Strain hardening behavior of polymer blends with fibril morphology

We investigate the rheological behavior of the polymer blends with fibril morphology, with special focus on the effect of fibril morphology on the extensional properties under uniaxial extension. We add a small amount of the dispersed phase to the matrix, and control the blend morphology by changing the viscosity ratio. When the fibril morphology is maintained, the blend shows not only a significant increase of the extensional viscosity but the strain hardening behavior. The extensional viscosity increases depending on the aspect ratio of the fibers, while the strain hardening behavior originates from the restricted stretching of deformable fibers, which has been confirmed theoretically by introducing the concept of rigidity of the fiber. It suggests a way to induce the strain hardening behavior by introducing deformable fibrils into the matrix, that is, by the design of polymer blends with a small amount of dispersed phase such that the fibril structure is maintained.     

Functional Characterization of an Arabidopsis Profilin Protein as a Molecular Chaperone under Heat Shock Stress

Profilins (PFNs) are actin monomer-binding proteins that function as antimicrobial agents in plant phloem sap. Although the roles of Arabidopsis thaliana profilin protein isoforms (AtPFNs) in regulating actin polymerization have already been described, their biochemical and molecular functions remain to be elucidated. Interestingly, a previous study indicated that AtPFN2 with high molecular weight (HMW) complexes showed lower antifungal activity than AtPFN1 with low molecular weight (LMW). These were bacterially expressed and purified to characterize the unknown functions of AtPFNs with different structures. In this study, we found that AtPFN1 and AtPFN2 proteins have LMW and HMW structures, respectively, but only AtPFN2 has a potential function as a molecular chaperone, which has never been reported elsewhere. AtPFN2 has better protein stability than AtPFN1 due to its higher molecular weight under heat shock conditions. The function of AtPFN2 as a holdase chaperone predominated in the HMW complexes, whereas the chaperone function of AtPFN1 was not observed in the LMW forms. These results suggest that AtPFN2 plays a critical role in plant tolerance by increasing hydrophobicity due to external heat stress.     

Active long pulse shaping technique of pulsed CO2 laser using multi-pulse discharge control

We describe the pulse forming of pulsed CO₂ laser using multi-pulse superposition technique. Various pulse shapes, high duty cycle pulse forming network (PFN) are constructed by time sequence. This study shows a technology that makes it possible to make various long pulse shapes by activating SCRs of three PFN modules consecutively at a desirable delay time with the aid of a PIC one-chip microprocessor. The power supply for this experiment consists of three PFN modules. Each PFN module uses a capacitor, a pulse forming inductor, a SCR, a high voltage pulse transformer, and a bridge rectifier on each transformer secondary. The PFN modules operate at low voltage by driving the primary of HV pulse transformer. The secondary of the transformer has a full-wave rectifier, which passes the pulse energy to the load in a continuous sequence.We investigated various long pulse shapes as different trigger time intervals of SCRs among three PFN modules. As a result, we could obtain laser beam with various pulse shapes and durations from about 250 to 1000 μs.     

Long pulse generation technology of solid-state laser adopting a new real time multi-discharge method

In this study, a solid-state laser system adopting a new real time multi-discharge method in which three flashlamps are turned on consecutively was designed and fabricated to examine the pulse width and the pulse shape of the laser beams depending upon the changes in the lamp turn-on time. That is, this study shows a technology that makes it possible to make various pulse shapes by turning on three flashlamps consecutively on a real-time basis with the aid of a program integrated circuit one-chip microprocessor. With this technique, the lamp turn-on delay time can be varied more diversely from 0 to 10 ms and the real-time control is possible with an external keyboard, enabling various pulse shapes. In addition, longer pulses can be more widely used for industrial processing and many medical purposes.     

Nanoaggregate of thermosensitive chitosan-Pluronic for sustained release of hydrophobic drug

A thermo-sensitive chitosan-Pluronic copolymer (CP) was prepared by grafting mono-carboxyl Pluronic onto the chitosan using 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-carbodiimide (EDC) and N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS). Indomethacin (IMC)-loaded nanoaggregate (NA) was prepared using the synthesized CP by the direct dissolution method. The critical aggregate concentration (CAC), hydrodynamic size and surface morphology of the prepared CP nanoaggregate (CPNA) were characterized by fluorescence spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), respectively. The resulting CAC and the average diameter of CPNA were about 0.31 g/l and 120 nm, indicating high structural stability of CPNA and size favorable for intravenous delivery of drugs. In vitro release test of the IMC encapsulated into CPNA showed sustained release rate of IMC as compared with that from Pluronic micelle. Therefore, we can conclude that our CPNA can be a novel type of superior drug carrier for sustained delivery of hydrophobic drugs.     

Bimetallic phenylene-bridged Cp/amide titanium complexes and their olefin polymerization

Bimetallic dichlorotitanium complexes, {2,6-[eta(5)-2,5-Me2C5H2](2)-4-R-C6H2N-microN}{Ti(IV)Cl2}2 (, R=Me; , R=F) and 4,4'-A[{2-(eta(5)-2,3,5-Me3C5H)C6H3NC6H11-kappaN}Ti(IV)Cl2]2 (, A=CH2; , A=O; , A=ortho-C6H4) are prepared via a key step of the Suzuki-coupling reaction of 2-dihydroxyboryl-3-methyl-2-cyclopenten-1-one () with dibromo-compounds. The solid state structure of was determined by X-ray crystallography. Complexes and are not active for ethylene/1-hexene copolymerization. Meanwhile, the complexes are highly active and their activities are higher than that of the mononuclear analogue, {2-(eta(5)-2,3,5-Me3C5H)C6H3NC6H11-kappaN}Ti(IV)Cl2 (). The molecular weights of the polymers obtained with the bimetallic complexes are higher than that of the polymer obtained using . Slightly higher contents of long-chain-branching are observed for the copolymers obtained using the bimetallic system.     

Suppression of inducible nitric oxide synthase expression by yakuchinones and their analogues

Analogues of yakuchinones were synthesized as inhibitors of nitric oxide production in lipopolysaccharide-activated macrophage cell line, RAW 264.7 cells. We prepared stronger inhibitors than the original natural molecules, yakuchinones A and B reported from Alpinia oxyphylla. From the limited structural activity relation study of analogues, we concluded that the optimal length of linker between two aryl groups and the presence of enone moiety in the linker were identified as essential for the activity. The IC50 value of the most potent structure was 0.92 microM. The active analogues suppressed the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase protein and mRNA.