Production of Xylanase with a transformant of Aspergillus oryzae RIB40 in a Liquid-Surface Immobilization (LSI) System

Xylanase production by a XynF1 (33 kDa)-transformant of Aspergillus oryzae RIB40 was compared between submerged cultivation (SmC) and liquid-surface immobilization (LSI) systems. While the accumulation of xylanase in the SmC decreased by prolonged incubation, LSI system enabled the continuation of xylanase production to afford 4.5-fold xylanase production compared with the SmC system.     

Effects of sulfated fucan,ascophyllan, from the brown Alga Ascophyllum nodosum on various cell lines: A comparative study on ascophyllan and fucoidan

The effects of fucose-containing sulfated polysaccharides, ascophyllan and fucoidan, isolated from the brown alga Ascophyllum nodosum, on the growth of various cell lines (MDCK, Vero, PtK₁, CHO, HeLa, and XC) were investigated. In a colony formation assay, ascophyllan and fucoidan showed potent cytotoxic effects on Vero and XC cells, while other cell lines were relatively resistant to these polysaccharides. Almost no significant effects of these polysaccharides were observed in the cell lines tested using the Alamar blue cytotoxicity assay over 48 h with varying initial cell densities (2500–20,000 cells/well) in growth medium. Interestingly, a significant growth promoting effect of ascophyllan on MDCK cells was observed, whereas treatment with fucoidan showed growth suppressive effects on this cell line under the same experimental conditions. These results suggest that ascophyllan is distinguishable from fucoidan in terms of their bioactivities. This is the first report of the growth promoting effects of a sulfated fucan on a mammalian cell line under normal growth conditions.     

Potential estimation of hourly blank storage space and charge loads of EVs using road traffic census and vehicles status

If both EVs (Electric Vehicles, includes plug‐in hybrid electric vehicles) and renewable energies spread in large quantities, it is possible to control the supply fluctuation of renewable energies using the storage battery of EVs. This research sought to show the charge load potential of EVs based on the state of the Japanese passenger car using traffic census results, etc. Furthermore, it tried to show the trend of the storage battery capacity according to time. From the estimated results: (1) the charge electricity of low and middle distance gets a majority of the total charge demand, (2) charge load changes according to time several times, and the minimum load is the number of gigawatt‐hours at early morning, (3) if night charge is assumed, the standby charge demand of noon will reach tens of gigawatt‐hours, it may have sufficient scale for supply fluctuation control of PVs. Although the present EV is not suitable for long‐distance running, these are expected to be 30 or less percent of the total charge demand. The estimated storage capacity potential in this research will not change numbers of times. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 182(3): 30–38, 2013; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.22352     

Permeability changes in granite with crack growth during immersion in hot water

Permeability tests and observation of induced, as well as inherent, cracks have been carried out to quantitatively explain permeability changes in granite taking place during a weathering test in terms of micro-structure by cracks. To this end, permeability tensors were estimated from observations of crack systems using the Replica Method and of the crack apertures with a scanning electron microscope. The following conclusions were reached: the drastic increase in permeability around an immersion of 1000 d in 90°C water could not be explained by the existence of a percolation threshold because all the specimens were percolative in the sense that the traces of crack tensor were above the critical density for percolation. On the other hand, SEM observation revealed that, with immersion, crack apertures widened and their distribution spread. Permeability estimated using the third (not the first) moment of observed apertures showed the increase in measured permeability well. When evaluating the connectivity parameter λ to give a quantitative accordance between measured and estimated permeability, it had a constant value as low as 0.17, irrespective of the immersion period, in spite of the higher density of micro-cracks than the percolation threshold. It can be said that, in considering the natural three-dimensional crack system, the third moment of physical apertures plays a more important role in predicting the permeability and λ is greatly affected by the spread of crack apertures.     

The effect of Ca doping on the properties of melt-processed Gd-based bulk superconductors

The effect of Ca doping to melt-processed Gd-based bulk superconductors fabricated by the oxygen-controlled melt growth (OCMG) method was studied. First, we simply added CaCO₃ to the starting materials to dope Ca and observed an increase in the trapped field and the critical current density (J_c) up to, at least, 0.31 wt.% CaCO₃. However, an additional oxygen annealing resulted in a decrease of J_c in magnetic fields and in a monotonous exponential-like field dependence ofJ_c. This suggests that oxygen deficiency had caused the enhancement of J_c, although the same annealing process as the non-doped sample was applied. We also prepared samples by adding not only CaCO₃ but also BaCO₃ and CuO in a molar ratio of Ca:Ba:Cu = 1:2:3, and observed a large peak effect of J_c up to at least 0.31 wt.% CaCO₃. It is likely that this large peak effect is also caused by oxygen defects, although the superconducting transition temperature was significantly large. These results indicate that J_c at 77 K can be significantly enhanced by introducing a proper amount of oxygen deficiency and compensating at the same time the decrease of carrier density by Ca doping.     

DeNOx process in flue gas combined with nonthermalplasma and catalyst

Catalysts were used to enhance NO_x removal reactions by the nonthermal plasma from room temperature to high temperature (500°C). The NO_x removal rate was significantly affected by the type of the catalyst or the gas temperature. When the conventional three-way catalyst for automobiles was activated at 500°C, nonthermal plasma was not effective in removing NO_x. When hydrocarbons (ethylene) were added to the synthetic flue gas, zeolite catalyst became very active at high temperature, The combination effect of nonthermal plasma and catalyst was confirmed below 200°C. More than 80% of NO_x was removed from synthetic flue gas by the combination of zeolite catalyst and hydrocarbons without nonthermal plasma discharge at 500 °C. Nonthermal plasma treatment could be useful even at high temperatures, where catalytic reactions were dominant     

A Phylogenetic Analysis of Saccharomyces Species by the Sequence of 18S–28S rRNA Spacer Regions

Sequences of two internally transcribed spacer regions between 18S and 28S rRNA genes were determined to assess the phylogenetic relationship in the strains belonging to the genus Saccharomyces. The sequences of S. bayanus and S. pastorianus were quite similar, but not identical. Two phylogenetic trees constructed by the neighbor-joining method showed that all the species examined were distinguished from one another. The Saccharomyces sensu stricto species: S. cerevisiae, S. bayanus, S. paradoxus and S. pastorianus, were closely related and far from the Saccharomyces sensu lato species including S. barnetti, S. castellii, S. dairensis, S. exiguus, S. servazzii, S. spencerorum and S. unisporus, and an outlying species, S. kluyveri. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Pellet Injectors Developed at the Pelin Laboratory for Steady-State Plasma Fuelling

Pneumatic and centrifugal injectors for steady-state plasma refuelling by solid hydrogen, deuterium and tritium pellets have been designed at the PELIN Laboratory to meet requirements of LHD, TORE SUPRA, and ITER. Presented here is a review of these injectors‘ designs and results.     

Increased remineralization of tooth enamel by milk containing added casein phosphopeptide-amorphous calcium phosphate

Casein phosphopeptide amorphous calcium phosphate nano-complexes (CPP-ACP) in chewing gum, lozenges and mouthrinses have been shown to re-mineralize enamel subsurface lesions in human in situ experiments. The aim of this double-blind, randomized clinical study was to investigate the capacity of CPP-ACP added to bovine milk to re-mineralize enamel subsurface lesions in situ. Ten subjects drank milk containing either 2.0 or 5.0 g CPP-ACP/l or a control milk whilst wearing removable appliances with enamel slabs containing subsurface demineralized lesions. Each 200 ml milk sample was consumed once a day for each weekday over three consecutive weeks. After each treatment and one weeks rest the subjects crossed over to the other treatments. At the completion of the treatments the enamel slabs were removed and remineralization determined using microradiography and microdensitometry. The results demonstrated that all three milk samples re-mineralized enamel subsurface lesions. However, the milk samples containing CPP-ACP produced significantly greater remineralization than the control milk. The re-mineralizing effect of CPP-ACP in milk was dose-dependent with 2.0 and 5.0 g CPP-ACP/l producing an increase in mineral content of 70 and 148%, respectively, relative to the control milk. The differences in remineralization following exposure to the three milk samples were all statistically significant (P<0.001). In conclusion, this study shows that the addition of 2.0-5.0 g CPP-ACP/l to milk substantially increases its ability to re-mineralize enamel subsurface lesions.     

Impurity Effects on Energy Gap in Bi<Subscript>2</Subscript>Sr<Subscript>2</Subscript>CaCu<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>8+<Emphasis Type="Italic">y</Emphasis></Subscript> Investigated by Electronic Raman Scattering

The Raman scattering experiments were carried out in Zn-doped and Zn-free Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O_8+y with optimal hole concentration below and above T _c . The energy of pair-breaking peak in the B _1g Raman spectrum, corresponding to the magnitude of superconducting gap 2Δ ₀, is suppressed by 1% Zn-doping. In the normal state, the B _1g Raman spectrum for Zn-doped sample shows no pseudogap behaviour, suggesting that the pseudogap is strongly smeared by Zn-doping.