Crosslinking network of bio‐based bis‐functional epoxides derived from trans‐limonene oxide

The thiol‐ene reaction between trans‐limonene oxide (trans‐LO) and ethane‐1,2‐dithiol in the presence of triethylborane affords a bio‐based bis‐functional epoxide (bis‐trans‐LO). The crosslinking reaction of bis‐trans‐LO with branched polyethyleneimine (BPEI; M_n = 600; BPEI₆₀₀) at a feed ratio of bis‐trans‐LO/BPEI₆₀₀ = 57/43 (wt/wt) yields the corresponding network polymer with T_d10 (10% thermal decomposition temperature) of 304.7 °C in 98% yield. In contrast, negligible amounts of network polymer are obtained by the reaction of bis‐LO (bis‐functional epoxide derived from cis and trans‐LO) and BPEI₆₀₀ regardless of the feed ratio. The mechanical strengths as measured by direct tensile tests of the network polymers derived from bis‐trans‐LO and BPEI_600,1800 (M_n = 600 and 1800) were approximately 16 and 11 times higher than that of bis‐LO and BPEI₁₈₀₀, respectively. The tensile shear strengths of the metal‐to‐metal adhesive bonds induced by bis‐trans‐LO and BPEI_600,1800 were 9.5 and 14.1 MPa, respectively. DMA revealed that the storage modulus of the network polymer derived from bis‐trans‐LO and BPEI₁₈₀₀ in the rubber region was higher than that of the material prepared from bis‐LO and BPEI₁₈₀₀, indicating higher crosslink density of the bis‐trans‐LO/BPEI₁₈₀₀ system. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019 , 57, 2466–2473     

Multimode optical fiber demultiplexer-star coupler using a single gradient-index-rod lens and a multi-facet grating

An optical fiber multi-function device consisting of a single gradient-index-rod lens and a multi-facet blazed reflection grating is proposed to simultaneously realize functions of wavelength demultiplexing and optical signal distribution in a multimode optical fiber transmission system. We analyzed the demultiplexing characteristics and the tolerance of optical components using the ray trace method. This device can realize not only low loss optical signal distribution but also offers improved demultiplexing characteristics in comparison with the previously proposed demultiplexer-multiposition switch. The following characteristics are expected from the design using commercially available optical components: a working band of 0.64–0.88 μm, channel separation of 34–36 nm, 3 dB bandwidth of 27–28 nm, channel cross-talk of less than - 40 dB and minimum excess insertion loss of 0.9–2.1 dB.     

THE DESIGNS OF HIGH EFFICIENCY LAUNCHER OF QUASI-OPTICAL MODE CONVERTER FOR HIGH POWER GYROTRONS

A high efficiency launcher of quasi-optical (QO) mode converters for high power gyrotrons have been designed and tested. A helical cut launcher radiates the RF power via its straight cut onto the first phase correcting mirror. The launchers have been optimized for the TE_31.8 mode at 170 GHz and TE_22.6 mode at 110 GHz by numerically optimizing a launcher surface. The helical cut of the launcher has been optimized by taking the taper angle into account. Further more, the amplitude of the surface perturbation have been optimized for improved focusing in order to reduce the diffraction losses at the helical cut. Low power measurement shows a good agreement with the design. High efficiency characteristics of the design have also been calculated on the assumption of frequency downshift due to the thermal expansion of the cavity and stepwise frequency tuning by changing the operating mode. Besides, the possibility of high efficiency launcher for higher mode is discussed, and these results give the prospect to high efficiency long pulse gyrotrons.     

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.     

Analysis of Spectral Reflectance Using Normalization Method from Endoscopic Spectroscopy System

Objective assessment of gastrointestinal mucosal color is extremely important in the endoscopic diagnosis of digestive tract disease. In this paper, we propose a method to clarify the spectral characteristics of gastric and colon cancer. A large number of spectral reflectance data of mucous membrane are measured by the endoscopic spectroscopy system (ESS) in the National Cancer Center Hospital East, Kashiwa, Japan and the Department of Internal Medicine, Self-Defense Force Center Hospital, Tokyo, Japan. We assume that early cancer appears primarily in the spectral data of short wavelength, because it is usually present in a superficial cell where short wavelength light is scattered more strongly than long wavelength light. To identify the features in the short wavelength components, the spectral reflectance was divided by the reflectance of a long wavelength. We investigated the possibility of distinguishing early cancer from normal spectral data through statistical analysis, employing the projection axis as the mean difference between them. Early cancer and normal spectral data were projected on the projection axis, and the Student’s T-test was applied to evaluate the mean of the distribution between these data.     

A fast atom bombardment mass spectrometric analysis of crown ether complexes [1]

Analyses of crown ether complexes of alkali metal ions and characterization of the complexes formed inm-nitrobenzyl alcohol have been carried out by fast atom bombardment (FAB) mass spectrometry. By using m-nitrobenzyl alcohol as a matrix for measurements, the stoichiometry of the complexes was assessed on the basis of the observed FAB peaks. In addition, the formation of crown ether-alkali metal complexes at a 2 : 1 molar ratio was enhanced by increasing the ionic radius of the metal ion in agreement with previous observations. On these grounds, FAB mass spectrometry may provide a rapid means for investigation of the complexation behavior of crown ethers and the stoichiometry of the complexes.     

A fully linear-time approximation algorithm for grammar-based compression

A linear-time approximation algorithm for the grammar-based compression is presented. This is an optimization problem to minimize the size of a context-free grammar deriving a given string. For each string of length n, the algorithm guarantees approximation ratio without suffix tree construction.