Morphology Control of the Electrode for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells by Using Nanoparticles

LSM(La(Sr)MnO₃)/YSZ(Y₂O₃ stabilized ZrO₂) composite cathode for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) was fabricated by using the composite particle consisting of well-dispersed nano-size grains of LSM and YSZ. The composite cathode had a porous structure as well as uniformly dispersed fine LSM and YSZ grains. Such unique morphology of the composite cathode led high electrochemical activity at 800°C. It suggests that the intermediate temperature (less than 800°C) operation of SOFCs will be achieved by using composite particles.     

Effect of external donor in polymerization of propylene by a MgCl2 supported titanium catalyst

Polypropylene (PP) prepared with a MgCl₂/TiCl₄-Et₃Al/Ph₂Si(OMe)₂ catalyst system was fractionated by temperature rising elution fractionation method in order to investigate the effect of Ph₂Si(OMe)₂ as an external donor (ED). This PP had a broad and continuous distribution of tacticity. In comparison to the system without donor, however, ED brought a decrease of lower isotactic portions and an increase of higher isotactic ones simultaneously to the resulting polymer. The latter portions were eluted at higher temperature than the corresponding component obtained without donor, showing that the higher isotactic PP was newly produced by ED.     

Living copolymerization of ethylene with norbornene catalyzed by bis(pyrrolide-imine) titanium complexes with MAO

Bis(pyrrolide-imine) Ti complexes in conjunction with methylalumoxane (MAO) were found to work as efficient catalysts for the copolymerization of ethylene and norbornene to afford unique copolymers via an addition-type polymerization mechanism. The catalysts exhibited very high norbornene incorporation, superior to that obtained with Me(2)Si(Me(4)Cp)(N-tert-Bu)TiCl(2) (CGC). The sterically open and highly electrophilic nature of the catalysts is probably responsible for the excellent norbornene incorporation. The catalysts displayed a marked tendency to produce alternating copolymers, which have stereoirregular structures despite the C(2) symmetric nature of the catalysts. The norbornene/ethylene molar ratio in the polymerization medium had a profound influence on the molecular weight distribution of the resulting copolymer. At norbornene/ethylene ratios larger than ca. 1, the catalysts mediated room-temperature living copolymerization of ethylene and norbornene to form high molecular weight monodisperse copolymers (M(n) > 500,000, M(w)/M(n) < 1.20). (13)C NMR spectroscopic analysis of a copolymer, produced under conditions that gave low molecular weight, demonstrated that the copolymerization is initiated by norbornene insertion and that the catalyst mostly exists as a norbornene-last-inserted species under living conditions. Polymerization behavior coupled with DFT calculations suggested that the highly controlled living polymerization stems from the fact that the catalysts possess high affinity and high incorporation ability for norbornene as well as the characteristics of a living ethylene polymerization though under limited conditions (M(n) 225,000, M(w)/M(n) 1.15, 10-s polymerization, 25 degrees C). With the catalyst, unique block copolymers [i.e., poly(ethylene-co-norbornene)(1)-b-poly(ethylene-co-norbornene)(2), PE-b-poly(ethylene-co-norbornene)] were successfully synthesized from ethylene and norbornene. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicated that the PE-b-poly(ethylene-co-norbornene) possesses high potential as a new material consisting of crystalline and amorphous segments which are chemically linked.     

A multivariate stochastic model with non-stationary trend component

The purposes of this paper are to introduce a multivariate non-stationary stochastic time series model without individual detrending and to extract the multiple relationships between variables. To infer the statistical relation between variables, we attempt to estimate the co-movement of multivariate non-stationary time series components. The model is expressed in state-space form, and time series components are estimated by the maximum likelihood method using numerical optimization algorithm. The Kalman filter algorithm is used to compute the likelihood of the model. The AIC procedure gives a criterion for selecting the best model fit for the data. The multiple relationship becomes clear by analysing estimated AR coefficients. Real economic data are used for a numerical example.     

Bayesian binary regression involving two explanatory variables

Summary The purpose of the present paper is to propose a practical Bayesian procedure for the estimation of binary response probability where the explanatory variable is bivariate. The procedure is an extension of the procedure for univariate case which was proposed by the present authors [2] and is based on a model which approximates the logistic transformation of response probability by a quadratic orthogonal spline function on the two-dimensional space of explanatory variable. The flexibility of the model is guaranteed by assuming a spline function on sufficiently fine mesh. To obtain stable estimates we introduce a prior distribution of the parameters of the model. The prior distribution has several parameters (hyper-parameters) which are chosen to minimize an Bayesian information criterion ABIC. The procedure is applicable cable to cases where each explanatory variable takes continuous values provided that the probability of the occurrence changes smoothly. The practical utility of the procedure is demonstrated by examples of applications to five sets of data. The Institute of Statistical Mathematics     

Action spectrum for the suppression of arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase activity in the two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae

An action spectrum was obtained for the suppression of arylalkylamine N -acetyltransferase (NAT) activity in the two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae by irradiating the mite with monochromatic lights of various wavelengths using the Okazaki Large Spectrograph at the National Institute for Basic Biology, Okazaki, Japan. Fluence–response curves were obtained for wavelengths between 300 and 650 nm by irradiating the mite for 4 h day⁻¹. The samples were frozen after the third exposure. A negative correlation between the logarithmic fluence rate and NAT activity was detected in the range of 0.01–1 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹ for wavelengths between 300 and 500 nm and in the range of 0.1–10 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹ for wavelengths between 550 and 650 nm. The constructed action spectrum indicated that the photoreceptors mediating the circadian and/or photoperiodic systems might be UV-A- and blue-type photoreceptors with absorption peaks at 350 and 450 nm.     

Analysis of the nano-kinetic movement of a single DNA by a pin-fiber video scope.

The nano-kinetics movement of a single DNA molecule was visualized by a newly developed video-microscope system with an optical fiber, called a "pin-fiber video scope". The stretching and shrinking motion was clearly observed, and its kinetics was analyzed by numerical calculations. The new video-microscope system has a potential to analyze the nano-kinetics of a molecule.     

Substitution effect,absorption, and fluorescence behaviors of 11,12-benzo-1,7,10,13-tetraoxa-4-aza- cyclopentadec-11-ene (benzoaza-15-crown-5) derivatives upon cation complexation in solvent extraction

Substitution effect, absorption, and fluorescence behaviors of some benzoaza-15-crown-5 derivatives upon cation complexation in solvent extraction were studied. The introduction of a substituent on the nitrogen atom in benzoaza-15-crown-5 enhanced extractabilities in the solvent extraction of aqueous alkali metal picrates. The nondonating substituents raised the cation selectivity for Na(+) over K(+), but the donating substituents reduced the cation selectivity. The absorption and fluorescence spectral behavior was different with the alkali metal cations.     

Regio‐ and Stereochemistry in Propylene Polymerization Catalyzed with Bis(phenoxy‐imine) Zr and Hf Complexes/MAO Systems

End‐group analyses of the oligo‐ and polypropylenes produced with bis(phenoxy‐imine) Zr and Hf complexes with methylaluminoxane (MAO) indicate that the polymerization is initiated by two consecutive 1,2‐insertions and is terminated by a β‐H transfer following a 2,1‐insertion. Our data indicate that chain propagation occurs with prevailing 1,2‐regiochemistry but with considerable regioerrors, and with virtually no stereoselectivity.

The polymerization of propylene mediated by bis(phenoxy‐imine) Zr and Hf complexes with MAO.