Determination of some rare-earth elements by plasma-jet emission spectrometry

The effects of a magnetic field on spectral intensities in plasma-jet spectrometry were examined, and detection limits for rare-earth elements were calculated. Plasma-jet emission spectrometry was applied to the determination of lanthanum, yttrium and gadolinium in a monazite sample from which thorium had been separated. A standard addition method was used in order to improve accuracy, and the internal standard and background compensation method was applied to measurements of spectral line intensities to achieve good precision. The coefficient of variation was 1.51% for 50 μg La ml^?1.     

High-performance optics for thermal microscopy

We have developed a thermal microscope which has an InSb detector and optics optimized for the camera. Using this system, we evaluated maximum resolution of a 30×/numerical aperture 0.71 lens made of silicon and germanium, and achieved the cutoff frequency of around 300 line pairs/mm, which is almost a diffraction-limited performance. The thermal microscope is installed on the THEMOS-1000, a product of Hamamatsu Photonics, for thermal emission analysis.     

CM-triviality and generic structures

 We show that any relational generic structure whose theory has finite closure and amalgamation over closed sets is stable CM-trivial with weak elimination of imaginaries. Received: 21 December 2001 / Published online: 5 November 2002 Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 03C45 Key words or phrases: CM-triviality – Generic structures – Stability     

Evaluation of left ventricular function with cardiac magnetic resonance imaging using Fourier fitting

The aims of this study were to investigate the applicability of Fourier fitting in the magnetic resonance (MR) evaluation of left ventricular (LV) function and to determine the optimal number of harmonics for fitting. Cine cardiac MR imaging was performed in 10 subjects, and an LV time–volume curve was generated. Fourier fitting was applied to the original curve using 1–10 harmonics, and the qualities of the time–volume curve and first-derivative curve were evaluated. LV functional parameters were calculated from curves generated with and without fitting. The quality of the original time–volume curve was good, and Fourier fitting had no substantial effect on functional parameters obtained directly from the time–volume curve such as ejection fraction. The first-derivative curve generated without fitting showed substantial artificial fluctuation. The application of Fourier fitting depressed the fluctuation and tended to decrease estimates of peak ejection rate and peak filling rate. Five or six harmonics appeared to be appropriate for obtaining a high-quality first-derivative curve. In conclusion, Fourier fitting was indicated to aid in reducing the artificial fluctuation of the first-derivative curve generated from cine cardiac MR imaging and to contribute to the evaluation of functional parameters derived from the first-derivative curve.     

Triggered single-photon emission and cross-correlation properties in InAlAs quantum dot

Triggered single-photon generation from InAlAs quantum dot (QD) was demonstrated for the first time. Emitted photon energy coincides with high detection efficiency range of Si single-photon detectors, which is highly suitable for free-space communication. Single-QD spectroscopy and crossed photon correlation measurements unambiguously revealed that several emitting lines observed in a single mesa structure originated from the identical QD, and two temporary competing decay processes associated with neutral states and charged states were identified. Presence of the competing process is also inferred from an analysis of steady-state photoluminescence intensities. Formation process of charged exciton in QD is also discussed.     

Re-entrant phase transitions of the Blume-Emery-Griffiths model

We have investigated the spin-1 Ising model on the simple cubic lattice with bilinear, biquadratic interaction and anisotropic energy (BEG model). We have been specially interested in the case of antiferro biquadratic interaction, because the interaction will cause the competition with bilinear interaction and anisotropy. A two-sublattice ordering, so called the staggered quadrupole (SQ) phase, occurs as long as biquadratic interaction is negative large enough. We have obtained a full phase diagram in the whole interaction parameter space (for the positive bilinear interaction) by the Bethe approximation, and found several kinds of phase transitions, such as successive, re-entrant and double re-entrant transitions. These transitions are also confirmed by Monte Carlo simulations on simple cubic lattices.     

Phase structure of a U(1) lattice gauge theory with dual gauge fields

We introduce a U(1) lattice gauge theory with dual gauge fields and study its phase structure. This system is partly motivated by unconventional superconductors like extended s-wave and d  -wave superconductors in the strongly-correlated electron systems and also studies of the t–J$t\text{–}J$ model in the slave-particle representation. In this theory, the “Cooper-pair” (or RVB spinon-pair) field is put on links of a cubic lattice due to strong on-site repulsion between original electrons in contrast to the ordinary s  -wave pair field on sites. This pair field behaves as a gauge field dual to the U(1) gauge field coupled with the hopping of electrons or quasi-particles of the t–J$t\text{–}J$ model, holons and spinons. By Monte Carlo simulations we study this lattice gauge model and find a first-order phase transition from the normal state to the Higgs (superconducting) phase. Each gauge field works as a Higgs field for the other gauge field. This mechanism requires no scalar fields in contrast to the ordinary Higgs mechanism. An explicit microscopic model is introduced, the low-energy effective theory of which is viewed as a special case of the present model.     

New synthetic routes to optically active alpha-quaternary alpha-aryl amino acid derivatives via the diastereoselective Stevens and Sommelet-Hauser rearrangements

The Stevens rearrangement of N-allylic alpha-aryl amino acid-derived ammonium salts and the Sommelet-Hauser rearrangement of N-benzylic alpha-alkyl amino acid-derived ammonium salts are shown to proceed with remarkably high levels of diastereoselectivity. The methods presented in this work provide new routes to optically active alpha-quaternary alpha-aryl amino acid derivatives.     

Hg(OAc)(2).0.1Sc(OTf)(3)-catalyzed cycloisomerization of 2-(4-pentynyl)furan

[structure: see text]. Although the Hg(OTf)2.3TMU-catalyzed Friedel-Crafts-type reaction of 3-(4-pentynyl)furan afforded the exo cyclization product, the reaction of 2-(4-pentynyl)furan furnished a very low yield. We found a 10:1 mixed reagent of Hg(OAc)2 and Sc(OTf)3 showed remarkable catalytic activity for the latter transformation. The actual reacting species is presumed to be Hg(OAc)(OTf), which is efficiently generated in situ by mixing the two reagents.