α-gel prepared in sodium methyl stearoyl taurate/behenyl alcohol/water system-characterization of structural changes with water concentration

In this study, the changes in the structural and physicochemical properties of an α-crystalline phase (often called an "α-gel") were assessed in a sodium methyl stearoyl taurate (SMT)/behenyl alcohol/water system. The α-gels were characterized focusing on the effects of the alcohol/surfactant ratio and water concentration. Water molecules solubilized in the interlayer of the α-crystalline phase resulting in expanded interlayer spacing. Beyond the solubilization limit of 85 %, water molecules were trapped in the matrix of the α-crystalline phase in non-equilibrium (i.e., two phases). Accordingly, different self-diffusion coefficients for the solubilized and trapped water molecules were measured using a Fourier transform pulsed gradient spin echo technique to monitor the 1H NMR spectra. It was concluded that the two self-diffusion coefficients correspond to the water solubilized in the interlayer, i.e., "slow water," and trapped in the matrix of the α-crystalline phase, i.e., "fast water."     

Transparent Inband Feedback for Training-Based MIMO Systems

Recently, Echo-MIMO, a delay-free feedback scheme has been proposed for Closed-Loop MIMO systems, where the receiver echoes the received signal on the fly to the transmitter without any processing. While this reduced feedback latency allows for more use of the channel’s coherence time for data transmission, it comes at high power-and-bandwidth costs, as two MIMO transmissions are required in the feedback phase. In this paper, we present a feedback scheme that preserves the advantages of Echo-MIMO while requiring only one feedback transmission. The echoed signals are judiciously combined with the receiver’s signals such that their separation at the transmitter be lossless, and that no extra transmit power nor bandwidth be required. In addition, we highlight the estimation accuracy degradation in Echo-MIMO owing to the echoed noise, and analytically confirm the intuition that removing the noise prior to echoing the received signal provides better estimation than echoing the noisy received signal as is and later account for the noise effect upon echo reception. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme outperforms Echo-MIMO in terms of channel estimation accuracy and achievable capacity.     

Organic field-effect transistors based on J-aggregate thin films of a bisazomethine dye

We report on the fabrication and the characterization of p-type organic field-effect transistors based on vapor-deposited J-aggregate bisazomethine dye thin films. The absorption spectra of this non-ionic organic semiconductor in the solid state show a strong influence of the film thickness on the J-aggregate formation. However, the electrical characteristics of the devices demonstrate that the hole transport properties do not vary significantly in films thicker than 100 nm. This is due to the fact that the J-aggregates are formed in this material at the surface of the crystalline grains and do not influence the semiconductor/gate dielectric interface and the charge transport properties of the devices. Hole field-effect mobilities as high as 2.4 × 10^?4 cm² V^?1 s^?1 were obtained and could be slightly improved by a solvent vapor treatment due to changes in the film crystallinity. Overall, this study demonstrates that J-aggregate bisazomethine dye thin films are good candidates for the realization of organic electronic devices.     

Biosorption of cadmium ions using a photosynthetic bacterium, Rhodobacter sphaeroides S and a marine photosynthetic bacterium, Rhodovulum sp. and their biosorption kinetics

We examined the biosorption characteristics of cadmium ions onto a photosynthetic bacterium, Rhodobacter sphaeroides S and a marine photosynthetic bacterium Rhodovulum sp. PS88 in a batch culture system. Both photosynthetic bacteria are capable of cadmium removal with 30 g/l sodium chloride and divalent cations (Mg2+ and Ca2+) in the culture medium. In particular, the strain PS88 shows a high removal ratio and high specific removal rate of cadmium ions from the culture medium under aerobic-dark (heterotrophic) and anaerobic-light (photoheterotrophic) conditions. The adsorption of cadmium onto strains PS88 and S is dependent on the cadmium concentration, and follows the Freundlich adsorption isotherm. In addition, biosorption isotherms for cadmium show that the strain PS88 exhibits higher values of the empirical constant for the cadmium adsorption capacity, Kr, than that of the strain S under both aerobic-dark (K(f)=17.44) and anaerobic-light (K(f)=1.270) conditions.     

Technical note: the use of a physical activity monitor to estimate the eating time of cows in pasture

Accurate eating time can be used as an index of forage dry matter intake in grazing cows. To develop a method for easily estimating the eating time of dairy cows in a pasture, 8 lactating Holstein cows were fitted with collars equipped with commercial uniaxial accelerometers; namely, the Kenz Lifecorder EX (LCEX; Suzuken Co. Ltd., Nagoya, Japan), and were allowed to graze in a pasture for 4, 8, or 20 h daily for 7 d. The LCEX device recorded the intensity of the physical activity categorized into 1 of 11 activity levels ranging among 0 (no movement), 0.5 (subtle) and from 1 to 9 (1, light; 9, vigorous intensity) every 4 s during the experimental period. The activities of the animals were also video-recorded for 11 h and were manually classified into 7 categories (eating, searching, ruminating, standing resting, lying resting, drinking, and walking) at 4-s intervals. According to the count distribution of the activity levels for the categorized activities, 94.4% of the counts involving eating activity ranged from activity level 1 to 7. On the other hand, most of the counts were activity level 0 or 0.5 when ruminating and resting activities were observed. No records of activity level 8 or 9 were found in any activities. When activity level 1 was used as a threshold for discriminating eating from the other activities, the lowest misclassification rate of 5.5% was observed. With a threshold of activity level 1, the eating times in pasture for cows grazing for 4, 8, and 20 h/d were 142.8, 290.6, and 438.4 min/d, respectively, and the proportions of the time spent in pasture that were made up of eating time were 0.66, 0.67, and 0.38, respectively [the proportion during daytime (8 h of the 20-h grazing treatment) was 0.63 and that at nighttime (12 h of the 20-h grazing treatment) was 0.23]. The use of the LCEX device allows for easy measurement of eating time and facilitates the determination of the pattern of eating activity in pasture for grazing cows.     

Comparison of DNA sequencing analysis with phenotyping test for identification of yeasts isolated from foods

The identification of 20 strains of yeasts isolated from foods by means of DNA sequence analysis with two kinds of universal primers for the rDNA region was examined, and the results were compared with those of the conventional phenotyping test using API 20C AUX. In the analysis of the 26S region, all 20 yeast strains tested were identified at the species level. In the ITS1 region, 16 strains were also classified at the species level. In addition, all results of DNA sequence analysis were consistent with those of the phenotyping test at the genus level. Furthermore, DNA sequence analysis was able to identify causative yeasts observed in two suspect foods, though phenotyping tests alone failed to identify them.     

Structural origin of enhanced slow dynamics near a wall in glass-forming systems

Spatial confinement is known to induce a drastic change in the viscosity, relaxation times, and flow profile of liquids near the glass (or jamming) transition point. The essential underlying question is how a wall affects the dynamics of densely packed systems. Here we study this fundamental problem, using experiments on a driven granular hard-sphere liquid and numerical simulations of polydisperse and bidisperse colloidal liquids. The nearly hard-core nature of the particle-wall interaction provides an ideal opportunity to study purely geometrical confinement effects. We reveal that the slower dynamics near a wall is induced by wall-induced enhancement of 'glassy structural order', which is a manifestation of strong interparticle correlations. By generalizing the structure-dynamics relation for bulk systems, we find a quantitative relation between the structural relaxation time at a certain distance from a wall and the correlation length of glassy structural order there. Our finding suggests that glassy structural ordering may be the origin of the slow glassy dynamics of a supercooled liquid.     

A new makeup remover prepared with a system comprising dual continuous channels (bicontinuous phase) of silicone oil and water

Removing makeup is considered to be the first step in the skincare process. Makeup that has served its purpose is a kind of impurity that should ideally be removed completely to maximize the effects of skincare products applied afterwards. However, the use of silicone resins has significantly improved the long‐lasting property of makeup with the result that makeup can hardly be removed efficiently either with surfactant‐type cleansers like soaps or with oil‐based cleansers like liquid crystalline cleansers. Furthermore, oil‐based makeup removers do not leave the skin feeling fresh but oily, and often have been used in combination with surfactant‐type cleansers. In other words, complete makeup removal and a fresh skin feel are considered to be incompatible in conventional formulation technologies. To obtain compatible systems, we investigated the applicability of a system known as the bicontinuous phase and eventually succeeded in developing a novel system for a makeup remover. This phase can be prepared with a specific composition with a complete hydrophilic‐lipophilic balance in an oil/surfactant/water system by using cyclo‐siloxane, which dissolves silicone resin well. The bicontinuous phase has an oil‐ and water‐continuous microstructure, showing affinity for both aqueous and oily substances. This bicontinuous phase was applied to the development of a novel makeup remover. Determination of remover cap‐ability and fresh skin feel revealed that the makeup could be completely removed and that the amount of oil remaining on skin surface after wash‐off was much less than with previous oil‐based removers. The results of the sensory test also supported the finding that the remover was far superior to conventional products. This makeup remover is the first example of the application of the bicontinuous phase technology to a cosmetic product and clearly seems to provide the best conditions for subsequent skin care, meaning that it is suitable for the first step in the skincare process.     

Elevation of bovine serum C-reactive protein and serum amyloid P component levels by lactation

C-reactive protein (CRP) and serum amyloid P component (SAP), which are known to increase in sera from humans and many other animals with acute inflammation caused by infection, toxic drug administration or injury, were previously purified from bovine serum. These serum levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using specific antiserum to bovine CRP or SAP which was prepared by immunizing rabbits and goats with each purified protein. Among 68 healthy Holstein cows, 45 non-lactating cows had levels of CRP and SAP of 20.6 +/- 1.4 and 27.6 +/- 1.3 micrograms/ml respectively; 23 lactating cows had higher levels of CRP and SAP (76.0 +/- 13.6 and 38.3 +/- 5.5 micrograms/ml respectively). In the latter group, there was a high correlation between milk yield and serum CRP levels (P less than 0.001). From these observations, it was assumed that lactation might stimulate CRP synthesis rather than SAP synthesis in bovine liver as an acute phase reaction, and that CRP might be called a lactation-associated protein.