A new concept for producing highly pure Ti metal powder from ilmenite(FeTiO)_(3))is proposed in this article.Titanium nitride(TiN)or titanium oxycarbonitride(TiO_(x)C_(y)N_(z))could be synthesized in the first step vi...A new concept for producing highly pure Ti metal powder from ilmenite(FeTiO)_(3))is proposed in this article.Titanium nitride(TiN)or titanium oxycarbonitride(TiO_(x)C_(y)N_(z))could be synthesized in the first step via the simultaneous carbothermal reduction and nitridation(CTRN)of FeTiO3 to remove oxygen roughly.To separate oxygen completely,high-quality TiS2 samples were then synthesized from TiN and TiC using S2 gas,and the clean sulfides were finally reduced toα-Ti powders with spherical morphology using electrolysis in molten CaCl_(2).Xray diffraction(XRD),scanning electron microscopy(SEM)in conjunction with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(EDS),and elemental LECO analysis were used to study the phases and microstructures of the sulfides and the electrochemically reduced powders.The Ti powder showed no carbon contamination and consisted of high-purity foil-like Ti sheets with very low oxygen,carbon,and nitrogen contents of less than 0.15 wt%O,0.02 wt%C,and 0.003 wt%N,respectively.The quality of the Ti powder was much higher than that of the powder obtained using the conventional OS process(proposed by K.Ono and R.O.Suzuki)starting directly from the oxides.展开更多
The establishment of drug-free feeding systems has been required for secure and healthy livestock production. Although functional feed materials containing microorganisms as alternatives to enhance intestinal immunity...The establishment of drug-free feeding systems has been required for secure and healthy livestock production. Although functional feed materials containing microorganisms as alternatives to enhance intestinal immunity are expected to be beneficial for reducing diarrhoea caused by pathogens in weaned piglets, the effects of such materials on porcine intestinal cells have not been investigated in detail. Therefore, this work evaluated the immunoregulatory functions of microbial feed materials in porcine intestinal immune and epithelial cells. Porcine immune cells isolated from Peyer’s patches and mesenteric lymph nodes were stimulated with six different feed materials containing microorganisms, and evaluated for lymphocyte mitogenicity and cytokine inductions. In addition, porcine intestinal epithelial cells were stimulated with the materials before treatment with heat-killed enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), and analyzed for the proinflammatory cytokine expressions. The material containing Bifidobacterium thermophilum significantly augmented lymphocytes’ mitogenicity and also induced a high expression of IL-2, IL-6 and IFN-γ in immune cells, and inhibited ETEC-induced overexpression of IL-6 and IL-8 via regulation of Toll-like receptor signaling. These results suggest that this feed material stimulates intestinal epithelial and immune cells to exert immunoregulation, suggesting that this feed is expected to contribute to promoting the health of piglets without using antimicrobial feed materials.展开更多
This article provides information on the phenomenon of alopecia in Japanese macaques, Macaca fuscata, in various environments and proposes a 3-step scoring system for a quantitative assessment of hair loss. Results su...This article provides information on the phenomenon of alopecia in Japanese macaques, Macaca fuscata, in various environments and proposes a 3-step scoring system for a quantitative assessment of hair loss. Results suggest that alopecia is commonly observed in Japanese macaques, with 20.5% of individuals showing head alopecia and 4.7% showing back alopecia across eight study groups. Alopecia was more commonly observed in adult females （30.8% individuals showing head alopecia and 15.3% showing back alopecia） than in other age-sex classes. Seasonal variation of back alopecia was noted, in particular, in- dividuals with patchy back hair were more frequently observed in winter than in summer. Seasonal variation was not observed in head hair. The distribution of alopecia was also different among study groups. The wild population generally had better hair con- dition than provisioned populations and captive populations. The present study used a non-invasive alopecia scoring system which can be a useful, rapid and non-invasive tool to monitor animal health and well-being at a population level展开更多
Several recently developed AUSM-family numerical flux functions(SLAU,SLAU2,AUSM+-up2,and AUSMPW+)have been successfully extended to compute compressible multiphase flows,based on the stratified flow model concept,by f...Several recently developed AUSM-family numerical flux functions(SLAU,SLAU2,AUSM+-up2,and AUSMPW+)have been successfully extended to compute compressible multiphase flows,based on the stratified flow model concept,by following two previous works:one by M.-S.Liou,C.-H.Chang,L.Nguyen,and T.G.Theofanous[AIAA J.46:2345-2356,2008],in which AUSM+-up was used entirely,and the other by C.-H.Chang,and M.-S.Liou[J.Comput.Phys.225:840-873,2007],in which the exact Riemann solver was combined into AUSM+-up at the phase interface.Through an extensive survey by comparing flux functions,the following are found:(1)AUSM+-up with dissipation parameters of Kp and Ku equal to 0.5 or greater,AUSMPW+,SLAU2,AUSM+-up2,and SLAU can be used to solve benchmark problems,including a shock/water-droplet interaction;(2)SLAU shows oscillatory behaviors[though not as catastrophic as those of AUSM+(a special case of AUSM+-up with Kp=Ku=0)]due to insufficient dissipation arising from its ideal-gas-based dissipation term;and(3)when combined with the exact Riemann solver,AUSM+-up(Kp=Ku=1),SLAU2,and AUSMPW+are applicable to more challenging problems with high pressure ratios.展开更多
Wood biomass is anticipated to serve as a substitute for carbon source, which has no feedstock competition with foods. Biomass is commonly used for the production of bio-ethanol by a series of processes such as pretre...Wood biomass is anticipated to serve as a substitute for carbon source, which has no feedstock competition with foods. Biomass is commonly used for the production of bio-ethanol by a series of processes such as pretreatment, enzymatic degradation, and fermentation. Hemicellulose, constituting 20 wt-% - 40 wt-% ofbiomass materials, contains various kinds of saccharides known to be bioactive substrates. Practical usage of hemicellulose is generally limited to its conversion to bio-ethanol. Here, we aimed to prepare hemicellulolic oligosaccharides, more valuable products other than ethanol. Therefore, the Hinoki slurry was treated with lime at room temperature for 3 h, and then neutralized with HCI. The resulting sample was treated with 13 types of commercial enzymes, and the saccharides produced in the supernatant were evaluated. The result showed that the commercial enzyme Cellulase SS （Nagase ＆ Co., LTD.） effectively degraded the slurry to produce disaccharides and trisaccharides. Analysis of sugar components by liquid chromatography/mass spectrography （LC/MS） after the derivation with ethyl 4- aminobenzoate （ABEE） showed that mannobiose, manno- Nose, and cellobiose were the major oligosaccharides. These results indicate valuable oligosaccharides can be successfully produced from Hinoki softwood slurry.展开更多
基金The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science(JSPS)Postdoctoral Fellowship(No.P18054)Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research(KAKENHI)(Nos.18F18054 and 17H03434)+2 种基金the Ministry of Education,Culture,Sports,Science and Technology(MEXT)Nanotechnology Platform Program(No.A-19-HK-0034)the Japan Mining Industry Associationsupport from JSPS and the International affairs office of the Faculty of Engineering,Hokkaido University。
文摘A new concept for producing highly pure Ti metal powder from ilmenite(FeTiO)_(3))is proposed in this article.Titanium nitride(TiN)or titanium oxycarbonitride(TiO_(x)C_(y)N_(z))could be synthesized in the first step via the simultaneous carbothermal reduction and nitridation(CTRN)of FeTiO3 to remove oxygen roughly.To separate oxygen completely,high-quality TiS2 samples were then synthesized from TiN and TiC using S2 gas,and the clean sulfides were finally reduced toα-Ti powders with spherical morphology using electrolysis in molten CaCl_(2).Xray diffraction(XRD),scanning electron microscopy(SEM)in conjunction with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(EDS),and elemental LECO analysis were used to study the phases and microstructures of the sulfides and the electrochemically reduced powders.The Ti powder showed no carbon contamination and consisted of high-purity foil-like Ti sheets with very low oxygen,carbon,and nitrogen contents of less than 0.15 wt%O,0.02 wt%C,and 0.003 wt%N,respectively.The quality of the Ti powder was much higher than that of the powder obtained using the conventional OS process(proposed by K.Ono and R.O.Suzuki)starting directly from the oxides.
文摘The establishment of drug-free feeding systems has been required for secure and healthy livestock production. Although functional feed materials containing microorganisms as alternatives to enhance intestinal immunity are expected to be beneficial for reducing diarrhoea caused by pathogens in weaned piglets, the effects of such materials on porcine intestinal cells have not been investigated in detail. Therefore, this work evaluated the immunoregulatory functions of microbial feed materials in porcine intestinal immune and epithelial cells. Porcine immune cells isolated from Peyer’s patches and mesenteric lymph nodes were stimulated with six different feed materials containing microorganisms, and evaluated for lymphocyte mitogenicity and cytokine inductions. In addition, porcine intestinal epithelial cells were stimulated with the materials before treatment with heat-killed enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), and analyzed for the proinflammatory cytokine expressions. The material containing Bifidobacterium thermophilum significantly augmented lymphocytes’ mitogenicity and also induced a high expression of IL-2, IL-6 and IFN-γ in immune cells, and inhibited ETEC-induced overexpression of IL-6 and IL-8 via regulation of Toll-like receptor signaling. These results suggest that this feed material stimulates intestinal epithelial and immune cells to exert immunoregulation, suggesting that this feed is expected to contribute to promoting the health of piglets without using antimicrobial feed materials.
基金Acknowledgments The study was supported by the Hun- dred Scholar Program （090013） of Sun Yat-sen University in China, Fund-In-Aid of JSPS （P09103） and National Natural Science Foundation of China （31000175）. I am grateful to the Choshikei Monkey Park, the Takasakiyama Monkey Park, Jigokudani Monkey Park and Kyoto University for granting permission to carry out this research. I thank Mr Sam Hodgson from Tigress Productions for revising English. I thank all members of the Social Ecology Department and Center for Human Evolution Modeling Research at the Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University who gave helpful comments on the manuscript.
文摘This article provides information on the phenomenon of alopecia in Japanese macaques, Macaca fuscata, in various environments and proposes a 3-step scoring system for a quantitative assessment of hair loss. Results suggest that alopecia is commonly observed in Japanese macaques, with 20.5% of individuals showing head alopecia and 4.7% showing back alopecia across eight study groups. Alopecia was more commonly observed in adult females （30.8% individuals showing head alopecia and 15.3% showing back alopecia） than in other age-sex classes. Seasonal variation of back alopecia was noted, in particular, in- dividuals with patchy back hair were more frequently observed in winter than in summer. Seasonal variation was not observed in head hair. The distribution of alopecia was also different among study groups. The wild population generally had better hair con- dition than provisioned populations and captive populations. The present study used a non-invasive alopecia scoring system which can be a useful, rapid and non-invasive tool to monitor animal health and well-being at a population level
文摘Several recently developed AUSM-family numerical flux functions(SLAU,SLAU2,AUSM+-up2,and AUSMPW+)have been successfully extended to compute compressible multiphase flows,based on the stratified flow model concept,by following two previous works:one by M.-S.Liou,C.-H.Chang,L.Nguyen,and T.G.Theofanous[AIAA J.46:2345-2356,2008],in which AUSM+-up was used entirely,and the other by C.-H.Chang,and M.-S.Liou[J.Comput.Phys.225:840-873,2007],in which the exact Riemann solver was combined into AUSM+-up at the phase interface.Through an extensive survey by comparing flux functions,the following are found:(1)AUSM+-up with dissipation parameters of Kp and Ku equal to 0.5 or greater,AUSMPW+,SLAU2,AUSM+-up2,and SLAU can be used to solve benchmark problems,including a shock/water-droplet interaction;(2)SLAU shows oscillatory behaviors[though not as catastrophic as those of AUSM+(a special case of AUSM+-up with Kp=Ku=0)]due to insufficient dissipation arising from its ideal-gas-based dissipation term;and(3)when combined with the exact Riemann solver,AUSM+-up(Kp=Ku=1),SLAU2,and AUSMPW+are applicable to more challenging problems with high pressure ratios.
文摘Wood biomass is anticipated to serve as a substitute for carbon source, which has no feedstock competition with foods. Biomass is commonly used for the production of bio-ethanol by a series of processes such as pretreatment, enzymatic degradation, and fermentation. Hemicellulose, constituting 20 wt-% - 40 wt-% ofbiomass materials, contains various kinds of saccharides known to be bioactive substrates. Practical usage of hemicellulose is generally limited to its conversion to bio-ethanol. Here, we aimed to prepare hemicellulolic oligosaccharides, more valuable products other than ethanol. Therefore, the Hinoki slurry was treated with lime at room temperature for 3 h, and then neutralized with HCI. The resulting sample was treated with 13 types of commercial enzymes, and the saccharides produced in the supernatant were evaluated. The result showed that the commercial enzyme Cellulase SS （Nagase ＆ Co., LTD.） effectively degraded the slurry to produce disaccharides and trisaccharides. Analysis of sugar components by liquid chromatography/mass spectrography （LC/MS） after the derivation with ethyl 4- aminobenzoate （ABEE） showed that mannobiose, manno- Nose, and cellobiose were the major oligosaccharides. These results indicate valuable oligosaccharides can be successfully produced from Hinoki softwood slurry.
