The formation of graphene–titania hybrid films and their resistance change under ultraviolet irradiation

We report the fabrication of hybrid films of graphene and monolayer titania using a simple electrostatic self-assembly method. Ultraviolet (UV) responses of the hybrid films based on the graphene–titania structure were investigated. We observed that the resistance of the graphene–titania hybrid increased exponentially with UV irradiation time and decreased exponentially when UV was turned off. Time constants of the order of hundreds of seconds were identified and found to be sensitive to the gas environment of graphene. The UV response as well as the time constant is tunable by varying the number of titania layers. Our results confirmed that UV irradiation played a significant role in the resistance modulation of graphene as well as graphene–titania hybrid films.     

Enantioselective addition Of diketene to aldehydes promoted by chiral schiff base—titanium alkoxide complex. Application to asymmetric synthesis of potential inhibitors of HMG coenzyme reductase

Highly enantioselective addition of diketene to aldehydes was achieved by using novel Schiff base—titanium alkoxide complexes. Up to 92% ee of 5-hydroxy-3-oxoesters was obtained. This procedure provides an efficient method for the asymmetric synthesis of potential inhibitors of HMG coenzyme reductase.     

Pilot-Scale Operation of a Concrete Sludge Recycling Plant and Simultaneous Production of Calcium Carbonate

A pilot-scale plant to treat concrete sludge and produce calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) and an environmental purification agent (phosphorus adsorbent derived from concrete sludge, PAdeCS®) was designed, constructed, and operated. Concrete sludge from a concrete pile and pole production plant, boiler gas containing CO₂, and groundwater were used in the plant. The process involved calcium extraction from concrete sludge into water, followed by reaction of the calcium with CO₂ to produce crystalline CaCO₃. The pilot-scale plant was operated for 1 week, and the mass flows, conversion of CO₂ to CaCO₃, and net CO₂ emissions of the process were estimated. High-purity CaCO₃ (>97%) suitable for industrial use was obtained. Based on the power consumption of the process and the amount of CO₂ sequestered into CaCO₃, a net reduction in CO₂ emissions can be achieved using this process. The produced PAdeCS can be used as an inexpensive substitute for calcium series environmental purification agents.     

Early Fixation of Cobalt-Chromium Based Alloy Surgical Implants to Bone Using a Tissue-engineering Approach

To establish the methods of demonstrating early fixation of metal implants to bone, one side of a Cobalt-Chromium (CoCr) based alloy implant surface was seeded with rabbit marrow mesenchymal cells and the other side was left unseeded. The mesenchymal cells were further cultured in the presence of ascorbic acid, β-glycerophosphate and dexamethasone, resulting in the appearance of osteoblasts and bone matrix on the implant surface. Thus, we succeeded in generating tissue-engineered bone on one side of the CoCr implant. The CoCr implants were then implanted in rabbit bone defects. Three weeks after the implantation, evaluations of mechanical test, undecalcified histological section and electron microscope analysis were performed. Histological and electron microscope images of the tissue engineered surface exhibited abundant new bone formation. However, newly formed bone tissue was difficult to detect on the side without cell seeding. In the mechanical test, the mean values of pull-out forces were 77.15 N and 44.94 N for the tissue-engineered and non-cell-seeded surfaces, respectively. These findings indicate early bone fixation of the tissue-engineered CoCr surface just three weeks after implantation.     

Molecular mechanisms of epigenetic variation in plants

Natural variation is defined as the phenotypic variation caused by spontaneous mutations. In general, mutations are associated with changes of nucleotide sequence, and many mutations in genes that can cause changes in plant development have been identified. Epigenetic change, which does not involve alteration to the nucleotide sequence, can also cause changes in gene activity by changing the structure of chromatin through DNA methylation or histone modifications. Now there is evidence based on induced or spontaneous mutants that epigenetic changes can cause altering plant phenotypes. Epigenetic changes have occurred frequently in plants, and some are heritable or metastable causing variation in epigenetic status within or between species. Therefore, heritable epigenetic variation as well as genetic variation has the potential to drive natural variation.     

Chemical transformation of chiral monolayer-protected gold clusters: observation of ligand size effects on optical and chiroptical responses

Versatile functionalization of metal clusters is a key step in understanding the reactivity of protective monolayers. We here demonstrate that reaction of the outermost amino groups on (S)-/(R)-penicillamine-protected gold clusters with ethyl isocyanate readily modifies the chiral surface structure through carbamoylation. Interestingly, the clusters are electrophoretically separated by the size of the surface ligand, not by the size of the gold core, which is revealed by UV-vis, IR, and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy as well as SAXS measurements. The ligand size (or length) is extended through additional reactions of the carbamoylated amino groups with isocyanate, while the chemical similarity in ligand structures is realized by their IR spectral similarity. Optical and chiroptical responses of the separated cluster compounds are thus overall similar to each other, but a close inspection reveals that the ligand size has a small but distinct influence on the chiroptical response of the gold clusters.     

Cell surface protein engineering for high-performance whole-cell catalysts

Cell surface protein engineering facilitated by accumulation of information on genome and protein structure involves heterologous production and modification of cell surface proteins using genetic engineering, and is important for the development of high-performance whole-cell catalysts. In this field, cell surface display is a major technology by exposing target proteins, such as enzymes, on the cell surface using a carrier protein. The target proteins are fused to the carrier proteins that transport and tether them to the cell surface, as well as to a secretion signal. This paper reviews cell surface display systems for prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells from the perspective of carrier proteins, which determine the number of displayed molecules, and the localization, size, and direction (N- or C-terminal anchoring) of the passengers. We also discuss advanced methods for displaying multiple enzymes and a new method for the immobilization of whole-cell catalysts using adhesive surface proteins.

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Internal oxidation of dilute silver alloys

Internal oxidation of dilute silver alloys containing Al, Mg, Zn, Cu, and Sn was studied in air at temperatures between 573 K and 1173 K. Electrical resistivity, gravimetric, and gas-extraction measurements were made. The general trend of the resistivity is that it increases upon oxidation at lower temperatures and the resistivity decreases at higher temperatures in all of these alloys except Ag-Mg, in which it increases even at 1173 K. The increase in resistivity is considered to be related to the formation of clusters having excess oxygen. A detailed investigation was performed on Ag-Al alloys. The O/Al ratio in the clusters in Ag-2.2 at.% Al is much higher on oxidation at 773 K than for stoichiometric Al₂O₃ at 1173 K. The clusters release the excess oxygen on subsequent annealing at high temperatures, and decompose to stable Al₂O₃ at 1173 K.     

Improvement of mechanical properties of ferritic stainless steel weld metal by ultrasonic vibration

Authors investigated the effect of ultrasonic vibration on the solidification microstructure and mechanical properties of the weld metal of ferritic stainless steel by introducing directly ultrasonic vibration into the weld molten pool using ultrasonically vibrating filler metal. The main results obtained in this study are as follow.     

Imaging Secondary-Ion Mass Spectroscopy Observation of the Scavenging of Siliceous Film from 8-mol%-Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia by the Addition of Alumina

The scavenging of a resistive siliceous phase via the addition of Al₂O₃ was studied, using imaging secondary-ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), given the improved grain-boundary conductivity in 8-mol%-yttria-stabilized zirconia (8YSZ). The grain-boundary resistivity in 8YSZ decreased noticeably with the addition of 1 mol% of Al₂O₃. Strong SiO₂ segregation at the grain boundaries was observed in a SIMS map of pure 8YSZ that contained 120 ppm of SiO₂ (by weight). The addition of 1 mol% of Al₂O₃ caused the SiO₂ to gather around the Al₂O₃ particles. The present observations provided direct and visual evidence of SiO₂ segregation at the grain boundaries (which had a deleterious effect on grain-boundary conductivity) and the scavenging of SiO₂ via Al₂O₃ addition.