Assembled structures of nanocrystals in polymer/calcium carbonate thin-film composites formed by the cooperation of chitosan and poly(aspartate)

Assembled structures of calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) nanocrystals have been examined for polymer/CaCO₃ thin-film composites synthesized through a self-organization process inspired by biomineralization. For the crystallization of CaCO₃, a thin-film matrix of chitosan has been used as a polymeric substrate. When the matrix is immersed into a supersaturated aqueous solution of CaCO₃ containing 1.4 × 10⁻³ wt % poly(aspartate) (PAsp), thin-film crystals of CaCO₃ are formed spontaneously. Three kinds of disklike films have been observed under a polarizing optical microscope. Electron diffraction analyses of each film have revealed that one is aragonite, displaying radial orientation of the c axes, and the others are vaterite, exhibiting different orientations. Detailed observation by scanning electron microscopy has clarified that these films are assemblies of crystalline particles 10–20 nm in size. The thin-film composites have been obtained over a PAsp concentration range of 4.4 × 10⁻⁴ to 1.0 × 10⁻² wt %. Vaterite formation becomes dominant when the concentration of PAsp is increased. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 5153–5160, 2006     

The resonant secondary emission of the F center in alkali halides

The secondary radiation after resonant excitation of F center and its linear polarization P correlated to the polarization of resonant light have been measured for five alkali halides at low temperatures. In KC1, the spectrum of P over the whole Stokes region is divided into three successive regions, the depolarization range at the one-phonon Raman scattering, the near plateau range, and the depolarization range down to vanishing. The former two have common relevance to resonant energy and symmetries of coupled phonons. These relevances are interpreted adopting a configuration coordinate model for 2s- and 2p-like excited states.     

Synthesis and Reactions of 1-Phenylbenzo[b]thiophenium Salts

1-Phenylbenzo[b]thiophenium salts are prepared and reacted under thermal and photochemical conditions. The chemical behaviors are discussed.     

A simple monitoring system for single subpicosecond laser pulses using an SH spatial autocorrelation method and a CCD image sensor

A simple noncollinear SHG autocorrelator for monitoring the time behavior of single subpicosecond laser pulses is described. A new CCD image-line sensor with high sensitivity in the UV range is used to measure the second-harmonic (SH) spatial distribution which gives information on the duration of the fundamental light pulses. An input energy of only 10 μJ is enough to obtain the SH spatial beam patterns in this highly sensitive autocorrelation system.     

Molecular distortion effect on ff-emission in a Pr(III) complex with 4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline.

The electronic and structural behaviour of a Pr(III) complex with 4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline, [Pr(bathophen)(2)(NO(3))(3)], is investigated with respect to the effect of configuration changes on the Pr(III) centre. [Pr(bathophen)(2)(NO(3))(3)] luminesces from the excited states of the ligand and the metal ion. The fluorescence, ff-emission ((1)D(2)-->(3)H(4)), and phosphorescence bands appear at 394, 608.2 and 482 nm, respectively, in the solid state. In acetonitrile, the complex also shows multiple emissions. From the time-resolved emission and the lifetime measurements, the excitation energy-transfer in [Pr(bathophen)(2)(NO(3))(3)] is clarified, that is, the upper excited triplet level of the ligand acts as an energy donor, while the (1)D(2) levels of Pr(III) is the acceptor. Additionally, the emission phenomena of the complex can be modified by molecular distortion, particularly by rotation of the phenyl groups in the ligand.     

Analog vision chip for motion detection of an approaching object against a moving background based on the insect visual system

A network for motion detection of an approaching object without influence of the moving background was proposed based on the insect visual system. The two-dimensional array of the analog complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) circuits for extracting the edge signals of the approaching object without outputting those of the moving background was inserted at the first stage of the network. At the next stage, analog CMOS circuits for detection of approaching velocity and direction, which accept the extracted edge signals, were inserted based on the locust vision system. A chip of the proposed network was fabricated with the 1.2 mm CMOS process. It was clarified from the measured results and the simulation results with the simulation program with integrated circuit emphasis (SPICE) that the two-dimensional circuits of the first stage can only generate the signals of target edges. The measured results showed that the chip can detect the approaching velocity and direction of the target in the image which contains the moving background.     

Information amount and higher-order efficiency in estimation

By means of second-order asymptotic approximation, the paper clarifies the relationship between the Fisher information of first-order asymptotically efficient estimators and their decision-theoretic performance. It shows that if the estimators are modified so that they have the same asymptotic bias, the information amount can be connected with the risk based on convex loss functions in such a way that the greater information loss of an estimator implies its greater risk. The information loss of the maximum likelihood estimator is shown to be minimal in a general set-up. A multinomial model is used for illustration.     

Highly resolved scanning tunneling microscopy study of Si(0 0 1) surfaces flattened in aqueous environment

A surface preparation method with fine SiO₂ particles in water is developed to flatten Si(0 0 1) surfaces on the nanometer scale. The flattening performance of Si(0 0 1) surfaces after the surface preparation method is investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy. The observed surface is so flat that 95% of the view area (100 × 100 nm²) is composed of only three atomic layers, namely, one dominant layer occupying 50% of the entire area and two adjacent layers. Furthermore, a magnified image shows the outermost Si atoms regularly distributed along the 〈1 1 0〉 direction on terraces.     

Crystal structure of copper(II) complex with N,N-bis(2-benzimidazolylmethyl)benzylamine

The copper(II) complex with N,N-bis(2-benzimidazolylmethyl)benzylamine has been synthesized and its crystal structure was determined by X-ray diffraction methods.