Effect of end groups of poly(n-butyl methacrylate) on its biocompatibility

Telechelic poly(n-butyl methacrylate)s (PBMAs) with various end groups were prepared using nonionic, anionic, cationic or zwitterionic azo-type radical initiators and cell adhesion onto the surfaces of the polymers was investigated. The tendency for cell adhesion to the polymers differed with and without pretreatment with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS, pH 7.4). The cell adhesion to polymer surfaces without pretreatment was lower than that with pretreatment. The effect of pretreatment with PBS was significant for PBMA with ionic end groups. Furthermore, cell adhesion to the surface of PBMA with zwitterionic end groups was suppressed compared with that to the surfaces of other polymers. It was presumed that positive and negative charges of zwitterionic groups in the same molecule negated each other at pH 7.4 and that the polymers with zwitterionic end groups had no effective charges. The results clearly indicated that biocompatibility of polymers can be changed by the introduction of functional groups at the ends of the polymer chains. Fabrication of functional material surfaces will be anticipated by the similar method in the future.     

Effect of the magnetic field on the melting transition of Ga and In by nW-stabilized DSC

The melting transition of Ga and In was measured by using a nW-stabilized differential scanning calorimeter working in a magnetic bore. The magnetic effect on the thermometer was about 18 mK at 5 T, which was corrected for the measurement of the magnetic effect on the melting transition of Ga and In. The melting temperatures of Ga and In with the magnetic field of 5 T were obtained to be 8.3 and 10.2 mK, respectively higher than those without the magnetic field. These results show that the solid phase to be relatively more stable under the magnetic field. The calculated temperature shifts of the melting transition due to the magnetic field using the magneto-Clapeyron equation and the reference data of magnetic susceptibility were negative values for both Ga and In, being contradictory to the experimental results.     

Heat and mass transfer of a water film falling down a tilted plate with radiant heating and evaporation

This paper has concerned the heat and mass transfer of a water film falling down a tilted plate with radiant heating and water evaporation. A cluster of physical models was developed for evaluating the properties of heat and mass transfer. A fully implicit control-volume finite-difference procedure was used to solve the coupling equations. The effects of various parameters on heat and mass transfer were investigated. The results showed that the mass fraction of water vapor in ambient atmosphere and the flow turbulence played key roles in the heat and mass transfer. The ambient atmospheric temperature dramatically affected the sensible heat flux. However its effect on the latent heat flux is negligibly small. The magnitude of solar incident flux had an intense influence on the water film temperature. Received on 29 January 1998     

Study on dimensionless criterion of fracture of closed pipe due to freezing of water

The pressure rise due to freezing of water enclosed in pipes has been studied, by means of theoretical computation and experiments, under the various heat transfer conditions and ambient temperatures, taking deformation of pipe walls into account. It has been found that the presented models well represent the actual phenomena and dimensionless parameters proposed are effective for correlating the pressure rises, the conditions of heat transfer, dimensions of the pipes. The tangential stress has been analyzed in dimensionless form to clarify its dependabilities on the modified Biot number and the ratio of thickness of a pipe wall and its radius. It has also shown thatF _crit, the critical Fourier number, can be considerably increased by introducing a void area at the center of pipes and the criterion of freezing fracture of pipes can be expressed as a combination of the dimensionless parameters presented in the report.

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Studie über ein dimensionsloses Kriterium zur Vorhersage des Berstens eines geschlossenen Rohres durch frierendes Wasser

Zusammenfassung Es wurde der Druckanstieg bei Einfrieren eines in Rohren eingeschlossenen Wassers experimentell und mittels theoretischer Berechnungen bei unterschiedlichen Werten von Wärmübergang und Umgebungstemperatur und unter Berücksichtigung der Verformung der Rohrwand berechnet. Dabei konnte festgestellt werden, daß das vorgestellte Modell die tatsächlichen Phänomene gut wiedergibt und die vorgeschlagenen dimensionslosen Parameter für die Berechnung des Druckanstieges und die Berücksichtigung der Wärmeübergangsbedingungen geeignet sind. Die Tangentialspannung wurde in dimensionsloser Form analysiert, um die Abhängigkeit von der modifizierten Biot-Zahl und von dem Verhältnis von Wandstärke zu Radius des Rohres zu klären. Es wird auch gezeigt, daß die kritische modifizierte Fourier-Zahl beträchtlich erhöht werden kann, wenn man eine Gaszone im Zentrum des Rohres einführt. Weiterhin wird gezeigt, daß das Kriterium für den Einfrierbruch des Rohres als Kombination dimensionsloser Parameter ausgedrückt werden kann.

     

CEMS study on diluted magneto titanium oxide films prepared by pulsed laser deposition

6% ⁵⁷Fe doped titanium oxide films, prepared by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) on sapphire substrate at 650°C under various vacuum conditions, were characterized mainly by conversion electron Mössbauer spectrometry (CEMS). Two magnetic sextets with hyperfine fields 33 and 29 T, and one doublet were observed in the CEMS spectra of TiO₂ films prepared under PO₂ = 10^?6 and 10^?8 torr, which showed ferromagnetism at room temperature, whereas only the doublet of paramagnetic Fe³⁺ species was observed for the film prepared under PO₂ = 10^?1 torr.     

Absolute frequency measurement of an acetylene-stabilized laser at 1542 nm

The absolute frequency of an acetylene-stabilized laser at 1542 nm is measured at its second harmonic (771 nm) by use of a femtosecond optical comb based on a mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser. Frequency stability and reproducibility of the acetylene-stabilized laser are evaluated by the femtosecond comb with a H maser as a frequency reference. The absolute frequency of a laser diode stabilized on the P(16) transition of 13C2H2 is determined to be 194 369 569 383.6(1.3) kHz. The acetylene-stabilized laser serves as an important optical frequency standard for telecommunication applications.     

The Relationship between Age and Change in Physical Functions after Exercise Intervention. Trainability of Japanese Community-Dwelling Older Elderly

The purposes of this study were to evaluate the relationship between age and changes in physical measurements after exercise intervention and to investigate the trainability of the older elderly. Two hundred seventy-six community-dwelling people aged 60 years and older practiced exercise intervention for 3 months. The measurements of physical functions were one-legged standing with eyes open and closed (OLS-O, OLS-C), functional reach test (FR), timed up and go test (TUG), maximum walking velocity, flexibility, and muscle strength. We evaluated the associations between age and the changes in these physical measurements. All measurements except for OLS-C significantly improved after intervention. The magnitude of the changes in hand-grip strength and FR after the intervention showed weak negative correlations with the subject''s age, but other measurements showed no correlations. In addition, there were no differences between younger elderly persons and older elderly persons with regard to changes in any measurements. These results suggested that the exercise intervention we applied could improve physical fitness in community-dwelling older people, regardless of their age. The older elderly were comparable to the younger elderly in trainability to improve physical fitness.     

Period-doubling cascades of canards from the extended Bonhoeffer-van der Pol oscillator

This Letter investigates the period-doubling cascades of canards, generated in the extended Bonhoeffer-van der Pol oscillator. Canards appear by Andronov-Hopf bifurcations (AHBs) and it is confirmed that these AHBs are always supercritical in our system. The cascades of period-doubling bifurcation are followed by mixed-mode oscillations. The detailed two-parameter bifurcation diagrams are derived, and it is clarified that the period-doubling bifurcations arise from a narrow parameter value range at which the original canard in the non-extended equation is observed.     

Optical trapping and manipulation of microscopic particles and biological cells by laser beams

Optical trapping incorporating visible and near-IR laser beams has become an important tool for precise, noncontact manipulation of various micrometre-sized particles. This paper reviews basic principles and features of single-beam optical trapping of microscopic particles such as biological cells, polystyrene latex spheres, small crystals and metal particles. Trapping forces measured and calculated on the basis of ray optics are discussed. Some interesting applications are also described, including an optical micromotor, all-optical biological cell fusion, observation of nonlinear optical phenomena and microlaser oscillation, and metal particle trapping.