Fundamental frequency of infants' and parents' utterances in longitudinal recordings

The fundamental frequencies (F0) of daily life utterances of Japanese infants and their parents from the infant's birth until about 5 years of age were longitudinally analyzed. The analysis revealed that an infant's F0 mean decreases as a function of month of age. It also showed that within- and between-utterance variability in infant F0 is different before and after the onset of two-word utterances, probably reflecting the difference between linguistic and nonlinguistic utterances. Parents' F0 mean is high in infant-directed speech (IDS) before the onset of two-word utterances, but it gradually decreases and reaches almost the same value as in adult-directed speech after the onset of two-word utterances. The between-utterance variability of parents' F0 in IDS is large before the onset of two-word utterances and it subsequently becomes smaller. It is suggested that these changes of parents' F0 are closely related to the feasibility of communication between infants and parents.     

Metal Nanoparticle/Polymer Hybrid Particles: The Catalytic Activity of Metal Nanoparticles Formed on the Surface of Polymer Particles by UV-Irradiation

Summary: Polymer particles decorated with metal nanoparticles were prepared by UV-irradiation of polystyrene particles incorporating polymethylphenylsilane (PS/PMPS) and P[S-co-NIPAM]/PMPS particles (NIPAM: N-isopropyl acrylamide) in the presence of metal salts. The metal nanoparticle/polymer hybrid particles were used as a catalyst for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol with NaBH₄. The Pd- and Ag-P(S-co-NIPAM)/PMPS hybrid particles had larger metal nanoparticles and the lower catalytic activity than those of Pd- and Ag-PS/PMPS, respectively. The surface functional group of the polymer particles affected the formation of the metal nanoparticles and their catalytic activity.     

Thiazolocatechol: Electron-Withdrawing Catechol Anchoring Group for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Anchoring groups adopting a five-membered bidentate chelating are attractive to realize high power conversion efficiency (η) and long-term durability in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). In this regard, we chose catechol as an anchoring group that can adopt the chelating. However, the DSSCs with catechol-based sensitizers have never exceeded an η-value of 2 %. These poor photovoltaic performances may be associated with the electron-donating ability of the hydroxy groups in catechol. Considering these, we envisioned that fusing an electron-withdrawing thiazole moiety with a catechol anchoring group would improve its photovoltaic performance. Herein, we report a push-pull porphyrin sensitizer ZnPTC with a thiazolocatechol anchoring group. The DSSC with ZnPTC exhibited η=4.87 %. This value is the highest ever reported for catechol-anchor based DSSCs. Meanwhile, the long-term cell durability was not improved, although the robust anchoring properties were attained under harsh conditions.     

Enhanced Hole Transport in Ternary Blend Polymer Solar Cells

Recently, ternary blend polymer solar cells have attracted great attention to improve a short-circuit current density (J_SC) effectively, because complementary absorption bands can harvest the solar light over a wide wavelength range from visible to near-IR region. Interestingly, some ternary blend solar cells have shown improvements not only in J_SC but also in fill factor (FF). Previously, we also reported that a ternary blend solar cell based on a low-bandgap polymer (PTB7-Th), a wide-bandgap polymer (PDCBT), and a fullerene derivative (PCBM) exhibited a higher FF than their binary analogues. Herein, we study charge transport in PTB7-Th/PDCBT/PCBM ternary blend films to address the origin of the improvement in FF. We found that hole polarons are located in PTB7-Th domains and their mobility is enhanced in the ternary blend film.     

Fluorescence Quenching‐based Assay for Measuring Golgi endo‐α‐Mannosidase

Golgi endo‐α‐mannosidase (G‐EM) catalyzes an alternative deglucosylation process for N‐glycans and plays important roles in the post‐endoplasmic reticulum (ER) quality control pathway. To understand the post‐ER quality control mechanism, we synthesized a tetrasaccharide probe for the detection of the hydrolytic activity of G‐EM based on a fluorescence quenching assay. The probe was labeled with an N‐methylanthraniloyl group as a reporter dye at the non‐reducing end and a 2,4‐dinitrophenyl group as a quencher at the reducing end. This probe is hydrolyzed to disaccharide derivatives by G‐EM, resulting in increased fluorescence intensity. Thus, the fluorescence signal is directly proportional to the amount of disaccharide derivative present, allowing the G‐EM activity to be evaluated easily and quantitatively.     

On (-<Emphasis Type="Italic">P</Emphasis> ⋅ <Emphasis Type="Italic">P</Emphasis>)-constant deformations of Gorenstein surface singularities

Let : X T be a small deformation of a normal Gorenstein surface singularity X ₀ = ^-1(0) over the complex number field . Suppose that T is a neighborhood of the origin of and that X ₀ is not log-canonical. We show that if a topological invariant -P _t P _t of X _t = ^-1(t) is constant, then, after a suitable finite base change, admits a simultaneous resolution f : M X which induces a locally trivial deformation of each maximal string of rational curves at an end of the exceptional set of M ₀ X ₀; in particular, if X ₀ has a star-shaped resolution graph, then admits a weak simultaneous resolution (in other words, is an equisingular deformation).     

Formation of racemic crystals of transition metal complexes by grinding 1 : 1 mixtures of enantiomeric crystals

Grinding a 1 : 1 enantiomeric mixture of chiral transition metal complex crystals and subsequent annealing afforded crystals of a racemic compound by diffusion and rearrangement of component molecules, without melting and without racemization of each enantiomeric species.     

Relationship between interfacial transfer and adsorption-desorption of surface-active bis-ammonium ions at a liquid/liquid interface

Cyclic voltammograms and interfacial tension-applied potential curves were recorded at the interface between water containing surface-active bis-quaternary ammonium ions, bis-A(2+), and an organic solvent such as 1,2-dichloroethane or nitrobenzene. An ordinary diffusion-controlled voltammetric wave for the transfer of bis-A(2+) from aqueous phase to organic phase, the first wave, was followed by a typical adsorption-related wave, the second wave. It was found from the potential dependence of the interfacial tension of bis-A(2+) that the second wave was due to the desorption of bis-A(2+) toward the organic phase. The influence of the structure of bis-A(2+) on voltammograms was investigated, and the potential for the first wave was found to depend on both the length of the side chain and that of the spacer chain, whereas the potential for the second wave depended on the latter only. The thermodynamic relations among three processes of the ion transfer, adsorption, and desorption were discussed based on the experimental results.     

Comment on Yukawa couplings and cosmological problems of intersecting brane models

In string theory, stabilization of moduli fields and their cosmological implications have been discussed by many authors. In this paper, we consider the relative positions of three intersecting branes. Surprisingly, there had been no phenomenological and cosmological argument on the mechanism that stabilizes the corresponding parameter. We show that the area of the triangle is not a free parameter. The effective potential is generated from loop corrections in the low energy effective Lagrangian, where supersymmetry is expected to be broken. The stabilization of the area of such triangles will determine the Yukawa couplings that have been considered as the free parameters of the intersecting brane models. The stabilization puts a constraint on the model, which is different from the other requirements that have been discussed before. We also discuss cosmological problems and then show an idea that may solve the problem.     

Cysteine-derived organocatalyst in a highly enantioselective intramolecular Michael reaction

Asymmetric intramolecular Michael reaction catalyzed by an organocatalyst derived from cysteine has been developed for the synthesis of chiral bicyclo[4.3.0]nonene and cis-disubstituted cyclopentane skeletons with a creation of three or two contiguous chiral centers in good yield with high diastereo- and excellent enantioselectivities.