Stable all-optical formation of Bose–Einstein condensate using pointing-stabilized optical trapping beams

By stabilizing the beam pointing of optical trapping beams, we have succeeded in stable formation of Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) of ⁸⁷Rb with all-optical method. The thermal effect of acousto-optic modulator (AOM) is usually one of the most serious problems to induce beam-pointing instability, especially for high power CO₂ laser. By passing the beam through AOM twice, we have improved the beam pointing from about 4.8 mrad to less than 0.4 mrad, which has been experimentally confirmed to be small enough to stably form BEC at the crossed region of CO₂ lasers as well as to perform experiments using an optical lattice which might have been affected by beam-pointing instability. PACS 32.80.Pj; 42.79.Jq; 03.75.Mn     

Application of total reflection X-ray fluorescence spectrometry to small glass fragments.

Total reflection X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (TXRF) has been applied for trace elemental analysis of small glass fragments. A small glass sample (a fragment with weight less than 0.5 mg) was decomposed by 100 microg of HF/HNO3 acid; the material was condensed to 10 microl and was dried on a Si wafer. Since the size of the dried residue on the Si wafer was less than 1 cm in diameter, an incident X-ray beam with about 1 cm in width could effectively excite elemental components in such a small glass fragment. The precision of the present technique was checked by analyzing the glass fragments (<0.5 mg) from NIST SRM612; the relative standard deviations (RSD) of less than 8.1% were achieved for elemental ratios that were normalized by Sr. Fragments (<0.5 mg) obtained from 23 figured sheet glasses were used as samples for estimating the utility of this technique to forensic discrimination. Comparison of five elemental ratios of Ti/Sr, Mn/Sr, Zn/Sr, Rb/Sr, and Pb/Sr calculated from X-ray fluorescence spectra was effective in distinguishing glass fragments that could not be differentiated by their refractive indexes (RI).     

Preparation and certification of the new reference materials; plastics (disk form, JSAC 0621-0625) for determination of mercury using x-ray fluorescent analysis.

The Japan Society for Analytical Chemistry has developed some new plastic certified reference materials (CRMs) for the analysis of mercury in polyester disks using XRF analysis. These CRMs (named as JSAC 0621-0625) were prepared by casting polyesters including a toluene solution of organometallic compounds as a standard. Concentrations of the five levels of mercury ranged from 0 to 250 mg/kg. Homogeneity tests of prepared disks had shown excellent results. Interlaboratory comparison study for the certification was performed by 15 laboratory participants. The z-scores in robust statistical method was applied for the evaluation of outliers. The certified values were assigned after discarding outliers. The uncertainties of certified values were determined as the confidence levels of 95%.     

Interactions of water-soluble polymers with small molecules II: Poly(2-diethylaminoethyl methacrylate)-methyl orange and its homolog systems at different temperatures

In order to investigate the interactions of poly(2-diethylaminoethyl methacrylate) (PDEAEMA) with methyl orange and its homologs in solution, temperature dependence of the complex formation has been examined in detail by the measurements of transmittance and specific conductance for the systems. Furthermore, the binding course of dyes to PDEAEMA has been studied on the basis of thermodynamic parameters obtained from equilibrium dialysis experiments at different temperatures. It was observed that the flocculation process shifted to lower dye concentrations in accordance with increasing hydrophobicity of the dyes in the order, methyl orange < ethyl orange < butyl orange, and the process of complex formation was characterized by three separate regions according to the slope of specific conductivity-mixing ratio curve for mixtures of PDEAEMA and dye. The temperature dependences of F,H and S suggest that, for dyes-PDEAEMA complex formation, the hydrophobic interaction is predominant at a low temperature but the electrostatic interaction becomes important as the temperature increases.     

An improvement in the bending ability of a hinged trisaccharide with the assistance of a sugar-sugar interaction

Hinged di- and trisaccharides incorporating 2,4-diamino-beta-D-xylopyranoside as a hinge unit (Hin) were synthesized. Bridging of the diamino group of Hin by carbonylation or chelation to a metal ion results in a conformational change from (4)C1 to (1)C4, which in turn causes a bending of the oligosaccharides. In this study, the bending abilities of the hinged oligosaccharides were compared, in terms of the reactivities toward carbonylation and chelation. Di- or trisaccharides containing a 6-O-glycosylated mannopyranoside or galactopyranoside at their reducing ends had bending abilities similar to that of the Hin monosaccharide, probably because there were neither attractive nor repulsive interactions between the reducing and nonreducing ends. However, when Hin was attached at O2 of methyl mannopyranoside (Man alphaMe), the bending ability was dependent on the nonreducing sugar and the reaction conditions. Typically, a disaccharide--Hin beta(1,2)Man alphaMe--was difficult to bend under all the tested reaction conditions, and the bent population in the presence of Zn(II) was only 4%. On the other hand, a trisaccharide--Man alpha(1,3)Hin beta(1,2)Man alphaMe--was bent immediately after the addition of Zn(II) or Hg(II), and the bent population reached 75%, much larger than those of all the other hinged trisaccharides ever tested (<40%). This excellent bending ability suggests an attractive interaction between the reducing and nonreducing ends. The extended conformation was recovered by the addition of triethylenetetramine, a metal ion chelator. Reversible, quick, and efficient bending of the hinged trisaccharide was thus achieved.     

Quinolone analogues 6 [1‐5]. Synthesis of 3‐halogeno‐1‐methylpyridazino[3,4‐b]quinoxalin‐4(1H)‐ones

The reaction of the quinoxaline N‐oxides 7a,b with diethyl ethoxymethylenemalonate gave the 1‐methylpyridazino[3,4‐b]quinoxaline‐4,4‐dicarboxylates 8a,b , whose reaction with N‐bromosuccinimide or N‐chlorosuccinimide afforded the 3‐halogeno‐1‐methylpyridazino[3,4‐b]quinoxaline‐4,4‐dicarboxylates 9a‐d. The reaction of compounds 9a‐d with hydrazine hydrate resulted in hydrolysis and decarboxylation to provide the 3‐halogeno‐1‐methylpyridazino[3,4‐b]quinoxaline‐4‐carboxylates 10a‐d , whose reaction with nitrous acid effected oxidation to furnish the 3‐halogeno‐4‐hydroxy‐1‐methylpyridazino[3,4‐b]quinoxaline‐4‐carboxylates 11a‐d , respectively. The reaction of compounds 11a‐d with hydrazine hydrate afforded the 3‐halogeno‐1‐methylpyridazino[3,4‐b]quinoxalin‐4‐ols 12a‐d , whose oxidation provided the 3‐halogeno‐1‐methylpyridazino[3,4‐b]quinoxalin‐4(1H)‐ones 6a‐d , respectively. Compounds 6a‐d had antifungal activities in vitro.     

Vinyl polymerization. 413. Polymerization of vinyl monomer initiated by poly(vinylbenzyltrimethyl)-ammonium chloride

The polymerization of vinyl monomer initiated by an aqueous solution of poly(vinylbenzyltrimethyl)ammonium chloride (Q-PVBACI) was carried out at 85°C. Styrene, p-chlorostyrene, methyl methacrylate, and i-butyl methacrylate were polymerized, whereas acrylonitrile and vinyl acetate were not. The effects of the amounts of vinyl monomer, Q-PVBACI, and water on the conversion of vinyl monomer were studied. The overall activation energy in the polymerization of styrene was estimated as 79.1 kJ mol^?1. The polymerization proceeded through a radical mechanism. The selectivity of vinyl monomer was discussed by “a concept of hard and soft hydrophobic areas and monomers.”     

Structural difference between a superconducting sodium cobalt oxide and its related phase

Monolayer hydrate (MLH) Na_xCoO₂·y′H₂O was obtained from superconducting bilayer hydrate (BLH) Na_xCoO₂·yH₂O by partial extraction of H₂O molecules between the CoO₂ layers. Magnetization measurements indicated that electron densities in the CoO₂ layer of the MLH phase remained unchanged after the water extraction. Nevertheless, superconductivity was completely suppressed in the MLH phase. This strongly suggests that the highly 2D nature in the BLH phase due to its thick insulating layers consisting of H₂O molecules and Na⁺ ions plays an important role for inducing superconductivity.     

SEC–MALLS analysis of cellulose using LiCl/1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone as an eluent

The lithium chloride/1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone (LiCl/DMI) solvent system for cellulose was adopted as a mobile phase of size-exclusion chromatographic (SEC) analysis of cellulose, and the applicability of this system was examined using multi-angle laser light scattering and ¹³C-NMR analysis. The results indicate that 8% (w/v) LiCl/DMI ID a true solvent for cellulose, and that cellulose molecules dissolving ID 1% (w/v) LiCl/DMI are separated orderly depending on their molecular mass (MM) or root-mean-square (RMS) radius by the SEC system. Practically, no aggregates were detected ID the dilute cellulose/LiCl/DMI solutions. Furthermore, high stability of cellulose/LiCl/DMI solutions has been demonstrated; only a few percent of decline ID average MM was observed even after storage for 6 months at room temperature. Relationships between RMS radius and MM for hardwood bleached kraft pulp ID 1% LiCl/DMI was estimated as the following equation: _g^0.59, corresponding to a Mark–Houwink–Sakurada exponent of 0.77.