Contribution to carrier densities of the oxygen vacancy in a low-resistivity tin-doped indium oxide film by the hot-cathode plasma sputtering method

In order to clarify the contribution to carrier density by oxygen vacancies in tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) films prepared on glass substrates by the hot-cathode plasma sputtering method, we have investigated the effect of annealing on the electrical properties of an ITO film with a resistivity of 1.0 × 10^− 4 Ω cm. A drastic decrease in carrier density from 2.0 × 10²¹ to 0.88 × 10²¹ cm^− 3 was found with gradual increase in the Hall mobility from 29 to 35 cm² V^− 1 s^− 1 for repeated annealing cycles, when the ITO film was exposed for one hour to 400 °C oxygen gas at atmospheric pressure. The results indicate that the contribution of oxygen vacancies to carrier density was ca. 1.12 × 10²¹ cm^− 3 for the ITO film with an overall carrier density of 2.0 × 10²¹ cm^− 3.     

焦炭过滤床电炉粉尘捕集特性的模拟研究

以超细二氧化硅微粒为模拟粉尘,研究了在冷态焦炭过滤床条件下的电炉粉尘捕集特性：即在固定床的实验条件下,当气流速度一定时,平衡状态下静态捕集量在过滤床纵轴方向上的分布状态变化较小;当焦炭颗粒以一定速度下移时,随粉尘供给速率的增大,整体的静态捕集量也随之增加,从上部到下部静态捕集量呈渐增趋势。本实验条件下,在综合考虑捕集量、捕集速率和捕集效率的基础上,气流速度应小于0.65 m/s。     

Increase in photovoltaic performances of dye-sensitized solar cells—Modification of interface between TiO2 nano-porous layers and F-doped SnO2 layers

In order to improve the physical and chemical contacts between a porous TiO₂ layer and an F-doped SnO₂ transparent conductive layer (FTO), the surface of the FTO layer is polished. After polishing, the surface roughness decreased. However, light transmittance and sheet resistance did not vary largely. The short circuit current (J_sc) and efficiencies increased after the FTO was polished. It was found that the interfacial charge transfer between a TiO₂ layer and an FTO layer decreased by impedance measurement, which suggests that contacts between an FTO and a TiO₂ layer are improved because of the flatted surfaces or removal of electrical impurities. We propose one of the industrially important phenomena that surface polishing of FTO is one of the ways to increase photovoltaic performances for DSCs.     

Inflammasomes in Teleosts: Structures and Mechanisms That Induce Pyroptosis during Bacterial Infection

Pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) play a crucial role in inducing inflammatory responses; they recognize pathogen-associated molecular patterns, damage-associated molecular patterns, and environmental factors. Nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-leucine-rich repeat-containing receptors (NLRs) are part of the PRR family; they form a large multiple-protein complex called the inflammasome in the cytosol. In mammals, the inflammasome consists of an NLR, used as a sensor molecule, apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a caspase recruitment domain (ASC) as an adaptor protein, and pro-caspase1 (Casp1). Inflammasome activation induces Casp1 activation, promoting the maturation of proinflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-18, and the induction of inflammatory cell death called pyroptosis via gasdermin D cleavage in mammals. Inflammasome activation and pyroptosis in mammals play important roles in protecting the host from pathogen infection. Recently, numerous inflammasome-related genes in teleosts have been identified, and their conservation and/or differentiation between their expression in mammals and teleosts have also been elucidated. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge of the molecular structure and machinery of the inflammasomes and the ASC-spec to induce pyroptosis; moreover, we explore the protective role of the inflammasome against pathogenic infection in teleosts.     

Effect of defects on the fatigue limit of Ni‐based superalloy 718 with different grain sizes

Tension‐compression fatigue tests were performed on two types of Ni‐based superalloy 718 with different microstructures in which small artificial defects of various sizes and shapes were introduced. The susceptibility of the fatigue strength to the defects varied significantly with the microstructure morphology, ie, a smaller grain size made the alloy more susceptible to defects. The fatigue limit as a small‐crack threshold was successfully predicted using the parameter model. The evaluation of the fatigue limit was classified into the following three stages depending on the defect size: (a) harmless defect regime, (b) small‐crack regime, and (c) large‐crack regime. Such a classification enabled comprehensive evaluation of the fatigue limit in a wide range of defect size, considering (a) defect size over a range of small crack to large crack and (b) characteristics of matrix represented by grain size and hardness.     

Elasticity of nanocrystalline kyanite at high pressure and temperature from ultrasonic and synchrotron X-ray techniques

Material properties, such as elasticity data at wide-ranging conditions of pressure and temperature, attract increasing attention for material and earth sciences. In particular, polycrystalline ceramics for next-generation photonic applications are nowadays fabricated by advanced syntheses techniques operating under elevated pressures and temperatures. Herein, the elastic properties of a synthetic transparent and reinforced aluminosilicate nanoceramic composed of triclinic kyanite with minor amounts of trigonal α-alumina crystals are investigated using in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction and ultrasonic techniques at high-pressure (up to 11 GPa) and high-temperature (300-1500 K) conditions. This not only enables the determination of the equation of state (EoS) parameters by applying the pressure-volume-temperature (P-V-T) data to the high-temperature Birch-Murnaghan EoS but also yields the elastic moduli together with their P and T derivatives from the fit of the compressional and shear wave velocities to a finite strain EoS: K_S0,300 = 186(2) GPa, K′_S0,300 = 7.2(6), (∂K_S0,300/∂T)_P = −0.023(2) GPa K⁻¹, G_0,300 = 125(1) GPa G′_0,300 = 2.3(2), (∂G_0,300/∂T)_P = −0.017(1) GPa K⁻¹. On the basis of our acquired results, we propose to predict the elastic moduli of aluminosilicate ceramics by a linear function of the ratio of AlO₆ octahedra and SiO₄ tetrahedra within the constituting phases.     

Three-dimensional parallel Turing machines

Informally, the parallel Turing machine (PTM) proposed by Wiedermann is a set of identical usual sequential Turing machines (STMs) cooperating on two common tapes: storage tape and input tape. Moreover, STMs which represent the individual processors of a parallel computer can multiply themselves in the course of computation. On the other hand, during the past 25 years or so, automata on a three-dimensional tape have been proposed as computational models of three-dimensional pattern processing, and several properties of such automata have been obtained. We proposed a three-dimensional parallel Turing machine (3-PTM), and dealt with a hardware-bounded 3-PTM whose inputs are restricted to cubic ones. We believe that this machine is useful in measuring the parallel computational complexity of three-dimensional images. In this article, we continue the study of 3-PTM, whose inputs are restricted to cubic ones, and investigate some of its accepting powers. This work was presented in part at the 12th International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics, Oita, Japan, January 25–27, 2007     

Sonographic detection of tumor blood flow using a new contrast agent in woodchuck hepatomas

The aim of this study was to assess the ability of perfluoropropane-filled albumin microspheres to visualize tumor blood flow in woodchuck hepatomas. Ten tumors in five woodchucks with hepatomas were imaged before and after intravenous injection (dosages of 0.01 ml/kg to 2.0 ml/kg) of an agent using color Doppler sonography and gray scale ultrasonography. Both enhanced imaging modalities demonstrated blood flow around and within all tumors. Enhanced gray scale ultrasonography demonstrated sonographic "tumor blush" in seven tumors (70%). In conclusion, tumor blood flow in woodchucks was visualized more clearly using the agent on both color Doppler and gray scale ultrasonography.     

Effects of sintering additives on dispersion properties of Al2O3 slurry containing polyacrylic acid dispersant

The effects of sintering aid adsorption on the dispersion properties of aluminum oxide slurries were investigated. We considered Al₂O₃ slurry without additives and Al₂O₃ slurry with a Mg additive with 0.1 mass% in oxide equivalent as a sintering aid. In this study, we evaluated the adsorption isotherm of polyacrylic acid (PAA) onto Al₂O₃ and the dispersion degree of Al₂O₃ slurries in sedimentation tests under gravity. The adsorption isotherm featured a characteristic adsorption isothermal line with a maximum value when Mg additive was present in Al₂O₃. In addition, the packing fractions did not correspond to the apparent viscosity. However, in slurry that was allowed to settle for several days, both of them agreed.Therefore, the disagreement between the packing fraction and the apparent viscosity immediately after preparation arose from changes of the dispersion state, such as the decrease of the distance between particles with time.