1-O-alkyl-2,3-diacylglycerols in the skin surface lipids of the hairless mouse

A neutral lipid class was isolated by thin-layer chromatography from the skin surface lipids of the hairless mouse. The fraction migrated faster than triglycerides and had a migration rate similar to that of diacyl alkanediols (diester wax). Upon deacylation, however, the long-chain diols were identified as 1-alkylglycerol ethers based on their chromatographic properties and on the mass spectra of their nicotinylidene derivatives. Thus, the skin lipid fraction was identified as 1-O-alkyl-diacylglycerol. The alkyl moieties were all saturated and even-numbered and ranged in chainlength from C₁₆ to C₂₂ with 1-O-hexadecylglycerol amounting to 34% of the total glycerol ether moieties. The fatty acids derived from this lipid fraction were mostly monoenoic with chainlengths ranging from C₁₆ to C₂₄. The major acyl component was eicosenoic acid (20∶1) representing 61% of the total fatty acids.     

Mixture distribution measurement using laser induced breakdown spectroscopy in hydrogen direct injection stratified charge

Reduction in cooling loss due to the heat transfer from burning gas to the combustion chamber wall is very important for improving the thermal efficiency in hydrogen engines. The previous research has shown that the direct injection stratified charge can be a technique to reduce the cooling loss and improve thermal efficiency in hydrogen combustion. For effective reductions in cooling loss by the stratified charge, it is very important to know the relation between the fuel injection conditions and mixture distribution. The current research employs the laser induced breakdown spectroscopy as a method to measure the hydrogen concentration distribution in the direct injection stratified charge. Measurement of instantaneous local equivalence ratio by the method clears the characteristics of mixture formation in hydrogen direct injection stratified charge. This research also tries to actively control the mixture distribution using a split fuel injection.     

Constructing Grid Applications Using Standard Grid Middleware

The effectiveness of standard Grid middleware has been evaluated through the work of gridifying a legacy program. As a case study, we have gridified a typical parameter survey program called barotropic S-model which aims to predict short- to middle-term weather change accurately. Ninf-G was used to gridify the system. It was found that the program could be easily gridified using Ninf-G without worrying about the complicated structure of the Grid itself. Performance was measured on the ApGrid Testbed which spreads over Pan-Pacific countries. Although large costs of initialization and termination hinder the application from attaining good performance, these costs can be reduced by optimizing the middleware as well as the application itself. Using over 100 processors, we succeeded in giving a demonstration of a weather prediction simulation at the CCGrid conference, PRAGMA workshop, and SC2003 conference. Lessons learned from the construction of the demonstration system are presented.     

Ultrafast dynamics of surface-enhanced Raman scattering due to Au nanostructures

Ultrafast dynamics of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) was investigated at cleaved graphite surfaces bearing deposited gold (Au) nanostructures (～10 nm in diameter) by using sensitive pump-probe reflectivity spectroscopy with ultrashort (7.5 fs) laser pulses. We observed enhancement of phonon amplitudes (C═C stretching modes) in the femtosecond time domain, considered to be due to the enhanced electromagnetic (EM) field around the Au nanostructures. Finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) calculations confirmed the EM enhancement. The enhancement causes drastic increase of coherent D-mode (40 THz) phonon amplitude and nanostructure-dependent changes in the amplitude and dephasing time of coherent G-mode (47 THz) phonons. This methodology should be suitable to study the basic mechanism of SERS and may also find application in nanofabrication.     

NOx reduction and NO2 emission characteristics in rich-lean combustion of hydrogen

Hydrogen is a clean alternative to conventional hydrocarbon fuels, but it is very important to reduce the nitrogen oxides (NO_x) emissions generated by hydrogen combustion. The rich-lean combustion or staged combustion is known to reduce NO_x emissions from continuous combustion burners such as gas turbines and boilers, and NO_x reduction effects have been demonstrated for hydrocarbon fuels. The authors applied rich-lean combustion to a hydrogen gas turbine and showed its NO_x reduction effect in previous research. The present study focused on experimental measurements of NO and NO₂ emissions from a coaxial rich-lean burner fueled with hydrogen. The results were compared with diffusion combustion and methane rich-lean combustion. Significant reductions in NO and NO₂ were achieved with rich-lean combustion. The NO and NO₂ reduction effects by rich-lean combustion relative to conventional diffusion combustion were higher with hydrogen than with methane.     

Twist form of teleocidin derivatives is active in in vivo tumor promotion by (-)-benzolactam-V8-310

Two patients, both 70 years old, operated for differentiated thyroid cancer with foci of undifferentiated tumor (one papillary containing pseudosarcomatoid foci, the other with insular pattern containing undifferentiated foci) suddenly died. In both cases, for both of them metastatic involvement of the myocardium and endocardium. These original findings suggest that elderly patients suffering rom well differentiated thyroid cancer, containing undifferentiated foci, therefore suspected to have metastasized, would benefit from non-invasive cardiac work-up (sonogram) in order to plan their multidisciplinary treatment.     

安装在台北101建筑工程中的1010m／min电梯

台北101建筑工程于2004年12月开业．该建筑高508m．为世界最高建筑。建筑内安装有2台额定速度为1010m／min的超高速电梯．也是世界上速度最快的电梯。该电梯采用了许多新的技术．如空气压力控制系统、动量减振器等。电梯的开发完全是基于数字虚拟系统．因为采用我们目前的技术设备还不能检验该电梯。本文现介绍这些先进技术的性能。     

Effects of the porous structures in the porous flow field type separators on fuel cell performances

Effects of separators' several different porous flow field structures consist of spherical alloy powders on the pressure loss characteristics and the single-cell performances were investigated for the purpose of achieving the porous structure which can satisfy the conflicting properties of lower pressure loss and higher power density. Although the separator with partitions in the porous flow field, aimed at improving the uniform oxygen supply ability, indicated higher power density, its pressure loss increased compared to the basic porous flow field type separator. The separator with evenly spaced linear grooves in the porous flow field lowered its pressure loss, however, the maximum power density decreased. On the other hand, the newly designed separator with finely dispersed open space networks in the porous flow field demonstrated lower pressure loss and higher power density; i.e., 50% lower pressure loss and 40% higher power density were obtained compared to the basic porous flow field type separator.     

Preparation of Cr–Ti Binary Oxide Anchored Mesoporous Silica by CVD Method and Their Photocatalytic Activities

Cr–Ti binary oxide anchored mesoporous silica (Cr–Ti/MCM-41) was prepared by stepwise CVD treatments of MCM-41 with TiCl₄ and CrO₂Cl₂. Cr–Ti/MCM-41 exhibited higher efficiency for the photocatalytic polymerization of ethylene as well as the oxidation of CO into CO₂ than those on single component Cr⁶⁺-oxide anchored MCM-41 under UV and visible light.