Application of proteomic analysis to renal disease in the clinic

Chronic kidney disease accounts for a significant portion of many national health-care budgets. In this viewpoint, we highlight recent advances in urinary proteomic analyses that potentially may soon enhance the care of afflicted patients. To achieve this goal, cooperation of interdisciplinary teams from around the world will be vital, so as to standardize methodology for preparation urine samples and technical aspects of the analyses, and for better application of results. These collaborative activities will facilitate translational research in kidney diseases.     

Low-driving-current temperature-stable 10 Gbit/s operation of p-doped 1.3 /spl mu/m quantum dot lasers between 20 and 90/spl deg/C

Low-driving-current temperature-stable 10 Gbit/s direct modulation was achieved for optimised 200 mum-long short cavity 1.3 mum p-doped quantum dot lasers. Driving conditions were 25.2 mA_p-p for the modulation current and 23.4 mA for the bias current through the whole temperature range from 20 to 90degC     

Microprocessor-Based Decoupled Control of Manipulator Using Modified Model-Following Method with Sliding Mode

A methodology of discontinuous feedback and continuous feedforward control is developed to achieve accurate decoupled tracking in a class of nonlinear, time varying systems in the presence of disturbances, parameter variations and nonlinear dynamic interactions. The method is based on an improved variable structure control with a sliding mode.     

Novel Conjugated Organic Dyes for Efficient Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells

Novel conjugated organic dyes that have N,N‐dimethylaniline (DMA) moieties as the electron donor and a cyanoacetic acid (CAA) moiety as the electron acceptor were developed for use in dye‐sensitized nanocrystalline‐TiO₂ solar cells (DSSCs). We attained a maximum solar‐energy‐to‐electricity conversion efficiency (η) of 6.8 % under AM 1.5 irradiation (100 mW cm^–2) with a DSSC based on 2‐cyano‐7,7‐bis(4‐dimethylamino‐phenyl)hepta‐2,4,6‐trienoic acid (NKX‐2569): short‐circuit photocurrent density (J_sc) = 12.9 mA cm^–2, open‐circuit voltage (V_oc) = 0.71 V, and fill factor (ff) = 0.74. The high performance of the solar cells indicated that highly efficient electron injection from the excited dyes to the conduction band of TiO₂ occurred. The experimental and calculated Fourier‐transform infrared (FT‐IR) absorption spectra clearly showed that these dyes were adsorbed on the TiO₂ surface with the carboxylate coordination form. A molecular‐orbital calculation indicated that the electron distribution moved from the DMA moiety to the CAA moiety by photoexcitation of the dye.     

Improvement of partial discharge (PD) resistance of epoxy resin by using sulfur-containing additives

In the field of high-voltage engineering, it has been desired for a long time to improve the internal PD resistance of epoxy resin without lowering other properties. Recently, the authors discovered that some sulfur compound as curing agents or simple additives improved the PD resistance of rubber markedly, and here an attempt has been made to apply this fact to the case of epoxy resin. As was expected, some sulfur compounds containing SS-bond suppress the deterioration of epoxy resin due to internal partial discharges, and the larger the molecular weight of organic group combining the SS-bond, the longer the effective life of additives. Moreover, to make full use of these additives, it is very important to restrict moisture in the insulation systems. From this study, the authors have proposed the chemical formulation of the suppressive effect of additives for deterioration of epoxy resin due to internal partial discharges.     

Effects of ventilation and pleural effusion on measurements of airway thermal volume and blood flow in dog lungs

We studied the effects of ventilation and pleural effusion on measurements of airway thermal volume (ATV) and pulmonary blood flow (PBF) by using the airway gas thermometry method of V. B. Serikov, M. S. Rumm, K. Kambara, M. I. Bootomo, A. R. Osmack, and N. C. Staub (J. Appl. Physiol. 72: 944-953, 1992) in 39 anesthetized dogs with or without lung edema or pleural effusion. To examine the differential effects of increased-pressure and increased-permeability lung edema on accuracy and sensitivity of ATV and PBF, two models of lung edema were induced by intravenous infusion of a Dextran 70 solution and alloxan monohydrate, respectively. Dogs were hyperventilated for 3 min by using a wide range of minute ventilation (VE) to produce two steady-state conditions of airway temperature. Higher levels of VE increased an estimated amount of ATV. The ATV produced by hyperventilation at VE values of 559, 158, and 72 ml.min-1.kg-1 was consistent with the gravimetric total lung mass, the blood-free wet lung weight, and the extravascular lung water volume, respectively. The coefficient of lung thermal conductivity, a practical index of the rate of heat conduction through tissue from lung vessels, was related to the ratio of the decrease in expired air temperature to VE, and estimated PBF was consistent with the thermodilution cardiac output. Pleural effusion had little effect on measurements of ATV and PBF. However, ATV and PBF showed increased variation in dogs with dextran-induced lung edema.     

Cavity optimization for minimum pulsewidth of gain-switchedsemiconductor lasers

The optimum photon lifetime for the minimum pulsewidth of a gain-switched laser is investigated both analytically and numerically. For a fixed pump power, the shortest pulse can be produced when the laser cavity is optimized to give an optical pulsewidth that is ~2.5 times the photon lifetime. This is in good agreement with experimental results     

Characterization of acylmono-, mono-, di-, tri- and tetraglycosylsterol and saponin in Adzuki bean (Vigna angularis) seeds

Five sterylglycosides (acylmono-, mono-, di tri- and tetraglycosylsterol) and a saponin were isolated from Adzuki beans and characterized. In the glycosylsterols, the principal component sterols were sitosterol and stigmasterol; the major sugar component was glucose. The glucose units were shown to be linked by β1,6-bonds. The three oligoglycosylsterols were shown to be gentiobiosylsterol, gentiotriosylsterol and gentiotetraosylsterol; the latter two are novel sterylglycosides. The saponin was identified as glucopyranosyl-(β1→2)-glucopyranurosyl-(β1→3′)-soyasapogenol B (Azukisaponin I) which had previously been found in Adzuki beans.     

Reaction of layered carbon fluorides CxF (x = 2.5-3.6) and hydrogen

The layered carbon fluorides C_xF (x = 2.5, 2.8, 3.6), generally classified as fluorine-graphite intercalation compounds, were heat-treated in hydrogen gas. These fluorides are more reactive with hydrogen compared to (CF)_n and (C₂F)_n. Reduction of C_xF to graphite-like carbon starts at about 573 K, and proceeds gradually along with the elevation of temperature. Fluorine atoms in C_xF are eliminated as HF in the reduction process without being substituted by hydrogen atoms. Systematic difference was not found in the average crystallite sizes of the carbon material prepared from C_xF by the reduction with hydrogen and that by the pyrolysis in vacuum. On the other hand, interlayer distance and fluorine content of the former are smaller than those of the latter. In the case that the C_xF precursor maintains a large particle size, the reduced carbon as well as the pyrolytically prepared carbon possesses a foam-like shape due to the exfoliation during the heat treatment.     

A new approach to improve the high-voltage cyclic performance of Li-rich layered cathode material by electrochemical pre-treatment

Lithium-rich nickel–manganese–cobalt oxide, Li[Ni_0.17Li_0.2Co_0.07Mn_0.56]O₂, was prepared by a co-precipitation method, and its cyclic behavior at a high potential was investigated. The as-prepared material shows a rapid capacity fading in its initial several cycles when it was operated above 4.5 V, which could be significantly improved through a pre-cycling treatment. Its reversible capacity in the range of 4.8–2 V could be increased from 200 to 250 mAh g⁻¹ after 50 cycle through a stepped pre-cycling treatment.