A new method for atmospheric nitrogen dioxide measurements using the combination of a stripping coil and fluorescence detection.

A new stripping coil for the collection of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) has been developed to increase its versatility and efficiency. Nitrogen dioxide measurements based on quantitative collection through a reaction coil into an alkaline solution has been examined. Nitrogen dioxide is collected in a 0.1 N NaOH solution. This collection system has an efficiency of nearly 100%. The absorbed nitrogen dioxide has been measured by fluorescence detection with sub-ppbv detection limits. The excitation wavelength at 360 nm and the produced emission wavelength at 405 nm were suitable for nitrite ion measurements.     

Classification for dimethylarsenate-decomposing bacteria using a restrict fragment length polymorphism analysis of 16S rRNA genes.

A new monitoring system for bacterial communities involving dimethylarsinic acid (DMAA) decomposition was provided by combining the MPN (Most Probable Number) method and RFLP (restriction-fragment-length polymorphism analysis). The abundance of DMAA decomposing bacteria was estimated by the MPN method using a bacterial culture medium, which included DMAA as the sole carbon source, indicating bacterial cell densities of 1700 cells/ml in Lake Kahokugata and 330 cells/ml in Lake Kibagata. After isolating the dominant bacteria using agar plates, the isolates were classified into some genotype groups by RFLP analysis using 16S rDNA sequences. Classification of the RFLP analysis indicated that 14 isolates of Lake Kahokugata were classified into 6 types, which included 2 dominant types related to genus Pseudomonas, while 8 isolates of Lake Kibagata displayed 6 types including one or two isolates. Moreover, the RFLP types were unique for each lake, suggesting that DMAA decomposing bacteria were specific for the aquatic environment related to the arsenic cycle. The activities of DMAA decomposition mostly matched with the RFLP type category of the isolates. Accordingly, combining the MPN method with the RFLP analysis will play an important role in elucidating the distributions and dynamics of the DMAA-decomposing bacterial community.     

Drawing c-planar biconnected clustered graphs

In a graph, a cluster is a set of vertices, and two clusters are said to be non-intersecting if they are disjoint or one of them is contained in the other. A clustered graph C consists of a graph G and a set of non-intersecting clusters. In this paper, we assume that C has a compound planar drawing and each cluster induces a biconnected subgraph. Then we show that such a clustered graph admits a drawing in the plane such that (i) edges are drawn as straight-line segments with no edge crossing and (ii) the boundary of the biconnected subgraph induced by each cluster is a convex polygon.     

Synthesis and structure-activity relationships of N-substituted 2-[(2-imidazolylsulfinyl)methyl]anilines as a new class of gastric H+/K(+)-ATPase inhibitors.

A series of N-substituted 2-[(2-imidazolylsulfinyl)methyl]anilines (3) was synthesized and evaluated for its biological activity against gastric H+/K(+)-ATPase prepared from rabbit stomach and gastric acid secretions in Heidenhain pouch dogs. Monoalkyl substituents on the nitrogen atom of the aniline moiety markedly inhibited the enzyme activity to the same degree as omeprazole, a representative H+/K(+)-ATPase inhibitor. Most of these compounds, administered at 3 mg/kg i.v. inhibited histamine-stimulated gastric acid secretion. The inhibitory activity of these derivatives on the enzymes at pH 6.0 was more potent than that at pH 7.4, and was distinctly correlated to stability in aqueous solution at pH 5.0.     

Reaction Intermediates on TiO2(110) Identified by Time-Lapse Scanning Tunneling Microscopy

The present account describes first time examples of scanning tunneling microscope (STM) visualization of reaction intermediates on a metal oxide surface. The topographic response of reactant-adsorbed TiO₂(110) surfaces to a temperature increment or to a pressure increment was monitored as a sequence of STM images. Acetates thermally decomposing to ketene were resolved in a temperature-jump STM observation. The kinetics of the acetate consumption was determined on the number of acetates resolved in the microscope images and agreed with the macroscopic rate law of ketene production. A pressure-jump study revealed how a chemisorbed carboxylate (RCOO^-) is exchanged by another carboxylate (R'COO^-) supplied from the ambient vapor phase. An impinging R'COOH was immobilized on the top of a RCOO^- and then squeezed itself into the monolayer of the RCOO^-. One of the carboxylates in the squeezed state returned to the vapor phase via the immobilized state.     

Enhancement of the Kerr effect for a quantum dot in a cavity

Nonlinear susceptibility of a quantum dot (QD) embedded in a two-sided cavity, is studied theoretically from a weak-coupling to a strong-coupling regime. In the relevance of a quantum logic gate, the corresponding nonlinear phase shifts (Kerr effect) are estimated for coherent wavepackets including one photon on average. In the weak-coupling regime, the phase shift enhances strongly as a function of a coupling constant between the cavity photon and QD, and eventually saturates in the strong-coupling regime. We also show transmission spectra to evaluate the efficiency of the phase shift. Although the efficiency decreases monotonically in the weak-coupling regime, it rises in the strong-coupling regime.     

Observation on meta-stability of thulium nitrate crystal by using electric measurements

Frequency dependence of ac conductivity from 1 to 10⁵ Hz and time series of the conductivity at 2 kHz were measured along c-axis of thulium nitrate crystal, Tm(NO₃)₃6H₂O at temperatures from 203.15 to 293.15 K. The meta-stability was observed. The frequency spectra of the conductivity were similar to those in disorder system. Aging effect was observed. Non-periodic instability (burst) was found. Non-linear dynamical property was characterized by 1/f noise spectrum, limit cycle in return map and dependence of correlation exponent on embedding dimension.