Application of carbonated apatite coating on a Ti substrate by aqueous spray method

The fabrication and characterization of a carbonate-containing apatite film deposited on a Ti plate via an aqueous spray method is described. The mist of the spray solution emitted from a perpendicularly oriented airbrush was made to strike a warmed Ti substrate. The thicknesses of the sprayed film and those heat-treated at 400 °C–700 °C under Ar gas flow were in the range 1.21–1.40 μm. The results of elemental analyses and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy of the powders that were mechanically collected from the surface of the sprayed film suggest that the film was Ca₁₀(PO₄)6(CO₃) · 2CO₂ · 3H₂O. The presence of the carbonate ion and the lattice CO₂ molecule was confirmed via the aforementioned analyses; the finding was also consistent with the X-ray diffraction patterns of the films and the chemical identity of the sprayed and heat-treated films that were measured using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The sprayed film comprises a characteristic network structure, which contains round particles within the networks, as was observed by field-emission scanning electron microscopy. A scratch test indicated that the shear stress of the sprayed film (21 MPa) significantly improved to 40 and > 133 MPa after heat-treatment at 600 °C and 700 °C, respectively, under Ar gas flow for 10 min.     

INTERACTION OF HYDROXYLATED POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS TO ESTROGEN RECEPTOR

Binding activities and estrogenic/antiestrogenic activities of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and hydroxylated PAHs (OHPAHs) having 2 to 6 rings were evaluated by competition assay and yeast two-hybrid assay expressing human estrogen receptor (hER), respectively. PAHs did not bind to hER and did not show any activity. On the other hand, OHPAHs bound to hER and several OHPAHs showed estrogenic or antiestrogenic activity. Relative estrogenic activity (REP _E ) and antiestrogenic activity (REP _AE ) were calculated from the values of E ₂ and 4-hydroxytamoxyfen as positive controls, respectively. Several OHPAHs having 4 rings showed strongly estrogenic activity. 4-Hydroxybenzo[a]anthracene exhibited the strongest estrogenic activity (REP _E = 7.5 × 10^?3 ) followed by 3-hydroxybenzo[a]anthracene and 2-hydroxychrysene (REP _E = 4.2 × 10^?3 ). Several other 4-ring OHPAHs showed strongly antiestrogenic activity. 3-Hydroxybenzo[c]phenanthrene exhibited the strongest antiestrogenic activity (REP _AE = 190) followed by 2-hydroxybenzo[c]phenanthrene (REP _AE = 69) and 2- hydroxybenz [a]anthracene (REP _AE = 0.42). The results suggested that there is a strong structure – activity relationship.     

Correlation for countercurrent flow limitation in a PWR hot leg

Numerical simulations were done to evaluate countercurrent flow limitation (CCFL) characteristics in a pressurized water reactor (PWR) hot leg with the diameter of 750 mm by using a volume of fluid (VOF) method implemented in the CFD software, FLUENT6.3.26. The calculated CCFL characteristics agreed well with known values including the UPTF data at 1.5 MPa. Sensitivity analyses for system pressures up to 8 MPa showed that the calculated CCFL characteristics in the Wallis diagram were slightly mitigated from 0.1 MPa to 1.5 MPa with increasing system pressure, but they did not change from 1.5 MPa to 8MPa. Using the CCFLs calculated in this study and values measured under air–water and steam–water conditions, a CCFL correlation and its uncertainty were derived.     

An innovation management approach for renewable energy deployment—the case of solar photovoltaic (PV) technology

In the discussion of renewable energy deployment, one key concern is the various types of barriers that renewable energy needs to overcome before it can make its way into the mainstream. These barriers increasingly shift from the technical to the economic and institutional. The most general types of barriers are due to technological ‘lock-out’ or to carbon ‘lock-in’ [Unruh, G., 2000. Understanding carbon lock-in. Energy Policy 28(12), 817–830 (Elsevier)].These barriers necessitate the development of a strategic approach to deploy or introduce renewable energy technology. Existing energy policy has mostly relied upon financial subsidies, market-based instruments such as renewable portfolio standards, and production tax credits to stimulate the installation and use of equipment to generate electricity from renewable sources. These strategies target mostly system-level decisions of end users.The purpose of this paper is to present an innovation perspective on the renewable energy deployment process by introducing the innovation value-added chain (IVC) framework. The analytical objective of IVC is to evaluate the impact of a new innovation on the various stakeholders and players in the development and deployment processes. A deployment or innovation strategy that causes minimal disruption, enhances existing competencies, or expedites new learning by the players has a higher chance to succeed.We draw upon two sets of system integration costs data for grid-connected distributed photovoltaic (PV) systems in Japan and the United States and demonstrate conspicuously different dynamic learning behaviors. These two deployment models can be understood in terms of how the IVCs are organized and how PV system integration projects are performed in the field. In addition, IVC-based findings can inform the targeted application of conventional financial subsidies for learning investment not only at the PV system level, but also at the (localized) system integration level. This would involve other stakeholders, thus suggesting new energy policy space. We highlight some future research directions using the IVC framework.     

Multi‐gene phylogenetic analysis reveals that shochu‐fermenting Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains form a distinct sub‐clade of the Japanese sake cluster

Shochu is a traditional Japanese distilled spirit. The formation of the distinguishing flavour of shochu produced in individual distilleries is attributed to putative indigenous yeast strains. In this study, we performed the first (to our knowledge) phylogenetic classification of shochu strains based on nucleotide gene sequences. We performed phylogenetic classification of 21 putative indigenous shochu yeast strains isolated from 11 distilleries. All of these strains were shown or confirmed to be Saccharomyces cerevisiae, sharing species identification with 34 known S. cerevisiae strains (including commonly used shochu, sake, ale, whisky, bakery, bioethanol and laboratory yeast strains and clinical isolate) that were tested in parallel. Our analysis used five genes that reflect genome‐level phylogeny for the strain‐level classification. In a first step, we demonstrated that partial regions of the ZAP1, THI7, PXL1, YRR1 and GLG1 genes were sufficient to reproduce previous sub‐species classifications. In a second step, these five analysed regions from each of 25 strains (four commonly used shochu strains and the 21 putative indigenous shochu strains) were concatenated and used to generate a phylogenetic tree. Further analysis revealed that the putative indigenous shochu yeast strains form a monophyletic group that includes both the shochu yeasts and a subset of the sake group strains; this cluster is a sister group to other sake yeast strains, together comprising a sake‐shochu group. Differences among shochu strains were small, suggesting that it may be possible to correlate subtle phenotypic differences among shochu flavours with specific differences in genome sequences. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue by Au-deposited TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> film under UV irradiation

A TiO₂ photocatalytic film was prepared by the sol–gel and dip-coating methods. Au-loaded TiO₂ photocatalytic films were produced by the photodeposition method. The photocatalytic activity of the films under UV irradiation was evaluated by measuring the degradation of absorbance for a methylene blue (MB) aqueous solution. Au particles deposited on the TiO₂ film improved the photocatalytic activity under the O₂ bubbling condition. On the other hand, under N₂ or Ar bubbling, the doubly reduced form of MB, leuco-methylene blue (LMB), was formed at the beginning of UV irradiation, and then both MB and LMB were decomposed gradually by the photocatalytic reaction. In this process, Au particles on the TiO₂ film behave as electron traps.     

Involvement of Ghrelin Dynamics in Stress-Induced Eating Disorder: Effects of Sex and Aging

Stress, a factor that affects appetite in our daily lives, enhances or suppresses appetite and changes palatability. However, so far, the mechanisms underlying the link between stress and eating have not been fully elucidated. Among the peripherally produced appetite-related peptides, ghrelin is the only orexigenic peptide, and abnormalities in the dynamics and reactivity of this peptide are involved in appetite abnormalities in various diseases and psychological states. This review presents an overview of the research results of studies evaluating the effects of various stresses on appetite. The first half of this review describes the relationship between appetite and stress, and the second half describes the relationship between the appetite-promoting peptide ghrelin and stress. The effects of sex differences and aging under stress on appetite are also described.     

Identification of specific relaxin-binding cells in the human female

Relaxin is secreted during pregnancy, but it has no verified effects in humans. The objective of the present study was to identify the cells containing specific relaxin-binding sites in the uterine cervix, vagina, uterus, mammary glands, mammary nipples, and term placenta in the human. The uterine cervix, vagina, and uterus were obtained from hysterectomy specimens. Mammary glands and nipples were obtained after modified radical mastectomy. Placenta was obtained after normal delivery. Tissue samples were cut into slices (0.5-3 cm3), frozen in liquid nitrogen, and cryosectioned (8 microm). Cells that bind relaxin were identified by sequential application of biotinylated porcine relaxin probe, antibiotin immunoglobulin G conjugated to 1 nm colloidal gold, and silver enhancement for signal amplification. Relaxin bound with specificity to epithelial cells, smooth muscle cells, and blood vessels in the cervix, vagina, uterus, and mammary nipples; to epithelial cells and blood vessels in the mammary glands; and to skin of the mammary nipples. In addition, relaxin bound to individual cell types within the term placenta (amnion epithelium, syncytiotrophoblasts, blood vessels), and to sebaceous glands within the nipples. We conclude that the specific relaxin-binding cells probably contain relaxin receptors. Identification of putative relaxin receptors may provide insight into physiological and/or therapeutic roles of relaxin in the human.     

A novel islanding protection system for photovoltaic inverters

It is very difficult to detect an islanding condition of a power distribution line with conventional voltage or frequency relays while the output power and the load power of utility interactive PV inverter units are in nearly balanced state in both active power and reactive power. This is because a sufficiently large voltage or frequency change cannot be expected at such a balanced state. Many studies have been reported so far to complement dead bands in combination of active and passive methods to prevent the islanding, but none of them has been successful. This paper presents the principle of a new active method called slip mode frequency shift (SMS). With this method the reactive power between the inverter and the load is made unbalanced intentionally to cause the frequency to shift as if it slips down a slide. The performance when the dead bands are eliminated effectively in the range of practical use has been examined through simulation and experiments.