Evaluation of fine structure of tubular zeolite NaA membrane by FTIR-ATR and FIB-TEM.

A zeolite NaA (LTA) membrane supported by an alumina porous support tube for pervaporation (PV) dehydration of ethanol was characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) using a focused ion beam (FIB) thin-layer specimen preparation technique and by Fourier transform infrared attenuated total reflectance method (FTIR-ATR) using a diamond prism as the waveguide. FIB-TEM clearly presented cross-section images up to about 15 microm depth from the membrane surface. FTIR-ATR monitored the Si-O asymmetric stretching vibration spectrum. The Si-O spectrum was compared with the TEM image and their relationships were discussed. By combining the two methods, we could study the thickness of surface LTA crystals, the grain boundary, the LTA/alumina interface structure and the crystallinity and density of materials inside of the alumina porous support. Consequently, fine structure changes of the LTA membrane corresponding to the hydrothermal synthesis condition could be sensitively detected.     

Prospects of Sol-Gel Process for Spectral Hole-Burning Glasses

Persistent spectral hole burning was studied in Eu³⁺ ions-doped Al₂O₃-SiO₂ glass prepared by a sol-gel method. The gel synthesized by the hydrolysis of Si- and Al-alkoxides and EuCl₃·6H₂O was heated in air and hydrogen gas atmospheres. For the glass heated in air to contain OH bonds, the hole was formed by the photoinduced rearrangement of the OH bonds surrounding the Eu³⁺ ions, and was thermally refilled and erased above 200 K. On the other hand, the glass heated in hydrogen gas showed the hole spectrum above 200 K. It was found that the hole depth was independent of the temperature and was 7% of the total intensity at room temperature. The proposed mechanism was the electron transfer between the Eu³⁺ ions and the defect centers formed in glass matrix.     

Synthesis and reversible hydration–dehydration system of copolymers bearing a vicinal tricarbonyl structure

Novel copolymers composed of a styrene (St) derivative bearing a vicinal tricarbonyl moiety and various vinyl monomers such as St, methyl methacrylate (MMA), and N‐vinylpyrrolidone (NVP) were synthesized by (1) radical copolymerization of a St derivative with a 1,3‐diketone structure with St, MMA, and NVP and (2) successive oxidation of the resulting copolymers with N‐bromosuccinimide in DMSO to convert their 1,3‐diketone moieties in the side chains into the corresponding vicinal tricarbonyl moieties. Their tricarbonyl moieties were readily hydrated in water‐containing acetone to generate the corresponding copolymers bearing geminal diol structures in the side chains. On the other hand, heating the resulting copolymers bearing the geminal diol structures in vacuo‐enabled successful recovery of the vicinal tricarbonyl moieties to demonstrate the reversible nature of this system. The hydration behavior in powdery state under air atmosphere saturated by water was also investigated. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Design and Evaluation of Computer Generated Hologram with Binary Subwavelength Structure Designed by Deterministic Process

A binary subwavelength structure for multilevel phase modulation can be designed by our previously proposed deterministic design method without iterative optimization method. To use our design technique in various applications of a computer generated hologram (CGH) like an array illuminator, beam-shaping, signal processing, and so on, an image quality of a reconstructed image from a CGH has become much more important. In this paper, we verify the image quality of a reconstructed image from a CGH designed by our method in terms of the modulation transfer function (MTF) and the spatial resolution. Simulation results show that our technique can theoretically achieve a MTF of more than 99% over a wide range and a spatial resolution of less than 9.66μm.     

Soft x-ray spectroscopy of Ba24Ge100: electronic phase transition and Ba-atom rattling

The electronic states of Ba24Ge100 are studied by soft x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) at a high-energy photon factory. A large reduction in the density of states (DOS) at the Fermi level is clearly shown before and after the electronic phase transition at 200 K. The changes in the spectrum widths and the fine structures of the core-level Ba 4d spectra give a very reasonable indication of the Ba-atom rattlings in the clathrate polyhedra. On-resonance experiments using the excitation from Ba 3d to 4f levels display that the wave functions of Ba 5d and 6s orbitals give only a small contribution to make a Fermi surface through the hybridization with the Ge20 cluster orbitals. Importantly, reliable values of the DOS at the Fermi level NEF are successfully deduced, using two data sets of DOS obtained from high-resolution XPS and the total magnetic susceptibilities by a superconducting quantum interference device, to be 0.149 and 0.0427 states eV(-1) (Ge atom)(-1) for a high-temperature and for a low-temperature phase.     

Chirality sensitive effect on surface states in chiral p-wave superconductors

We study the local density of states at the surface of a chiral p-wave superconductor in the presence of a weak magnetic field. As a result, the formation of low-energy Andreev bound states is either suppressed or enhanced by an applied magnetic field, depending on its orientation with respect to the chirality of the p-wave superconductor. Similarly, an Abrikosov vortex, which is situated not too far from the surface, leads to a zero-energy peak of the density of states, if its chirality is the same as that of the superconductor, and to a gap structure for the opposite case. We explain the underlying principle of this effect and propose a chirality sensitive test on unconventional superconductors.     

Analysis of antioxidants using a capillary electrophoresis with chemiluminescence detection system

We developed a capillary electrophoresis with chemiluminescence detection system using 2-methyl-6-p-methoxyphenylethynylimidazopyrazinone as a chemiluminescence reagent for determination of antioxidants of superoxide anions. 2-Methyl-6-p-methoxyphenylethynylimidazopyrazinone reacted with superoxide anions generated through the reaction of hypoxanthine and xanthine oxidase, and then emitted chemiluminescence. Suppression of the chemiluminescence in the presence of antioxidants for superoxide anions was introduced as a detection principle for antioxidants into the capillary electrophoresis with chemiluminescence detection system. After optimizing the analytical conditions, various antioxidants, such as superoxide dismutase, nitroblue tetrazolium, ascorbic acid, and catechin, were subjected to the present system. They gave negative peaks due to the quenching effect; the detection limits of superoxide dismutase, nitroblue tetrazolium, ascorbic acid, and catechin were 1, 100, 100, and 10 μM, respectively (S/N = 2). A model sample consisting of superoxide dismutase and nitroblue tetrazolium was satisfactorily separated and detected within ca. 10 min. We also applied the present system to analysis of catechin in green tea as a real sample.     

Coherence effect on decryption characteristics in message modulation type chaos secure communication systems using fiber-optic ring resonators

We numerically investigated the dependence of the decryption characteristics in a message modulation type chaos secure communication system using optical fiber ring resonators (OFRRs) on the coherence condition of carrier light. Since the output dynamics of OFRRs were formed on the basis of interference phenomenon among the circulated components in OFRRs, the coherence condition of input light affected inherently the OFRR output dynamics, resulting in the decryption characteristics. It was found that the decryption characteristics degraded as coherence length increased, i.e., as the spectral width of the input light decreased. The decryption characteristics also grew worse as the parameter differences between the transmitter and the receiver became larger.     

Proton acceleration to 40 MeV using a high intensity, high contrast optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification/Ti:sapphire hybrid laser system

Using a high-contrast (10(10):1) and high-intensity (10(21) W/cm(2)) laser pulse with the duration of 40 fs from an optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification/Ti:sapphire laser, a 40 MeV proton bunch is obtained, which is a record for laser pulse with energy less than 10 J. The efficiency for generation of protons with kinetic energy above 15 MeV is 0.1%.     

Blockade of inflammatory responses by a small-molecule inhibitor of the Rac activator DOCK2

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Highlights? CPYPP binds to DOCK2 DHR-2 domain and inhibits its catalytic activity ? CPYPP inhibits DOCK2-mediated Rac activation in cells ? The structural features of CPYPP required for its inhibitory effect were revealed ? CPYPP inhibits lymphocyte migration and activation in vitro and in vivo