ELF magnetic fields initiate protein tyrosine phosphorylation of the T cell receptor complex

The human T cell line Jurkat registers a sinusoidal extremely low frequency (ELF), 0.10 mT magnetic fields (MFs) at the level of the plasma membrane. In this study, the protein tyrosine phosphorylation (PY) of two membrane-associated proteins in Jurkat cells were examined following a short-term MFs exposure, the zeta chains and the Src kinases p56lck. These proteins are interesting to study since the earliest biochemical event upon T cell receptor (TcR) activation is PY of the zeta chains. These signalling chains in the TcR complex was assessed using Western blotting and the activation of the p56lck kinase was analysed by in vitro kinase assay. The MFs exposure of Jurkat for 5 min activated p56lck and resulted in PY of zeta. These findings are in line with earlier reports on how MFs exposure affects signal transduction in Jurkat.     

Multilayer optical disc system using homodyne detection

A write/read system using high-productivity multilayer optical discs was developed. The recording medium used in the system consists of planar recording layers and a separated guide layer, and is fabricated by web coating and lamination process. The recording layers in the medium are made of one-photon-absorption material, on which data can be recorded with a normal laser diode. The developed system is capable of focusing and tracking on the medium and amplifying readout signals by using phase-diversity homodyne detection. A highly layer-selective focusing method using homodyne detection was also proposed. This method obtains stable focus-error signals with clearly separated S-shaped curves even when layer spacing is quite narrow, causing large interlayer crosstalk. Writing on the medium and reading with the signal amplification effect of homodyne detection was demonstrated. In addition, the effectiveness of the method was experimentally evaluated.     

Monte-Carlo simulation on Compton double scattering of polarized X-rays

A Monte-Carlo simulation of energy spectra of Compton double scattered X-rays has been made as functions of the incident energy of elliptically polarized X-rays and the atomic number of samples having different shapes and volumes. This simulation is based on the previous one made by one of the authors (N.S.), in which completely circularly polarized γ-rays were only assumed, and is improved to meet the multiple scattering correction on experimental Compton profiles measured with linearly or elliptically polarized synchrotron radiations. The results are compared with two experiments in reasonable agreement.     

Normal covers of infinite products and normality of Σ-products

We give some characterizations for normal covers of infinite products of generalized metric spaces such as M-spaces, Σ-spaces and β-spaces. We prove them simultaneously in terms of β-spaces and perfect maps. Next, we give affirmative answers to two questions concerning the normality of Σ-products, which were raised by the author and Yamazaki, respectively. These results are stated in terms of Σ-products of β-spaces.     

1H NMR analysis of cellulose dissolved in non-deuterated ionic liquids

¹H NMR spectroscopy of cellulose in a non-deuterated polar ionic liquid (IL) was carried out to analyze specific interaction between cellulose and ILs. We applied a polar IL, 1,3-dimethylimidazolium methyl methylphosphonate, as a cellulose solvent for ¹H NMR spectroscopy. To prevent vanishing of the signals of hydroxyl groups (C–OHs) by hydrogen–deuterium exchange, a non-deuterated IL was utilized, and both signals for C–OHs and backbone protons were successfully detected with the aid of the no-deuterium NMR technique and a solvent suppression technique. It was confirmed that C–OHs interacted with ILs more strongly, rather than backbone protons. Furthermore, the signals of the C–OHs at 2-, 3-, and 6-position were independently observed. A strong interaction between C–OH at the 6-position and ILs was confirmed to be a key step for dissolution of cellulose.     

Products of monotonically normal spaces with factors defined by topological games

Recently, it has been proved that orthocompactness implies normality for the products of a monotonically normal space and a compact space. It had been known that normality, collectionwise normality and the shrinking property are equivalent for the same products. We extend these two results for the products replacing the compact factor with a factor defined by topological games. Moreover, we prove the equivalence of orthocompactness and weak suborthocompactness in these products.     

Normal covers of various products

Throughout this paper, we consider the following two problems: (A) When does a rectangular normal cover of a product X×Y (or an infinite product _∏λ∈ΛXλ) have a σ-locally finite rectangular cozero refinement? (B) What kind of a refinement makes a rectangular open cover of a product X×Y (or an infinite product _∏λ∈ΛXλ) be normal? We shall discuss these problems on various products listed below.     

Evaluation of planar elongation viscosity of low-viscosity liquids using annular abrupt contraction flow around a sliding disk-shaped bob

This paper proposes a mechanical measurement technique of the planar elongation viscosity of the low-viscosity liquids. A newly designed flow cell, which consists of a cylindrical cup and a disk-shaped bob with a knife-edged rim, generates the planar elongation flow. Three kinds of Newtonian fluids and an M1 fluid are used. A strain control rheometer pushed the bob into the cup filled with the test fluid and measured the resistant force. The planar elongation viscosity was evaluated using the following two assumptions: first, the resistant force is regarded as the sum of the buoyancy and the resultant forces caused by pressure drops in the planar elongation flow and the shear flow in the test section. Second, the hydraulic mean depth is used as a representative length. The relative errors of the Trouton ratio of the Newtonian fluids were less than 20% compared to the theoretical value of 4.

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Neutron diffraction data and molecular dynamics simulations of the molten mixture Ag(Br0.7I0.3)

The structure factors of the ionic liquid mixture Ag(Br(0.7)I(0.3)) at three temperatures, 723, 923, and 1023 K, as well as of the pure molten AgI at 923 K and the pure molten AgBr at 773 and 923 K, were studied experimentally and by means of molecular dynamics simulations. The experiments were carried out using the high intensity total scattering time-of-flight spectrometer, HIT-II, at the KENS spallation neutron source in Japan. The experimental data are very reliable, with the possible exception of the small momentum transfer region, whose accessibility is limited by neutron energy and detector positions. The simulations made use of the semiempirical rigid ion potentials of the Vashishta-Rahman [Phys. Rev. Lett. 40, 1337 (1978)] type using a new set of parameters appropriate for the mixture. Within the known constraints of the pairwise rigid ion potentials, the simulated structure factors are in fair agreement with experiment. The results for the pair distribution functions suggest that the molten mixture retains the superionic character found in previous calculations of both the AgI and AgBr melts. This suggestion is confirmed by the results for the self-diffusion coefficients. Values obtained for the ionic conductivities are also presented.