Characterization of coal fly-ash particles by laser microprobe mass spectrometry

Laser microprobe mass spectrometry (LMMS) was applied to coal fly-ash particles prefractionated to homogeneous composition with respect to particle size and density. For major elements, semiquantitative results (<50% relative standard deviation) were obtained; and the characteristic density dependence found for Si, K, Ca and Fe was in good agreement with that obtained by scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive x-ray analysis (EDX). The relative sensitivity coefficients, based on concentrations evaluated from the EDX data, coincided with those obtained for the NBS glass particle standard in previous work.     

Rapid detection of drugs in biofluids using atmospheric pressure chemi/chemical ionization mass spectrometry

We have demonstrated that, with simple pH adjustment, volatile drugs such as methamphetamine, amphetamine, 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), ketamine, and valproic acid could be analyzed rapidly from raw biofluid samples (e.g. urine and serum) without dilution, or extraction, using atmospheric pressure ionization. The ion source was a variant type of atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) that used a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) to generate the metastable helium gas and reagent ions. The sample solution was loaded in a disposable glass pipette, and the volatile compounds were purged by nitrogen gas to be reacted with the metastable helium gas. The electrodes of the DBD were arranged in such a way that the generated glow discharge was confined within the discharge tube and was not exposed to the analytes. A needle held at 100–500 V was placed between the ion‐sampling orifice and the discharge tube to guide the analyte ions into the mass spectrometer. After pH adjustment of the biofluid sample, the amphiphilic drugs were in the form of a water‐insoluble oil, which could be concentrated on the liquid surface. By gentle heating of the sample to increase the evaporation rate, rapid and sensitive detection of these drugs in raw urine and serum samples could be achieved in less than 2 min for each sample. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development and application of an internet electron microscopy system for the outreach program in Japan.

The development of a remotely operated scanning electron microscopy (SEM) system and its use by high school students and the public as an outreach program are reported. The SEM and the server are located in the National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan, with client computers installed at a science museum and high schools. Using a secure virtual private network system and scheduling/management groupware, observation of SEM images and energy dispersive X-ray analysis are widely and frequently performed throughout Japan.     

Direct observation of intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution under white light excitation. II. Fluorescence spectra of fluorobenzene derivatives by controlled electron impact

The low-resolution (resolution: 0.6 nm) fluorescence spectra of fluorobenzene derivatives, o-, m- and p-fluorotoluene (o-, m- and p-FT) were observed to investigate intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution (IVR) under controlled electron impact. The o- and m-FT spectra mainly consisted of unstructured emission from optically inactive states (bath modes) populated through IVR. The p-FT spectrum consisted of structured emission from optically active states and unstructured emission. The high-resolution (resolution: 0.15 nm) fluorescence spectrum of p-FT was measured to estimate the fraction of the structured emission intensity to the total emission intensity. The IVR rate of p-FT under electron impact excitation was faster than that under laser excitation. The fraction did not depend on the incident energy of electrons from 20 to 200 eV, and thus the IVR acceleration is not attributable to breakdown of the Born approximation.     

π-Extended Thiadiazoles Fused with Thienopyrrole or Indole Moieties: Synthesis, Structures, and Properties

We report the syntheses, structures, photophysical properties, and redox characteristics of donor-acceptor-fused π-systems, namely π-extended thiadiazoles 1-5 fused with thienopyrrole or indole moieties. They were synthesized by the Stille coupling reactions followed by the PPh(3)-mediated reductive cyclizations as key steps. X-Ray crystallographic studies showed that isomeric 1b and 2b form significantly different packing from each other, and 1a and 4a afford supramolecular networks via multiple hydrogen bonding with water molecules. Thienopyrrole-fused compounds 1b and 2b displayed bathochromically shifted intramolecular charge-transfer (CT) bands and low oxidation potentials as compared to indole-fused analog 3b and showed moderate to good fluorescence quantum yields (Φ(f)) up to 0.73. In 3b-5b, the introduction of electron-donating substituents in the indole moieties substantially shifts the intramolecular CT absorption maxima bathochromically and leads to the elevation of the HOMO levels. The Φ(f) values of 3-5 (0.04-0.50) were found to be significantly dependent on the substituents in the indole moieties. The OFET properties with 1b and 2b as an active layer were also disclosed.     

Forbidden Triples Containing a Complete Graph and a Complete Bipartite Graph of Small Order

For a graph G and a set \({\mathcal{F}}\) of connected graphs, G is said be \({\mathcal{F}}\) -free if G does not contain any member of \({\mathcal{F}}\) as an induced subgraph. We let \({\mathcal{G} _{3}(\mathcal{F})}\) denote the set of all 3-connected \({\mathcal{F}}\) -free graphs. This paper is concerned with sets \({\mathcal{F}}\) of connected graphs such that \({\mathcal{F}}\) contains no star, \({|\mathcal{F}|=3}\) and \({\mathcal{G}_{3}(\mathcal{F})}\) is finite. Among other results, we show that for a connected graph T( ≠ K ₁) which is not a star, \({\mathcal{G}_{3}(\{K_{4},K_{2,2},T\})}\) is finite if and only if T is a path of order at most 6.     

Control of multi-joint arm movements for the manipulation of touch in keystroke by expert pianists

Background  

Production of a variety of finger-key touches in the piano is essential for expressive musical performance. However, it remains unknown how expert pianists control multi-joint finger and arm movements for manipulating the touch. The present study investigated differences in kinematics and kinetics of the upper-limb movements while expert pianists were depressing a key with two different touches: pressed and struck. The former starts key-depression with the finger-tip contacting the key, whereas the latter involves preparatory arm-lift before striking the key. To determine the effect of individual muscular torque (MUS) as well as non-muscular torques on joint acceleration, we performed a series of inverse and forward dynamics computations.     

Fabrication of self-standing nanowires, nanodendrites, and nanofractal-like trees on insulator substrates with an electron-beam-induced deposition

Self-standing tungsten nanowires, nanodendrites, and nanofractal-like trees were fabricated on insulator (Al₂O₃) substrates with a process of electron-beam-induced decomposition in a transmission electron microscope. The conditions for fabricating different morphologies are described. The fabricated structures are characterized with high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and X-ray energy-dispersive spectroscopy. A high concentration of tungsten and a high crystallinity of the structure are confirmed. The growth process is discussed, involving charges produced on the surface of the substrate and the behavior of precursor molecules under electron-beam irradiation. The formation of these structures is considered to relate to nanoscaled unevenness of the charge distribution on the surface of the substrate, movement of charges to the convex surface of the substrate, and accumulation of charges at the tips of the grown structures. PACS 81.07.-b; 07.78.+s; 81.15.Gh; 81.16.-c