Investigation on the stress behavior of cellulose acetate and the development of highly moisture‐resistant optical films for display devices

An optical film with high optical anisotropy was prepared by the stretching of a cellulose acetate film and the consequential orienting of a retardation‐enhancing additive. The change in retardation in response to moisture absorption was explored and it was found that the degree of the retardation variation is strongly related to the stretching temperature. Stress generated by the stretching and its relaxation was systematically investigated to elucidate the effect of stretching temperature on the irreversible change in retardation upon moisture absorption. The results show that the magnitude of releasable stress plays an important role in controlling changes in optical properties. In addition, the difference in the deformation behavior between glassy and rubbery states should be taken into account in the development of a moisture‐resistant optical film. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2017 , 55, 1470–1478     

Fabrication of photoluminescent liquid crystal device using an in situ self-assembled molecular layer of a pyrene derivative

An in situ self-assembled molecular layer of 1-pyrenesulfonic acid sodium salt as an alignment agent was formed on indium tin oxide substrates for vertically aligning liquid crystals (LCs). The thus-aligned LCs exhibited uniform vertical alignment under crossed polarisers. The electro-optical characteristic of the LC cell fabricated using this method exhibited better performance than those of conventional LC cells with a polyimide alignment layer. Because the proposed alignment method is a simple one and involves low concentrations of the alignment agent (0.05 wt%), it is highly cost-effective. Further, the pyrene derivative, when mixed with LCs, exhibited photoluminescence (PL) under ultraviolet light. Given that the proposed method resulted in highly vertically aligned LCs and the alignment agent exhibited PL, the method should find wide use in the fabrication of colour-filter-free LC displays.     

On λ-Bell polynomials associated with umbral calculus

In this paper, we introduce some new λ-Bell polynomials and Bell polynomials of the second kind and investigate properties of these polynomials. Using our investigation, we derive some new identities for the two kinds of λ-Bell polynomials arising from umbral calculus.     

A novel cyclization/oxidation strategy for a two-step synthesis of (Z)-aurone

An efficient and facile two-step strategy for the synthesis of (Z)-aurone from arylacetylenes and salicyladehydes, via silver(I) nitrate mediated cyclization/oxidation in the presence of potassium carbonate has been developed. The key feature of our method was delicate cascade reaction, to provide the corresponding (Z)-aurone in high yield and good regio- and stereo selectivity.     

Dimesogenic liquid crystal consisting of cholesterol and Schiff base moieties: dependence of LC properties on the spacer length and fluorination of the alkoxy tails

The liquid crystalline properties of two series of non‐symmetric liquid crystal dimers consisting of cholesterol and Schiff base moieties interconnected by ω‐oxyalkanoyl spacers of varying length are compared: one series (SBOC‐ n ) carry the octyloxy tail on the Schiff base mesogen, and the other (SBOF‐ n ) a perfluoroheptylmethyloxy tail. In general, compounds with the fluorinated alkoxy tail exhibited mesophases over a much wider temperature range than those with the alkoxy tail. The latter series favoured the formation of more diverse mesophases than the former. SBOC‐4, ‐5 and ‐7, and SBOF‐4, ‐5 and ‐10 formed the chiral smectic C phase.     

Fast switching of vertically aligned negative liquid crystals by optically hidden relaxation

We propose a method for fast switching of vertically aligned (VA) negative liquid crystals (LCs) by hiding the relaxation process of LCs. During the turn-off process, a strong in-plane electric field is applied for a short duration of time instead of relying solely on the slow relaxation of LCs. The LC molecules are rotated to the transmission axis of one of the polarisers by the applied in-plane electric field, resulting in turn-off switching that is 5.8 times faster than that of a conventional VA cell. By applying an overdriving scheme, we experimentally obtained a total response time of 3.3 ms.     

Determination of cefdinir levels in rat plasma and urine by high‐performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry: application to pharmacokinetics after oral and intravenous administration of cefdinir

A selective and sensitive liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method (LC‐MS/MS) was developed and validated for the determination of cefdinir in rat plasma and urine. Following a simple protein precipitation using methanol, chromatographic separation was achieved with a run time of 10 min using a Synergi 4 µ polar‐RP 80A column (150 × 2.0 mm, 4 µm) with a mobile phase consisting of 0.1% formic acid in water and methanol (65:35, v/v) at a flow rate of 0.2 mL/min. The protonated precursor and product ion transitions for cefdinir (m/z 396.1 → 227.2) and cefadroxil, an internal standard (m/z 364.2 → 208.0) were monitored in the multiple reaction monitoring in positive ion mode. The calibration curves for plasma and urine were linear over the concentration range 10–10,000 ng/mL. The lower limit of quantification was 10 ng/mL. All accuracy values were between 95.1 and 113.0% and the intra‐ and inter‐day precisions were <13.0% relative standard deviation. The stability under various conditions in rat plasma and urine was also found to be acceptable at three concentrations. The developed method was applied successfully to the pharmacokinetic study of cefdinir after oral and intravenous administration. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Zigzag defect-free alignment of surface stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal cells with a polyimide irradiated by polarized UV light

Zigzag defect-free surface stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal (SSFLC) cells were prepared using a photodegradable polyimide (PI) having a cyclobutane ring in the backbone. The PI layers were irradiated by polarized ultraviolet light (PUVL) at normal incidence to the surface, and characterized by UV and FTIR spectroscopy. The anisotropy originates from preferential cleavage of PI chains oriented parallel to the polarization direction of the irradiating PUVL. After the polarized UV light irradiation, the PI surface was much flatter than that after rubbing, but it induced a similar order parameter of dye-doped nematic LC molecules to that for a rubbed cell. Alignment of both the FLC molecules and the layer structure is important in SSFLC. After 40 min irradiation, the FLC molecules were well aligned homogeneously, and the FLC cells showed a uniform texture without zigzag defects which also indicates a well aligned layer structure. Zigzag defect-free alignment may result from the flatter surface, the much smaller and more constant pretilt angles, and the bigger cone angle than those achieved by rubbing.     

Homogeneous liquid crystal alignment on poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) films subjected to ion-beam irradiation

We demonstrate homogeneous and uniform liquid crystal (LC) alignment on poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) [PVDF-TrFE] films using ion-beam (IB) irradiation and a performance improvement of twisted nematic (TN) cells using IB-irradiated PVDF-TrFE films. Spontaneous ferroelectricity of the PVDF-TrFE films was modified by IB irradiation, which affected the LC alignment properties. The variation in the pre-tilt angles of the LC molecules on the IB-irradiated PVDF films is attributed to surface reformation, including defluorination and oxidation because the pre-tilt angles of LC molecules can be controlled by adjusting the fluorine content. The results of contact angle measurements supported this phenomenon. A 58% reduction in the switching voltage was observed for TN cells, indicating that the IB-irradiated PVDF-TrFE films are a promising candidate for use as an alignment layer.     

Quantitative determination of duloxetine and its metabolite in rat plasma by HPLC‐MS/MS

The major metabolite of duloxetine is a glucuronide conjugate of 4‐hydroxy duloxetine (4‐HD). However, interestingly, there have been no reports determining concentrations of 4‐HD and no fully validated method has been established for measuring duloxetine and 4‐HD in rat plasma. We developed a method for the simultaneous quantification of duloxetine and its metabolite in rat plasma using high‐performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Duloxetine and 4‐HD were analyzed on a reverse‐phase C₁₈ analytical column after protein precipitation of the plasma sample with methanol, using carbamazepine as an internal standard. The isocratic mobile phase of 5 mm ammonium acetate–methanol (4:6, v/v) was eluted at 0.4 mL/min. Quantification was performed on a triple‐quadrupole mass spectrometer using electrospray ionization, and the ion transition monitored in selective reaction monitoring mode. The coefficient of variation for assay precision was <18.0%, and the accuracy was 84.0–118.0%. This method was successfully used to measure the concentrations of duloxetine and its metabolite in plasma following the oral administration of a single 40 mg/kg dose in rats. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.