Tohoku University

About: Tohoku University is a education organization based out in Sendai, Japan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Magnetization & Alloy. The organization has 72116 authors who have published 170791 publications receiving 3941714 citations. The organization is also known as: Tōhoku daigaku.

High Catalytic Activity of Nitrogen and Sulfur Co-Doped Nanoporous Graphene in the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction†

Abstract: Chemical doping has been demonstrated to be an effective way to realize new functions of graphene as metal-free catalyst in energy-related electrochemical reactions. Although efficient catalysis for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) has been achieved with doped graphene, its performance in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is rather poor. In this study we report that nitrogen and sulfur co-doping leads to high catalytic activity of nanoporous graphene in HER at low operating potential, comparable to the best Pt-free HER catalyst, 2D MoS2 . The interplay between the chemical dopants and geometric lattice defects of the nanoporous graphene plays the fundamental role in the superior HER catalysis.

Polyamines: essential factors for growth and survival.

Abstract: Polyamines are low molecular weight, aliphatic polycations found in the cells of all living organisms. Due to their positive charges, polyamines bind to macromolecules such as DNA, RNA, and proteins. They are involved in diverse processes, including regulation of gene expression, translation, cell proliferation, modulation of cell signalling, and membrane stabilization. They also modulate the activities of certain sets of ion channels. Because of these multifaceted functions, the homeostasis of polyamines is crucial and is ensured through regulation of biosynthesis, catabolism, and transport. Through isolation of the genes involved in plant polyamine biosynthesis and loss-of-function experiments on the corresponding genes, their essentiality for growth is reconfirmed. Polyamines are also involved in stress responses and diseases in plants, indicating their importance for plant survival. This review summarizes the recent advances in polyamine research in the field of plant science compared with the knowledge obtained in microorganisms and animal systems.

Atomic origins of the high catalytic activity of nanoporous gold

Abstract: Distinct from inert bulk gold, nanoparticulate gold has been found to possess remarkable catalytic activity towards oxidation reactions. The catalytic performance of nanoparticulate gold strongly depends on size and support, and catalytic activity usually cannot be observed at characteristic sizes larger than 5 nm. Interestingly, significant catalytic activity can be retained in dealloyed nanoporous gold (NPG) even when its feature lengths are larger than 30 nm. Here we report atomic insights of the NPG catalysis, characterized by spherical-aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and environmental TEM. A high density of atomic steps and kinks is observed on the curved surfaces of NPG, comparable to 3-5 nm nanoparticles, which are stabilized by hyperboloid-like gold ligaments. In situ TEM observations provide compelling evidence that the surface defects are active sites for the catalytic oxidation of CO and residual Ag stabilizes the atomic steps by suppressing {111} faceting kinetics.

Secret sharing scheme realizing general access structure

Abstract: As a method of sharing a secret, e.g., a secret key, Shamir's (k, n) threshold method is well known. However, Shamir's method has a problem in that general access structures cannot be realized. This paper shows that by providing the trustees with several information data concerning the distributed information of the (k, n) threshold method, any access structure can be realized. the update with the change of the secret trustees and the relation to the threshold graph are also discussed.