Microcapsules diffuser screen for speckle noise reduction

We make a proposal about the microcapsule diffuser screen with the purpose of reducing the speckle noise on a laser display. This microcapsule diffuser screen has a screen surface in which microcapsules containing charged diffuser particles are applied, where an electric field is charged from the outside, and, thus, the diffuser particles in the capsule are randomly agitated to reduce the speckle noise. In this paper, the speckle noise reducing effect of this screen is studied as well as the reducing effect with respect to the conditions such as the drive conditions and amount of the diffuser particle in the microcapsule.     

Photochromic Properties of 3‐Deoxyanthocyanidin Pigments in Nontoxic Solvents

The photochromic properties of some naturally occurring 3‐deoxyanthocyanidin pigments were investigated in various nontoxic solvents. When luteolinidin, a representative 3‐deoxyanthocyanidin, was dissolved in a mixture of weakly acidic water and an organic solvent with a relative permittivity between 20 and 34, it was possible to repeatedly induce coloration via ultraviolet irradiation and decoloration under light‐shielded conditions. 1,3‐Butanediol and ethanol, which are approved for use in foods, cosmetics, and household goods, were found to be appropriate organic solvents for this process. In addition, we confirmed that other 3‐deoxyanthocyanidins, specifically apigeninidin and tricetinidin, which are commonly found in food grains and tea leaves, also exhibit photochromic properties.     

Densities of liquid lanthanoid sesquioxides measured with the electrostatic levitation furnace in the ISS

The densities of several liquid lanthanoid sesquioxides (Ln₂O₃, Ln = Er, Ho, Tb, Gd) were measured over the temperature range from 2700 K (the approximate melting point of these materials) to 3200 K. These measurements were performed using the Electrostatic Levitation Furnace onboard the International Space Station (ISS-ELF). Based on the Coulomb force between the charged samples and surrounding electrodes and employing a rapid feedback control process, specimens were stably levitated and subsequently melted by high power lasers. The molten oxides exhibited spherical morphologies and their volumes were readily calculated from magnified images. Subsequent weighing of the samples on Earth allowed the densities of the oxides to be determined. The densities of Er₂O₃, Ho₂O₃, Tb₂O₃, and Gd₂O₃ at their melting temperatures (T_m) were found to be 8170, 8035, 7451, and 7268 kg/m³, respectively, and these density values were shown to exhibit a linear correlation with temperature. The molar volumes of these oxides at their T_m values were calculated and compared with those of other sesquioxides (Al₂O₃, Ga₂O₃, and B₂O₃). The molar volumes of the nonglass-forming sesquioxides (Er₂O₃, Ho₂O₃, Tb₂O₃, Gd₂O₃, Al₂O₃, and Ga₂O₃) showed linear correlations with the cubes of their cation radii, whereas those of the glass-forming oxide (B₂O₃, As₂O₃, and Sb₂O₃) showed different correlations.     

Substrate Profiling of Cysteine Protease from Zingiber officinale

Plants have different types of proteases and four types of cysteine protease have been isolated from ginger (GPI, II, 2, and 3). This study analyzed the structure and cleavage specificity of a newly isolated protease (GPii) from Zingiber officinale to evaluate the general properties of this protease. GPs were purified using anion exchange chromatography. Three GPs were purified and shown to be similar to the three reported types of GPs (GPII, 2, and 3). This is the first study in which one cultivar contains three types of GPs. GPii was sequenced, and revealed to carry two substitutions compared with GPII. The cleavage specificity of GPii was analyzed using protein substrates. GPii showed cleavage specificity for Ser, Gly, Lys, and Arg at first position; Ala, Pro, Ile, and Tyr at the second position; and Gly at the third position of the N-terminal side. Further, GPii could not cleave the insoluble substrate.     

Identification of antioxidants in Fructus aurantii and its quality evaluation using a new on-line combination of analytical techniques

A new on-line method for simultaneous identification and monitoring of antioxidants in Fructus aurantii was established by coupling high performance liquid chromatography-diode array detector-electrospray ionisation-ion trap-time of flight-mass spectrometry with post-column derivatisation and luminol–potassium ferricyanide chemiluminescence (HPLC-DAD-ESI-IT-TOF-MS-PCD-LPFCL). While the HPLC fingerprint, structural identification and radical scavenging profile were rapidly obtained by an on-line assay using ultraviolet (UV) absorption, MS and LPFCL, details of the precise substitution patterns of various structures were achieved through UV absorption using PCD addition of shift reagents. Twenty-five flavonoids were identified by either their PCD and MS data or comparison with reference substances. Data collected both from chromatograms and activity profiles of 12 samples revealed significant differences among samples from different habitats. The results showed that this method was rapid and precise, and therefore would be an effective and sensitive method for biocompounds analysis and quality evaluation for complex food and medicinal samples.     

Phase separation of polymer mixtures driven by photochemical reactions: current status and perspectives

Phase separation of polymer mixtures induced by photo‐crosslinking and photopolymerization is summarized from the viewpoint of competing interactions in polymeric systems. First, the kinetics of photo‐crosslinking and photopolymerization are reviewed with particular emphasis on the Trommsdorff ? Norrish effect in polymerization, which leads to the formation of a bimodal distribution of molecular weight at long irradiation time. The emergence of a very large molecular weight and the characteristic time for this effect to set in are utilized as a tool to control the temporal development of the resulting morphology. The shrinkage associated with the reaction and particularly its effect on the phase separation and the morphology are discussed together with the influence of the Trommsdorff ? Norrish effect. Experiments on polymerization‐induced phase separation extended from binary to ternary mixtures are described where the interfacial interactions give rise to a wide variety of morphologies. Taking advantages of light, experiments using spatial and temporal modulation have been performed to control and manipulate the phase separation. These experimental results are summarized and briefly discussed in relation to the elastic deformation induced by polymerization. Finally, an overview of theoretical studies and numerical simulation of reaction‐induced phase separation is given with some comments on the complexity of the phenomena. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry