Preparation of flexible and transparent polylactic acids films by crystallization manipulation

Highly flexible and transparent polylactic acids (PLAs) films were successfully prepared by manipulating their crystallization. The semicrystalline poly(L ‐lactic acid) (L) was blended with a noncrystalline poly(DL ‐lactic acid) (DL) together with diglycerol tetraacetate (DGTA). Optimal DGTA content to plasticize PLAs was about 17%. Addition of DL hindered the crystallization of the films. Tensile strengths of the films having DL content more than 5% were about 10 MPa while the elongations at break were boosted as DL content increased. Films having L/DL ratio of 50/50 showed elongations at break of 270%. Stretch ability and clarity of films containing 15–50% DL were fair although they were subjected to annealing at 60 °C for 1 h. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 6489–6495, 2008     

Liquid ionization mass spectrometry of some triorganotin carboxylates.

and ESI, in which [M + H]+ were not observed or the spectra were complicated. The liquid ionization mass spectra of triorganotin carboxylates varied with solvents and sample concentrations. For instance, the fragment ions [M + (C4H9)3Sn]+ of dimeric ions were observed with chloroform used as a solvent, while the [M + H]+ were observed as the base peak using ethylene dichloride. Spectra useful for the differentiation of isomers [CgH7O3Sn(C4Hg)3] were obtained by the formation of characteristic adduct ions, such as [M + EA + H]+ and [M + 2EA + H]+, with a reagent like 2-aminoethanol. Collision-induced dissociation (CID) spectra observed by ESI and LPI mass spectrometry were similar and provided less information than adduct ions did.     

Study of γ d → π + π − d Reaction in an Energy Region of 0.67 ≤ E γ ≤ 1.08 GeV

Double charged pion photoproductions from the deuteron have been studied at Research Center for Electron Photon Science (ELPH), Tohoku University. Tagged photon beams in an energy range of 0.67 ≤ E _γ ≤ 1.08 GeV were impinged on the liquid deuteron target. Produced charged particles were observed with the Neutral Kaon Spectrometer2 (NKS2). The γ d → π ⁺ π ^? d process was clearly separated among the three charged tracks. We obtained the photon energy dependence of the normalized yields of this process.     

Study of Strangeness Photoproduction on the Neutron in the Threshold Region

Photoproduction of the neutral kaon on the deuteron has been investigated at the Research Center for Electron Photon Science, Tohoku University. We constructed the Neutral Kaon Spectrometer-2 for the detection of charged particles from the decay of the neutral kaon and the hyperon. We obtained a momentum distribution of K ⁰ with the inclusive measurement. It was consistent with the previous measurement. The total cross section of γ + d → K ⁰ + Λ + p was estimated from the measured integral cross section of γ + d → Λ + X. The total cross section with respect to the photon energy was compared with the theoretical calculations. It favored the Saclay-Lyon A model calculation with the ratio of the neutral to charged coupling constants of the axial-vector meson, K ₁, as ~ ?1.5. The energy dependence and the magnitude of the total cross section were similar to the total cross section of γ + p → K ⁺ Λ.     

Resonances Generated by the Vector Meson-Baryon Dynamics

We have recently studied vector meson-octet baryon (VB) interactions with the aim to find dynamical generation of resonances in such systems. For this, we consider the s-, t-, u-channel diagrams along with a contact interaction originating from the hidden local symmetry Lagrangian. We find the contribution from all these sources, except the s-channel, to be important. The amplitudes obtained by solving the coupled channel Bethe–Salpeter equations for the systems with total strangeness zero show generation of one isospin 3/2, spin 1/2 resonance and three isospin 1/2 resonances: two with spin 3/2 and one with spin 1/2. We identify these resonances with Δ (1900) S ₃₁, N*(2080) D ₁₃, N* (1700) D ₁₃, and N*(2090) S ₁₁, respectively. Further, we briefly discuss the results of our investigation of the VB systems when coupled to the pseudoscalar meson-baryon (PB) channels. We find that the low-lying resonances couple strongly to the VB channels, a result which can be useful in studying the reactions involving pseudoscalar and vector meson exchanges. In case of the higher mass resonances (in the 1,800–2,200 MeV region), we find that some of the states claimed as dynamically generated states in the VB system can disappear due to their coupling to the PB channels. We also find that new states can appear from PB–VB coupled channel dynamics; for example, we find that a Σ resonance near 1,400 MeV gets developed due to such an effect.     

Printed circuit rat-race-type directional couplers for larger power-split ratio

Two different types of 5/2-wavelength rat-race-type directional couplers with a remarkably increased power-split ratio for a realizable ring-impedance, in particular which are useful for millimeter-wave circuits suffering from the severe restriction on the usable impedance range, are described. Experimental corroboration is provided in the microwave region (at 8 GHz).