Synthesis of zirconia sphere particles based on gelation of sodium alginate

Zirconia sphere particles were synthesized through the gelation process of Na-alginate, and cermet (ZrO₂-Mo) pellets were fabricated under several conditions. In this process, a zirconia slurry was prepared by mixing oxide powders (ZrO₂, Y₂O₃, Er₂O₃, CeO₂), distilled water and Na-alginate, and subsequently dropped into CaCl₂ solution. As a result, zirconia sphere particles coated with a gelled film were synthesized. The slurry density (zirconia content in slurry) of 30-64 wt.% and Na-alginate concentration of a few% were good for gelation for up to 10 wt.% CaCl₂ solution. Sphere particles with smaller diameter were obtained by dropping slurry with a mechanical vibration. The prolongation of the ball milling time for mixture of oxide powders was effective to increase the sintered density of zirconia sphere particles, especially for higher CeO₂ concentration. The dense cermet pellets were fabricated for max. 50% volume ratio of zirconia phase for Mo matrix using zirconia particles covered with Mo powder by a rotating granulation method.     

Inorganic/Organic Double‐Network Gels Containing Ionic Liquids

Highly robust ion gels, termed double‐network (DN) ion gels, composed of inorganic/organic interpenetrating networks and a large amount of ionic liquids (ILs), are fabricated. The DN ion gels with an 80 wt% IL content show extraordinarily high mechanical strength: more than 28 MPa of compressive fracture stress. In the DN ion gel preparation, a brittle inorganic network of physically bonded silica nanoparticles and a ductile organic network of polydimethylacrylamide (PDMAAm) are formed in the IL. Because of the different reaction mechanisms of the inorganic/organic networks, the DN ion gels can be formed by an easy and free‐shapeable one‐pot synthesis. They can be prepared in a controllable manner by manipulating the formation order of the inorganic and organic networks via not only multistep but also single‐step processes. When silica particles form a network prior to the PDMAAm network formation, DN ion gels can be prepared. The brittle silica particle network in the DN ion gel, serving as sacrificial bonds, easily ruptures under loading to dissipate energy, while the ductile PDMAAm network maintains the shape of the material by the rubber elasticity. Given the reversible physical bonding between the silica particles, the DN ion gels exhibit a significant degree of self‐recovery by annealing.     

Thermoelectric Properties of Multifilled Skutterudites with La as the Main Filler

Bulk multifilled n- and p-type skutterudites with La as the main filler were fabricated using the spark plasma sintering (SPS) method. The thermoelectric properties and thermal stability of these skutterudites were investigated. It was found that the interactions among the filling atoms also play a vital role in reducing the lattice thermal conductivity of the multifilled skutterudites. ZT = 0.76 for p-type La_0.8Ba_0.01Ga_0.1Ti_0.1Fe₃CoSb₁₂ and ZT = 1.0 for n-type La_0.3Ca_0.1Al_0.1Ga_0.1In_0.2Co_3.75Fe_0.25Sb₁₂ skutterudites have been achieved. Furthermore, the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results show that there is no skutterudite phase decomposition till 750°C for the La_0.8Ba_0.01Ga_0.1Ti_0.1Fe₃CoSb₁₂ sample. The thermal stability of the La_0.8Ba_0.01Ga_0.1Ti_0.1Fe₃CoSb₁₂ skutterudite is greatly improved. Using the developed multifilled skutterudites, the fabricated module with size of 50 mm × 50 mm × 7.6 mm possesses maximum output power of 32 W under the condition of hot/cold sides = 600°C/50°C.     

Mutated KIT Tyrosine Kinase as a Novel Molecular Target in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

KIT is a type-III receptor tyrosine kinase that contributes to cell signaling in various cells. Since KIT is activated by overexpression or mutation and plays an important role in the development of some cancers, such as gastrointestinal stromal tumors and mast cell disease, molecular therapies targeting KIT mutations are being developed. In acute myeloid leukemia (AML), genome profiling via next-generation sequencing has shown that several genes that are mutated in patients with AML impact patients’ prognosis. Moreover, it was suggested that precision-medicine-based treatment using genomic data will improve treatment outcomes for AML patients. This paper presents (1) previous studies regarding the role of KIT mutations in AML, (2) the data in AML with KIT mutations from the HM-SCREEN-Japan-01 study, a genome profiling study for patients newly diagnosed with AML who are unsuitable for the standard first-line treatment (unfit) or have relapsed/refractory AML, and (3) new therapies targeting KIT mutations, such as tyrosine kinase inhibitors and heat shock protein 90 inhibitors. In this era when genome profiling via next-generation sequencing is becoming more common, KIT mutations are attractive novel molecular targets in AML.     

Theranostic Agent Combining Fullerene Nanocrystals and Gold Nanoparticles for Photoacoustic Imaging and Photothermal Therapy

Developing photoactivatable theranostic platforms with integrated functionalities of biocompatibility, targeting, imaging contrast, and therapy is a promising approach for cancer diagnosis and therapy. Here, we report a theranostic agent based on a hybrid nanoparticle comprising fullerene nanocrystals and gold nanoparticles (FGNPs) for photoacoustic imaging and photothermal therapy. Compared to gold nanoparticles and fullerene crystals, FGNPs exhibited stronger photoacoustic signals and photothermal heating characteristics by irradiating light with an optimal wavelength. Our studies demonstrated that FGNPs could kill cancer cells due to their photothermal heating characteristics in vitro. Moreover, FGNPs that are accumulated in tumor tissue via the enhanced permeation and retention effect can visualize tumor tissue due to their photoacoustic signal in tumor xenograft model mice. The theranostic agent with FGNPs shows promise for cancer therapy.     

Syndiotactic‐specific radical polymerization of N‐isopropylacrylamide in toluene at low temperatures in the presence of silyl alcohols

The radical polymerization of N‐isopropylacrylamide was carried out in toluene at low temperatures in the presence of silyl alcohols, such as triethylsilanol. Poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) with a racemo dyad content of 75% was obtained at ? 80 °C with a 4:1 triethylsilanol to monomer ratio loading. NMR analysis suggests that the mechanism for syndiotactic induction, in the presence of silyl alcohols, may be similar to that observed with alkyl alcohols. In this case, a 1:2 complex formation, via hydrogen bonding interactions, leads to the induction of syndiotactic specificity. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry     

WO3/BiVO4 composite photoelectrode prepared by improved auto-combustion method for highly efficient water splitting

We report on the improvement in the water splitting efficiency of a WO₃/BiVO₄ composite photoelectrode by the application of an improved auto-combustion method to the preparation of porous BiVO₄ thin films. The unique feature of this preparation method is the addition of both NH₄NO₃, as a strong oxidizing agent, and an organic additive into BiVO₄ precursor solution. The local decomposition heat of the organic additive and oxidizing agent created a porous film with small, highly crystalline BiVO₄ particles. The photoelectrode has many advantages over existing ones, such as the high light-harvesting efficiency (LHE), a single BiVO₄ phase, the facile access of the holes to the photoelectrode/electrolyte interface, and the ease of water and oxygen diffusion. The maximum incident photon-to-current efficiency (IPCE) was estimated to be 64% (at 440 nm, 1.23 V vs. RHE) and the applied bias photon-tocurrent efficiency (ABPE) reached as high as 1.28%. This ABPE value is highest among all oxide semiconductor photoelectrodes reported previously, except for the case of a stacking photoelectrode system.     

Simulation of a chemical reaction, 2LiH→Li2+H2, driven by doubly excitation

A direct computer simulation of reaction dynamics at the electronic excited states is not easy to perform, because nonadiabatic equations must be solved as a function of time. Here we present a simple simulation to integrate directly the time-dependent Schrödinger equation within the framework of the time-dependent density functional theory (for electrons) coupled with the Newtonian equation of motion (for nuclei). We find that a chemical reaction, 2LiH→Li₂+H₂, takes place by the doubly excitation. Along the reaction, a level crossing occurs automatically between the highest occupied and lowest unoccupied levels. The simulation demonstrates a mechanism for relaxation for the reactions driven by doubly excitation: electronic excited state changes smoothly into the electronic ground state leaving a kinetic energy of the atoms.     

Robust comprehension of natural language instructions by a domestic service robot

We present a method through which domestic service robots can comprehend natural language instructions. For each action type, a variety of natural language expressions can be used, for example, the instruction, ‘Go to the kitchen’ can also be expressed as ‘Move to the kitchen.’ We are of the view that natural language instructions are intuitive and, therefore, constitute one of the most user-friendly robot instruction methods. In this paper, we propose a method that enables robots to comprehend instructions spoken by a human user in his/her natural language. The proposed method combines action-type classification, which is based on a support vector machine, and slot extraction, which is based on conditional random fields, both of which are required in order for a robot to execute an action. Further, by considering the co-occurrence relationship between the action type and the slots along with the speech recognition score, the proposed method can avoid degradation of the robot’s comprehension accuracy in noisy environments, where inaccurate speech recognition can be problematic. We conducted experiments using a Japanese instruction data-set collected using a questionnaire-based survey. Experimental results show that the robot’s comprehension accuracy is higher in a noisy environment using our method than when using a baseline method with only a 1-best speech recognition result.