Synthesis of a biologically active fluorescent derivative of GM1, a main Ginseng saponin metabolite formed by intestinal bacteria

PURPOSE: Prosthodontic components for implant treatment have been developed with minimal reported scientific investigation. This paper aims to highlight a number of problems caused by this approach to the development and marketing of prosthodontic components and to suggest solutions. CONCLUSION: Prosthodontic components must be developed with a scientific approach that involves both laboratory and clinical testing so as to optimize treatment outcomes in the future.     

3-D PTFE microstructure fabricated using synchrotoron radiation etching

Microfabrication technique using SR ablation for 3-D polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) structure is reported in this work. First of all, we investigated necessary basic data for the fabricated structure like the processing depth and the etching rate, etc. And, the exposure energy distribution was given to the surface of polytetrafluoroethylene by using the plane pattern to cross-section transfer (PCT) technique, 3-D microstructures was fabricated. To establish three dimension of highly accurate PTFE processing technology, we are researching the application to the device.     

A narrow beam 1.3-μm-super luminescent diode integrated with aspot-size converter and a new type rear absorbing region

The device structure and performance of 1.3-μm narrow beam superluminescent diodes (NB-SLD's), which consist of a spot-size converter and a new type rear absorbing region, are reported. A butt-jointed selectively grown spot-size converter (SSC) is employed to realize the narrow beam characteristics. The rear absorbing region is designed as a taper structure with a part of the region is inclined from the active-stripe axes. In order to investigate the effects of both SSC length and active-region length on device performance, two types of NB-SLDs, whose SSC and active-region lengths differ, are fabricated. An electrode to sweep out photoexcited carriers in the absorption region is formed on one device. By comparing the characteristics of these devices, we clarify that a 500-μm-active-region device is suitable for high-output power operation, and a 400-μm-active-region device is suitable for realizing short coherent length. The light-output power is 13.9 mW at 200-mA-injection current for the former device, and the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the spectrum is 62.6 nm (calculated coherence length is 26.5 μm) for the latter device. Very small spectral modulation index (0.015 at 5 mW-output power) is attained by grounding the absorption-region electrode. For the SSC length, a 300-μm SSC device shows very narrow far-field patterns (FFPs) and very good fiber-coupling characteristics. The FWHM of horizontal and vertical FFPs are 8.9 and 10.6°, respectively. Because of this narrow beam divergence, the coupling efficiency of -1.9 dB to a flat-end 4-μm spot-size fiber is obtained without lenses. The alignment tolerance of this device to the fiber for both horizontal and vertical direction is more than 3 μm at a loss of when -1 dB from the optimum coupling     

Neutron cloud poinds and concentration fluctuations of polymer blends

Summary Cloud points were observed in the blends of deuterated polystyrene (PSD) and hydrogeneous poly (vinyl methyl ether) (PVME) by means of temperature scanning Small Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS) technique. The scattering function in the miscible region can be described by the random phase approximation results calculated by de Gennes. This scattering function can also be expressed in the Ornstein-Zernike form in the small q region. A correlation length and spinodal point can then be determined from this critical fluctuation approach.     

Self-organized inorganic nanoparticle arrays on protein lattices

Cavities formed by proteins have been utilized as the reaction chamber for the fabrication of a range of inorganic nanoparticles, providing control of the size of particles by limiting growth and preventing agglomeration. In crystal form, proteins construct molecular arrays that can provide regularly arranged sites for nanoparticles. Here we report the fabrication of nanometric iron and indium particles using ferritin, an iron-storage protein. The indium nanoparticles thus formed have uniform spherical shape with diameter of 6.6 +/- 0.5 nm, while the iron nanoparticles are somewhat irregular in shape (5.8 +/- 1.0 nm). Regular two-dimensional arrays of these nanoparticles are successfully produced by crystallizing ferritin molecules on a water-air interface using the denatured protein film method. The lattice constant of these nanoparticle arrays is 13 nm with hexagonal packing, and arrays of more than 1 microm in area can be obtained by transfer onto silicon wafer.     

Synthetic strategies of marine polycyclic ethers via intramolecular allylations: linear and convergent approaches

Strategies for the synthesis of polycyclic ethers based on intramolecular allylations are overviewed. The intramolecular condensation of allylic stannanes and aldehydes is a powerful tool for the synthesis of oxepane derivatives. The reaction is successfully applied to the iterative total synthesis of hemibrevetoxin B (2). Further, the intramolecular allylation of alpha-acetoxy ethers provides an efficient method for the convergent synthesis of polycyclic ethers. The usefulness of the latter strategy is demonstrated in the convergent total synthesis of gambierol (4).     

Détection d’un signal déterministe après réflexions aléatoires

In active signal detection (e.g., radar, sonar, geophysics, etc.), the objective is to extract in the presence of background noise a signal which is known at the transmission but randomly reflected by the target. The received signal is, therefore, no longer deterministic, and the optimum receiver is not a simple matched filter even if the noise is white Gaussian. By introducing appropriate probability distributions for the random reflection, the authors make a mathematical model of the received signal and calculate the likelihood ratio for the Gaussiannoise case. The optimum receiver consists of the matched filter followed by a nonlinear device, which can be represented by a series of filters, and a time-integrator. In a special case of impulse-like signals, the nonlinearity is virtually memoryless. In the case of low signal-to-noise ratio, the series can be approximated by the first two terms, namely, the linear and the quadratic filters.     

Metallization of cross-linked polyurethane resins by reduction of polymer-incorporated metal ion

Polyurethane (PU) resins having different degree of cross-linking were prepared by the reaction of 4,4′-methylenebis(phenyl isocyanate) (MDI) with various molar ratio of two kind of pentaerythritol ethoxylates (PEE15, ratio of ethyleneoxy (EO) unit/hydroxyl (OH) unit=15/4; PEE3, EO/OH=3/4) in the presence of cobalt(II) chloride at 100 °C for 48 h. Metallization behavior of the CoCl₂-containing PU resins by reduction with aqueous sodium tetrahydroborate solution was investigated by means of infra-red (IR) spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and electron probe microanalysis (EPMA). It was confirmed by the measurement of degree of swelling and glass transition temperature that the PU resin having a higher molar ratio of PEE15/PEE3 has a lower degree of cross-linking. When the PU films were reduced at 20 °C, the PU resins with PEE15/PEE3=10/0, 8/2, and 6/4 afforded the films with a metallic luster, whose surface resistance increased in this order. The formation of cobalt metal on both the sides of the PU film was revealed from the results of the XPS and EPMA measurements. The PU resin having a lower degree of cross-linking could be more easily metallized by this reduction treatment.     

Representative velocity scale of Rayleigh-Bénard convection with shear-thinning fluids

Although natural convection is frequently encountered in various chemical processes, Rayleigh number (Ra) cannot be defined fully in shear-thinning fluid systems. In particular, the velocity scale, which is necessary to estimate the effective viscosity of the system, should be discussed carefully. Thus, in this study, the representative velocity scale of Rayleigh-Bénard (RB) convection, which is a typical example of natural convection, with shear-thinning fluids was investigated based on the velocity fields obtained using computational fluid dynamics. Numerical simulations revealed that the critical temperature difference at which RB convection starts to fully develop decreases with an increase in the shear-thinning property. The shear-thinning property also induced subcritical bifurcation. In addition, the velocity scale of convection increases with an increase in the shear-thinning property. Thus, the shear-thinning property is considered to accelerate convection. Compared with several types of velocity scales used by other researchers, significant deviations from the actual scale were observed. Therefore, a new type of velocity scale, including the buoyant to viscous force ratio, arbitrary parameter, and thermal diffusivity, was proposed. The proposed velocity scale allowed an approximate estimation of the actual velocity scale. Although further investigation of the validity is necessary with varying geometries and rheological parameters, this velocity scale will be useful for controlling RB convection with Newtonian/shear-thinning fluids.     

Wear resistance of a Cr3C2-NiCr detonation spray coating

Coatings can be applied to surfaces to improve the surface characteristics over those of the bulk properties and are widely used in tribological applications either to reduce wear and/or to modify friction during contact. One of the foremost coating methods for combating wear is thermal spraying. To prolong the life of steel slab continuous casting rolls, Cr₃C₂-NiCr detonation spray coating was processed on the roll surface in a steelmaking plant in China. This article studies the mechanical properties and wear resistance of this coating. The abrasive and dry frictional wear testing were performed using a pin-on-disk tester. Experimental results show that the wear resistance of the coated samples, i.e., coating reduces the risk of seizure compared to uncoated samples, is much better than those of the uncoated steel at room and elevated temperatures with any load and sliding velocity. The coating wear mechanisms under different test conditions are discussed.