[en] A new type of end-loss energy component analyzer (ELECA) has been developed in order to investigate ion confinement of the tandem mirror. The essential advantage of the use of the ELECA is the ability to determine distribution functions of end-loss ions every moment during plugging in one shot. The ELECA was carefully designed, taking account of the influence of the fringing electrostatic field and weak leakage magnetic field on ion trajectories in the analyzer. The new diagnostics has been applied to the tandem mirror GAMMA 10. Consequently, it was verified from the viewpoint of ion distribution in velocity space that plug potential was created upon turning on electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) even without sloshing ions caused by neutral beam injection (NBI), and at the same time, the structure with double loss boundaries changed to a simple structure. (author)

[en] The electronic d-band properties are important factors for the emerging catalytic activity of Au nanoclusters of sub-5-nm size. We analyzed the d-band properties of Au nanoclusters grown on amorphous carbon supports by photoelectron spectroscopy using synchrotron-radiation light coupled with high-resolution ion scattering spectrometry which enables us to estimate the size and shape of Au nanoclusters. The d-band width (W_d), d-band center position (E_d), and apparent 5d_3/2-d_5/2 spin-orbit splitting (E_SO) were determined as a function of a number of Au atoms per cluster (n_A) and an average coordination number (n_C) in a wide range (11< n_A<1600). The W_d and E_SO values decrease steeply with decreasing n_A below ∼150 owing to band narrowing which is caused by hybridization of fewer wave functions of the valence electrons. However, E_d shifts to the higher binding energy side with decreasing cluster size. The rapid movement of E_d is attributed to the dynamic final-state effect, which results in higher binding energy shifts of core and valence states due to a positive hole created after photoelectron emission. We have estimated the contribution from the final-state effect and derived the approximated initial-state spectra. Modified data, however, still show a slight movement of the d-band center away from the Fermi level (E_F) although the E_d values for Au nanoclusters are closer to E_F compared to the bulk value. This behavior is ascribed to the contraction of average Au-Au bond length with decreasing cluster size.

[en] It was found that smoke particles smaller than 100 nm and of different crystal structures can be separated by an electric field. Tungsten oxide smoke curved in the electric field towards the positive electrode plate. The morphology of the particles and dispersion of particles became good in the electric field. By burning of Pb in a mixture gas of Ar (80%) and O₂ (20%), red and yellow layer structure particles were simultaneously produced. The flow direction of red and yellow smokes changed by applying an electric field (200 V/cm). Red particles flowed towards the negative plate and yellow particles flowed towards the positive plate, i.e. two different structures were separated. Simultaneous growth conditions of SnO and SnO₂ were observed and also found that they can be separated by the use of electric field as well as lead oxides. The curve of the smoke is discussed as that the surface net charge was affected by the electric field on the basis of produced particle structure and morphology

[en] Dextran glucosidase from S. mutans was crystallized using the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. The crystals diffracted to 2.2 Å resolution. Dextran glucosidase from Streptococcus mutans is an exo-hydrolase that acts on the nonreducing terminal α-1,6-glucosidic linkage of oligosaccharides and dextran with a high degree of transglucosylation. Based on amino-acid sequence similarity, this enzyme is classified into glycoside hydrolase family 13. Recombinant dextran glucosidase was purified and crystallized by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion technique using polyethylene glycol 6000 as a precipitant. The crystals belong to the orthorhombic space group P2₁2₁2₁, with unit-cell parameters a = 72.72, b = 86.47, c = 104.30 Å. A native data set was collected to 2.2 Å resolution from a single crystal