Research on some basic deformations in free forging with robot and servo-press

Due to the disadvantages in casting or hot forging of Ti alloy artificial bones, such as low strength and high energy cost, this paper prompted an alternative method to manufacture individuated artificial bones. Free forging with a 6-axis freedom robot and servo-press could be very economical in the forming of complex shape parts because of its high flexibility and simple die-setting. Based on this system, the authors studied deformations of some basic elements, which could be assembled to artificial bones with complex shape. Firstly, the compression limit and effect of compression parameters on the roundness during reducing diameter process were declared for Al alloy and pure Ti. Secondly, an approximate theoretical equation of bending angle or curvature radius was proposed, and it matches experimental results well. Finally, a dimension prediction equation was presented by considering effect of material anisotropy, and then the ladder part without width spread was manufactured accordingly.     

Improvement of the position resolution of the CCD for X-ray use

The authors report here experimental results relating X-ray interaction location and event splitting. The X-ray interaction location can be localized at subpixel scale using the mesh technique. The authors found that the center of gravity of the split event is well-correlated with the X-ray interaction location. They analyzed the data using two models for the charge cloud shape: one is the rectangular model and the other is the Gaussian model. Although the authors could not distinguish between these models, they measured a root mean square charge cloud size of 1 to 2 μm for X-rays of Y-L (1.9 keV), Ag-L (3.0 keV), and Ti-K (4.5 keV). When the X-rays enter near the pixel boundary, the charge splits into adjacent pixels, allowing determination of the X-ray interaction location with an accuracy of 1.5 to 2.2 μm. The authors, therefore, expect that the X-ray CCD can function as an X-ray imager with subpixel resolution, which will be especially useful in applications involving very high spatial resolution optics     

INTERACTION OF HYDROXYLATED POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS TO ESTROGEN RECEPTOR

Binding activities and estrogenic/antiestrogenic activities of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and hydroxylated PAHs (OHPAHs) having 2 to 6 rings were evaluated by competition assay and yeast two-hybrid assay expressing human estrogen receptor (hER), respectively. PAHs did not bind to hER and did not show any activity. On the other hand, OHPAHs bound to hER and several OHPAHs showed estrogenic or antiestrogenic activity. Relative estrogenic activity (REP _E ) and antiestrogenic activity (REP _AE ) were calculated from the values of E ₂ and 4-hydroxytamoxyfen as positive controls, respectively. Several OHPAHs having 4 rings showed strongly estrogenic activity. 4-Hydroxybenzo[a]anthracene exhibited the strongest estrogenic activity (REP _E = 7.5 × 10^?3 ) followed by 3-hydroxybenzo[a]anthracene and 2-hydroxychrysene (REP _E = 4.2 × 10^?3 ). Several other 4-ring OHPAHs showed strongly antiestrogenic activity. 3-Hydroxybenzo[c]phenanthrene exhibited the strongest antiestrogenic activity (REP _AE = 190) followed by 2-hydroxybenzo[c]phenanthrene (REP _AE = 69) and 2- hydroxybenz [a]anthracene (REP _AE = 0.42). The results suggested that there is a strong structure – activity relationship.     

LixCo0.4Ni0.3Mn0.3O2 electrode materials: Electrochemical and structural studies

LiCo_0.4Ni_0.3Mn_0.3O₂ layered oxide in a member of the LiCo_1?2xNi_xMn_xO₂ solid solution between LiCoO₂ and LiNi_0.5Mn_0.5O₂. Compositions from this solid solution have attracted much attention and have been extensively studied as promising cathode candidates to replace the most popular LiCoO₂ cathode material used in the commercial lithium-ion batteries (LiBs). LiCo_0.4Ni_0.3Mn_0.3O₂ positive electrode material was prepared via the combustion method followed by a thermal treatment at 900 °C for 12 h. This material was characterized by a high homogeneity and a granular shape. The Rietveld refinement evidenced that the structure of this compound exhibits no Ni/Li disorder revealing that the LiCo_1?2xNi_xMn_xO₂ system presents the ideal structure for LiBs application when x < 0.4. The electrochemical performances of the LiCo_0.4Ni_0.3Mn_0.3O₂ sample were measured at different current rates in the 2.7–4.5 V potential range. Its discharge capacity reached 178, 161 and 145 mAhg^?1 at C/20, 1C and 2C, respectively. Structural changes in LiCo_0.4Ni_0.3Mn_0.3O₂ upon delithiation were studied using ex situ X-ray diffraction. A continuous solid solution with a rhombohedral symmetry was detected in the whole composition range. This structural stability during the cycling combined with the obtained electrochemical features make this material convenient for the LiBs applications.     

The development of the Japanese version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory and the examination of the factor structure

This article presents an evaluation of the factor structures of the Japanese version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). The MBI is a widely used psychometric instrument for measuring 'burnout' developed by Maslach and her co-workers. The MBI consists of four subscales: Emotional Exhaustion, Personal Accomplishment, Depersonalization, and Involvement. The MBI was translated into Japanese along with a back-translation and was administered to a sample of 267 nurses. Various psychometric analyses showed that the Japanese version of the MBI has high reliability for the 22 items scored for the frequency dimension. The factor analysis using principal factoring with an oblique rotation resulted in three factor structures that had different implications from the MBI: Emotional Exhaustion/Depersonalization, Personal Accomplishment, and Physical Exhaustion. The correlationship between the MBI and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), measures of depression, showed that burnout was a unique phenomenon.     

High‐speed and low‐voltage write addressing of plasma display panels by use of extremely weak discharge

Although the priming effect shortens address period and reduces address voltage, it is difficult to use the priming effect for the conventional write addressing method because the ramp reset pulses provide little priming effect. An extremely weak discharge for priming has been incorporated with write addressing method. The extremely weak discharge is generated by priming pulse applied just prior to the scan pulse. In the 4‐in‐diagonal test panel containing Ne + 10%Xe mixture gas, infrared emission intensity of the discharge is 900 times smaller than that of sustain discharge. Therefore, there is no degradation of dark room contrast ratio. Because the priming discharge generates a very small amount of charges, there is little reduction in the amount of wall charge accumulated during reset period. Namely, increase in address voltage can be avoided. Although the discharge intensity is extremely low, it provides sufficient priming particles for high‐speed and low‐voltage addressing. When priming pulse voltage is 70 V and width is 10 µs, the address discharge delay is reduced to less than half. When the scan voltage margin is 10 V, the data voltage is reduced to 17 V, which is 20 V lower than that of conventional method.