Hydrogen bond network-stabilisation of blue phases by addition of a chiral N-(10-hydroxydecyl)succinimide derivative and alkane diols

Blue phases (BPs) obtained by doping a commercially available liquid crystalline compound (4-butyl-N-(4-ethoxybenzylidene)aniline (EBBA)) with (2R,3R)-2,3-bis(4-octyloxyphenylbenzoyloxy)-N-(hydroxydecyl)succinimide (1) were highly stabilised by the addition of a small amount of alkane diols. Especially, addition of only 0.5 mol% of octane-1,8-diol increased the BP–Iso transition temperature by 10 K and widened the BP temperature range up to 35 K. A model stabilisation mechanism based on the construction of a hydrogen bond network in each disclination zone in BPs was proposed.     

The multiplicity of abelian covers of splice quotient singularities

From a resolution graph with certain conditions, Neumann and Wahl constructed an equisingular family of surface singularities called splice quotients. For this class some fundamental analytic invariants have been computed from their resolution graph. In this paper we give a method to compute the multiplicity of an abelian covering of a splice quotient from its resolution graph and the Galois group.     

On equivalence of L p -norms related to Schrödinger type operators on Riemannian manifolds

In this paper, we study Schrödinger type operator on a Riemannian manifold. Under some assumptions on a potential function, we characterize the domain of the square root of the Schrödinger type operator on L ^p space. In the proof, the defective intertwining properties and the Littlewood-Paley inequalities play important roles.     

Functional monomers and polymers. LXXI. Conformation and interaction studies of poly-L-lysine derivatives with pendant nucleic acid bases

Copolymers of L -lysine and L -lysine derivatives which contained nucleic acid bases substituted on the N^ε position were synthesized by grafting nucleic acid derivatives onto poly-L -lysine. The conformation and interaction of these copolymers in solution were studied by using spectroscopic measurements. They existed in helical conformation at neutral pH values, and the polymer complex formation among them was examined by ultraviolet (UV) measurements in organic solvents. A decrease in the nucleic acid base content of the copolymers resulted in a decrease in helical structures and also in interactions with the polymer-containing complementary bases.     

Determination of threo and erythro configurations of 3-fluorophenylalanine for verifying stereochemical aspects of recently reported syntheses

Determination of threo and erythro configurations of both diastereoisomers of 3-fluorophenylalanine on the basis of chemical transformation and X-ray analysis has confirmed that the aziridine ring opening reaction gives the threo isomer stereoselectively, whereas the fluorodehydroxylation reaction affords both isomers nonselectively.     

Several contributions to soil compactibility induced by cyclic loading test

To investigate the soil compactibility during the cyclic loading, three different kinds of paddy field soils were prepared so as to clarify interrelationships among stress amplitude ratio, bulk density, soil water content and pore water pressure. The presetting values of specimen include the soil water content(percent dry basis) and bulk density of 25% d.b. and 1.1 Mg/m³ respectively. The relation between the number of cyclic loading and axial strain exhibited an asymptotically increasing trend, converging toward a specific value for each experimental condition. Possible effect caused by elastic–plastic characteristics could be recognized, when axial strain for 0.5 Hz excitation becomes greater than the one of 1.0 Hz under same stress amplitude ratio. When the stress amplitude ratio took 0.1, the absolute value of axial strain of 0.5 Hz was greater than the one of 1.0 Hz, whereas its decreasing trend was recognized in the sequence of silt, clay and silty sand. The qualitative relations between pore water pressure and number of cyclic loading were also examined to scrutinize the effect of effective water pressure to the soil compactibility.     

Energy-Preserving $H^1$--Galerkin Schemes for the Hunter-Saxton Equation

We consider the numerical integration of the Hunter–Saxton equation, which models the propagation of weakly nonlinear orientation waves. For the equation, we present two weak forms and their Galerkin discretizations. The Galerkin schemes preserve the Hamiltonian of the equation and can be implemented with cheap H~1 elements. Numerical experiments confirm the effectiveness of the schemes.     

A COCR method for solving complex symmetric linear systems

The Conjugate Orthogonal Conjugate Gradient (COCG) method has been recognized as an attractive Lanczos-type Krylov subspace method for solving complex symmetric linear systems; however, it sometimes shows irregular convergence behavior in practical applications. In the present paper, we propose a Conjugate A$A$-Orthogonal Conjugate Residual (COCR) method, which can be regarded as an extension of the Conjugate Residual (CR) method. Numerical examples show that COCR often gives smoother convergence behavior than COCG.     

Collective coordinates and the mechanism for conformational transitions of complex molecules

Reduction of dimensionality is crucial for the deeper understanding of the mechanism for large-amplitude conformational transitions of complex molecules. By taking up a six-atomcluster as an illustrative example, we present a general methodology to understand conformational transitions of molecules in terms of the low-dimensional dynamics of molecular gyration radii. The dynamics of gyration radii is generally governed by the interplay between the ordinary potential force and a dynamical force called the internal centrifugal force. We show that the internal centrifugal force can be more important than the original potential barrier and gives rise to a new dynamical barrier that truly dominates the conformational transitions of the system. This kind of dynamical effect should be crucially important in a wide class of molecular reaction dynamics. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Chromatic aberration free liquid crystal adaptive optics for flood illuminated retinal camera

A high-resolution, flood-illumination retinal camera using liquid crystal (LC) adaptive optics (AO) is presented. The retinal camera uses light at 780 nm for ocular aberration measurement while light at 655 nm and 593 nm for retinal imaging. In order to avoid chromatic aberrations due to wavelength dependence of LC, we adopt an open-loop technique, in which dynamic correction of aberrations is applied only to the imaging light. A compensation pattern projected on the LC wavefront corrector is adjusted to provide phase wrapping of 2 π for illumination light. We confirmed feasibility of this technique by performing in vivo retinal imaging experiments. Photoreceptors were clearly revealed at both imaging light at 655 nm and 593 nm. Feasibility of the technique was also supported by comparison of the retinal images taken by the present open-loop technique with those taken by the conventional closed-loop one and by analysis of the spatial distribution of the photoreceptors.