Development of a high‐resolution RGBW flexible display using a white organic light‐emitting diode with microcavity structure and that of a side‐roll touch panel

In this study, white organic electroluminescent devices with microcavity structures were developed. A flexible high‐resolution active‐matrix organic light‐emitting diode display with low power consumption using red, green, blue, and white sub‐pixels formed by a color‐filter method was fabricated. In addition, a side‐roll touch display was developed in combination with a capacitive flexible touch screen.     

Noniterative two-dimensional phase-retrieval method from two Fourier intensities by use of an exponential filter

A noniterative method of retrieving the two dimensional phase of a wave field from two intensity measurements is proposed. In the measurements, one records two far-field intensities of the wave field modulated and unmodulated with an exponential filter. The phase retrieval method is based on the solution of the simultaneous equations with unknown coefficients of the two-dimensional discrete Fourier transform for the phase. Then there is no need for the information about the wave field, which is used in iterative phase-retrieval methods. The usefulness of this method is shown in computer-simulated examples of the reconstruction of two-dimensional complex amplitude objects.     

Arsenic behavior in paddy fields during the cycle of flooded and non-flooded periods

The behavior of As in paddy fields is of great interest considering high As contents of groundwater in several Asian countries where rice is the main staple. We determined the concentrations of Fe, Mn, and As in soil, soil water, and groundwater samples collected at different depths down to 2 m in an experimental paddy field in Japan during the cycle of flooded and non-flooded periods. In addition, we measured the oxidation states of Fe, Mn, and As in situ in soil samples using X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) and conducted sequential extraction of the soil samples. The results show that Fe (hydr)oxide hosts As in soil. Arsenic in irrigation waters is incorporated in Fe (hydr)oxide in soil during the non-flooded period, and the As is quickly released from soil to water during the flooded period because of reductive dissolution of the Fe (hydr)oxide phase and reduction of As from As(V) to As(III). The enhancement of As dissolution by the reduction of As is supported by high As/Fe ratios of soil water during the flooded period and our laboratory experiments where As(III) concentrations and As(III)/As(V) ratios in submerged soil were monitored. Our work, primarily based on data from an actual paddy field, suggests that rice plants are enriched in As because the rice grows in flooded paddy fields when mobile As(III) is released to soil water.     

Effects of D-methionine or L-methionine on root hair of Brassica rapa

We examined the effects of D- or L-amino acids on the stimulation of Brassica rapa roots. When 6.7 microM of D-methionine (D-Met) or L-methionine (L-Met) was applied, root hair numbers increased. L-Met (above concentration of 67.0 microM) caused the tip of roots to spiral. When CoCl2 (ethylene synthesis inhibitor) was added into the medium, L-Met lost its activity but COCl2 did not inhibit the bioactivity of D-Met.     

Emission mechanism in phosphorescent and fluorescent OLED utilizing energy transfer from exciplex to emitter

This paper discusses the effectiveness of energy transfer from an exciplex to an emitter in both phosphorescent and fluorescent organic light‐emitting diodes. This energy transfer enhances the efficiency, lowers the drive voltage, and extends the lifetime. The increase in the quantum efficiency of a fluorescent organic light‐emitting diode using this mechanism is also analyzed.     

Highly efficient single‐unit white OLED device with emission from both singlet and triplet excitons

We succeeded in developing a single‐unit hybrid organic light‐emitting diode (OLED) device with efficient light emission from both a phosphorescent layer and a fluorescent layer. The single‐unit hybrid OLED achieved a power efficiency higher than that of a two‐unit hybrid tandem OLED with phosphorescent and fluorescent layers.     

Hyperproduction of sebaceous cis-6-hexadecenoic acid by esterase-reduced mutant of Rhodococcus sp. strain

cis-6-Hexadecenoic acid is a major component of human sebaceous lipids that is involved in skin self-sterilization and atopic dermatitis amelioration. It can be prepared by hydrolysis of isopropyl cis-6-hexadecenoate produced by resting cells of Rhodococcus sp. strain KSM-MT66. To devise an economical industrial-scale process for the production of this rare fatty acid, we optimized the conditions for growing rhodococcal cells. Mg(2+) and Fe(2+) ions are essential for the efficient production of isopropyl cis-6-hexadecenoate. To further increase the production of isopropyl cis-6-hexadecenoate, we created a mutant strain (T64) with reduced esterase activity by random mutagenesis using UV irradiation of MT66. Under an optimized condition, the mutant T64 produced more than 60 g l(-1) isopropyl cis-6-hexadecenoate in a 4-d cultivation, corresponding to about 52 g l(-1)cis-6-hexadecenoate.     

Lensless coherent imaging by a deterministic phase retrieval method with an aperture-array filter

Recently we have proposed a noniterative and analytic phase retrieval method using the filter of an aperture array to reconstruct a complex-valued object from a diffraction intensity pattern [Phys. Rev. Lett.98, 223901 (2007)], but this method suffers from the restriction of the far-field condition of two distances between the object and the filter and between the filter and the detector for the intensity measurement. An improved method, which extends the adaptable condition of those distances to the region of Fresnel diffraction, is proposed here. In addition, the procedure for reducing the influence of noises on the phase retrieval is presented, in which the phase information contained in multiple groups of sampling data of a single intensity distribution is utilized. The usefulness of this method is shown in computer-simulated examples of the object reconstructions, including an object with phase vortices.     

Wisteria floribunda Agglutinin-Positive Mac-2 Binding Protein as a Screening Tool for Significant Liver Fibrosis in Health Checkup

Chronic liver disease is generally widespread, and a test for screening fibrotic subjects in a large population is needed. The ability of Wisteria floribunda agglutinin-positive mac-2 binding protein (WFA⁺-M2BP) to detect significant fibrosis was investigated in health checkup subjects in this research. Of 2021 health checkup subjects enrolled in this prospective cross-sectional study, those with WFA⁺-M2BP ≥ 1.0 were defined as high risk. Liver fibrosis was evaluated using magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) in subjects with high risk. The primary outcome was the positive predictive value (PPV) of WFA⁺-M2BP for significant fibrosis (liver stiffness ≥ 2.97 kPa by MRE). This trial was registered with the UMIN clinical trial registry, UMIN000036175. WFA⁺-M2BP ≥ 1.0 was observed in 5.3% of the 2021 subjects. The PPV for significant fibrosis with the threshold of WFA⁺-M2BP at ≥1.0, ≥1.1, ≥1.2, ≥1.3, ≥1.4, and ≥1.5 was 29.2%, 36.4%, 43.5%, 42.9%, 62.5%, and 71.4%, respectively. A WFA⁺-M2BP of 1.2 was selected as the optimal threshold for significant fibrosis among high-risk subjects, and the PPV, negative predictive value, sensitivity, and specificity for significant fibrosis were 43.5%, 84.0%, 71.4%, and 61.8%, respectively. WFA⁺-M2BP ≥ 1.2 was significantly associated with significant fibrosis, with an odds ratio (OR) of 4.04 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.1–16, p = 0.04), but not FIB-4 ≥ 2.67 (OR: 2.40, 95%CI: 0.7–8.6, p-value = 0.2). In conclusion, WFA⁺-M2BP is associated with significant fibrosis and could narrow down potential subjects with liver fibrosis. The strategy of narrowing down fibrosis subjects using WFA⁺-M2BP may be used to screen for fibrotic subjects in a large population.     

High‐resolution OLED display with remarkably low power consumption using blue/yellow tandem structure and RGBY subpixels

A top‐emission organic light‐emitting diode (OLED) with a microcavity structure combined with a blue/yellow tandem structure was developed. A high‐resolution active‐matrix OLED display with the world's lowest level of power consumption using the tandem OLED with red, green, blue, and yellow subpixels was fabricated.