Preparation and Characterization of Pt/Al-ZSM-5 Catalysts and their Reactivities for the Oxidation of CO with N2O at Low Temperatures

Al-ZSM-5 was prepared by treating H-ZSM-5 with an aqueous solution of Al(NO₃)₃ and used as a support for Pt catalysts. The Pt-loaded Al-ZSM-5 acts as an efficient catalyst for CO oxidation with N₂O at 273 K. TEM investigations revealed that Pt clusters with an average particle size of around 1–1.5 nm were homogeneously dispersed within Al-ZSM-5. Moreover, FT-IR and XPS analyses indicated that the small Al₂O₃ clusters formed within Al-ZSM-5 plays a significant role in the formation of highly dispersed Pt clusters within the pore structure of the ZSM-5 zeolite, leading to the high catalytic activity of Pt/Al-ZSM-5 as compared to Pt/ZSM-5.     

Topology-Preserving Conditions for 2D Digital Images Under Rigid Transformations

In the continuous domain $\mathbb{R}^{n}$ , rigid transformations are topology-preserving operations. Due to digitization, this is not the case when considering digital images, i.e., images defined on $\mathbb{Z}^{n}$ . In this article, we begin to investigate this problem by studying conditions for digital images to preserve their topological properties under all rigid transformations on $\mathbb{Z}^{2}$ . Based on (i) the recently introduced notion of DRT graph, and (ii) the notion of simple point, we propose an algorithm for evaluating digital images topological invariance.     

Microstructure and dielectric response of (Ba,Sr)TiO3 filler-dispersed resin composites

Resin-matrix composites dispersing low-loss dielectric ceramic filler have received a considerable interest for high-frequency application, because of their good shape flexibility and controllable dielectric properties. In this study, (Ba,Sr)TiO₃-type ceramic particles have been synthesized by KCl molten salt method to serve as filler particle for resin-matrix dielectric composite. Dielectric measurement confirmed that the composite fabricated by tape-casting demonstrated two times higher dielectric constant of 50.4 than the other composites fabricated by direct-casting using a metal mold. Pore-size distribution as well as ceramic filler content was strongly correlated with the formation of electrical flux in the composites to enhance dielectric constant.     

A 150-MHz graphics rendering processor with 256-Mb embedded DRAM

A 150-MHz graphics rendering processor with an integrated 256-Mb embedded DRAM, delivering a rendering rate of 75 M polygons/s, is presented, 287.5 M transistors are integrated on a 21.3×21.7 mm ² die in a 0.18-μm embedded DRAM CMOS process with six layers of metal. Design methodologies for hierarchical electrical and physical design of this very large-scale IC, including power distribution, fully hierarchical timing design, and verification utilizing a newly developed nonlinear model, clock design, propagation delay, and crosstalk noise management in multi-millimeter RC transmission lines, are presented     

Optimisation of vacuum impregnation of blackcurrant‐infused apple cubes: application of response surface methodology

The response surface methodology was used to investigate the effects of blackcurrant concentrate level, vacuum pressure and time on the mass transfer and nutritional properties of vacuum‐impregnated apple cubes. There were higher water loss and weight reduction in the samples at the middle‐level vacuum pressure, but the other factors had no effect on these properties. The higher the vacuum pressure and time, the higher the solids gain of the samples. There was opposing results of the antioxidant capacity of the samples in the middle and high blackcurrant concentrate level and vacuum pressure when compared with the low blackcurrant concentrate level and high vacuum pressure. The middle blackcurrant concentrate level gave higher ascorbic acid content of the samples, while the middle vacuum pressure gave lower values. The optimised conditions for vacuum impregnation of the apple cubes were 18–20% blackcurrant concentrate level, 77–80 kPa vacuum pressure and 38–45 min vacuum time.     

Discovery of Protein Disulfide Isomerase P5 Inhibitors that Reduce the Secretion of MICA from Cancer Cells

In order to regulate the activity of P5, which is a member of the protein disulfide isomerase family, we screened a chemical compound library for P5‐specific inhibitors, and identified two candidate compounds (anacardic acid and NSC74859). Interestingly, anacardic acid inhibited the reductase activity of P5, but did not inhibit the activity of protein disulfide isomerase (PDI), thiol‐disulfide oxidoreductase ERp57, or thioredoxin. NSC74859 inhibited all these enzymes. When we examined the effects of these compounds on the secretion of soluble major histocompatibility complex class‐I‐related gene A (MICA) from cancer cells, anacardic acid was found to decrease secretion. In addition, anacardic acid was found to reduce the concentration of glutathione up‐regulated by the anticancer drug 17‐demethoxygeldanamycin in cancer cells. These results suggest that anacardic acid can both inhibit P5 reductase activity and decrease the secretion of soluble MICA from cancer cells. It might be a novel and potent anticancer treatment by targeting P5 on the surface of cancer cells.     

Investigation of ion adsorption properties of sulfobetaine gel and relationship with its swelling behavior

The adsorption of cations and anions in nitrate solutions on N,N-dimethyl(acrylamidopropyl)ammonium propane sulfonate (DMAAPS) gels prepared using various cross-linker and monomer concentrations was investigated. The influence of the temperature and nitrate concentration on the adsorption properties of the gel was evaluated, demonstrating simultaneous adsorption of cations and anions. The amount of Zn²⁺ adsorbed on the gel in Zn(NO₃)₂ solution increased as the cross-linker and monomer concentrations used in the gel preparation increased. For the gel prepared using a higher cross-linker or monomer concentration, elevation of the temperature did not induce any significant change in the amount of Zn²⁺ adsorbed on the gel. Furthermore, for the gel prepared using a lower cross-linker or monomer concentration, the amount of Zn²⁺ adsorbed on the gel decreased significantly as the temperature increased. In addition, an interesting correlation between the degree of swelling of the gel and the amount of Zn²⁺ adsorbed on the gel was found. As the degree of swelling decreased, the adsorption amount increased to eventually achieve a constant value.     

Computational Prediction of O-linked Glycosylation Sites That Preferentially Map on Intrinsically Disordered Regions of Extracellular Proteins

O-glycosylation of mammalian proteins is one of the important posttranslational modifications. We applied a support vector machine (SVM) to predict whether Ser or Thr is glycosylated, in order to elucidate the O-glycosylation mechanism. O-glycosylated sites were often found clustered along the sequence, whereas other sites were located sporadically. Therefore, we developed two types of SVMs for predicting clustered and isolated sites separately. We found that the amino acid composition was effective for predicting the clustered type, whereas the site-specific algorithm was effective for the isolated type. The highest prediction accuracy for the clustered type was 74%, while that for the isolated type was 79%. The existence frequency of amino acids around the O-glycosylation sites was different in the two types: namely, Pro, Val and Ala had high existence probabilities at each specific position relative to a glycosylation site, especially for the isolated type. Independent component analyses for the amino acid sequences around O-glycosylation sites showed the position-specific existences of the identified amino acids as independent components. The O-glycosylation sites were preferentially located within intrinsically disordered regions of extracellular proteins: particularly, more than 90% of the clustered O-GalNAc glycosylation sites were observed in intrinsically disordered regions. This feature could be the key for understanding the non-conservation property of O-glycosylation, and its role in functional diversity and structural stability.