Modification of the surface state of rough substrates by two different varnishes and influence on the reflected light

Modification of the visual appearance when a rough surface is covered by a varnish is mostly attributed to the levelling of the substrate surface, which depends on the molecular weight of the varnish. The topography of varnished surfaces, however, has never been measured directly. Surfaces of varnishes applied over glass substrates of varying roughness were studied, therefore, using mechanical profilometry. Two different varnishes made with a low and a high molecular weight resin were studied. Both varnishes lower the r.m.s. roughness of the substrates and filter the high spatial frequencies. These results are amplified for the varnish containing the low molecular weight resin. The light reflected by the varnished samples is modelled from these topographical data. Its angular distribution, calculated from the probability density of slopes is presented, taking into account separately the air/varnish and the varnish/substrate interfaces. These analyses are presented in a back-scattering configuration. They show that varnishing significantly reduces the angular width of the reflected light and that this effect is magnified for the low molecular weight resin. Modelling furthermore shows that the influence of the roughness of the varnish/substrate interface is negligible in the total reflected light.     

On the group extension of the transformation associated to non-archimedean continued fractions

Summary Let F_q be a finite field with q elements. We consider formal Laurent series of F_q -coefficients with their continued fraction expansions by F_q -polynomials. We prove some arithmetic properties for almost every formal Laurent series with respect to the Haar measure. We construct a group extension of the non-archimedean continued fraction transformation and show its ergodicity. Then we get some results as an application of the individual ergodic theorem. We also discuss the convergence rate for limit behaviors.     

Wavelength-Dependent Transient Characteristics Caused by Gain Saturation in Highly Nonlinear Fiber-Based Raman Amplifiers

We have investigated the transient characteristics of discrete Raman Amplifiers and found that the response time caused by gain saturation is dependent upon the wavelength, which corresponds to the effective length of the pump light.     

Synthesis of 3-hydroxyindolin-2-one alkaloids, (±)-donaxaridine and (±)-convolutamydines A and E, through enolization-Claisen rearrangement of 2-allyloxyindolin-3-ones

Claisen rearrangement triggered by enolization of 2-allyloxyindolin-3-ones with DBU was performed in order to prepare 3-allyl-3-hydroxyindolin-2-ones. Total synthesis of 3-hydroxyindolin-2-one alkaloids, (±)-donaxaridine, as well as (±)-convolutamydines A and E, was achieved by transformation of the allyl moiety of 3-allyl-3-hydroxyindolin-2-ones.     

On the Metrical Theory of Continued Fraction Mixing Fibred Systems and Its Application to Jacobi-Perron Algorithm

 We study the metrical theory of fibred systems, in particular, in the case of continued fraction mixing systems. We get the limit distribution of the largest value of a continued fraction mixing stationary stochastic process with infinite expectation and some related results. These are analogous to J. Galambos, W. Philipp, and H. G. Diamond–J. D. Vaaler theorems for the regular continued fractions. As an application, we see that these theorems hold for Jacobi-Perron algorithm. Received September 30, 2001; in revised form January 8, 2002     

Improvement of Dispersion and Release Properties of Nifedipine in Suppositories by Complexation with 2-Hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin

Geometries, electronic properties and NMR-shielding of cucurbit[5]uril, decamethylcucurbit[5]uril, cucurbit[6]uril, cucurbit[7]uril, and cucurbit[8]uril are investigated with DFT calculations. All molecules are highly symmetrical with a distinct geometric flexibility. In addition with a characteristic partial charge distribution these findings account for their chemical complex building ability.     

Protonation-induced structural change of lyotropic liquid crystals in oley- and alkyldimethylamine oxides/water systems

Lyotropic phase behavior of the nonionic and the half-ionized oleyldimethylamine oxide (OlDMAO)/water systems was investigated using polarized light microscopy, small-angle X-ray diffraction, and differential scanning calorimetry. Nonionic OlDMAO formed isotropic micellar solution, nematic, hexagonal, cubic, and lamellar liquid crystalline phases as the surfactant concentration increased. In contrast, half-ionized OlDMAO (i.e., 1:1 mixture of the nonionic and the protonated species) had a greater tendency to form bilayer structures, and the phase diagram became quite similar to those of double-chained ionic surfactants rather than single-chained ones, despite the introduction of positive charges to the nonionic one. The preference of the bilayer structures in the half-ionized OlDMAO was interpreted in terms of the dimers stabilized by the hydrogen bond between the nonionic and protonated species. For alkyldimethylamine oxides with a saturated hydrocarbon chain (CnDMAO, chain length: n = 14, 16, and 18), the phase sequence of lyotropic liquid crystals was hardly affected by the protonation, but an elongation of the cylinders of the hexagonal phase was observed for the half-ionized C14DMAO. Consequently, it can be considered that the dominant bilayer formation of the half-ionized OlDMAO is attributed to the combined effect of the hydrogen-bonded dimer formation and the cis-double-bond configuration of the alkyl chain.     

Multiplex amplified product-length polymorphism analysis of 36 mitochondrial single-nucleotide polymorphisms for haplogrouping of East Asian populations

We present a reliable, rapid, and economical multiplex amplified product-length polymorphism (APLP) method for analyzing the haplogroup-diagnostic mitochondrial single-nucleotide polymorphisms (mtSNPs) in East Asian populations. By examining only 36 haplogroup-specific mtSNPs in the coding region by using four 9-multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and subsequent electrophoresis, we could safely assign 1815 individuals from 8 populations of Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Germans to 45 relevant haplogroups. This multiplex APLP analysis of coding-region mtSNPs for haplogrouping is especially useful not only for molecular phylogenetic studies but also for large-scale association studies due to its rapid and economical nature. This is the first panel of mtSNPs in the coding region to be used for haplogrouping of East Asian populations.     

Synthesis of PI-88 analogue using novel O-glycosidation of exo-methylenesugars

Acid-promoted α-stereoselective O-glycosidation of 1-exo-methylenesugars was successfully applied to the synthesis of a PI-88 analogue. By using methanesulfonic acid as a promoter, 1′-C-methyl-α-disaccharides with p-methoxybenzyl protection were obtained in high yield. The sequence of selective deprotection and glycosidation provided 1-C-methyl-pentasaccharide efficiently.     

Synthesis and properties of rhenium tricarbonyl complex bearing N-fused tetraphenylporphyrin ligand

An N-fused porphyrin rhenium complex was synthesized by the thermal reaction of an N-confused porphyrin with Re2(CO)10 and its structure was determined by X-ray crystallographic analysis.