An X-ray diffraction study of anharmonic thermal vibrations in the ionic conductor,barium chloride fluoride (BaClF)

Integrated intensities of X-ray reflections from a barium chloride fluoride single crystal were measured at 24, 180, 289, 402, 467 and 610°C. The intensities were used for the determination of the anharmonic potential parameters up to the third order. Harmonic potential parameters for each ion were obtained from the temperature dependence of thermal parameters, and anharmonic potential parameters were determined by the least-squares procedures, utilizing the temperature factor formalism based on the cumulant expansion. As a result, it has been found that the Ba²⁺ and Cl^? ions show an anharmonicity, while no significant anharmonic effect was detected for the F^? ion. From the potential calculated around the Cl^? and F^? ions, it was found that both Cl^? and F^? ions diffuse more easily within the (001) plane than along the c axis.     

Thickening process of polyethylene single crystals at an early stage of annealing

By the use of a position sensitive proportional counter, changes in small and wide angle X-ray scattering during annealing of polyethylene single crystal mats were measured from the start in successive spans of very short measuring time. At high temperatures, the long period relating to stacking of lamellae rapidly increased at an early stage, passed through a plateau, and thereafter again increased gradually. With a decrease in annealing temperature, the amount of its first rapid increase was reduced and the plateau changed into an ascending slope. At much lower annealing temperatures, the long period increased following the logt law after an induction time. The integral breadth of a peak corresponding to the long period first increased rapidly, simultaneously with the rapid increase in the long period, and thereafter decreased. Wide angle X-ray measurement showed that the integrated intensity of 110 reflection first decreased and then increased during annealing at high temperatures. This fall and rise process was more marked, when the annealing temperature is higher and the initial thickness of lamellae is smaller. From these observations, it was inferred that in the thickening process, stacking order of lamellae at first decreased because of rapid reorganization due to partial melting or melt-recrystallization and subsequently increased through increasing evenness of lamellar thickness.     

Quantum-Statistics Behavior of the Exciton-Biexciton System In GaAs/AlAs Type-II Superlattices

We have investigated the quantum-statistics behavior of the exciton-biexciton system from the photoluminescence properties in (GaAs) m /(AlAs) m type-II superlattices with m = 12 and 13 monolayers, where the lowest-energy type-II exciton consists of the n = 1 X electron of AlAs and n = 1 o heavy hole of GaAs. The long exciton lifetime of the order of w s due to the indirect transition nature enables us to obtain precisely the density relation between the exciton and biexciton from the line-shape analysis of time-resolved photoluminescence spectra. In a relatively low exciton-density region, the biexciton density obeys a well-known square law. At an exciton density around 1 2 10 10 cm m 2 , the biexciton density suddenly increases with a threshold-like nature. This behavior, which is realized at a bath temperature up to 8 K under an excitation power of the order of 100 mW/cm 2 , results from the characteristics of Bose-Einstein statistics of the exciton-biexciton system.     

Helical polyacetylene—Origins and synthesis

We present the origins and synthesis of helical polyacetylene (H‐PA) by focusing on its peculiar spiral morphology. Interfacial polymerization of acetylene was carried out in an asymmetric reaction field consisting of chiral nematic liquid crystal (N*‐LC) and Ziegler–Natta catalyst. As the N*‐LC is composed of nematic liquid crystal and a chiral compound such as a binaphthyl derivative with either the R‐ or S‐configuration, the screw directions of the polyacetylene chain and fibril bundle—and even the spiral morphology—are rigorously controlled by the chirality of the selected compound. Interestingly, the screw directions of the fibril and the bundle in H‐PA were found to be opposite to that of N*‐LC. It is worthwhile to emphasize that the hierarchical spiral morphology involving the primary to higher order structure is generated in a synthetic polymer such as polyacetylene by using N*‐LC as an asymmetric polymerization solvent. © 2008 The Japan Chemical Journal Forum and Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Chem Rec 8: 395–406; 2008: Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ) DOI 10.1002/tcr.20163     

Exact determination of phagocytic activity of alveolar macrophages toward polymer microspheres by elimination of those attached to the macrophage membrane

A method for exact determination of phagocytic activity of alveolar macrophage (M) cells toward synthetic microspheres (MS) by optical microscopy was developed. We examined the effectiveness of the treatment of M samples with trypsin, acid or xylene to remove the polystyrene latex microspheres (PSL MS) attached to M cell membranes during their phagocytosis by M cells. We found that centrifugation, which was employed to collect M samples after incubation with MS, affected significantly the efficiency of the various treatments. Of the three treatments, xylene treatment without centrifugation was the most effective to determine the phagocytic activity of M cells, as xylene dissolved the PSL MS on the cell surface almost completely. This treatment was also effective in the case of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) MS (PLGA MS), which have been commonly used as an efficient vehicle for drug delivery system.     

Chemical synthesis of poly‐γ‐glutamic acid by polycondensation of γ‐glutamic acid dimer: Synthesis and reaction of poly‐γ‐glutamic acid methyl ester

α‐Methyl glutamic acid (L ‐L )‐, (L ‐D )‐, (D ‐L )‐, and (D ‐D )‐γ‐dimers were synthesized from L ‐ and D ‐glutamic acids, and the obtained dimers were subjected to polycondensation with 1‐(3‐dimethylaminopropyl)‐3‐ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride and 1‐hydroxybenzotriazole hydrate as condensation reagents. Poly‐γ‐glutamic acid (γ‐PGA) methyl ester with the number‐average molecular weights of 5000∼20,000 were obtained by polycondensation in N,N‐dimethylformamide in 44∼91% yields. The polycondensation of (L ‐L )‐ and (D ‐D )‐dimers afforded the polymers with much larger |[α]_D | compared with the corresponding dimers. The polymer could be transformed into γ‐PGA by alkaline hydrolysis or transesterification into α‐benzyl ester followed by hydrogenation. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 39: 732–741, 2001     

Observation of internal-conversion electrons induced by inelastic nuclear resonant scattering

Measurements of the internal-conversion electron emission due to the inelastic nuclear resonant excitation are reported. thin films of 20 and 1.3 nm thickness were deposited on Si(1 1 1), and the internal-conversion electrons were measured as a function of the photon energy. From the inelastic part of the spectra, the phonon density of states was obtained. Whereas the phonon density of states of 20-nm thick film resembles that of bulk -Fe, the 1.3-nm thick film revealed an obvious softening of the acoustic mode.     

Operationally convenient asymmetric synthesis of (S)-2-amino-3,3-bis-(4-fluorophenyl)propanoic acid

This study demonstrated that alkylation of chiral glycine Schiff base 3 with chloride 4 can be efficiently conducted in acetonitrile as a solvent using commercial-grade potassium tert-butoxide as a base. High reaction rate (1 h) chemical (>90%) and stereochemical (>95% de) outcomes of the alkylation step render this procedure reliable and operationally convenient for multi-gram synthesis of enantiomerically pure amino acid 1. Due to the simplicity of experimental procedures and commercial availability all reagents involved, this procedure can be easily reproduced in regular biochemistry laboratories allowing for systematic biological studies and medicinal applications of compound 1.