Cellulose has experienced a renaissance as a precursor for carbon fibers (CFs). However, cellulose possesses intrinsic challenges as precursor substrate such as typically low carbon yield. This study examines the interplay of strategies to increase the carbonization yield of (ligno-) cellulosic fibers manufactured via a coagulation process. Using Design of Experiments, this article assesses the individual and combined effects of diammonium hydrogen phosphate (DAP), lignin, and CO2 activation on the carbonization yield and properties of cellulose-based carbon fibers. Synergistic effects are identified using the response surface methodology. This paper evidences that DAP and lignin could affect cellulose pyrolysis positively in terms of carbonization yield. Nevertheless, DAP and lignin do not have an additive effect on increasing the yield. In fact, combined DAP and lignin can affect negatively the carbonization yield within a certain composition range. Further, the thermogravimetric CO2 adsorption of the respective CFs was measured, showing relatively high values (ca. 2 mmol/g) at unsaturated pressure conditions. The CFs were microporous materials with potential applications in gas separation membranes and CO2 storage systems.

We estimate the fractal dimension of the ρ Ophiuchus Molecular Cloud Complex, associated with star forming regions. We selected a cube (v, l, b) database, obtained with J = 1−0 transition lines of 12CO and 13CO at a resolution of 22′′ using a multibeam receiver system on the 14-m telescope of the Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory. Using a code developed within IRAF, we identified slice-clouds with two threshold temperatures to estimate the fractal dimension. With threshold temperatures of 2.25 K (3σ) and 3.75 K (5σ), the fractal dimension of the target cloud is estimated to be D = 1.52–1.54, where P / AD/2 , which is larger than previous results. We suggest that the sampling rate (spatial resolution) of observed data must be an important parameter when estimating the fractal dimension, and that narrower or wider dispersion around an arbitrary fit line and the intercepts at NP = 100 should be checked whether they relate to rms noise level or characteristic structure of the target cloud. This issue could be investigated by analysing several high resolution databases with different quality (low or moderate sensitivity).

Polarbear is a ground-based experiment located in the Atacama desert of northern Chile. The experiment is designed to measure the Cosmic Microwave Background B-mode polarization at several arcminute resolution. The CMB B-mode polarization on degree angular scales is a unique signature of primordial gravitational waves from cosmic in ation and B-mode signal on sub-degree scales is induced by the gravitational lensing from large-scale structure. Science observations began in early 2012 with an array of 1,274 polarization sensitive antenna-couple Transition Edge Sensor (TES) bolometers at 150 GHz. We published the first CMB-only measurement of the B-mode polarization on sub-degree scales induced by gravitational lensing in December 2013 followed by the first measurement of the B-mode power spectrum on those scales in March 2014. In this proceedings, we review the physics of CMB B-modes and then describe the Polarbear experiment, observations, and recent results.

Previous clinical studies have demonstrated that gabapentin, a drug that binds to the voltage-gated calcium channel α2δ1 subunit proteins, is effective in the management of neuropathic pain, but there is limited evidence that addresses the participation of glial cells in the antiallodynic effects of this drug. The present study investigated the participation of glial cells in the anti-nociceptive effects of gabapentin in rats with trigeminal neuropathic pain produced by mal-positioned dental implants. Under anesthesia, the left mandibular second molar was extracted and replaced by a miniature dental implant to induce injury to the inferior alveolar nerve. Mal-positioned dental implants significantly decreased the air-puff thresholds both ipsilateral and contralateral to the injury site. Gabapentin was administered intracisternally beginning on postoperative day (POD) 1 or on POD 7 for three days. Early or late treatment with 0.3, 3, or 30 μg of gabapentin produced significant anti-allodynic effect in the rats with mal-positioned dental implants. On POD 9, in the mal-positioned dental implants group, OX-42, a microglia marker, and GFAP, an astrocyte marker, were found to be up-regulated in the medullary dorsal horn, compared with the naive group. However, the intracisternal administration of gabapentin (30 μg) failed to reduce the number of activated microglia or astrocytes in the medullary dorsal horn. These findings suggest that gabapentin produces significant antinociceptive effects, which are not mediated by the inhibition of glial cell function in the medullary dorsal horn, in a rat model of trigeminal neuropathic pain.

nanopowders with anatase structure were firstly prepared by controlling the pH value of a precursor solution without any heat-treatment at room temperature. The prepared nanopowders were hydrothermally treated in 10M NaOH solution at . Then, the samples were washed in DI water or 0.1M HCl. The nanotubes were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The gas sensitivity of nanotubes for toluene gas was also investigated. The results show that nanotubes can be prepared by hydrothermal treatment. The morphology of nanotubes prepared by 0.1M HCl washing is destroyed to some extent. nanotubes with DI water washing show better sensitivity than that with 0.1M HCl washing.

A genome project has been launched and aims to sequence total genome of Cotesia plutellae bracovirus. On this process, several open reading frames (ORFs) have been identified. This study was intended to clone and express protein tyrosine phosphatase genes, PTP1 and PTP6. The ORFs of these two genes consist of 900 and 891 bp, respectively. PTP1 and PTP6 are genes of a group of genes that has been implicated as important regulatory components in cell growth, differentiation and malignant transformation by certain viruses. In this work,we studied the cloning and expression patterns of these genes in Plutella xylostella, a lepidopteran host of C. plutellae. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) produced the corresponding products of PTP1/6. These PCR products were cloned and expressed using an expression vector pBAD-TOPO, and then over-expressed using an inducer, L-arabinose. Then the purified proteins were confirmed using Western blotting (immunoblotting using V5 antibody) and the apparent molecular weights of both proteins were about 40 kDa. Expression of PTP genes were analyzed in the parasitized P. xylostella by realtime RT-PCR, which indicated late expression pattern of both PTPs during parasitization. We are pursuing to elucidate their physiological function in the parasitized host insect.

In this work, effect of various process-control agents (PCAs) on the mechanical alloying of amorphous alloy of has been investigated. The dependence of the particle shape, size and crystallization behavior of the amorphous alloy powders on the type of PCAs and their concentrations was investigated by using X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. It was found that the additive of toluene could affect positively the amorphization and thermally induced crystallization processes, as well as the size refinement, morphology and particle-size distribution of as-milled powders in comparison with alloy obtained without PCA.

TiCuNiAl quaternary amorphous alloy was prepared by high-energy ball milling process. A complete amorphization was confirmed for the composition of TiCuNiAl after milling for 30hrs. Differential scanning calorimetry showed a large super-cooled liquid region (T = T T, T and T: glass transition and crystallization onset temperatures, respectively) of 80 K. Prepared amorphous powders of TiCuNiAl were consolidated by spark-plasma sintering. Densification behavior and microstructure changes were investigated. Samples sintered at higher temperature of 713 K had a nearly full density. With increasing the sintering temperature, the compressive strength increased to fracture strength of 756 MPa in the case of sintering at 733 K, which showed a 'transparticle' fracture. The samples sintered at above 693 K showed the elongation maximum above 2%.

The Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) is a Hubble Space Telescope (HST) treasury project. The COSMOS aims to perform a 2 square degree imaging survey of an equatorial field in I(F814W) band, using the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). Such a wide field survey, combined with ground-based photometric and spectroscopic data, is essential to understand the interplay between large scale structure, evolution and formation of galaxies and dark matter. In 2004, we have obtained high-quality, broad band images of the COSMOS field (B, V, r', i', and z') using Suprime-Cam on the Subaru Telescope, and we have started our new optical multi-band program, COSMOS-21 in 2005. Here, we present a brief summary of the current status of the COSMOS project together with contributions from the Subaru Telescope. Our future Subaru program, COSMOS-21, is also discussed briefly.