A ROCK Inhibitor Promotes Graft Survival during Transplantation of iPS-Cell-Derived Retinal Cells

Currently, retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) transplantation includes sheet and single-cell transplantation, the latter of which includes cell death and may be highly immunogenic, and there are some issues to be improved in single-cell transplantation. Y-27632 is an inhibitor of Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK), the downstream kinase of Rho. We herein investigated the effect of Y-27632 in vitro on retinal pigment epithelium derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS-RPE cells), and also its effects in vivo on the transplantation of iPS-RPE cell suspensions. As a result, the addition of Y-27632 in vitro showed suppression of apoptosis, promotion of cell adhesion, and higher proliferation and pigmentation of iPS-RPE cells. Y-27632 also increased the viability of the transplant without showing obvious retinal toxicity in human iPS-RPE transplantation into monkey subretinal space in vivo. Therefore, it is possible that ROCK inhibitors can improve the engraftment of iPS-RPE cell suspensions after transplantation.     

Coal liquefaction by the hydrogen produced from methanol

Methanol was used as an in-situ hydrogen source, following its decomposition over ZnO-Cr₂O₃, for the hydrogenation of coal. The reaction was carried out in a high pressure autoclave at ≈400–440 °C, in the presence of different hydrogenation catalysts. Stabilized nickel, stabilized Co and Ni-Cr-Cu catalysts gave excellent results. The maximum conversion was 100% for pyridine, 94.4% for benzene and 66.2% for straight-chain hexane.     

Corrosion Resistance of Artificial Passive Film and Real Passive Film on Fe-Ti Alloy

The corrosion resistances of Fe₂O₃-TiO₂ artificial passive film and real passive film on the sputter-deposited Fe-Ti alloy films were examined in acid solutions. The Fe₂O₃-TiO₂ films containing less than XTi=0.70 have a spinal structure, the films containing more than XTi=0.70 have an amorphous structure. The dissolution rate of the Fe₂O₂-TiO₂ films in 5 M HCI decreased with an increase in the titanium cationic fraction in the films. The Fe₂O₃TiO₂ films dissolved at cathodic potentials in 1 M H₂SO₄ and 1 M HCl owing to the selective reduction of Fe₂O₃ components in the films. Sputter-deposited Fe-Ti alloy films containing more than 39 at.% Ti passivated anodically in 1 M H₂SO₄ and 1 M HCl. and showed high corrosion resistance. The Fe₂O3TiO₂ artificial passive films have a higher corrosion resistance than real passive films on the sputter-deposited Fe-Ti alloy films in 5 M HCl.     

Detection of allergenic substances in foods by a multiplex PCR method

A multiplex PCR (M-PCR) method was developed for the detection of DNAs of plant and three allergenic substances (wheat, buckwheat, and peanut) in foods. Genomic DNAs were extracted from allergenic substances with a commercial ion-exchange type kit. Four primer pairs suitable for the specific detection of plant DNA were designed to establish a M-PCR method detecting simultaneously the specific DNAs of plant and allergenic substances. Our four designed primer pairs and the primer pair described in the Japanese official method were applied to the specific detection of plant DNA. A primer pair of Plant01-5' and Plant01-3' (amplicon size; 161 bp) was the most suitable for the specific detection of plant DNA. M-PCR was performed to detect the specific DNAs of allergenic substances using four primer pairs, a pair of Plant01-5' and Plant01-3', and three pairs for allergenic components described in the Japanese official method. The four specific PCR bands were simultaneously amplified from genomic DNAs of allergenic substances. The proposed method is simple, rapid and inexpensive.     

基于互联网技术的远程机器人控制器设计

采取利用互联网、IEEE802．11x无线局域网及移动电话网的方法,为轮式移动机器人设计具有视觉功能的远程无线控制器,实现远程无线控制轮式移动机器人的控制器软件、硬件的基本结构和设计方法。设计的两种嵌入式控制器分别在局域网和日本的3G无线移动电话网上进行了实验,在具有视觉功能的轮式移动机器人上实现了利用浏览器通过网络对轮式移动机器人进行远程无线操作控制,并在远程操作计算机上通过网络利用浏览器获取机器人实时视觉图像。     

Reaction mechanism of coal hydrogenation: 1. Two-ring solvent system

Taiheiyo coal was hydrogenated in naphthalene, tetralin and decalin under 10 MPa (initial pressure) of hydrogen or nitrogen with stabilized nickel as catalyst at 400 °C for 15 min. Preasphaltene, asphaltene and oil conversions and the conversion of the solvents were measured. The hydrogen absorbed by coal from molecular hydrogen and from the donor solvent was calculated. The main reaction route appears to be the direct hydrogenation of coal by molecular hydrogen, with the side reaction via solvent by molecular hydrogen occurring only slightly, when an active catalyst such as stabilized nickel is present.     

Cooled Vortex Street Generated by Cooling a Cylinder at Low Reynolds Number: Effects of Reynolds Number Difference on Cooled Wake and Cooled Vortex Street

First, the dominant action in the cooled wakes in mercury and water at the Reynolds number Re = 22 and 44 is discussed. Next, the cooled wake at Re = 22 is numerically simulated and is compared with the previous results at Re = 44. Finally, effects of Re on the cooled wake and the cooled vortex street are elucidated, and are found to be extremely powerful as follows.

• 1. The dominant action can be determined at different fluids and different Re. Here, the vorticity and the temperature are relating with each other.

• a. “Table of diffusion intensity order” is invented. By obtaining and using this table, the dominant action can be determined automatically.

• b. The kinds of the dominant action are the advection and the diffusion in the vorticity and the temperature.

• c. In mercury and water at Re = 44 and 22, the dominant action is the vorticity diffusion at the low Re, the vorticity advection at the high Re, the temperature diffusion at the low Peclet number Pe, and the temperature advection at the high Pe.

• d. The dominant action in air at Re = 44 is between the dominant action in mercury and water at Re = 44. The dominant action in air at Re = 22 is the same as the dominant action in mercury at Re = 22.

• e. By using the dominant action, the wake variations and item 2 below, i.e., the characteristics of the cooled wake behavior, can be explained.

• 2. When Re is decreased, the following occurs and its cause is elucidated.

• f. In the cooled wake, the Karman vortex street does not occur, but the cooled vortex street with g below occurs.

• g. The vortex spiral size is not changed in mercury but is increased in water.

• h. The following is decreased in mercury but is increased in water. The range of the absolute Richardson number|Ri|generating the cooled vortex street, the spiral degree in the cooled vortex, the critical|Ri| for the symmetric wake onset, and the reciprocal of the temperature wake area.

     

Absolute measurement of activity of ¹⁹⁸Au foils using the 4πβ-γ coincidence counting method and corrections by the Monte Carlo simulation

The thermal neutron fluence rate is determined by the gold activation method. The absolute activity of the irradiated gold foil is measured by a 4πβ-γ coincidence counter. Using this method, corrections for the detection of conversion electrons and gamma rays by a 4πβ counter are very important to obtain accurate absolute activity. In this work, Monte Carlo simulations were performed to derive the correction factor K. The absolute measurement of (198)Au activity for 20-100 μm thickness Au foils were performed to verify the calculating model of the 4πβ-γ coincidence counting system.     

Evaluation of wastewater nitrogen transformation in a natural wetland (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia) using dual-isotope analysis of nitrate

The Tuul River, which provides water for the daily needs of many residents of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, has been increasingly polluted by wastewater from the city's sewage treatment plant. Information on water movement and the transformation of water-borne materials is required to alleviate the deterioration of water quality. We conducted a synoptic survey of general water movement, water quality including inorganic nitrogen concentrations, and isotopic composition of nitrogen (δ¹⁵N-NO₃⁻, δ¹⁸O-NO₃⁻, and δ¹⁵N-NH₄⁺) and water (δ¹⁸O-H₂O) in a wetland area that receives wastewater before it enters the Tuul River. We sampled surface water, groundwater, and spring water along the two major water routes in the wetland that flow from the drain of the sewage treatment plant to the Tuul River: a continuous tributary and a discontinuous tributary. The continuous tributary had high ammonium (NH₄⁺) concentrations and nearly stable δ¹⁵N-NH₄⁺, δ¹⁵N-NO₃⁻, and δ¹⁸O-NO₃⁻ concentrations throughout its length, indicating that nitrogen transformation (i.e., nitrification and denitrification) during transit was small. In contrast, NH₄⁺ concentrations decreased along the discontinuous tributary and nitrate (NO₃⁻) concentrations were low at many points. Values of δ¹⁵N-NH₄⁺, δ¹⁵N-NO₃⁻, and δ¹⁸O-NO₃⁻ increased with flow along the discontinuous route. Our results indicate that nitrification and denitrification contribute to nitrogen removal in the wetland area along the discontinuous tributary with slow water transport. Differences in hydrological pathways and the velocity of wastewater transport through the wetland area greatly affect the extent of nitrogen removal.     

Recent progress in negative-working photosensitive and thermally stable polymers

The production of semiconductors, especially for semiconductor large-scale integration (LSI), has been definitely supported by photolithographic technologies using photosensitive polymers in the micro-electronic device industry. Among them, photosensitive and thermally-stable polymers (PSTSPs) provide simpler resist system than the conventional one, in which the resist materials stays after forming a pattern and function as thermally resisting insulators in integrated circuits (ICs) and multi-chip packages (MCPs), eliminating the extra process of resist removal. Recently, negative-working chemical amplification photoresists have started to receive much attention as quite simple and direct network formation systems in polymer films. The recent progress in negative-working PSTSPs based on the chemical amplification system is summarized in this review article, which includes low dielectric constant polymers for LSI, high refractive index polymers for microlens materials in complementary metal oxide semiconductor image sensors, novolac resists for indium tin oxide patterning, and poly(3-hexylthiophene) for organic field-effect transistors.