Simple,Mild, and Practical Esterification,Thioesterification, and Amide Formation Utilizing p‐Toluenesulfonyl Chloride and N‐Methylimidazole

We have developed an efficient method for the esterification or thioesterification of equimolar amounts of carboxylic acids and alcohols or thiols using a novel reagent, p‐toluenesulfonyl chloride (TsCl) together with N‐methylimidazole. The present method is simple, mild, and reactive, uses readily available and economical reagents. The choice of amine is critical for the present method. The amine, N‐methylimidazole, has two roles: (i) as an HCl scavenger for the initial smooth generation of mixed anhydrides between carboxylic acids and TsCl and (ii) successive formation of highly reactive ammonium intermediates from mixed anhydrides. This method could be applied to various types of carboxylic acids, alcohols, and thiols: a) several functionalities were tolerated; b) two N‐Cbz amino acids were smoothly esterified without racemization; and c) the labile 1β‐methylcarbapenem key intermediate and a pyrethroid insecticide, prallethrin, were successfully prepared. The related amide formation between carboxylic acids and primary or secondary amines was also performed. The proposed reaction mechanism involves a novel method for producing the reactive acylammonium intermediates. The production of these intermediates was rationally supported by a careful ¹H NMR monitoring study.     

Analysis of the current distortion factor of a three‐phase,three‐wire system

In a balanced three‐phase system, the three‐phase current distortion factor of three‐phase ac power sources has been expressed by applying the conventional single‐phase current distortion factor, which is defined for a single‐phase system. However, in an unbalanced three‐phase system, it is difficult to express the three‐phase current distortion factor for distorted three‐phase ac currents by means of the conventional single‐phase current distortion factor. For instance, the conventional current distortion factors for three‐phase ac currents are usually different from each other in the unbalanced three‐phase system. To solve the above problem, this paper proposes a novel definition of the three‐phase current distortion factor. The proposed three‐phase current distortion factor is quite effective for the unbalanced three‐phase system as well as the balanced three‐phase system. © 2000 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 131(4): 1–10, 2000     

Experimental study on the prediction of hum noise from conductor bundles for UHV transmission lines

The audible noise produced by corona discharge from transmission line conductors comprises two major components, namely hum noise and random noise. Hum noise has a frequency that is twice the power line frequency and is generated primarily in rain, fog, and highly humid environments. It is one of the major factors affecting the design of conductor transmission lines for voltages above 500 kV, and it is very important to predict the level of hum noise near transmission lines. In this paper, using a comparison between measured values in the UHV Akagi test line and that using corona cage, an experimental prediction method of hum noise in rain condition is proposed. © 1998 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 125(1): 27–36, 1998     

Microstructure and transport properties of [0 0 1]-tilt bicrystal grain boundaries in iron pnictide superconductor,cobalt-doped BaFe2As2

Relationships between microstructure and transport properties of bicrystal grain boundary (BGB) junctions were studied in cobalt-doped BaFe₂As₂ (BaFe₂As₂:Co) epitaxial films grown on [0 0 1]-tilt bicrystal substrates of MgO and (La, Sr)(Al, Ta)O₃ with misorientation angles θ_GB = 3–45°. The θ_GB of BaFe₂As₂:Co BGBs were exactly transferred from those of the bicrystal substrates. No segregation of impurities was detected at the BGB junction interfaces, and the chemical compositions of the BGBs were uniform and the same as those in the bulk film regions. A transition from a strongly-coupled GB behavior to a weak-link behavior was observed in current density–voltage characteristics under self-field around θ_GB ～ 9°. The critical current density decreased from (1.2–1.6) × 10⁶ A/cm² of the intragrain transport to (0.7–1.1) × 10⁵ A/cm² of θ_GB = 45° because supercurrent becomes more governed by Josephson current with increasing θ_GB.     

Permeation measurements for investigating atomic hydrogen flux and wall pumping/fuelling dynamics in QUEST

In order to investigate the overall atomic hydrogen background and the dynamic characteristics of wall pumping/fuelling phenomenon, a permeation probe system has been developed and applied in the spherical tokamak QUEST. Reliability of measurements, within ±3% accuracy and a positive correlation with the hydrogen line emission over three orders of magnitude have been demonstrated for more than 3000 various plasma discharges. By comparison of the experimental permeation (flux) curves with the numerically simulated curves, the net incident atomic hydrogen flux is evaluated in the range of 1 × 10¹⁹ H m^?2 s^?1 to 4 × 10²⁰ H m^?2 s^?1. The atomic flux has been investigated as a function of various plasma operation parameters like RF power, gas pressure and magnetic configuration. Using the static particle balance and permeation measurements, the progress in wall conditioning has been investigated. An inverse correlation between the atomic hydrogen flux and improvement in wall pumping has been observed over the two campaigns.     

High‐fat Diet‐induced Intestinal Hyperpermeability is Associated with Increased Bile Acids in the Large Intestine of Mice

Metabolic syndrome is characterized by low‐grade chronic systemic inflammation, which is associated with intestinal hyperpermeability. This study examined the effects of 3 high‐fat diets (HFDs) composed of different fat sources (soybean oil and lard) on the intestinal permeability, tight junction (TJ) protein expression, and cecal bile acid (BA) concentrations in mice, and then analyzed their interrelations. C57/BL6 mice were fed the control diet, HFD (soybean oil), HFD (lard), and HFD (mix; containing equal concentrations of soybean oil and lard) for 8 wk. Glucose tolerance, intestinal permeability, TJ protein expression, and cecal BA concentration were evaluated. Feeding with the 3 HDFs similarly increased body weight, liver weight, and fat pad weight, and induced glucose intolerance and intestinal hyperpermeability. The expression of TJ proteins, zonula occludens‐2 and junctional adhesion molecule‐A, were lower in the colons of the 3 HFD groups than in the control group (P < 0.05), and these changes appeared to be related to intestinal hyperpermeability. Feeding with HFDs increased total secondary BA (SBA) and total BA concentrations along with increases in some individual BAs in the cecum. Significant positive correlations between intestinal permeability and the concentrations of most SBAs, such as deoxycholic acid and ω‐muricholic acids, were detected (P < 0.05). These results suggest that the HFD‐induced intestinal hyperpermeability is associated with increased BA secretion. The abundance of SBAs in the large intestine may be responsible for the hyperpermeability.     

Preparation and properties of biodegradable network poly(ester-carbonate) elastomers

Biodegradable elastomeric network poly(ester-carbonate)s were prepared from multifunctional aliphatic carboxylic acids such as tricarballylic acid (Y_t) or trimesic acid (Y) and polycarbonate diols (PCD) with molecular weights of 1000 and 2000 g/mol. Prepolymers prepared by a melt polycondensation were cast from dimethylformamide solution and postpolymerized at 270 °C for 40-80 min to form a network. The resultant films were transparent, flexible and insoluble in organic solvents. WAXS exhibited the crystalline peaks due to polycarbonate segments for the network films from PCD₂₀₀₀, while those from PCD₁₀₀₀ were amorphous. The tensile properties were determined for these network films at the temperatures 22, 30, 40 and 50 °C. These films showed elastomeric properties at all temperatures measured. The elongation at break was much higher for the films from PCD₂₀₀₀ (208-434%) than those from PCD₁₀₀₀ (40-120%), and decreased with increasing temperatures. The weight losses of the network films degraded in the buffer solution of Rhizopus delemar lipase at 37 °C increased with time, suggesting that these network films are biodegradable. The degradation rate of the network films from Y_t is faster than that from Y. The GPC curves showed that the lipase hydrolyzed both the ester linkages between Y or Y_t and PCD as well as polycarbonate moiety in the network polymer.     

Simulation study of the influence of different urban canyons element on the canyon thermal environment

The heat island effect is an important issue for large cities, especially those located in hot and moist climates. The phenomenon is more severe in urban canyons because surrounding high-rise buildings allow little ventilation and dissipation of heat caused by traffic. The primary goal of the present study is to investigate the thermal environment of a major street in Osaka by intensive measurement during the summer of 2006. Osaka is the second largest city in Japan and suffers from the most severe heat island effect. In addition, several fundamental renovations and a composite renovation for the improvement of thermal environment in the urban canyon are proposed, and the efficacies of these measures are verified by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation. It was found that by modifying the heights of buildings along the street and the ground surface materials and increasing the quantity of vegetation, the thermal environment can be improved by a 2.0°C. reduction in standard new effective temperature (SET^*) at maximum.     

Multivariate curve resolution analysis on the multi-component water sorption process into a poly(2-methoxyethyl acrylate) film

In our previous study, sorption process of water into a biocompatible polymer film, poly(2-methoxyethyl acrylate) (PMEA) was monitored by time-resolved in situ attenuated total reflection infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopy [S. Morita, et al., Langmuir 23, 3750 (2007)]. In the present study, noisy and heavily overlapped O-H stretching vibrational bands of diffusing water have been analyzed from the series spectra where the spectral shapes change irregularly with time. In spite of these complications, a powerful spectral analysis technique, multivariate curve resolution (MCR) by means of alternating least squares (ALS), yielded smooth and meaningful pure component spectra and detailed kinetic sorption profiles of each component, excluding noise. Ordinary smoothing techniques and Gaussian curve fitting would not achieve these significant results. The quantification of the kinetic parameters such as amplitudes (a) and relaxation time constants (tau) is significant for the systematic development of biocompatible materials and also for revealing the mechanisms of biocompatibility of a material. Moreover, the ratios of coefficients of each component at saturation corresponded well to the values obtained by Tanaka et al. measured by gravimetric analysis. This study is the first to report the detailed concentration profile of each water component whose sorption kinetics is discussed comprehensively.