[en] Metallothionein (MT) has been used widely as a potential molecular marker to detect the deleterious effects of heavy metals in aquatic ecosystem. Here we exposed ayu, Plecoglossus altivelis, to zinc (Zn) and tested the distribution as well as the induction of MT in various tissues such as liver, kidney, intestine and stomach. MT induction was significant in liver tissue, followed by kidney and intestine, whereas no induction was detected in stomach. The gene encoding ayu MT was successfully cloned and characterized. Complete nucleotide sequencing and analysis of the 4.5 kb DNA fragment containing the ayu MT gene revealed that the gene has three exons interrupted by two introns, a 5'-flanking region of about 2.5 kb and about 1.6 kb of 3'-flanking region. In grouper heart and kidney cells, the 2.5 kb promoter containing eight metal responsive elements (MREs), two hepatic nuclear factor 5 responsive elements (HNF5REs) and one cAMP responsive element (CRE) had the highest reporter activity

[en] Ceria-zirconia solid solution powders were successfully synthesized by a microwave-induced combustion process. For the preparation, cerium nitrate, zirconyl nitrate dihydrate, and urea were used for the microwave-induced combustion process. The process took only a few minutes to obtain Ce_xZr_1-xO₂ powders. The resultant powders were investigated by TG/DTA, XRD, TEM, and a surface area measurement. The as-received Ce_xZr_1-xO₂ powders showed that the average particle size ranged from 10 to 20 nm, and the specific surface area was distributed from 40 to 50 m²/g

[en] Strontium hexaferrite powders were successfully synthesized by a microwave-induced combustion process. The process only took a few minutes to obtain calcined strontium hexaferrite powders. The resultant powders were investigated by XRD, TEM, VSM, TG/DTA, and surface area measurement. The as-received product shows strontium ferrite with a saturation magnetization (M_s) of ∼38 emu/g and an intrinsic coercive force (_iH_c) of 525 Oe, whereas, upon annealing at 1000 deg. C for 2 h, the saturation magnetization increases to 62 emu/g and the intrinsic coercive force reaches 1950 Oe

[en] The degradation of system performance during operation can be improved by different considerations. One of the methods is to take the preventive replacement for the key components. In this paper we propose a methodology of the replacement scheduling of key components in a system. A hierarchical structure for the assessment is built based on the intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics of the system. In the first stage the key components are identified through the consideration of replaceability, failure consequence and life. After that, the priority of replacement is decided by the evaluation of reliability and economics of the selected components. As to the replacement time it is determined according to maximizing the operation profit. The procedures for deciding the priority and replacement time are repeated for the next action, until the replacement profit is less than that without replacement. The suggested approach can be applied to maintain the performance of some profitoriented mechanical system in a better way, e.g. vehicle, machine tool system, etc. Finally, the replacement scheduling of a hydraulic system is used to demonstrate the proposed methodology

[en] Ni-Zn ferrite powders were successfully synthesized by microwave-induced combustion process. The process takes only a few minutes to obtain calcined Ni-Zn ferrite powders. The resultant powders were investigated by XRD, SEM, VSM, TG/DTA and surface area measurements. The as-received product shows the formation of cubic ferrite with saturation magnetization (M_s)∼23 emu/g, whereas upon annealing at 850 deg. C for 4 h, the saturation magnetization (M_s) increased to ∼52 emu/g

[en] Yttrium iron garnet nano-powders were successfully synthesized by microwave-induced combustion process. The process takes only 30 min to obtain as-received yttrium iron garnet nano-powders. The resultant powders annealed at different temperature and were investigated by XRD, SEM, VSM, TG/DTA and a surface area measurement

[en] Plasma fabrication provides an approach to create nanostructured materials. We summarize recent studies on the quantum dot, nanograss, porous film and nanocone that have been developed using plasma methods to date and investigate the antireflection properties of the nanograss by spectrophotometric measurements and rigorous coupled-wave analyses. The results show that the reflection of silicon wafer etched for 40 min can be reduced below 4.5% in the range DUV to near-IR (200-900 nm), which agrees well with the simulation as the two-dimensional periodic pyramidal shapes with a period of 25 nm are used to mimic the nanograss surface. With these novel nanostructures and interesting properties, plasma processes will be increasingly significant to nanofabrication, especially when process compatibility is necessary for Si technology

[en] A statistical study of 77 solar active regions (ARs) is conducted to investigate the existence of identifiable correlations between the subsurface structural disturbances and the activity level of the active regions. The disturbances examined in this study are 〈|δΓ₁/Γ₁|〉, 〈|δc²/c²|〉, and 〈|δc²/c²−δΓ₁/Γ₁|〉, where Γ₁ and c are the thermodynamic properties of first adiabatic index and sound speed modified by magnetic field, respectively. The averages are over three depth layers: 0.975–0.98R_⊙, 0.98–0.99R_⊙ and 0.99–0.995R_⊙ to represent the structural disturbances in that layer. The level of the surface magnetic activity is measured by the Magnetic Activity Index (MAI) of active region and the relative and absolute MAI differences (rdMAI and dMAI) between the active and quiet regions. The eruptivity of each active region is quantified by its Flare Index, total number of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), and total kinetic energy of the CMEs. The existence and level of the correlations are evaluated by scatter plots and correlation coefficients. No definitive correlation can be claimed from the results. While a weak positive trend is visible between dMAI and 〈|δΓ₁/Γ₁|〉 and 〈|δc²/c²|〉 in the layer 0.975–0.98R_⊙, their correlation levels, being approximately 0.6, are not sufficiently high to justify the correlation. Some subsurface disturbances are seen to increase with eruptivity indices among ARs with high eruptivity. The statistical significance of such trend, however, cannot be ascertained due to the small number of very eruptive ARs in our sample.

[en] High sensitivity with additional spectral response based on the composite consisting of SnO₂ nanowires (NWs) and CdSe quantum dots (QDs) has been demonstrated. The underlying mechanism is attributed to the spatial separation of photogenerated electrons and holes due to the charge transfer arising from type II band alignment between CdSe QD and SnO₂ NW. This work shows that by selective decoration of suitable QDs, the photocurrent gain of NWs not only can be greatly enhanced, but also can be extended to a wider range photoresponse spectrum. Our result, therefore, provides a very useful guideline to create high efficiency photodetectors.

[en] Increasing uranium demands in conjunction with the rapid expansion of phosphate fertilizer manufacture offer an attractive economic opportunity to recover uranium as a by-product from wet-process phosphoric acid, an intermediate in phosphate fertilizer manufacture. Several liquid-liquid extraction processes have been used to recover uranium from wet-process phosphoric acid. Among these, the OPAP process, which uses octylphenyl ''acid'' phosphate (OPAP), a mixture of the mono-octyl salt (MOPAP; 4-(1,1,3,3-tetramethylbutyl)phenyl dihydrogenphosphate) and the dioctyl salt (DOPAP; di-[4-(1,1,3,3-tetramethylbutyl)phenyl] hydrogenphosphate), as the extractant, has been claimed to offer several advantages over the other processes. A reliable method for determining the extractants both in the organic phase and aqueous raffinates is necessary for both process requirements and economic plant operation. MOPAP and DOPAP (0.01-1 mg ml^-1) in aqueous phosphoric acid raffinates can be separated on a reversed-phase μBondapak C₁₈ column by gradient elution with methanol/water, and quantified at 267 nm. Raffinates are extracted with 4-methyl-2-pentanone; the two phosphates can then be determined with errors less than +-5%. (Auth.)