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Photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) was carried out using exposed-crystalface-controlled titanium(IV) oxide (TiO2) having a brookite phase. Methanol (CH3OH) was detected as the main product, and trace amounts of formic acid, carbon monoxide, methane, and hydrogen were also detected in some cases. The prepared nanorod-shaped brookite TiO2 with large {210} and small {212} exposed crystal faces showed larger CH3OH generation than that of commercial brookite TiO2 powder (Kojundo Chemical Laboratory Co., Ltd.). The activity of a brookite TiO2 nanorod for CO2 reduction depended on its aspect ratio because the {210} crystal faced worked as a reduction site, whereas an oxidation site was assigned to {212} crystal faces. Photodeposition of gold (Au) or silver (Ag) nanoparticles on the nanorod-shaped brookite TiO2 induced a dramatic increase in CH3OH production because the deposited metal particles work as reductive sites for multi-electron reduction of CO2. Among the co-catalyst-loaded brookite TiO2 nanorods, nanorod-shaped brookite TiO2 loaded with Ag showed higher activity. The source of carbon of CH3OH obtained by CO2 reduction is discussed on the basis of results of a labeling experiment using 13 CO2.

The present study examined neural substrates underlying turn-based cooperation and competition in a real two-person situation. We simultaneously measured pairs of participants’ activations in their bilateral frontal, temporal, and parietal regions using a 96-channel near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) system, when participants played a turn-taking disk-game on a computer. NIRS data demonstrated significant inter-brain neural synchronization (INS) across participant pairs’ right posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) in both the cooperation and competition conditions, and the competition condition also involved significant INS in the right inferior parietal lobule (IPL). In addition, competitive dyads’ INS in the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) may play as a role of mediation in relationship between their empathy score and disk-manipulation latency, but cooperative dyads’ INS did not. These results suggest that first the right pSTS may be commonly involved in both cooperation and competition due to task demands of joint attention and intention understanding, while the right IPL may be more important for competition due to additional requirements of mentalizing resources in competing contexts. Second, participants’ empathy may promote INS in the bilateral IFG across competitors, and in turn affect their competitive performance.

The intestinal H(+)/peptide cotransporter 1 (PEPT1) plays important roles as a nutrient and drug transporter. Previously, we reported that rat intestinal PEPT1 showed a diurnal rhythm and that this rhythm is closely related to the feeding schedule. Furthermore, we also demonstrated that transcription factors, Sp1, Cdx2, and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha (PPAR-alpha) contribute to the basal, intestine-specific, and fasting-induced expression of PEPT1, respectively. In this study, to clarify the molecular mechanism governing the diurnal rhythm of PEPT1 expression, we compared expression profiles of these transcription factors under two kinds of feeding schedules. The intestinal Sp1 and Cdx2 did not show a circadian accumulation of mRNA or response to the daytime feeding regimen. Plasma free fatty acids, endogenous PPAR-alpha ligands, exhibited a robust circadian fluctuation in phase with that of PEPT1. However, subsequent experiments using PPAR-alpha-null mice revealed the absence of any association between the circadian rhythm of PEPT1 and PPAR-alpha. We then focused on the clock genes (Clock, Bmal1, Per1-2, and Cry1) and clock-controlled gene, albumin D site-binding protein (DBP). A robust and coordinated circadian expression of the clock genes was observed, and daytime feeding entirely inverted the phase except for Clock. The expression of DBP was in phase with that of PEPT1 in both groups. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays and reporter assays revealed that DBP has the ability to bind the DBP binding site located in the distal promoter region of the rat PEPT1 gene and induce the transcriptional activity. These findings indicate that DBP plays pivotal roles in the circadian oscillation of PEPT1.