Frequency-dependent changes in absolute hearing threshold caused by perception of a previous sound

This study investigated effects of a previous sound presentation at the absolute threshold of hearing. Changes in threshold were measured when a pure tone at 60 dB SPL preceded a test tone in the contra- or ipsilateral ear. When the previous and test sounds both had the same frequency of 500 Hz, threshold decreased approximately 2 dB in the contralateral ear, and increased slightly in the ipsilateral ear. On the other hand, when the frequency of the previous sound differed from that of the test sound, the threshold was decreased slightly in the ipsilateral ear.     

Temperature dependence of thermal property for lead nitrate crystal

Thermal property was measured in a lead nitrate crystal, Pb(NO₃)₂, at temperatures from 90 to 340 K by use of ac calorimetry technique. The heat capacity derived from the measurements showed temperature dependence with thermal hysteresis, in the temperature region from 240 to 300 K. The anomaly of the heat capacity was found in the vicinity of 275.22 K. The broad temperature variation in the heat capacity was observed in the region from 235 to 260 K.     

Magnetically-driven heat transport device using a binary temperature-sensitive magnetic fluid

The magnetic body force in boiling two-phase temperature-sensitive magnetic fluid (TSMF) flow is known to effectively increase the driving force of magnetic fluid in a non-uniform magnetic field. Based on this mechanism, in the present study, a binary TSMF, which is a mixture of the TSMF and a low-boiling-saturation-temperature organic solution, is proposed to be used in a heat transport device to enhance its circulation. In order to see its performance in the heat transport device, the pressure difference at different heated temperatures, magnetic fields and inclination angles of the heating section are investigated experimentally and theoretically. Results showed that the driving force increases remarkably due to more gas phase appearing in the test fluid and the magnetization of it decreasing. At low magnetic field the driving force is enhanced greatly when the inclination angle is close to 60°, while at high magnetic field the driving force is remarkably enhanced due to the effect of the magnetic force in the inclination angle range from 0° to 30° and 60° to 90°.     

STM imaging of a model surface of Ru(4,4′-dicarboxy-2,2′-bipyridine)2(NCS)2 dye-sensitized TiO2 photoelectrodes

A TiO₂(1 1 0)-(1 × 1) surface was prepared in an ultra-high vacuum, transported in laboratory air, and observed with a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) operated in a vacuum of 10⁻⁴ Pa. Empty state images showed atomically flat terraces separated by single-height steps, on which 5-fold-coordinated surface Ti atoms were observed as spots arranged in a rectangular lattice. The Ru(4,4′-dicarboxy-2,2′-bipyridine)₂(NCS)₂ (N3) dye was adsorbed on the TiO₂ surface by immersing the TiO₂ wafer into an acetonitrile solution of the dye. In the empty state images, individual N3 molecules were observed as oval particles protruding by 0.6 nm from the TiO₂ surface. The oval shape elongated to the [1  0] directions was attributed to electron tunneling from tip to unoccupied states localized at the two carboxyl groups bound to the TiO₂ surface.     

Hydrazine (N2H4) adsorption on Ni(1 0 0) – Density functional theory investigation

A theoretical study on the structure and adsorption mechanism of hydrazine (N₂H₄) on Ni(1 0 0) are presented. The hydrazine molecule was found to adsorb on the surface through one of its nitrogen atom in its anti-conformation. The charge transfer from hydrazine lone pair orbitals played a key role in the formation of the bonding. The mechanism involved in the bonding was found to reduce the necessity of hyper-conjugation interaction, that reduces the gauche effect found in hydrazine at the gas-phase. Upon adsorption to the surface, the reduced interaction resulted in the promotion of a more favored conformation through its anti-conformation.     

Development and testing of a CW-EPR apparatus for imaging of short-lifetime nitroxyl radicals in mouse head

This article describes a method for reducing the acquisition time in three-dimensional (3D) continuous-wave electron paramagnetic resonance (CW-EPR) imaging. To visualize nitroxyl spin probes, which have a short lifetime in living organisms, the acquisition time for a data set of spectral projections should be shorter than the lifetime of the spin probes. To decrease the total time required for data acquisition, the duration of magnetic field scanning was reduced to 0.5 s. Moreover, the number of projections was decreased by using the concept of a uniform distribution. To demonstrate this faster data acquisition, two kinds of nitroxyl radicals with different decay rates were measured in mice. 3D EPR imaging of 4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-d₁₇-1-¹⁵N-1-oxyl in mouse head was successfully carried out. 3D EPR imaging of nitroxyl spin probes with a half-life of a few minutes was achieved for the first time in live animals.     

Kaleidoscope of life: A 24-neighbourhood outer-totalistic cellular automaton

One of the challenges of cellular automaton research is finding models with a low complexity and at the same time a rich dynamics. A measure of low complexity is the number of states in the model and the number of transition rules to switch between those states. In this paper, we propose a 2-dimensional 2-state cellular automaton that-though governed by a single simple transition rule-has a sufficiently rich dynamics to be computationally universal. According to the transition rule, a cell’s state is determined by the sum of the states of the cells at orthogonal or diagonal distances one or two from the cell (distance-2 Moore neighbourhood), but not by the previous state of the cell itself. Notwithstanding its simplicity, this model is able to generate a great variety of patterns, including several types of stable configurations, oscillators and patterns that move over cellular space (gliders). We prove the computational universality of the model by constructing a universal set of logic gates (NOT and AND) from these patterns. A key element in this proof is the shifting of phases and positions of signals such that they meet the input requirements of the logic gates. Similarities of the model with classical spin systems are also discussed.     

Radial breathing modes of single-walled carbon nanotubes in resonance Raman spectra at high temperature and their chiral index assignment

Radial breathing modes (RBMs) in resonance Raman spectra from single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) on a SiO₂/Si (0 0 1) substrate are studied between 25 and 720 °C. A change in the relative intensity of each RBM peak with temperature is observed, which originates from the temperature dependence of the resonance condition of nanotubes. For 25 °C, each RBM peak is reasonably assigned on the basis of data in the literature [J. Maultzsch, H. Telg, S. Reich, F. Hennrich, C. Thomsen, Phys. Rev. B 72 (2005) 205438]. By taking into account the temperature-dependent behavior of the relative intensity of the RBM peaks, each RBM peak is successfully assigned even for 720 °C. It is found that most of the observed RBM peaks for a laser excitation energy of E_exc = 1.96 eV are from chiral SWCNTs. These results make it possible to discuss further details of the chirality-dependent growth behavior observed for in situ Raman spectroscopy.     

Simplification of formulas for compression wave and oscillating flow in circular pipe

We had already obtained the analytical solutions for the compression wave and steady-state oscillating flow in a pipe with a circular cross section [Sato Y, Kanki H. Formulas for compression wave and oscillating flow in circular pipe. To be published in Appl Acoust [accepted 11 Sept. 2006]]. This work contains three key-components. The first key is to simplify the formulas using the unique mathematic technique without losing the accuracy. Simplifying the formulas is the one of the most important factors for formulas used in engineering use. The results will enable us to greatly reduce the work and computation costs. The second is to verify the flow distribution calculated by our formulas. The third is to study the possibility of application of our method to the analysis in turbulent flow region. Kawata et al. have represented the validity of one-dimensional quasi-analysis in turbulent flow region, using the method of D’Souza et al. and the shear viscosity. Therefore, in this paper the validity of the analysis in a turbulence region was verified by proving theoretically that the methods of D’Souza et al. and ours are intrinsically equivalent. The proof of equivalence was accomplished using the formulas simplified in this paper.     

The unstable behavior of cellular premixed flames induced by intrinsic instability

The unstable behavior of cellular premixed flames induced by intrinsic instability is studied by two-dimensional unsteady calculations of reactive flows. In the present numerical simulation, the compressible Navier–Stokes equation including a one-step irreversible chemical reaction is employed. We consider two basic types of phenomena to account for the intrinsic instability of premixed flames, i.e., hydrodynamic and diffusive-thermal effects. The hydrodynamic effect is caused by the thermal expansion through the flame front; the diffusive-thermal effect is caused by the preferential diffusion of mass versus heat. A disturbance with several wavelength components is superimposed on a planar flame, and the formation of a cellular flame induced by hydrodynamic and diffusive-thermal effects is numerically simulated. After the cellular-flame formation, the combination and division of cells are observed. The behavior of cellular-flame fronts becomes more unstable when the Lewis number is lower than unity, since the diffusive-thermal effect has a great influence on the unstable behavior. The cell size changes with time, and its average is greater than the critical wavelength and becomes smaller by decreasing the Lewis number. The flame velocity of cellular flames depends strongly on the length of computational domain in the direction tangential to the flame front. As the length of computational domain increases, the flame velocity becomes larger. This is because the long-wavelength components of disturbances play an important role in the shape of cellular flames, i.e., in the flame-surface area.