Effect of Oxygen Partial Pressure on the Formation of Metastable Phases from an Undercooled YbFeO3 Melt Using an Aerodynamic Levitator

The Yb₂O₃–Fe₂O₃ system was studied to investigate the effect of oxygen partial pressure on the formation of metastable phases over a wide range of oxygen partial pressures from 10⁵ to 10⁻¹ Pa. Two kinds of metastable phases, with space groups of P 6₃ cm and P 6₃/ mmc , were found through rapid solidification of an undercooled YbFeO₃ melt in an atmosphere with reduced P o₂. The crystal structure of the as-solidified samples changed from orthorhombic Pbnm to hexagonal P 6₃ cm and P 6₃/ mmc with decreasing P o₂. X-ray diffractometric and scanning electron microscopic results confirmed the existence of various phases in the as-solidified samples. The stabilities of each phase were studied by annealing the bulk sample in the thermogravimetric–differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA) furnace up to 1673 K, and the equilibrium phase diagram was constructed for the Yb–Fe–O system at 1473 K. TG analysis showed an increase of the sample mass during annealing and revealed that the existence of Fe²⁺, which has an ionic radius larger than that of Fe³⁺, decreases the tolerance factor and therefore destabilizes the perovskite structure.     

Anti-human immunodeficiency virus activity of 3,4,5-tricaffeoylquinic acid in cultured cells of lettuce leaves

3,4,5-Tricaffeoylquinic acid (TCQA) that is not found in intact plant of lettuce leaves was isolated from the cultured cells. The intact plant produced chicoric acid (dicaffeoyl tartaric acid: L-CCA) as well as chlorogenic acid (3-caffeoylquinic acid: 3-CQA) as the major metabolites. After subculturing of the cells for 40 days, the amount of 3,4,5-TCQA reached to 0.14 mg/g fresh weight. The inhibitory effect of 3,4,5-TCQA for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) Type 1 integrase was assayed. Anti-HIV activity using HIV and MT-2 cells was 1.15 microM and IC(50) against HIV integrase was 0.063 microM whereas cell toxicity of this chemical was expressed as 5% death of all living cells to be 18.4 microM. The HIV inhibitory effect of 3,4,5-TCQA was the highest in values among L-CCA, and other dicaffeoylquinic acids. This data will provide a new possibility for creating a new drug design for HIV.     

Image-based control of skin melanin texture

We introduce a useful tool for controlling the skin melanin texture of facial photographs. Controlling the skin melanin texture is an important task in the reproduction of posters, TV commercials, movies, and so on. We used component maps of melanin, which were obtained by a previous method [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 16, 2169 (1999)] as the first processing step. We propose to control the melanin texture continuously and physiologically, based on the analysis of 123 skin textures in our database. The physiological validity for the change of the melanin texture is confirmed by comparing the synthesized image with an ultraviolet image, which can be used to predict the change of melanin texture due to aging. The control processes are implemented on programmable graphics hardware, and real-time processing is achieved for a facial videostream.     

Perfect tracking control of servomotor based on precise model considering current loop and PWM hold

In motion control, position control systems for servomotors are generally designed without considering the current loop and the dynamics of a PWM inverter. In this paper, a novel precise model of a servomotor is developed, including the current loop and the PWM inverter, and a high‐speed servo system is proposed based on perfect tracking control with the precise model. Finally, simulations and experiments are performed to show the advantages of the proposed method. ©2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 166(4): 64–72, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20749     

Influence of shot peening and thermal ageing treatment on resistance to intergranular corrosion in shielded metal arc weld metal for type 600 nickel base alloy

Shielded metal arc weld metal for type 600 nickel base alloy (alloy 182) is used for weld components in nuclear power plants. To evaluate the intergranular corrosion resistance of alloy 182 after application of shot peening and subsequent thermal ageing treatment at 593–793 K, we conducted the corrosion test (immersed in boiled 16% sulphuric acid +5.7% copper sulphate aqueous solution at 57.6 ks) using specimens of alloy 182. The results show that the intergranular corrosion resistance of alloy 182 subjected to heat treatment at 893 K for 72 ks was improved by shot peening. Also, the intergranular corrosion resistance was not changed by thermal ageing treatment at 593–793 K subsequent to shot peening. Because remaining chromium depletion layers along grain boundaries were still observed by transmission electron microscope (TEM) after shot peening, disappearance of chromium depletion layers cannot be a factor in the improvement of the intergranular corrosion resistance. The results of measurement of surface residual stress by the X-ray diffraction method show that the compressive residual stress introduced by shot peening still remained on the surface of the specimens. Based on these observations, we assumed that chromium depletion layers along grain boundaries near the surface were dissolved by the environment of the corrosion test, the dissolved regions were closed by the compressive residual stress on the surface, and then the remaining chromium depletion layers were protected from the corrosive environment. This assumption explains why the intergranular corrosion resistance was improved although chromium depletion layers remained.     

Effect of oral administration of heat-killed Lactobacillus brevis SBC8803 on total and ovalbumin-specific immunoglobulin E production through the improvement of Th1/Th2 balance

We examined the effect of 59 strains of heat-killed Lactobacillus brevis on interleukin (IL)-12 and interferon (IFN)-gamma production from mouse Peyer's patch (PP) cells. L. brevis has a great variety of strains that induce the production of these cytokines. Some L. brevis strains, which were selected for their ability to induce a strong Th1 immune response, inhibited both total immunoglobulin E (IgE) and antigen specific IgE production, and improved the Th1/Th2 balance by enhancing IL-12 and IFN-gamma and inhibiting IL-4 production from ovalbumin (OVA)-sensitized mouse splenocytes. Based on the results of this screening, we selected L. brevis SBC8803 as a potent inhibitor of IgE production, and investigated the effect of oral administration of heat-killed SBC8803 on IgE production in OVA-sensitized mice. OVA-sensitized mice were fed SBC8803 0% (control), 0.05%, or 0.5% added diet for 4 weeks during the period of the experiment. Total and OVA-specific IgE in the serum of mice, which were fed the 0.5% added diet, was significantly lower than that of the control diet fed mice. The IFN-gamma/IL-4 value, which represents the Th1/Th2 balance, from the 0.5% added diet fed mice splenocytes was also significantly higher than that of the control diet fed mouse splenocytes. Histamine release from OVA-sensitized mice into sera that were induced by the intraperitoneal antigen challenge decreased following the oral administration of SBC8803. The inhibition of IgE production and histamine secretion by the oral administration of heat-killed SBC8803 was probably due to the improvement of the Th1/Th2 balance toward Th1 dominance.     

Serial section reconstruction using a computer graphics system: Applications to intracellular structures in yeast cells and to the periodontal structure of dogs' teeth

A computer graphics system for reconstruction from serial section micrographs was applied to intracellular details of a yeast target cell (Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell) induced by the α factor mating pheromone and was also applied to a periodontal structure of a dog tooth moved orthodontically. In the former, intracellular organelles and a distribution of vesicles could be clearly observed through the cell membrane using the transparent display method in which the smoothing of the reconstructed outer cell membrane surface by computer processing was applied to the transparent display. In the latter case, by cutting through a reconstructed dog tooth and its periodontal tissues, labiolingual and mesiodistal cut surfaces of the tooth and of adjacent alveolar bone could be observed with fine details (232 sections were used).     

Preparation of Co-Sn alloy film as negative electrode for lithium secondary batteries by pulse electrodeposition method

In order to easily and simply improve the cyclability of the Sn film negative electrode, we selected Co as a matrix metal and tried to prepare the Co-Sn alloy film negative electrode by a pulse electrodeposition method. The surface morphology of the deposit was almost the same as that of the Sn film, although aggregation partially occurred. The content rate of Co and Sn in the deposit was almost the same as the composition percentage in the electrodeposition bath. X-ray diffraction measurement showed that the deposited film could be assigned to a metastable Co-Sn alloy, while the co-deposition of crystalline Sn was not observed. The galvanostatic charge-discharge tests indicated that the discharge capacity and the charge-discharge efficiency of the Co_30.5Sn_69.5 alloy film electrode at the 1st cycle were 529.2 mAh g⁻¹ and 87.9%, respectively. Furthermore, the film electrode showed a good cyclability and discharge capacity of 470.5-617.5 mAh g⁻¹ during 50 cyclings. Alloying Sn with inactive Co could effectively improve the cyclability of the Sn film electrode prepared by the pulse electrodeposition method.     

An integer programming approach to optimal control problems in context-sensitive probabilistic Boolean networks

A Boolean network is one of the models of biological networks such as gene regulatory networks, and has been extensively studied. In particular, a probabilistic Boolean network (PBN) is well known as an extension of Boolean networks, but in the existing methods to solve the optimal control problem of PBNs, it is necessary to compute the state transition diagram with 2ⁿ nodes for a given PBN with n states. To avoid this computation, an integer programming-based approach is proposed for a context-sensitive PBN (CS-PBN), which is a general form of PBNs. In the proposed method, a CS-PBN is transformed into a linear system with binary variables, and the optimal control problem is reduced to an integer linear programming problem. By a numerical example, the effectiveness of the proposed method is shown.