Oxygen permeation modelling of perovskites

A point defect model was used to describe the oxygen nonstoichiometry of the perovskites La0.75Sr0.25CrO3, La0.9Sr0.1FeO3, La0.9Sr0.1CoO3 and La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 as a function of the oxygen partial pressure. Form the oxygen vacancy concentration predicte by the point defect model, the ionic conductivity was calculated assuming a vacancy diffusion mechanism. The ionic conductivity was combined with the Wagner model for the oxidation of metals to yield an analytical expression for the oxygen permeation current density as a function of the oxygen partial pressure gradient. A linear boundary condition was used to show the effect of a limiting oxygen exchange rate at the surface

Metal-supported SOFC Fabricated by Tape Casting and Its Characterization: A Study of the Co-sintering Process

Metal-supported SOFC consists of metallic and ceramic multilayers. Since the cell has to be flat, interaction between the layers that results in a flat sintered layer needs to be studied. The method used here was changing the starting materials through several experiments. Here, we highlight the effects of pore former in metal slurry on the sintered half-cell multilayer of a 430L metallic support, an NiO-8YSZ anode, and an 8YSZ electrolyte. The results show that by changing the amount of pore former in the 430L metal slurry changed the sinterability of the metal layer. This change of the sinterability of the metal support affected the final warpage state of the cell. This study aid in explaining the sintering phenomena between layers of metal-supported SOFCs

Widely Extended [OIII] 88 um Line Emission around the 30 Doradus Region Revealed with AKARI FIS-FTS

We present the distribution map of the far-infrared [OIII] 88um line emission around the 30 Doradus (30 Dor) region in the Large Magellanic Cloud obtained with the Fourier Transform Spectrometer of the Far-Infrared Surveyor onboard AKARI. The map reveals that the [OIII] emission is widely distributed by more than 10' around the super star cluster R136, implying that the 30 Dor region is affluent with interstellar radiation field hard enough to ionize O^{2+}. The observed [OIII] line intensities are as high as (1-2) x 10^{-6} W m^{-2} sr^{-1} on the peripheral regions 4'-5' away from the center of 30 Dor, which requires gas densities of 60-100 cm^{-3}. However the observed size of the distribution of the [OIII] emission is too large to be explained by massive stars in the 30 Dor region enshrouded by clouds with the constant gas density of 10^2 cm^{-3}. Therefore the surrounding structure is likely to be highly clumpy. We also find a global correlation between the [OIII] and the far-infrared continuum emission, suggesting that the gas and dust are well mixed in the highly-ionized region where the dust survives in clumpy dense clouds shielded from the energetic photons.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan (PASJ

Equivalent circuit analysis of a three-carrier electrolyte/electrode system

Perovskite type proton conductors are known to show non-monotonous transient responses due to non-ignorable contributions of holes and oxide ions as minor carriers. Efforts have been made to simulate the behavior of the three-carrier systems by numerical calculations1-4). In most cases, however, the calculation assumes reversible electrodes, and the results are not directly applicable for analyses of experimental results such as impedance spectra. The purpose of this study is to develop an equivalent circuit model of a three-carrier conductor as a simple but theoretically feasible tool to be used for practical analyses. In the modeling, charge carriers were assumed to be Hi•, VO••, and h•, for which the gradients of respective electrochemical potentials were taken as the driving forces in the following continuity equations, Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Functional relevance of the precuneus in verbal politeness.

Non-competitive and non-threatening aspects of social hierarchy, such as politeness, are universal among human cultures, and might have evolved from ritualized submission in primates; however, these behaviors have rarely been studied. Honorific language is a type of polite linguistic communication that plays an important role in human social interactions ranging from everyday conversation to international diplomacy. Here, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) revealed selective precuneus activation during a verbal politeness judgment task, but not other linguistic-judgment or social-status recognition tasks. The magnitude of the activation was correlated with the task performance. Functional suppression of the activation using cathodal transcranial direct-current stimulation reduced performance in the politeness task. These results suggest that the precuneus is an essential hub of the verbal politeness judgment

Investigation of cathodic reaction in SOFCs and PCFCs by using patterned thin film model electrodes

In recent years, fuel cells operating at relatively high temperatures, such as solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) using an oxide ion conducting electrolyte and proton ceramics fuel cells (PCFCs) using an proton conducting electrolyte, attract attentions as high-efficient energy-conversion devices. For further enhancements of the performance and the durability of SCFCs and PCFCs, it is essential to understand the electrode reactions. In particular, the knowledge on the dominant reaction path in the electrodes would help us to optimize the material and the microstructure of the electrode. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Computer-controlled closed-loop norepinephrine infusion system for automated control of mean arterial pressure in dogs under isoflurane-induced hypotension: a feasibility study

Introduction: Intra-operative hypotension is a common complication of surgery under general anesthesia in dogs and humans. Computer-controlled closed-loop infusion systems of norepinephrine (NE) have been developed and clinically applied for automated optimization of arterial pressure (AP) and prevention of intra-operative hypotension in humans. This study aimed to develop a simple computer-controlled closed-loop infusion system of NE for the automated control of the mean arterial pressure (MAP) in dogs with isoflurane-induced hypotension and to validate the control of MAP by the developed system. Methods: NE was administered via the cephalic vein, whereas MAP was measured invasively by placing a catheter in the dorsal pedal artery. The proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller in the negative feedback loop of the developed system titrated the infusion rate of NE to maintain the MAP at the target value of 60 mmHg. The titration was updated every 2 s. The performance of the developed system was evaluated in six laboratory Beagle dogs under general anesthesia with isoflurane. Results: In the six dogs, when the concentration [median (interquartile range)] of inhaled isoflurane was increased from 1.5 (1.5-1.5)% to 4 (4-4)% without activating the system, the MAP was lowered from 95 (91-99) to 41 (37-42) mmHg. In contrast, when the concentration was increased from 1.5 (1.0-1.5)% to 4 (4-4.8)% for a 30-min period and the system was simultaneously activated, the MAP was temporarily lowered from 92 (89-95) to 47 (43-49) mmHg but recovered to 58 (57-58) mmHg owing to the system-controlled infusion of NE. If the acceptable target range for MAP was defined as target MAP ±5 mmHg (55 ≤ MAP ≤65 mmHg), the percentage of time wherein the MAP was maintained within the acceptable range was 96 (89-100)% in the six dogs during the second half of the 30-min period (from 15 to 30 min after system activation). The median performance error, median absolute performance error, wobble, and divergence were - 2.9 (-4.7 to 1.9)%, 2.9 (2.0-4.7)%, 1.3 (0.8-1.8)%, and - 0.24 (-0.34 to -0.11)%·min-1, respectively. No adverse events were observed during the study period, and all dogs were extubated uneventfully. Conclusion: This system was able to titrate the NE infusion rates in an accurate and stable manner to maintain the MAP within the predetermined target range in dogs with isoflurane-induced hypotension. This system can be a potential tool in daily clinical practice for the care of companion dogs

The whole blood transcriptional regulation landscape in 465 COVID-19 infected samples from Japan COVID-19 Task Force

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19患者由来の血液細胞における遺伝子発現の網羅的解析 --重症度に応じた遺伝子発現の変化には、ヒトゲノム配列の個人差が影響する--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-23.Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a recently-emerged infectious disease that has caused millions of deaths, where comprehensive understanding of disease mechanisms is still unestablished. In particular, studies of gene expression dynamics and regulation landscape in COVID-19 infected individuals are limited. Here, we report on a thorough analysis of whole blood RNA-seq data from 465 genotyped samples from the Japan COVID-19 Task Force, including 359 severe and 106 non-severe COVID-19 cases. We discover 1169 putative causal expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) including 34 possible colocalizations with biobank fine-mapping results of hematopoietic traits in a Japanese population, 1549 putative causal splice QTLs (sQTLs; e.g. two independent sQTLs at TOR1AIP1), as well as biologically interpretable trans-eQTL examples (e.g., REST and STING1), all fine-mapped at single variant resolution. We perform differential gene expression analysis to elucidate 198 genes with increased expression in severe COVID-19 cases and enriched for innate immune-related functions. Finally, we evaluate the limited but non-zero effect of COVID-19 phenotype on eQTL discovery, and highlight the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs (ieQTLs; e.g., CLEC4C and MYBL2). Our study provides a comprehensive catalog of whole blood regulatory variants in Japanese, as well as a reference for transcriptional landscapes in response to COVID-19 infection