Effect of alpha1,2-mannosidic linkage located in a alpha1,3-branch of Man6GlcNAc2 oligosaccharide on enzyme activity of recombinant human Man9-mannosidase produced in Escherichia coli

We produced the human kidney Man9-mannosidase in Escherichia coli and studied the effect of the alpha-1,2-mannosidic linkage located in the alpha branch of Manalpha1-6(Manalpha1-2Manalpha1-3)Manalpha1-6(Manalpha1-3)Manbeta1-4GlcNAcbeta1-4-GlcNAc, an N-linked oligosaccharide, on the enzyme activity. The alpha1,2-mannose residue influenced the rate of hydrolysis of and substrate preference for other alpha-1,2-mannosidic linkages.     

SrCaO Protective Layer for High-Efficiency PDPs

The sustain pulse voltage of the panel for 66-kPa Ne + Xe (5%-30%) is 20%-40% lower with a Sr_0.62Ca_0.38O protective layer than with a MgO protective layer. At a normal sustain voltage of 160-200 V, the luminous efficiency of the panel with the Sr_0.62 Ca_0.38O protective layer for Xe (30%) is about twice as high as with the MgO protective layer for Xe (10%). The luminances of these panels are almost the same. This high efficiency at normal sustain pulse voltage and normal luminance is obtained through the combined use of the Sr_0.62Ca_0.38O protective layer and high Xe content. With regard to ion bombardment, the Sr_0.62Ca_0.38O film has a 4.5 times longer life than SrO film and nearly 80% of the life of MgO film. We also calculated the values of theoretical secondary electron emission yield gamma_imin of MgO, SrO, and CaO without energy bands in the band gap for rare gas ions and found that [ gamma_imin of MgO] les [gamma_imin of CaO] < [gamma_imin of SrO] except for the one case with He. The breakdown voltage decreases with higher gamma_imin values. As expected, the discharge voltage of the panel is much lower with the SrO protective layer than with the MgO protective layer. The discharge voltages of the panels with Sr_0.62Ca_0.38O and SrO protective layers are almost the same. These findings show that the life of the SrO protective layer can be made 4.5 times longer without any increase in the discharge voltage by adding CaO (40 at.%)     

Intra-molecular mobility of holes along rod-like helical Si backbones in optically active polysilanes

Intra-molecular mobility of positive charge carriers in poly(n-hexyl-[S]-2-methylbutylsilane) (PHMBS) films doped with N,N′-bis(2,5-di-tert-buthylphenyl)-3,4,9,10-perylenedicarboximide (PDI) is studied by time-resolved microwave conductivity (TRMC) measurements. PHMBS with optically active side chains has a rod-like tightly locked Si catenation with unlikely long persistence length compared with conventional dialkyl-substituted polysilanes. It was found that PDI is a suitable electron acceptor for PHMBS as it provides the high product of photo carrier generation yield ? as ～0.08% under an excitation at 355 nm. The efficient electron transfer reaction from PHMBS to PDI gives clear conductivity transients ascribed to the positive charges on the Si catenation of PHMBS by TRMC measurements. The estimated value of isotropic mobility along the tightly locked Si catenation is 0.36 cm² V^?1 s^?1, suggesting the presence of mobile holes on the backbones of PHMBS.     

Lateral Inhomogeneity in the Electronic Structure of a Conjugated Poly(3‐hexylthiophene) Thin Film

How annealing influences the morphology of a highly regioregular poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (RR‐P3HT) film at the substrate interface as well as the lateral inhomogeneity in the electronic structure of the film are elucidated. Whereas previous studies have reported that high‐molecular‐weight (MW) RR‐P3HT films tend to show low crystallinity even after annealing, it is found that high‐MW RR‐P3HT does show high crystallinity after annealing at high temperature for a long time. Photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM), X‐ray photoemission spectroscopy, and ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy results clearly resolve a considerable lateral inhomogeneity in the morphology of RR‐P3HT film, which results in a variation of the electronic structure depending on the local crystallinity. The PEEM results show how annealing facilitates crystal growth in a high‐MW RR‐P3HT film.     

Dynamic voltage and frequency management for a low-power embedded microprocessor

High-performance and low-power microprocessors are key to PDA applications. A dynamic voltage and frequency management (DVFM) scheme with leakage power compensation effect is introduced in a microprocessor with 128-bit wideband 64-Mb embedded DRAM. The DVFM scheme autonomously controls clock frequency from 8 to 123 MHz in steps of 0.5 MHz and also adaptively controls supply voltage from 0.9 to 1.6 V in steps of 5 mV, achieving 82% power reduction in personal information management scheduler application and 40% power reduction in MPEG4 movie playback. This low-power embedded microprocessor, fabricated with 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS embedded DRAM technology, enables high-performance operations such as audio and video applications. As process technology shrinks, this adaptive leakage power compensation scheme will become more important in realizing high-performance and low-power mobile consumer applications.     

DOLPHIN: Digital Online Library Providing Human-Like InteractiveNavigation

In a digital library environment, we propose a novel support concept that is like a reference service in real libraries. Based on the concept, we have developed a prototype, called DOLPHIN, using a frame based knowledge base to support reference services in a digital library. DOLPHIN can guide the user to the appropriate service     

Sex differences in audiovisual discrimination learning by Bengalese Finches (Lonchura striata var. domestica).

Both visual and auditory information are important for songbirds, especially in developmental and sexual contexts. To investigate bimodal cognition in songbirds, the authors conducted audiovisual discrimination training in Bengalese finches. The authors used two types of stimulus: an "artificial stimulus," which is a combination of simple figures and sound, and a "biological stimulus," consisting of video images of singing males along with their songs. The authors found that while both sexes predominantly used visual cues in the discrimination tasks, males tended to be more dependent on auditory information for the biological stimulus. Female responses were always dependent on the visual stimulus for both stimulus types. Only males changed their discrimination strategy according to stimulus type. Although males used both visual and auditory cues for the biological stimulus, they responded to the artificial stimulus depending only on visual information, as the females did. These findings suggest a sex difference in innate auditory sensitivity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Zeta potential measurement on the surface of blue-green algae particles for micro-bubble process.

Any kind of blue-green alga produces metabolites of musty substances and toxins. Therefore, it is necessary to remove the blue-green algae, and processing also including nutrient removal is desired for the water quality improvement of eutrophic lakes. The purpose of this study has been to investigate the possibility of a flotation system using a hybrid technique (chemical compounds and electrostatic bridge) applied to raw water containing phytoplankton with high pH of water, and to examine the zeta potential value of phytoplankton surface and the removal efficiency for phytoplankton, ammonia, nitrogen, and phosphoric acid.The results were as follows: firstly, zeta potential of M. aeruginosa particles was observed to achieve charge neutralization on their surface by adhesion of magnesium hydroxide precipitation with increasing pH. Secondly, maximum removal efficiency concerning chlorophyll-a was observed as 84%, and this efficiency was obtained in the condition of pH > 10, and magnesium hydroxide precipitation was observed. Thirdly, in the pH condition that the maximum removal efficiency of chlorophyll-a was obtained, the removal efficiency and the amount of decrease of NH(4)-N and PO(4)-P before and after the change of pH values were observed as 6.7% (0.04 mg-P/L) and 63.6% (0.07 mg-N/L), respectively.