Melt rheology of hyperbranched‐polystyrene synthesized with multisite macromonomer

Melt rheological behaviors of hyperbranched‐polystyrene (PS) copolymerized by dendric macromonomer technique are presented. The time–temperature superposition principle was applicable to the hyperbranched‐PS. The branched‐PS showed slightly lower zero‐shear viscosity in comparison with linear PS regardless of a presence of a number of branches expected from the dendric macromonomer technique. Although the influence of use of multimethacryloyl macromonomer in the polymerization process was marginal for linear viscoelastic regime, nonlinear shear and uniaxial elongational flows showed distinct differences between linear and branched‐PS. The strain dependence of the damping function became weak as increase of macromonomer content. The branched‐PS exhibited the growing elongational viscosity function comparing with linear PS. This prominent effect on the elongational flow behavior can be explained by the molecular architecture of the branched‐PS. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 47: 2226–2237, 2009     

Cepaic acid, a novel yellow xanthylium pigment from the dried outer scales of the yellow onion Allium cepa

Cepaic acid was isolated as a novel xanthylium yellow pigment from the dried outer scales of the yellow onion Allium cepa Linne. Its structure was elucidated on the basis of ESI-MS and 2D NMR spectroscopy as a 9-carboxy-1,3,6,8-tetrahydroxyxanthylium, which suggests that cepaic acid and other yellow pigments in the dried outer skin of onion were formed by the nucleophilic reaction of phloroglucinol derived from quercetin, a flavonol in onion scales, by autoxidation to glyoxylic acid. To our knowledge, this is the first report of such a pigment in yellow onion.     

Implementation of two-dimensional lock-in detector array using BSO spatial light modulator

A BSO spatial light modulator (BSO-SLM) was operated applying ac voltage. The basic properties of the operation correspond to those in a usual lock-in detector and a 2-dimensional lock-in detector array (2D-LOCKIN) was implemented by the optical modulator. The properties of the 2D-LOCK-IN using a BSO-SLM were investigated theoretically and experimentally. As an application of the 2D-LOCK-IN, oscillating amplitude were observed on simple vibrating objects.     

Hybrid binary subtracted joint transform correlator for a large number of reference patterns using a Bi12SiO20(BSO) spatial light modulator and a laser scanner

A hybrid binary subtracted joint transform correlator was constructed using a Bi₁₂SiO₁₂ (BSO) spatial light modulator and a laser scanner. The usefulness of this system was confirmed experimentally using a large number of binary and halL-tone images as the reference patterns.     

日本大学教育的重整计划

日本的教育体制大体上类似于其他国家，即小学6年，初中3年，高中3年，大学本科4年。大学本科毕业后另有2年硕士学位，再加3年博士学位的教育。当前在校学习的人数逐年增加，人均在校学习的时间也逐渐延长。到2000年已有将近一半的18岁同龄人进入大学学习。为适应上述教育情况的变化，日本政府目前开始了一个重整大学教育体制的计划。该计划将所有原来模式相同的649所大学划分为两大类，一类是研究和教学型的，另一类是教学型的。目前已有9所大学已被认定为第一类型的大学。本文介绍日本教育体制的变化以及上述重整计划的长远目标。     

Numerical-Asymptotic Expansion Matching for Computing a Viscous Flow Around a Sharp Expansion Corner

A computational technique which is based on a numerical-asymptotic expansion matching for computing the local singular behavior of a viscous flow around a sharp right-angle expansion corner is presented. Moffatt's (1964) asymptotic solution is extended and a matching with a time-marching finite-difference scheme of the Navier--Stokes equations is formulated. Local mesh refinement around the corner is required to meet the validity of the asymptotic solution. Flows in an expanding channel with expansion ratio D/d=3 at various Reynolds numbers 1≤Re≤700 are simulated. The results are compared with those from a standard finite-difference scheme that uses second-order forward/backward differences near the corner. It is found that the results of the standard scheme converge toward those of the present technique as the level of local refinement near the corner is increased. The time-dependent parameters of the first two terms of the asymptotic solution at the steady-state solution are also described for various cases of Re and D/d. It is demonstrated that the present method enhances the accuracy of the simulations and requires less refinements near the corners to achieve converged numerical results. Received 14 August 2000 and accepted 25 October 2001     

Asymmetric Synthesis of Spiroketals with Aminothiourea Catalysts

Chiral spiroketal skeletons are found as core structures in a range of bioactive compounds. These natural compounds and their analogues have attracted much attention in the field of drug discovery. However, methods for their enantioselective construction are limited, and easily available optically active spiroketals are rare. We demonstrate a novel catalytic asymmetric synthesis of spiroketal compounds that proceeds through an intramolecular hemiacetalization/oxy‐Michael addition cascade mediated by a bifunctional aminothiourea catalyst. This results in spiroketal structures through the relay formation of contiguous oxacycles, in which multipoint recognition by the catalyst through hydrogen bonding imparts high enantioselectivity. This method offers facile access to spiroketal frameworks bearing an alkyl group at the 2‐position, which are prevalent in insect pheromones. Optically active (2S,5S)‐chalcogran, a pheromone of the six‐spined spruce bark beetle, and an azide derivative could be readily synthesized from the bicyclic reaction product.