Colony promoting activity (CPA) is a novel factor distinct from IL-6

The supernatant (CM) of long-term bone marrow culture (LTBMC) contains colony promoting activity (CPA) which does not have granulocyte-macrophage (GM) colony-stimulating activity but which enhances GM-colony formation in the presence of CSF. CPA is different from IL-1, IL-3 and GM, G-, and M-CSF. Since CPA-containing LTBMC-CM always contains a substantial level of IL-6, CPA was thought to be similar to IL-6. In the present study, we found that LTBMC with a particular batch of horse serum produced IL-6 without a corresponding production of CPA. Addition of IL-6 to GM-colony assay system in the presence of GM-CSF did not enhance the colony formation. LTBMC-CM did not stimulate proliferation nor differentiation of mast cell progenitors. Anti-IL-6 antibodies suppressed IL-6 activity, but not CPA. These results indicate that CPA is a novel factor distinct from IL-1, IL-3, G-, M-, GM-CSF, IL-6 and SCF (c-kit ligand).     

Polarization-controlled single-mode VCSEL

Relative intensity noise (RIN) in a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) was greatly reduced through the use of polarization control to eliminate competition between two orthogonal polarization states by ensuring there was only one polarization state. Polarization was stable with optical feedback of up to 10%. Polarization control was achieved by inducing a small loss anisotropy in fundamental transversal mode VCSEL's. Anisotropic post structures, such as a rectangular post, an oblique post, or a zigzag-sidewall post, were found to be effective in creating loss anisotropy without serious degradation of other VCSEL characteristics such as light-output power or beam profile     

Day-night variations of behavioral and autonomic thermoregulatory responses to lipopolysaccharide in rats

This study investigated the day-night differences in behavioral and autonomic thermoregulatory responses to bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in rats. Male rats were housed individually in cages with a 12: 12 h light dark cycle at an ambient temperature of 24 degrees C. The rats were placed in a box with a temperature gradient and intraperitoneally injected with LPS (10 micrograms/kg). The preferred ambient temperature (Tpr) was estimated by the location of the rats in the box, and intraperitoneal temperature (Tb) was measured by a biotelemetry system. Measurements were taken during the light and dark phases of the day. LPS produced fever in both phases. The magnitude of rise in Tb did not differ between the two periods. In the dark phase, Tpr significantly increased during the development of fever and decreased during the defervescence, while it did not change throughout the febrile course during the light phase. In a separate experiment, rats were loosely restrained and placed in a direct calorimeter. Their colonic temperature (Tcol), evaporative and nonevaporative heat loss and heat production were measured before and after intraperitoneal injections of LPS (10 micrograms/kg). Measurements were taken during the light and dark phases of the day. LPS induced fever in both phases. The magnitude of change in T col, heat loss, and heat production due to LPS did not differ between the two periods. These results suggest that the fertile response of rats to intraperitoneal LPS is not affected by the time of day. However, it seems that during LPS-induced fever, thermoregulatory behavior is not fully activated during the light phase of the day.     

Fabrication of blue-light emission fused-silica substrates by using Si-ion implantation and high-temperature annealing

We fabricated fused-silica substrates which emit blue light by using Si-ion implantation and high-temperature annealing. Photoluminescence peak wavelengths are around 400 nm, and the peak intensities can be remarkable after annealing above 1150 °C.     

An experimental BiCMOS video 10 bit ADC

The possibility of realizing a high-quality, low-power, and low-cost video 10 bit analog-to-digital converter is examined utilizing BiCMOS circuit and process technology. A single-power-supply, 10 bit 10 MHz operation, 500 mW power dissipation, and a 4.2×6.2 mm chip size with 4200 elements were obtained     

Bottom-up multi-agent reinforcement learning by reward shaping for cooperative-competitive tasks

Applied Intelligence - A multi-agent system (MAS) is expected to be applied to various real-world problems where a single agent cannot accomplish given tasks. Due to the inherent complexity in the...     

Stress corrosion cracking of aged Al---4%Cu alloy in NaCl solution

Stress-corrosion lives and pitting potentials of Al---4%Cu alloys with various aging structures have been measured in de-aerated 1M NaCl under conditions of controlled potential. It was found that the alloys aged having the higher susceptibility to stress-corrosion cracking showed two pitting potentials corresponding to pitting at grain boundaries and grain bodies, respectively. The susceptibility to stress corrosion cracking of the alloys appeared above the pitting potentials for grain boundaries. The maximum susceptibility to stress-corrosion cracking was obtained when the alloy was aged to attain the largest difference in pitting potentials between grain boundaries and grain bodies.     

Influence of Metal Ions on the Order-Disorder Transition Temperature of the Ba-M-O (M: La, Y, In, or Ga) System

Preparation of BaLa₂O₄, B_a3,Y₄O₉, B_a,In₂O₅, and Ba₃Ga₂O₆ powders and their sintering were investigated in Ar or air. These sintered bodies with perovskite-related structure were synthesized by reaction sintering, using mixed powders in the atomic ratios of Ba/La = 1, Ba/Y = 0.75, Ba/In = 1, and Ba/Ga = 1.5. The order-disorder transition temperatures of the BaLa₂O₄, Ba₃Y₄O₉, Ba₂In₂O₅, and Ba₃Ga₂O₆ sintered bodies were 270°, 350°, 880°, and 123O^oC, respectively. It was found that the temperatures were influenced by the ionic radius of cations in B sites, and the transition temperatures decreased with increasing ionic radius.     

Design of High-Quality Pt–CeO2 Composite Anodes Supported by Carbon Black for Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Application

A Pt on nano-sized CeO₂ particles that in turn are supported on carbon black (CB) was synthesized using the co-impregnation method. This potential anode material for fuel cell applications was synthesized in a stepwise process. The pure CeO₂ was synthesized using an ammonium carbonate precipitation method, and the Pt particles dispersed on the CeO₂ in such a way that a uniform dispersion with the CB was obtained (Pt–CeO₂/CB). The electrochemical activity of the methanol (CH₃OH) oxidation reaction on the Pt–CeO₂/CB was investigated using cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry experimentation. The onset potential of CH₃OH oxidation reaction on the Pt–CeO₂/CB anode was shifted to a lower potential as compared with that on commercially available Pt–Ru/carbon (C) alloy anode. In addition, the activation energy of the Pt–CeO₂/CB anode was much lower than that of the Pt–Ru/C alloy anode. Moreover, the current density of the Pt–CeO₂/CB anode was much higher than that of the Pt–Ru/C alloy anode at temperatures between 28° and 60°C. These results suggest that the anode performance of the Pt–CeO₂/CB anode at the operating temperature of typical fuel cells (80°C) is superior to that of the more usual Pt–Ru/C alloy anode. Importantly, the rare metal, Ru, is not required in the present anode material and the amount of Pt required is also significantly reduced. As a consequence, we report a promising candidate Pt–CeO₂/CB composite anode for application in the development of direct methanol fuel cells.