Novel pattern formation in the collapse process of floating monolayer at the air-water interface

We have observed a remarkable two-armed spiral in the collapse process of a floating monolayer at the air-water interface by phase contrast microscopy. This demonstrates that the floating monolayer as a form of soft condensed matter reorganizes itself due to a certain kind of macroscopic or collective behavior of molecules as it collapses. This pattern formation is caused by the breakdown of a critical dynamical balance between the deformation of solid domain and the applied surface pressure. The fragility as well as the flexibility of the floating monolayer can be associated with the observed pattern growth. There are also observed interesting, periodically arranged collections of molecules in numerous collapsed regions. Received: 8 July 1997 / Accepted: 4 November 1997     

Action learning versus strategy learning

This article seeks to ascertain whether the strategy‐learning model of Hanaki, Sethi, Erev, and Peterhansl (2003) better accounts for observed behavior than do the various action‐learning models. It does so by measuring the goodness‐of‐fit of the models' predictions against published experimental results for such games as Coordination, Prisoner's Dilemma, and Chicken. The fit is measured via the mean squared deviation (MSD) between the observed behavior and the one predicted by the model. The results show that, for Chicken, the strategy‐learning model fits the observed data much better than do the action‐learning models. The best action‐learning model, on the other hand, fits the observed data well in Coordination. Overall, the strength of the strategy‐learning model is best shown in games where alternations between the two stage‐game Nash equilibria are often observed in the laboratory experiments. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 9: 41–50, 2004     

Endoscopic Observation of Tissue by Narrowband Illumination

We propose a new illumination method for a medical endoscope: narrow band imaging (NBI), in which the spectral bandwidth of the filtered light is narrowed. To confirm how the spectral specifications of the filtered light influence a reproduced image, an experiment was conducted observing the endoscopic images of the back mucosa of a human tongue. In addition, the effect of NBI on endoscopic images was investigated through preliminary clinical tests in colonoscopy and upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. It has been shown that NBI can enhance the capillary pattern and the crypt pattern on the mucosa. These patterns are useful features for diagnosing an early cancer.     

Heat transfer in lattice BGK modeled fluid

The thermal lattice BGK model is a recently suggested numerical tool aiming at solving problems of thermohydrodynamics. The quality of the lattice BGK simulation is checked in this paper by calculating temperature profiles in the Couette flow under different Eckert and Mach numbers. A revised lower order model is proposed to improve the accuracy and the higher order model is proved to be advantageous in this respect, especially in the flow regime with a higher Mach number.     

Peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence detection of condensates of malondialdehyde with thiobarbituric acids using a flow system.

The peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence(CL) detection method for the evaluation of the CL intensity of malondialdehyde(MDA) condensates with seven 2-thiobarbituric acid derivatives is described. The method consists of a flow injection technique together with a CL detection system using bis(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl) oxalate(TCPO) and hydrogen peroxide as chemiluminogenic reagents. Linear correlations between CL intensity and concentration are obtained for pmol levels of condensates. Among the condensates, 1,3-diethyl-2-thiobarbituric acid(DETBA)-MDA shows the largest CL intensity. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)/CL detection of DETBA-MDA and 1,3-diphenyl-2-thiobarbituric acid(DPTBA)-MDA using a mixture of TCPO and hydrogen peroxide in acetonitrile as a postcolumn reagent solution is also described. The detection limits for DETBA-MDA and DPTBA-MDA are 20 and 200 fmol, respectively, per 20 microL injection at a signal-to-noise ratio of 2. This HPLC/CL detection system was applied to the determination of MDA in rat brains by using DETBA as a fluorescent derivatizing reagent.     

Hydrogel‐like elastic membrane consisting of semi‐interpenetrating polymer networks based on a phosphorylcholine polymer and a segmented polyurethane

To obtain a hydrogel‐like elastic membrane, we prepared semi‐interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) by the radical polymerization of methacrylates such as 2‐methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC), 2‐hydroxyethylmethacrylate, and triethyleneglycol dimethacrylate diffused into segmented polyurethane (SPU) membranes swollen with a monomer mixture. The values of Young's modulus for the hydrated semi‐IPN membranes were less than that for an SPU membrane because of higher hydration, but they were much higher than that for a hydrated MPC polymer gel (non‐SPU). According to a thermal analysis, the MPC polymer influenced the segment association of SPU. The diffusion coefficient of 8‐anilino‐1‐naphthalenesulfonic acid sodium salt from the semi‐IPN membrane could be controlled with different MPC unit concentrations in the membrane, and it was about 7 × 10² times higher than that of the SPU membrane. Fibroblast cell adhesion on the semi‐IPN membrane was effectively reduced by the MPC units. We concluded that semi‐IPNs composed of the MPC polymer and SPU may be novel polymer materials possessing attractive mechanical, diffusive‐release, and nonbiofouling properties. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 68–75, 2003     

Heavy element nuclear chemistry at JAERI

The present status of heavy element nuclear chemistry research at JAERI (Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute) is reviewed. Production of the transactinide nuclei ²⁶¹Rf and ²⁶²Db via the reactions of ²⁴⁸Cm(¹⁸O,5n) and ²⁴⁸Cm(¹⁹F, 5n), respectively, at the JAERI tandem accelerator is reported. Study of the aqueous chemistry of Rf is being carried out with a newly developed rapid ion-exchange separation apparatus. Anion-exchange behavior of Rf in acidic solution is briefly discussed. Recent experimental results on decay studies of neutron-deficient actinide nuclei using the gas-jet coupled JAERI-ISOL are given. We also discuss characteristics of nuclear deformation properties at scission in symmetric and asymmetric fission of actinides. Prospects for studies in the near future are briefly considered.     

Microdetermination of hyaluronic acid in human urine by high performance liquid chromatography.

A high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) system is described for determination of the unsaturated disaccharide (delta Di-HA) derived from hyaluronic acid (HA) in human urine by digestion with hyaluronidase SD. The effects of eluents on the separation of delta Di-HA and delta Di-0S, which is derived from the reaction of chondroitin with the enzyme, have been studied. The established chromatographic conditions were as follows--column: a stainless steel tube (4 mm i.d. x 250 mm) packed with TSKgel NH2-60; eluent: a mixture of acetonitrile and 0.1 M Tris-HCl buffer containing 0.1 M boric acid and 10 mM sodium sulphate, pH 7.0 (64:36, v/v). The strong fluorescence of unsaturated disaccharide after the reaction with 2-cyanoacetamide in alkaline medium was used for post-column detection. The calibration curve for delta Di-HA was linear in the range 5 pmol-5nmol with a practical detection limit of 2 pmol. The assay coefficients of variation (n = 5) at 200 pmol for delta Di-HA and delta Di-0S were 1.7 and 1.5%, respectively. This HPLC system has been applied to the determination of HA in human urine.     

Experimental consequences ofSU(3) symmetry in ans d g Boson Model

Energies of collective levels in¹⁷⁸Hf and²³⁴U are compared with predictions of theSU (3) limit of thesdg Interacting Boson Model. All known positive parity states of¹⁷⁸Hf below 1.8 MeV (with the exception of a 0⁺ band) have been satisfactorily reproduced. Most of the bands in²³⁴U are also described by the model. However, a few predicted states have no experimental counterpart. The introduction of theg-bosons strongly reduces the previously observed discrepancies between experimentalB(E2)'s in²³⁸U and thesd-IBM calculation.