Observation of the fast potential change at L-H transition by a heavy-ion-beam probe on JFT-2M

The fast potential change near the separatrix is measured directly at the L-H transition by a heavy-ion-beam probe. The potential changes with two different time scales at the L-H transition triggered by a sawtooth crash: it drops at first with the time scale of 10--100 mus just after the arrival of the heat pulse due to the sawtooth crash. Then, it decreases again at a few 100 mus after the first drop at a time scale of about 200 mus.     

Preparation of cellulosic soft and composite materials using ionic liquid media and ion gels

Cellulose - Ionic liquids (ILs) are powerful media for the modification and functionalization of cellulose. This review article discusses the preparation of cellulosic soft and composite materials...     

Symmetric inequalities with power-exponential functions

We establish symmetric inequalities with power-exponential functions and propose a conjecture.     

Biosynthesis of Indole Diterpene Lolitrems: Radical-Induced Cyclization of an Epoxyalcohol Affording a Characteristic Lolitremane Skeleton

Lolitrems are tremorgenic indole diterpenes that exhibit a unique 5/6 bicyclic system of the indole moiety. Although genetic analysis has indicated that the prenyltransferase LtmE and the cytochrome P450 LtmJ are involved in the construction of this unique structure, the detailed mechanism remains to be elucidated. Herein, we report the reconstitution of the biosynthetic pathway for lolitrems employing a recently established genome-editing technique for the expression host Aspergillus oryzae. Heterologous expression and bioconversion of the various intermediates revealed that LtmJ catalyzes multistep oxidation to furnish the lolitrem core. We also isolated the key reaction intermediate with an epoxyalcohol moiety. This observation allowed us to establish the mechanism of radical-induced cyclization, which was firmly supported by density functional theory calculations and a model experiment with a synthetic analogue.     

Hydrophobic Monomers Recognize Microenvironments in Hydrogel Microspheres during Free-Radical-Seeded Emulsion Polymerization

The three-dimensional structure of nanocomposite microgels was precisely determined by cryo-electron micrography. Several nanocomposite microgels that differ with respect to their nanocomposite structure, which were obtained from seeded emulsion polymerization in the presence of microgels, were used as model nanocomposite materials for cryo-electron micrography. The obtained three-dimensional segmentation images of these nanocomposite microgels provide important insights into the interactions between the hydrophobic monomers and the microgels, that is, hydrophobic styrene monomers recognize molecular-scale differences in polarity within the microgels during the emulsion polymerization. This result led to the formation of unprecedented multi-layered nanocomposite microgels, which promise substantial potential in colloidal applications.     

Entanglement properties of carboxymethyl cellulose and related polysaccharides

Entanglement network of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) was characterized based on the dynamic viscoelasticity of the concentrated solutions in an ionic liquid. According to the concentration dependence of the molecular weight between entanglements (M _e), M _e for the molten state (M _e,melt) for CMC was estimated to be 3.9 × 10³ as a chain variable reflecting the chemical structure of the polysaccharide. Furthermore, relations between M _e,melt and other chain variables were examined to elucidate the specificity in the entanglement properties of CMC and related polysaccharides. It was shown that the number of entanglement strands (P _e), the ratio of the cube of the tube diameter, and the volume occupied by the entanglement strand, for CMC was 72 being significantly larger than the universal value of ca. 20 recognized for flexible polymers. Anomalous values of P _e > 20 were also obtained for related polysaccharides such as cellulose and amylose.

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Aromaticity and diatropicity of <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-polyphenyl-α,ω-quinododimethides

p-Polyphenyl-α,ω-quinododimethides were predicted to be moderately aromatic and diatropic, although they exist only in a single classical resonance structure with no aromatic conjugated circuits. Such a dichotomy was resolved using our graph theory of aromaticity and ring-current diamagnetism. Six-site non-conjugated circuits were found to contribute appreciably to aromaticity and ring-current diamagnetism. Within each quinododimethide molecule, local aromaticity increases on going from the outermost to inner phenylene rings.     

Direct and indirect electrochemical generation of alkoxycarbenium ion pools from thioacetals

Thioacetals were found to be effective precursors to generate and accumulate alkoxycarbenium ions based on direct and indirect cation pool methods. Alkoxycarbenium ions thus generated reacted with carbon nucleophiles such as allylsilanes and enol silyl ethers to give C-C bond formation products in good yields.     

Effect of calcination temperature on the microstructure of porous TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> film

To obtain porous TiO₂ film, the precursor sol was prepared by hydrolysis of Ti isopropoxide and then complexed with trehalose dihydrate. The porous TiO₂ film was fabricated by the dip-coating technique on glass substrates using this solution. The TiO₂ film was calcined at 500 °C. The maximum thickness of the film from one-run dip-coating was ca. 740 nm. The film was composed of nanosized particle and pores. The porosity of the TiO₂ film was increased by addition of trehalose dihydrate to the sol. The porous TiO₂ films were calcined at different temperatures. The effects of calcination temperature on the microstructure of the porous TiO₂ film were investigated. The porous film prepared from sol containing trehalose still kept the porous structure after calcination at 950 °C. The phase transition temperature of the film from anatase to rutile was shifted from 650 to 700 °C by addition of trehalose to the sol.