Biotransformation of l‐menthol by twelve isolates of soil‐borne plant pathogenic fungi (Rhizoctonia solani) and classification of fungi

The microbial transformation of l‐menthol ( 1 ) was investigated by using 12 isolates of soil‐borne plant pathogenic fungi, Rhizoctonia solani (AG‐1‐IA Rs24, Joichi‐2, RRG97‐1; AG‐1‐IB TR22, R147, 110.4; AG‐1‐IC F‐1, F‐4, P‐1; AG‐1‐ID RCP‐1, RCP‐3, and RCP‐7) as a biocatalyst. Rhizoctonia solani F‐1, F‐4 and P‐1 showed 89.7–99.9% yields of converted product from 1 , RCP‐1, RCP‐3, and RCP‐7 26.0–26.9% and the other isolates 0.1–12.0%. In the cases of F‐1, F‐4 and P‐1, substrate 1 was converted to (?)‐(1S,3R,4S,6S)‐6‐hydroxymenthol ( 2 ), (?)‐(1S,3R,4S)‐1‐hydroxymenthol ( 3 ) and (+)‐(1S,3R,4R,6S)‐6,8‐dihydroxymenthol ( 4 ), which was a new compound. Substrate 1 was converted to 2 and/or 3 by RRG97‐1, 110.4, RCP‐1, RCP‐3 and RCP‐7. The structures of the metabolic products were elucidated on the basis of their spectral data. In addition, metabolic pathways of the biotransformation of 1 by Rhizoctonia solani are discussed. Finally, from the main component analysis and the differences in the yields of converted product from 1 , the 12 isolates of Rhizoctonia solani were divided into three groups based on an analysis of the metabolites. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

Effect of Milling on Slip Casting of Partially Stabilized Zirconia

Specimens of partially stabilized zirconia were slip cast from aqueous suspensions and sintered at 1500°C for 3 h. The relative density of the cast specimens and the firing shrinkage of the sintered specimens depend on the milling time for the suspension. Vickers hardness and K_IC values of 11.46±s0.07 GN/m² and 6.10 ±0.04 MN.m^3/2, respectively, were obtained for all sintered specimens. The dispersion of the suspension is important in increasing the relative density of the cast specimens.     

Real-time measurement of pointing action by using DSP

This paper presents an approach of measuring in real-time the vector of finger that is pointing to an object. DSP is used in the operation processing unit in order to do the real-time processing. The steps include the extraction of flesh-colored regions from an image, the labeling of the flesh-colored regions, and the detection of two characteristic positions on the finger so that the direction that the finger is pointing at will be calculated. The entire process takes about 29 msec, which makes it possible to have the frame rate of 34 fps. With this frame rate, this measurement approach is considered real-time and promising to be merged into other application systems. This work was presented in part at the 13th International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics, Oita, Japan, January 31–February 2, 2008     

Hydrogen absorption by Pd-coated ZrNi prepared by using Barrel-Sputtering System

To improve the durability of hydrogen storage materials against surface poisoning by impurity gases, effectiveness of Pd-coating layer prepared by using a Barrel-Sputtering System was examined for ZrNi powder. The effectiveness of Pd-coating was evaluated by activation temperature, at which Pd/ZrNi poisoned by air could be activated to absorb hydrogen. Characterization of Pd-coated ZrNi (denoted as Pd/ZrNi) by scanning electron microscopy, electron probe microanalysis and X-ray diffraction showed that a uniform Pd-coating layer was formed with the barrel-sputtering system. It was found that the poisoned Pd/ZrNi sample could be activated even at 423 K to absorb hydrogen at room temperature. This exhibits remarkable contrast to bare ZrNi, which could be only activated appreciably above 1073 K. It is concluded that the Pd-coating by barrel sputtering is quite effective to avoid the effect of surface poisoning of powdery hydrogen storage materials. However, the activation at excessively high temperature resulted in the loss of high activity to absorb hydrogen. It was concluded that this phenomenon was associated with reactions between Pd and ZrNi to form PdZr and other byproducts.     

Complexity of the color appearance of objects with nonuniform illumination

An inversion relationship is clarified between lightness and brightness, and also between chroma and colorfulness under nonuniform illumination with different illuminance levels (high and low) within the same visual field. Brightness (or colorfulness) of object color with low lightness (or chroma) under high illuminance level is perceived higher than that of another object color with high lightness (or chroma) under low illuminance level. Two color images are given for showing the inversion phenomena on brightness–lightness and colorfulness–chroma between object colors under different illuminance levels. These color images are useful for making researchers on color understand the differences in concept between brightness and lightness, and also between colorfulness and chroma. In particular, the concept of colorfulness is important, but difficult to understand. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 32, 372–377, 2007     

Chirality-antimicrobial relationship of quaternary ammonium cationics

Optically active and racemic quaternary ammonium cationics containing a chiral alkyl group, such as N,N-dimethyl-N-(1-phenylethyl)alkylammonium bromides were prepared and showed excellent antimicrobial properties against Gram positive and negative bacteria, with some exceptions, and against fungi. The influence of optical isomerism on their antimicrobial properties showed that the antimicrobial properties between racemic and optically active cationics were obscure. The order of activity of substituted alkyl groups was tetradecyl > dodecyl ° hexadecyl.     

A software tool to support the reliability design and evaluation oftelecommunication networks

Highly reliable telecommunication networks require new technologies, such as the reliability specification, design, and evaluation method used at NTT. This paper describes the basic concepts of this method, and the ARDES-NET (Availability Reliability Design and Evaluation System for NETworks) software tool is used to support the reliability design and evaluation. ARDESNET has a user-friendly interface and can be easily put into practice     

Trace elements in human transitory milk. Variation caused by biological attributes of mother and infant

Multielement analysis was performed on human milk collected on 5-9-d postpartum from 51 Japanese females using inductively coupled plasma (ICP) mass spectrometry (MS), ICP atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and fluorometry. Thirty-one elements were detected by these analytical methods in milk. Twelve elements (Na, Mg, P, S, K, Ca, Cu, Zn, Se, Sr, Rb, and Mo) were detected in all of the samples. Al, Cs, and Ba were the elements detected by ICP-MS in more than half of the samples. Multiple regression analysis extracted biological attributes of mother and infant, such as maternal stature, maternal wt, or infant's birth wt, as statistically significant factors contributing to the variation in elemental concentration in milk. However, the rates of contribution were small in all cases. It was concluded that the biological attributes of mother and infant examined in this study were not the major factors that contribute to elemental variation in human milk.