Anisotropic Thermal Expansion of β-Ca2SiO4 Monoclinic Crystal

Crystals of β-Ca₂SiO₄ (space group P 12₁/ n 1) were examined by high-temperature powder X-ray diffractometry to determine the change in unit-cell dimensions with temperature up to 645°C. The temperature dependence of the principal expansion coefficients (α_i) found from the matrix algebra analysis was as follows: α₁= 20.492 × 10⁻⁶+ 16.490 × 10⁻⁹ ( T - 25)°C⁻¹, α₂= 7.494 × 10⁻⁶+ 5.168 × 10⁻⁹( T - 25)°C⁻¹, α₃=−0.842 × 10⁻⁶− 1.497 × 10⁻⁹( T - 25)°C⁻¹. The expansion coefficient α₁, nearly along [302] was approximately 3 times α₂ along the b -axis. Very small contraction (α₃) occurred nearly along [     01]. The volume changes upon martensitic transformations of β↔α_L' were very small, and the strain accommodation would be almost complete. This is consistent with the thermoelasticity.     

Structural Analysis of the Complex between Penta-EF-Hand ALG-2 Protein and Sec31A Peptide Reveals a Novel Target Recognition Mechanism of ALG-2

ALG-2, a 22-kDa penta-EF-hand protein, is involved in cell death, signal transduction, membrane trafficking, etc., by interacting with various proteins in mammalian cells in a Ca²⁺-dependent manner. Most known ALG-2-interacting proteins contain proline-rich regions in which either PPYPXnYP (type 1 motif) or PXPGF (type 2 motif) is commonly found. Previous X-ray crystal structural analysis of the complex between ALG-2 and an ALIX peptide revealed that the peptide binds to the two hydrophobic pockets. In the present study, we resolved the crystal structure of the complex between ALG-2 and a peptide of Sec31A (outer shell component of coat complex II, COPII; containing the type 2 motif) and found that the peptide binds to the third hydrophobic pocket (Pocket 3). While amino acid substitution of Phe⁸⁵, a Pocket 3 residue, with Ala abrogated the interaction with Sec31A, it did not affect the interaction with ALIX. On the other hand, amino acid substitution of Tyr¹⁸⁰, a Pocket 1 residue, with Ala caused loss of binding to ALIX, but maintained binding to Sec31A. We conclude that ALG-2 recognizes two types of motifs at different hydrophobic surfaces. Furthermore, based on the results of serial mutational analysis of the ALG-2-binding sites in Sec31A, the type 2 motif was newly defined.     

Effect of polymer density on polyethylene hollow fiber membrane formation via thermally induced phase separation

Microporous high‐density polyethylene (HDPE) and low‐density polyethylene (LDPE) hollow fiber membranes were prepared from polyethylene–diisodecyl phthalate solution via thermally induced phase separation. Effect of the polyethylene density on the membrane structure and performance was investigated. The HDPE membrane showed about five times higher water permeability than the LDPE membrane because it had the larger pore and the higher porosity at the outer membrane surface. The formation of the larger pore was owing to both the initial larger structure formed by spinodal decomposition and the suppression of the diluent evaporation from the outer membrane surface due to the higher solution viscosity. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 93: 471–474, 2004     

Poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide‐co‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate) graft copolymers and their application as carriers for drug delivery system

Poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide‐co‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate) [P(NIPAM‐co‐HEMA)] copolymer was synthesized by controlled radical polymerization from respective N‐isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) and hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) monomers with a predetermined ratio. To prepare the thermosensitive and biodegradable nanoparticles, new thermosensitive graft copolymer, poly(L ‐lactide)‐graft‐poly(N‐isoporylacrylamide‐co‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate) [PLLA‐g‐P(NIPAM‐co‐HEMA)], with the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) near the normal body temperature, was synthesized by ring opening polymerization of L ‐lactide in the presence of P(NIPAM‐co‐HEMA). The amphiphilic property of the graft copolymers was formed by the grafting of the PLLA hydrophobic chains onto the PNIPAM based hydrophilic backbone. Therefore, the graft copolymers can self‐assemble into uniformly spherical micelles ò about 150–240 nm in diameter as observed by the field emission scanning electron microscope and dynamic light scattering. Dexamethasone can be loaded into these nanostructures during dialysis with a relative high loading capacity and its in vitro release depends on temperature. Above the LCST, most of the drugs were released from the drug‐loaded micelles, whereas a large amount of drugs still remains in the micelles after 48 h below the LCST. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012     

Effects of level of processing and rehearsal on frequency judgments.

Studied the effects of attention during encoding and rehearsal after initial encoding on frequency estimates in 3 experiments. Exp I found that varying the level of processing affected the linear increase in frequency estimates as a function of actual frequency, but varying processing after encoding with remember or forget cues had the greatest effects on the intercept of the function relating judged to actual frequency. Deeper levels of processing improved performance in a frequency discrimination task, whereas remember and forget cues had small effects on performance. In Exp II, materials that are easy to rehearse were compared with materials that are difficult to rehearse. Results were interpreted as evidence against a covert rehearsal explanation of slope effects in frequency estimation tasks because materials that are difficult to rehearse produced larger interactions between remember vs forget cues and frequency than materials that are easier to rehearse. In Exp III, an arithmetic task that was performed during word encoding affected the slope of the function relating judged to actual frequency, but the same task performed immediately after word presentation had no effect on frequency estimates. It is concluded that frequency is not stored automatically because attention during the initial stages of encoding affects it; however, attention devoted to processing after initial encoding does not affect the rate with which subjective frequency increases with repetitions. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Naming and locating the tops of rotated pictures.

Investigated whether and how pictures are mentally rotated to upright before they can be named. Four experiments were conducted with 12 college students in each, who were given the tasks of naming pictures of common objects with various orientations and locating their tops. In the naming task, Ss required more time the farther the picture was from upright, but the rotation effect was reduced after Ss had named each picture once, indicating that rotation may be required only for unfamiliar stimuli. The top locating task was faster with upright figures, but otherwise-oriented pictures required the same time regardless of orientation. Top-locating was faster than naming, indicating that "topness" may be guessed even in unfamiliar figures, while naming also involves searching one's semantic memory for a name. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Posture Control Model and Balance Test for the Prediction of Relative Postural Stability

A balance testing methodology has been developed based on a posture control model which defines relative stability by the degree to which a transient postural perturbation causes the center-of-pressure on the feet to approach the limits of the base-of-support. To minimize anticipatory adaptations and to ensure subject safety, the balance test uses a small-amplitude continuous random or pseudo-random perturbation. The data are used to identify an input-output model, which is then used to predict large-amplitude transient response. Sixtyfour normal subjects were tested, as well as five patients with vestibular lesions and five elderly subjects with a history of falling. Tests were performed with eyes open (EO) and blindfolded (BF), and the EO/BF ratio was calculated. The results showed highly significant differences between young (20-40) and elderly (61-79) normals, but no differences between males and females. In using the balance test to identify the balance-impaired individuals, the BF and EO/BF data provided higher success rates than the EO data. Depending on the modeling method used, the balance test was able to identify up to three of five vestibular patients and five of five elderly fallers, at a false positive rate of 25 percent in the normal subjects.     

Evaluation of Stress and Crystal Quality in Si During Shallow Trench Isolation by UV-Raman Spectroscopy

Defects and stress gradually accumulate throughout various Si large-scale integration fabrication processes. It is essential to monitor defects and stress carefully to suppress their unintentional introduction. In this study, we measured the stress and crystal quality in shallow trench isolation (STI) samples by ultraviolet (UV)-Raman spectroscopy with an extremely high-resolution wavenumber to evaluate the effect of post-annealing on the recovery of Si crystals. The variations of crystal quality in 200-mm wafers with STI structures gradually decreased after post-annealing for 4 h, 6 h, and 8 h; however, there was no substantial difference in the values of full-width at half-maximum of the Raman spectra. Precise measurements of variations of stress and crystal quality were successfully performed by UV-Raman spectroscopy with a high-resolution wavenumber, which enabled us to evaluate the STI process accurately.     

Studies on the contents of water-soluble chlorides and water-soluble sulfates in food color aluminum lakes

Japan's Specifications and Standards for Food Additives, 7th Edition (JSFA-VII) does not set limits for total contents of water-soluble chlorides and water-soluble sulfates (water-soluble inorganic salts) in food color aluminum lakes (FC-Als). However, the regulatory limit is 2% in JECFA and CFR. We used column switching suppressor-type ion chromatography (CSS-IC) for determination of anions. The total contents of water-soluble inorganic salts in FC-Als (112 qualified samples) were determined using the modified CSS-IC from fiscal year 1998 to fiscal year 2003. Total contents of water-soluble inorganic salts in four samples exceeded 2%. From an international point of view, it is desirable that the total content of water-soluble inorganic salts in FC-Al should again be regulated in Japan.