Light energy storage in TiO2/MnO2 composite electrode for photoelectrochemical capacitor

Composite electrodes comprising TiO2 and MnO2 particles were prepared as hotoelectrochemical capacitor electrodes that enable both photoelectric conversion and energy storage. A MnO2 electrode was also prepared for characterization of MnO2 alone, and its electrochemical capacitor property was evaluated. The MnO2 electrode showed higher specific capacitance than a RuO2 electrode. Results of the photoelectrochemical measurements demonstrated that the discharge capacity of the TiO2/MnO2 composite electrode was slightly inferior to that of the TiO2 and RuO2 electrodes using. By reducing MnO2 particle size, the composite electrode exhibited increased surface roughness and enhanced capacity. We consider that the smaller MnO2 particles can efficiently store Na+ ions even at a low photo-charge voltage of TiO2

Rare Histological Type of Adenoma of the Nonpigmented Ciliary Epithelium

We report the rare case of an adenoma of the nonpigmented ciliary epithelium (NPCE). A 67-year-old healthy man presented with a regularly shaped and nonpigmented mass at the iris root of his right eye. His best-corrected visual acuity was 1.5 with normal intraocular pressure. During observation, the size of the tumor remained stable for 1.5 years but then rapidly grew, extending through the iris, and gradually enlarged to the point of compressing the iris. Ultimately, an iridocyclectomy with scleral resection under a lamellar scleral flap was performed. The histopathologic features of the resected tissue were consistent with adenoma of the NPCE. Histopathological analysis showed that the tumor consisted of both tubular and solid components. There were solid lesions inside of the ciliary epithelium and tubular lesions outside. We observed positive immunoreactivity to vimentin and cytokeratin CK (AE1/AE3) and negative reactivity to S-100 and CD68, both rarely associated with adenoma of NPCE. During 1 year of follow-up after the iridocyclectomy, no signs of tumor recurrence were observed

A High-Yielding Rice Cultivar “Takanari” Shows No N Constraints on CO2 Fertilization

Enhancing crop yield response to elevated CO2 concentrations (E-[CO2]) is an important adaptation measure to climate change. A high-yielding indica rice cultivar “Takanari” has recently been identified as a potential candidate for high productivity in E-[CO2] resulting from its large sink and source capacities. To fully utilize these traits, nitrogen should play a major role, but it is unknown how N levels influence the yield response of Takanari to E-[CO2]. We therefore compared grain yield and quality of Takanari with those of Koshihikari, a standard japonica cultivar, in response to Free-Air CO2 enrichment (FACE, +200 μmol mol−1) under three N levels (0, 8, and 12 g m−2) over three seasons. The biomass of both cultivars increased under E-[CO2] at all N levels; however, the harvest index decreased under E-[CO2] in the N-limited treatment for Koshihikari but not for Takanari. The decreased harvest index of Koshihikari resulted from limited enhancement of spikelet number under N-limitation. In contrast, spikelet number increased in E-[CO2] in Takanari even without N application, resulting in significant yield enhancement, averaging 18% over 3 years, whereas Koshihikari exhibited virtually no increase in yield in E-[CO2] under the N-limited condition. Grain appearance quality of Koshihikari was severely reduced by E-[CO2], most notably in N-limited and hot conditions, by a substantial increase in chalky grain, but chalky grain % did not increase in E-[CO2] even without N fertilizer. These results indicated that Takanari could retain its high yield advantage over Koshihikari with limited increase in chalkiness even under limited N conditions and that it could be a useful genetic resource for improving N use efficiency under E-[CO2]

Computed Tomography Findings for Diagnosing Follicular Thyroid Neoplasms

Since no diagnostic method has been established to distinguish follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC) from follicular thyroid adenoma (FTA), surgery has been the only way to reach a diagnosis of follicular neoplasm. Here we investigated the computed tomography (CT) features of follicular neoplasms, toward the goal of being able to identify specific CT features allowing the preoperative differentiation of FTC from FTA. We retrospectively analyzed the cases of 205 patients who underwent preoperative CT of the neck and were histopathologically diagnosed with FTC (n=31) or FTA (n=174) after surgery between January 2002 and June 2016 at several hospitals in Japan. In each of these 205 cases, non-enhanced and contrast-enhanced CT images were obtained, and we analyzed the CT features. On univariate analysis, inhomogeneous features of tumor lesions on contrast-enhanced CT were more frequently observed in FTC than in FTA (p=0.0032). A multivariate analysis identified inhomogeneous features of tumor lesions on contrast-enhanced CT images as an independent variable indicative of FTC (p=0.0023). CT thus offers diagnostic assistance in distinguishing FTC from FTA

Author Correction: Fish proliferation and rare-earth deposition by topographically induced upwelling at the late Eocene cooling event (Scientific Reports, (2020), 10, 1, (9896), 10.1038/s41598-020-66835-8)

金沢大学理工研究域地球社会基盤学系An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper. © 2020, The Author(s)

Fish proliferation and rare-earth deposition by topographically induced upwelling at the late Eocene cooling event

金沢大学理工研究域地球社会基盤学系The deep-sea clay that covers wide areas of the pelagic ocean bottom provides key information about open-ocean environments but lacks age-diagnostic calcareous or siliceous microfossils. The marine osmium isotope record has varied in response to environmental changes and can therefore be a useful stratigraphic marker. In this study, we used osmium isotope ratios to determine the depositional ages of pelagic clays extraordinarily rich in fish debris. Much fish debris was deposited in the western North and central South Pacific sites roughly 34.4 million years ago, concurrent with a late Eocene event, a temporal expansion of Antarctic ice preceding the Eocene–Oligocene climate transition. The enhanced northward flow of bottom water formed around Antarctica probably caused upwelling of deep-ocean nutrients at topographic highs and stimulated biological productivity that resulted in the proliferation of fish in pelagic realms. The abundant fish debris is now a highly concentrated source of industrially critical rare-earth elements. © 2020, The Author(s)

Coincidence analysis to search for inspiraling compact binaries using TAMA300 and LISM data

Japanese laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors, TAMA300 and LISM, performed a coincident observation during 2001. We perform a coincidence analysis to search for inspiraling compact binaries. The length of data used for the coincidence analysis is 275 hours when both TAMA300 and LISM detectors are operated simultaneously. TAMA300 and LISM data are analyzed by matched filtering, and candidates for gravitational wave events are obtained. If there is a true gravitational wave signal, it should appear in both data of detectors with consistent waveforms characterized by masses of stars, amplitude of the signal, the coalescence time and so on. We introduce a set of coincidence conditions of the parameters, and search for coincident events. This procedure reduces the number of fake events considerably, by a factor $\sim 10^{-4}$ compared with the number of fake events in single detector analysis. We find that the number of events after imposing the coincidence conditions is consistent with the number of accidental coincidences produced purely by noise. We thus find no evidence of gravitational wave signals. We obtain an upper limit of 0.046 /hours (CL $= 90$) to the Galactic event rate within 1kpc from the Earth. The method used in this paper can be applied straightforwardly to the case of coincidence observations with more than two detectors with arbitrary arm directions.Comment: 28 pages, 17 figures, Replaced with the version to be published in Physical Review