Adhesion Properties of Milled CuO-CeO2/γ-Al2O3 on Metallic Substrate for Automotive Catalytic Converter

Adhesion properties of CuO-CeO₂/γ-Al₂O₃ layers on FeCrAl metallic substrate was investigated, where the hybrid preparation method between suspension and sol-gel is further combined with the mechanical milling process of the slurry. Poor coating adhesion was observed when the slurry is vigorously stirred, where the milled powders are agglomerated, and the stirring process hardly reduces the particle size. The combined method was found to significantly improve the adhesion property between the milled CuO-CeO₂ catalytic layer and the γ-Al₂O₃ washcoat, compared with the vigorous stirring of the slurry. The so-called “over-milling” phenomenon was also exhibited, where the elongated large particles are observed after sintering of the longer-milled powders, leading to the lowered adhesion quality.     

Improvement of Mechanical Properties of Softwood Lignin-Based Carbon Fibers

PEG-lignin fibers obtained by a solvolysis pulping of Japanese cedar with polyethylene glycol (PEG) 400 were successfully converted into defective-free, infusible fibers as a precursor for carbon fibers (CFs) by chemical curing followed by oxidative thermostabilization. The curing was performed by immersing PEG-lignin fibers in an aqueous mixed solution of hexamethylenetetramine (60 g/L) and hydrochloric acid (3 M) at 85°C for 1 h, resulting in the formation of crosslinkages between lignin molecules through methylene groups. These cured fibers were completely thermostabilized upon heating up to 250°C at a heating rate of 2°C/min under an air atmosphere. Finally, the thermostabilized fibers were carbonized to yield CFs, which showed about 1.5 times the tensile strength of our CFs previously prepared.     

Enzymatic Saccharification of Soda Pulp from Sago Starch Waste Using Sago Lignin-Based Amphipathic Derivatives

The aim of this research is to develop an enzymatic saccharification process of sago starch waste, with a small charge of cellulase. The waste contained a significant amount of residual starch, which was recovered as glucose by mild acid hydrolysis. The starch-free residue was subjected to soda-anthraquinone pulping to yield soda pulp and soda lignin. The lignin was converted to amphipathic lignin derivatives by the reaction with epoxylated polyethylene glycol analogues. The pulp was hydrolyzed with cellulase (Genencor GC220), with the amphipathic derivatives, to yield glucose. The lignin derivative-assisted, enzymatic saccharification was repeatedly conducted by reusing cellulase recovered by ultrafiltration from saccharification media. Saccharification efficiency with the derivatives was maintained at a high level even after the fourth run of saccharification, while the efficiency was remarkably decreased by repeated use of cellulase without additive. Thus, the amphipathic sago lignin derivatives enabled repeated use of cellulase for saccharification of sago starch waste.     

Computational Prediction of O-linked Glycosylation Sites That Preferentially Map on Intrinsically Disordered Regions of Extracellular Proteins

O-glycosylation of mammalian proteins is one of the important posttranslational modifications. We applied a support vector machine (SVM) to predict whether Ser or Thr is glycosylated, in order to elucidate the O-glycosylation mechanism. O-glycosylated sites were often found clustered along the sequence, whereas other sites were located sporadically. Therefore, we developed two types of SVMs for predicting clustered and isolated sites separately. We found that the amino acid composition was effective for predicting the clustered type, whereas the site-specific algorithm was effective for the isolated type. The highest prediction accuracy for the clustered type was 74%, while that for the isolated type was 79%. The existence frequency of amino acids around the O-glycosylation sites was different in the two types: namely, Pro, Val and Ala had high existence probabilities at each specific position relative to a glycosylation site, especially for the isolated type. Independent component analyses for the amino acid sequences around O-glycosylation sites showed the position-specific existences of the identified amino acids as independent components. The O-glycosylation sites were preferentially located within intrinsically disordered regions of extracellular proteins: particularly, more than 90% of the clustered O-GalNAc glycosylation sites were observed in intrinsically disordered regions. This feature could be the key for understanding the non-conservation property of O-glycosylation, and its role in functional diversity and structural stability.     

Simple Design of Hydrophobic Zeolite Material by Modification Using TEFS and its Application as a Support of TiO2 Photocatalyst

Through the simple process using alkoxide reagent containing fluorine, triethoxyfluorosilane (TEFS), hydrophobic mesoporous silica material (HMS) was prepared. The surface modified HMS have still maintained its mesoporous structure and large surface area and showed considerable hydrophobic property compared with non-modified HMS. Moreover the surface modified HMS was applied as a support of TiO₂ photocatalyst with the aim of the efficient degradation of organic pollutant in water. Due to the hydrophobic property, the fine TiO₂ photocatalyst particles were generated on the modified HMS and both the adsorption properties and photocatalytic activities for the degradation of 2-propanol diluted in water were dramatically increased.     

RLS-type two-dimensional adaptive filter with a t-distribution assumption

In this paper we propose a novel two-dimensional adaptive filter based on assumption that the error signal has a t-distribution probability distribution with α degree of freedom to reduce the effect of large amplitude errors. We apply a large weighting function for error signals which have small amplitude and small weighting function for errors, which have large amplitude. By doing so, the effect of the large amplitude error signal to the obtained adaptive parameter can be suppressed. The parameter of the adaptive system is solved using an RLS-like adaptive algorithm. The proposed adaptive algorithm was applied to enhance images that are contaminated with additive noise. The ability of small α t-distribution assumption to reduce various additive noise is higher than that by using large α. The obtained noise reduction (NR) by utilizing small α is even higher than that obtained by applying the recently proposed LMS L-filter. Furthermore, the proposed adaptive algorithm has been applied for image linear prediction. By applying small α, we can obtain lower entropy than that by utilizing large α.     

Propionates and Acetates of Chiral Secondary Alcohols: Novel Sex Pheromone Components Produced by a Lichen Moth Barsine expressa (Arctiidae: Lithosiinae)

Females of a lichen moth, Barsine expressa (Arctiidae, Lithosiinae), which inhabit Iriomote Island in Japan, were captured by a black-light trap, and the pheromone gland extract was analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) with an electroantennographic (EAG) detector, and by GC coupled with mass spectrometry. The females produced several EAG-active esters, and the mass spectrum of a major component indicated the mixture consists of propionates derived from C₁₇-saturated secondary alcohols, which were inseparable on the capillary GC column. In addition to these main components, the pheromone glands included two acetate derivatives of C₁₇ alcohols, and other propionates of C₁₆ and C₁₅ alcohols. The crude extract was treated with K₂CO₃, and a 1:1 mixture of C₁₇ alcohols with a C₆- or C₇-chain moiety was obtained. The two alcohols were uniformly converted into monodeuterated n-heptadecane by mesylation and succeeding LiAlD₄ reduction. This result revealed a straight-chain structure of the C₁₇ alcohols with the acyl groups located at the 7- or 8-position. Field tests on Iriomote Island showed that the synthetic esters were behaviorally active. A 1:1 mixture of racemic 7-propioxyheptadecane and 8-propioxyheptadecane, which were prepared from the secondary alcohols synthesized by a Grignard coupling reaction, attracted male moths. Furthermore, propionates of the alcohols synthesized enantioselectively by using a hydrolytic kinetic resolution with Jacobsen’s catalyst were evaluated. Only the traps baited with a mixture of the two esters with the same S-configuration significantly attracted B. expressa males. In the Tokyo area, the propionate mixture attracted a closely related species, Barsine aberrans aberrans.     

Study on intelligent humidity control materials: Water vapor adsorption properties of mesostructured silica derived from amorphous fumed silica

The intelligent humidity control materials were synthesized using fumed silica and quaternary alkylammonium surfactant (decyl-, dodecyl-, tetradecyl- and hexadecyl-trimethylammonium chlorides) as a liquid-crystal template under hydrothermal conditions. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron micrographs indicate that a homogeneous hexagonal structure of SiO2 was formed for those products. The mesostructured products had high B.E.T. surface areas between 960 and 1300 m2/g, with uniform mesopore diameters of 2–4nm. These physical quantities were controlled by varying the size of the organic template. Water vapor adsorption isotherms for these materials possess a sharp increase in adsorption when the relative water vapor pressure is at 40–60%. Over this range of pressures, the maximum amount of adsorbed water content is between 40 and 90%. These silicates have the potential to be effectively used as humidity control elements in construction materials.     

Development of a phosphorescent white OLED with extremely high power efficiency and long lifetime

Abstract— A white OLED device with extremely high power efficiency and long lifetime was developed, in which blue, yellow‐green, and red phosphorescent emitters were used. The performances achieved were 64 lm/W and 10,000 hours of lifetime at an initial luminance of 1000 cd/m² by using a light outcoupling technique. The device also exhibited the good durability important for practical usage. New technologies, such as blue phosphorescent materials and a sophisticated organic layer structure, were applied to the device. Hopefully, these technologies will open the door to the practical use of OLEDs as light sources.