A new optical elasticity resin for mobile LCD modules

Abstract— The display used in current cell phones has an air gap between the cover glass and the liquid‐crystal‐display (LCD) module to prevent the LCD glass from being damaged. Reflections at the boundaries of the air gap cause a reduction in the LCD luminance and contrast. To address this problem, a newly proposed LCD structure has been investigated. The “Super View Resin (SVR),” a transparent elastic resin which improves the shock resistance and visibility of the LCD, has been developed. Filling the air gap between the cover glass and LCD module with a refractive‐index‐matching resin solves the light‐reflection problem inherent in the use of a reinforced cover‐glass lens. Moreover, the elastic filler works as a damper, reducing any external shock, which prevents not only the cover glass and LCD module from being damaged, but also the glass from being shattered when it is broken.     

The deformation of beams structured by thin walls

Nowadays our society demands the reuse of industrial products. Then we should not only re-investigate the materials of products but also originate a new design method of industrial products. We have investigated the cellular structure by using abandoned paper, because the cell's shape can be proposed arbitrarily by folding a paper. As examples, we have proposed the structure constructed by connecting many folded cells formed in a hexagonal cross area. This structure will have characteristics such as almost high rigidity, high stiffness, crushing stress, relative insensitivity to the overall loss of stability. To estimate the characteristics of these structures, we must analyze the deformation in loading. When the structure with thin walls formed by paper is loaded, the shape of deformation is different from that of the metal, wall swells and does not maintain its flatness. Therefore, we cannot apply the traditional theory of elasticity for the analysis. In this paper, we propose a new estimation method by analyzing the swelling.     

Quantum chemical approach to the interpretation of the STM tunneling mechanism: semiempirical calculations on the electronic structures of silica/silicon clusters

The mechanism of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) observations of a surface of a silicon oxide (silica) thin film grown on crystalline silicon and its silica/silicon interface were investigated by means of semiempirical quantum chemical calculations. Cluster models representing the silica/silicon system were constructed, and their electronic structures were calculated. A previously postulated STM observation mechanism was examined in terms of the calculated energy levels of the clusters and the spatial distributions of their electron orbitals.     

Three-dimensional fully plastic solutions for semi-elliptical surface cracks

Nonlinear finite element analyses of semi-elliptical surface cracks are performed with the fully plastic condition, where the power-law hardening materials and the deformation theory of plasticity are assumed. To satisfy the incompressibility condition of a plastic material, two kinds of numerical techniques (the penalty function method and the Uzawa algorithm) are employed. The local distributions and the global values of the J-integral are obtained using the virtual crack extension technique for various configurations of semi-elliptical surface crack in plate subjected to uniform tension and bending, respectively. These solutions are given in the form of polynomials with geometric parameters of crack and the strain hardening exponent. Finally, an estimation scheme for the J-integral of surface crack in a plate subjected to mixed loading of tension and bending is proposed.     

Algorithm improvement and validation of National Institute for Environmental Studies ozone differential absorption lidar at the Tsukuba Network for Detection of Stratospheric Change complementary station

Recently, a data processing and retrieval algorithm (version 2) for ozone, aerosol, and temperature lidar measurements was developed for an ozone lidar system at the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) in Tsukuba (36 degrees N,140 degrees E), Japan. A method for obtaining the aerosol boundary altitude and the aerosol extinction-to-backscatter ratio in the version 2 algorithm enables a more accurate determination of the vertical profiles of aerosols and a more accurate correction of the systematic errors caused by aerosols in the vertical profile of ozone. Improvements in signal processing are incorporated for the correction of systematic errors such as the signal-induced noise and the dead-time effect. The mean vertical ozone profiles of the NIES ozone lidar were compared with those of the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment II (SAGE II); they agreed well within a 5% relative difference in the 20-40 km altitude range and within 10% up to 45 km. The long-term variations in the NIES ozone lidar also showed good coincidence with the ozonesonde and SAGE II at 20, 25, 30, and 35 km. The temperatures retrieved from the NIES ozone lidar and those given by the National Center for Environmental Prediction agreed within 7 K in the 35-50 km range.     

Reconstructed three-dimensional images of flow-sorted nuclei hybridized with chromosome-specific probes

We demonstrated that the three-dimensional (3-D) locational and morphological differences of chromosome 17 are dependent on each cell cycle phase in the clinical materials. Cell suspensions prepared from hypertrophied tonsil were hybridized with chromosome 17 whole painting probe or its centromeric probe and the probes were detected with fluorescein isothiocyanate. Then the cells were sorted from G(0+1), S-, and G(2+M)-phase fractions by flow cytometry and observed by confocal laser scanning microscopy to obtain the serial optical sections. The 3-D images were obtained by assembling these sections using a computerized image analysis device. The distribution of centromeric copies was analyzed statistically, and the data values were not a population of random distribution within a sphere. The copies were observed in the periphery of the nuclei in G(0+1)- and S-phase. The 3-D images revealed that chromosome 17 was oval in shape in the G(0+1)-phase nucleus, and was changing into a flame shape in the S-phase, with arms stretching out along the nuclear membrane, and looked bush shaped in G2-phase. The eccentric distribution of chromosome 17 in G(0+1)- and S-phase nuclei may reflect the optimal efficiency of incorporating and/or releasing essential materials and products.     

Development of training method for vessel traffic service based on cognitive process

Cognition, Technology & Work - Vessel traffic service (VTS) is important to protect the safety of maritime traffic. Along with the expansion of monitoring area per VTS operator in Tokyo Bay,...     

Chimeric Mice with Humanized Livers: A Unique Tool for in Vivo and in Vitro Enzyme Induction Studies

We performed in vivo and in vitro studies to determine the induction of human cytochrome P450 (CYP) using chimeric mice with humanized liver (PXB-mice^®) and human hepatocytes isolated from the PXB-mice (PXB-cells), which were derived from the same donor. For the in vivo study, PXB-mice were injected with 3-methylcholanthrene (3-MC, 2 or 20 mg/kg) or rifampicin (0.1 or 10 mg/kg) for four days. For the in vitro study, PXB-cells were incubated with 3-MC (10, 50, or 250 ng/mL) or with rifampicin (5 or 25 μg/mL). The CYP1A1 and 1A2, and CYP3A4 mRNA expression levels increased significantly in the PXB-mouse livers with 20 mg/kg of 3-MC (C_max, 12.2 ng/mL), and 10 mg/kg rifampicin (C_max, 6.9 μg/mL), respectively. The CYP1A1 mRNA expression level increased significantly in PXB-cells with 250 ng/mL of 3-MC, indicating lower sensitivity than in vivo. The CYP1A2 and CYP3A4 mRNA expression levels increased significantly with 50 ng/mL of 3-MC, and 5 μg/mL of rifampicin, respectively, which indicated that the sensitivities were similar between in vivo and in vitro studies. In conclusion, PXB-mice and PXB-cells provide a robust model as an intermediate between in vivo and in vitro human metabolic enzyme induction studies.     

Bis(salicylaldehydato)dioxomolybdenum complexes: catalysis for ring-opening polymerization

Bis-(salicylaldehydato)dioxomolybdenum complexes show excellent catalytic activity for the ring-opening polymerization of ε-caprolactone. Of the tested, the bis-(5-methoxysalicylaldehydato)dioxomolybdenum complex exhibited the highest reactivity. With 0.0005 mol% catalyst, the ring-opening polymerization was complete within 3 h at 130 °C. The turnover frequency of the reaction was calculated to be 23,000 and 67,000 mol h^?1 at 110 and 130 °C, respectively. After an induction period, the reaction proceeds in a living manner, following first-order reaction kinetics.     

A strategy of automatic hexahedral mesh generation by using an improved whisker-weaving method with a surface mesh modification procedure

One of the demands for three dimensional (3D) finite element analyses is the development of an automatic hexahedral mesh generator. For this problem, several methods have been proposed by many researchers. However, reliable automatic hexahedral mesh generation has not been developed at present. In this paper, a new strategy of fully automatic hexahedral mesh generation is proposed. In this strategy, the prerequisite for generating a hexahedral mesh is a quadrilateral surface mesh. From the given surface mesh, combinatorial dual cycles (sheet loops for the whisker-weaving algorithm) are generated to produce a hexahedral mesh. Since generating a good quality hexahedral mesh does not depend only on the quality of quadrilaterals of the surface mesh but also on the quality of the sheet loops generated from it, a surface mesh modification method to remove self-intersections from sheet loops is developed. Next, an automatic hexahedral mesh generator by the improved whisker-weaving algorithm is developed in this paper. By creating elements and nodes on 3D real space during the weaving process, it becomes possible to generate a hexahedral mesh with fewer bad-quality elements. Several examples will be presented to show the validity of the proposed mesh generation strategy.