Clove oil prevents glycyrrhizin gel formation in aqueous solution

One persistent problem with using therapeutic concentrations of glycyrrhizin (GZ) is that, at these high concentrations, it forms a gel in an aqueous solution. We previously solved this problem by dissolving GZ in a highly concentrated phosphate buffer. Unfortunately, the resulting GZ solution has a hyperosmotic pressure that renders it unsuitable for use in patients. The aim of this study was to prepare a highly concentrated GZ solution having an osmotic pressure ratio of 1 and a pH of 7.4. By adding small amounts of oil and using a 100 mM phosphate buffer, we achieved an emulsified GZ solution that is stable at room temperature and has a physiological osmotic pressure and pH. When clove oil was used as an emulsifier, the gel formation temperature of GZ solution decreased appreciably compared to that of GZ solution without clove oil. Using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), we examined the detailed characteristics of GZ gels prepared from solutions with or without clove oil. SEM of cross sections of GZ gels revealed an irregular structure in gels prepared with clove oil, indicating that clove oil prevented the formation of the intermolecular GZ networks typically characterized by gels derived from pure GZ solutions.     

Average electron radii in many-electron atoms

In many-electron atoms, the average electron radius r represents the mean distance of a single electron from the nucleus when all the interelectronic interactions are averaged. If the electron-electron interaction is explicitly considered, the average radius r splits into two different radii, inner radius r(<) and outer radius r(>). For the 102 atoms He through Lr in their ground states, the radii r(<) and r(>) are systematically examined at the Hartree-Fock limit level. The effect of electron correlations on r(<) and r(>) is also discussed for the He atom and its isoelectronic ions.     

Experimental observation of soft X-rays and suprathermal ions from rare-gas cryogenic solid targets

We investigated characteristics of the soft X-ray emission in the wavelength range of 6–16 nm using various rare-gas cryogenic solid targets irradiated with a nanosecond laser pulse. Suprathermal ions having a maximum velocity of the order of 10⁷ cm/s were detected for three rare-gas targets (Ar, Kr, and Xe). The spatial distributions of the soft X-rays and the suprathermal ions were measured for Xe cryogenic solid targets and found to vary as cos² and cos⁵, respectively, where is the angle to the target normal. By integrating the observed cos² spatial distribution, the conversion efficiency of the soft X-ray emission in the wavelength range from 6 to 16 nm was evaluated to be 0.2%/pulse. PACS 52.38.ph; 52.50.Jm     

First results from KamLAND: evidence for reactor antineutrino disappearance

KamLAND has measured the flux of nu;(e)'s from distant nuclear reactors. We find fewer nu;(e) events than expected from standard assumptions about nu;(e) propagation at the 99.95% C.L. In a 162 ton.yr exposure the ratio of the observed inverse beta-decay events to the expected number without nu;(e) disappearance is 0.611+/-0.085(stat)+/-0.041(syst) for nu;(e) energies >3.4 MeV. In the context of two-flavor neutrino oscillations with CPT invariance, all solutions to the solar neutrino problem except for the "large mixing angle" region are excluded.     

Development of the fiber neutron monitor for the energy range 15-100 MeV on the International Space Station (ISS)

In order to investigate the space environment, a new neutron monitor has been prepared. The sensor consists of scintillation fibers (FIB) and will be on board the exposed facility of the Japanese Experimental module (Kibo) of the International Space Station (ISS). The sensor is one of the instruments which measures the particle and plasma environment around the ISS. The sensor will be used by the cosmonauts who work on the ISS, to help them avoid a strong particle radiation which may arrive soon. We believe that such an alert is necessary for the cosmonauts to prevent unnecessary radiation from the sun. Furthermore, the sensor will be very useful in understanding the particle acceleration mechanism at the solar surface. The design of the Engineering Model (EM) was finished and its properties were investigated. This report discusses these results.     

Compensation of Interchannel Crosstalk Induced by Optical Fiber Nonlinearity in Carrier Phase-Locked WDM System

A scheme that compensates the waveform distortion induced by nonlinear interchannel crosstalk such as four-wave mixing (FWM) and cross-phase modulation as well as self-phase modulation in phase-locked wavelength-division-multiplexing transmission systems is proposed. Reduction of FWM-induced waveform distortion by controlling the phase relationship between neighbouring channels and its cancellation by precompensation is successfully demonstrated     

All-optical timing extraction using an optical tank circuit

An ultrafast all-optical timing extraction method using an optical tank circuit is described, and experimental results at 2 Gb/s are reported. A Fabry-Perot resonator, whose free spectral range is equal to the clock frequency of the incoming optical data stream, is utilized as the optical tank circuit. Its fully passive structure and ultra-high-bit-rate operation (~Tb/s) is possible through decreasing resonator length     

Lightning-Induced Surges in Paired Telephone Subscriber Cable in Japan

This paper presents measured and calculated data that can be used as a basis for designing and protecting telecommunication equipment against lightning-induced surges in Japan. The paper examines the variations in geographic and environmental conditions in different parts of Japan (e.g., thunderstorm days, summer versus winter lightning, ground (soil) conductivity) and describes measured variations in lightning-induced surge characteristics in subscriber-paired cables due to differences in geographic conditions and cable conditions (e.g., cable type, buried versus aerial cable, cable length, cable height, terminal conditions, main versus branch cable). Measured lightning characteristics (e.g., front time, time-to-half-value) are compared for various measurement locations (e.g., subscriber end for subscriber cable, telephone office end for subscriber cable, telephone office end for toll cable). A general set of equations is empirically derived that predicts lightning-induced surgevoltage occurrences, front time, and time-to-half-value distributions.