Design of a photocatalyst for bromate decomposition: surface modification of TiO2 by pseudo-boehmite

The rate of BrO3- reduction by a commercial TiO2 photocatalyst under UV illumination in an aqueous solution was increased by lowering the pH from 7 to 5. The effect is attributable to an enhancement of the electrical interaction between BrO3- and the positively charged surfaces of the TiO2 photocatalyst. The surface charge can be controlled by a surface modification of the TiO2 photocatalyst without controlling the pH of the water. In fact, the isoelectric point of surface-modified TiO2 was higher than that of the unloaded TiO2 photocatalyst, resulting in an increase in the rate of the photocatalytic reduction of BrO3- at a neutral pH. This increase is explained by an increase in the amount of adsorbed BrO3- on the photocatalyst surface.     

Prefabricated osteomusculocutaneous flaps using calvarial bone: experimental study

Prefabricated osteomusculocutaneous flaps using free calvarial bone were examined and evaluated in a rat model. The animals were divided into two groups according to prefabrication time: 14 days in Group 1 (n = 10) and 28 days in Group 2 (n = 10). Nine of 10 preparations demonstrated neovascularization in Group 1, and all flaps showed neovascularization in Group 2. One flap was lost in Group 1 as a result of infection. Each group was evaluated histopathologically before the second stage of the experiment. Muscles without atrophy and osteocytes were noted in Group 1; however, Group 2 animals had both muscle atrophy and nonviable bone. The prefabricated osteomusculocutaneous flaps were then transferred as both island and free flaps. Flap viability was assessed on postoperative day 7 by macroscopic observation. Although all flaps survived in the island-flap group, two flaps failed to survive due to technical error in the free-flap group. Neovascularization was clearly evident by 2 weeks in the osteomusculocutaneous flaps; after 4 weeks, complete atrophy of the muscle meant that the flaps could no longer be characterized as osteomusculocutaneous. Clinically, it might be possible to use the outer table alone, in which case both thin skin and bone would be desirable. This study may provide a model for this approach.     

A Generalized Technique for Register Counting and its Application to Cost-Optimal DSP Architecture Synthesis

In this paper we propose a generalized technique to count the required number of registers in a schedule which supports overlapped scheduling and can be applied to the case where a general digit-serial data format is used. This technique is integrated into an integer linear programming (ILP) model for time-constrained scheduling. In the ILP model, appropriate processors of certain data formats are chosen from a library of processors and data format converters are automatically inserted between processors of different data formats if necessary. Then the required number of registers for each data format is evaluated correctly by the proposed technique. Hence an optimal architecture for a given digital signal processing algorithm is synthesized where the cost of registers as well as the cost of processors and data format converters are minimized. It is shown that by including the cost of registers in the synthesis task as proposed in this paper leads to up to 12.8% savings in the total cost of the synthesized architecture when compared with synthesis performed without including the register cost in the total cost.     

An absolute requirement of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate for the Lactobacillus caseiL-lactate dehydrogenase activity induced by a single amino acid substitution

Lactobacillus casei allosteric L-lactate dehydrogenase (L-LDH)absolutely requires fructose 1,6-bisphosphate [Fru(1,6)P2] forits catalytic activity under neutral conditions, but exhibitsmarked catalytic activity in the absence of Fru(1,6)P₂ underacidic conditions through the homotropic activation effect ofsubstrate pyruvate. In this enzyme, a single amino acid replacement,i.e. that of His205 conserved in the Fru(1,6)P₂-binding siteof certain allosteric L-LDHs of lactic acid bacteria with Thr,did not induce a marked loss of the activation effect of Fru(1,6)P₂or divalent metal ions, which are potent activators that improvethe activation function of Fru(1,6)P₂ under neutral conditions.However, this replacement induced a great loss of the Fru(1,6)P₂-independentactivation effect of pyruvate or pyruvate analogs under acidicconditions, consequently indicating an absolute Fru(1,6)P₂ requirementfor the enzyme activity. The replacement also induced a significantreduction in the pH-dependent sensitivity of the enzyme to Fru(1,6)P₂,through a slight decrease and increase of the Fru(1,6)P₂ sensitivityunder acidic and neutral conditions, respectively, indicatingthat His205 is also largely involved in the pH-dependent sensitivityof L.casei L-LDH to Fru(1,6)P₂. The role of His205 in the allostericregulation of the enzyme is discussed on the basis of the knowncrystal structures of L-LDHs.     

The study on change of mechanical properties of NBR due to deterioration

Rubber is an important industrial material. However, mechanical properties and deformation of the high polymer including rubber are not clear. A method of estimating the mechanical properties which can be used for the deteriorated rubber is demanded to improve the reliability of it. Improved VBO (Viscoplasticity theory based on overstress) model is a constitutive equation. We applied it for the compression stress-strain behavior of deteriorated NBR (acryloNitrile-Butadiene rubber). Furthermore, we proposed a method of estimating the mechanical properties of deteriorated NBR. In this paper, deterioration tests in water and in air were conducted. To confirm the validity of the proposed improved VBO model and estimated mechanical properties, simulations of the stress-strain curves obtained in the tests were conducted.     

A hemispheric division of labor aids mental rotation.

In the present study, we investigated whether a hemispheric division of labor is most advantageous to performance when lateralized inputs place unequal resource demands on the left and right cerebral hemispheres. In each trial, participants decided whether 2 rotated letters, presented either in the same visual field (within-field trials) or in opposite visual fields (across-field trials), were both of normal orientation, or whether one was normal and the other was mirror-reversed. To discriminate a letter's orientation, one must rotate the letter to the upright position. Therefore, we manipulated whether the two letters imposed similar or dissimilar demands on cognitive resources by varying the number of degrees that each letter needed to be rotated to reach the upright position. As predicted, in 2 experiments we found that the across-field advantage increased as the number of degrees each letter needed to be rotated became more dissimilar. These findings support a current model of hemispheric interactions, which posits that an unequal hemispheric distribution of cognitive load allows the cerebral hemispheres to take the lead for different aspects of cognitive processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

New Ink Jet Recording for Generating a Plurality of Ink Jet Streams

A new solid-state scanning ink jet recording technique, called slit jet recording, is proposed. This technique uses a recording head with one slitlike ink-issuing opening having a number of recording electrodes arrayed along a horizontal scanning direction. The ink is emitted from the ink-issuing opening due to the electrical potential difference between a driven recording electrode and a counterelectrode located behind the recording paper. The ink strikes the paper and forms a recording dot. Many recording electrodes can be driven simultaneously by video signals which enhance the total copy recording speed over that for conventional techniques using a single nozzle. The head of this ink jet recording apparatus is remarkably simple in construction and can be fabricated without difficulty. Improvements in reliability and maintainability can also be expected, as the simple structure of the ink-issuing opening reduces clogging and facilitates easy cleaning as compared with other equipment having a large number of nozzles. The recording principle and characteristics and ink-issuing characteristics are described, and the results of a trial recording are presented. The results show that an ISO A4 size (210 mm x 297 mm) full-color copy can be recorded in about 30 s at an 8-dot/ mm rate.     

Phase I clinical study of oxaliplatin

Oxaliplatin is a new platinum derivative. A multicentric phase I study was conducted with a monotherapy of Oxaliplatin. A total of 20 patients were enrolled who had histologically proven 6 ovarian cancers, 5 uterine cervix cancers, 3 lung cancers, 3 breast cancers, 1 endometrial cancer, 1 gastric cancer, and 1 colorectal cancer. Oxaliplatin was administered as a 2-hour infusion at doses of 20, 40, 80, 130, and 180 mg/m2 every 3 weeks, for a total of 30 cycles. A dose-related and reversible peripheral sensory neuropathy was the dose-limiting toxicity with minimal hematotoxicity and no nephrotoxicity. No hydration was needed. The plasma platinum concentration was biphasically decreased. Cmax and AUC were dose-dependent. T1/2 beta was 31.3 hours. The recommended dose for further studies was 130 mg/m2. A partial response was observed in endometrial cancer.     

Determining the minimum iteration period of an algorithm

Digital signal processing algorithms are repetitive in nature. These algorithms are described by iterative data-flow graphs where nodes represent computations and edges represent communications. For all data-flow graphs, there exists a fundamental lower bound on the iteration period referred to as theiteration bound. Determining the iteration bound for signal processing algorithms described by iterative data-flow graphs is an important problem. In this paper we review two existing algorithms for determination of the iteration bound. Then we propose another novel method based on theminimum cycle mean algorithm to determine the iteration bound with a lower polynomial time complexity than the two existing techniques. It is convenient to represent many multi-rate signal processing algorithms by multi-rate data-flow graphs. The iteration bound of a multi-rate data-flow graph (MRDFG) can be determined by considering the single-rate data-flow graph (SRDFG) equivalent of the MRDFG. However, the equivalent single-rate data-flow graph contains many redundant nodes and edges. The iteration bound of the MRDFG can be determined faster if these redundancies in the equivalent SRDFG are first removed. A previous approach has considered elimination of edge redundancy. In this paper we present an approach to eliminatenode redundancy in the MRDFG. We combine elimination of node and edge redundancies to propose a novel algorithm for faster determination of the iteration bound of the MRDFG.This research was supported by the Advanced Research Projects Agency and monitored by Wright—Patterson AFB under contract number F33615-93-C-1309.