Photo-induced electron transfer of a chlorophyll—liquid crystal electrode to water

A platinum plate was coated with a thin layer of chlorophyll and liquid crystal in order to make it photo-excitable. The chlorophyll—liquid crystal electrode immersed in water was found to shift its electrode potential to a more positive value on light irradiation. Furthermore light irradiation increased cathodic current. Liquid crystals such as N-(p-methoxybenzylidene)-p′-butylaniline markedly enhanced a photo-response in electrode potential and current. A prominent photo-response of the electrode appeared in an acidic solution around pH 4. A possibility of a direct electron transfer from a photo-excited chlorophyll—liquid crystal electrode to water, ie, photo-decomposition of water, is suggested.     

Comparison of the ability of viral protein-expressing plasmid DNAs to protect against influenza

The ability of plasmid DNA encoding various influenza viral proteins from the A/PR/8/34 (H1N1) virus to protect against influenza was compared in BALB/c mice. The plasmid DNA encoded hemagglutinin (HA), neuraminidase (NA), matrix protein (M1), nucleoprotein (NP) or nonstructural protein (NS1) in a chicken beta-actin-based expression vector (pCAGGS). Each DNA was inoculated twice 3 weeks apart at a dose of 1 microgram per mouse by particle-mediated DNA transfer to the epidermis (gene gun). Seven days after a second immunization, mice were challenged with the homologous virus and the ability of each DNA to protect mice from influenza was evaluated by decreased lung virus titers and increased survival. Mice, given HA- or NA-expressing DNA, induced a high level of specific antibody response and protected well against the challenge virus. On the other hand, mice given M1-, NP-, or NS1-DNA failed to provide protection, although M1- and NP-DNAs did induce detectable antibody responses. These results indicate that both HA- and NA-expressing DNAs for the surface glycoproteins are most protective against influenza from among the various viral protein-expressing DNAs used here.     

Optimization systems in production and distribution of the cementindustry

In the cement industry, many optimization systems have been developed and are currently in operation to reduce total production and delivery costs or to optimize the efficiency of equipment investments. This paper deals with some of these optimization systems, which were designed with mathematical programming. Some effective usage of sensitivity analysis and a systems integration approach are also introduced     

Esophageal intramural metastasis from an adenocarcinoma of the gastric cardia: report of a case

We report herein the rare case of a 65-year-old man found to have esophageal intramural metastasis from cancer of the gastric cardia. Endoscopic examination initially revealed an infiltrating ulcerative tumor of the gastric cardia involving the esophagogastric junction, as well as a submucosal tumor of the lower esophagus. A total thoracic esophagogastrectomy with lower mediastinal lymphadenectomy was performed, and the resected specimen demonstrated that both the cardia and esophageal tumors were adenocarcinomas with the same cellular differentiation. As lymphatic invasion and metastases to the paracardial and mediastinal lymph nodes were observed, the esophageal submucosal tumor was considered to be an intramural metastasis from the carcinoma of the gastric cardia resulting from extensive lymphatic spread. The patient died of recurrent disease 9 months after the resection. This case report serves to demonstrate that intramural metastasis may be a local indicator of the systemic spread of disease in patients with gastric carcinoma, as it is in esophageal carcinoma.     

Characterization of a functional null cell line derived from NZB x NZW)F1 mice

We attempted to establish a null cell line from NZB x NZW(B/W)F1 mice in order to investigate a regulatory role of null cells during polyclonal B cell activation in autoimmune diseases. NB2.2, a representative subclone of resulting null cell lines, was maintained in long-term tissue culture with 10% mouse ConA supernatant (MCAS). Interestingly, the cell free supernatant of the NB2.2 cells (NB-CFS) showed marked synergistic effects on IgM secretion by B cells induced by IL-5. In addition, NB-CFS had the ability to augment the production of autoantibodies against bromelain-treated mouse red blood cells (BrMRBC) and single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) by B cells induced by IL-5. To determine whether NB2.2 cells induce polyclonal B cell activation and autoantibody generation in vivo, BALB/c mice were injected with NB2.2 cells. The results showed that the level of anti-ssDNA antibodies in sera of BALB/c mice injected with NB2.2 cells was significantly higher than that of control BALB/c mice injected with FDC-P2 cells. In addition, splenic B cells from mice injected with NB2.2 cells significantly proliferated in vitro in response to IL-4 and IL-5, and produced anti-ssDNA antibodies in the presence of IL-5. These results suggest that NB2.2, a null cell line established from B/WF1 mice, produces mediators capable of promoting polyclonal B cell activation and inducing autoantibody secretion, and that this kind of null cell may play an important role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases.     

Molecular dynamics of DNA and nucleosomes in solution studied by fast-scanning atomic force microscopy

Nucleosome is a fundamental structural unit of chromatin, and the exposure from or occlusion into chromatin of genomic DNA is closely related to the regulation of gene expression. In this study, we analyzed the molecular dynamics of poly-nucleosomal arrays in solution by fast-scanning atomic force microscopy (AFM) to obtain a visual glimpse of nucleosome dynamics on chromatin fiber at single molecule level. The influence of the high-speed scanning probe on nucleosome dynamics can be neglected since bending elastic energy of DNA molecule showed similar probability distributions at different scan rates. In the sequential images of poly-nucleosomal arrays, the sliding of the nucleosome core particle and the dissociation of histone particle were visualized. The sliding showed limited fluctuation within ∼50 nm along the DNA strand. The histone dissociation occurs by at least two distinct ways: a dissociation of histone octamer or sequential dissociations of tetramers. These observations help us to develop the molecular mechanisms of nucleosome dynamics and also demonstrate the ability of fast-scanning AFM for the analysis of dynamic protein–DNA interaction in sub-seconds time scale.     

Effects of sulfated fucan,ascophyllan, from the brown Alga Ascophyllum nodosum on various cell lines: A comparative study on ascophyllan and fucoidan

The effects of fucose-containing sulfated polysaccharides, ascophyllan and fucoidan, isolated from the brown alga Ascophyllum nodosum, on the growth of various cell lines (MDCK, Vero, PtK₁, CHO, HeLa, and XC) were investigated. In a colony formation assay, ascophyllan and fucoidan showed potent cytotoxic effects on Vero and XC cells, while other cell lines were relatively resistant to these polysaccharides. Almost no significant effects of these polysaccharides were observed in the cell lines tested using the Alamar blue cytotoxicity assay over 48 h with varying initial cell densities (2500–20,000 cells/well) in growth medium. Interestingly, a significant growth promoting effect of ascophyllan on MDCK cells was observed, whereas treatment with fucoidan showed growth suppressive effects on this cell line under the same experimental conditions. These results suggest that ascophyllan is distinguishable from fucoidan in terms of their bioactivities. This is the first report of the growth promoting effects of a sulfated fucan on a mammalian cell line under normal growth conditions.     

Thermal degradation characteristics of oil‐filled cable joint with extremely degraded tan δ oil

Much of oil‐filled (OF) cable has been used for a long time as 66‐ to 500‐kV extrahigh‐voltage cable. Sometimes we can see extremely degraded tan δ oil (several tens of percent of tan δ, for example) in joint boxes, etc. The values of tan δ calculated by a simple combination model of paper/oil show that the oil‐impregnated paper with such a high tan δ oil likewise has an extremely high tan δ, which must result in thermal breakdown. However, such an event has not taken place up to the present in actually operated transmission lines. This fact suggests that some mechanism for the suppression of tan δ has acted in the paper insulation impregnated with degraded tan δ oil. Therefore, we investigated in detail the tan δ characteristics of paper impregnated with extremely high tan δ oil. In addition, based on the investigation results, we developed a method for simulation of heat generation by dielectric loss in an OF cable joint (which has degraded tan δ oil). © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 178(1): 1–10, 2012; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.21184     

Impact of Al in Cu alloy interconnects on electro and stress migration reliabilities

The reliability of Cu interconnects was successfully improved by applying a CuAl alloy seed. However, the effect of additive Al on the reliability is not fully understood. In order to reveal the reliability improvement mechanism, Cu films using CuAl alloy seed were investigated in detail. As stress induced voiding (SIV) as well as electromigration is caused by migration of vacancies and/or Cu atoms, the measured activation energy value of electromigration using CuAl indicates that the fast diffusion paths are Cu grain boundaries. The analysis using high lateral resolution scanning type secondary ion mass spectrometry (nano-SIMS) clarifies that additive Al in ECP-Cu film is mainly localized at grain boundaries. Furthermore, positron annihilation was used to probe vacancy-type defects in Cu films. The CuAl films before recrystallization contain larger and higher density vacancy-type defects. Whereas, the recrystallized CuAl films after annealing above 250 °C contain smaller and lower density defects. Furthermore, CuAl films with annealing above 350 °C contain less Al inside the grains. These results represent that Al atoms in Cu films with annealing above 350 °C are exhausted from inside grains to the grain boundaries, and the spewed Al atoms existing at Cu grain boundary effectively prevents the diffusion of Cu and/or vacancies.     

Stochastic model predictive braking control for heavy-duty commercial vehicles during uncertain brake pressure and road profile conditions

When heavy-duty commercial vehicles (HDCVs) must engage in emergency braking, uncertain conditions such as the brake pressure and road profile variations will inevitably affect braking control. To minimize these uncertainties, we propose a combined longitudinal and lateral controller method based on stochastic model predictive control (SMPC) that is achieved via Chebyshev–Cantelli inequality. In our method, SMPC calculates braking control inputs based on a finite time prediction that is achieved by solving stochastic programming elements, including chance constraints. To accomplish this, SMPC explicitly describes the probabilistic uncertainties to be used when designing a robust control strategy. The main contribution of this paper is the proposal of a braking control formulation that is robust against probabilistic friction circle uncertainty effects. More specifically, the use of Chebyshev–Cantelli inequality suppresses road profile influences, which have characteristics that are different from the Gaussian distribution, thereby improving both braking robustness and control performance against statistical disturbances.Additionally, since theKalman filtering (KF) algorithm is used to obtain the expectation and covariance used for calculating deterministic transformed chance constraints, the SMPC is reformulated as a KF embedded deterministic MPC. Herein, the effectiveness of our proposed method is verified via a MATLAB/Simulink and TruckSim co-simulation.