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This study demonstrates that low processing rate for producing polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based carbon fiber is a critical to obtain a homogeneous radial microstructure with high resistance to oxidation, thereby resulting in their improved mechanical strength. The dry-jet wet spun PAN organic fibers were processed (e.g., stabilized and then carbonized) utilizing two different rates; one is 1.6 times longer than the other. The effect of processing rate on the microstructural evolutions of carbon fibers was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy after slow etching in air, as well as Raman mapping after graphitization. The rapidly processed fiber exhibited the multilayered radial structure, which is caused by the radial direction stretching of the extrusion in the spinning. In case of the slowly processed fiber, the layered radial structure formed in the spinning process was changed into a more homogeneous radial microstructure. The slowly processed fibers showed higher oxidation resistance, higher mechanical properties, and higher crystallinity than the rapidly processed one. Raman mapping confirmed that the microstructure developed during spinning was sustained even though fiber was thermally treated up to 2800 °C.

Although TRAIL can directly induce cell death in some cancer cells, it appears that TRAIL resistance exists in many cancers. This study focuses on anti-cancer drugs for TRAIL-resistant head and neck cancer (HNC) to provide further progress toward effective cancer therapy. Results indicate in TRAIL-resistant HNC cells, that combined TRAIL and VPA treatment greatly reduced cell viability and therefore induced cell death, relative to treatment with TRAIL or VPA alone. A caspase-dependent signaling pathway was demonstrated, and combined treatment with TRAIL and VPA also significantly decreased the expression of HDAC4. When we pretreated cells with z-VAD followed by combined treatment with TRAIL and VPA, cell death was blocked with no reduction in expression of HDAC4. To confirm that cell death involved HDAC4 in HNC cells, we knocked down expression of HDAC4 with siRNA, followed by treatment with TRAIL and VPA. Results showed that loss of HDAC4 sensitized the TRAIL-resistant HNC cells to apoptotic cell death. Finally, we showed elevated expression of HDAC4 in HNC tissues compared to normal tissues obtained from the same patients. In conclusion, we suggest that combined VPA and TRAIL treatment may be a promising therapy for HNC via HDAC4 degradation.

Strains of the Aspergillus flavus/oryzae complex are frequently isolated from meju, a fermented soybean product, that is used as the starting material for ganjang (soy sauce) and doenjang (soybean paste) production. In this study, we examined the aflatoxin producing capacity of A. flavus/oryzae strains isolated from meju. 192 strains of A. flavus/oryzae were isolated from more than 100 meju samples collected from diverse regions of Korea from 2008 to 2011, and the norB-cypA, omtA, and aflR genes in the aflatoxin biosynthesis gene cluster were analyzed. We found that 178 strains (92.7%) belonged to non-aflatoxigenic group (Type I of norB-cypA, IB-L-B-, IC-AO, or IA-L-B- of omtA, and AO type of aflR), and 14 strains (7.3%) belonged to aflatoxin-producible group (Type II of norB-cypA, IC-L-B+/B- or IC-L-B+ of omtA, and AF type of aflR). Only 7 strains (3.6%) in the aflatoxin-producible group produced aflatoxins on Czapek yeast-extract medium. The aflatoxin-producing capability of A. flavus/oryzae strains from other sources in Korea were also investigated, and 92.9% (52/56) strains from air, 93.9% (31/33) strains from rice straw, 91.7% (11/12) strains from soybean, 81.3% (13/16) strains from corn, 82% (41/50) strains from peanut, and 73.2% (41/56) strains from arable soil were included in the non-aflatoxigenic group. The proportion of non-aflatoxigenicity of meju strains was similar to that of strains from soybean, air and rice straw, all of which have an effect on the fermentation of meju. The data suggest that meju does not have a preference for non-aflatoxigenic or aflatoxin-producible strains of A. flavus/oryzae from the environment of meju. The non-aflatoxigenic meju strains are proposed to be named A. oryzae, while the meju strains that can produce aflatoxins should be referred to A. flavus in this study.

Eurotium strains were isolated from 77 loaves of meju (dried fermented soybeans), in various regions of Korea from 2008 to 2010. Morphological characteristics and DNA sequences of β-tubulin were examined. They were identified as Eurotium amstelodami, E. chevalieri, E. herbariorum, E. repens, E. rubrum, and E. tonophilum. Of these species, E. chevalieri and E. tonophilum had not been previously reported in association with meju. E. chevalieri and E. repens were the species isolated most frequently. This paper summarizes the morphological characteristics of six Eurotium species and provides key to identify the species from meju.

Recent studies by a number of research groups have shown that the structure of epitaxial BiFeO3 (BFO) films changes drastically as a function of substrate-induced biaxial compression, with the crystal structure changing from one being nearly rhombohedral (R-like) to one being nearly tetragonal (T-like), where the “T-like” structure is characterized by a highly enhanced c/a ratio of out-of-plane c to in-plane a lattice parameters. In this work, we show that the critical compressive strain σc necessary to induce this transition can be reduced significantly by substituting 10% Ba for Bi [Bi0.9Ba0.1FeO3−δ (BBFO)] and that the “T-like” phase in both BBFO and BFO is stable up to the decomposition temperatures of the films in air. Furthermore, our results show that the BBFO solid solution shows clear ferromagnetic properties in contrast to its undoped BFO counterpart.

In order to evaluate the degradation of the mechanical properties of Zr-based nuclear fuel cladding tubes under severe accident conditions such as a RIA (reactivity initiated accident) and LOCA (loss of coolant accident), mechanical tests that can properly simulate the degradation of these properties are needed. In the present paper, modified ring tensile tests were performed in order to evaluate the mechanical properties of high burn-up fuel cladding under a hoop loading condition in a hot cell. The tests were performed with Zircaloy-4 nuclear fuel cladding, which has a burn-up of approximately 65,000 MWd/tU in a temperature range of room temperature to 800 °C. As the first step, the hoop loading grip for the ring tensile test was designed such that a constant curvature of the specimen could be maintained during the deformation, and graphite lubricant was used to minimize the friction between the outer surface of the die insert and the inner surface of the ring specimen. The specimen for the ring tensile test was designed to limit the deformation within the gauge section and to maximize the uniformity of the strain distribution. It was confirmed that the mechanical properties under a hoop loading condition can be correctly evaluated by using this test technique. In this study, experimental results on the ductility and toughness degradation of Zircaloy-4 fuel cladding tubes under a hoop directional mechanical load simulating the RIA condition are presented.

Recent advances in film synthesis have made it possible to investigate the properties of well-controlled interfaces in perovskite metal-oxides. A review of published experimental data and computational results indicate that so far most interfaces that have been analyzed in ferroelectric materials—while necessary to impose large lattice strain on the polar material—contribute little to the ferroelectricity and may instead be detrimental to the desired properties. In contrast, a very different situation arises at interfaces that show changes in the electronic configuration as a consequence of a compositional discontinuity. Data is shown for LaMnO3/SrTiO3 superlattices as an example of electronic effects that produce enhanced properties, further illustrating the richness of interfacial properties that can be obtained at interfaces (as shown in numerous published results for different but related interfaces).

A restricted curvature model with conservation of total number of particles is introduced. The surface width W of the model grows as tβ at the beginning with β≈0.25 and becomes saturated at Lα for t≫Lz with α≈1.5, where L is the system size. The conservation law leads to a new universality class following sixth-order linear equation with conservative noise. The relation between our model and the equation is discussed.

The leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), which is a very expensive reagent, can be used to efficiently control the differentiation of human embryonic stem (ES) cells at concentrations >1000 units/ml for 6–7 days. However, in supplement

The second messengers induced by growth factors are thought to have important roles in transducing the growth factor signals to nuclear events and cell proliferation. Various second messengers stimulate expression of proto-oncogenes such as c-fos and c-myc which are believed to have an important role in cell proliferation. To determine the causal relationship between these events we studied the effects of 12-0-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate, A23187 and dibutylyl cAMP plus 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine on the cell proliferation and the expression of c-fos and c-myc by using serum-deprived quiescent NIH 3T3 cells. Although A23187 stimulated the expression of these two proto-oncogenes most strongly, it stimulated cell proliferation only weakly, indicating that the expression of these proto-oncogenes are not sufficient for proliferation. Also we investgated the involvement of expression or phosphorylation of pRb in expression of c-fos and c-myc. Western blot analysis showed no significant changes in pRb expression or phosphorylation, indicating that second messengers induced expression of these proto-oncogene not through the activation of a transcription factor E2F which has been suggested to function in serum induced stimulation of these genes.

Visible light communication (VLC) is an optical wireless communication technology that uses visible light emitting diodes (LEDs) as a communication source. Since the LEDs are also used for illumination, the cross-section emission effects of the LEDs need to be analyzed as they apply to indoor VLC channels. In order to evaluate the illumination and communication performance according to the emission cross-section pattern a simple LED model with a quasi-elliptic emission cross-section is proposed and compared to a circular LED model. The spatial distributions of the received optical power and root mean square delay spread are analyzed through calculation and comparison. The LEDs with a quasi-elliptic emission cross-section provide less fluctuation in the illumination and optical power distribution at the receiving plane. However, the RMS delay spread increases and subsequently the maximum data rate decreases for the quasi-elliptic emission cross-section LEDs. The single transmitter VLC system is found to support at least 17 and 24 Mb/s for circular and quasi-elliptic emission cross-section LEDs for the entire receiving plane, respectively. The four-transmitter VLC system is found to support at least at 30 and 33 Mb/s for circular and quasi-elliptic emission cross-section LEDs for the entire receiving plane, respectively.