Preparation and catalytic properties of palladium-(boron,phosphorus) thin films using an RF sputtering method

Palladium-(boron, phosphorus) thin films have been prepared by an RF sputtering method. The palladium f c c structure was destroyed by adding boron or phosphorus and the palladium films finally became amorphous in structure. Boron, whose interaction with palladium was very weak, donated electrons to palladium, whereas phosphorus accepted electrons from palladium. The palladium-(boron, phosphorus) films showed high selectivity (above 97%) for the partial hydrogenation of diolefins (cyclopentadiene and 1,3-butadiene) and acetylene. The activity and the selectivity changed with the boron or phosphorus concentration. The changes in the selectivity were explained in terms of the ensemble and the ligand effect in the palladium films. It was found that the palladium-boron films with Pd_B like structure and the amorphous palladium-phosphorus films were excellent for partial hydrogenation.     

A detection method of differences of polarization angles between three‐component signals

I describe a new method of detecting differences of polarization angles, azimuth and elevation angle, between two three‐component signals. The differences of polarization angles are calculated directly from nine cross‐correlations between two three‐component signals. I compare the performance of this method to a conventional method based on a polarization filter, which uses Principal Component Analysis, in a computer simulation. When data length is shorter than a period of a sinusoidal signal, which is used as a signal in the simulation, the new method shows both less dispersion and less bias of errors than the polarization filter does. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 141(1): 45–53, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.10044     

Purification and primary structure of pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP) from the brain of an elasmobranch, stingray, Dasyatis akajei

Pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP) was isolated from ovine hypothalami and found to exist as two amidated forms with 38 (PACAP 38) and 27 (PACAP 27) residues. The amino acid sequences of PACAPs isolated from the vertebrates, such as a bird, a frog and teleost fish, appear to be well conserved. In the present study, we attempted to isolate PACAP from the brain of an elasmobranch fish, Dasyatis akajei (stingray), which belongs to the Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish), by extraction of the acetone-dried powder with acetic acid, followed by successive high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) on a gel-filtration, a cation-exchange and two reverse-phase columns. Purification was monitored by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and Western blotting analysis using an anti-PACAP 27 serum. The PACAP thus obtained consisted of 44 residues. The amino acid sequence of the comparable portion of its N-terminal 38 residues showed 92%, 89%, 89%, and 82% identity with those of mammalian, chicken, frog and teleost PACAPs with 38 residues, respectively. The extra six C-terminal residues of the stingray resembled those of tetrapod and teleost PACAP precursors which were deduced from the respective cDNAs. These results indicate that PACAP, which has an amino acid sequence showing high similarity with those of tetrapod and teleost PACAPs, is present in the elasmobranch brain.     

Luminescent Properties of Sintered Spherical Silica With Alkali Metal Oxide Additives

The correlation of luminescent properties to the polymorphism in sintered amorphous spherical silica with alkali metal additives has been investigated. The luminescent properties and the crystalline phases changed with the different kinds of alkali metal additives, and the firing temperature. The blue luminescence at 470 nm was observed for all amorphous sintered silica containing Na₂O, K₂O, Rb₂O or Cs₂O, while the yellowish green luminscence at 545 nm was for some crystalline sintered silica. The blue luminescence was assumed to be related to defects produced by dehydration of silanol groups and the yellowish green ones in crystalline and liquid phases.     

Synthesis of Yttrium Aluminum Garnet by the Glycothermal Method

The reaction of a stoichiometric mixture of aluminum isopropoxide and yttrium acetate in 1,4-butanediol at 300°C yielded crystalline yttrium aluminum garnet having an approximate particle size of 30 nm. No other phases were detected. The use of ethylene glycol in place of 1,4-butanediol afforded an amorphous product.     

A case of sporadic acute type A hepatitis associated with acute renal failure

We report a case of sporadic acute type A hepatitis associated with acute renal failure, due to mesangioproliferative glomerulonephritis and interstitial nephritis. A 42 year-old-man was admitted to Mitsui Memorial Hospital because of jaundice and oliguria with fever in February, 1989. His serum creatinine was 12.2 mg/dl, BUN 87 mg/dl, GOT 57 U/l and GPT 358 U/l. The serum IgM antibody to hepatitis A virus was positive, which indicated recent infection with hepatitis A virus. Hemodialysis and steroidal therapy were started, and the patient's acute renal failure and liver dysfunction ameliorated within one month. Light microscopic examinations showed an increased number of mesangial cells and an increased amount of mesangial matrix, and also showed inflammatory cell invasion in the interstitium. Electron microscopic examinations showed proliferation of mesangial cells and matrix, and a dense deposit along the basement membrane. On immunofluoresent studies, fine granular deposits of IgA and Clq were observed in the mesangium.     

A 3.5-ns, 500-mW, 16-kbit BiCMOS ECL RAM

A 16-kbit BiCMOS ECL SRAM with a typical address access time of 3.5 ns and 500-mW power dissipation was developed. The RAM was fabricated using half-micrometer, triple-poly, and triple-metal BiCMOS technology. The fast access time with moderate power dissipation has been achieved using new circuit techniques: a grounded-gate, nonlatching-type level converter with a wired-OR predecoder and a direct column sensing scheme having a cascode differential amplifier. As a result of extensive use of high-speed bipolar ECL circuits with self-aligned bipolar transistors, the RAM attains high-speed performance without degrading the low-power BiCMOS RAM characteristics.<>     

Effect of partial poisoning of acid sites on selectivity in the multiple reactions of mono-substituted-t-Butylbenzenes

The decomposition reaction of p–t-butylcumene and t-butylbromobenzene have been carried out over pyridine poisoned silica-alumina and HY zeolite in order to examine the effect of acid strength on selectivity. Since the catalyst deactivation rate for isomerization over the poisoned silica-alumina was greater than that of de-t-butylation in the reaction of p–t-butylcumene, the selectivity of de-t-butylation gradually improved with process time. In the reaction of t-butylbromobenzene over poisoned HY zeolite, the de-bromination rate was suppressed by the poisoning because the nature of active sites was different between silica-alumina and HY zeolite. The poisoned HY zeolite was found to be favorable for the de-t-butylation of halogenated-t-butylbenzenes.     

The postnatal development of the junctional complexes of the mouse Sertoli cells as revealed by freeze-fracture

Mouse testes of newborn to adult were examined by freeze-fracture. Between the newborn Sertoli cells, gap junctions consisting of aggregations of the intramembranous particles (about 8 nm in diameter) are frequently found. Some of the junctions are about 1 mum in diameter and show particle-free regions in the aggregation. Linear arrangements of a few particles, which appear to be the initial formation of the occluding junctions, are seen in the newborn sertoli cells. The occluding junctions are arranged in a meshwork, in which the gap junctions are situated between the stages of newborn to six days of age. The particles of the occluding junctions are predominantly located on the B face in the center of the groove instead of the A face of the ridge. The occluding junctions do not appear to surround the entire circumference of the Sertoli cell of the 6-day-old mouse. The gap junctions decrease in size. In later stages, many parallel occluding junctions (up to forty in number) are found over one Sertoli cell surface and are distributed circumferentially around the entire cell surface, indicating establishment of the blood-testis barrier. The occluding junctions dominate and the gap junctions diminish in number as development proceeds.