Sharp photonic Crystal Defect Modes and Their Response to Ultrashort Optical Pulses

Single photonic crystal defects based on an air-bridge structure were fabricated. We obtained sharp defect modes with quality factors higher than 600 and observed their response to ultrashort optical pulses by utilizing two-photon absorption.     

Characterization of cross-linking structures in UV-cured acrylic ester resin by MALDI-MS combined with supercritical methanolysis.

The cross-linking structure of the ultra violet (UV)-cured resin prepared from dipentaerithritol hexacrylate (DPHA) was characterized by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) combined with supercritical methanolysis. The MALDI-mass spectrum of the decomposition products obtained by supercritical methanolysis contained a series of peaks of sodium-cationized methyl acrylate (MA) oligomers up to around m/z = 4000 formed through selective cleavage and methylation occurred at ester linkages in UV-cured DPHA. Furthermore, in order to observe widely distributed sequence lengths in the cross-linking junctions, the decomposed products of the cured resin were then fractionated using size exclusion chromatography followed by the MALDI-MS measurements of the individual fractions. The MALDI-mass spectra of the lower molar mass fractions mainly consisted of a series of peaks of MA oligomers around m/z values of several thousands, whereas those of higher molecular weight showed a broad peak up to m/z ca. 180000. The observed distributions of the supercritical methanolysis products suggested that the network junctions in the given UV-cured resin were composed of up to around 2000 acrylate units.     

The three-dimensional structure of aspergilloglutamic peptidase from Aspergillus niger

Aspergilloglutamic peptidase from Aspergillus niger is a novel pepstatin-insensitive acid endopeptidase distinct from the well-studied aspartic peptidases, and thus is an interesting target for protein structure/function studies. In the present study, we have determined the three-dimensional structure of the enzyme by X-ray crystallography to a 1.4-Å resolution. The results revealed that the enzyme has a unique structure, composed of two seven-stranded anti-parallel β-sheets which form a β-sandwich structure and appear to have a partial two-fold symmetry, suggesting its possible evolution by gene duplication and that the glutamic acid-110 and glutamine-24 in the heavy chain form a catalytic dyad, consistent with our results obtained by site-directed mutagenesis.     

Selective retention of some polyaromatic hydrocarbons by highly crosslinked polymer networks

Highly crosslinked polymer networks were characterized in terms of structural differences based on the crosslinked network structures with their chromatographic molecular retentivity for some polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Because PAHs and some sterically bulky solutes were used in the chromatographic characterization, tiny differences in the crosslinked polymer networks were observed in terms of the chromatographic molecular retentivity. Ethylene dimethacrylate afforded molecular retentivity for anthracene, and this recognition ability changed with the polymerization time. In addition, 1,4‐butanediol dimethacrylate afforded molecular retentivity for pyrene, and this retentivity was larger than that for anthracene. The polymerization methods also affected the resulting polymer networks drastically. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 2556–2566, 2005     

Preparation of Cu2ZnSnS4 thin films by hybrid sputtering

In order to fabricate Cu₂ZnSnS₄ thin films, hybrid sputtering system with two sputter sources and two effusion cells is used. The Cu₂ZnSnS₄ films are fabricated by the sequential deposition of metal elements and annealing in S flux, varying the substrate temperature. The Cu₂ZnSnS₄ films with stoichiometric composition are obtained at the substrate temperature up to 400 °C, whereas the film composition becomes quite Zn-pool at the substrate temperature above 450 °C. The Cu₂ZnSnS₄ film shows p-type conductivity, and the optical absorption coefficient and the band gap of the Cu₂ZnSnS₄ film prepared in this experiment are suitable for fabricating a thin film solar cell.     

4f-electric quadrupolar effects on the lattice constants and magnetism of RCu2Ge2 (R=rare-earths)

The temperature dependence of the lattice constants of the alloys, RCu₂Ge₂ (R=Nd, Tb, Dy, Ho and Tm) shows the existence of a lattice strain due to the alignment of the 4f-electric quadrupole at low temperatures. This strain could be related to the deviation of the Néel temperatures (T _N ) from that predicted by de Gennes scaling, thereby indicating the role of the quadrupole on the magnetism. On the other hand, in PrCu₂Ge₂, for which the enhancement ofT _N is the largest in thisR series, the lattice constants interestingly behave as if the 4f-quadrupole moment is almost quenched and the anomalous magnetism in this case is attributed to some degree of 4f-delocalisation.     

Portfolio optimization under D.C. transaction costs and minimal transaction unit constraints

This paper addresses itself to a portfolio optimization problem under nonconvex transaction costs and minimal transaction unit constraints. Associated with portfolio construction is a fee for purchasing assets. Unit transaction fee is larger when the amount of transaction is smaller. Hence the transaction cost is usually a concave function up to certain point. When the amount of transaction increases, the unit price of assets increases due to illiquidity/market impact effects. Hence the transaction cost becomes convex beyond certain bound. Therefore, the net expected return becomes a general d.c. function (difference of two convex functions). We will propose a branch-and-bound algorithm for the resulting d.c. maximization problem subject to a constraint on the level of risk measured in terms of the absolute deviation of the rate of return of a portfolio. Also, we will show that the minimal transaction unit constraints can be incorporated without excessively increasing the amount of computation.