Status of heavy element research using a gas-filled recoil separator at RIKEN

A gas-filled type of recoil separator for heavy element research was installed at an experimental hall of RIKEN Linear Accelerator facility to realize getting higher intensity of primary beam and long beam time. Performance of the separator was studied using target recoils and various nuclear reactions. The results show the high performance of the separator for heave element research. As an application of the GARIS, production and identification of an isotope of the 110th element ²⁷¹[110] have been performed using the ²⁰⁸Pb(⁶⁴Ni,1n)²⁷¹[110] reaction. Three decay chains coincide well both in decay times and energies with the ones reported by the group of SHIP experiment at GSI, Germany. Our results provide a confirmation of the synthesis of an isotope ²⁷¹[110] of element 110.     

Facilitated sulfate transfer across the nitrobenzene-water interface as mediated by hydrogen-bonding ionophores.

Facilitated SO4(2-) transfers by hydrogen bond-forming ionophores are investigated across the nitrobenzene (NB)-water interface by using polarography with a dropping electrolyte electrode. Bis-thiourea 1, alpha,alpha'-bis(N'-p-nitrophenylthioureylene)-m-xylene, is found to significantly facilitate the transfer of the highly hydrophilic SO4(2-) whereas its counterpart, N-(p-nitrophenyl)-N'-propylthiourea (ionophore 2), cannot. In contrast to the predominant formation of a 1:1 complex with SO4(2-) in the bulk NB phase, the SO4(2-) transfer assisted by 1 is indeed based on the formation of a 1:2 complex between SO4(2-) and ionophore, even under the condition of [SO4(2-)]aq > [1]org. Such an exclusive formation of the 1:2 (SO4(2-) to ionophore) complex at the NB-water interface is not observed with structurally similar bis-thiourea 3, alpha,alpha'-bis(N'-phenylthioureylene)-m-xylene, where p-nitrophenyl moietes of bis-thiourea 1 are simply replaced by phenyl groups. The facilitated transfer of SO4(2-) with bis-thiourea 1 is further compared to that of HPO4(2-) and H2PO4- across the NB-water interface, which was previously shown to be assisted by 1 through the formation of the 1:1 and 2:1 (anion to ionophore) complexes, respectively. On the basis of these examinations, unique binding behaviors of hydrogen bond-forming ionophores at the NB-water interface are discussed, with a view towards development of ionophore-based anion-selective chemical sensors.     

A new route for the construction of the AB-ring core of Taxol

A new method for the construction of the AB-ring core of Taxol was developed utilizing a new skeletal transformation protocol as a pivotal step. The acid-catalyzed rearrangement of the cyclopentenone-allene photoadduct gave a bridged seven-membered ketone, which was easily transformed, using the intramolecular Suzuki reaction and the oxidative cleavage of the vicinal diol, to the bicyclic diketone.     

Analysis of (π K<Superscript>+</Superscript>) and (K<Superscript>-</Superscript>, K<Superscript>+</Superscript>) hypernuclear production spectra in distorted-wave impulse approximation

We study the hyperon-nucleus potential with distorted-wave impulse wave approximation (DWIA) using the Green's function method. In order to include the nucleon and hyperon potential effects in Fermi averaging, we introduce the local optimal momentum approximation of target nucleons. We can describe the quasi-free Λ , Σ and Ξ production spectra in a better way than in the standard Fermi-averaged t -matrix treatments.     

High performance a-Si solar cells and new fabrication methods for a-Si solar cells

The super chamber, a separated UHV reaction-chamber system has been developed. A conversion efficiency of 11.7% was obtained for an a-Si solar cell using a high-quality i-layer deposited by the super chamber, and a p-layer fabricated by a photo-CVD method.As a new material, amorphous superlattice-structure films were fabricated by the photo-CVD method for the first time. Superlattice structure p-layer a-Si solar cells were fabricated, and a conversion efficiency of 10.5% was obtained.For the fabrication of integrated type a-Si solar cell modules, a laser pattering method was investigated. A thermal analysis of the multilayer structure was done. It was confirmed that selective scribing for a-Si, TCO and metal film is possible by controlling the laser power density. Recently developed a-Si solar power generation systems and a-Si solar cell roofing tiles are also described.     

Thickness decrease of a grafted polyelectrolyte membrane exposed to shear flow

The effect of the shear flow on the thickness change of a polyelectrolyte membrane grafted onto a glass substrate was directly investigated with a flow cell combined with a confocal laser scanning microscope. The membrane thickness decreased proportionally to an increase in the shear stress of the flow when the shear rate exceeded a critical value of 1 s^?1. The higher the ionic strength was of the fluid, the greater the thinning effect was. The correlation between the critical shear rate and the relaxation of the polymer in the gel membrane was examined. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 2808–2815, 2003     

First measurement of the ϱ spectral function in nuclear collisions

The NA60 experiment at the CERN SPS has studied low-mass muon pairs in 158 A GeV In–In collisions. A strong excess of pairs is observed above the yield expected from neutral meson decays. The unprecedented sample size close to 400000 events and the good mass resolution of about 2% made it possible to isolate the excess by subtraction of the decay sources. The shape of the resulting mass spectrum shows some non-trivial centrality dependence, but is largely consistent with a dominant contribution from π⁺π^-→ϱ→μ⁺μ^- annihilation. The associated ϱ spectral function exhibits considerable broadening, but essentially no shift in mass. The p_T-differential mass spectra show the excess to be much stronger at low p_T than at high p_T. The results are compared to theoretical model predictions; they tend to rule out models linking hadron masses directly to the chiral condensate. PACS 25.75.-q; 12.38.Mh; 13.85.Qk     

Glycopolymeric inhibitors of β‐glucuronidase. III. Configurational effects of hydroxy groups in pendant glyco‐units in polymers upon inhibition of β‐glucuronidase

Two kinds of new glycopolymers, (P(VB‐1‐GlcaH‐co‐AAm), 9 ) and (P(VB‐1‐Glco‐co‐AAm), 10 ), were synthesized through the radical copolymerization of styrene derivatives bearing pendant D ‐glucaric and D ‐gluconic moieties, N‐(p‐vinylbenzyl)‐1‐D ‐glucaramide (VB‐1‐GlcaH, 7 ), and N‐(p‐vinylbenzyl)‐D ‐gluconamide (VB‐1‐Glco, 8 ), with acrylamide (AAm). Glycopolymer 9 bearing the pendant glucaric moiety at the first position inhibited the hydrolysis of a model compound for xenobiotics‐β‐glucuronide conjugates, p‐nitrophenyl β‐D ‐glucuronide, uncompetitively, in contrast to the competitive inhibition in the presence of the corresponding isomeric glycopolymer bearing the pendant D ‐glucaric unit at the sixth position (P(VB‐6‐GlcaH‐co‐AAm), 3 ) reported in our previous article. On the other hand, another copolymer 10 bearing the gluconic moiety was found not to inhibit the hydrolysis as well as the corresponding copolymer bearing pendant gulonic unit (P(VB‐6‐Glco‐co‐AAm), 4 ). These results indicate that the hydrolysis is influenced not only by existence of pendant carboxyl units but also by the direction on the linkage of the glyco‐units to the polymer frame. Therefore the configurational position of hydroxy groups in pendant glyco‐units in macromolecular inhibitors may be essential for the interaction with β‐glucuronidase. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 4895–4903, 2006     

HCN laser scattering on the JIPP T-IIU tokamak

A 4-channel HCN laser scattering system has been developed and applied to the JIPP T-IIU tokamak. Main aim of this system is to study microturbulence excited in the plasma, especially in the high power ICRF heating experiment. The observed density fluctuations are in a frequency range of the electron diamagnetic drift wave and have broad frequency spectra. The main part of the wavenumber is found to satisfy the condition of . In the heating experiments, deterioration of the energy confinement time is observed, and the density fluctuation level increases with the increase of the heating power.     

Synthesis and evaluation of 1-arylsulfonyl-3-piperazinone derivatives as factor Xa inhibitor

Intravascular clot formation is an important factor in a number of cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, the prevention of blood coagulation has become a major target for new therapeutic agents. One attractive approach is the inhibition of factor Xa (FXa), which is a key enzyme in coagulation cascade responsible for the generation of thrombin by limited proteolysis of its zymogen, prothrombin. We have investigated 1-arylsulfonyl-3-piperazinone derivatives, containing a 4-(piperidino)pyridine group in place of guanidino and/or amidino groups, and discovered compound M55113 (30a: 4-[(6-Chloro-2-naphthalenyl)sulfonyl]-1-[[1-(4-pyridinyl)-4-piperidinyl]methyl]piperazinone), as a potent inhibitor of FXa (IC50=0.06 microM) with high selectivity for FXa over trypsin and thrombin.