A case of xanthogranuloma of the urinary bladder following herniorrhaphy]

We report a case of xanthogranuloma of the bladder following herniorrhaphy. The patient complained of urinary frequency, residual feeling, and presented with a solid mass located on the dome of the bladder. He had undergone previous inguinal herniorrhaphy. Transurethral biopsy revealed an inflammatory change. Partial cystectomy was carried out for en bloc removal of the tumor. The histological diagnosis was xanthogranuloma of the bladder. Postoperatively, the symptoms disappeared. This is the sixth case report of xanthogranuloma of the urinary bladder and the first case following herniorrhaphy in the Japanese literature.     

A 1-Gb DRAM for file applications

A time-shared offset-canceling sensing scheme, a defective word-line Hi-Z standby scheme, and a flexible multimacro architecture have been developed for 1-Gb DRAM. These circuit technologies have been applied to a 1-Gb DRAM for file applications employing 0.25 μm CMOS process technology, a diagonal bit-line cell, and a two-stage pipeline circuit technique. In this DRAM, a 30% chip size reduction and a 400-MB/s data transfer rate have been achieved. A 100% improvement in yield has been estimated by Monte-Carlo simulation. The 1-Gb DRAM die size is 936 mm². The cell size is 0.54 μm². The operating current is 58 mA at 2 V and 100 MHz     

Viscoelastic evaluation of effects of fiber size and composition on cellulose‐polypropylene composite of high filler content

The dispersion of filler in resin is an important factor which determines the mobility of a compound in a molder and also the mechanical properties of molded products in wood/plastic composite, especially with high wood filler content. In this report, the dispersion of components in the melt‐mixture of a compound in response to the size of cellulose filler and resin content was examined for compounds with a high content of cellulose in polypropylene by the evaluation of viscoelasticity using a cone rheometer, and the following conclusions were obtained: (1) The viscoelasticity measured by a cone rheometer was dependent on the dispersion state of the compound, and it was confirmed that the presented evaluation method of viscoelasticity affords information relevant to the dispersion state of filler in a compound; (2) On the basis of the viscoelastic evaluation of compounds with different resin contents, a model for the distribution of cellulose and resin is proposed in terms of the tangle of fibers; (3) Viscoelastic analysis showed that cellulose size has an influence on the tangle of fibers; (4) The results of viscoelasticity and mechanical properties of molded products suggested that an important factor determining the tangle of fibers is the average aspect ratio. The proposed analysis of viscoelasticity presents a simple technique for estimating the dispersion state of a compound with high filler content, which is hardly possible by conventional fluid evaluation methods. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 48:168–176, 2008. © 2007 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Formation of C-C Bonds via Ruthenium Catalyzed Transfer Hydrogenation: Carbonyl Addition from the Alcohol or Aldehyde Oxidation Level

Under the conditions of ruthenium catalyzed transfer hydrogenation employing isopropanol as terminal reductant, π-unsaturated compounds (1,3-dienes, allenes, 1,3-enynes and alkynes) reductively couple to aldehydes to furnish products of carbonyl addition. In the absence of isopropanol, π-unsaturated compounds couple directly from the alcohol oxidation level to form identical products of carbonyl addition. Such "alcohol-unsaturate C-C couplings" enable carbonyl allylation, propargylation and vinylation from the alcohol oxidation level in the absence of stoichiometric organometallic reagents or metallic reductants. Thus, direct catalytic C-H functionalization of alcohols at the carbinol carbon is achieved.     

Biochemical and genetic characterization of a D(-)-3-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase from Acidovorax sp. strain SA1

D(-)-3-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (BDH; EC 1.1.1.30) from a poly(D(-)-3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) degrading bacterium, Acidovorax sp. SA1, was purified using Toyopearl DEAE-650M, red-Sepharose CL-4B, and Q Sepharose FF. The molecular mass of the enzyme was estimated as 27 kDa by SDS-PAGE and 110 kDa by gel filtration. The gene encoding BDH was cloned and sequenced, and expressed in Escherichia coli. The gene product was purified in two steps with a high yield. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the enzyme purified from E. coli agreed with that of the purified enzyme from strain SA1. The BDH of strain SA1 had high amino acid sequence homology to that of Ralstonia eutropha H16. The Km values for D(-)-3-hydroxybutyrate and NAD+ in the oxidation reaction were 4.5 x 10(-4) M and 8.9 x 10(-5) M, respectively. The Km values for acetoacetate and NADH in the reduction reaction were 2.4 x 10(-4) M and 2.9 x 10(-5) M, respectively.     

Polygonal obstacle avoidance method for swarm robots via fluid dynamics

Artificial Life and Robotics - Swarm robots in obstacle environments perform search tasks efficiently while avoiding obstacles. Obstacle avoidance methods are classified by the way obstacles are...