STRUCTURE FORMATION OF COATED FILMS WITH DISPERSED PIGMENTS DURING DRYING

In the drying of coated films with dispersed pigments, such as floppy disks, the structure of the film is formed during the drying process and depends on the drying condition. It is important to understand the structure formation during drying for the design of the dryer and die better quality of the product. We measured die drying characteristics of the film and determined the structure of dried film experimentally. A qualitative model for the structure formation during drying of the coated film is suggested.     

Photoelectrochemical energy conversion system modeled on the photosynthetic process

Photo-excitable electrodes were prepared by incorporating magnesium chlorophyll (MgChl) or manganese chlorophyll (MnChl) into the thin layer of such liquid cyrstals as N-(p-methoxybenzylidene)-p-butylaniline (MBBA) and 4′-heptyl-4-cyanobiphenyl (HCB), being attached to the platinum surface. The MgChl—MBBA electrode gave the positive photo-induced potential shift in an acidic solution. In sharp contrast, the negative photo-induced potential shift was developed by the MnChl—HCB electrode in an alkaline solution. The involvement of a liquid crystal prominently enhanced the photo-response of the immobilized chlorophylls. The photoelectrochemical energy conversion system modeled on the photosynthetic process was assembled by employing the MgChl—MBBA and the MnChl—HCB electrodes as a cathode and an anode, respectively. The photocurrent derived from the system was concluded to result from the decomposition of water, since an evidence for the molecular oxygen evolution at the MnChl—HCB electrode was obtained. Furthermore, the incorporation of β-carotene was found to markedly enhance the stability of the MnChl—HCB electrode.     

Hydrophobic effects on protein/nucleic acid interaction: enhancement of substrate binding by mutating tyrosine 45 to tryptophan in ribonuclease Tl

Hydrophobic effects on binding of ribonuclease Tl to guaninebases of several ribonucleotides have been proved by mutatinga hydrophobic residue at the recognition site and by measuringthe effect on binding. Mutation of a hydrophobic surface residueto a more hydrophobic residue (Tyr45 – Trp) enhances thebinding to ribonucleotides, including mononucleotide inhibitorand product, and a synthetic substrate-analog trinudeotide aswell as the binding to dinucleotide substrates and RNA. Enhancementson binding to non-substrate ribonucleotides by the mutationhave been observed with free energy changes ranging from –2.2 to – 3 .9 kJ/mol. These changes are in good agreementwith that of substrate binding, –2.3 kJ/mol, which iscalculated from Michaelis constants obtained from kinetic studies.It is shown, by comparing the observed and calculated changesin binding free energy with differences in the observed transferfree energy changes of the amino acid side chains from organicsolvents to water, that the enhancement observed on guaninebinding comes from the difference in the hydrophobic effectsof the side chains of tyrosine and tryptophan. Furthermore,a linear relationship between nucleolytic activities and hydrophobicityof the residues (Ala, Phe, Tyr, Trp) at position 45 is observed.The mutation could not change substantially the base specificityof RNase Tl, which exhibits a prime requirement for guaninebases of substrates.     

Study of Cuprate Superconductivity Using the Particle Number Conserving Bogoliubov-de Gennes Equations: ARPES and STS Images From Surface Plus Bulk Layers Model

Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism - We theoretically study the superconductivity in hole-doped cuprate superconductors by employing a model composed of surface and bulk CuO $$_2$$...     

Composite Distributive Lattices as Annotation Domains for Mediators

In a mediator system based on annotated logics it is a suitable requirement to allow annotations from different lattices in one program on a per-predicate basis. These lattices however may be related through common sublattices, hence demanding predicates which are able to carry combinations of annotations, or access to components of annotations. We show both demands to be satisifiable by using various composition operations on the domain of complete bounded distributive lattices or bilattices, most importantly the free distributive product. An implementation of the presented concepts, based on the KOMET implementation of SLG-AL with constraints, is briefly introduced.     

Dynamics and Stability 3-Dimensional Object under of Blind Grasping of a Non-holonomic Constraints

A mathematical model expressing the motion of a pair of multi-DOF robot fingers with hemi-spherical ends, grasping a 3-D rigid object with parallel fiat surfaces, is derived, together with non-holonomic constraints. By referring to the fact that humans grasp an object in the form of precision prehension, dynamically and stably by opposable forces, between the thumb and another finger （index or middle finger）, a simple control signal constructed from finger-thumb opposition is proposed, and shown to realize stable grasping in a dynamic sense without using object information or external sensing （this is called ＂blind grasp＂ in this paper）. The stability of grasping with force/torque balance under non-holonomic constraints is analyzed on the basis of a new concept named ＂stability on a manifold＂. Preliminary simulation results are shown to verify the validity of the theoretical results.     

Characteristics of chlorophyll formation of the aerial microalga Coelastrella striolata var. multistriata and its application for environmental biomonitoring

The growth and ammonium uptake of the aerial microalga Coelastrella striolata var. multistriata, which was isolated from the surface of rocks, were characterized in this study. The specific growth rate of the alga was mu=0.3 d(-1), as calculated in the growth logarithmic phase. The algal cells were able to remove almost 100% of the ammonium ions from medium in 5 d, with the removal rate of ammonium-N being 0.4 mg/l/h. It was shown that the alga has a unique ability to be a reddish orange to green color depending on the nitrogen source concentration in the medium. Astaxanthin, adonixanthin, canthaxanthin, and beta-carotene were found in the reddish orange cells of the alga. The assessment of water pollution was attempted using this aerial microalga. When the reddish orange alga was incubated in the experimental medium with added ammonium-, nitrate-, or urea-N as a nitrogen source, an approximately linear relationship existed between the nitrogen concentration and chlorophyll formation. Using the chlorophyll formation of the alga, for example, it was possible to estimate spectrophotometrically the total nitrogen content in water collected from aquatic systems. Biofunctional materials for environmental biomonitoring using photosynthetic microorganisms are called green devices in this study.