Liquid Marble Patchwork on Super-Repellent Surface

Liquid marble (LM) is a droplet that is wrapped by hydrophobic solid particles, which behave as a non-wetting soft solid. Based on these properties, LM can be applied in fluidics and soft device applications. A wide variety of functional particles have been synthesized to form functional LMs. However, the formation of multifunctional LMs by integrating several types of functional particles is challenging. Here, a general strategy for the flexible patterning of functional particles on droplet surfaces in a patchwork-like design is reported. It is shown that LMs can switch their macroscopic behavior between a stable and active state on super-repellent surfaces in situ by jamming/unjamming the surface particles. Active LMs hydrostatically coalesce to form a self-sorted particle pattern on the droplet surface. With the support of LM handling robotics, on-demand cyclic activation–manipulation–coalescence–stabilization protocols by LMs with different sizes and particle types result in the reliable design of multi-faced LMs. Based on this concept, a single bi-functional LM is designed from two mono-functional LMs as an advanced droplet carrier.     

Preparation of biaxially textured Ce1-x(Y0.2Zr0.8)xOδ buffer layers on RABiTS NiW tapes by chemical solution deposition

Highly (100)-oriented Ce_1-x(Y_0.2Zr_0.8)_xO_δ (CYZO) films were prepared on biaxially textured NiW substrates by a chemical solution deposition approach using metal inorganic salts as starting materials. It has been found that both the preferential orientation and surface roughness of CYZO films decrease gradually with increasing of the doping percentage of Y³⁺ and Zr⁴⁺ ions. The epitaxial growth relationship of (220)_CYZO//(200)_NiW and [00?l]_CYZO//[001]_NiW was demonstrated by XRD texture measurement as well as atomic resolution STEM observation. XRD, Raman and XPS spectra results indicate that Y³⁺ and Zr⁴⁺ ions were indeed introduced into CeO₂ lattice to substitute Ce⁴⁺ ions and form cubic fluorite CYZO solid solution. Moreover, CeO₂ buffer layer can be endowed a strong enough capability to prevent element diffusion through co-doping of yttrium and zirconium, provided that an optimal doping ratio of them is adopted. This will provide a new approach to fabricating strong-barrier single buffer layer for coated conductor.     

Verification of a model for estimating the void fraction in a three-component randomly packed bed

The void fraction in a three-component randomly packed bed was calculated from the authors' model, and the calculated values were compared with published experimental data for spherical and irregularly shaped particles and with results from computer simulations. Results from the model were in good agreement with simulated and published experimental data.     

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.     

Effects of Seismically Induced Pounding at Expansion Joints of Concrete Bridges

This paper presents the result of a study on the effect of pounding at expansion joints on concrete bridge response to earthquake ground motions. An engineering approach, rather than continuum mechanics approach, is emphasized. First, the dynamic behavior of a damped multidegree-of-freedom bridge system separated by an expansion joint involving an impact is examined by means of the finite element method. Second, the sensitivity analysis of the stiffness in gap elements is performed. Third, usefulness of the analysis method for simulation of pounding phenomena is demonstrated and the effect of pounding on the ductility demands measured in terms of the rotation of column ends is investigated. Two-dimensional finite element analysis using a bilinear hysterestic model for bridge substructure joints and a nonlinear gap element for the expansion joint is performed on a realistic bridge with an expansion joint. The effects of the primary factors on the ductility demand such as gap sizes and characteristics of earthquake ground motion are investigated through a parametric study. The major conclusions are (1) the effect of impact most directly depends on the size of momentum (or pounding magnitude); and (2) the pounding effect is generally found to be negligible on the ductility demand for wide practical ranges of gap size and peak ground acceleration, but is potentially significant at the locations of impact.     

Confirmation of anatoxin-a(s), in the cyanobacterium Anabaena lemmermannii, as the cause of bird kills in Danish lakes

Cyanobacterial blooms were implicated in bird kills at lakes in Denmark in July 1993 and June-July 1994. These blooms were dominated by Anabaena lemmermannii and were shown to contain a neurotoxin with anticholinesterase activity. In this study, the toxin was isolated by mouse lethality guided column chromatographies from the field sample collected at Lake Knud s? in 1993. Various spectroscopic data indicated that the toxin was anatoxin-a(s), an irreversible anticholinesterase, first reported in Anabaena flos-aquae. Chemical detection of the same toxin in cultured A. lemmermannii also confirmed this species as the cause of the deaths of the wild birds.     

The short-term effect of a smoking prevention program for the upper graders of elementary schools--the results of intervention study for two years with quasi-experimental design

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the short-term effect of a smoking prevention program for Japanese elementary school-children in the fifth and sixth grades. The program was developed with concepts found in the Know Your Body Program and the conclusions of a National Cancer Institute-convened Expert Advisory Panel, and focused on teaching about the short-term effects of smoking and on resistance to social pressures to smoke. The study was conducted with a quasi-experimental design. An intervention group (52 boys and 54 girls) received three sessions for both the fifth grade in 1992 and the sixth grade in 1993. Moreover, the intervention group received a pre-test before the first session and a post-test after the third session in each grade. A comparison group (102 boys and 91 girls) received the same tests at the same time as the intervention group, but did not receive any program on smoking prevention. The short-term effect of the program were evaluated using the results of the pre-test in the fifth grade and of the post-test in the sixth grade in both groups. The results were as follows: 1) Remarkable short-term effects of the intervention were seen in respect to awareness of the importance of not smoking in girls, and also in the knowledge of the short-term effects of smoking in both sexes. 2) The intervention was not effective with respect to intention to smoke at the age of 20 and self-efficacy of refusing to smoke in both sexes. 3) The short-term effects were not clear in the smoking behavior in both sexes because the rates of ever smokers and of monthly smokers were almost the same for two years between the intervention group and the comparison group. 4) The smoking behaviors of children, their parents and their best friends had little influence on the results of the post-test in the sixth grade.     

R & D Needs - Drying of Ceramics

New research and development needs for the drying of ceramics are prooosed. The researches on the ceramic drying are briefly reviewed and the role of the drying in the ceramic production process iS summarized. The drying must deal with molded materials and the problem is of significant difference from another drying with particulate materials. It means that the drying must be performed with keeping the molded feature and the insufficient completion of drying and the careless operation influence directly on the product quality The importnance of the R & D on the heat and moisture transfer. shrinking mechanism. the deformation behavior and the strain-stress formation in the molded clay issuggested. The subjects are also pointed out for the further improvement of the ceramic drying process and the precise design of molding with high quality.     

Crystal structures of Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium 3-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase and comparison with their thermophilic counterpart from Thermus thermophilus

The basis of protein stability has been investigated by the structural comparison of themophilic enzymes with their mesophilic counterparts. A number of characteristics have been found that can contribute to the stabilization of thermophilic proteins, but no one is uniquely capable of imparting thermostability. The crystal structure of 3-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase (IPMDH) from the mesophiles Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium have been determined by the method of molecular replacement using the known structure of the homologous Thermus thermophilus enzyme. The structure of the E. coli enzyme was refined at a resolution of 2.1 A to an R-factor of 17.3%, that of the S. typhimurium enzyme at 1.7 A resolution to an R-factor of 19.8%. The three structures were compared to elucidate the basis of the higher thermostability of the T. thermophilus enzyme. A mutant that created a cavity in the hydrophobic core of the thermophilic enzyme was designed to investigate the importance of packing density for thermostability. The structure of this mutant was analyzed. The main stabilizing features in the thermophilic enzyme are an increased number of salt bridges, additional hydrogen bonds, a proportionately larger and more hydrophobic subunit interface, shortened N and C termini and a larger number of proline residues. The mutation in the hydrophobic core of T. thermophilus IPMDH resulted in a cavity of 32 A3, but no significant effect on the activity and thermostability of the mutant was observed.