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The present study has concerned on some electrochemical reactions in non-aqueous electrolytes containing 1,3- substituted imidazolium cations, having unique planar(aromatic) structures and properties such as forming hydrogen bond, which are expected to provide pseudo-capacitance in the application for electrochemical capacitor systems. The pseudo-capacitance of ruthenium oxide can be obtained in these electrolytes. The composite electrode of ruthenium oxide nano-particles dispersed with large surface area activated carbon support provides capacitance available in practical system. The tuning of capacitance by molecular design of imidazolium cation is also possible. The intercalation of imidazolium ion into interlayer space of graphite is promoted by the well-defined crystalline graphite and appropriate solvent such as acetonitrile. Such dependence of solvent species for pseudo-capacitive reactions is somewhat in relation to the solvation status of imidazolium cation.

Purpose To identify PAX6 mutations in patients from four Japanese families with aniridia.Methods Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-single stand conformational polymorphism (SSCP) analysis (SSCA) was performed in probands of the families, and restriction analysis using MaeIII or AvaI was carried out in other affected family members.Results PCR-SSCA demonstrated in the proband from one family an extra-band in the PCR product for PAX6 exon 8. Base sequence analysis revealed that the patient is a heterozygote for a C to T transition mutation at codon 203. DNAs from the patient and another affected member in the same family were cut with MaeIII into two fragments, while non-affected members in the family showed only one MaeIII fragment, the result confirmed the mutation. In another family, PCR-SSCA revealed an extra-band in the PCR product for exon 9. Sequencing detected a C→T substitution at codon 240 in the patient, the mutation resulted in loss of an AvaI site. AvaI cleavage analysis confirmed the mutation in the patient. The two transition mutations observed in the two families also predict the conversion of arginine to a stop codon (R203X and R240X, respectively) around the homeodomain (HD), leading to the truncation of the PAX6 protein within its glycine-rich region. No abnormal SSCP bands or abnormal restriction fragments were detected in patients from the other two families.Conclusions The two mutations sites identified in the two families, one at codon 203 and the other at codon 240, are those most frequently observed among 118 previously reported PAX6 mutations. This indicates that the two mutations are two hot-spots in the gene.

Twins and dislocations in SnO2 whiskers with the rutile structure, grown by oxidizing metallic tin, have been investigated by optical microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Two types of mirror twins have been found: one with the twinning plane (301) and the other with (121). Grown-in dislocations have been shown to have the Burgers vector either of [001] or 〈101〉 type.

Structural changes of the C60and C70mixture during heat-treatment up to 2400 °C were studied by observing the carbonized disk of the fullerene with Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, FE-SEM, TEM, and AFM/STM. The fullerene lost its five-membered ring and its fcc crystal structure by heat-treatment at 800 °C, as revealed by the Raman spectra and X-ray diffraction, forming hexagonal planes which were randomly arranged by 1300 °C. Further heat-treatment allowed some stacking of layers which grow to dominate, reducing the randomly oriented planes. The graphitized temperature up to 2400 °C provided a very sharp peak at 26 °, suggesting formation of stable turbostratic layers. The TEM characterized turbostratic stacking of 3 to 4 layers. A series of observation under AFM/STM and TEM indicate the crystal of the fullerene, amorphous grain of the hexagonal planes, and the hollow sphere are all in the same range of size around 10–20 nm. Such microdomains induced micro-roughness as observed by FE-SEM on the surface of the carbon disk. Superstructure of hexagonal plane was observed on the surface. A kind of solid state carbonization of the fullerene is suggested to maintain the dimensions of its crystal into the spherical microdomain, even if its marked structural changes take place within the unit.

We have isolated the human homologue of the mouse germ cell-specific transcriptTpx2,which we had previously mapped to mouse chromosome 17. Sequence analysis shows that the human gene is part of theDAZ(Deleted in Azoospermia) family, represents the human homologue of the mouseDazlaandDrosophila boulegenes, and is termedDAZLA.LikeDazlaandboule, DAZLAis single copy and maps to 3p25. This defines a new region of synteny between mouse chromosome 17 and human chromosome 3. UnlikeDAZ,which has multiple DAZ repeats,DAZLAencodes a putative RNA-binding protein with a single RNA-binding motif and a single DAZ repeat. DAZLA is more closely related to Dazla in the mouse than to the Y-linked homologue DAZ (88% identity overall with mouse Dazla compared to 76% identity with the human DAZ protein sequence). Southern blot analysis showed thatDAZLAis autosomal in all mammals tested and thatDAZhas been recently translocated to the Y chromosome, sometime after the divergence of Old World and New World primates. To investigate the evolutionary relatedness ofDAZLAandDAZfurther, their partial genomic structures were obtained and compared. This revealed that the genomic organization of both genes in the 5′ region is highly conserved.DAZLAis a new member of theDAZfamily of genes, which is associated with spermatogenesis and male sterility. Familial cases of male infertility in humans show an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance. It is possible that some of these families may carry mutations in theDAZLAgene.

Bimodal porous ceramics were prepared based on the needle-like mullite crystals, by leaching the glass matrix of the calcined body of the kaolin and transition metal oxide systems mixed with coal powder or polymethylmethacrylate beads as a pore-forming material. Small and large pores in the bimodal porous ceramics were in the range of 0.06–0.5 and 3–7 ?m, respectively. The small pores originated from gaps between the needle-like crystals, while the large ones originated from the pore formers. However, the large pores were suggested to be ink-bottle type in shape, because the measured size was much smaller by approximately an order of magnitude than the diameter of the pore former. In every case, the total and large pore volumes agreed well with those calculated based on the density and composition of the starting materials and the intrinsic porosity of the mullite ceramics.

FcRn is an Fc receptor that structurally resembles the major histocompatibility complex class I molecule. In this study, we isolated the human gene encoding the heavy chain of FcRn (FCGRT) and mapped it by fluorescence in situ hybridization to chromosome band 19q13.3. Thus, like its mouse counterpart, the human FCGRT gene is located outside the major histocompatibility complex.

The human HSI gene (HCLS1, hematopoietic cell-specific Lyn substrate 1) expressed in human hematopoietic cells encodes a major substrate of protein-tyrosine kinase, p75HS1. This intracellular protein is involved in the signal transduction pathways that initiate at the antigen receptors of both B and T lymphocytes. Fluorescence in situ hybridization using a 2.0-kb cDNA and an 8.0-kb genomic DNA clone of HCLS1 as probes revealed that the gene maps to 3q13.

The use of carbon microfibers in which the carbon layers are conically oriented to the fiber axis as cathode material in rechargeable nonaqueous lithium batteries results in high effective charge storage capacities which are about three times as high as those reported for other graphite materials.

It is demonstrated that the addition of quinoline to the electrolyte solution in the Li/LiBF4/carbon system markedly improves the cell performance.

The temp. dependence of the electrical resistance of the spinel‐type oxides MCr2O4and MFe2O4(M: Mg, Zn, Ni) is measured in air/MeOH combustion gases in order to investigate the potential of these oxides as air/fuel stoichiometric oxygen sensors.