Decomposition characteristics of biodegradable plastics made from sago starch‐extraction residue

Biodegradable plastics were synthesized for the effective use of sago starch‐extraction residue, which has been discarded as a waste. Two types of esterified sago starch‐extraction residue, P‐SP and L‐SP, were obtained. It had black color for P‐SP₁₆₀ (esterified by palm oil) to light yellow color for L‐SP₈₀ (esterified by lauric acid) and showed high carbon content, ranging from 399.3 to 537.1 g kg⁻¹. Biodegradable plastics from the residue, which had high esterification degree showed thermoplasticity and slower decomposition in Andisols in Japan and Inceptisols in Philippines. The esterification degrees of P‐SP₁₆₀ and L‐SP were 3.23 and 2.95 to 5.18 mmol g⁻¹, respectively. In addition, L‐SP₈₀ exhibited the most appropriate thermal softening behavior by heating. The cumulative decomposition of P‐SP₁₆₀ in Andisols and Inceptisols showed 16.7 and 32.8% of total carbon during 31 day of the incubation. On the other hand, the decomposition rates of L‐SP₈₀ in Andisols and Inceptisols were less than 10% of total carbon during 31 day of the incubation. The addition of triacetin as plasticizer to P‐SP₁₆₀ and L‐SP₈₀ remarkably influenced the decomposition rate of both molded P‐SP₁₆₀ and L‐SP₈₀. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011     

An Approximation for the Production Efficiency of Automatic Transfer Lines with In-Process Storages

This paper considers the production efficiency of automatic transfer lines where in-process storages are provided for stochastic station breakdowns. A simple approximation method is developed in order to readily obtain the production efficiency and show the benefit of providing storages even for long lines. Additionally, the optimal partitioning of the line and the method of allocating capacities for storages are numerically investigated.     

Formation of silicon dioxide layers at low temperatures (150-400 °C) by atmospheric pressure plasma oxidation of silicon

The formation of silicon dioxide (SiO₂) layers at low temperatures (150-400 °C) by atmospheric pressure plasma oxidation of Si(0 0 1) wafers have been studied using a gas mixture containing He and O₂. A 150 MHz very high frequency (VHF) power supply was used to generate high-density atomic oxygen in the atmospheric pressure plasma. Oxidation rate, structure, and thickness and refractive index profiles of the oxidized layers were investigated by ellipsometry and infrared absorption spectroscopy. Atomic force microscopy was also employed to observe atomic-scale morphologies of the layer surface and wafer Si surface, after chemical removal of the oxidized layers. It was found that stoichiometric SiO₂ layers were obtained at higher oxidation rates than conventional dry O₂ thermal oxidation and radical oxidation processes, even at a very low substrate temperature of 150 °C. Although thickness variations were observed in the plasma region, the refractive index was independent of both substrate temperature and VHF power. In addition, the SiO₂ surface and SiO₂/Si interface roughnesses were comparable to those obtained in conventional dry oxidation at high temperatures.     

New paradigm of silicon technology

We present a new paradigm of Si technologies to establish a gigahertz-operation gigascale integrated system large-scale integration (LSI), including digital and analog circuits. According to the theoretical analysis of high-speed signal propagation properties in the practical LSI structure, a gas-isolated-interconnect high-k gate dielectric metal-gate metal-substrate silicon-on-insulator (SOI) LSI structure is proposed as a possible solution for a future gigahertz GSI system LSI, where the clock rate is improved up to beyond 10 GHz and the minimum feature size is reduced down to 0.035 μm in keeping with the continuous progress of the LSI's speed performance. Perfect scientific manufacturing free from fluctuations consisting of total low-temperature high-quality and high-speed processes based on very high-density plasma having very low electron temperatures is essential to realize them     

Economical clean dry air system for closed manufacturing system

We demonstrated that the organic carbon contaminants influenced the J-E characteristics of a gate oxide. Molecular-contamination-free clean dry air (CDA) is a choice for the atmosphere control in a closed manufacturing system. The adsorption and desorption characteristics, which are important items for the design and operation of CDA production plants, were confirmed with both a dynamic simulation and a pilot column. Based on the results, we built a CDA plant with a capacity of 4000 m³/h, and confirmed that each contamination concentration was less than 10 ppb. We also proposed the economical CDA system using a power recycle device which has been newly developed. Using this CDA system, it is possible to reduce the power consumption in the CDA plant. Also, it is possible to realize the circulation of the used CDA without generating more contamination or power consumption     

Intelligence implementation on silicon based on four-terminal device electronics

We will propose the concept of a “four-terminal device” which functionally surpasses three-terminal devices like MOSFET's and bipolar transistors in the ability of controlling the current flowing through a device. The enhanced functionality at the very elemental transistor level is quite essential in creating intelligent functions at the system level. A neuron MOSFET (νMOS), a multiple-input-terminal floating-gate device, is taken as an example of a four-terminal device and the implementation of new-architecture electronic circuits is demonstrated. The binary-multivalue-analog merged hardware algorithms conducted by vMOS circuits provide a highly flexible data processing scheme while assuring the accuracy of binary digital computation, thus presenting a very promising approach to implementing human-intelligence electronic systems on silicon.     

Optimization of fluorine passivation of stainless steel surfaces

The optimum conditions for the fluorine passivation of 316L stainless steel are described. The direct fluoridation products formed at temperatures of 320°C or lower are composed solely of FeF₂ , while those which were formed at the temperatures of 330°C or higher have a compound-phase composition of FeF₂ and FeF ₃. At a critical temperature (400°C for 316L stainless steel) of the thermal modification process, FeF₃ is converted to FeF₂ and disappears completely as the temperature rises. Meanwhile, CrF₃ is formed at a certain temperature (440°C for 316L stainless steel). The two-phase composition gets further crystallized as the thermal modification temperature rises. As the crystal growth induces the cracks on the fluoridated film, it is very difficult to form a satisfactory passivation film from the two-phase composition by thermal modification. It is confirmed that excellent passivation film has been obtained from the single-phase composition by the optimum fluoridation following the optimum thermal modification     

Brain damage after aortic arch repair using selective cerebral perfusion

BACKGROUND: Selective cerebral perfusion is one of the most popular methods for cerebral protection during aortic arch repair. However, causes of postoperative brain damage are not fully understood. We analyzed brain damage after aortic arch repair using selective cerebral perfusion for true aortic arch aneurysm in regard to preoperative cerebral infarction and intracranial and extracranial occlusive arterial disease. METHODS: Over a 9-year period, 60 patients with true aortic arch aneurysm underwent aortic arch repair using selective cerebral perfusion. Postoperative brain damage was evaluated in regard to preoperative cerebral infarction detected by computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, or both in 50 patients and intracranial and extracranial occlusive arterial disease detected by digital subtraction angiography, magnetic resonance angiography, or both in 35 patients. RESULTS: Seven (12%) of the 60 patients died within 30 days of operation. Postoperative brain damage occurred in 6 (10.5%) (3, coma, and 3, hemiplegia) of 57 patients; 3 patients who died without awakening were excluded. Preoperatively, old cerebral infarction was detected in 9 patients (18%), and silent cerebral infarction (lacunar infarction and leukoaraiosis) was diagnosed in 26 patients (52%). Postoperative brain damage occurred in 3 (33%) of the 9 patients with preoperative cerebral infarction and in 3 (23%) of 13 patients with negative preoperative brain findings; this excludes 2 patients who died without awakening. No patient with silent cerebral infarction had postoperative brain damage. Occlusive arterial disease was detected in 7 patients (20%). The incidence of brain damage in these patients was 71% (5/7), which was significantly greater than that of 4% (1/28) in patients without occlusive arterial disease (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Silent cerebral infarction may not be a risk factor for postoperative brain damage. Preoperative evaluation of intracranial and extracranial occlusive arterial disease provides important information as to whether a patient might sustain brain damage after aortic arch repair using selective cerebral perfusion.     

A functional MOS transistor featuring gate-level weighted sum andthreshold operations

A functional MOS transistor is proposed which works more intelligently than a mere switching device. The functional transistor calculates the weighted sum of all input signals at the gate level, and controls the `on' and `off' of the transistor based on the result of such a weighted sum operation. Since the function is quite analogous to that of biological neurons, the device is named a neuron MOSFET, or neuMOS (vMOS). The device is composed of a floating gate and multiples of input gates that capacitively interact with the floating gate. As the gate-level sum operation is performed in a voltage mode utilizing the capacitive coupling effect, essentially no power dissipation occurs in the calculation, making the device ideal for ULSI implementation. The basic characteristics of neuron MOSFETs as well as of simple circuit blocks are analyzed based on a simple transistor model and experiments. Making use of its very powerful function, a number of interesting circuit applications are explored. A soft hardware logic circuit implemented by neuMOS transistors is also proposed