Annihilation and creation of rotating waves by a local light pulse in a protoplasmic droplet of the Physarum plasmodium

Pattern dynamics plays a fundamental role in biological functions from cell to organ in living systems, and the appearance of rotating waves can lead to pathological situations. Basic dynamics of rotating waves of contraction-relaxation activity under local perturbation is studied in a newly developed protoplasmic droplet of the Physarum plasmodium. A light pulse is applied by irradiating circularly a quarter of the droplet showing a single rotating wave. The oscillation pattern changes abruptly only when the irradiation is applied at a part of the droplet near the maximal contraction. The abrupt changes are as follows: the rotating wave disappears or is displaced when the irradiation area is very close to the center of the rotating wave, while new rotating waves are created when the irradiation area is far from the center of the rotating wave. These results support the hypothesis that the phase response curve has a discontinuous change (type 0 resetting) from delay to advance around the maximal contraction. The significance of the results is discussed in relation to “vulnerability” in excitable media and biological systems in general.     

Photoabsorption spectra of CF3I and thermally dissociated CF3I near the C 1s, I 3d and F 1s ionisation thresholds

We report soft X-ray total ion yield and angular-resolved ion yield spectra of CF₃I in the C 1s, I 3d and F 1s ionisation regions, and tentatively assign the observed electronic states. Anisotropy in ion yield is observed only for the C transition, indicating that the dipole moment for this transition is parallel to the C_3v. The effusive source of CF₃I is heated to 800 K to produce a mixture of CF₃ and I, and the resulting spectra are compared to those recorded at room temperature.     

Novel macroscopic BC3 honeycomb sheet

We have successfully grown a uniform BC₃ honeycomb sheet with high crystalline quality over the entire macroscopic area of the NbB₂ (0001) surface by carbon-substituted technique in a boron honeycomb. This is the first macroscopic uniform sheet of single-crystal BC₃ with a monolayer thickness. So far, only BC₃ micro-crystals with radii of a few nanometres were produced. The properties of the sheet have been investigated by using XPS, AES, LEED, STM, ARUPS and HREELS. All the experimental data and the theoretical calculations, which are concerning with atomic structure, chemical concentration, and phonon structure, indicated that the uniform BC₃ honeycomb sheet was grown in an epitaxial manner to the substrate lattice.     

Determination of the change of nuclear charge radius of the119Sn Mössbauer transition by internal conversion

Radioactive¹¹⁹Sb was implanted into six host matrices (CaSnO₃, Pt, Y, Au,-Sn, Pb) and internal conversion electrons of the 23.87 keV transition in¹¹⁹Sn were measured with an iron-free magnetic spectrometer as well as Mössbauer spectra. In the analysis of the conversion spectra of outermost electrons, the overlapping K-LM Auger lines were subtracted using the Auger spectrum of tin measured with another source of^117mSn, and the shake-off effect accompanying the conversion process was considered. From the correlation between the Mössbauer isomer shifts and the intensity ratios of O-shell to N₁-shell conversion electrons, the change of the nuclear charge radius of the 23.87 keV transition of¹¹⁹Sn was deduced to be R/R=(0.87 ± 0.25) × 10^–4 for a uniform charge distribution ofR= 1.2 ×A ^1/3 fm or, equivalently, r²>—=(3.6 ± 1.0) ×10^–3 fm².     

Effects of strain path shapes on non-proportional cyclic plasticity

The title problem was discussed to facilitate the formulation of constitutive models of cyclic plasticity under general states of loading. A series of plastic strain controlled cyclic tests was performed by applying combined axial force and torque to thin-walled tubular specimens of Type 316 stainless steel at room temperature. These tests consist of cyclic loading along uniaxial, torsional, cruciform, stellate in eight directions, square and circular plastic strain paths with a constant amplitude of equivalent plastic strain.The results of these tests showed that the strain-hardening depends markedly on the shape of the plastic strain path, and that the strain-hardening (measured by equivalent stress amplitudes) in the saturated state is significant in the order of circular, square, stellate, cruciform and proportional paths. It was also observed that these saturated values were independent of the less significant plastic strain cycles experienced in the past. Finally, the characteristic features of strain-hardening mechanisms under non-proportional loadings were discussed in some detail on the basis of the present results.     

Measurement of the spectral distribution of a multi-mode dye laser light by using speckle patterns

A simple method of measuring the wavelength γ₁ and the spectral line spacing Δγ of a multi-mode dye laser light by using the correlated speckle patterns produced at the far-field of a diffuser is proposed. Examples of the obtained values of γ₁ and Δγ are 6.0 × 10³ Å and 3.0 × 10¹ Å, respectively.     

Pico-second spectroscopy of the secondary radiation from resonantly excited excitonic molecules in CuCl

Pico-second time-resolved measurements of the two-photon resonant Raman scattering via excitonic molecules in CuCl were carried out for the first time. The Raman scattering leaving transverse excitons decays as fast as the laser light. When the energy of the incident light falls in the vicinity of the two-photon resonant absorption, both Raman and luminescence lines are simultaneously observed. In case of just resonant excitation, the transient response indicates that the secondary radiation can be decomposed into the Raman and the luminescence components as regards its temporal and spectral behavior.     

The electronic structures of cis-polyacetylene

The electronic structures of two possible forms of the so-called $\text{cis}$-skeletal polyacetylene ($\text{cis}$-polyacetylene) are investigated on the basis of the tight-binding LCAO-SCF-MO method under the CNDO/2 version. The analyses of the total energies per unit cell, the π bond orders and the interatomic interaction energies as to the both forms predict the $\text{cis}$-transoid backbone for the $\text{cis}$-polyacetylene. The examination of the patterns of particular molecular orbitals of the hypothetical $\text{cis}$-polymer with equal C-C bond lengths also supports the $\text{cis}$-transoid form.     

Crystal growth of Co ferrite on fine acicular γ-Fe2O3 particles

Highly coercive magnetic powder was obtained by growing cobalt ferrite on the surface of γ-Fe₂O₃ particles in highly alkaline suspensions containing cobalt and ferrous ions in a Co/Fe molar ratio = $\text{1}\text{2}$. The mechanism of the growth and the structure of cobalt ferrite on γ-Fe₂O₃ were studied by X-ray diffraction and electron diffraction techniques. Results show that crystals of cobalt ferrite CoFe₂O₄ with a spinel type crystal structure of lattice constant 8.415 Å grew epitaxially on γ-Fe₂O₃. The acicular direction of the epitaxially grown Co-γ-Fe₂O₃ as well as γ-Fe₂O₃ was in the [$\text{1}$01] direction. It was found that from the lattice constant value and the half width of X-ray diffraction peaks, the lattice constant epitaxially grown Co γ-Fe₂O₃ may be attributed to two kinds of crystals, viz., seed γ-Fe₂O₃ ($\text{a = 8.35 ～ 8.37}\text{A}\text{?}$) which was partly reduced to Fe₃O₄, and surface layer CoFe₂O₄ ($\text{a = 8.415}\text{A}\text{?}$). The crystal growth in the interface between the seed crystals and the growth layer was affected by the crystal structure of the seed crystals. The lattice constant of CoFe₂O₄ which was located in the vicinity of the interface was almost equal to that of the seed crystals.