New asymmetric conjugate reduction of beta,beta-disubstituted alpha,beta-unsaturated ketones and esters was accomplished with alkoxylhydrosilanes in the presence of chiral rhodium(2,6-bisoxazolinylphenyl) complexes in high yields and high enantioselectivity. (E)-4-Phenyl-3-penten-2-one and (E)-4-phenyl-4-isopropyl-3-penten-2-one were readily reduced at 60 degrees C in 95 % ee and 98 % ee, respectively, by 1 mol % of catalyst loading. (EtO)2MeSiH proved to be the best hydrogen donor of choice. tert-Butyl (E)-beta-methylcinnamate and beta-isopropylcinnamate could also be reduced to the corresponding dihydrocinnamate derivatives up to 98 % ee.

Biochemical values that differed based on sex and season in bearded dragons were similar to those in other lizards. These differences reflect physiologic differences in reproductive status in females and seasonal changes in temperature and hydration status. Plasma biochemical values established for bearded dragons in this study will be useful in the diagnostic assessment of captive animals.

Pneumatic robot manipulators are characterized by high-order, time-variant actuator dynamics, nonlinearities due to compressibility of air, external disturbances such as static and Coulomb friction, and wide range of payload variations. Conventional PID controllers suffer from problems of gain tuning under these conditions. In this paper, a new control algorithm is proposed for the position and trajectory control of pneumatic actuators based on the sliding mode control approach. The stability of motion is proved for the case of a linear, time-invariant switching surface. A disadvantage of using sliding mode control for third- and higher-order mechanical systems is the need for acceleration feedback. In this paper, to overcome this difficulty we propose the use of differential pressure. The proposed controller is simple, easy to implement, and robust to payload and parametric variations. The effectiveness of the new scheme for position and trajectory control is illustrated by experiments on an industrial piston-driven cylindrical actuator with proportional valves.

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We have developed a high resolution resist for laser thermal lithography and a fabrication method for this resist. We designed a resist material which has specific desired properties. We aimed to raise the gasification temperature and achieve a sharply peaked temperature profile so that holes are formed only in the center of the laser spot. We were able to perform lithography with a half pitch of 40 nm. Furthermore, using the result of this lithography as a dry etching mask, we were able to perform dry etching on a number of materials, including SiO 2 and sapphire.