Morphology and structure of tantalum oxide deposit prepared by KrF excimer laser CVD

Tantalum oxide films have been deposited on substrates by decomposing Ta(OCH₃)₅ photolytically in the beam of a KrF excimer laser under various conditions of laser fluence (200–450 J m^–2), repetition rate (20–120 Hz), supply rate of Ta(OCH₃)₅ (50–400 mg h^–1) and substrate temperature (403–723 K). The deposits were highly oriented when produced at laser fluences of 350 and 450 J m^–2. Their XRD patterns suggested the formation of -Ta₂O₅. The (1 1 1 0) planes were preferentially oriented parallel to the substrate surface when produced at lower repetition rates, higher supply rates of Ta(OCH₃)₅, and lower substrate temperatures; whereas (1 1 1 1) planes were similarly oriented when the conditions were reversed. The preferred orientation may be explained in terms of supersaturation. The deposits produced at a fluence of 200 J m^–2 were, however, rather amorphous.     

Selegiline (L-deprenyl) and L-dopa treatment of Parkinson's disease: a double-blind trial

To confirm the clinical utility of selegiline (L-deprenyl), a selective inhibitor of monoamine oxidase B, as an anti-Parkinson's disease (PD) agent, the first Japanese multi-center, double-blind comparative study of this drug was conducted. The subjects were patients who had responded poorly or suffered with other problems related to L-dopa treatment. A total of 112 patients in two groups, one given selegiline at a dose of 7.5 mg/day (Group D, n = 60) and another given a placebo (Group P, n = 52), were compared over an 8-week treatment period. The percentage patients showing "moderate improvement" or better was 34.5% in Group D, while that in Group P was 11.5% (P < 0.01). In the assessment of overall safety, 66.7% in Group D showed no adverse reactions, which was not significantly different from the result of 78.9% for Group P.     

Ash-agglomerating gasification of coal in a spouted bed reactor

Australian bituminous coal (Hoskisson) was gasified with oxygen and steam in a 0.4m diameter spouted bed reactor at atmospheric pressure and temperatures of 1050–1170 °C to produce medium calorific value gas. High-ash agglomerates fell through the throat of the spouted bed under restricted gasification conditions, with no simultaneous loss of coal. The effects of temperature, steam-oxygen ratio, coal feed rate and coal size on carbon conversion, production of ash agglomerates, gas composition and decompsition of steam were established.     

Light scattering studies of poly(γ-benzyl L-glutamate) solutions and films

Summary Concentrated solutions (>20 wt%) of poly ( -benzyl L-glutamate) (PBLG) were investigated using small angle light scattering (SALS). The gels and cholesteric liquid crystals formed in PBLG concentrated solutions, were analyzed in terms of theories previously developed for SALS from crystalline polymers. It was found that there are two types of the fibrillar aggregation of -helices in gels and furthermore, two types of the orientation correlation of -helices in cholesteric liquid crystals.     

Direct fiber formation and fiber properties of aromatic polyoxadiazoles

A novel and simple fiber formation process has been developed to fabricate aromatic polyoxadiazoles. The aromatic copolyoxadiazole solution prepared from terephthalic acid, isophthalic acid, and hydrazine sulfate in fuming sulfuric acid was utilized directly as spinning solution and was successfully wet-spun to form fiber into a coagulating bath containing sulfuric acid. In the wet-spinning process, selection of the coagulating bath was the most important factor, and the best results were obtained by the use of approximately 50 wt-% aqueous sulfuric acid. It was easy to prepare a polyoxadiazole fiber having a tenacity of more than 4 g/den. and an elongation of more than 10%. In addition, the fiber properties reached to a tenacity of 6 g/den. and an elongation of 12% under optimum spinning conditions. The wet-spun polyoxadiazole fiber showed an almost round cross section and a clear skin-core structure by microscopic observation. The fiber had a high level of thermal and dimensional stability and a high proportion of property retention at elevated temperatures, as well as all-round general fiber properties.     

Removal of phenolic endocrine disruptors by Portulaca oleracea

Portulaca oleracea, a garden plant prevalent from spring to autumn in Japan, showed the ability to efficiently remove from water bisphenol A (BPA), which is well known as an endocrine disrupting compound (EDC) having estrogenic properties. In water culture, 50 muM BPA was almost completely removed within 24 h when the ratio of whole plant weight to the water volume was set up at 1 g to 25 ml. The estrogenic activity of the water decreased in parallel with the elimination of BPA. This plant also rapidly removed other EDCs having a phenol group including octylphenol (OP), nonylphenol (NP), 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) and 17beta-estradiol and, thereby, removed the endocrine disrupting activities. In addition, the ability of P. oleracea to remove BPA was not affected by BPA concentration (up to 250 microM), by cultivation in the dark, by temperatures ranging from 15 degrees C to 30 degrees C, or by pH ranging from 4 to 7. Moreover, the ability of P. oleracea to individually remove BPA, NP, and OP was the same as when they were all present. These results suggest that P. oleracea is a promising material for practical phytoremediation of landfill leachates and industrial wastewater contaminated with the tested EDCs.     

Fluorometric analysis on physicochemical properties of phosphatidylcholine-based W/O microemulsion involved with enzymatic reactivity in phospholipid hydrolysis

Interfacial tension and fluorometric analysis were employed for the investigation of the interfacial local fluidity and the hydrophobicity of the micro water pool in the PC-based water-in-oil (W/O) microemulsion. These microenvironment properties strongly influenced the phospholipase A₂ reactivity for phospholipid hydrolysis in the W/O microemulsion. The organic phase was prepared by mixing of isooctane as a main solvent and 1-butanol as a co-solvent. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) was dramatically decayed from 9mM to 0.025mM by the increasing of the 1-butanol content. The local interfacial fluidity of the micro water pool was measured by using fluorescence polarity indicated by 1,6-Diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene-4′-trimethylammonium tosylate (TMA-DPH) and Coumarin 343 (C343). It was apparently increased with increasing the molar ratio of additive 1-butanol. In contrast, the hydrophobicity of the water pool measured by C343 was almost constant throughout the molar ratio of additive 1-butanol. Additive alcohol influenced the micro fluidity and enhanced reactivity of phospholipase A₂ in lipid hydrolysis. This work was presented at 13 ^th YABEC symposium held at Seoul, Korea, October 20–22, 2007.     

Real‐time screen‐space liquid rendering with complex refractions

Particle‐based liquid is often rendered only with single refraction in real‐time applications, which deteriorates the reality of liquid. We present a screen‐space method for rendering particle‐based liquids with up to four refractions in real time. Our method separates liquid particles into splashes and aggregations (i.e., liquid bodies) and generates a pair of depth maps of front‐facing and back‐facing surfaces for each. We use the depth maps of splashes as they are but smooth those of aggregations to reduce small bumps. For smoothing depth, we iteratively fit planes locally using moving least squares, unlike previous filtering‐based approaches that cause undesirable refractions around depth boundaries. By calculating refractions with physically based light attenuation, our method can render liquids more realistically than previous methods. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.