Evaporation rate effect on starting point of shrinkage stress development during drying process in solvent cast polymer film

To reveal the effect of drying conditions on shrinkage stress existing between a film and a substrate, a polystyrene/toluene solution was coated on a glass substrate, and the volume fraction of toluene at the time when the stress starts to grow (?_S) was measured at various drying temperatures and evaporation rates. ?_S decreased with increase of drying temperature at a constant evaporation rate, while ?_S increased with increase of evaporation rate at a constant drying temperature. From these results, it was suggested that the dominant factors affecting the starting point of stress were both the chain mobility and the measurement time‐scale. Considering the two factors, the tendency of ?_S with the drying conditions is quite similar to that of the solvent content at glass transition point, and this fact indicates a strong correlation between the starting point of stress and the glass transition of coated solution. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013     

Basic study of a ship navigator's mental workload using salivary NO\documentclass{article}\usepackage{amsmath}\usepackage{amssymb}\usepackage{amsbsy}\usepackage{amsfonts}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$_{3}^{-}$ \end{document}

Evaluation of the mental workload during training for ship handling has usually depended on professionals (captain, pilot) who have lots of experience on board. We are attempting to evaluate a ship navigator's mental workload based on a physiological index. The physiological indices, namely heart rate variability (R–R interval), nasal temperature, and salivary amylase, are good indices for reading the mental workload during ship handling. Moreover, we find the possibility of using salivary NO$_{3}^{-}$ as a good index for evaluating the ship navigator's mental workload. Salivary NO$_{3}^{-}$ is expected to have a specific characteristic to represent quick response on the spot and the trend. We confirmed the response of students during simulator training, and then carried out the experiment on professionals on a real ship. We propose that salivary NO$_{3}^{-}$ can show a ship navigator's stress for ship handling in the simulator and on a real ship. This work to evaluate the ship navigator's mental workload using salivary NO$_{3}^{-}$ is the first attempt worldwide. © 2013 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Displacement fields around 1/2[111] screw dislocations in bcc metals and their defocus convergent-beam electron diffraction patterns

Displacement fields have been calculated around 1/2[111] screw dislocations with various types of core structures in bcc metals. Three types of cores are studied: two types of polarized cores with large and small extensions of the displacement fields and an isotropic core. The difference in the displacement along the [111] direction Δu_z from that for the elastic solution has been evaluated for each type of dislocation. In the outside of the core region, the Δu_z values are close to zero along the six directions and the regions with Δu_z>0 and Δu_z<0 are alternately arranged, lying between those directions. Appreciable difference in Δu_z has been detected between the polarized cores and the isotropic core up to large distance from the core region. The defocus convergent-beam electron diffraction patterns have been calculated for the dislocations with the incident beam parallel to the dislocation line. Winding and spiral features have been shown in the higher-order Laue zone (HOLZ) lines for the dislocated structures, which have been confirmed by a preliminary experiment. In addition, small shifts of the HOLZ lines have been shown by the calculation between the polarized cores and the isotropic one.     

Confocal laser scanning microscopic analysis of ectopic sublingual gland‐like tissue inside the hamster submandibular gland

Based on its histochemical properties, the secretory portion of the hamster submandibular gland has been classified as seromucous cells. The presence of endogenous peroxidase (PO) reaction was shown in the nuclear envelope, cisternae of endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus. The 3,3′‐diaminobenzidene, tetrahydrochloride (DAB) method revealed bipartite secretory granules containing a PO‐positive dense core surrounded by a less dense halo in these cells. In the present investigation, serous and mucous‐like cells were found in resin‐embedded semi‐thin sections of the DAB‐reacted hamster submandibular gland. These sections were already on glass slides for routine light microscopic observations, therefore electron microscopic analysis could be unrealizable. We then used reflectance‐mode confocal laser scanning microscopy to visualize additional sites of PO activity as detected in these sections. Using this approach, we found mucous cells with PO activity‐negative secretory granules and seromucous cells with PO activity‐positive spot‐like secretory granules of the regular sublingual gland most frequently adjacent to the serous cells with typical electron‐dense secretory granules. These cells clearly differ from the seromucous cells with bipartite secretory granules and the granular duct cells with typical electron‐dense secretory granules of the hamster submandibular gland. Additionally, secretory endpieces of the ectopic sublingual gland‐like tissue empty into the duct of the hamster submandibular gland lobule. Thus, our findings suggest that a mass of sublingual gland tissue extends into the hamster submandibular gland during its development, and PO may be synthesized and secreted into the same duct. Microsc. Res. Tech. 76:1284–1291, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Quantitative evaluation of impedance perception characteristics of humans in the man-machine interface

We investigated impedance perception characteristics of humans in the man-machine interface. Sensibility or operational feel about physical properties of machine dynamics is obtained through perception process. We evaluated the impedance perception characteristics of humans who are operating a mechanical system, based on extended Scheffe’s subjective evaluation method in full consideration of the influence of impedance level, impedance difference, experiment order, individual difference and so on. Constant method based quantitative evaluation was adopted to investigate the influence of motion frequency and change of the impedance on human impedance perception characteristics. Experimental results indicate that humans perceive impedance of mechanical systems based on comparison process of the dynamical characteristics of the systems. The proposed method can be applied to quantify the design requirement of man-machine interface. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified through experimental results.     

CeO2–ZrO2 Solid Solution Catalyst for Selective Synthesis of Dimethyl Carbonate from Methanol and Carbon Dioxide

CeO₂–ZrO₂ solid solution catalysts are very effective for the selective synthesis of dimethyl carbonate from methanol and CO₂. The activity was much dependent on the calcination temperature. The higher the calcination temperature, the higher the activity of the catalyst for DMC formation, though the BET surface area is lower on the catalyst calcined at higher temperature.     

Construction of an expression system of insect lysozyme lacking thermal stability: the effect of selection of signal sequence on level of expression in the Pichia pastoris expression system

Expression systems of human and silkworm lysozymes were constructedusing the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris as a host. Theleader sequence and its prepro peptide of     

Impact of Oncogenic Targets by Tumor-Suppressive miR-139-5p and miR-139-3p Regulation in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

We newly generated an RNA-sequencing-based microRNA (miRNA) expression signature of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Analysis of the signature revealed that both strands of some miRNAs, including miR-139-5p (the guide strand) and miR-139-3p (the passenger strand) of miR-139, were downregulated in HNSCC tissues. Analysis of The Cancer Genome Atlas confirmed the low expression levels of miR-139 in HNSCC. Ectopic expression of these miRNAs attenuated the characteristics of cancer cell aggressiveness (e.g., cell proliferation, migration, and invasion). Our in silico analyses revealed a total of 28 putative targets regulated by pre-miR-139 (miR-139-5p and miR-139-3p) in HNSCC cells. Of these, the GNA12 (guanine nucleotide-binding protein subunit alpha-12) and OLR1 (oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor 1) expression levels were identified as independent factors that predicted patient survival according to multivariate Cox regression analyses (p = 0.0018 and p = 0.0104, respectively). Direct regulation of GNA12 and OLR1 by miR-139-3p in HNSCC cells was confirmed through luciferase reporter assays. Moreover, overexpression of GNA12 and OLR1 was detected in clinical specimens of HNSCC through immunostaining. The involvement of miR-139-3p (the passenger strand) in the oncogenesis of HNSCC is a new concept in cancer biology. Our miRNA-based strategy will increase knowledge on the molecular pathogenesis of HNSCC.     

X-ray diffraction measurements in high magnetic fields and at high temperatures

A system was developed measuring x-ray powder diffraction in high magnetic fields up to 5 T and at temperatures from 283 to 473 K. The stability of the temperature is within 1 K over 6 h. In order to examine the ability of the system, the high-field x-ray diffraction measurements were carried out for Si and a Ni-based ferromagnetic shape-memory alloy. The results show that the x-ray powder diffraction measurements in high magnetic fields and at high temperatures are useful for materials research.