Decreased l-tryptophan concentration in distinctive brain regions of mice treated repeatedly with phencyclidine

It has been reported that repeated phencyclidine (PCP) treatment induces schizophrenia-like behavior in mice. l-Tryptophan (Trp) concentrations in brain tissues of control (n?=?8) and PCP-treated mice (10 mg/kg/day, s.c., 14 days, n?=?10) were determined using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection. The HPLC method involved pre-column fluorescence derivatization with (R)-(?)-4-(N,N-dimethylaminosulfonyl)-7-(3-isothiocyanatopyrrolidin-1-yl)-2,1,3-benzoxadiazole (DBD-PyNCS). Eight different parts of the brain, namely, the frontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, striatum, hippocampus, amygdala, thalamus, hypothalamus, and cerebellum, of both groups were investigated. A significant decrease in the l-Trp concentration in the nucleus accumbens (p?=?0.024) and hippocampus (p?=?0.027) was observed in PCP-treated mice, suggesting that alteration of the l-Trp metabolism might occur in these brain parts.     

Auger and secondary electrons excited by backscattered electrons; An approach to quantitative analysis

The contribution of backscattered electrons (BE) to Auger electrons (AE) and secondary electrons (SE) was studied by depositing Be onto a polycrystalline or deposited Cu substrate. The effects of backscattering on SE and maximum escape depth of SE were obtained by using the so called δ-η method. This method was also applied to the AE and the effects of BE on AE were experimentally evaluated. The AE yield versus primary energy curve which was corrected for BE was compared with other experiments and theories and considerably good agreement was obtained. From this analysis, the excitation efficiencies of AE by primary electrons and by BE could also be obtained. The absolute AE yield of Be (KVV) was estimated by “area” measurements. The changes of plasma losses, the elastic peaks, the energy distribution of BE, and the true SE were also observed as a function of deposited film thickness, and the results are discussed.     

Spectroscopic observation of bipolaronic point defects in Ba(1-x)KxBiO3

An infrared-absorption band centered at 0.85 eV, which is below the big optical absorption at the charge-density-wave (CDW) gap energy of 1.85 eV, has been observed for semiconducting single crystalline Ba(1-x)KxBiO3. With substituting K for Ba, the spectral weight of the new band increases with x, while that of the CDW-gap excitation decreases. Since the impurity state with the K substitution is known to be nonmagnetic at low temperatures, Bi3+ the state with 6s2 electrons surrounded by the six Bi5+ ions forms a small bipolaron by losing a pair of electrons in the Rice-Sneddon model. The new band is assigned to a transition from the lower-Peierls band to a state of the bipolaronic point defect.     

Mesoscopic nanomaterials generated by interfering femtosecond laser processing

Mesoscopic nanomaterials with a size ranging from a few nanometers to hundreds of nanometers were generated on a metallic thin film by interfering femtosecond (fs) laser processing. Because the nanomaterials seemed to demonstrate liquid behavior, we named their structure nano water drop. The structure is considerably similar to that of a real water drop observed with a high-speed camera. Using the phase shift between interfering beams, a duplicate structure was generated. This is a new surface modification technique, using a top-down approach.     

Macroscopic single‐domain graphene sheet on Ni(111)

We observed in situ growth of a single graphene sheet on Ni(111) by low‐energy electron microscopy. The sheet was grown epitaxially beyond the steps on the substrate. The crystalline shapes of graphene islands were clearly seen; the straight edges of the island are crossed at either 60 or 120°, and the linear edges shifted perpendicular to the edge keeping the equilibrium shape. Graphene islands were united to form a single sheet without any grain boundaries and any wrinkles. The Ni substrate of several centimeters in size was covered with a single‐domain graphene sheet. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Radiation-induced reactions via the lowest excited states in cinnamic acid crystals

Radiation-induced reactions of cinnamic acid derivatives have been examined and compared with photoreactions in the crystalline state; all the reaction products were exactly the same as those of the photoreactions, indicating that the reactions proceed only via the lowest excited state to give [2 + 2] cycloadducts, E/Z isomerization products, or starting molecules.     

Development characteristics of drag-reducing surfactant solution flow in a duct

Development characteristics of dilute cationic surfactant solution flow have been studied through the measurements of the time characteristics of surfactant solution by birefringence experiments and of the streamwise mean velocity profiles of surfactant solution duct flow by a laser Doppler velocimetry system. For both experiments, the concentration of cationic surfactant (oleylbishydroxymethylethylammonium chloride: Ethoquad O/12) was kept constant at 1000 ppm and the molar ratio of the counter ion of sodium salicylate to the surfactants was at 1.5. From the birefringence experiments, dilute surfactant solution shows very long retardation time corresponding to micellar shear induced structure formation. This causes very slow flow development of surfactant solution in a duct. Even at the end of the test section with the distance of 112 times of hydraulic diameter form the inlet, the flow is not fully developed but still has the developing boundary layer characteristics on the duct wall. From the time characteristics and the boundary layer development, it is concluded that the entry length of 1000 to 2000 times hydraulic diameter is required for fully developed surfactant solution flow.List of abbreviations and symbols A₁, A₂ Coefficients for time constant fitting [-] - B Breadth of the test duct [m] - C₁, C₂ Coefficients for time constant fitting [-] - D Pipe diameter [m] - D_H Hydraulic diameter [m] - g Impulse response function [Pa] - H Width of the test duct [m] - n Index of Bird-Carreau model [-] - Re Reynolds number (=U_mD_H/) - Re_D Pipe Reynolds number (=U_mD/) - Re_x Streamwise distance Reynolds number (=U₀x/) - T Absolute temperature [K] - t Time [s] - t_a Retardation time [s] - t_b Build-up time [s] - t_x Relaxation time [s] - t_x1, t_x2 Relaxation time for double time constant fitting [s] - t Time constant in Bird-Carreau model [s] - U Time mean velocity [m/s] - U_m Bulk mean velocity [m/s] - U_max Maximum velocity in a pipe [m/s] - U₀ Main flow velocity [m/s] - u Friction velocity [m/s] - x, y Coordinates [m] - Shear rate [s^–1] - Mean shear rate [s^–1] - n Birefringence [-] - 99% boundary layer thickness [m] - Solution viscosity [Pa·s] - _P, _S Surfactant and solvent viscosity [Pa·s] - ₀, Zero and infinite viscosity of Bird-Carreau model [Pa·s] - Characteristic time in Maxwell model [s] - Water kinematic viscosity [m²/s] - Density [kg/m³] - Solution shear stress [Pa] - _P, _S Surfactant and solvent shear stress [Pa] - Time in convolution [s]     

Rheological characteristics of trimethylolethane hydrate slurry treated with drag-reducing surfactants

Rheological characteristics of trimethylolethane (TME) clathrate–hydrate slurry treated with drag-reducing surfactants were investigated. Friction coefficients and apparent viscosities were measured when the concentration of TME and its hydrate fraction treated with and without drag-reducing surfactants were changed in several steps. From the results, it is found that the surfactant addition causes effective drag reduction in a pipe flow when the hydrate fraction becomes high, while effective drag reduction disappears in the cases of low hydrate fraction. The results of viscosity measurements indicate that the TME molecules disturb the formation of shear-induced structures (SIS) causing drag reduction phenomena. To investigate this interaction between TME and surfactant micelles, the effect of TME concentration on viscosity and relaxation time of solutions was discussed. From this, it was found out that there exists a critical concentration of TME on the formation of SIS and that it becomes larger as shear rate increases. Thus, we conclude that this interaction between TME and micellar structures causes less drag reduction for the cases of low hydrate fraction, while the drag reduction appears in cases of high hydrate fraction because TME concentration in liquid phase becomes small.