Auditory middle latency responses in patients with epilepsy

Middle latency auditory responses (MLRs) were studied in 55 normal subjects and 49 epileptic patients. We evaluated the function of the auditory system and of the temporal lobe in epileptic patients using MLRs. (1) The patients with epilepsy had significantly prolonged Pa and Nb latencies and the significantly increased amplitude of Pa-Nb component. (2) The prolongation and the increase of MLR components in latency and amplitude were more obvious in patients with intractable epilepsy than patients without intractable epilepsy. (3) The difference between left and right sides was larger in epileptic patients than normal subjects. (4) Epileptic patients with polypharmacy had reduced amplitude of Pa-Nb component and prolonged latency of Pa component than patients with monotherapy. Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) appeared to decrease the amplitude of Pa-Nb component. It was supposed that the enhancement of amplitude of Pa-Nb component represented the abnormality of central nerve system in epileptic patients, in part.     

Dissolution of Ti wires in sulphuric acid and hydrochloric acid solutions

Ti wire electrodes were immersed in acidic solutions containing H₂SO₄ and HCl of various concentrations at 353 K to evaluate corrosion rate by measurement of electric resistance change (resistometry). Addition of hydrochloric acid to sulphuric acid solution promoted depassivation of Ti. After depassivation, the immersion potential dropped to the hydrogen evolution potential and a hydride layer was formed on the surface. The hydride layer dissolved continuously in the acidic solution. SEM observation showed that Ti wires dissolved almost uniformly in the early stage and that the dissolution then trace became irregular due to nonuniform growth of the hydride layer. Dissolution rate of a Ti wire was estimated almost accurately by resistometry.     

安积伸：从设计“协奏”到设计“独奏”

从安积伸（Shin Azumi）第一次到英国算起，他和英国、和伦敦已经有了近15年的情结。安积伸早已成了各类媒体报道和机构介绍里频繁出现的名字，就连英国设计节的创始人之一约翰·索瑞（John Sorrell）在《Creative Island（创意之岛）》一书中也将其作为对英国创意产业有所影响的驻岛设计师予以了收录。安积伸目前依然在伦敦经营着自己“astudio”．一个从事产品、家具和空间设计的工作室。[第一段]     

Augmenting Edge-Connectivity between Vertex Subsets

Given a directed or undirected graph G=(V,E), a collection ${\mathcal{R}}=\{(S_{i},T_{i}) \mid i=1,2,\ldots,|{\mathcal{R}}|, S_{i},T_{i} \subseteq V, S_{i} \cap T_{i} =\emptyset\}$ of two disjoint subsets of V, and a requirement function $r: {\mathcal{R}} \to\mathbb{R}_{+}$ , we consider the problem (called area-to-area edge-connectivity augmentation problem) of augmenting G by a smallest number of new edges so that the resulting graph $\hat{G}$ satisfies $d_{\hat{G}}(X)\geq r(S,T)$ for all X?V, $(S,T) \in{\mathcal{R}}$ with S?X?V?T, where d _G (X) denotes the degree of a vertex set X in G. This problem can be regarded as a natural generalization of the global, local, and node-to-area edge-connectivity augmentation problems. In this paper, we show that there exists a constant c such that the problem is inapproximable within a ratio of $c\log{|{\mathcal{R}}|}$ , unless P=NP, even restricted to the directed global node-to-area edge-connectivity augmentation or undirected local node-to-area edge-connectivity augmentation. We also provide an ${\mathrm{O}}(\log{|{\mathcal{R}}|})$ -approximation algorithm for the area-to-area edge-connectivity augmentation problem, which is a natural extension of Kortsarz and Nutov’s algorithm (Kortsarz and Nutov, J. Comput. Syst. Sci., 74:662–670, 2008). This together with the negative result implies that the problem is ${\varTheta}(\log{|{\mathcal{R}}|})$ -approximable, unless P=NP, which solves open problems for node-to-area edge-connectivity augmentation in Ishii et al. (Algorithmica, 56:413–436, 2010), Ishii and Hagiwara (Discrete Appl. Math., 154:2307–2329, 2006), Miwa and Ito (J. Oper. Res. Soc. Jpn., 47:224–243, 2004). Furthermore, we characterize the node-to-area and area-to-area edge-connectivity augmentation problems as the augmentation problems with modulotone and k-modulotone functions.     

Preparation of modified poly(vinyl chloride) containing N,N-di(β-hydroxyethyl)dithiocarbamate and its reaction with metal ions

Reaction of N,N-di(β-hydroxyethyl)dithiocarbamate ion with poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) was undertaken, and the reaction with metal ions of the polymer obtained was investigated. The effect of γ-irradiation on the reaction with metal ion was also studied. The modified PVC (PHDC) obtained from the reaction with N,N-di(β-hydroxyethyl)dithiocarbamate ion is pale yellow even after reaction at 100°C for 5 hr in dimethylformamide (DMF); it is soluble in dipolar solvents and its chlorine content is decreased considerably. This polymer reacted well with acetate salts of copper(II), nickel(II), zinc(II), and silver(I) heterogeneously in aqueous solution because of the introduction of hydrophilic groups (two hydroxy groups). The reactivity of the metal ions toward the polymer was of the order Ag(I) ? Cu(II) > Ni(II) > Zn(II). From the result of the reaction of γ-irradiated polymer with cupric ion, the polymer was judged to have fairly good antiradiation property.     

Solubility of NiO in Al2O3

Solubility of NiO in Al₂O₃ was determined by electron probe microanalysisy A diffusion couple method was used by coupling an NiO-doped Al₂O₃ polycrystal to a pure single crystal of Al₂O₃. The solubility of NiO in Al₂O₃ in air was 230 wt ppm (157 at. ppm of cations) and 170 wt ppm (116 at. ppm) at 2073 and 1973 K, respectively. The solubility of NiO in Al₂O₃ obtained in this work was compared with our previous work of the solubility of MgO in Al₂o₃.     

Effects of Pre-Treatment of a Silica-Supported Gallium Oxide Catalyst with H2 on Its Catalytic Performance for Dehydrogenation of Propane

The pre-treatment of a silica-supported gallium oxide catalyst with H₂ at 823 K increased the yield of aromatics and the selectivity to aromatics in the dehydrogenation of propane over the catalyst at 823 K. Gallium oxide in the catalyst was partially reduced with H₂ at 823 K. NH₃ desorption and DRIFTS studies on the gallium oxide catalyst suggest that the dehydrogenation of propane over a silica-supported gallium oxide catalyst would proceed in the following way: (1) the dehydrogenation of propane to produce propene would occur on Ga sites including Ga^δ+–H sites and (2) the aromatization of propene to aromatics on Ga–O–H acid sites.     

Synthesis of Super-Microporous Aluminosilicate Having Excellent Water Vapor Adsorption Property as an Adsorbent for an Adsorption Heat-Pump

The synthesis of super-microporous aluminosilicate with a pore diameter of 14.6 Å has been achieved, by means of synthesis under specified conditions with a skeletal material comprising TMOS and a small quantity of sodium aluminate, and a conventional alkyl-trimethylammonium halide (C₁₀TMABr) as a template. This super-microporous aluminosilicate has an adsorption capacity of 0.2 ml/g at a relative water vapor pressure of 0.2, and thus is promising as an adsorbent for an adsorption heat-pump.     

Thraustochytrid as a potential source of carotenoids

Thraustochytrids, marine protists whose dominant genera are Thraustochytrium and Schizochytrium, belong to the kingdom Chromista and are known as an industrial source of DHA. We describe here that thraustochytrid strain KH105, isolated as a DHA producer, also accumulates significant levels of β-carotene and xanthophylls including canthaxanthin and astaxanthin. A4-d cultivation using a medium composed of 10% glucose and less than 0.3% of nitrogen sources in a half-concentration of seawater gave an astaxanthin production up to 6.1 mg/L, and canthaxanthin content reached more than 10 mg/L under conditions where a higher concentration of nitrogen sources (6%) was employed. It might be advantageous in mass production systems for these carotenoids to be extracted readily by simply suspending the cells with organic solvents such as acetone and chloroform. Analyses on the morphological and life history features of the KH105 strain revealed that it belongs to the genus Schizochytrium. This particular species of thraustochytrids is thus considered to be a promising source of xanthophylls as well as DHA for use in the food industry.     

Data Center as a Key Player of a District Electric Power and Heat Network System： A Comparison in Urban and Suburb Regions

A DC （data center） demands air-conditioning power as large as the 1/3-1/2 of total electricity consumption. Thus, energy saving of cooling power of DC yields considerable effect on both economic and environmental views. PV （Photovoltaic） and absorption refrigerator with CGS （cogeneration systems） or gas boiler are possible power saving options. The waste warm air from DC would be utilized for greenhouse heating when DC and greenhouse locate near in the suburbs. In this study, the authors develop an energy network model to assess the potential contribution of DC as a major electric power and chilled air consumer as well as the warm air supplier in a district to the energy efficiency improvement. The evaporation heat of LNG （liquefied natural gas） utilization is also considered as well as PV, CGS. This model is applied to the cases of the urban area in Tokyo which involves athletic center, shops and hospital and the suburbs including greenhouse and then compared.