Shape and structure recovery of an LCP droplet under a large step strain: observation and stress calculation

Shape recovery of a droplet of liquid crystalline polymer (LCP) hydroxypropylcellulose in a matrix of poly(dimethyl siloxane) subjected to a step shear strain has been studied via optical microscopy. Just after application of a large strain, the LCP droplet shape is flat ellipsoid, and then the droplet takes cylindrical shape and band texture perpendicular to the flow direction appears. The band texture fades away before emergence of poly-domain structure. In the final process with the shape of spheroid, poly-domain structure recovers very slowly. Except for the final process, the shape change is identical with that of isotropic droplet at strains smaller than 3, when the LCP viscosity in Region II is taken as an equivalent viscosity for normalization. For a 20:80 blend, the excess relaxation modulus is calculated based on the Doi-Ohta theory, taking account of the distribution of droplet size and compared with experimental modulus data.     

Theoretical and experimental guideline of optimum design of defect-inspection apparatus for transparent material using phase-shift illumination approach

Optical Review - Machine vision system has great significance for the automatic inspection to enhance unclear defects. For the purpose of the improvement of the recognition accuracy in the...     

Oxidation behavior of NiAl alloy at low temperatures

Oxidation behavior of NiAl alloy at low temperatures was studied. A NiAl plate was oxidized by exposure to ambient atmosphere at room temperature, heated at 473 K in air, and heated at 773 K in air. The oxide formed on the NiAl surface was investigated by angle‐resolved X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (AR‐XPS). Chemical composition and atomic concentration in the oxide layer were analyzed with factor analysis of XPS spectra. Exposure of the NiAl plate to the ambient atmosphere resulted in the formation of an Al₂O₃ layer along with a small amount of NiO. Oxidation of the NiAl plate at 473 K in air formed a film of double‐layered oxide; the top layer consisted of NiAl₂O₄ and a small amount of NiO, and the second layer was Al₂O₃. Successive oxidation at 773 K only changed the oxide‐layer thickness without changing the structure. Formation of oxide observed in the present study corresponds to the thermodynamic prediction for the oxidation behavior of NiAl at 1373 K. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Phosphoproteome Profiling Using a Fluorescent Phosphosensor Dye in Two-Dimensional Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis

We validated the novel PhosphoQUANTI SolidBlue Complex (PQSC) dye for the sensitive fluorescent detection of phosphorylated proteins in polyacrylamide- and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (PAGE and 2DE, respectively). PQSC can detect as little as 15.6 ng of ß-casein, a pentaphosphorylated protein, and 61.3 ng of ovalbumin, a diphosphorylated protein. Fluorescence intensity correlates with the number of phosphorylated residues on the protein. To demonstrate the specificity of PQSC for phosphoproteins, enzymatically dephosphorylated lysates of Swiss 3T3 cells were separated in 2DE gels and stained by PQSC. The fluorescence signals in these gels were markedly reduced following dephosphorylation. When the phosphorylated proteins in Swiss 3T3 cell lysates were concentrated using a phosphoprotein enrichment column, the majority of phosphoproteins showed fluorescence signals in the pI 4–5 range. Finally, we performed phosphoproteome analysis to study differences in the protein phosphorylation profiles of proliferating and quiescent Swiss 3T3 cells. Over 135 discernible protein spots were detected, from which a selection of 15 spots were identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI TOF-MS). The PQSC staining procedure for phosphoprotein detection is simple, reversible, and fully compatible with MALDI TOF-MS.     

Accurate and rapid estimation on spectral interferences in routine analysis by ICP-AES: use of mutual interference coefficients

A practical method to estimate spectral interferences and to select optimum analytical lines in ICP-AES is suggested. Depending on the matrix composition and the amounts of the analyte, the analytical lines suffering from little interferences and the limit of determination can be determined from calculation using spectral interference coefficients. For this calculation, the spectral interference coefficients, which are defined as apparent mass of the analyte equivalent to the spectral interference from unit mass of the interferent, are obtained experimentally for 639 emission lines of 68 elements. There is a good correlation between the coefficients obtained on two spectrometers having different resolutions.     

Magnetic microcapsules for targeted delivery of anticancer drugs

To achieve targeted distribution of anticancer drugs with sustained activity, ferromagnetic ethylcellulose microcapsules containing an anticancer drug, mitomycin C (FM-MMC-mc), were prepared by a method based on phase separation principles. Two prototypes of FM-MMC-mc were made: one with the drug as the core and zinc ferrite on its capsular surface (outer type); the other with both the drug and zinc ferrite as the core (inner type). Both preparations provided a sustained-release property and a sensitive response to conventional magnetic force, although certain differences in the release rate of drug, magnetic responsiveness, and particle size were found between the two dosage forms. Animal studies showed that the magnetic microcapsules could be magnetically controlled in the artery and urinary bladder. VX2 tumors in the rabbit hind limb and urinary bladder were successfully treated with magnetic control of FM-MMC-mc. Pharmacokinetic study revealed that the targeting of the microcapsules markedly enhanced the drug absorption into the surrounding tissues for a prolonged period of time. The results indicate the feasibility and effectiveness of the magnetic microcapsules as a targeted drug delivery system.     

Estimation of the thickness or composition of a covering layer on a solid by XPS or AES

A method is proposed for semi-quantitative determination of the thickness or composition of a covering layer on a solid by XPS or by micro-AES using neither a series of standard samples nor argon-ion etching. In the case of XPS, the thickness or relative composition of the covering layer is calculated by means of the intensity ratio between one element and another in a specimen and using physical parameters such as inelastic mean free paths of electrons and photoionization cross-sections.In the case of AES, the physical parameters for the quantification can be eliminated by using the ratio of the relative intensity for two elements in the sample to that in a suitable, comparable reference.     

Observations on the reactivity of tris(tetramethylethylenedioxyboryl)methide ion

Treatment of tetrakis(tetramethylethylenedioxyboryl)methane, (Me₄C₂ - O₂B)₄C, in THF with butyllithium at ?78° generates the tris(tetramethylethylenedioxyboryl)methide ion, (Me₄C₂O₂B)₃C^?, which reacts with chlorotrimethylsilane at ?78° to form trichlorosilyltris(tetramethylethylenedioxyboryl)-methane, (Me₄C₂O₂B)₃CSiMe₃. The yield was low, but other attempts to form silyltriborylmethanes have failed altogether. The ion (Me₄C₂O₂B)₃C^? reacts with tetraphenylcyclopentadienone at ?78° to form the expected fulvene, 1,1-bis-(tetramethylethylenedioxyboryl)-2,3,4,5-tetraphenylfulvene. The red color of the tetraphenylcyclopentadienone is converted immediately to the brown of the fulvene product, indicating that the β-elimination of boron and oxygen occurs rapidly under basic conditions at ?78°.     

Comparison in fractal dimension between those obtained from structure factor and viscoelasticity of gel networks of 1,3:2,4-bis-O-(p-methylbenzylidene)-D-sorbitol in polystyrene melt at gel point

We investigated time evolution of shear moduli in the physical gelation process of 1,3:2,4-bis-O-(p-methylbenzylidene)-D-sorbitol in polystyrene melt. At the gel point, storage and loss shear moduli, G' and G", were described by the power law of frequency omega, G' approximately G" approximately omegan, with the critical exponent n being nearly equal to 2/3, in agreement with the value predicted by the percolation theory. We also investigated the structure factor over two decades in length scale at gel point by using ultra-small-angle X-ray scattering, and small-angle X-ray scattering. We found the power-law behavior in low-q region, indicating that the gel network forms the self-similar structure with mass-fractal dimension. Comparison between the exponent of mass-fractal dimension from structure factor and that from viscoelasticity indicates that hydrodynamic interactions are completely screened out and the excluded volume effects are dominant in the gel. The gel strength was found to increase with the decrease in the lower limit length scale of fractality.