Lithium Ion Secondary Cell Prepared by a Printing Procedure,and Its Application to All-Solid-State Inorganic Lithium Ion Cells

We have developed a straightforward printing method for preparation of a lithium secondary cell. LiCo_1/3Ni_1/3Mn_1/3O₂ and Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ viscous printable pastes were used for the cathode and anode, respectively. Electrochemical measurement was used to characterize the capacitance of each cell, and field-emission scanning electron microscopy and particle size measurements were used to characterize particle size and morphology. These film electrodes functioned stably both in a standard liquid electrolyte and in an Li₂SiO₃ solid electrolyte, although the capacitance of the all-solid-state cell was significantly lower than that of the cell containing liquid electrolyte. When liquid electrolyte was used, the capacity decreased by 36% after 50 cycles. However, the capacity of 0.2 mA h/g remained almost the same even after 50 charge–discharge cycles, demonstrating the stability and strength of the all-solid-state lithium ion cell. It was also found that the cell resistance mostly arose from the electrode/electrolyte interface and not from the bulk electrolyte. Addition of a sol–gel to the solid electrolyte printable paste improved cell performance.     

In Situ Observation of Wear Process Before and During Scuffing in Sliding Contact

In this study, a direct observation of a point contact area was conducted to understand the scuffing phenomenon. The contact area was produced between a rotating sapphire disc and a stationary steel ball and it was lubricated using n-hexadecane. The image detected by a colour digital CCD camera, load, and friction were synchronously recorded by a computer during the test. It was found that wear debris produced in the contact area played an important role in the wear process, which includes running-in and scuffing. In the test, debris particles accumulated in the inlet zone, and some particles entered the contact area to cause abrasive wear of the ball surface, even in the light-load stages. During the running-in process, the abrasive wear by debris particles changed the conformity between the sliding surfaces. In the high-load stage, just before the occurrence of scuffing, the whole contact area was flattened at once. When scuffing occurred, the contact area suddenly expanded. The conformity of the contact area was dramatically changed during its expansion. The flattening of the whole contact area and dramatic expansion with changing the conformity seemed to play important roles in scuffing.     

Condensation heat transfer on tubes in actual flue gas (Parametric study for condensation behavior)

In order to improve boiler efficiency, latent heat recovery from the flue gas is a very important concept. Condensation heat transfer on horizontal tubes was investigated experimentally by using flue gas from a natural gas boiler. The parametric studies concerning the effects of tube stages, gas velocities, SO₂ in the flue gas, and Teflon‐lined tubes were conducted at a wide range of tube surface temperature. The heat transfer was enhanced at the second stage due to the wake turbulence of the first stage. No significant decrease of the condensation in the second stage due to the condensate falling from the first stage could be observed. Even at the high gas velocity condition, the condensation pattern was similar to that observed in previous low gas velocity experiments. The effect of SO₂ in the flue gas on the condensation behavior could not be observed. The heat and mass transfer behaviors on stainless‐steel and Teflon‐lined surfaces were well predicted with the analogy correlation. The above results suggested that the heat and mass transfer were dominated by the convection and diffusion process on the gas side. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 32(2): 153–166, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.10079     

Family M42 aminopeptidase from the syntrophic bacterium Symbiobacterium thermophilum: characterization using recombinant protein

The chromosomal DNA of the syntrophic thermophile Symbiobacterium thermophilum contains open reading frames of the genes encoding family M42 aminopeptidases, Pep1079, Pep1080, and Pep1081. To characterize these peptidases, the genes were cloned into Escherichia coli and overexpressed. Our experiments using the recombinant proteins confirmed that Pep1079, Pep1080, and Pep1081 are components of arginyl or lysinyl aminopeptidases that require Co2+ for enzymatic activity. Coexistence of Pep1079 and Pep1080 is necessary for expressing high peptidase activity. Pep1081 enhances the activity of Pep1079 and Pep1080.     

Fluticasone propionate reduced the production of GM-CSF, IL-6 and IL-8 generated from cultured nasal epithelial cells

The stages of mental rotation of complicated three-dimensional figures were studied using the intracortical interaction mapping. The role of the parietal areas in the mental rotation was shown. The frontal, central and the right temporal areas are involved in the prerotation setup. Both frontal areas and the left temporo-parieto-occipital areas participate in decision making and verbal response. In the case of unsuccessful task solving the process stops at the prerotation setup stage. During the verbal control the zones of the predominant connections at the first 3 stages are close to those in the background activity.     

Generation of 80-nm Wavelength-Tunable 100-fs Pulse Based on Comblike Profiled Fiber Comprised of HNLF and Zero Dispersion-Slope NZDSF

To realize extremely wideband wavelength-tunable femtosecond (fs) pulse generation, we propose a dispersion-flattened comblike profiled fiber that is a pulse compressor comprised of low dispersion-slope highly nonlinear fiber and zero dispersion-slope nonzero dispersion-shifted fiber (ZDS-NZDSF). We also apply ZDS-NZDSF to a soliton converter to reshape and compress a seed pulse train generated from a tunable laser source and an intensity modulator. Using the proposed scheme, we successfully generate 100-fs optical pulse from the seed pulse with the varied wavelengths of 1530, 1570, and 1610 nm     

Carinal resection for primary lung cancer--with special attention to a modified double-barrel method

Carinal resection for primary lung cancer was clinically evaluated. Carinal resection was performed in 18 patients, 17 males and one female, with a mean age of 64 years. Nine patients underwent carinal reconstruction and the other 9 sleeve or wedge pneumonectomy. The carinal reconstruction was of the montage type in one patient, the one-stoma type in 2, and the modified double-barrel method in 6. The modified double-barrel method is a technique that we developed by adding bronchial end-to-side anastomosis to the tracheobronchial end-to-end anastomotic site. A pedicled intercostal muscle flap was used for covering the anastomotic site. The postoperative respiratory complications after carinal reconstruction were anastomosis failure in 4 patients (pin-hole in 3) and respiratory failure in 2. However, no anastomosis stricture occurred, and recovery was satisfactory. There were no respiratory complications after pneumonectomy. One patient had renal failure before surgery and died of multiple organ failure 23 days after a montage type carinal reconstruction. The other 17 patients did well and could be discharged from the hospital and the overall mortality rate was 5.6%. No anastomosis stricture occurred in the modified double-barrel method. By carinal reconstruction covering of the anastomotic site is mandatory to prevent fatal postoperative complications.     

Genetic organization of GBV-C]

The chimaeric molecule rscu-PA-40 kDA/Hir (M23) comprises the kringle and protease domain of saruplase (rscu-PA) and a thrombin inhibitory domain fused to the C-terminus of the protease domain. The 27 amino cid long thrombin inhibitory domain contains a sequence directed to the active site of thrombin and a fragment from the C-terminal region of hirudin. 125I-radiolabelled M23 (0.03 microM) bound to thrombin that was immobilised onto CNBr-activated sepharose beads. Unlabelled M23 (0.01-10 microM) and hirudin (0.001-10 microM) concentration-dependently displaced 125I-M23 from its binding to thrombin. Saruplase (up to 10 microM) did not influence the thrombin binding of M23. The fibrinolytic properties of M23 and saruplase were compared in anaesthetized dogs with femoral artery and saphenous vein thrombosis. Under concomitant heparinization, the intravenous bolus injections of 1 mg/kg M23 or saruplase induced reperfusion of thrombotically occluded femoral arteries in 4 out of 5 treated animals in each case. There was one reocclusion in the M23-treated group. Time to reperfusion (23 +/- 4 vs 25 +/- 11 min) and maximal height of reperfusion blood flow (98 +/- 21 vs 108 +/- 15% of baseline flow) did not differ significantly between the treatment groups. The time course of the lysis of incorporated 125I-fibrin radioactivity in thrombosed saphenous-veins was similar after bolus injections of M23 and saruplase. The maximal dissolution of 125I-fibrin in the venous thrombosis model was 91 +/- 1% in M23- and 88 +/- 5% in saruplase-treated animals. Plasma levels of fibrinogen were not influenced and alpha 2-antiplasmin levels were slightly reduced (-27 +/- 3%) after bolus injection of M23. In contrast, bolus injection of saruplase was accompanied by a significant decrease of fibrinogen (-55 +/- 19%) and alpha 2-antiplasmin (-75 +/- 11%) plasma levels. Template bleeding times virtually did not differ before (2.8 +/- 0.3 min) and 60 min after bolus injection of M23 (3.1 +/- 0.3 min), whereas treatment with saruplase resulted in a significant prolongation of template bleeding time from 2.6 +/- 0.2 min to 28 +/- 13 min. It is concluded that the saruplase derivative M23, while inducing equieffective thrombolysis after intravenous bolus injection in dogs, causes much fewer haemostatic side effects than its parent molecule. The high thrombus-specific activity of M23 is tentatively attributed to its affinity to clot-bound thrombin.