Observation of time-dependent CP violation in B0 --> eta'K0 decays and improved measurements of CP asymmetries in B0 --> phiK0, KS0KS0KS0 and B0 --> J/psiK0 decays

We present improved measurements of CP-violation parameters in B(0) --> phiK(0), eta(')K(0), KS(0)KS(0)KS(0) decays based on a sample of 535 x 10(6) BB pairs collected at the Upsilon(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB energy-asymmetric e(+)e(-) collider. We obtain sin2phi1(eff)=+0.64+/-0.10(stat)+/-0.04(syst) for B(0) --> eta(')K(0), +0.50+/-0.21(stat)+/-0.06(syst) for B(0) --> phiK(0), and +0.30+/-0.32(stat)+/-0.08(syst) for B(0) --> KS(0)KS(0)KS(0) decays. We have observed CP violation in the B(0) --> eta(')K(0) decay with a significance of 5.6 standard deviations. We also perform an improved measurement of CP asymmetries in B(0) --> J/psiK(0) decays and obtain sin2phi1=+0.642+/-0.031(stat)+/-0.017(syst).     

Detailed Cloud Microphysics Simulation for Investigation into the Impact of Sea Spray on Air-Sea Heat Flux

This paper reports on the development of a numerical weather simulation model combined with a detailed spectral-bin cloud microphysics model that can explicitly consider the droplet motion and droplet-atmosphere interactions of sea spray. Sea spray is composed of liquid droplets ejected from the sea surface into the evaporation layer, where it enhances heat as well as momentum exchanges between the atmosphere and the sea. In our study, we analyzed the results of idealized 3D simulations to investigate the impact of sea spray on latent heat exchanges and their consequent impact on boundary layer cloud development. The results show that sea spray enhances the latent heat flux by up to 62 % for the surveyed 10m-height velocities, which ranged from 12 to 42 m/s. They also show that sea spray moistening significantly enhances boundary layer cloud development.     

Steady-State and Time-Resolved Fluorescence Spectroscopic Studies on Interaction of the N-terminal Region with the Hairpin Loop of the Phytocystain Scb

The steady-state and time-resolved fluorescece spectroscopy is one of the most powerful method to detect and analyze subtle conformation change and interaction between peptide elements in protein. Phytocystatin Scb isolated from sunflower seeds includes a single Trp residue at position 85. In an attempt to investigate the interaction of the N-terminal region of Scb with the first and second hairpin loops by fluorescence spectroscopy of Trp residue, two Scb mutants in which single Trp locates at position 52 and 58, respectively, and their N-terminal removed mutants were generated. The N-terminal truncation changed the fluorescence decay kinetics of Trp52 from the triple exponential to double. Furthermore, the time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy residue indicated that the segmental motion of Trp52 was significantly enhanced by its N-terminal truncation. In contrast, Trp58 and Trp85 had little influence. The N-terminal successive truncations of Scb and its mutants resulted in the weaken inhibitors to papain. These results suggested that the N-terminal region of Scb interacts with the peptide segment preceding the first hairpin loop, thereby stabilizing the conformation of the hairpin loop structure.     

Magnetic behavior of Fe0.2Mg0.8TiO3 and Fe0.3Mg0.7TiO3 probed by Mössbauer timescale

Magnetization and Mössbauer measurements have been made on a diluted antiferromagnets Fe_xMg_1?xTiO₃ with x=0.2, 0.3 and 0.7. It has been demonstrated that this system exhibits a spin glass or a reentrant spin glass like behavior in the samples with x around the percolation concenrration x_c≈0.25. It has been shown that various sizes of magnetic clusters are formed well above the transition temperatures determined by the magnetization measurements in the samples with x near x_c. The behavior of Fe_0.2Mg_0.8TiO₃ is discussed as a typical cluster glass.     

Dynamical scaling analysis using the Lillie Number for vitrification of deeply supercooled glycerol

Thermal response was measured for a deeply supercooled glycerol specimen by applying calorimetric temperature scanning rate spectroscopy, cooling the specimen from liquid at a slow constant cooling rate until glass transition was observed. The effective fraction of glass as a function of temperature was determined and a new definition of glass transition temperature, T_gC, as the temperature at which the effective glass fraction to be 0.5 was presented. The relation between this and the cooling rate showed the Arrhenius behavior. The effective glass fraction curves shifted linearly as a function of ln(cooling rate). When T was scaled to the Lillie Number, the glass fraction lay on a master curve, which was successfully fitted with a Kohlrausch–Williams–Watts function. The Kohlrausch exponent, the relaxation time as a function of temperature and the kinetic fragility index were determined. The results were compared with literature values.     

Capillary electrophoretic discrimination of single nucleotide polymorphisms using an oligodeoxyribonucleotidepolyacrylamide conjugate as a pseudo-immobilized affinity ligand: optimum ligand length predicted by the melting temperature values.

We developed a weak-affinity separation system for single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) based on capillary electrophoresis. In this approach, single-stranded DNA (ssDNA)-polyacrylamide (polyAAm) conjugate was used as a pseudo-immobilized affinity ligand to separate the target DNA, cytochrome P450 2C9 (CYP2C9), and its point mutant. The ligand DNA was designed to be complementary to the normal DNA, and the target DNA was electrophoretically separated by the difference in the affinity with the pseudo-immobilized ligand in the capillary. We showed that the separation efficiency was closely associated with the Tm value of double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) consisting of the target and ligand DNA, which depends on the measurement conditions, such as the base number of the ligand DNA and the concentration of Mg2+ in the buffer solution.     

Improvement of wettability and detergency of polymeric materials by excimer UV treatment

The 172 nm ultraviolet (UV) excimer light was exposed to polyethylene (PE), polypropylene, poly(ethylene terephthalate) and nylon 6 surfaces in ambient air. Changes in the contact angle and particle deposition in liquid due to UV treatment were investigated from the viewpoints of wettability and detergency. For all polymers, the wettability and the acid-base component of the surface free energy evaluated by the contact angle measurements increased remarkably by UV treatment of 1 min. From surface analyses of the polymer surfaces by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy, oxygen concentration was found to increase after UV treatment, whereas little topographical change was observed. The deposition of PE and nylon 12 particles onto the polymer surface was examined, in situ, in water, water/ethanol mixture, ethanol and n-heptane. Although the number of deposited particles was largely dependent on the kinds of the particle, the substrate and the liquid, a significant decrease in the deposition due to UV treatment was confirmed in any system.     

The three-dimensional structure of aspergilloglutamic peptidase from Aspergillus niger

Aspergilloglutamic peptidase from Aspergillus niger is a novel pepstatin-insensitive acid endopeptidase distinct from the well-studied aspartic peptidases, and thus is an interesting target for protein structure/function studies. In the present study, we have determined the three-dimensional structure of the enzyme by X-ray crystallography to a 1.4-Å resolution. The results revealed that the enzyme has a unique structure, composed of two seven-stranded anti-parallel β-sheets which form a β-sandwich structure and appear to have a partial two-fold symmetry, suggesting its possible evolution by gene duplication and that the glutamic acid-110 and glutamine-24 in the heavy chain form a catalytic dyad, consistent with our results obtained by site-directed mutagenesis.     

Development of a new traceless aniline linker for solid-phase synthesis of azomethines. Application to parallel synthesis of a rod-shaped liquid crystalline library

A new traceless linker was developed to synthesize a library of 42 compounds possessing an azomethine linkage using combinatorial solid-phase parallel synthesis. The loading of the substrates on a solid support and cleavage from the solid support were performed by an imine synthesis and by imine-exchanged process under mild conditions, respectively. Thioesters with a hydroxy group on the central core exhibited liquid crystalline properties with the widest transition temperatures in the library.     

Phase grating generation and optical phase conjugation in photorefractive polymer/dissolved liquid crystal composites

The orientational photorefractive properties of photorefractive mesogenic composites have been investigated by means of two-beam coupling and degenerate four-wave mixing. Photorefractive mesogenic composites, consisting of low molar mass liquid crystals, polymer, and photoconductive sensitizer, constitute novel organic materials possessing high performance photoreractivity. The refractive index change was estimated on the basis of the theory of two-beam coupling and four-wave mixing, and large index modulation of over 0.01 was obtained.