Optical sensing of materials movements occurring at a plant surface with a probe beam

Optical sensing of materials movements across a plant surface with a probe beam is reported. It is based on monitoring of deflection of a probe beam passing through a vicinity of the plant surface. The deflection of the probe beam was caused by concentration gradients of chemical species involved in the materials moments in physiological activities of the plant. Typha angustifolia L. was used as a model plant. The beam deflection at different locations of both leaves and roots in respiration process were monitored and compared. It is found that deflection signals changed with time and locations. Experimental results showed that the beam deflection method could be used for noninvasive sensing and monitoring of materials movements across the plant surface.     

Magnetic and EPR studies of edge-localized spin paramagnetism in multi-shell nanographites derived from nanodiamonds

Prolonged (up to 2 h) heat treatment at 1600 °C of nanodiamond particles (5 nm) leads to their conversion to the mixture of quasi-spherical carbon onions and multi-shell polyhedral nanographites. Structural and magnetic properties of two (A and B) series of nanographite samples obtained at various annealing intervals were studied. XRD data show that both multi-shell nanographite samples have practically the same crystalline structures. HRTEM evidences that the most of particles obtained by short time (7 min) annealing have a spherical like shape whereas the long time (~ 2 h) annealing leads to the majority of particles having a polyhedral shape with a hollow inside. Electronic and magnetic properties of these nanocarbons were investigated by magnetic susceptibility and EPR. Annealing results in entire transformation of the EPR signal of nanodiamond to new EPR signals of various line shapes and widths. These signals are extremely sensitive to ambient oxygen. Concentrations for all EPR active spins vary from ~ 1 × 10¹⁹ spins/g (7 min) to ~ 2 × 10¹⁹ spins/g (2 h). Temperature dependences of EPR spectra' parameters were obtained for vacuum-processed samples within the range 4?600 K. Intensity vs. T plots may be well-fitted by the combination of Curie–Weiss and temperature-independent Pauli susceptibility contributions. The latter one increases on heat treatment. Significant extension of electron spin-lattice relaxation time on decreasing temperature was found.     

A novel ferromagnetic thermo-stent for plaque stabilization that self-regulates the temperature

The purpose of this study is to investigate the vascular wall with a thermally self-regulating, cylindrical stent made of a low Curie temperature ferromagnetic alloy. Physiologic saline was circulated in the silicone model vessel implanted with the stent. The stent-temperature remained nearly constant for variable saline flows, saline temperatures, and magnetic flux densities. Stent implants of this type in human blood vessels could potentially enable thermotherapy and temperature determination without catheterization.     

Application of nonlinear fitting and selection of the most fitted equation by AIC in stability test of pharmaceutical ingredients

We proposed a method for objectively selecting the most fitted rate equation among candidate rate equations based on chemical kinetics by both nonlinear regression analysis and Akaike's information criterion (AIC), to express the decrease of pharmaceutical ingredient as an appropriate equation. Pseudo-zero, first, and second-order rate equations were prepared as candidates beforehand, and AIC was introduced for selecting the most fitted rate equation among the candidates. We compared the proposed method to the Weibull method that expressed any decrease patterns as a single equation.

We quantified the contents of thiamine nitrate (VB1) and taurine after storage for one, three, and six months under 40°C-75% relative humidity by high-pressure liquid chromatography. Decrease patterns of each sample were most fitted to one of the candidate rate equations, that is, pseudo-zero, first, and second-order rate equations, respectively, and the degree of fit in the most fitted equation was superior to that of the Weibull method, except for the pseudo-first-order rate equation.

Moreover, we confirmed that the proposed method was considerably precise for estimating the stability of pharmaceuticals by comparing estimated residual rates and confidence intervals to experimental data.     

Responses of maxillary sensilla styloconica inBombyx mori to glucosides fromOsmunda japonica,a nonhost plant

We isolated glucosides from the royal fern,Osmunda japonica, which elicit a deterrent response in larvae ofBombyx mori. These compounds were absent in taro (Colocasia antiquorum) and castor-oil plant (Ricinus communis) leaves and did not evoke responses of sensory cells in the lateral and medial sensilla styloconica ofSpodoptera litura. This glucoside extract of the royal fern leaves stimulates receptors generally associated with deterrent. It is also possible that this compound may act as a behavioral deterrent, and from actual feeding tests, it is suggested that this compound may prevent feeding in some monophagous insects, such asBombyx mori. The deterrent glucoside possesses a noncyclic aglycon.     

New modifications of poly(vinyl alcohol)s and their applications

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PV-OH), prepared from poly(viny) acetate), is used widely in many industries. Various grades have been produced, with different degree of polymerization and degree of hydrolysis. Recently, novel modified (PV-OH)s with anion, cation, silanol or hydrophobic groups have been studied and developed. They have new properties in addition to those of ordinary PV-OH and have new applications. The methods of modification and the characteristics and some applications of the modified polymers are described.     

Finite-time settling adaptive observer for linear discrete-time systems

This paper deals with a design method for an adaptive scheme which would identify the parameters and observe the state of any unknown single-input single-output linear discrete-time systems using only input-output data. Kreisselmeier's parametrized system [5] is used instead of the original system. Then the parameter identification process and the state observation process are well separated. To accelerate the convergence rate of the estimates, a finite-time settling scheme is proposed. It is shown that the estimates obtained converges to true values at k = 3n ?1, where k is the discrete time and n is the order of system. A numerical example is given to indicate acceptable performance of the proposed scheme.     

Input/output facilities in LISP 1.9

LISP1.9 provides new input/output facilities, the conceptual channel and the current channel, which make program writing easier and execution faster. The channel attributes-column-setting, line number option, prompt-string, user-buffer, eol-handler, eof-handler and access rights-are useful for program writing; the channel interaction attributes-input-memo, output-memo and file I/O verification-are useful for system development. Random file I/O, array I/O, record handling, array-string conversion and Japanese character output are also provided.     

Computer-based extraction of the inferior alveolar nerve canal in 3-D space

Computed tomography (CT) is increasingly employed in orthodontic treatment. One of the most successful applications is in dental implantology, in which an artificial root is surgically inserted into the jawbone to provide anchorage for a dental prosthesis. For successful implant surgery, it is crucial to locate internal structures such as the inferior alveolar nerve canal (IAC). This paper presents a computerized technique for extracting the IAC. To facilitate the extraction, we first generate panoramic CT images (panoramics) by reformatting the original CT images. The panoramics are a series of cross-sectional images along curved planes through the mandible (lower jawbone). Hollow canals are subsequently detected by analyzing the voxel intensities and 3-D gradient orientations in the panoramics. The axis of the IAC is then traced out by a novel 3-D line-tracking technique. The method is effective for extracting the IAC despite the open structure of the surrounding bone.