Mechanical properties and enzymatic degradation of poly[(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate] fibers stretched after isothermal crystallization near Tg

Poly[(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate] (P(3HB)) fibers with high tensile strength were prepared by stretching the fibers after isothermal crystallization near the glass transition temperature. Two samples with different molecular weights (M_w = 0.7 × 10⁶ and 4.3 × 10⁶) were used to investigate the effect on tensile strength. Increasing the time for isothermal crystallization of P(3HB) fibers resulted in a decrease in the maximum draw ratio. But, the tensile strength of P(3HB) fibers increased remarkably when the isothermal crystallization time was prolonged to more than 24 h. The tensile strength of low-molecular-weight drawn fibers was higher than that of high-molecular-weight fibers. Therefore, it can be concluded that this procedure does not increase the tensile strength of the high-molecular-weight drawn fibers. This is because, in this drawing method, small crystal nuclei grow initially during the isothermal crystallization process. Then, the molecular chains between the small crystal nuclei that acted as the entanglement points are oriented by stretching. In the case of the high-molecular-weight fibers, because the molecular length between the entanglement points of the small crystal nuclei is too long, the molecular chains are not sufficiently oriented by the stretching process. However, in the case of the low-molecular-weight fibers, the molecular length is suitable for generating the extended chains. Based on the result of X-ray analysis of P(3HB) fibers stretched after isothermal crystallization, fibers have the oriented α-form crystal with 2₁ helix conformation and β-form with planar zigzag conformation. The enzymatic degradation of the stretched P(3HB) fibers was performed by using an extracellular PHB depolymerase purified from Ralstonia pickettii T1. The enzymatic erosion rate of β-form was faster than that of α-form in the P(3HB) fibers stretched after isothermal crystallization.     

The Adsorption of CHClF2 on NaY5.6 Zeolite

The adsorption of CHClF₂ on NaY5.6 zeolite has been studied by measuring the H and F NMR of the adsorbed CHClF₂, focusing in particular on the measurements of the chemical shift and longitudinal relaxation time, as well as the adsorption isotherm measurements. It is possible to determine the coordination structure of the CHClF₂ adsorbed on NaY5.6 zeolite by measuring the adsorption amount dependence of the chemical shift. In addition, the motional activity of the adsorbed molecules in the super cage of the zeolite is discussed on the basis of observed longitudinal relaxation times for various adsorption amounts.     

Arsine generation and determination of trace amounts of arsenic by atomic absorption spectrometry

Arsenic can be determined by atomic absorption spectrometry after reduction to arsine with potassium iodide, tin(II) chloride and zinc powder tablet; the arsine generated is carried into an argon-hydrogen flame by means of argon. Accuracy, precision and speed are satisfactory. Serious interferences arise only from nitric acid, lead, chromium and selenium.     

Determination of trace amounts of chromium by atomic absorption spectrometry with a tantalum filament atomizer

The sample solution containing chromium was vaporized and atomized from a tantalum filament by electrical heating into an argon stream within an absorption chamber. The interference of various metals on the atomic absorption spectrometry of chromium was investigated. Interferences were minimized by using a high filament temperature. The flameless atomizer was used for the determination of chromium in steel at a filament temperature of 2150°; with the steels investigated no matrix effect was observed, and the accuracy and precision were satisfactory.     

Unique sugar metabolism and novel enzymes of hyperthermophilic archaea

Hyperthermophiles are a group of microorganisms that have their optimum growth temperature above 80 degrees C. More than 60 species of the hyperthermophiles have been isolated from marine and continental volcanic environments. Most hyperthermophiles belong to Archaea, the third domain of life, and are considered to be the most ancient of all extant life forms. Recent studies have revealed the presence of unusual sugar metabolic processes in hyperthermophilic archaea, for example, a modified Embden-Meyerhof pathway, that has so far not been observed in bacteria and eucarya. Several novel enzymes, such as ADP-dependent glucokinase, ADP-dependent phosphofructokinase, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate ferredoxin oxidoreductase, phosphoenolpyruvate synthase, pyruvate : ferredoxin oxidoreductase, and ADP-forming acetyl-CoA synthetase, have been found to be involved in a modified Embden-Meyerhof pathway of the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus. In addition, a unique mode of ATP regeneration has been postulated to exist in the pathway of P. furiosus. The metabolic design observed in this microorganism might reflect the situation at an early stage of evolution.     

Asymptotics for the sojourn time distribution in the queue defined by a general QBD process with a countable phase space

We consider a FIFO queue defined by a QBD process. When the number of phases of the QBD process is finite, it has been proved that the stationary distribution of sojourn times in that queue can be represented as a phase-type distribution. In this paper, we extend this result to the case where the number of phases of the QBD process is countably many and obtain several kinds of asymptotic formula for the steady-state tail probability of sojourn times in the queue when the tail probability decays in exact exponential form.     

Co-doped Y2O3:Tb3+/Tm3+ multicolor emitting phosphors for thermometry

In this study, the new temperature-dependent phosphor, Y2O3:Tb3+/Tm3+, was investigated for high-temperature thermometry. The photoluminescence intensity at 456?nm emitted from Tm3+ was strong at temperatures higher than 1100?K, whereas the peak intensities emitted from Tb3+ decreased due to the thermal quenching effect. Thus, the intensity ratio between those emissions showed an appropriate variation for thermometry over a wide temperature range. In addition, the phosphors showed a distinct change of visible emission colors from green to blue with increasing temperature. These findings suggest the applicability of these phosphors in visual thermo-sensors.     

Light-induced hydrogen production by photosystem I–Pt nanoparticle conjugates immobilized in porous glass plate nanopores

In recent years, a number of light-induced hydrogen production systems composed of photosystem I (PSI) and hydrogen production catalysts (e.g. hydrogenases and Pt nanoparticles) have been reported. However, the utility of these systems under aerobic conditions is limited due to their poor stability in the presence of oxygen. The development of light-induced hydrogen production systems that work under aerobic conditions is, therefore, of great importance to establish artificial photosynthetic devices. Ideally, these systems should utilise water as an electron source, via water splitting by photosystem II (PSII). We report the construction of a novel light-induced hydrogen production system composed of PSI-platinum nanoparticle conjugates and cytochrome c ₆ (cyt c ₆) immobilised in nanoporous glass plates (PGP50, 50-nm pore diameter). PSI trimer (PSI_t) from Thermosynechococcus elongatus and Pt nanoparticles (PtNPs) were conjugated via electrostatic interactions (PSI_t-PtNP). PSI_t-PtNP and cyt c ₆ were spontaneously absorbed in nanopores of PGP50 without denaturation. Upon irradiation in the presence of ascorbate as a sacrificial electron donor, catalytic H₂ evolution was observed for PSI_t-PtNP immobilised in the pores of PGP50 (PSI_t-PtNP/PGP50) under both anaerobic and aerobic conditions, indicating that an effective photoinduced electron transfer system had been established. PSI_t-PtNP/PGP50 was found to exhibit improved oxygen resistivity over the homogeneous solution system consisting of PSI_t-PtNP, cyt c ₆, and ascorbate, suggesting that the PSI_t-PtNP/PGP50 system could be a potential candidate for artificial photosynthetic systems. The distribution of the components, PSI_t-PtNP and cyt c ₆, in PGP50 was characterised to discuss the efficiency of light-induced hydrogen production.     

Experiments on dynamic behavior of near-field region in variable property jet with swirling flow

The dynamic behavior of the near-field region in a coaxial variable property jet has been experimentally investigated under a swirling flow produced by rotating cylindrical inner and outer tubes, focusing on how the swirl of the outer jet affects the formation of a stagnation point in the swirling inner jet. The inner and outer jets rotate in the same direction. Air, CO₂, or He is issued from the inner tube as a variable property jet, and air is issued from the outer tube in this work. In the case of a CO₂ jet (a high-density, low-viscosity gas jet), a stagnation point flow is more easily formed than in the case of an air jet, and the stagnation point location is significantly lower than in that of the air jet. When the swirl of the outer jet is introduced, a stagnation point flow is more easily formed than in the case of a nonswirling outer jet, and the stagnation point location is much lower than in the case of a nonswirling outer jet. In the case of a He jet (a low-density and high-viscosity gas jet), the inner jet does not have a stagnation point flow, and its overall behavior remains nearly unchanged even under high swirl numbers of the inner and outer jets. These results clearly show that the density and viscosity differences between the inner and outer jets have a significant impact on the dynamic behavior of the near-field region in the coaxial swirling jet. The significant lowering of the stagnation point location can be physically explained by considering the theoretical equation obtained in this work.