Fabrication and structural characterization of TiO nanoparticle soft-landed on substrate by the magnetron sputtering-gas aggregation method

We have succeeded to fabricate the thin film mainly or entirely consisting of nano-crystallites TiO on a substrate at room temperature by using the magnetron sputtering combined with the gas aggregation method which has the capability to deposit grown small particles and/or clusters of the desired compound material on the substrate in soft-landed mode. The important experimental parameters to control the growth of TiO particles are identified as partial pressure of additional oxygen gas, growth-reaction distance L_td, and LN₂ cooling of growth chamber. The smallest averaged diameter of TiO nano-particles is 5.62 nm and size distribution being from 2 to 8 nm under 50 mm of L_td. The compositional uniformity is confirmed by EDS and EELS. The chemical state of the film observed by Ti 2P XPS peak confirms the primarily growth of TiO and indicates the formation of minor content of amorphous Ti_1-xO_x and/or Ti_1-xC_x particularly at the surface of the film.     

Reaction of α-Halo-Enones with Heterocyclic Bases. A Mild and Efficient Synthesis of Amino-Steroids

A number of steroids containing cyclic amino functions have been prepared and studied for biological activities, and some of them have proved to be clinically useful as a neuromuscular blocking agent, an antitumour agent, and so on.¹ As the conventional methods, the reactions of cyclic amines with halides² or epoxides,³ the reductive amination of ketones,⁴ and the reduction of enamines⁵ have been widely used for introducing these amino functions into steroid nucleus.     

Selective CO2 conversion to formate in water using a CZTS photocathode modified with a ruthenium complex polymer

Highly selective photoelectrochemical CO(2) reduction (>80% selectivity) in water was successfully achieved by combining Cu(2)ZnSnS(4) (CZTS) with a metal-complex electrocatalyst. CZTS, a sulfide semiconductor that possesses a narrow band gap and consists of earth-abundant elements, is demonstrated to be a candidate photoabsorber for a CO(2) reduction hybrid photocatalyst.     

Selective CO2 conversion to formate conjugated with H2O oxidation utilizing semiconductor/complex hybrid photocatalysts

Photoelectrochemical reduction of CO(2) to HCOO(-) (formate) over p-type InP/Ru complex polymer hybrid photocatalyst was highly enhanced by introducing an anchoring complex into the polymer. By functionally combining the hybrid photocatalyst with TiO(2) for water oxidation, selective photoreduction of CO(2) to HCOO(-) was achieved in aqueous media, in which H(2)O was used as both an electron donor and a proton source. The so-called Z-scheme (or two-step photoexcitation) system operated with no external electrical bias. The selectivity for HCOO(-) production was >70%, and the conversion efficiency of solar energy to chemical energy was 0.03-0.04%.     

Measurements of binary diffusion coefficients for metal complexes in organic solvents by the Taylor dispersion method

Infinite dilution binary diffusion coefficients, D₁₂, of ferrocene, 1,1′-dimethylferrocene and ethylferrocene in hexane, cyclohexane and ethanol at 313.2 K and pressures from 0.2 to 19 MPa, in acetonitrile at 298.2–333.2 K and 0.2 MPa, and various metallic acetylacetonate, acac, complexes such as Co(acac)₃, Ru(acac)₃, Rh(acac)₃, Pd(acac)₂ and Pt(acac)₂ mainly in ethanol at 313.2 K and 0.2 MPa were measured by the Taylor dispersion method. The D₁₂ values in m² s⁻¹ for the three ferrocenes in the present study and those of ferrocene and 1,1′-dimethylferrocene in supercritical carbon dioxide in our previous studies were represented by the modified hydrodynamic equation over a wide range of viscosity: M^0.5D₁₂/T = 1.435 × 10⁻¹³η^−0.8446 with average absolute relative deviation of 2.40% for 316 data points, where M is the solute molecular weight, T is the temperature in K, η is the solvent viscosity in Pa s. Although the D₁₂ values for the acac complexes were roughly represented by the above hydrodynamic equation, the accuracies were lower because they were dependent on not solute molecular weight but the number of acac ligand in the complex molecules.     

Investigation of uterine peristalsis diurnal variation

BACKGROUND: In women of reproductive age, wavelike movements of the subendometrial myometrium, which is called uterine peristalsis, is considered to be related with fertility and menstrual problems. This is because the direction and frequency of peristalsis is known to be different among menstrual cycle phases. However, nothing is known as regarding diurnal variations. This study was designed to evaluate for the presence of a diurnal variation in uterine peristalsis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: MR studies were performed on 12 volunteers of reproductive age using a 1.5-T magnet, four times per day (at 0800, 1300, 1800 and 2300 h) during three (periovulatory, luteal and menstrual) phases of one menstrual cycle. Sixty images were obtained by half-Fourier acquisition single-shot turbo spin echo every 2 s and displayed on cine mode. Semiautomated software was utilized to discern the presence of peristaltic waves, as well as peristaltic frequency and direction. The presence of sustained contractions was visually determined. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference during the daytime for frequency and direction of uterine peristalsis for all menstrual cycle phases. Nonetheless, peristaltic frequency and direction fluctuated during each cycle. Statistically significant peristaltic suppression was observed in association with sustained contractions during the periovulatory phase. CONCLUSIONS: A diurnal variation was not observed for uterine peristalsis. Sporadic changes in peristaltic frequency were observed and appear to be closely related to sustained uterine contractions.     

Search for a stochastic background of 100-MHz gravitational waves with laser interferometers

This Letter reports the results of a search for a stochastic background of gravitational waves (GW) at 100 MHz by laser interferometry. We have developed a GW detector, which is a pair of 75-cm baseline synchronous recycling (resonant recycling) interferometers. Each interferometer has a strain sensitivity of approximately 10;{-16} Hz;{-1/2} at 100 MHz. By cross-correlating the outputs of the two interferometers within 1000 seconds, we found h{100};{2}Omega_{gw}<6 x 10;{25} to be an upper limit on the energy density spectrum of the GW background in a 2-kHz bandwidth around 100 MHz, where a flat spectrum is assumed.     

Effect of breathing excitations of the triton nucleus on the αt cluster structure of 7Li

The effect of breathing excitations of the triton nucleus on the αt cluster structure is studied by investigating electromagnetic properties of ⁷Li in terms of a microscopic αt cluster model. An admixture of the triton breathing states makes no remarkable change in the surface clustering of the bound spin-doublet states of ⁷Li. As far as practical problems, e.g. the radiative capture process with low momentum transfer and the αt scattering problem, are concerned, a standard resonating group wave function, without taking into account the breathing excitations of the triton, gives a substantially good approximation provided that the stability conditions are satisfied for both the constituent nuclei α and t.     

A new expression for the vibrational overlap integrals between arbitrary one-dimensional harmonic oscillators

A new, compact formula for the vibrational overlap integrals between two harmonic potentials with both arbitrary curvatures and equilibrium positions is derived in a systematic manner with its several derivative formulas. Some mathematical properties of the overlap integrals obtained are discussed.