Shape Estimation of Anisometric Particles Using Size Measurement Techniques

This study was conducted to establish a simple method for evaluating the morphology of fine anisometric particles using size measurement techniques. The size distributions of mica particles and carbon fibers classified into narrower size ranges were measured by gravitational sedimentation and laser diffraction techniques. The ratio of mean diameters determined for flaky particles strongly depended on the aspect ratio, i.e. flatness. The relationship between particle shape and diameter is discussed theoretically. The experimental results were similar to those predicted. The flatness of fine particles can be evaluated by the ratio of the median diameter determined by laser diffraction to that determined by sedimentation.     

Enzyme‐Catalyzed Preparation of Aliphatic Polyesters Containing Thioester Linkages

Aliphatic polyesters containing thioester linkages were enzymatically prepared by both the copolymerization of lactone with mercaptoalkanoic acid and by the transesterification of polyesters with mercaptoalkanoic acids. The enzymatic copolymerization of ε‐caprolactone with 11‐mercaptoundecanoic acid (11MU) and 3‐mercaptopropionic acid (3MP) was performed under reduced pressure using an immobilized lipase from Candida antarctica (CA). The transesterification of poly(ε‐caprolactone) and poly[(R)‐3‐hydroxybutyrate] was carried out with 11MU and 3MP using lipase CA under reduced pressure.

     

A ferroelectric barium titanate,BaTi2O5

The crystal structure of monobarium dititanium pentaoxide, BaTi₂O₅, synthesized by a floating‐zone method, was studied by X‐ray diffraction. Previous reports describe the structure as being in the monoclinic centrosymmetric space group C2/m. We have recently found that this material exhibits ferroelectricity, and therefore BaTi₂O₅ should have lower symmetry. The crystal structure of BaTi₂O₅ was refined in space group C2, revealing a displacement of the Ti atoms along the b axis. This result is consistent with the fact that the ferroelectricity of BaTi₂O₅ was only observed along the b axis.     

无中微子双β衰变相关的中微子势（英文）

介绍了在双β衰变中的闭合近似下的原子核矩阵元,并在此基础上研究了无中微子双β衰变的中微子势部分及统计性质。分析结果显示,费米型和伽莫夫-泰勒型矩阵元部分贡献了几乎相等的正值,并且费米型部分一般比伽莫夫-泰勒型部分的贡献稍大,而张量部分的贡献虽小但不可忽略,其中有少量矩阵元为负。阐明了无中微子双β衰变的中微子势中费米型、伽莫夫-泰勒型及张量部分大于零矩阵元的关联。该统计结果粗略地揭示了这些组份对原子核矩阵元的贡献。Nuclear matrix element in double beta decay under the closure approximation is outlined, in which neutrino potential for neutrinoless double beta decay is studied with focusing on its statistical property. It is shown from the analysis that Fermi and Gamow-Teller parts provide almost the same positive values with the Fermi part slightly larger than the Gamow-Teller part in general, while the tensor part includes small but non-negligible positive and negative values. Positive correlation of the values between Fermi, Gamow-Teller, and tensor parts has been clarified. The statistics provides a gross view of understanding amplitude of constitutional components of the nuclear matrix element.     

Numerical simulation of a metal diffraction grating-based SPR sensor with a water-immersion lens

Optical Review - We describe a metal diffraction grating-based surface plasmon resonance sensor (G-SPRS) that operates in a differential mode, the angular sensitivity of which would be 4.8 times...     

Chemical component mapping of pulverized toner by scanning transmission X-ray microscopy

Toners are micron scale polymer particles constructed of several kinds of resin, pigment, wax, etc. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is used for observation of the dispersion of the component materials in toners, but TEM images cannot identify simultaneously all components. Scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) not only provides simultaneous observation of spatial distributions of wax, resin and carbon black in toners, but it also provides detailed, quantitative, chemical information about the wax and resin environments through chemical component maps derived from multiple energy image sequences. The capabilities of STXM for toner analysis are illustrated by results of a study of a toner for black/white copy/print applications.     

The response of a spherical tissue-equivalent proportional counter to different heavy ions having similar velocities

A tissue-equivalent proportional counter (TEPC) has been used as a dosimeter in mixed radiation fields. Since it does not measure LET directly, the response function must be characterized in order to estimate quality factor and thus equivalent dose for the incident radiation. The objectives of this study were to measure the response of a spherical TEPC for different high-energy heavy ions (HZE) having similar velocity and to determine how quality factors can be determined. Data were obtained at the HIMAC heavy ion accelerator for ⁴He and ¹²C at (β=0.59) and ¹²C, ¹⁶O, ²⁸Si and ⁵⁶Fe at (β=0.70). A particle spectrometer recorded the charge and position of each incident beam particle. Events with low energy deposition were observed for particles that passed through the wall of the TEPC but not through the sensitive volume. The frequency averaged lineal energy, , was always less than the LET of the incident particles. The dose averaged lineal energy, , was approximately equal to LET for particles with LET greater than 10 keV/μm, whereas was larger than LET for the lighter particles with lower LET. Part of this effect is due to detector resolution and energy straggling that increases the variance of the response function. Although the TEPC is not a LET spectrometer, it can provide real time measurements of dose and provide estimates of quality factors for HZE particles using averaged values of lineal energy.     

Effect of visual target blurring on accommodation under distance viewing

Purpose

To examine the effect of visual target blurring on accommodation.

Methods

We evaluated the objective refraction values when the visual target (asterisk; 8°) was changed from the state without Gaussian blur (15 s) to the state with Gaussian blur adapted [0(without blur)?→?10, 0?→?50, 0?→?100: 15 s each].

Results

In Gaussian blur 10, when blurring of the target occurred, refraction value did not change significantly. In Gaussian blur 50 and 100, when blurring of the target occurred, the refraction value became significantly myopic.

Conclusion

Blurring of the distant visual target results in intervention of accommodation.

     

Scanning ion conductance microscopy for imaging biological samples in liquid: a comparative study with atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy

The present study was designed to show the applicability of scanning ion conductance microscopy (SICM) for imaging different types of biological samples. For this purpose, we first applied SICM to image collagen fibrils and showed the usefulness of the approach-retract scanning (ARS)/hopping mode for such samples with steep slopes. Comparison of SICM images with those obtained by AFM revealed that the ARS/hopping SICM mode can probe the surface topography of collagen fibrils and chromosomes at nanoscale resolution under liquid conditions. In addition, we successfully imaged cultured HeLa cells, with 15 μm in height by ARS/hopping SICM mode. Because SICM can obtain non-contact (or force-free) images, delicate cellular projections were visualized on the surface of the fixed cell. SICM imaging of live HeLa cells further demonstrated its applicability to study the morphological dynamics associated with biological processes on the time scale of minutes under liquid conditions. We further applied SICM for imaging the luminal surface of the trachea and succeeded in visualizing the surface of both ciliated and non-ciliated cells. These SICM images were comparable with those obtained by scanning electron microscopy. Although the dynamic mode of AFM provides better resolution than the ARS/hopping mode of SICM in some samples, only the latter can obtain contact-free images of samples with steep slopes, rendering it an important tool for observing live cells as well as unfixed or fixed soft samples with complicated shapes. Taken together, we demonstrate that SICM imaging, especially using an ARS/hopping mode, is a useful technique with unique capabilities for imaging the three-dimensional topography of a range of biological samples under physiologically relevant aqueous conditions.     

Secondary structure of homo-thiopeptides based on a bridged β-proline analogue: preferred formation of extended strand structures with trans-thioamide bonds

Homo-thiopeptides of bicyclic 7-azabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane-2-endo-carboxylic acid (Ah2c), which is a conformationally constrained β-proline mimic, were synthesized and their structures were investigated. These homo-thiopeptides showed a preference for ordered secondary structures with trans-thioamide bonds in the solid state and in solution.