Thermal Properties of Carbon-Containing Iron Ore Composite Prepared by Vapor Deposition of Tar for Limonite

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B - The optimal conditions for preparing composites, in which tar-derived carbonaceous materials completely fill the pores in Indonesian limonite(IL), were...     

The second virial coefficients of highly-purified ring polystyrenes in cyclohexane

The second virial coefficients A₂ of ring polystyrenes with high purity in cyclohexane were measured by light scattering in the temperature range 27.0-34.5 °C. The purity of four samples with M_w of 16k, 42k, 110k and 570k was determined to be all over 96% by HPLC. It has been found that A₂s of all the samples are definitely positive at the theta temperature of linear polystyrene, 34.5 °C, and the measured values for four samples converged to zero at 27.7 °C with decreasing temperature. This value is below the previously reported one, but it is quite consistent with the predicted value based on the topological repulsive interaction among the ring polymer molecules.     

An oxyhydride of BaTiO3 exhibiting hydride exchange and electronic conductivity

In oxides, the substitution of non-oxide anions (F(-),S(2-),N(3-) and so on) for oxide introduces many properties, but the least commonly encountered substitution is where the hydride anion (H(-)) replaces oxygen to form an oxyhydride. Only a handful of oxyhydrides have been reported, mainly with electropositive main group elements or as layered cobalt oxides with unusually low oxidation states. Here, we present an oxyhydride of the perhaps most well-known perovskite, BaTiO(3), as an O(2-)/H(-) solid solution with hydride concentrations up to 20% of the anion sites. BaTiO(3-x)H(x) is electronically conducting, and stable in air and water at ambient conditions. Furthermore, the hydride species is exchangeable with hydrogen gas at 400 °C. Such an exchange implies diffusion of hydride, and interesting diffusion mechanisms specific to hydrogen may be at play. Moreover, such a labile anion in an oxide framework should be useful in further expanding the mixed-anion chemistry of the solid state.     

Effect of membrane morphology on rising properties of filtration resistance in microfiltration of dilute colloids

The effect of membrane morphology on the flux decline behaviors in dead‐end unstirred microfiltration of very dilute colloids of polystyrene latex was examined using mixed cellulose ester and cellulose acetate membranes with interconnected tortuous pores and track‐etched polycarbonate membranes with uniform straight cylindrical pores. The plots of reciprocal filtration rate against the filtrate volume per unit membrane area for the former two membranes exhibit concave downward curves in the initial period when the membrane pore blocking is significant, whereas the plot for the latter shows a concave upward curve in that period. The former results were described by a serial resistance model consisting of the initial membrane pore blocking followed by filter cake growth, and the latter was represented by a parallel resistance model in which the pore blocking and cake growth develop simultaneously from the beginning of filtration. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 3511–3522, 2017     

Screening Method for Novel Rice Starch Mutant Lines Prepared by Introducing Gene Encoding Starch Synthase IIa and Granule-bound Starch Synthase I from Indica Cultivar into a Branching Enzyme IIb-Deficient Mutant Line

The structure and properties of starch reserves in rice seeds are strongly affected by deficiencies in specific starch biosynthetic enzymes, which are highly expressed in storage tissues. Rice lines with unique seed starches should be utilized for food and industrial applications in the near future. We are currently developing novel rice mutant lines with distinct starch properties by introducing specific genes from different cultivars into mutant lines and by producing multiple combinations of single mutant lines. Obtaining the homozygous genotypes of the target genes is necessary during the screening process of these materials. In this study, we developed an effective, accurate screening method for identifying rice lines with novel starch composition. Specifically, we produced a novel mutant line in which we introduced genes encoding starch synthase IIa (SSIIa) and granule-bound starch synthase I (GBSSI) from indica cultivar into a starch branching enzyme IIb (BEIIb)-deficient mutant line.     

Semi‐blind source separation using binary masking and independent vector analysis

Recent prevalence of speech recognition system increases the opportunity of simultaneous recognition of multiple speakers' utterances. There are two types of source separation methods: physical and statistical. The former is based on the physical information such as a direction of arrival of sound sources. The latter only uses statistical independence. The advantage of the former is fast computation and effectiveness with precise information; and that of the latter is no need for physical information, which leads to the robustness of measurement errors. In this paper, we propose to combine these approaches effectively. Experiments on a speech recognition task show that the proposed method can achieve the upper limit performance of the two approaches. © 2014 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Hesperidin inhibits development of atopic dermatitis-like skin lesions in NC/Nga mice by suppressing Th17 activity

Hesperidin (previously called vitamin P) is a predominant flavanone present in citrus fruits, and is presumed to have a role in their beneficial effect for human health because it possesses various physiological activities. In this study, we investigated the anti-allergic and anti-inflammatory effects of hesperidin and α-glucopyranosyl (αG)-hesperidin, its derivative with enhanced water-solubility, in NC/Nga mice, a human-like mouse model of atopic dermatitis. NC/Nga mice were fed a 0.1% αG-hesperidin or hesperidin diet for 8 weeks. αG-hesperidin and hesperidin feeding effectively inhibited skin lesions and immunoglobulin E (IgE) elevation. At the end of the 8-week-experimental period, the production of inflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-17 and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) from splenocytes was lower in the αG-hesperidin/hesperidin-fed group than in the control group. Changes in mRNA expression in splenocytes are also examined using DNA microarray and real-time RT-PCR. It was revealed that cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA4), a regulatory T-cell (Treg) marker, was markedly upregulated in splenocytes, particularly by αG-hesperidin feeding. These results suggest that αG-hesperidin attenuated exacerbation of AD-like symptoms, decreased systemic immune hyper-responsiveness in part through the reduction of IgE, IL-17 and IFN-γ, and also modulated Th17/Treg balance in NC/Nga mice. Therefore, αG-hesperidin may be useful in the management of Th17-mediated allergic disorders.     

pH-response of chitosan, κ-carrageenan, carboxymethyl cellulose sodium salt complex hydrogels

We synthesized the polyelectrolyte complex hydrogel consisting of chitosan, κ-carrageenan, and carboxymethyl cellulose sodium salt (NaCMC) and investigated the swelling properties of the gel varying with carrageenan/NaCMC compositions. In a lower composition of carrageenan, heterogeneous gels were obtained indicating strong electrostatic interactions among these polyelectrolytes. Oppositely, in a higher composition of carrageenan, a gelation did not occur. It was cleared that a homogeneity of the gel strongly depended on the carrageenan/NaCMC composition. The degree of swelling at the equilibrium decreased proportional to the carrageenan composition. The gels showed a maximum degree of swelling in the range of pH 11-12. The maximum degree of swelling discontinuously decreased with increasing the NaCMC composition and was independent of the composition at a higher composition of NaCMC. Swelling properties in pure water and in alkaline solutions were also affected by salt concentrations of each polyelectrolyte aqueous solutions.     

Refinement of solid layers via wetting on homogeneous lyophilic surfaces

Surface control additives (SCAs), or surfactants, can obstruct the wetting of liquid films on lyophilic surfaces even though they lower surface tension. In this work, this unusual behavior was used to decrease the widths of printed organic and nanoparticle lines on different homogeneous surfaces. A decrease in line width accompanied a change in its cross section. The ability of a SCA to decrease the line width was correlated with contact angle but not the surface tension of the solution. Line refinement was consequently attributed to an increase in contact angle. Because there were no reports that surfactants increased contact angles, the mechanisms to increase contact angle were discussed in static and dynamic terms. First, Owens and Wendt’s theory revealed that contact angle changes depended on SCA-induced modification of polar and dispersive interfacial components. However, a definitive increase in contact angle could not be deduced from this theory alone. Second, the effect of solutal Marangoni forces induced by the SCAs on contact angle was discussed by considering the wetting behaviors of binary solvents. SCA concentration dependence of surface tension at higher than the initial SCA concentration correlated well with the ability of the SCA to decrease line width.     

Fabrication of Ferroelectric Photonic Crystals

ABSTRACT

Ferroelectric photonic crystals consisted of a PLZT matrix and 800 nm-pitch air-holes with a diameter of 560 nm were successfully fabricated by the electron-beam-induced patterning process. Hexagonal holes inscribed to the circles with a diameter of 400 nm in a precursor matrix changed to circular holes with a diameter of 560 nm after heat-treatment due to shrinkage of the matrix. The optical properties of CSD-derived PLZT films were also evaluated. The PLZT films showed the refractive index of 2.3 and the Kerr constant of 0.4 × 10^{? 16} m²/V². Therefore, it is expected that an applied voltage of 9.7 V to 1 μ m-thick PLZT photonic crystals induces 1%-decrease in refractive index and 40°-swinging of light with a wavelength of 1.55 μ m.