Hinokitiol induces differentiation of teratocarcinoma F9 cells

Hinokitiol, a constituent of the wood of Chamaecyparis taiwanensis, was found to induce differentiation of teratocarcinoma F9 cells. When examined by the agar-overlay method, in which expression of plasminogen activator as a differentiation marker protein was detected, this compound exhibited a dose- and time-dependent induction. Induction of differentiation by hinokitiol occurred irreversibly and required its addition for more than 12h. Among its structure-related compounds tested, tropolone and two colchicine-related compounds exerted potent activities comparable to that of hinokitiol. These findings indicate that free tropolone structure in the molecules plays an essential role in inducing differentiation of F9 cells. Hinokitiol showed a strong inhibitory effect of DNA synthesis in very early stages of culture, suggesting that this effect may be responsible for triggering differentiation of F9 cells.     

Hydrothermal upgrading of wood biomass: Influence of the addition of K2CO3 and cellulose/lignin ratio

The hydrothermal treatment of two different wood biomass samples such as cherry (hard wood) and cypress (soft wood), whose composition is different i.e. lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose were performed at 280 °C for 15 min with aq. K₂CO₃ with different concentrations (0–1 M). The soft wood biomass contains higher lignin content than hard wood biomass. The cellulose rich cherry wood biomass produced higher proportion of acetic acid than cypress. The lignin rich cypress produced the hydrocarbons with major portion of phenolic hydrocarbons and derivatives than cherry. The total oil yields from both cherry and cypress wood biomass produced 50 wt% of liquid hydrocarbons at 280 °C for 15 min with 0.5 M K₂CO₃ solution. The volatility distribution of liquid hydrocarbons showed the characteristic features of soft and hard wood biomasses.     

High-performance polymer alloys of polybenzoxazine and bismaleimide

Two series of high-performance polymer alloys were prepared by mixing typical benzoxine monomers, 3-phenyl-3,4-dihydro-2H-1,3-benzoxazine (P-a) or 6,6-(1-methylethyliden)-bis-(3,4-dihydro-3-phenyl-2H-1,3-benzoxazine) (B-a), with a typical bismaleimide, 4,4-bismaleimidodiphenyl methane by various ratios followed by thermal treatment up to 240 °C. DSC and IR of the alloys were examined to follow the curing reaction. These analyses showed that the obtained polymer alloys are AB co-cross-linked polymer networks through the formation of ether linkage between the hydroxyl group of polybenoxazine and the double bond of bismaleimide. Viscoelastic analysis and softening temperature measurement revealed that the polymer alloys have much higher glass transition temperatures than those of each homopolymer. The thermal stability also increased with the increase of bismaleimide content as evidenced by TGA.     

Preparation of plasma-polymerized membranes from I-(trimethylsilyl)-I-propyne and gas permeability through the membranes

Summary Plasma-polymerized membranes for gas separation were prepared from 1-(trimethylsilyl)-1-propyne. The permeation data of He, H₂ 0₂, N₂, CO₂, and CH₄ through the membranes showed plasma-polymerized 1-(trimethylsilyl)-1-propyne had high permselectivity but low permeability compared with poly[l-(trimethylsilyl)-1-propyne]. This behavior is considered to be due to the crosslinking structure of the plasma-polymerized membrane. The correlation between plasma polymerization conditions and the membrane performance was studied. The optimum condition at which the deposition rate of the plasma polymer is maximized agreed with the optimum value to yield maximum separation factor of gases through the membrane.     

Bayesian inference explains perception of unity and ventriloquism aftereffect: identification of common sources of audiovisual stimuli

We study a computational model of audiovisual integration by setting a Bayesian observer that localizes visual and auditory stimuli without presuming the binding of audiovisual information. The observer adopts the maximum a posteriori approach to estimate the physically delivered position or timing of presented stimuli, simultaneously judging whether they are from the same source or not. Several experimental results on the perception of spatial unity and the ventriloquism effect can be explained comprehensively if the subjects in the experiments are regarded as Bayesian observers who try to accurately locate the stimulus. Moreover, by adaptively changing the inner representation of the Bayesian observer in terms of experience, we show that our model reproduces perceived spatial frame shifts due to the audiovisual adaptation known as the ventriloquism aftereffect.     

Thermodynamic study and intrinsic type II superconductivity in the A-15 compound V3Si

The specific heat of a single crystal of the A-15-type compound V₃Si in the normal, mixed, and superconducting states has been measured from 4 to 30 K in magnetic fields up to 50 kOe. The analysis has been performed in a self-consistent way based on the second-order phase transition from the normal to the superconducting state. The thermodynamic critical field and then various physical parameters characterizing the superconducting and normal states are almost consistently derived from the thermodynamics and the microscopic BCS-GLAG theory. It is confirmed that V₃Si is an intrinsic type II superconductor with a high intrinsic GL parameter ₀.This work was partially supported by a Grant in Aid for Scientific Research (B) from the Ministry of Education.     

The Influence of Rapid Annealing Cycles on the Recrystallisation Behaviour of Cold Rolled Ultra Low Carbon and Low Carbon Steel

For ultra low carbon (ULC) and low carbon steel (LC), the influence of heating rate, annealing temperature, and holding time on the recrystallisation behaviour and the resulting grain size was investigated. For ULC smallest grain sizes of about 9 μm were obtained at the lowest heating rate whereas for LC significant smaller grain sizes of about 5 μm were determined at the highest heating rate. Furthermore, the evolution of the grain size distribution with varying heating rate, annealing temperature, and holding time was studied in dependence of the rolling and normal direction. The state of the as‐hot rolled microstructure as well as the precipitation state exert a strong influence on the development of the recrystallised microstructure along the different directions for both steel grades. The inherent prolonged microstructure due to the cold rolling process is still obvious just after recrystallisation. With ongoing annealing and grain growth, the aspect ratio approaches the equiaxed state. This change proceeds faster for the ULC steel grade. With increasing annealing temperature, the bimodal character of the grain size distribution disappears and the distribution becomes more homogeneous.     

Development of sulfonated FEP-Nafion hybrid proton exchange membranes for PEFC

The performance of polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) is affected by an interfacial property between a proton exchange membrane (PEM) and electrodes. Thus, to develop a well-laminated membrane electrode assembly (MEA), a hybrid PEM (FN) was fabricated by mixing a radiation grafted membrane (sulfonated FEP) with ionomer (Nafion^® dispersion) which is applied to coat the interface of the PEM and electrodes.The obtained FN, sulfonated FEP and Nafion^®112 were characterized in terms of water uptake, ion exchange capacity (IEC), polarization performance and electrochemical impedance. FN showed high IEC and water uptake, which would induce the highest ionic conductivity (IC) among tested PEMs. In terms of FN, the interface between the PEM and electrodes should have been improved because FN showed the lowest charge transfer resistance than other tested PEMs. The high IC and improved interface between the PEM and electrodes resulted in the best cell performance of FN in tested PEMs.     

Origin of electron mobility enhancement in (1 1 1)-oriented InGaAs channel metal-insulator-semiconductor field-effect-transistors

Electrical and physical characteristics of the Al₂O₃/InGaAs interfaces with (1 1 1)A and (1 0 0) orientations were investigated in an attempt to understand the origin of electron mobility enhancement in the (1 1 1)A-channel metal-insulator-semiconductor field-effect-transistor. The (1 1 1)A interface has less As atoms of high oxidation states as probed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The electrical measurements showed that energy distribution of the interface traps for the (1 1 1)A interface is shifted toward the conduction band as compared to that for the (1 0 0) interface. Laterally-compressed cross-section transmission electron microscopy images showed that the characteristic lengths of the interface roughness are different between the (1 1 1)A and (1 0 0) interfaces. The contributions of the Coulomb and roughness scattering mechanisms are discussed based on the experimental results.