EFFECTS OF PROTEOLYTIC ACTIVITY ON THE CHARACTERISTICS OF AROMATIC RED RICE WINE

The quality of rice wine made from uncooked, unpolished aromatic red rice grain was improved by use of a commercial preparation of acid protease from Aspergillus niger during ethanol fermentation. The fermentation rate of the mash which contained the acid protease was much higher than that of mash that did not contain the preparation of acid protease. The rice wine made from uncooked, polished aromatic red rice, which usually had a less acceptable aroma, was improved by use of the preparation of acid protease, and large amounts of isobutyl alcohol, n-propyl alcohol and ethyl acetate were detected in the resultant rice wine. By contrast, the quality of rice wine made from the bran fraction of aromatic red rice was not improved by the preparation of acid protease. The polished rice fraction of aromatic red rice was affected by the acid protease and the aromatic quality of the rice wine was improved. The aromatic characteristics of red rice wine made from cooked, unpolished aromatic red rice grains, which was rather inferior in terms of both aroma and color, were also improved by the addition of the preparation of acid protease during ethanol fermentation. Thus acid protease has beneficial effects on the production of aromatic red rice wine.     

Noise and longitudinal mode characteristics of (GaAl)As TS lasers with reduced facet reflectivities

The AM noise in operation of index-guided (GaAl)As lasers is found to be strikingly reduced by the antireflection (AR) coating of cavity facets. This effect is shown to result from the longitudinal multi-mode operation due to the reduced facet reflectivity. It is observed that the width of the envelope of a laser spectrum depends on the facet reflectivity as well as the laser output power. The AM noise in the low-frequency range of the reduced reflectivity lasers is shown to be nearly constant with respect to temperature change. In contrast, the AM noise in a laser without the AR facet coating is characterized by a number of spikes occurring over a wide temperature range.     

Model analysis of an inter-industrial and inter-regional waste recycling system in Japan

In this study, we investigate an inter-industrial and inter-regional recycling system for industrial waste by the cement industry in Japan. We develop a linear programming model that represents cement production processes and waste transportation of all cement factories in Japan. We simulate cost and CO₂-minimizing systems. The result implies that making waste transportation more efficient in cost is an effective means for CO₂ reduction.     

Androgen Receptor Signaling Induces Cisplatin Resistance via Down-Regulating GULP1 Expression in Bladder Cancer

The underlying molecular mechanisms of resistance to cisplatin-based systemic chemotherapy in bladder cancer patients remain to be elucidated, while the link between androgen receptor (AR) activity and chemosensitivity in urothelial cancer has been implicated. Our DNA microarray analysis in control vs. AR knockdown bladder cancer lines identified GULP1 as a potential target of AR signaling. We herein determined the relationship between AR activity and GULP1 expression in bladder cancer cells and then assessed the functional role of GULP1 in cisplatin sensitivity. Androgen treatment in AR-positive cells or AR overexpression in AR-negative cells considerably reduced the levels of GULP1 expression. Chromatin immunoprecipitation further showed direct interaction of AR with the promoter region of GULP1. Meanwhile, GULP1 knockdown sublines were significantly more resistant to cisplatin treatment compared with respective controls. GULP1 knockdown also resulted in a significant decrease in apoptosis, as well as a significant increase in G2/M phases, when treated with cisplatin. In addition, GULP1 was immunoreactive in 74% of muscle-invasive bladder cancers from patients who had subsequently undergone neoadjuvant chemotherapy, including 53% of responders showing moderate (2+)/strong (3+) expression vs. 23% of non-responders showing 2+/3+ expression (P = 0.044). These findings indicate that GULP1 represents a key downstream effector of AR signaling in enhancing sensitivity to cisplatin treatment.     

Effect of diluents on membrane formation via thermally induced phase separation

The effect of diluents on isotactic polypropylene (iPP) membrane formation via thermally induced phase separation was investigated. The diluents were methyl salicylate (MS), diphenyl ether (DPE), and diphenylmethane (DPM). The cloud-point curve was shifted to a lower temperature in the order iPP–MS, iPP–DPE, and iPP–DPM, whereas the crystallization temperature was not influenced so much by diluent type. Droplet-growth processes were investigated under two conditions: quenching the polymer solution at the desired temperature and cooling at a constant rate. Although droplet sizes were in the order iPP–MS, iPP–DPE, and iPP–DPM in both cases, the difference was more pronounced with the constant cooling rate condition. Scanning electron microscopy indicated that interconnected structures were obtained when the polymer solution was quenched in ice water. The effect of the diluents on these structures was observed. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 82: 169–177, 2001     

Effect of diluent on poly(ethylene‐co‐vinyl alcohol) hollow‐fiber membrane formation via thermally induced phase separation

Poly(ethylene‐co‐vinyl alcohol) hollow‐fiber membranes with a 44 mol % ethylene content were prepared by thermally induced phase separation. A mixture of 1,3‐propanediol and glycerol was used as the diluent. The effects of the ratio of 1,3‐propanediol to glycerol in the diluent mixture on the phase diagram, membrane structure, and membrane performance were investigated. As the ratio increased, the cloud point shifted to lower temperatures, and the membrane structure changed from a cellular structure due to liquid–liquid phase separation to a particulate structure due to polymer crystallization. Better pore connectivity was obtained in the hollow‐fiber membrane when the ratio of 1,3‐propanediol to glycerol was 50:50, and the membrane showed about 100 times higher water permeability than the membrane prepared with pure glycerol. For the prepared hollow‐fiber membrane, the solute 20 nm in diameter was almost rejected. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 95: 219–225, 2005     

Preparation and etching processing of planar thin film of Pr3+-doped fluorozirconate glass

Planar thin-films of a 60ZrF₄ · 35BaF₂ · 5PrF₃ composition were successfully prepared from Zr(hfa)₄, Ba(hfa)₂(tg), Pr(fod)₃ and NF₃ by an electron cyclotron resonance plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition technique. The films obtained were colorless and amorphous. As etching processing of the prepared thin-film, dry etching was performed using Ar, CF₄, SF₆, Cl₂ and Cl₂-BCl₃ gases. The Ar etching in which no reactive ion-etching is anticipated exhibited the fastest etching rate. Wet etching was also performed using a ZrOCl₂-HCl etching solution. The etching rate was extremely fast compared with those of dry etching. In this etching, however, undesirable side-etching occurred. At the present stage, therefore, the most preferable etching processing is dry etching by an Ar gas.     

Sparse multivariate regression with missing values and its application to the prediction of material properties

In the field of materials science and engineering, statistical analysis and machine learning techniques have recently been used to predict multiple material properties from an experimental design. These material properties correspond to response variables in the multivariate regression model. In this study, we conduct a penalized maximum likelihood procedure to estimate model parameters, including the regression coefficients and covariance matrix of response variables. In particular, we employ $l_1$-regularization to achieve a sparse estimation of The regression coefficients and inverse covariance matrix of response variables. In some cases, there may be a relatively large number of missing values in the response variables, owing to the difficulty of collecting data on material properties. We therefore propose a method that incorporates a correlation structure among the response variables into a statistical model to improve the prediction accuracy under the situation with missing values. The expectation maximization algorithm is also constructed, which enables application to a dataset with missing values in the responses. We apply our proposed procedure to real data consisting of 22 material properties.     

Accurate modeling of dielectric interfaces by the effective permittivities for the fourth-order symplectic finite-difference time-domain method

The fourth-order finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method using a symplectic integrator propagator can calculate the propagation of the electromagnetic waves with very low dispersion error in the region of a constant or smoothly varying index profile. An additional technique is required for the problem with the discontinuous dielectric interfaces. We derived the third-order effective permittivities at dielectric interfaces for the fourth-order FDTD method in the case of 2D TE polarization. As the required accuracy level is increased, the memory resources used by the fourth-order FDTD method with the effective permittivities are reduced severalfold or more compared with the standard FDTD method. The accurate performance of the proposed method is demonstrated through numerical examples.     

Microstructural stability during creep of Mo- or W-bearing 12Cr steels

The evolution and stability of particulate phases during creep of molybdenum- or tungsten-bearing 12Cr steels have been investigated in considerable depth. The important finding is that the performance of Laves-phase precipitation in the molybdenum-bearing alloy is significantly different from that in the tungsten-bearing alloy. It is generally believed that such differences in kinetics will influence creep behavior. Data on Laves-phase precipitation kinetics as a function of time and temperature were quantified using the Wert-Zener equation in conjunction with the proprietary Thermo-Calc software, to determine equilibrium solute concentrations in these complex steels. The progressive depletion of Mo and W from the matrix as the particles of Laves phase evolve has been quantitatively modeled using experimental data obtained on both steels over a range of times and temperatures. The Isothermal coarsening rates of M₂₃C₆ and MX carbide particles were measured and found to occur at a constant volume fraction, in accordance with Ostwald ripening kinetics, with no significant differences in rates found between the two steels. The coarsening rates of M₂₃C₆ particles, found on subgrain boundaries, were consistent with a third-power dependence on particle radius, with an activation energy similar to that of volume diffusion. The smaller MX particles, which lay on subgrain-interior dislocation lines, were better explained by dislocation pipe diffusion, with a fifth-power dependence on particle radius and an activation energy approximately half that of volume diffusion.