Closed-loop phase behaviour in block copolymers

Closed-loop phase diagrams are known in systems with specific intermolecular interactions. In weakly interacting systems, however, such behaviour has never been observed. Here, diblock copolymers formed from polystyrene covalently linked to poly (n-pentylmethacrylate), P(S-b-nPMA), which have only weak segmental interactions, are shown to exhibit a closed-loop phase behaviour over a narrow range of molecular weight. The endothermic transitions from the disordered to ordered and back to the disordered state, as a function of increasing temperature, are dominantly entropic in origin. The morphology and rheological properties of P(S-b-nPMA) undergo characteristic changes at the transitions. Whereas the disorder-to-order transition temperature increases with decreasing molecular weight, the order-to-disorder transition temperature decreases. At a limiting molecular weight, the closed-loop vanishes and no ordering occurs. These findings provide quantitative insight into an elusive transition in weakly interacting multicomponent systems.     

Polarity orientation of microtubules utilizing a dynein-based gliding assay

The motor protein dynein was introduced into a nanotransport system. We oriented microtubules by their polarity, and immobilized them based on a dynein-microtubule gliding assay system. This system achieved unidirectional transport of kinesin-coated microbeads. In contrast to conventional kinesin-based orientation systems, the dynein-based system allowed the reverse motion of microtubules, resulting in an inversion of the orientation of microtubule polarity and thus reverse transport of kinesin-coated microbeads. This combined kinesin-?and dynein-based system constitutes a new means to facilitate the bidirectional orientation of microtubules and transport of cargos in a nanofluidic system.     

A Silicon UCN Detector With Large Area and With Analysis of UCN Polarization

A silicon ultracold neutron (UCN) detector with an area of 45 cm² and with a ⁶LiF converter is developed at St. Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute (PNPI). The spectral efficiency of the silicon UCN detector was measured by means of a gravitational spectrometer at Institut Max von Laue – Paul Langevin (ILL). The sandwich-type detector from two silicon plates with a ⁶LiF converter placed between them was also studied. Using this type of technology the UCN detector with analysis of polarization was developed and tested. The analyzing power of this detector assembly reaches up 75 % for the main part of UCN spectrum. This UCN detector with analysis of UCN polarization can be used in the new electric dipole moment (EDM) spectrometer.     

Determinations of rare earth element abundance and U-Pb age of zircons using multispot laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

We have developed a new calibration technique for multielement determination and U-Pb dating of zircon samples using laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) coupled with galvanometric optics. With the galvanometric optics, laser ablation of two or more sample materials could be achieved in very short time intervals (~10 ms). The resulting sample aerosols released from different ablation pits or different solid samples were mixed and homogenized within the sample cell and then transported into the ICP ion source. Multiple spot laser ablation enables spiking of analytes or internal standard elements directly into the solid samples, and therefore the standard addition calibration method can be applied for the determination of trace elements in solid samples. In this study, we have measured the rare earth element (REE) abundances of two zircon samples (Nancy 91500 and Pre?ovice) based on the standard addition technique, using a direct spiking of analytes through a multispot laser ablation of the glass standard material (NIST SRM612). The resulting REE abundance data show good agreement with previously reported values within analytical uncertainties achieved in this study (10% for most elements). Our experiments demonstrated that nonspectroscopic interferences on 14 REEs could be significantly reduced by the standard addition technique employed here. Another advantage of galvanometric devices is the accumulation of sample aerosol released from multiple spots. In this study we have measured the U-Pb age of a zircon sample (LMR) using an accumulation of sample aerosols released from 10 separate ablation pits of low diameters (~8 μm). The resulting (238)U-(206)Pb age data for the LMR zircons was 369 ± 64 Ma, which is in good agreement with previously reported age data (367.6 ± 1.5 Ma). (1) The data obtained here clearly demonstrate that the multiple spot laser ablation-ICPMS technique can become a powerful approach for elemental and isotopic ratio measurements in solid materials.     

Detection of surface antigens on living cells through incorporation of immunorecognition into the distinct positioning of cells with positive and negative dielectrophoresis

Rapid determination of surface antigens on cells is possible by immobilization of cells accumulated by positive dielectrophoresis (p-DEP) via effective surface immunoreactions and removal of unbound cells by negative DEP (n-DEP). The DEP device for cell manipulation comprises a microfluidic channel with an upper indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode and a lower ITO microband array electrode (band electrode) modified with an antibody. Cells with the surface antigen introduced into the channel immediately accumulated on the surface of the band electrode during p-DEP generated by the application of ac voltage between the ITO electrode and the band electrode to immobilize by the specific antibody. The removal of accumulated cells to the gap region during n-DEP was used for rapid estimation of the residual cells with a specific surface antigen. We demonstrate here that human promyelocytic leukemia cells with the surface antigen CD33 can be captured on a band electrode modified with anti-CD33 antibody. The time required for the determination of the surface antigen using this compelled accumulation of cells by p-DEP and the separation of unbound cells by n-DEP is decreased to 60 s compared to that required by a cell binding assay using microtiter plates (30 min). Furthermore, the present method for a novel cell binding assay does not require pretreatment such as target labeling or washing of unbound cells and thereby enhancing throughput in the clinic and in cytobiology studies.     

Water-soluble binder with high flexural modulus for powder injection molding

A new binder system, containing ternary polymer blends of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB) and polyethylene glycol (PEG), was introduced for the powder injection molding of stainless steel powders. The weight fraction of PEG in the binder was maintained to be 0.65. When the weight fraction of PMMA in the binder was 0.1–0.25 (thus the weight fraction of CAB was 0.1–0.25), the feedstocks with 56 vol% of steel powders were successfully injection molded without showing any jetting. Furthermore, the feedstocks have much higher flexural modulus compared with those prepared by a binder consisting only 35/65 (wt/wt) CAB/PEG blend. Three binary blends, PMMA/CAB, PMMA/PEG, and CAB/PEG, were completely miscible at an injection molding temperature of 130^°C. The extraction process employed in this study becomes environmentally favorable due to the major component (PEG) of the binder which is easily extracted by a solvent of water or ethanol. Also, the shape maintenance during the solvent extraction was excellent, and final sintered parts had excellent dimensional stability. Due to high flexural modulus of feedstocks, this binder system can be employed for preparing large sized injection-mold articles.     

Evaluation of the Fatigue Characteristics of Laser-processed Hot Work Tool Steel Based on Reliability

It is reported that laser-processing is effective to repair the heat checks, which are fine shallow cracks on a surfaceof die-casting dies.     

UN-MUSIC and UN-CLE: an application of generalized correlationanalysis to the estimation of the direction of arrival of signals inunknown correlated noise

A new approach is proposed for the consistent estimation of the directions of arrival (DOA) of signals in an unknown spatially-correlated noise environment. The signal and noise model used is based on the assumption that the data are received by two arrays well separated so that their noise outputs are uncorrelated. The generalized correlation decomposition of the cross-correlation matrix between the two arrays is then introduced. Of particular interest is the canonical correlation decomposition. The analysis of the generalized correlation leads to various interesting geometric and asymptotic properties of the eigenspace structure. Two algorithms, UN-MUSIC and UN-CLE, are developed to estimate the DOA of signals in unknown spatially correlated noise based on the utilization of these properties. Computer simulations show that these methods are superior in performance compared to conventional methods. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the new methods are equally effective even when only one sensor array is employed     

Mechanisms responsible for resistance of sublines derived from leukemia cell lines to an antitumor agent 9-beta-D-arabinofuranosyl-2-fluoroadenine

An agent 9-beta-D-arabinofuranosyl-2-fluoroadenine (2-F-Ara-A) is a main metabolite of fludarabine, a fluorinated purine analogue with antitumor activity in lymphoproliferative malignancies. In this study, the mechanism responsible for the resistance of cancer cells to fludarabine was examined using the 2-F-Ara-A-resistant sublines JOK-1/F-Ara-A and L1210/F-Ara-A from a human hairy leukemic cell line (JOK-1) and a mouse leukemic cell line (L1210) respectively, which were established by continuous treatment of the parental cell lines with 2-F-AraA. JOK-1/F-Ara-A and L1210/F-Ara-A cells were more than 55 and 29 times more resistant to 2-F-Ara-A than were their parent cell lines, and showed a high cross-resistance to 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine but not to doxorubicin or vincristine. These resistant sublines intracellularly accumulated almost the same amount of 2-F-Ara-A as did their parent cell lines. However, the amount of 2-F-Ara-ATP, a cytotoxic metabolite of 2-F-Ara-A, decreased by 2.6% (JOK-1/F-Ara-A C3), 6% (L1210/F-Ara-A C1) and 3.7% (L1210/F-Ara-A C7) relative to the levels in the parent cell lines. Enzymatically, these resistant cells hardly activated deoxycytidine (dCyd) and 2-F-Ara-A. In addition, the abilities to phosphorylate deoxyadenosine and deoxyguanosine were also decreased in the resistant cells in comparison with the parent cells. These findings suggest that the deficiency in activity of dCyd kinase may contribute to the resistance of 2-F-Ara-A.