Measurement of natural plasma flow along the field lines in the scrape-Off layer on the JT-60U divertor tokamak

The plasma profile and parallel plasma flow in the scrape-off layer (SOL) were systematically measured using reciprocating Mach probes installed at the outer midplane and near the divertor magnetic null (x point) in the JT-60U tokamak with a single null divertor. For the ion vertical drift due to the toroidal magnetic field gradient (ion nablaB drift) directed towards the divertor, SOL plasma flow along the magnetic field lines away from the divertor ("flow reversal") was discovered at the midplane far from the divertor. A quantitative evaluation of the ion "Pfirsch-Schluter flow," wherein the parallel flow is naturally produced in a toroidal plasma, was consistent with the measurement.     

A<Subscript>4</Subscript> symmetry and lepton masses and mixing

Stimulated by Ma’s idea, which explains the tribimaximal neutrino mixing by assuming an A₄ flavor symmetry, a lepton mass matrix model is investigated. A Frogatt–Nielsen-type model is assumed, and the flavor structures of the masses and mixing are caused by the VEVs of SU(2)_L singlet scalars φ_i ^u and φ_i ^d (i=1,2,3), which are assigned to 3 and (1 ,1 ’,1 ”) of A₄, respectively. Possible charged lepton and neutrino mass spectra and mixing are investigated.     

Charged lepton mass matrix with democratic family mixing

By starting from a mass matrix with family-independent mixing (the so-called “democratic” family mixing) and by requiring some simple constraints on the additional mass terms, but without any small parameters, a mass relation which is in excellent agreement with experiment is derived for charged leptons.     

Evaluation of an ODS column modified with zwitterionic/nonionic mixed surfactants and its application to direct injection determination of inorganic anions.

An octadecylsilica (ODS) column modified with zwitterionic/nonionic mixed surfactants was evaluated for the direct injection determination of inorganic anions in biological fluids by ion chromatography. A zwitterionic surfactant (sulfobetaine-type) and a nonionic surfactant (polyoxyethylene-type) were used for a stationary-phase modification. When aqueous electrolyte solutions with concentrations of sub-mM to several mM were used as a mobile phase, the zwitterionic surfactant coated on the ODS surface exhibited unique separation selectivity for ionic species, while the nonionic surfactant coated on the ODS might have formed a hydrophilic network over the ODS surface and restricted matrix proteins from adsorbing on the stationary phase. Consequently, the mixed surfactant-modified column system allowed an efficient ion chromatographic separation of inorganic anions as well as a size-exclusive removal of column-fouling proteins. This separation system was applied to the direct injection determination of UV-absorbing anions in human saliva. The detection limits for nitrite, nitrate, iodide and thiocyanate were 3.1, 2.7, 4.5 and 25 microM, respectively, with UV detection at 210 nm (injection volume; 20 microl), and their relative standard deviations for 5 replicate measurements of saliva samples spiked with 100 microM each of those anions were 1.4, 0.9, 2.2 and 5.5%, respectively.     

Electrical characterization of Schottky diodes based on boron doped homoepitaxial diamond films by conducting probe atomic force microscopy

A large planar tungsten carbide (WC) Schottky diode on p-type homoepitaxial diamond was mainly investigated on a microscopic level by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and conducting probe atomic force microscopy (CP-AFM), allowing simultaneous topographic and local electrical resistance imaging measurements. These techniques revealed the existence of a specific microstructure on the WC Schottky contact consisting of electrically insulating islands surrounded by conductive paths. The islands are found to be insulating in the whole range of explored bias [−5 V, +5 V], whereas the current flowing between the islands is 1000 times lower at a reverse bias of −5 V than at a forward bias of +5 V, in agreement with the rectifying ratio found from macroscopic current–voltage (I–V) measurements. CP-AFM provides a prospective imaging tool which is well suited for analyzing the local electrical properties and instabilities of Schottky junctions.     

Addressable electrode array device with IDA electrodes for high-throughput detection

An electrochemical device is proposed for high-throughput electrochemical detection that consists of 32 row and 32 column electrodes on a single glass substrate. The row and column electrodes are connected to interdigitated array (IDA) electrodes to form 1024 (32 × 32) addressable sensor points in the device. Electrochemical responses from each of the 1024 sensors were successfully acquired on the device within 1 min using redox cycling at individual IDA electrodes, which ensures application of the device to comprehensive, high-throughput electrochemical detection for enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), reporter gene assay for monitoring gene expressions, and DNA analysis.     

Second order charge overlap effects and damping functions for isotropic atomic and molecular interactions

Second order charge overlap effects and the related dispersion energy damping functions have been evaluated for the H-(1s)-H(1s) interaction through partial wave indices l_a+l_b such that (l_a+l_b) ? 13. These results are a substantial improvement on, or addition to, previous literature results and are important since they can be used, following several available scaling approaches, to construct damping functions for other interactions. They also indicate that the “spherical” energies are not an insignificant part of the total second order Coulomb energy until R becomes reasonably large. The various approaches for evaluating the non-expanded second order Coulomb energy are compared and the difficulties associated with the accurate determination of these energies, and the related damping functions, for general interactions are discussed in some detail.