Preface

Optical Review - To increase the recording density of optical discs, analog recording techniques such as the use of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) method has been investigated....     

Hydrophobic Monomers Recognize Microenvironments in Hydrogel Microspheres during Free-Radical-Seeded Emulsion Polymerization

The three-dimensional structure of nanocomposite microgels was precisely determined by cryo-electron micrography. Several nanocomposite microgels that differ with respect to their nanocomposite structure, which were obtained from seeded emulsion polymerization in the presence of microgels, were used as model nanocomposite materials for cryo-electron micrography. The obtained three-dimensional segmentation images of these nanocomposite microgels provide important insights into the interactions between the hydrophobic monomers and the microgels, that is, hydrophobic styrene monomers recognize molecular-scale differences in polarity within the microgels during the emulsion polymerization. This result led to the formation of unprecedented multi-layered nanocomposite microgels, which promise substantial potential in colloidal applications.     

Novel and stereocontrolled asymmetric synthesis of a new naturally occurring styryllactone, (+)-cardiobutanolide

An efficient and stereodefined strategy is described for the asymmetric synthesis of a new styryllactone from the stem bark of Goniothalamus cardiopetalus, cardiobutanolide. The synthetic process is based on requisite manipulation of the functionalized bicyclic lactol-lactone intermediate incorporating the glucuronolactone-derived skeleton in a complete stereoselective manner.     

Potential formation and high density plasma production on the tandem mirror GAMMA 10

GAMMA 10 experiments have advanced in high density experiments after the last EPS Workshop where we reported high density plasma production by using an ion cyclotron range of frequency heating at a high harmonic frequency and neutral beam injection in the central cell. Recently a high density plasma was obtained with much improved reproducibility than before and without degradation of diamagnetic signal. The high density plasma was attained by adjusting the spacing of the conducting plates installed in the anchor transition regions. Dependencies of particle confinement time, ion energy confinement time and plasma confining potential on plasma density were obtained for the first time in the high density region. Presented at 5th Workshop “Role of Electric Fields in Plasma Confinement and Exhaust”, Montreus, Switzerland, June 23–24, 2002.     

Numerical analysis of turbulent structure in compound meandering open channel by algebraic Reynolds stress model

The turbulent flow in a compound meandering channel with a rectangular cross section is one of the most complicated turbulent flows, because the flow behaviour is influenced by several kinds of forces, including centrifugal forces, pressure‐driven forces and shear stresses generated by momentum transfer between the main channel and the flood plain. Numerical analysis has been performed for the fully developed turbulent flow in a compound meandering open‐channel flow using an algebraic Reynolds stress model. The boundary‐fitted coordinate system is introduced as a method for coordinate transformation in order to set the boundary conditions along the complicated shape of the meandering open channel. The turbulence model consists of transport equations for turbulent energy and dissipation, in conjunction with an algebraic stress model based on the Reynolds stress transport equations. With reference to the pressure–strain term, we have made use of a modified pressure–strain term. The boundary condition of the fluctuating vertical velocity is set to zero not only for the free surface, but also for computational grid points next to the free surface, because experimental results have shown that the fluctuating vertical velocity approaches zero near the free surface. In order to examine the validity of the present numerical method and the turbulent model, the calculated results are compared with experimental data measured by laser Doppler anemometer. In addition, the compound meandering open channel is clarified somewhat based on the calculated results. As a result of the analysis, the present algebraic Reynolds stress model is shown to be able to reasonably predict the turbulent flow in a compound meandering open channel. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

L-S category of quaternionic Stiefel manifolds

By calculating certain generalized cohomology theory, lower bounds for the L-S category of quaternionic Stiefel manifolds are given.     

Fluorescence labeling of oligosaccharides useful in the determination of molecular interactions.

A simple method to label oligosaccharides with a multifunctional fluorescent group was developed. Oligosaccharides were quantitatively labeled at their reducing termini with pyrene butanoic acid hydrazide. The pyrene-labeled oligosaccharides were successfully applied to fluorescence polarization measurements and ELISA at picomole quantity, which was not previously reached by other procedures. This labeling method should prove to be useful in a variety of aspects in glycobiology.     

Unsaturated bond existing in tetrafluoroethylene-propylene-vinylidene fluoride terpolymer

Infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopies have been applied for quantitative comparison on unsaturated bonds in tetrafluoroethylene (TFE)-propylene (P)-vinylidene fluoride (VdF) terpolymers. These spectroscopies have led to consistent results while they are based on completely different principles. It is shown that the absolute concentration can be evaluated from NMR measurements. The behavior of unsaturation has been discussed in terms of after-treatment such as wet and dry treatments. The result obtained here can give the important information to improve the performance of fluoroelastomer based on TFE-P-VdF terpolymers.