensional fluidized beds were investigated by experiments and by simulations, based on results for single bubbles impinging on a tube. The experimental results based on PIV analysis support our previous force origin model and indicate that the model is able to successfully model bubble behavior and particle motion around fixed objects. The simulation results give useful predictions, dynamic force induced on a tube consists of the force from pressure gradient, fluid viscous force and particle contact force. The predominant force component is from the pressure gradient. As bubbles directly interact with a tube, the particle contact force contribution briefly becomes predominant.Bubble behavior and particle motion are greatly affected by the state of the emulsion phase as the medium of the fluidized bed into which gas is injected. Hence the dynamic forces on immersed objects are directly affected by the state of the emulsion phase.     

Plasma Sphingosine-1-Phosphate Levels Are Associated with Progression of Estrogen Receptor-Positive Breast Cancer

Although numerous experiments revealed an essential role of a lipid mediator, sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), in breast cancer (BC) progression, the clinical significance of S1P remains unclear due to the difficulty of measuring lipids in patients. The aim of this study was to determine the plasma concentration of S1P in estrogen receptor (ER)-positive BC patients, as well as to investigate its clinical significance. We further explored the possibility of a treatment strategy targeting S1P in ER-positive BC patients by examining the effect of FTY720, a functional antagonist of S1P receptors, on hormone therapy-resistant cells. Plasma S1P levels were significantly higher in patients negative for progesterone receptor (PgR) expression than in those positive for expression (p = 0.003). Plasma S1P levels were also significantly higher in patients with larger tumor size (p = 0.012), lymph node metastasis (p = 0.014), and advanced cancer stage (p = 0.003), suggesting that higher levels of plasma S1P are associated with cancer progression. FTY720 suppressed the viability of not only wildtype MCF-7 cells, but also hormone therapy-resistant MCF-7 cells. Targeting S1P signaling in ER-positive BC appears to be a possible new treatment strategy, even for hormone therapy-resistant patients.     

Curve generation of implicit functions by incremental computers

The conventional numerical solution of an implicit function f(x, y) = 0 is substantially complicated for calculating by any computer. We propose a new method representing the argument of the implicit function as a unary function of a parameter, t, if the continuous and unique solution of f(x, y) = 0 exists. The total differential $\text{d}\text{f}\text{d}\text{t}$ constitutes simultaneous differential equations of which the solution about x and y is unique. The Newton-Raphson method must be used to calculate the values near singular points of an implicit function and then the sign of dt has to be decided according to four special cases. Incremental computers are suitable for curve generation of implicit functions by the new method, because the incremental computer can perform more complex algorithms than the analog computer and can calculate faster than the digital computer. This method is easily applicable to curve generation in three-dimensional space.