Particle multiplicities in the fission-like reactions of 340 MeV Si on Th

Pre-scission and post-scission multiplicities of neutrons and alpha particles have been simultaneously measured for the fission-like reactions of 340 MeV ²⁸Si on ²³²Th. Dynamical model calculations using HICOL code predict that about 90% of the observed events are of quasi-fission type while the remaining 10% are from compound nucleus fission decay. Moving source fits were carried out to the observed neutron and alpha particle spectra, measured at different angles with respect to the fragment directions. The pre-scission and post-scission neutron multiplicities are deduced to be 8.7±2.0 and 9.4±2.0, respectively. The corresponding multiplicity values for alpha particles are found to be 0.22±0.08 and 0.1±0.03. From the measured post-scission neutron multiplicity, it is inferred that about 65±20 MeV of the initial excitation energy remains at scission. This may be compared to the value of 85±30 MeV estimated from PACE2 statistical model calculations, adjusted to reproduce the measured pre-scission neutron multiplicity. From a comparison of the Statistical Model predictions with the measured pre-scission neutron multiplicity, the fission delay is estimated to be of 5⁺⁷₋₃×10⁻²⁰ s which overlaps with the average duration of fission-like process from the contact to the scission point (2×10⁻²⁰ s) as determined from HICOL-based dynamical calculations. For the delay time deduced as above, the pre-scission alpha particle multiplicity calculated by the PACE2 code is about a factor two larger than the experimental one, demonstrating the difficulties in modelling the alpha particle emission from highly elongated shapes that characterize the fissioning system from the contact point to scission.     

Microscopic model for thin film spreading

A microscopic, driven lattice gas model is proposed for the dynamics and spatiotemporal fluctuations of the precursor film observed in spreading experiments. Matter is transported both by holes and particles, and the distribution of each can be described by driven diffusion with a moving boundary. This picture leads to a stochastic partial differential equation for the shape of the boundary. Explicit analytic results are obtained which agree with the simulations of the lattice gas.     

Crystal plasticity analysis of texture development in magnesium alloy during extrusion

The texture development mechanism during the extrusion of magnesium alloy is investigated by experimental observation and numerical analysis. First, we perform a finite element analysis of a full extrusion process using a phenomenological constitutive equation, and it is confirmed that the loading condition of the extrusion process near the central axis of the billet is approximated by an equi-biaxial compression mode. Then, the equi-biaxial compression problem is adopted as a simplified boundary value problem to be solved using a crystal plasticity model to clarify the detailed texture development mechanism during the extrusion process. The crystal plasticity analysis of equi-biaxial compression successfully reproduces the texture development from an initial random texture to the final experimentally observed texture. The effects of the deformation modes (i.e. slip and twinning systems) implemented in the calculation and the reference stress ratio of basal to nonbasal slip systems on texture development are studied in detail. Finally, the mechanism of texture development during the extrusion process is discussed in terms of the lattice rotation caused by the activated slip systems.     

Strain hardening in bent copper foils

A series of systematic tensile and microbend tests were conducted on copper foil specimens with different thicknesses. The specimens were made of a copper foil having almost unidirectional crystal orientations that was considered to be nearly single-crystal. In order to investigate the effects of slip system interactions, two different crystal orientations relative to the tensile direction were considered in the tests: one is close to coplanar double-slip orientation, and the other is close to the ideal cube orientation (the tensile direction nearly coincides to [0 0 1]) that yields multi-planar multi-slip deformation. We extended the microbend test method to include the reversal of bending, and we attempted to divide the total amount of strain-hardening into isotropic and kinematic hardening components. In the tensile tests, no systematic tendency of size dependence was observed. In the microbend tests, size-dependent kinematic hardening behavior was observed for both the crystal orientations, while size dependence of isotropic hardening was observed only for the multi-planar multi-slip case. We introduce an extended crystal plasticity model that accounts for the effects of the geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs), which correspond to the spatial gradients of crystallographic slips. Through numerical simulations performed using the model, the origin of the size-dependent behavior observed in the microbend tests is discussed.     

Pattern enrichment analysis for phage selection of stapled peptide ligands

Phage display is the most widely used technique to discover de novo peptides that bind to target proteins. However, it is associated with some challenges such as compositional bias. In this study, to overcome these difficulties, we devised a ‘pattern enrichment analysis.’ In this method, two samples (one obtained by affinity selection, the other simply amplified without selection) are prepared, and the two sequence datasets read on next-generation sequencer are compared to find the three-residue pattern most enriched in the selected sample. This allows us to compare two sequence datasets with high coverage and facilitates the identification of peptide sequences and the key residues for binding. We also demonstrated that this approach in the combination with structured peptide libraries allowed spatial mapping of the enriched sequence patterns. Here, we prepared a phage library displaying chemically stapled helical peptides with the X₁C₂X₃X₄X₅X₆X₇X₈C₉X₁₀ sequence, where X is any amino acid. To validate our method, we performed screening against the HDM2 protein. The results showed that the hydrophobic residues (Phe, Tyr, Trp and Leu) that are key to interactions with HDM2 were clearly identified by the pattern enrichment analysis. We also performed selection targeting the SARS-CoV-2 spike RBD in the same manner. The results showed that similar patterns were enriched among the hit peptides that inhibited the protein–protein interaction.

To effectively identify helical peptide binders from a phage library, we developed “pattern enrichment analysis,” which finds the enriched three-residue patterns by comparison with a control sample.     

Cinnamomum verum J. Presl Bark Contains High Contents of Nicotinamide Mononucleotide

The global population is aging, and intervention strategies for anti-aging and the prevention of aging-related diseases have become a topic actively explored today. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD⁺) is an important molecule in the metabolic process, and its content in tissues and cells decreases with age. The supplementation of nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN), an important intermediate and precursor of NAD⁺, has increased NAD⁺ levels, and its safety has been demonstrated in rodents and human studies. However, the high content of NMN in natural plants has not been fully explored as herbal medicines for drug development. Here, we identified that the leaf of Cinnamomum verum J. Presl (C. verum) was the highest NMN content among the Plant Extract Library (PEL) with food experience, using ultra-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). To validate this result, the extraction and quantitative analysis of bark, leaf, root, and stem of fresh C. verum was conducted. The results revealed that the bark had the highest NMN content in C. verum (0.471 mg/100 g). Our study shed light on the prospects of developing natural plants in the context of NMN as drugs for anti-aging and prevention of aging-related diseases. The future should focus on the development and application of C. verum pharmaceutical formulations.     

Four-body multiple-scattering expansion of the total transition amplitude—MST

The elastic scattering differential cross section is calculated for proton scattering from ⁶He at 717 MeV, using single-scattering terms of the multiple-scattering expansion of the total transition amplitude. We analyze the effects of different scattering frameworks, specifically the factorized impulse approximation and the fixed scatterer (adiabatic) approximation. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Detection of free nickel monocarbonyl, NiCO: rotational spectrum and structure

Unsaturated transition metal carbonyls are important in processes such as organometallic synthesis, homogeneous catalysis, and photochemical decomposition of organometallics. In particular, a metal monocarbonyl offers a zeroth-order model for interpreting the chemisorption of a CO molecule on a metal surface in catalytic activation processes. Quite large numbers of theoretical papers have appeared which predict spectroscopic and structural properties of transition metal carbonyls. The nickel monocarbonyl NiCO has been one of the metal carbonyls most extensively studied by the theoretical calculations. At least 50 theoretical studies have been published on this simplest transition metal carbonyl up to the present time. However, experimental evidence of NiCO is much more sparse than theoretical predictions, and the actual structure of NiCO has never been determined by any experimental methods. This Communication reports the first preparation of free nickel monocarbonyl and observation of its rotational transitions. The NiCO molecule was generated by the sputtering reaction of a Ni cathode in the presence of CO. The accurate bond lengths of Ni-C and C-O were experimentally determined from isotopic data and were compared with the theoretical predictions for the first time.