Identification of Post-Necking Hardening Phenomena in Ductile Sheet Metal

A combined theoretical/experimental approach accurately quantifying post-necking hardening phenomena in ductile sheet materials that initially exhibit diffuse necking in tension is presented. The method is based on the minimization of the discrepancy between the internal and the external work in the necking zone during a quasi-static tensile test. The main focus of this paper is on the experimental validation of the method using an independent material test. For this purpose, the uniaxial tube expansion test is used to obtain uniaxial strain hardening behavior beyond the point of maximum uniform strain in a tensile test. The proposed method is used to identify the post-necking hardening behavior of a cold rolled interstitial-free steel sheet. It is demonstrated that commonly adopted phenomenological hardening laws cannot accurately describe all hardening stages. An alternative phenomenological hardening model is presented which enables to disentangle pre- and post-necking hardening behavior. Additionally, the influence of the yield surface on the identified post-necking hardening behavior is scrutinized. The results of the proposed method are compared with the hydraulic bulge test. Unlike the hydraulic bulge test, the proposed method predicts a decreased hardening rate in the post-necking regime which might be associated with probing stage IV hardening. While inconclusive, the discrepancy with the hydraulic bulge test suggests differential work hardening at large plastic strains.     

Phosphopeptide-dependent labeling of 14-3-3 ζ proteins by fusicoccin-based fluorescent probes

Fluorescent combination: Cell-penetrating probes derived from the diterpene fusicoccin can form ternary complexes with 14-3-3 proteins and phosphopeptide ligands, whereupon the probes site-specifically attach a fluorescent tag onto the surface of the 14-3-3 proteins.     

Kinetics of Iterative Carbohydrate Transfer to Polysaccharide Catalyzed by Chondroitin Polymerase on a Highly Sensitive Flow‐Type 27 MHz Quartz‐Crystal Microbalance

Using a highly sensitive flow‐type 27 MHz quartz crystal microbalance, we could detect a small mass change during stepwise and alternating one‐sugar transfer of glucuronic acid (GlcA) and N‐acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc) to an acceptor, catalyzed by chondroitin polymerase from Escherichia coli strain K4 (K4CP), and analyze the elongation mechanism of K4CP. K4CP was found to bind strongly to a chondroitin acceptor (K_d=0.97 μM ). Although the binding affinity and the catalytic rate constant for each monomer were considerably different, the apparent catalytic efficiency (k_cat/K_m) was similar (6.3×10⁴ M ^?1 s^?1 for GlcA transfer and 3.4×10⁴ M ^?1 s^?1 for the GalNAc transfer). This is reasonable for the smooth alternating elongation of GlcA and GalNAc on the acceptor. This is the first study to report the determination of kinetic parameters for enzymatic, alternated, sugar elongation.     

A concise synthesis of a very late antigen-4 antagonist trans-4-[1-[[2,5-dichloro-4-(1-methyl-3-indolylcarboxyamide)phenyl]acetyl]-(4S)-methoxy-(2S)-pyrrolidinylmethoxy]cyclohexanecarboxylic acid via reductive etherification

This contribution describes a concise synthesis to ethyl trans-[(4S)-methoxy-(2S)-pyrrolidinylmethoxy]cyclohexanecarboxylate (2b) as a key intermediate of very late antigen-4 (VLA-4) antagonist trans-4-[1-[[2,5-dichloro-4-(1-methyl-3-indolylcarboxyamide)phenyl]acetyl]-(4S)-methoxy-(2S)-pyrrolidinylmethoxy]cyclohexanecarboxylic acid (1). The synthesis employs a reductive etherification as a key reaction using (2S,4S)-1-benzyloxycarbonyl-4-methoxypyrrolidine-2-carboxyaldehyde (12) and trans-4-triethylsilyloxycyclohexanecarboxilic acid ethyl ester (13b). This synthesis provides 2b in 6 steps with 38% overall yield from commercially available starting material.     

Adjacency Effect in the Atmospheric Correction of Satellite Remote Sensing Data: Evaluation of the Influence of Aerosol Extinction Profiles

In the atmospheric correction of satellite data in the visible and near-infrared bands, it is necessary to remove the adjacency effect due to the reflection from contiguous pixels. Evaluation of the influence of aerosol vertical distributions on the adjacency effect is done by calculating the single-scattering light intensity which, after the reflection at the ground surface, reaches the satellite sensor via a single scattering with a molecule or an aerosol particle. In the simulation, we assume aerosol vertical profiles similar to those used in the MODTRAN radiation transfer code, and those having a mixed layer with a uniform value of the aerosol extinction coefficient. We assume for the ground surface a simple model representing a border of land/sea surfaces. In spite of the single scattering approximation, it is confirmed that even if the optical thickness is the same, we have a larger adjacency effect when the extinction coefficient is large at higher altitudes. We also discuss the dependence of the adjacency effect on the aerosol optical thickness and that on the difference in the reflectances of the land and sea surfaces along the border.     

Successive construction of cellulase hyperproducers of Trichoderma using hyperpolyploids

When the swollen conidia of Trichoderma reesei QM 6a are treated with 0.1% (w/v) colchicine solution, huge autopolyploid nuclei can be formed in those swollen conidia. When a mycelial mat derived from such a conidum is treated with a haploidizing reagent, benomyl, many fan-shaped sectors are produced from the colony, and cellulase hyperproducers are selected from conidia on the colony. When colchicine and benomyl treatments are repeated on cellulase hyperproducers, new hyperproducers can be constructed successively and systematically. Moreover, when conidia derived from autopolyploids are treated with ethylmethanesulfonate solution, another type of cellulase hyperproducers (polyploids) can be obtained.     

Tension–compression asymmetry of phosphor bronze for electronic parts and its effect on bending behavior

In-plane tension and compression experiments on copper alloy sheets (phosphor bronze) and 6000 series aluminum alloy sheets (AA6016-T4) were conducted using a specially designed testing apparatus. The apparatus is equipped with comb-type dies so that stress–strain curves of a sheet specimen subjected to tension followed by compression, and vice versa, can be measured without buckling of the specimen, as well as those for monotonic tension and compression. A difference was observed in the flow stresses between tension and compression for the as-received copper alloy, but not for the aluminum alloy. Moreover, stress reversal tests, such as tension followed by compression and compression followed by tension, were carried out in order to measure the Bauschinger effect. In the second part of the experiment, bending moment–curvature diagrams were measured for the as-received and pre-stretched specimens. The bending moment–curvature diagrams were compared with those calculated using the stress–strain curves obtained from the tension–compression tests, and were in good agreement with those calculated with the tension–compression asymmetry and the Bauschinger effect correctly reproduced.     

A synchrotron X‐ray study of triclinic LiCa2Nb3O10 with perovskite‐type slabs

The triclinic superstructure of a small crystal of LiCa₂Nb₃O₁₀, lithium dicalcium triniobium decaoxide, has been investigated by synchrotron X‐ray diffraction. The unit cell is an almost rectangular parallelepiped, although there is a 0.245° offset from orthogonality for β. The structure essentially belongs to a homologous series of Li[Na_n?3Ca₂Nb_nO_3n+1] with n = 3, where the moiety in square brackets has a perovskite‐type slab structure. The superstructure has a doubled unit‐cell volume with respect to the tetragonal aristotype. The NbO₆ octahedra are rotated about axes parallel to [110] by approximately 10°. Adjacent slabs are connected by Li atoms and are geo­metrically related by 4₂ pseudosymmetry lying parallel to c . There are twice as many sites as Li atoms, providing a variation of population at these Li sites.     

FDTD simulation of wavelength conversion of ultrashort pulses utilizing intersubband absorption in AlGaN/GaN quantum wells

The four-wave mixing (FWM) characteristics of 500-fs pulses in nonlinear optical waveguides utilizing the saturation of the intersubband absorption at 1.55 μm in nitride multiple quantum wells are calculated by a one-dimensional finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method combined with three-level rate equations describing the intersubband carrier dynamics. Efficiency for a 100-nm wavelength conversion in a 160-μm waveguide is predicted to be higher than 3% both for up- and down-conversions. The extinction ratio is higher than 20 dB. As for the short-pulse application, however, the conversion efficiency is strongly dependent on the phase difference between the pump and signal pulses, especially when the efficiency is high. This causes ambiguity in the output power. Therefore, the cross-loss-modulation (XLM) converter is preferable to the FWM converter for OTDM application. The FWM converters are considered to be applicable to simultaneous conversion of WDM signals.     

Flavonoids from Sedum japonicum subsp. oryzifolium (Crassulaceae)

Twenty-two flavonoids were isolated from the leaves and stems of Sedum japonicum subsp. oryzifolium (Crassulaceae). Of these compounds, five flavonoids were reported in nature for the first time, and identified as herbacetin 3-O-xyloside-8-O-glucoside, herbacetin 3-O-glucoside-8-O-(2′′′-acetylxyloside), gossypetin 3-O-glucoside-8-O-arabinoside, gossypetin 3-O-glucoside-8-O-(2′′′-acetylxyloside) and hibiscetin 3-O-glucoside-8-O-arabinoside via UV, HR-MS, LC-MS, acid hydrolysis and NMR. Other seventeen known flavonoids were identified as herbacetin 3-O-glucoside-8-O-arabinoside, herbacetin 3-O-glucoside-8-O-xyloside, gossypetin 3-O-glucoside-8-O-xyloside, quercetin, quercetin 3-O-glucoside, quercetin 3-O-xylosyl-(1→2)-rhamnoside-7-O-rhamnoside, quercetin 3-O-rhamnoside-7-O-glucoside, kaempferol, kaempferol 3-O-glucoside, kaempferol 7-O-rhamnoside, kaempferol 3,7-di-O-rhamnoside, kaempferol 3-O-glucoside-7-O-rhamnoside, kaempferol 3-O-glucosyl-(1→2)-rhamnoside-7-O-rhamnoside, kaempferol 3-O-xylosyl-(1→2)-rhamnoside, kaempferol 3-O-xylosyl-(1→2)-rhamnoside-7-O-rhamnoside, myricetin 3-O-glucoside and cyanidin 3-O-glucoside. Some flavonol 3,8-di-O-glycosides were found in Sedum japonicum subsp. oryzifolium as major flavonoids in this survey. They were presumed to be the diagnostic flavonoids in the species. Flavonoids were reported from S. japonicum for the first time.