Real time estimation of CO2 laser weld quality for automotive industry

Laser welding is one of the most precise welding processes in joining sheet metals. In laser welding, performing real time evaluation of the welding quality is very important to enhance the efficiency of the welding process. In this study, the plasma and spatter, which are generated during laser welding, are measured using UV and IR photodiodes. The factors that influence weld quality are classified into five categories; optimal heat input, slightly low heat input, low heat input, partial joining due to gap mismatch, and nozzle deviation. The data number deviated from reference signals and their standard deviations were also considered to evaluate the qualities. A system was also formulated to perform real time evaluations of the weld quality using a fuzzy multi-feature pattern recognition with the measured signals.     

Stereoselective synthesis of (+)-lauthisan

Stereoselective synthesis of (+)-lauthisan has been accomplished starting from d-glyceraldehyde acetonide by combination of diastereoselective alkylation and ring-closing metathesis. High degree of 1,3-asymmetric induction has been realized in ether system.     

Convergence of optimal stochastic bin packing

Consider independent identically distributed random variables (X_i) valued in [0,1]. Let B(n) be the optimal (minimum) number of unit size bins needed to pack n items of size X₁, X₂,…,X_n. We prove that there exists a numerical constant C such that for t > 0,

$\text{Pr(∣B(n)?E(B(n))∣>t}\text{n}\text{)≤ C exp(? t).}$

The constant C does not depend on the distribution of X.     

Cysteine carboxyl O-methylation of human placental 23 kDa protein

C-Terminal carboxyl methylation of a human placental 23 kDa protein catalyzed by membrane-associated methyltransferase has been investigated. The 23 kDa protein substrate methylated was partially purified by DEAE-Sephacel, hydroxyapatite and Sephadex G-100 gel filtration chromatographies. The substrate protein was eluted on Sephadex G-100 gel filtration chromatography as a protein of about 29 kDa. In the absence of Mg2+, the methylation was stimulated by guanine nucleotides (GTP, GDP and GTPgammaS), but in the presence of Mg2+, only GTPgammaS stimulated the methylation which was similar to the effect on the G25K/rhoGDI complex. AFC, an inhibitor of C-terminal carboxyl methylation, inhibited the methylation of human placental 23 kDa protein. These results suggests that the substrate is a small G protein different from the G25K and is methylated on C-terminal isoprenylated cysteine residue. This was also confirmed by vapor phase analysis. The methylated substrate protein was redistributed to membrane after in vitro methylation, suggesting that the methylation of this protein is important for the redistribution of the 23 kDa small G protein for its putative role in intracellular signaling.     

Quantitative analyses of shape-selective intercalation of isomeric mixtures of muconates into [LiAl2(OH)6]Cl.yH2O layered double hydroxide

Quantitative investigation of the shape selectivity for the competitive intercalation reaction of isomeric mixtures in the interlayer of LDH was achieved by analyzing the solid phases synthesized by the reaction of [LiAl(2)(OH)(6)]Cl.yH(2)O with various compositional mixtures of (E,E)- and (Z,Z)-muconates. The apparent partition constant K' for the anion-exchange reaction between (E,E)- and (Z,Z)-muconates was quite dependent on the mole fraction of muconates in solution. The only single phase saturated with [LiAl(2)(OH)(6)](2)[(E,E)-C(6)H(4)O(4)].zH(2)O could be obtained in the range of the initial mole fraction of (E,E)-muconate larger than 0.6 in the starting solution, while mixed phases intercalated with (E,E)- and (Z,Z)-muconates could be obtained at lower mole fractions of (E,E)-muconate. The shape selectivity for the competitive reaction of two muconates on the [LiAl(2)(OH)(6)](+) lattice could be ascribed to thermodynamic processes, and the conditions under which that pure (E,E)-muconate was efficiently separated from isomeric mixtures of two muconates were successfully evaluated.     

Independent exponential feeding of glycerol and methanol for fed-batch culture of recombinant Hansenula polymorpha DL-1

As a novel feeding strategy for aptomizing human epidermal growth factor (hEGF) production with a recombinant Hansenula polymorpha DL-1 using the methanol oxidase (MOX) promoter in H. polymorpha DL-1, independent exponential feeding of two substrates was used. A simple kinetic model considering the cell growth on two substrates was established and used to calculate the respective feeding rates of glycerol and methanol. In the fedbatch culture with methanol-only feeding, the optimal set point of specific growth rate on methanol was found to be 0.10 h⁻¹. When the fed-batch cultures were conducted by the independent feeding of glycerol and methanol, the actual specific growth rate on glycerol and methanol was slightly lower than the set point of specific growth rate. By the uncoupled feeding of glycerol and methanol the volumetric productivity of hEGF increased from 6.4 to 8.0 mg/(L·h), compared with methanol-only feeding.     

Isomerization ofn-hexane overplatinum loaded zeolites

The effect of the calcination temperature of bifunctional Pt/zeolites on the isomerization ofn-hexane has been investigated. The catalyst calcined at 350°C showed the highest metal dispersity and the best activity. The higher selectivity of dimethylbutanes over Pt/H- than over Pt/H-MOR might be attributed to the combined effect of acidity, channel structure and pore size of zeolites.     

Friedel-crafts acylation of 2-methoxynaphthalene over h-beta catalysts: effect of Si/Al ratio

The acylation of 2-methoxynaphthalene with acetic anhydride was carried out over zeolite beta catalysts having various Si/Al ratios. It was found that the reaction performance is strongly dependent on the Si/Al ratio of the catalyst. The catalytic reaction features were elucidated in terms of the acidic properties of the catalysts. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Sequential injection analysis system for on-line monitoring of l-cysteine concentration in biological processes

A sequential injection analysis (SIA) system was developed to monitor the concentration of l-cysteine in biological processes on-line. It is based on the redox reaction of l-cysteine with iron(III) in the presence of 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) and the detection of the red-iron(II)-phen complex with a spectrophotometry. The system was fully automated using software written in the LabVIEW™ development environment. A number of system variables such as the flow rate of the carrier buffer solution, the volume ratio of the sample to the reagents, and the reaction coil length, etc., were evaluated to increase the sensitivity and performance of the SIA system. Under partially optimized operating conditions the performance of the SIA system was linear up to a concentration of l-cysteine of 1 mM (R² = 0.998) with a detection limit of 0.005 mM and a sample frequency of 15 hr⁻¹. The SIA system was employed to monitor the concentration of l-cysteine on-line in a continuously stirred reactor and a fermentation process of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The on-line monitored data were in good agreement with the off-line data measured by a HPLC with a fluorescence detector (n = 15, R² = 09899).     

Isolation of rice allergenic cDNA clones from a rice cDNA library by immunoscreening with a polyclonal antibody specific to 16 kD rice allergenic protein

Clinical cases of type-1 hypersensitive reaction to rice (Oryza sativa) have been reported in western countries as well as in Japan. Among rice proteins, 14-16 kD globulin proteins encoded by multiple gene family have been identified as major rice allergens. In this study, a rice cDNA library was constructed using lambda UniZap vector and screened with a rat anti-16 kD globulin protein polyclonal antibody in order to isolate Korean rice allergenic cDNA clones. Five independent cDNA clones, termed RAK1-5, were obtained after second rounds of plaque assay and immunoblot analysis. These clones encoded 13-19 kD recombinant proteins upon IPTG induction, which were identified by the polyclonal antibody in immunoblot analysis. DNA sequencing analysis showed that RAK1-4 have 99% sequence homology with RA5b, and RAK5 is closely related with RA14c. This result indicated that RA5b gene is widely distributed in our cDNA library among other possible rice allergenic genes, and more study is needed to isolate heterogeneous or novel rice allergen genes.