pp̄ Annihilation at rest into mesons in the quark rearrangement model and the quark annihilation modelt

pp? annihilation at rest into mesons is calculated in the quark rearrangement model in which 3 quarks and 3 antiquarks rearrange into 3 mesons and in the quark annihilation model in which one or two quark-antiquark pairs are annihilated and a quark-antiquark pair is created to form two or three mesons. The constants of the quark-meson coupling are adjusted such that the meson-nucleon interactions agree with experiment. The radial dependences of the quark-meson couplings are all assumed to be the same. This is determined by the vector-meson-quark interaction derived from the charge form factor of the proton. In the case of the decay into three mesons both rearrangement and annihilation models explain with similar reliability the branching ratio of the decay products. In the case of the decay into two-meson annihilation gives a better agreement with experiment than rearrangement.     

Errata to “A revised taxonomy of the ammonoid genus Desmoceras from Japan and southern Sakhalin”: [Proc. Jpn. Acad., Ser. B 80, No. 5, 225–229 (2004)]

Based on the stratigraphically well sorted material from Japan and southern Sakhalin, the ammonoid species belonging to the genus Desmoceras are classified as follows in ascending order: D. latidorsatum (Michelin) (Middle to mid-Upper Albian), D. dawsoni shikokuense (Yabe and Shimizu) (Upper Albian), D. kossmati Matsumoto (uppermost Albian–Lower Cenomanian), D. japonicum Yabe (uppermost Albian–Cenomanian), and D. ezoanum Matsumoto (mid-Upper Cenomanian–mid-Lower Turonian). D. japonicum can be subdivided into the earlier and later subspecies. D. poronaicum Yabe is a junior synonym of D. japonicum. Despite the scarcely ornamented shell, each taxon can be defined by its own characters.     

Mechanical property and biodegradability of solution‐cast films prepared from amphiphilic polylactide‐grafted dextran

Polylactide (PLA)‐grafted dextran was synthesized with a trimethylsilyl protection method to produce novel biodegradable, biomedical materials. PLA‐grafted dextrans with various lengths and numbers of graft chains were synthesized. The properties of solution‐cast films prepared from PLA‐grafted dextrans were investigated with thermal and dynamic mechanical analyses. The graft‐copolymer films exhibited lower glass‐transition temperatures, melting temperatures (T_m's), and crystallinities as well as higher viscosity properties as compared with poly‐L ‐lactide film. The T_m and crystallinity and mechanical properties at 37 °C could be adjusted by controlling the molecular structure such as the lengths and numbers of graft chains. Furthermore, the biodegradability of PLA‐grafted dextran films was investigated through the weight change of film and the molecular weight change of polymer during the in vitro degradation test. PLA‐grafted dextrans exhibited different degradation behavior from poly‐L ‐lactide with the introduction of a polysaccharide segment and branched structure as well as the change of end‐functional group. The degradation rate of PLA‐grafted dextran and the cast film prepared from PLA‐grafted dextran could be adjusted by controlling the sugar content or the length of graft chains. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 2462–2468, 2003     

Halo Reduction Technique in Phase Contrast Microscopy

A new phase contrast microscopy technique has been developed which achieves halo reduction by applying an apodization to the Zernike phase contrast method. In this technique, a new apodized phase plate is placed at the back focal plane of the objective. This plate consists of a quarter wave phase shift ring conjugated of the illuminating aperture, which has a 25#x0025; transmittance, and a pair of adjacent rings having 50#x0025; transmittance. The developed technique yields the highest resolution images without a bluish hue effect ever achieved in phase contrast microscopy.This paper was originally presented at the 2nd International Conference on Optical Design and Fabrication, ODF2000 which was held on November 15-17, 2000 at the International Conference Center, Tokyo, Waseda University, Japan.     

Tridiagonal pairs and the quantum affine algebra {\boldmath U_q({\widehat {sl}}_2)}

Let ${\mathbb K}$ denote an algebraically closed field and let q denote a nonzero scalar in ${\mathbb K}$ that is not a root of unity. Let V denote a vector space over ${\mathbb K}$ with finite positive dimension and let A,A* denote a tridiagonal pair on V. Let θ₀, θ₁,…, θ _d (resp. θ*₀, θ*₁,…, θ* _d ) denote a standard ordering of the eigenvalues of A (resp. A*). We assume there exist nonzero scalars a, a* in ${\mathbb K}$ such that θ _i = aq ^2i?d and θ* _i = a*q ^d?2i for 0 ≤ i ≤ d. We display two irreducible ${\boldmath U_q({\widehat {sl}}_2)}$ -module structures on V and discuss how these are related to the actions of A and A*.     

Synthetic Studies on Sialoglycoconjugates 49: Novel Disaccharides and Lactams Composed of Sialic Acid and 1-Deoxynojirimycin-Potential for Biomedical Application

Abstract

Sialic acid-containing glycoconjugates participate in a variety of biological functions on cell surfaces, not only serving as receptors for hormones, viruses and bacteria but also as mediators in cell growth, differentiation, adhesion, oncogenesis and so on. For example, influenza virus^1,2 and tripanosoma cruzi ^3,4 recognize sialic acid in the time of infection to animal cells. Recently, the sialyl-Le^x (sLe^x) and sialyl-Le^a (sLe^a) carbohydrate epitopes have been highlighted as the ligands for selectins, a family of cell adhesion molecules involved in leukocyte traffic^5,6 and tumor metastasis.⁷ 1-Deoxynojirimycin (DNJ) and related compounds are well known⁸ as the potent inhibitors of a-glycosidases and glycoprotein-processing enzymes. Some of the Nsubstituted DNJ derivatives have been noted as antidiabetic and anti-HIV agents.     

First Synthesis and Properties of Calix[4]arene with Two Alternately Arranged Phloroglucinols and Two p-tert-Butylphenols

The Calix[4]arene 1 including two alternately arranged phloroglucinols and p-tert-butylphenols was synthesized via the “3+1” coupling procedure, and its pKa values were estimated to be 3–4 and 7.5, while those of the other six phenolic hydroxyls were approximately 11. Its UV–vis spectrum at pH 11 and ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectra in NaOD-D₂O solution (pH 12.8) showed a dramatic change like those of the phloroglucinol when compared to those in acidic or neutral solution, which suggests a change in the phloroglucinol moiety to the keto-form. During the solvent extraction for alkali metal species using 1, Li⁺ was only extracted in the low yield of 15% at pH 11. The cyclic voltammetry study of 1 was used to compare it with the phloroglucinol and p-tert-butylphenol. The redox potential of the corresponding two phloroglucinols was observed in 1.     

Effects of purification on the diameter separation of metallic single‐walled carbon nanotubes by gel column chromatography

Metallic single‐walled carbon nanotubes (m‐SWCNTs) with excellent conductivity and transparency are considered to be eminent electrode materials. However, it still remains a challenge to separate m‐SWCNTs by their diameters. As reported in this Letter, by effective purification treatment of SWCNTs, we succeeded in achieving diameter separation of m‐SWCNTs using gel column chromatography. TEM and Raman characterizations revealed that metal catalysts and amorphous carbon on tube surfaces were largely reduced, which contributed to the diameter separation of m‐SWCNTs.

     

Numerical analysis to predict turning characteristics of rigid suspension tracked vehicle

Numerical analysis was developed to calculate the steering properties of a rigid suspension tracked vehicle turning on soft terrain. The developed numerical analysis is based on a method to solve a set of non-linear equations. To verify the numerical analysis, an experiment on a model-tracked vehicle turning with a steering ratio of 1.6 on a loose sandy terrain was carried out. The comparison between measured and calculated values shows that the numerical analysis can predict sinkage, slip ratios and turning radius within an error amount of 15%.