This paper summarises Ginga X-ray observations of SN 1987 A.

Lactoferrin (LF) is a multifunctional glycoprotein in mammalian milk. In a previous report, we showed that enteric-coated bovine LF tablets can decrease visceral fat accumulation, hypothesising that the enteric coating is critical to the functional peptides reaching the visceral fat tissue and exerting their anti-adipogenic activity. The aim of the present study was to assess whether ingested LF can retain its anti-adipogenic activity. We therefore investigated the effects of LF and LF treated with digestive enzymes (the stomach enzyme pepsin and the small intestine enzyme trypsin) on lipid accumulation in pre-adipocytes derived from the mesenteric fat tissue of male Sprague–Dawley rats. Lipid accumulation in pre-adipocytes was significantly reduced by LF in a dose-dependent manner and was associated with reduction in gene expression of CCAAT/enhancer binding protein delta, CCAAT/enhancer binding protein alpha and PPARγ as revealed by DNA microarray analysis. Trypsin-treated LF continued to show anti-adipogenic action, whereas pepsin-treated LF abrogated the activity. When an LF solution (1000 mg bovine LF) was administered by gastric intubation to Sprague–Dawley rats, immunoreactive LF determined by ELISA could be detected in mesenteric fat tissue at a concentration of 14·4 μg/g fat after 15 min. The overall results point to the importance of enteric coating for action of LF as a visceral fat-reducing agent when administered in oral form.

This paper focuses on the use of passive dynamics to achieve efficient walking with simple mechanisms. A torso is added to a biped walker; and hip actuators, instead of ankle actuators, are used. A numerical approach is used to find the optimal control trajectories. A comparison between the cost functions of simple feedback control and optimal control is presented. Next, springs are added to the biped walking model at the hip joints to demonstrate the advantage of hip springs in terms of energy cost and ground conditions. The comparison between the torque costs with and without hip springs indicates that hip springs reduce the torque cost, particularly at a high walking speed.

We report on the novel normally-off GaN-based heterojunction field effect transistors (HFETs) on a Si substrate. The AlGaN/AlN/GaN heterostructure was grown using a metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The HFET for a normally-off operation was fabricated using a precisely controlled thin-AlGaN layer as an electron supply layer. As a result, the HFET was operated at the condition of the positive gate bias. We also characterized the enlarged gate-width devices. The breakdown voltage of FET was over 300 V. A normally-off operation using GaN based HFETs with a thin-AlGaN/AlN/GaN heterostructure on the silicon substrate were thus confirmed for the first time.

Growth and characterization of p-type 4H-SiC epitaxial layers grown on (11-20) substrates are reported. P-type 4H-SiC epilayers with smooth surface morphology have been grown on (11-20) substrates by low-pressure, hot-wall type CVD with SiH4–C3H8–H2–TMA system. The doping concentration can be controlled in the range from about 1×1016cm−3 to 1×1019cm−3. Anisotropy of the crystalline quality is observed by x-ray diffraction measurement. P-type epilayers, in which near band-gap emissions are dominated and D-A pair peak is not observed, are obtained. Hole mobility of (11-20) epilayers is smaller than that of (0001) epilayers probably due to the lack of crystalline quality compared to (0001) epilayers. The results of both low-temperature photoluminescence and the temperature dependence of Hall effect measurements indicate that the boron concentration as undoped impurity in (11-20) epilayer is lower than that of (0001) epilayer. This may be caused by the smaller incorporation efficiency of boron into (11-20) epilayer than that of (0001) epilayer.

The influence of growth conditions and susceptor purity on the residual contamination in undoped 4H-SiC epitaxial layer grown at higher temperature such as 1600 °C is investigated. Residual N concentration is found to increase with growth temperature. Growth temperature dependence of residual N concentration is stronger than that of Al or B. The effect of degradation of SiC coating layer on the purity of the epitaxial layer is studied. SiC coating layer is degraded after very few repetition of growth-run. SIMS measurement reveals that the concentration of N, Al, B, Ti and V in epitaxial layer increases with the deterioration of SiC coating layer. Therefore, serious consideration on the effect of contamination from the susceptor graphite is required. By using various grades of graphite as susceptor, the dependence of the purity of epitaxial layer on the susceptor purity is studied. High concentration (1017 to 1018 cm−3) of N is found in graphite. Contamination of all types of impurities such as p-type impurities, transition metal impurities and N in graphite is found to affect the purity of epitaxial layers.

Wear properties of Li+, K+, C+, Cl+, and Ti+ implanted glassy carbons (GC) have been studied by wear tests using silicon carbide abrasive paper. It has been found that ion implantation is effective for improving wear resistance of GC. The measurements of Raman spectra revealed formation of an amorphous structure on the surface. Anomalous depth profiles with flat concentration distribution of Li and K atoms were observed by a secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS). In conclusion. the formation of an amorphous structure seems to explain the improvement in wear resistance.