Hypertrophic cranial pachymeningitis with spinal epidural granulomatous lesion

A 67-year-old woman with a one-year history of tinnitus and headache had multiple cranial nerve palsies of V, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI and spastic paraparesis. She also had a secretory otitis media. Gd-DTPA-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed hypertrophy of the dura of the posterior fossa and spinal epidural mass which extended from C7 to T10. A biopsy of the epidural mass showed chronic granulomatous change. These lesions were completely cured with administration of antibiotics. We believe this case of double-lesion of hypertrophic cranial pachymeningitis and spinal epidural granulomatous lesion originated from a bacterial infection secondary to the secretory otitis media.     

Radiation from curved single-mode fibres

A study of propagation in curved single-mode fibres shows that the transmission loss increases sharply below a critical bend radius. However the radiation does not leak away uniformly with distance but in a series of discrete well-defined rays.     

Formation of silica and silicates during the solidification of Fe−Si−O alloys

Small (35 g) ingots of Fe?Si?O alloys have been solidified under controlled conditions and the form, distribution, and compositions of the oxides in the cast structures are reported. The composition of a melt was established by charging a preselected amount of silicon, 0.002 < pct Si < 0.7, and equilibrating the melt with the silica crucible at 1550° or 1650°C. The concentration of FeO and the morphology of the oxide particles in the cast structures indicate that during solidification the process of segregation causes the oxygen potential in the interdendritic liquid to increase over that in equilibrium with the silicon content of the liquid. It appears that nuclei for the formation of the oxide phases, which probably are in the liquid prior to the onset of solidification, become surrounded by solid iron and are made ineffective. It is possible at lower silicon levels that homogeneous nucleation may result by the melt becoming sufficiently supersaturated in oxygen to form FeO or an iron-silicate liquid phase.     

Alkaline hydrolysis of alkylated acidic groups on carbon black

Potentiometric pH-stat titration was performed on alkylated carbon black dispersed in aqueous solution at pH 9.0, 10.0 and 11.0 and alkaline hydrolysis rate constant of the alkylated functional groups on the carbon black was obtained therefrom. Carbon black treated with C₁-C₈n-alcohols in vapor or liquid phase was used in this experiment. Hydrolysis proceeded more rapidly for carbon black treated with lower alcohols. For each alkylated carbon black, the hydrolysis rate constant decreased with time and, after the hydrolysis rate diminished, a hydrolysis resistant fraction of alkylated groups remained. For example, the hydrolysis rate constants at 25°C were 24.33, 17.50 and 4.501 · mol^?1 · sec^?1 at 15 min and 6.00, 6.00 and 3.671 · mol^?1 · sec^?1 at 45 min after the start of hydrolysis at pH 9.0 for carbon black treated with C₂, C₃ and C₄ alcohols respectively.     

Isolation and characterization of a novel gene encoding alpha-L-arabinofuranosidase from Aspergillus oryzae

We cloned and characterized a novel gene (abfA) encoding alpha-L-arabinofuranosidase (alpha-L-AFase) from Aspergillus oryzae. One clone homologous to the alpha-L-AFase gene of Thermotoga maritima was found in an expressed sequence tag (EST) library of A. oryzae and a corresponding gene was isolated. Molecular analysis showed that the abfA gene carried six exons interrupted by five introns and had an open reading frame encoding 481 amino acid residues. The amino acid sequence similarity at active sites to the alpha-L-AFases from other organisms indicated that the alpha-L-AFase encoded by abfA was classified as a family 51 glycoside hydrolase. When the abfA was overexpressed in the homologous hyperexpression system of A. oryzae, a large amount of alpha-L-AFase was produced as intracellular protein. The apparent molecular mass of the purified enzyme was estimated to be 228,000 by gel filtration and that of its subunit as 55,000 by SDS-PAGE, suggesting that the enzyme is a tetramer. The enzyme hydrolyzed p-nitrophenyl-alpha-L-arabinofuranoside but not other p-nitrophenyl glycosides. These results demonstrated that the abfA gene encodes a functional alpha-L-AFase.     

Modulation of the sensitive temperature range of fluorescent molecular thermometers based on thermoresponsive polymers

Fluorescent molecular thermometers based on polymers showing a temperature-induced phase transition and labeled with polarity-sensitive fluorescent benzofurazans are the most sensitive known. Here we show a simple and effective method for modulating the sensitive temperature ranges of fluorescent molecular thermometers based on such temperature-responsive polymers. 4-N-(2-acryloyloxyethyl)-N-methylamino-7-N,N-dimethylaminosulfonyl-2,1,3-benzoxadiazole was adopted as a polarity-sensitive fluorescent benzofurazan, and nine copolymers of two kinds of acrylamide derivative (N-n-propylacrylamide, N-isopropylacrylamide, and/or N-isopropylmethacrylamide) with a small amount of DBD-AE were obtained. The fluorescence intensities of these copolymers in aqueous solution sharply increased with increasing temperature over a small range (6-7 degrees C). In contrast, these fluorescent molecular thermometers differed from one another in the sensitive temperature range (between 20 and 49 degrees C). Moreover, the sensitive temperature ranges were well related to the acrylamide ratios in feed. In addition, the responses from these fluorescent molecular thermometers to the change in temperature were reversible and exactly repeatable during 10 cycles of heating and cooling (relative standard deviation of the fluorescence intensity, 0.44-1.0%).     

Formation process of Na-X zeolites from coal fly ash

In order to synthesize Na-X zeolite from coal fly ash (Fa), Fa was pretreated under stirring condition at various temperatures of 20–50°C for 72 h and then aged at 85°C for a given period with NaOH solutions. The resulting materials were characterized by various means. When Fa was aged for 72 h without pretreatment, species P were formed. As the pretreating temperature raised from 20 to 50°C, the degree of crystallinity of faujasite increased, while that of species P decreased. The faujasite species formed was identified as Na-X zeolite with molar ratio SiO₂/Al₂O₃ = 2.4. When Fa was pretreated at 50°C and aged for 60 h, the only species formed was Na-X zeolite. Increasing the pretreating temperature up to 50°C results in the increase of Si⁴⁺ and Al³⁺ concentrations in the treating solution by dissolution of amorphous material in Fa. With the conditions used, the crystalline phase, such as -quartz and mullite, was poorly dissolved during the treatment. Hence, the higher pretreating temperature would give the uniform nucleation and crystal growth of Na-X zeolite during the aging.     

Elution and decomposition of cyanide in soil contaminated with various cyanocompounds

Standard soil samples contaminated with various standard cyanocompounds were prepared. Column elution experiments and analyses were conducted. Compounds with an easy capacity for dissociation to ions, such as KCN and potassium hexacyanoferrate(III), were found to be eluted by forming free cyanide even in fresh water. Hexacyanoferrate(II) salts, such as potassium hexacyanoferrate(II) and iron(III) hexacyanoferrate(II), were found not to be dissociated in water, but were dissociated and diffused under alkaline conditions (pH >13). Hexacyanoferrate(II) ion was found to be more easily dissociated in water with a higher pH.Column tests as above were also conducted for soil samples taken from a former paint ink factory using iron(III) hexacyanoferrate(II), cyanogen chloride, potassium cyanate, copper cyanide, as well as potassium cyanide, as raw materials. It was demonstrate that iron(III) hexacyanoferrate(II) was dissociated and eluted under alkaline conditions. The elution rate was reduced when the contaminated soil was sandwiched with standard soil layers.Further, it was found that the Fe(CN)(6)(4-) ion eluted with NaOH from hexacyanoferrate acid in soil, were easily decomposed into cyanic acid or other byproducts by UV with the addition of ozone and H(2)O(2).     

Ice clouds and Asian dust studied with lidar measurements of particle extinction-to-backscatter ratio, particle depolarization, and water-vapor mixing ratio over Tsukuba

The tropospheric particle extinction-to-backscatter ratio, the depolarization ratio, and the water-vapor mixing ratio were measured by use of a Raman lidar and a polarization lidar during the Asian dust seasons in 2001 and 2002 in Tsukuba, Japan. The apparent (not corrected for multiple-scattering effects) extinction-to-backscatter ratios (Sp) showed a dependence on the relative humidity with respect to ice (RHice) obtained from the lidar-derived water-vapor mixing ratio and radiosonde-derived temperature; they were mostly higher than 30 sr in dry air (RHice < 50%), whereas they were mostly lower than 30 sr in ice-supersaturated air (RHice > or = 100%), where the apparent extinction coefficients were larger than 0.036 km(-1). Both regions showed mean particle depolarization ratios of 20%-22%. Comparisons with theoretical calculations and the previous experiments suggest that the observed dependence of Sp on RHice is attributed to the difference in the predominant particles: nonspherical aerosols (mainly the Asian dust) in dry air and cloud particles in ice-supersaturated air.