R-Process Nucleosynthesis in MHD Jet Explosions of Core-Collapse Supernovae

We investigate $r$-process nucleosynthesis during the magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) explosion of supernova in a massive star of 13 $M_{\odot}$. Contrary to the case of the spherical explosion, jet-like explosion due to the combined effects of the rotation and magnetic field lowers the electron fraction significantly inside the layers above the iron core. We find that the ejected material of low electron fraction responsible for the $r$-process comes out from the silicon rich layer of the presupernova model. This leads to the production up to the third peak in the solar $r$-process elements. We examine whether the fission affects the $r$-process paths by using the full nuclear reaction network with both the spontaneous and $\beta$-delayed fission included. Moreover, we pay particular attention how the mass formula affects the $r$-process peaks with use of two mass formulae. It is found that both formulae can reproduce the global abundance pattern up to the third peak though detailed distributions are rather different. We point out that there are variations in the $r$-process nucleosynthesis if the MHD effects play an important role in the supernova explosion.Comment: 19 pages with 7 figures, submitted to Ap

A Z-scheme type photoelectrochemical cell consisting of porphyrin-containing polymer and dye-sensitized TiO2 electrodes

In photosynthesis, two photosystems are exquisitely located for uphill electron transport with redox species to bridge these photosystems and this is called Z-scheme type structure. This smart photoenergy conversion system must be modeled in highlyefficient artificial photoenergy conversion. Our strategy here is to cooperate a couple of photoactive electrodes for mimicking a Z-scheme type structure using two different photoelectrodes and bridging redox couple. An early study implied the possibility of a tandem-type photoelectric conversion system, though the cell performance had been considerably low. 1 Later, Bach's group also proposed a similar structure consisting of nand p-type dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) electrodes and achieved high conversion efficiency. Recently, we reported a simple fabrication method of photoactive polymer electrode consisting of 5,10,15,20-tetra(3-thienyl)-21H,23H-porphyrin (TThP) and 2,2¢-bithiophene (BiTh) by electropolymerization (Scheme 1a). 6-9 As the photoactive electrode for a solar cell, it could generate 32% of photon-to-electron conversion efficiency under the monochromatic light. Since this polymer electrode functions as a photocathode and has a good affinity with the I -/I 3 -redox couple, it is very fascinating to use in a Z-scheme type photoelectrochemical cell with a smart choice of a good compatible photoanode. In this paper, we found that the combination of the above-described polymer electrode and the electrode for DSC successfully acted as a Z-scheme type photoelectrochemical cell with higher photovoltage TThP was synthesized by condensation of pyrrole (Aldrich) and 3-thiophenecarboxyaldehyde (Aldrich) according to the previous procedures. 6 TThP was identified by 1 H-NMR, absorption spectroscopy, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) and elemental analysis; impurities in the TThP were found to be negligible. (TThP+polythiophene (pTh)) thin films were fabricated on the surface of an indium-tin-oxide (ITO) glass by electrochemical polymerization of TThP and BiTh (Wako pure chemicals) in a similar manner as before. 6 The ITO glass (Sanyo Vacuum Industries, 2 ¥ 2 ¥ 0.3 cm), cleaned ultrasonically in 2-propanol and then dichloromethane, was used as a working electrode. A platinum wire and a silver wire were used as the counter and reference electrodes, respectively. A dichloromethane solution This journal i

Diagnostic Validity of Combining HTLV-1 Serology and Immunophenotyping in Adult T-Cell Leukemia

Adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) is heterogeneous and sometimes equivocal to other T-cell neoplasms. Detecting anti- HTLV-1 antibodies is significant for a first screening not only for HTLV-1 infection but also for the HTLV-1-related disorders of ATL and TSP/HAM. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the diagnostic validity of HTLV-1 serology in ATL. The serologic results by a gelatin particle agglutination (PA) assay were highly sensitive (100%) and specific (99.5%) for the results of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay in 666 healthy blood donors who live in an area endemic for the HTLV-1 virus. Of 7,536 hospitalized patients, 189 patients with ATL were serologically screened. There were 1,140 patients (15.2%) infected by chance with HTLV-1, showing specificity, sensitivity, positive predictive value (PV), and negative PV of 84.3%, 100%, 14.2%, and 100%, respectively. Since the low positive PV (14.2%) was useless, we tried combining the anti-HTLV-1 assay with the immunophenotyping necessary for the diagnosis of lymphoid neoplasms. This combination gave nearly 100% positive and negative PV, and could prove to be useful in diagnosing ATL with the probability of 98%, especially for epidemiologic studies

Aberrant overexpression of membrane-associated mucin contributes to tumor progression in adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma cells.

Aberrant overexpression of membrane-associated mucin (MUC1) is implicated in the pathogenesis of cancer, particularly of adenocarcinomas. Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL), an aggressive neoplasm etiologically associated with human T-lymphotropic virus type-1 (HTLV-1), exhibits invasive tropism into various organs, resulting in disease progression and resistance to treatment. In the present study, we showed that MUC1 is overexpressed exclusively in cells of ATL among hematological malignancies. Furthermore, increased expression of MUC1 correlated with a poor prognosis, suggesting MUC1 to be a prognostic marker in ATL. Various functional analyses with knockdown experiments using a specific siRNA for MUC1 revealed that MUC1 is involved in cell growth, cell aggregation, and resistance to apoptosis. Although it has been shown that the anti-adhesive properties of MUC1 facilitate migration and metastasis of tumor cells, our findings indicated that MUC1 contributes to cell-cell adhesion. Mucins thus seem to play a role in the pathogenesis and/or progression of ATL

The Effects of Pulsed Streamerlike Discharge on Cyanobacteria Cells

Recently, cyanobacteria blooms (or water blooms) occurred on the surface of water bodies frequently and extensively due to eutrophia of the water. That has posed more and more serious environmental problems worldwide. In this paper, the effects of pulsed streamerlike discharge on M. aeruginosa cells are reported, which are one genus of cyanobacteria and ease to form water blooms. A stainless needle with a diameter of 30 mum was employed as a point discharge electrode, which is 15-cm apart from the cylinder cathode, and a 2-mus 160-kV pulse was applied. A pulsed streamerlike discharge was obtained in the water filled with cyanobacteria cells (named as sample water in this paper). From the experimental result, it can be found that the discharge collapsed the intracellular-structure gas vesicles in the M. aeruginosa cells, and the colonies of the cells sank to the bottom of the discharge chamber and rotten gradually

Electron Temperature and Electron Density of Underwater Pulsed Discharge Plasma Produced by Solid-State Pulsed-Power Generator

A pulsed discharge produced underwater has been an attractive method to treat waste water. For the optimization and realization of the water treatment system utilizing underwater pulsed discharge, modeling analysis could be one of the essential works. However, there is still no simulation work about the underwater pulsed discharge due to the lack of knowledge about its characteristic parameters such as electron temperature, electron density, and so on. In this paper, the temperature and the electron density in a pulsed discharge plasma produced underwater are measured and presented. A magnetic pulse compressor (MPC) was developed and used to create the electrical discharge in water. The developed MPC is all-solid state and is, therefore, a maintenance-free generator. To define the temperature and the electron density in an underwater pulsed discharge plasma, two kinds of spectroscopic measurements, called the line-pair method and Stark broadening, were carried out. According to the experimental results, the temperature and the electron density in the pulsed discharge plasma between point-plane electrodes immersed in water are determined to be 15 000 K and $10^{18}/ hbox{cm}^{3}$, respectively