In situ chamber cleaning using atomic H in catalytic-CVD apparatus for mass production of a-Si:H solar cells

Effects of the chamber cleaning on properties of hydrogenated amorphous Si films prepared by catalytic chemical vapor deposition are shown. It is also revealed that the chamber is easily cleaned by atomic H generated on the heated catalyzer from H₂ gas molecules. In situ chamber cleaning using only H₂ gas is applicable to in-line apparatuses for mass production of solar cells, which brings about the reduction of the production cost.     

Optimized synthesis method for K/Co3O4 catalyst towards direct decomposition of N2O

The potassium-doped Co₃O₄ catalysts were prepared by impregnation of potassium sources on commercial cobalt carbonate and on the precursors synthesized by homogeneous precipitation, combustion with glycine, gradual oxidation, and hydrothermal methods. The activities of these catalysts for the direct decomposition of nitrous oxide in the presence of oxygen with or without water vapor were examined. The effects of potassium sources on the catalyst activity were also examined by impregnation of various potassium salts on commercial cobalt carbonate. The catalyst prepared by impregnation of an aqueous solution of KOH on commercial cobalt carbonate showed the highest activity. The catalysts prepared by various methods were analyzed by powder X-ray diffraction, N₂ adsorption, scanning electron microscope, temperature-programmed reduction with H₂, temperature-programmed desorption of O₂, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. These results suggest that crystallite size and reduction property are key factors for the activity of the catalyst for the direct decomposition of nitrous oxide in the presence of oxygen.     

Determination of polysorbates in foods by solid-phase extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography

A simple and rapid method using refractive index high-performance liquid chromatography (RI-HPLC) was developed for the determination of polysorbates (PS) in processed foods. PS were extracted with ethyl acetate containing 5% methanol. The extract was cleaned up on a multimode cartridge (300 mg) and an Alumina-N cartridge (500 mg) to remove fats and food color. HPLC separation was performed on a C18 column (4.6 i.d. x 150 mm) with methanol as the mobile phase. The recoveries of PS80 from nine kinds of foods fortified at the levels 1-5 g/kg were 80-99%. The limit of quantitation for PS80 in foods was 0.10 g/kg. The proposed method was applied to Worcestershire sauce that was PS-positive by TLC, and PS was confirmed to be present as PS80 at the concentration of 0.13 g/kg.     

9-oxo-10(E),12(E)-Octadecadienoic acid derived from tomato is a potent PPAR α agonist to decrease triglyceride accumulation in mouse primary hepatocytes

Scope: Tomato is one of the most common crops worldwide and contains many beneficial compounds that improve abnormalities of lipid metabolism. However, the molecular mechanism underlying the effect of tomato on lipid metabolism is unclear. It has been commonly accepted that peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor α (PPARα) is one of the most important targets for ameliorating abnormalities of lipid metabolism. Therefore, we focused on the activation of PPARα and attempted to detect active compounds activating PPARα in tomato. Methods and results: To identify such active compounds, we screened fractions of tomato extracts using PPARα luciferase reporter assay. One fraction, rechromatographed‐fraction eluted in 57 min (RF57), significantly increased PPARα reporter activity, in which a single compound is detected by LC/MS analysis. On the basis of LC/MS and NMR analyses, we determined the chemical structure of the active compound in RF57 as 9‐oxo‐10(E),12(E)‐octadecadienoic acid (9‐oxo‐ODA). The RF57 fraction significantly increased the mRNA expression levels of PPARα target genes involved in fatty acid oxidation and O₂ consumption in mouse primary hepatocytes. Furthermore, RF57 inhibited cellular triglyceride accumulation in the hepatocytes. Conclusion: These findings suggest that tomatoes containing 9‐oxo‐ODA that acts on PPARα are valuable for ameliorating abnormalities of lipid metabolism.     

Extractive components of boiled–dried scallop adductor muscle and effect on the taste of soup after mixing with chicken leg meat

The extractive components of raw and boiled–dried scallop adductor muscle were examined. On a dry weight basis the levels of total free amino acids, total adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and related compounds, and betaines in the boiled–dried sample were lower than those in the raw muscle, which may have been due to the outflow of these compounds during boiling. Soup prepared from the boiled–dried scallop and chicken leg meat was assessed by sensory evaluation. This soup cooked with the scallop and chicken was stronger in sweetness, umami and body and rated higher in overall preference than the soup containing these ingredients after cooking separately. The inosine monophosphate (IMP) level in the former soup was 4.4 times higher than that in the latter. The adenosine monophosphate (AMP) deaminase (EC 3.5.4.6) activity in the crude extract from the chicken meat was 9.16 units l^?1, whereas no activity could be detected in the crude extract from the boiled–dried scallop. It is concluded that AMP, which was mainly derived from the boiled–dried scallop, was converted to IMP by AMP deaminase from the chicken meat during the preparation of the soup, resulting in an improvement in the taste. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Guided tissue regeneration with use of β‐TCP/chitosan composite membrane

Guided tissue regeneration (GTR) membranes with bioabsorbable characteristics have been employed, in recent years, for periodontal procedures to deflect the growth of gingival tissues away from root surface. They provide an isolated space over regions with defective tissues and allow the relatively slow growing periodontal ligament fibroblasts to be repopulated over the root surface. In this study, we have employed chitosan and tricalcium phosphate (β‐TCP) as viable membrane materials and evaluated their roles in GTR applications. Three types of β‐TCP/chitosan membranes, weight ratio of β‐TCP/chitosan 65 : 35, 33 : 67, and 10 : 90, were prepared for three categories: the mechanical strength to create an effective space; the rapid rate to reach hydrolytic equilibrium in phosphate buffer solution; and the ease of clinical manipulations. Consequently, standardized, transosseous, and critical‐sized (cavity of 8 mm) skull defects were made in adult rabbits, and the defective regions were covered with the specifically prepared chitosan membranes. After 4 weeks of recovering, varying degrees of bone healing were observed beneath the β‐TCP/chitosan membranes in comparison to the control group. The β‐TCP/chitosan membranes covered regions showed a clear boundary space between connective tissues and bony tissues. Over all, good cell‐occlusion and beneficial osteogensis effects by these bioabsorbable materials toward the wound recovery were indicated. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009     

TGF-beta 1 induces the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p27Kip1 mRNA and protein in murine B cells

TGF-beta1 inhibits the cell cycle progression of many types of cells by arresting them in the G1 phase. This cell cycle arrest has been attributed to the regulatory effects of TGF-beta1 on both the levels and the activities of the G1 cyclins and their kinase partners. The activities of these kinases are negatively regulated by a number of proteins, such as p15INK4b, p21WAF1/Cip1, and p27Kip1, that physically associate with cyclins, cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdk), or cyclin-Cdk complexes. In epithelial cell lines, TGF-beta1 was previously shown to inhibit cell cycle progression through down-regulation of Cdk4 and/or up-regulation of p15INK4b and/or p21WAF1/Cip1. However, TGF-beta1 had little or no effect on the p27Kip1 mRNA and protein levels. In this report, we show that, in contrast to observations in epithelial cell lines, TGF-beta1 increased the p27Kip1 mRNA and protein levels in the murine B cell lines CH31 and WEHI231. This TGF-beta1-mediated induction of p27Kip1 also resulted in an increased association of p27Kip1 with Cdk2 and a decreased Cdk2 kinase activity. In contrast to epithelial cells, however, TGF-beta1 had little or no effect on the Cdk4 and p21WAF1/Cip1 protein levels in these B cells. Finally, although several studies suggested a direct role of p53 in TGF-beta1-mediated cell cycle arrest in epithelial cells, TGF-beta1 inhibited cell cycle progression in CH31 even in the absence of wild-type p53. Taken together, these results suggest that TGF-beta1 induces G1 arrest in B cells primarily through a p53-independent up-regulation of p27Kip1 protein.     

Web technology to support LHD experiment management

The large helical device (LHD), which is the world largest helical confinement system, is a national project serving Japanese fusion community. In LHD, experiments of 7000 shots are carried out for 250 proposals every year. Efficient experiment arrangement is required in order to carry out many collaborators’ proposal. Sometimes collaborators who are not familiar to LHD stay at NIFS only a few day to join the experiment. Issues are as follows: how to reduce collaborator's effort, how to reduce manager's effort to optimize the schedule; how to publicize plan and results of the experiment. We have developed web systems of virtual printer, experimental proposal and scheduling by using Ruby on Rails (RoR), which encapsulates relational data base (RDB) and AJAX. RDB enables to make tables by searching and sorting data with key words. Web servers are equipped in the virtual computer system in order to minimize efforts and cost of maintenance. The LHD web portal has been also developed in order to provide collaborators an efficient and intuitive interface to access the above systems, to take LHD information, and to use tools for LHD data analysis. The web systems have reduced collaborators’ and managers’ efforts significantly.     

Bounds and Approximations for Rapid Evaluation of Coherent MPSK Error Probabilities

The error probability for MPSK detection is expressed here as a sum of a familiar upper-bound approximation and a correction term which is well suited for numerical integration. An asymptotic expansion of the correction term is derived, from which simple and extremely tight upper and lower bounds are obtained. Relative errors in using these bounds and approximations of them are graphed for cases of practical interest.