Preparation and properties of the biodegradable graded blend of poly(L‐lactic acid) and poly(ethylene oxide)

We prepared biodegradable poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)/poly(L ‐lactic acid) (PLLA) graded blends by the dissolution–diffusion process, and discussed the biodegradability and tensile strength of the graded blends by comparing isotropic blend and PLLA only. All the graded blends were degraded more largely than the PLLA only and isotropic blend (PEO: 37.5 wt %), which had the same content as the total content of those graded blends. The graded blend having most excellent wide compositional gradient was degraded most largely with the enzyme. Thus, graded structure of the blends promoted their biodegradabilities large. It was considered that the dissolution of PEO with water increased the surface area attacked by the enzyme, while PEO caught PLLA oligomers to promote the biodegradation of PLLA. Then, the biodegradabilities of the graded blends were suppressed by the increasing crystallinity of PLLA. Furthermore, the strengths of all the graded blends were larger than those of the isotropic blend. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 2972–2981, 2007     

Cerasome as an Organic-Inorganic Vesicular Nanohybrid: Characterization of Cerasome-Forming Lipids having a Single or a Dual Trialkoxysilyl Head

Morphological characterization of the organic-inorganic vesicular nanohybrids, Cerasomes, was performed in aqueous media from two aspects. Firstly, a novel Cerasome-forming lipid having two triethoxysilyl groups in the head moiety was synthesized and the physical property of the Cerasome was investigated. While the morphological stability of the Cerasomes, as evaluated from the vesicular collapse behavior against a micelle-forming nonionic surfactant, Triton-X 100, was extremely higher than that of the conventional phospholipid liposome, the stabilities were comparable to each other for the Cerasomes derived from the dual- and single-head lipids. On the other hand, the surface property of the Cerasome formed with the dual-head lipid more closely resembled the colloidal silica particles rather than that derived from the single-head lipid, as suggested by zeta-potential measurements. Secondly, the effect of the media pH on the morphological stability of the Cerasome formed with the single-head lipid was evaluated and appeared as a time difference in obtaining the morphological stability of the Cerasome. These morphological characteristics of the Cerasomes could be mainly owing to the development of the siloxane network on the vesicular surface.     

Gamma-ray spectroscopy of the neutron-rich Ni region through heavy-ion deep-inelastic collisions

Nuclei in the neutron-rich Ni region have been studied by γ-ray spectroscopy. Gamma-rays emitted from isomers, with T _1/2 > 1 ns, produced in heavy-ion deep-inelastic collisions were measured with an isomer-scope. The nuclear structure of the doubly magic ⁶⁸Ni and its neighbor ^69,71Cu is discussed on the basis of the shell model. Future experiments for more neutron-rich Ni nuclei are also viewed. Received: 1 May 2001 / Accepted: 4 December 2001     

Outflow refreshment angiography: A bright blood, bright static tissue technique

A new “bright blood” strategy, outflow refreshment imaging, is introduced in which a number of overlapping slices are excited in rapid succession. Flowing spins that refresh each overlapped slice portion contribute a bright signal. Additionally, static tissue in each non-overlapped slice portion also yields a bright signal. However, the flow/static contrast is comparable to that produced in inflow refreshment images, and angiograms can be generated by conventional maximum intensity projection processing. The dual ability to visualize angiograms and static tissue images is a major benefit of the strategy. Computer simulations of flow sensitivities and in vivo results are presented which compare the outflow and inflow refreshment imaging strategies.     

Anisotropic giant magnetoresistance originating from the π-d interaction in a molecule

We synthesized TPP[Fe^III(Pc)(CN)₂]₂, PTMA_x[Fe^III(Pc)(CN)₂]·y(MeCN), and PXX [Fe^III(Pc)(CN)₂], a new series of charge-transfer salts containing the axially-substituted phthalocyanine (Pc), [Fe^III(Pc)(CN)₂]⁻. In this molecular unit, the π conduction electron derived from the Pc-ring coexists with the d electron which is a potential source of a local magnetic moment. Therefore various phenomena associated with the interplay between local magnetic moments and conduction electrons are expected. We observed the giant negative magnetoresistance (GNMR) in all the three salts. The GNMR is highly anisotropic for the magnetic-field direction, and reflects the g-tensor anisotropy of the local magnetic moment in the [Fe^III(Pc)(CN)₂]⁻ unit. This indicates that the GNMR in these salts originates from the strong π-d interaction in the [Fe^III(Pc)(CN)₂]⁻ unit.     

Validation of a method for predicting the precision, limit of detection and range of quantitation in competitive ELISA.

The mathematical model for predicting the precision, limit of detection (LOD) and range of quantitation (ROQ) in a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) proposed by Hayashi et al. (Anal. Chem., 2004, 76, 1295) was validated. The model describes the relative standard deviation (RSD) of concentration estimates by the RSDs of pipetting volumes of analyte, enzyme-conjugated antigen, antibody and substrate solutions, and the standard deviation (SD) of inherent absorbances between the wells in an ELISA plate. For 6 kinds of direct competitive ELISA kits, the LOD and ROQ predicted by the model agreed well with those obtained by experiments with real samples. It was also confirmed that the model is applicable to the prediction of uncertainty that depends on the pipetting error of the viscous antiserum solution. The model was demonstrated to be useful for estimating the LOD and ROQ of competitive ELISA.     

Continuous removal of radiolytic products from TBP extraction systems

In the actinide separation process using TBP as extractant, hydrolytic and radiolytic reactions cause a gradual decomposition of the extractant, resulting in the formation of degradation products which can affect process performance adversely. The TBP diluent has to be cleaned from these degradation products before it is reused. This paper deals with a procedure for solvent cleanup, using a fourstage continuous contactor for increasing the scrubbing efficiency.     

Electron-active cyclotron resonance in p-doped InMnAs in high magnetic fields

We present a theoretical and experimental study of electron-active cyclotron resonance in p-doped InMnAs in high magnetic fields. Results are based on an 8-band Pidgeon–Brown model generalized to include finite k_z effects and s(p)–d exchange interaction between itinerant carriers and Mn d-electrons. The e-active transitions in the valence band in p-doped samples take place due to the nature of multiple valence bands (heavy and light holes). We have calculated the absorption spectra in high magnetic fields and identified optical transitions which contribute to the cyclotron resonance for both e-active and h-active polarizations. Calculations show agreement with experimental results.