Adaptive echolocation sounds of insectivorous bats, Pipistrellus abramus, during foraging flights in the field

Echolocation pulses emitted by wild Pipistrellus abramus were investigated while foraging for insects in the field. Similar to other European pipistrelles, the frequency structure during foraging varied. During the search phase, the bats emitted long shallow frequency-modulated pulses 9-11 ms in duration, whereas the maximum pulse duration of the bats approaching a large target wall in the laboratory was 3 ms. No significant difference was observed between decreases in the interpulse interval during these two approach flights. It is concluded that the bats use a long quasi-constant frequency pulse to find a weak echo from a small prey target.     

Echo-intensity compensation in echolocating bats (Pipistrellus abramus) during flight measured by a telemetry microphone

An onboard microphone (Telemike) was developed to examine changes in the basic characteristics of echolocation sounds of small frequency-modulated echolocating bats, Pipistrellus abramus. Using a dual high-speed video camera system, spatiotemporal observations of echolocation characteristics were conducted on bats during a landing flight task in the laboratory. The Telemike allowed us to observe emitted pulses and returning echoes to which the flying bats listened during flight, and the acoustic parameters could be precisely measured without traditional problems such as the directional properties of the recording microphone and the emitted pulse, or traveling loss of the sound in the air. Pulse intensity in bats intending to land exhibited a marked decrease by 30 dB within 2 m of the target wall, and the reduction rate was approximately 6.5 dB per halving of distance. The intensity of echoes returning from the target wall indicated a nearly constant intensity (-42.6 +/- 5.5 dB weaker than the pulse emitted in search phase) within a target distance of 2 m. These findings provide direct evidence that bats adjust pulse intensity to compensate for changes in echo intensity to maintain a constant intensity of the echo returned from the approaching target at an optimal range.     

Specifications of a neutron exposure accelerator system for biological effects experiments (NASBEE) in NIRS

We developed a neutron irradiation facility, neutron exposure accelerator system for biological effect experiments (NASBEE) for biological studies in National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Japan. Irradiation field of 2 MeV average neutrons generated by a Be(d–n)B reaction is established. Dose uniformity of 240 mm in diameter irradiation field is producible within ±2.5% with a dose rate of 0.87 Gy/h at sample target distance of 1170 mm. Two irradiation rooms, a specific pathogen-free (SPF) conditioned one and a conventional, are now available. Irradiation protocols for in vitro experiments are now established and demonstrated by obtaining a relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of cell inactivation measured to be 3.54 with 10% survival dose (D₁₀).     

Second Harmonic Generation Measurements for Biomacromolecules: Celluloses

The molecular chain orientation of mercerized cellulose II was examined by optical second harmonic generation (SHG) measurements. The SHG intensities of several kinds of mercerized cellulose II were found to be much larger than those expected for a structural model with an antiparallel molecular chain orientation as proposed by X-ray studies. This result suggests that the orientation of mercerized cellulose II is parallel as suggested by molecular dynamics simulation. © 2004 The Optical Society of Japan     

Surface characterization of functional iron–gallium alloys annealed under different conditions

Fe–Ga alloys are functional magnetostrictive materials, which are promising for application in actuators and sensors. Because surface properties of these alloys such as corrosion resistance are important in technological applications, it is required to characterize the chemical composition and state of the surface of these alloys, which depend on annealing conditions. In this study, X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) were used to characterize surface layers formed on the Fe–Ga alloys annealed under different atmospheric conditions. The XAS spectra of the annealed sample showed that the amount of gallium in the surface layers increased due to annealing, whereas the XAS spectra of the as-polished alloys revealed that the amounts of iron and gallium arise from the bulk composition. The XAS spectra of the alloys annealed in argon–hydrogen with residual oxygen showed that gallium is increased for its preferential oxidation. SIMS depth profile also showed the enrichment of gallium on the surface and the inhomogeneous distribution of iron on the surface layers.     

Projectile-Mass Dependence of the Linear Momentum Transfer in Central Collisions

Target residues from the interaction of copper with 40MeV/nucleon ⁴⁰Ar ions have been studied using thick-target, thick-catcher recoil techniques. Cross sections and average forward ranges were measured for 42 products. The data were used to obtain the mass yield distribution, the linear momentum transfer, and the excitation energy of composite systems. Comparison to similar studies for the interaction of copper with ¹²C ions at the same projectile energy per nucleon shows that the linear momentum transfer in central collisions depends strongly on the projectile mass.     

Absolute structures of some naturally occurring isopropenyldihydrobenzofurans,remirol, remiridiol,angenomalin, and isoangenomalin

The absolute structures of some naturally occurring chiral 2-isopropenyl-2,3-dihydrobenzofurans, (+)-remirol (1a), (+)-remiridiol (1b), (+)-angenomalin (2), and (+)-isoangenomalin (3), were studied by respective chiral synthesis. Kinetic resolutions of racemic 2-isopropenyl-2,3-dihydrobenzofurans, 2-isopropenyl-4,6-dimethoxy-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran (4), 4-hydroxy-2-isopropenyl-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran-5-carbaldehyde (8), and 2-isopropenyl-6-(MOM)oxy-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran-5-carbaldehyde (11c), by Sharpless dihydroxylation using (DHQ)(2)AQN or (DHQD)(2)AQN gave the corresponding chiral 2-isopropenyl-2,3-dihydrobenzofurans. Chiral (S)-(+)-4 (99% ee, using (DHQD)(2)AQN) was converted to natural remirol (S)-(+)-1a and then to natural remiridiol (S)-(+)-1b. (S)-(+)-8 (97% ee, using (DHQD)(2)AQN) was converted to natural angenomalin (S)-(+)-2. (R)-(-)-11c (>99% ee, using (DHQ)(2)AQN), was converted to natural isoangenomalin (R)-(+)-3. Thus, the absolute structures of natural remirol (+)-1a and remiridiol (+)-1b and angenomalin (+)-2 were determined to be S, and the structure of natural isoangenomalin (+)-3 was R.     

Effect of humic acid on the bioavailability of radionuclides to rice plants

We investigated the effect of humic acid and solution pH on the uptake of the radionuclides, (83)Rb, (137)Cs, (54)Mn, (65)Zn, (88)Y, (102)Rh, and (75)Se in rice plants by the multitracer technique. The addition of humic acid to a culture medium containing SiO(2) increased the uptake of Mn and Zn at pH 4.3, whereas their uptake was decreased at pH 5.3. Humic acid depressed the uptake of Y at both pHs. The uptake of Se, which does not interact with humic acid, was not affected by its presence. These results suggest that uptake of the radionuclides by the rice plant is regulated by the affinity of radioactive nuclides for humic acid, as well as by the soil solution's pH.     

Hydrogen transfer in the retro Diels-Alder fragmentation of oxygen-containing heterocyclic Compounds. I—chromanones and 4-hydroxychromans

The mass spectra of 2,2-dimethylchromanones and 2,2-dimethyl-4-hydroxychromans show peaks corresponding to the ions formed by the retro Diels-Alder reaction with or without hydrogen transfer to the ion. The hydroxychromans also show peaks corresponding to an ion formed by the loss of hydrogen from the ion formed by the retro Diels-Alder reaction. Deuterium labelling showed that the hydrogen transferred in the chromanones arises from the gem-dimethyl groups on C-2, and the hydrogen atom lost in the case of the hydroxychromans is from C-4, the carbinyl carbon.     

Second-order non-linear optical response in LB films for the metal complexes

The complexes with long alkyl chains {[Fe(C₁₆-trz)₃](ClO₄)₂}_n (1), [Fe(C₁₅-BPT)₂(NCS)₂] (2), [Fe(C₁₆-salen)Cl] (3), [Fe(C₁₆-salmmen)Cl] (4), K[Fe(C₁₆-salen)(CN)₂] (5), K[Fe(C₁₆-salmmen)(CN)₂] (6), Na[Fe(C₁₆-salmmen)(CN)₂] (7), [Mn(C₁₆-salen)Cl] (8), [Ni(C₁₆-salen)] (9), [Cu(C₁₆-salen)] (10) were synthesized (C₁₆-trz = 4-hexadecyl-1,2,4-triazole, C₁₅-BPT = N-(3,5-di-2-pyridinyl-4H-1,2,4-triazol-4-yl)-hexadecanecarboxamide, C₁₆-salen = N,N-bis[4-(hexadecyloxy)salicylidene]ethylenediamine, C₁₆-salmmen = N,N′-bis[4-(hexadecyloxy)salicylidene]-1,2-diaminopropane). Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) films of compounds 1–10 were prepared (Scheme 1). The transfers of the molecules from onto the gas–water surface to glass substrate were confirmed by UV–Vis spectra. The second harmonic generation (SHG) were estimated for the LB films formed by the metal complexes. The SHG was observed for the complexes with the long alkyl chains in LB film. The order of the intensity for the SHG related with the number of unpaired d electrons or the d electron configurations.