Performance Evaluation of a Full-Scale Deep U-Tube Utilizing Ozonated Oxygen as the Process Gas for Treating Drinking Water

A deep U-tube for treating drinking water is composed of a coaxial inner tube serving as an efficient concurrent down-flow ozone dissolver and an outer column carrying out reactions between ozone and organic substances dissolved in the water after sedimentation treatment. In the present study, we developed a novel simulation model of the U-tube reactor, assuming that the U-tube is composed of a plug flow section (inner tube) followed by a tanks-in-series section (outer bubble column) and taking into account the reactions involved, and the effects of the hydrostatic pressurization on the flow and absorption equilibrium for the ozone and inactive gases in developing the mass balance models. We constructed an algorithm to evaluate the U-tube reactor performance based on the mass balance models. The hydrodynamics and mass transfer characteristics in the inner tube were measured and their correlations were incorporated in the simulation model. Available literature data and correlations on the rates of reactions between ozone and organic substances, the gas-liquid equilibrium for the active and inactive gases and the fluid mixing properties are also incorporated in the simulation model. The simulation results well explained the available data on the ozone absorption efficiency and the removal efficiency of odorous material (2-MIB) in a pilot plant and a real U-tube reactor. It is found that the ozone absorption is practically a single function of the gas/liquid ratio, while the decomposition efficiency of 2-MIB is a single function of the ozone dose for the water quantity to be treated

Modeling with structure of resins in electonic compornents

In recent years, interfacial fracture becomes one of the most important problems in the assessment of reliability of electronics packaging. Especially, underfill resin is used with solder joints in flip chip packaging for preventing the thermal fatigue fracture in solder joints. In general, the interfacial strength has been evaluated on the basis of interfacial fracture mechanics concept. However, as the size of devices decrease, it is difficult to evaluate the interfacial strength quantitatively. Most of researches in the interfacial fracture were conducted on the basis of the assumption of the perfectly bonding condition though the interface has the micro-scale structure and the bonding is often imperfect. In this study, the mechanical model of the interfacial structure of resin in electronic components was proposed. Bimaterial model with the imperfect bonding condition was examined by using a finite element analysis (FEA). Stress field in the vicinity of interface depends on the interfacial structure with the imperfect bonding. In the front of interfacial crack tip, the behavior of process zone is affected by interfacial structure. However, the instability of fracture for macroscopic crack which means the fracture toughness is governed by the stress intensity factor based on the fracture mechanics concept.Comment: Submitted on behalf of TIMA Editions (http://irevues.inist.fr/tima-editions

Effect of the coastal conservation due to beach nourishment of Totori sand dune coast

Tottori Sand Dune Coast located at western part of Japan is a sandy beach with a length about 8km facing Sea of Japan. The coast has been eroded starting around 1940s and the beach nourishment project has been carried out to restore the shoreline since 2005 at Tottori Sand Dune Coast. In the project, the deposition sands at port and river mouth were transported to the erosional area and injected in the region of the offshore erosional area and the backshore area and the total volumes of the sand are about 400,000m3 from 2005 to2011. However the effects of the project are not clarified and the detailed examination is not performed. The purpose of this study is to investigate the movement of the injected sand and the effect of the beach nourishment. In this study, using the bottom sounding data from 2002 to 2011, the sand volumes were estimated and the shoreline changes were investigated. Also, at the Tottori Port adjacent to the Coast, the amount of the sediment is estimated as well as Tottori Sand Dune Coast. From these analyses, the beach nourishment are effective and the large amount of the sediment placed at land area restored the shoreline quickly

Reliability Evaluation Method for Electronic Device BGA Package Considering the Interaction Between Design Factors

The recent development of electric and electronic devices has been remarkable. The miniaturization of electronic devices and high integration are progressing by advances in mounting technology. As a result, the reliability of fatigue life has been prioritized as an important concern, since the thermal expansion difference between a package and printed circuit board causes thermal fatigue. It is demanded a long-life product which has short development time. However, it is difficult because of interaction between each design factor. The authors have investigated the influence of various design factors on the reliability of soldered joints in BGA model by using response surface method and cluster analysis. By using these techniques, the interaction of all design factors was clarified. Based upon the analytical results, design engineers can rate each factor's effect on reliability and assess the reliability of their basic design plan at the concept design stage.Comment: Submitted on behalf of TIMA Editions (http://irevues.inist.fr/tima-editions

Immune cell gene signatures for profiling the microenvironment of solid tumours

The immune composition of the tumor microenvironment regulates processes including angiogenesis, metastasis, and the response to drugs or immunotherapy. To facilitate the characterization of the immune component of tumors from transcriptomics data, a number of immune cell transcriptome signatures have been reported that are made up of lists of marker genes indicative of the presence a given immune cell population. The majority of these gene signatures have been defined through analysis of isolated blood cells. However, blood cells do not reflect the differentiation or activation state of similar cells within tissues, including tumors, and consequently markers derived from blood cells do not necessarily transfer well to tissues. To address this issue, we generated a set of immune gene signatures derived directly from tissue transcriptomics data using a network- based deconvolution approach. We define markers for seven immune cell types, collectively named ImSig, and demonstrate how these markers can be used for the quantitative estimation of the immune cell content of tumor and nontumor tissue samples. The utility of ImSig is demonstrated through the stratification of melanoma patients into subgroups of prognostic significance and the identification of immune cells with the use of single-cell RNA-sequencing data derived from tumors. Use of ImSig is facilitated by an R package (imsig)

New Reliability Assessment Method for Solder Joints in BGA Package by Considering the Interaction between Design Factors

As the integration and the miniaturization of electronics devices, design space become narrower and interactions between design factors affect their reliability. This paper presents a methodology of quantifying the interaction of each design factor in electronics devices. Thermal fatigue reliability of BGA assembly was assessed with the consideration of the interaction between design factors. Sensitivity analysis shows the influence of each design factor to inelastic strain range of a solder joint characterizing the thermal fatigue life if no interaction occurs. However, there is the interaction in BGA assembly since inelastic strain range depends on not only a mismatch in CTE but also a warpage of components. Clustering can help engineers to clarify the relation between design factors. The variation in the influence was taken to quantify the interaction of each design factor. Based on the interaction, simple evaluating approach of inelastic strain range for the BGA assembly was also developed. BGA package was simplified into a homogeneous component and equivalent CTE wascalculated from the warpage of BGA and PCB. The estimated equation was derived by using the response surface method as a function of design factors. Based upon these analytical results, design engineers can rate each factor's effect on reliability and assess the reliability of their basic design plan at the concept design stage.Comment: Submitted on behalf of TIMA Editions (http://irevues.inist.fr/tima-editions

Drosophila E2F1 is Degraded During S Phase in a PCNA-, Cul4-, and Cdt2-Dependent Manner

During the development of multicellular organisms, cell proliferation is tightly regulated by intrinsic and extrinsic cues, generating a spatiotemporal cell cycle pattern. For instance, cell cycles are very rapid during early embryogenesis, resulting in a sufficient number of cells for tissue formation. In contrast, cells that are going to differentiate usually arrest the cell cycle in G1 phase and subsequently enter the quiescent state (G0). Failure to maintain active cell cycles during early embryogenesis and to arrest the cell cycle before differentiation will cause destructive effects on tissue development and homeostasis. Since cells usually arrest in G1, an important decision step in the cell cycle is whether the cell stays in G1 phase or enters S phase. When G1 cells enter S phase, positive cell cycle regulators such as Cyclin E, RnrS, PCNA, and DNA polymerase are coordinately induced by the family of the E2F transcription factors. In Drosophila, these genes are regulated by a single E2F (E2F1). During the early embryogenesis of Drosophila, E2F1-target genes are expressed ubiquitously, facilitating the rapid cell cycles. Later in embryogenesis, E2F1-target genes are downregulated before cells arrest in G1. This implies that during embryogenesis developmentally-regulated E2F1 activity causes this characteristic cell cycle pattern. In this thesis, we show that the initial downregulation of E2F1-target genes is preceded by the developmentally-regulated onset of E2F1 destruction. Furthermore, we discovered that DNA replication induces E2F1 destruction in a PCNA-, Cul4-, and Cdt2-dependent manner. Expression of a stabilized form of E2F1 in the larval wing disc caused apoptosis and disrupted adult wing morphology, while expression in the larval salivary gland arrested the endocycle, a variant G1-S cell cycle that lacks mitosis and results in polyploidy. Taken together, our data suggests the existence of a robust negative feedback mechanism where E2F1 induces DNA replication, which in turn downregulates E2F1 by proteolysis, and this negative feedback loop is required for normal development of Drosophila