A TEM study on melt-crystallized poly(butylene terephthalate)

A study was made to investigate an optimum condition for ruthenium tetraoxide staining of poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) with glass transition temperature as low as ca. 23 degrees C for TEM observation of melt-grown PBT crystals. The morphological study of ultrathin sections prepared based on optimum staining at 25 degrees C for 8 h revealed formation of fringed-micellar crystal nuclei in the early stage and folded-chain fringed-micellar crystals in the later stage of isothermal crystallization at 40 degrees C from melt. The fraction of chain-folded crystals increased with increasing crystallization temperature from the quantitative analysis of crystal thickness in comparison with the reported morphology using the replica method.     

Natural language understanding based on mental image description language <Emphasis Type="Italic">L</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">md</Emphasis></Subscript> and its application to language-centered robot manipulation

The authors have been working on natural language understanding based on the knowledge representation language L _md and its application to robot manipulation by verbal suggestion. The most remarkable feature of L _md is its capability of formalizing spatiotemporal events in good correspondence with human/robotic sensations and actions, which can lead to integrated computation of sensory, motory and conceptual information. This paper describes briefly the process from text to robot action via semantic representation in L _md and the experimental results of robot manipulation driven by verbal suggestion. This work was presented in part at the 13th International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics, Oita, Japan, January 31–February 2, 2008     

Optical interconnection subsystem used in the RWC-1 massivelyparallel computer

Optical interconnection between the nodes of the RWC-1 massively parallel computer has been implemented. A one-node testbed system and an eight-node parallel processing system have been produced to demonstrate large-throughput small-skew low-latency and highly reliable optical internode connection. Each node was interconnected through dc-coupled 24-bit synchronized parallel optical interconnection at 100 MHz using 50-m-long single-mode ribboned fibers. The skew in a 24-bit data signal was suppressed to within 650 to -380 ps, and the OE/EO conversion delay time was 15.2 ns. We ran a parallel-processing program on the eight-node system as an evaluation, and the 50-m-long optically interconnected system performed as well as a 10-m-long electrically interconnected system. This clearly shows that optical interconnection will overcome the communication bottleneck in multinode computer systems     

The effects of di-D-fructofuranose-1,2':2,3'-dianhydride (DFA III) administration on human intestinal microbiota

Di-D-fructofuranose-1,2':2,3'-dianhydride (DFA III) was shown to enhance Ca absorption in rat and human intestine. The effects of DFA III administration (9 g per day for 4 weeks that corresponded to 3-fold the optimal dosage of DFA III) on human intestinal microbiota were studied using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). The major groups of human intestinal microbiota reported previously: the Bacteroides, the Clostridium coccoides group (Clostridium cluster XIVa), the Clostridium leptum group (Clostridium cluster IV), and the Bifidobacterium group were detected. The similarity of 30 DGGE profiles based on the V3 region (before and after administration to the 15 subjects) of the 16S rDNA were calculated using Pearson's correlation based on numbers, positions and intensity of bands, and then a dendrogram of DGGE profiles was constructed by the unweighted pair group method using arithmetic average (UPGMA) clustering method. By these analyses, no difference in DGGE profiles after DFA III administration was observed in healthy subjects, while two subjects with chronic constipation showed different profiles, namely on numbers, positions and the intensity of some bands. Their stools were softer and stool frequencies increased and they obtained relief from constipation.     

A knowledge assimilation method for logic databases

In this paper we consider a deductive question-answering system for relational databases as a logic database system, and propose a knowledge assimilation method suitable for such a system. The concept of knowledge assimilation for deductive logic is constructed in an implementable form based on the notion of amalgamating object language and metalanguage. This concept calls for checks to be conducted on four subconcepts, provability, contradiction, redundancy, independency, and their corresponding internal database updates. We have implemented this logic database knowledge assimilation program in PROLOG, a logic programming language, and have found PROLOG suitable for knowledge assimilation implementation.     

Concentration of acetic acid in sulfite pulp evaporation drain by reverse osmosis

The evaporation drain of sulfite pulp spent liquor contains few volatile fatty acids, most of which is acetic acid. The main objective of this study is to recover acetic acid as the concentrated solution (about 4%), which could be used as a culture medium of the yeast. As acetic acid can easily pass through the cellulose acetate membrane, SP drains neutralized by NaOH, NH₄OH and Ca(OH)₂ were used as the feed solutions. In all cases, concentration by reverse osmosis was successfully carried out provided the appropriate pretreatment was employed. The recovery of acetic acid was 95.6, 90.5 and 98.2% for Na-, NH₄-, and Ca-drain, respectively. In addition, the recovered (permeated) water may be used as an industrial one.     

The tomato DWARF enzyme catalyses C-6 oxidation in brassinosteroid biosynthesis

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are steroidal plant hormones essential for normal plant growth and development. Mutants in the biosynthesis or perception of BRs are usually dwarf. The tomato Dwarf gene (D), which was predicted to encode a cytochrome P450 enzyme (P450) with homology to other P450s involved in BR biosynthesis, was cloned previously. Here, we show that DWARF catalyses the C-6 oxidation of 6-deoxocastasterone (6-deoxoCS) to castasterone (CS), the immediate precursor of brassinolide. To do this, we first confirmed that the D cDNA complemented the mutant light- and dark-grown phenotypes of the extreme dwarf (dx) allele of tomato. To identify a substrate for the DWARF enzyme, exogenous application of BR intermediates to dx plants was carried out. C-6 oxoBR intermediates enhanced hypocotyl elongation whereas the C-6 deoxoBR, 6-deoxoCS, had little effect. Quantitative analysis of endogenous BR levels in tomato showed mainly the presence of 6-deoxoBRs. Furthermore, dx plants were found to lack CS and had a high level of 6-deoxoCS in comparison to D plants that had CS and a lower level of 6-deoxoCS. Confirmation that DWARF catalyzed the C-6 oxidation of 6-deoxoCS to CS was obtained by functional expression of DWARF in yeast. In these experiments, the intermediate 6alpha-hydroxycastasterone was identified, indicating that DWARF catalyzes two steps in BR biosynthesis. These data show that DWARF is involved in the C-6 oxidation in BR biosynthesis.     

Effects of Polymer Decomposition Behavior on Thermal Debinding Process in Metal Injection Molding

The thermal degradation mechanism of several polymers was studied for the metal injection molding (MIM) process. The depolymerization type polymers (polybutyl-methacrylate (PBMA) and polyacetal (POM)) had fast thermal degradation speed. On the other hand, the thermal degradation of the random type polymers (polypropylene (PP) and ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA)) was influenced by the type of debinding atmosphere (air and nitrogen). In the thermal debinding process, it was clear that the thermal degradation speed of the feedstocks that contained more than 35.3 vol.% of depolymerization type polymers was faster than that of the feedstocks which contained more than 8.5 vol.% of random type polymers. For the feedstocks that contained more than 35.3 vol.% of POM and PBMA, the sintered test pieces had less than 30 ppm of carbon and the sintering relative density of the sintered parts was in the range of 95.5 to 96.5%. The debinding ratio of the test pieces decreased with an increase in the PP content. However, the thermal degradation gases of POM and PBMA (without any PP) caused some cracks and holes when a heating rate greater than 30°C hr^-1 was used to heat the specimen to the 270-300°C temperature range.