Data driven time scale in Gaussian quasi-likelihood inference

We study parametric estimation of ergodic diffusions observed at high frequency. Different from the previous studies, we suppose that sampling stepsize is unknown, thereby making the conventional Gaussian quasi-likelihood not directly applicable. In this situation, we construct estimators of both model parameters and sampling stepsize in a fully explicit way, and prove that they are jointly asymptotically normally distributed. High order uniform integrability of the obtained estimator is also derived. Further, we propose the Schwarz (BIC) type statistics for model selection and show its model-selection consistency. We conducted some numerical experiments and found that the observed finite-sample performance well supports our theoretical findings.

     

Characteristics of a liquid/liquid optical waveguide using sheath flow and its application to detect molecules at a liquid/liquid interface.

The formation conditions and characteristics of a liquid/liquid optical waveguide (LLW) were studied using a two-phase sheath flow, where the inner organic phase flow acted as the core and the outer aqueous flow acted as the clad. In immiscible solvent systems, i.e., toluene/water and diethyl ether/water systems, the LLWs were formed in the range of higher than ca. 600 of the Reynolds number (Re), where the linear velocity of the organic solvent was much higher than that of the aqueous solution. On the other hand, in a miscible solvent system, i.e., a tetrahydrofuran/water system, a stable LLW was formed in the range of a much lower Re than in immiscible systems. Moreover, the molecules at the toluene/water interface of the LLW were observed with both fluorescence and absorbance measurement systems. In particular, the change in the fluorescence spectrum of 1-anilino-8-naphthalenesulfonate (ANS) at the interface within 1 ms was observed by this method, indicating the usefulness of the LLW for a fast kinetic study of a liquid/liquid interface.     

Finding of Optimal Calcium Ion Probes for Fluorescence Lifetime Measurement

We have investigated the fluorescence lifetime properties of 8 calcium ion probes, calcium-green-1, calcium green-2, calcium green-5N, calcium orange, oregon green 488 BAPTA-6F, fluo-3, fluo-4, and fluo-5N. We found that the decay time of calcium green-5N varied more sensitively with calcium concentration than calcium green-1 which was known to be a highly sensitive probe. We have also found that the center of observable range of calcium concentration by fluorescence lifetime measurement is lower than that by fluorescence intensity measurement.     

Measurements of velocity distributions with a laser doppler imaging system

A laser Doppler imaging system with a TV camera has been constructed and velocity distributions of fluid flow in cross sections of a rectangular channel have been measured. Consequently, it has been found that the system has some advantages in comparison with usual laser Doppler velocimeters, for example, the visualization of flow can be easily achieved.     

Annealing behavior of a void network in amorphous silicon

A void network in a-Si films prepared by vacuum deposition was studied. A close relationship in annealing behavior has been observed between the changes in surface area of voids and in the ESR signal strength.     

Subpicosecond photon echoes by using nanosecond laser pulses

Subpicosecond time resolutions have been obtained in photon echoes when a sample was excited by two nanosecond dye laser pulses with a smooth and broad spectrum. The dye laser was pumped by second harmonics of a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser, and the pulse width was 10 ns. The sample was 3% Nd³⁺-doped silicate glass, and the center frequency of the dye laser was tuned at 5910 Å on resonance with the ⁴I_{$\text{9}\text{2}$} ? ²G_{$\text{7}\text{2}$}, ⁴G_{$\text{5}\text{2}$} transition of Nd³⁺. The homogeneous transverse relaxation time T₂ was measured to be 91 ps at 10 K in agreement with the previous measurements by picosecond pulses.     

Cycloaddition of oxetane and carbon dioxide catalyzed by tetraphenylstibonium iodide

Trimethylene carbonate was readily obtained in the reaction of oxetane and carbon dioxide in the presence of tetraphenylstibonium iodide.