Relaxation processes for imidazolium-based ionic liquids (ILs) were investigated by means of an incoherent quasielastic neutron scattering technique. In order to clarify the cation and anion effects on the relaxation processes, ten samples were measured. For all of the samples, we found three relaxations at around 1 ps, 10 ps, and 100 ps-10 ns, each corresponding to the alkyl reorientation, the relaxation related to the imidazolium ring, and the ionic diffusion. The activation energy (Ea) for the alkyl relaxation is insensitive to both anion and alkyl chain lengths. On the other hand, for the imidazolium relaxation and the ionic diffusion processes, Ea increases as the anion size decreases but is almost independent of the alkyl chain length. This indicates that the ionic diffusion and imidazolium relaxation are governed by the Coulombic interaction between the core parts of the cations (imidazolium ring) and the anions. This is consistent with the fact that the imidazolium-based ILs have nanometer scale structures consisting of ionic and neutral (alkyl chain) domains. It is also found that there is a clear correlation between the ionic diffusion and viscosity, indicating that the ionic diffusion is mainly associated with the glass transition which is one of the characteristics of imidazolium-based ILs.

We study the effects of shear flow on structures of the lamellar phase formed in a nonionic surfactant C 16 E 7 (hepta(oxyethylene glycol)-n-hexadecylether)/D 2 O system by using small angle neutron scattering (SANS) and small angle light scattering (SALS) in the range of shear rate 10 −3-30 s −1. As the shear rate increases from 0.3 to 1 s −1 , the lamellar repeat distance for the 48 wt% sample is decreased significantly and discontinuously. With further increase in the shear rate, d increases through a sharp minimum at 1 s −1. The minimum value does not depend on the surfactant concentration very much and is nearly equal to the thickness of the bilayers. At this shear rate (1 s −1), the intensity of the polarized SALS is strongly enhanced in the small angle region in the vorticity direction. These results suggest that water layers are excluded by shear flow and that large concentration fluctuations on the µm scale are induced, which corresponds to local segregation into two regions; one of these has concentrated lamellar structures and the other is a water-rich region. As the shear rate increases further (to 3 s −1), a broad diffraction peak appears in the vorticity direction in the polarized SALS whereas a four-lobe pattern is observed in the depolarized SALS. There results, together with the two-dimensional SANS pattern, suggest the formation of close-packed onions elongated along the flow direction at 3 s −1. Comparison is made with the study of Nettesheim et al (2003 Langmuir 19 3618) who report the formation of multilamellar cylinders as intermediate structures, between lamellae and spherical onions.

Viability and acrosome status of a human sperm can be easily assessed simultaneously by Hoechst 33258/FITC-PSA staining method. This combination method is considered useful to evaluate sperm function.

Background: In this study, we developed an animated movie as a novel educational tool for fall prevention, and intended for patients and caregivers. We evaluated this new animation, comparing its effectiveness both before and after intervention, and have discussed its potential in the context of inpatient fall prevention. Methods: While including previously implemented multidisciplinary fall prevention measures, we started to introduce the use of animation in August 2013. Pre-and post-intervention questionnaire surveys were conducted for patients and nurses in June and August 2013, respectively, for 2 weeks. Results: We obtained 304 and 269 paired data in the pre-and post-intervention survey periods. On examining the difference between nurses' instructions and patients' understanding, in the pre-intervention period, only 70.0 % of patients instructed to call the nurses at any time and 33.3 % of those instructed to call at the time of need, correctly understood the instructions. The frequency of patients' falls significantly decreased from 15.6 to 8.6 % (p <0.05) between the pre-and post-intervention survey periods, respectively. In 65-year-old patients, the ratio of frequency significantly decreased from 19.0 to 7.6 % (p <0.01); however, it did not change in patients aged <65 years. Conclusions: Our study indicated that animation could be an effective educational tool for inpatient fall prevention, even in older patients. In order to develop a multimedia tool with optimal educational impact, several aspects should be explored, including the addition of previous multidisciplinary approaches, increased variety of story and character design, improved hospital culture for better staff compliance and enhanced effectiveness, and interactive digital media content for an effective teaching feedback loop.

The magnetic tuning characteristics of InSb laser pumped by a TE CO2. laser were studied.The tuning characteristic depended on the carrier density of n-InSb sample. For a sample with low carrier density, the emission energy shifted monotonously to higher energy with increasingmagnetic field and only one linear shift varying as Δε=(\hbarωc-|gc|βH)/2 was o bserved at a high magnetic field. For a sample with high carrier density, the emission energy shifted to lower energy at a low magnetic field, and at a high magnetic field two linear shifts with differentrates to higher energy varying as Δε=(\hbarωc±|gc|βH)/2 were observed. The polarization and the intensity of emission were also investigated. The zero-field emission energy was measured for samples with different carrier densities. A simple transition model is proposed, which can explain the observed magnetic tuning characteristics.