Growth of GaN single crystals with extremely low dislocation density by two-step dislocation reduction

We have discovered a mechanism which can significantly reduce the dislocation density during the growth of GaN single crystals in the Na flux method. The significant reduction of the dislocation density occurs in the later stage of LPE growth, rather than solely at the seed-LPE interface for which we have already reported evidence indicating the presence of bundling dislocations. The two-step dislocation reduction is the key in achieving extremely low dislocation density using this method.     

A new glycosylation method part 3: study of microwave effects at low temperatures to control reaction pathways and reduce byproducts

The efficiency of microwave irradiation at low temperature for glycosylations is described. Although oligosaccharide synthesis usually requires reactive donors for glycosylations, which have leaving groups on the anomer positions, i.e., trichloroacetoimidates, halogenates, thioalkyl glycosides, etc., the suitable donors in our microwave supported synthesis of Lewis X oligosaccharide were very stable acetate derivatives. Regarding glycosylation with a fucosyl acetate donor and a glucosamine acceptor, microwave irradiation with simultaneous cooling improved yields. Moreover, further synthesis to Lewis X derivatives was achieved only with microwave irradiation at low temperatures. Without microwave irradiation, we could only obtain byproducts and none of the designed product at any reaction temperature.     

Comparison of pharmacological effects of tetrahydrocannabinols and their 11-hydroxy-metabolites in mice

Pharmacological effects (catalepsy, hypothermia, pentobarbital-induced sleep prolongation, anticonvulsant and analgesic effects) of delta 8- and delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinols, and their 11-hydroxy-metabolites were evaluated and compared in mice. delta 9-Tetrahydrocannabinol and 11-hydroxy-delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol exhibited somewhat greater effects than did delta 8-tetrahydrocannabinol and 11-hydroxy-delta 8-tetrahydrocannabinol, respectively, in all pharmacological indices tested. Greater effects of 11-hydroxy-metabolites than those of tetrahydrocannabinols were also demonstrated.     

Discontinuous boundary implementation for the shallow water equations

Quasi‐bubble finite element approximations to the shallow water equations are investigated focusing on implementations of the surface elevation boundary condition. We first demonstrate by numerical results that the conventional implementation of the boundary condition degrades the accuracy of the velocity solution. It is also shown that the degraded velocity leads to a critical instability if the advection term is present in the momentum equation. Then we propose an alternative implementation for the boundary condition. We refer to this alternative implementation as a discontinuous boundary (DB) implementation because it introduces at each boundary node two independent mass–flux values that result in a discontinuity at the boundary. Numerical results show that the proposed DB implementation is consistent, stabilizes the quasi‐bubble scheme, and leads to second‐order accuracy at the surface elevation specified boundary. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spin fluctuations in weakly itinerant ferromagnets Y(Co1−xAlx)2

The nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate, 1/T₁, has been measured in weak itinerant ferromagnets Y(Co_1−xAl_x)₂. The temperature and magnetic field dependence of 1/T₁T has been found to be well described by the self-consistent renormalization (SCR) theory of spin fluctuations. The parameters characterizing spin fluctuations in this system were estimated from NMR and magnetic measurements. The temperature dependence of susceptibility calculated from these parameters well reproduces the experimental results.     

Stability of Mn moments and spin fluctuations in RMn2 (R: Rare earth)

On the basis of the results of thermal expansion and NMR measurements, the stability of Mn moments and spin fluctuations in RMn₂ are discussed. It has been shown that the interatomic distance of RMn₂ plays a crucial role in determining the Mn magnetism in RMn₂.     

Complexity of Body Movements during Sleep in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Recently, measuring the complexity of body movements during sleep has been proven as an objective biomarker of various psychiatric disorders. Although sleep problems are common in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and might exacerbate ASD symptoms, their objectivity as a biomarker remains to be established. Therefore, details of body movement complexity during sleep as estimated by actigraphy were investigated in typically developing (TD) children and in children with ASD. Several complexity analyses were applied to raw and thresholded data of actigraphy from 17 TD children and 17 children with ASD. Determinism, irregularity and unpredictability, and long-range temporal correlation were examined respectively using the false nearest neighbor (FNN) algorithm, information-theoretic analyses, and detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA). Although the FNN algorithm did not reveal determinism in body movements, surrogate analyses identified the influence of nonlinear processes on the irregularity and long-range temporal correlation of body movements. Additionally, the irregularity and unpredictability of body movements measured by expanded sample entropy were significantly lower in ASD than in TD children up to two hours after sleep onset and at approximately six hours after sleep onset. This difference was found especially for the high-irregularity period. Through this study, we characterized details of the complexity of body movements during sleep and demonstrated the group difference of body movement complexity across TD children and children with ASD. Complexity analyses of body movements during sleep have provided valuable insights into sleep profiles. Body movement complexity might be useful as a biomarker for ASD.     

Orientation Control of Photo‐Immobilized Antibodies on the Surface of Azobenzene‐Containing Polymers by the Introduction of Functional Groups

In our photo‐induced immobilization technique for an antibody (IgG) using azopolymers, the introduction of COOH and NMe₂ into the azopolymers, which can introduce surface charges, strongly affected the immobilization properties such as the efficiency of immobilization and the activity of the immobilized IgG (i.e., the orientation of the immobilized IgG). The introduction of COOH promoted a more active orientation of the immobilized IgG. The orientation was determined during the adsorption process onto the azopolymer surface in solution before photo‐immobilization, and was maintained during the photo‐immobilization. The surface charge of the azopolymer appears to be an important factor for IgG orientation, which involves electrostatic interactions between its Fab and the azopolymer surface.