Effect of water activity on the mechanical glass transition and dynamical transition of bacteria-solute systems

Kawai, Kiyoshi*; Sogabe, Tomochika*; Nakagawa, Hiroshi; Yamada, Takeshi*; Koseki, Shigenobu*

Journal of Food Engineering, 375, p.112066_1 - 112066_9, 2024/08

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2024.112066

The purpose of this study was to clarify effect of glycerol and glucose on the mechanical glass transition and dynamical transition of freeze-dried bacteria at various water activity (aw)-conditions. From the water sorption isotherm, it was noted that the water content at each aw and monolayer water content were higher in the order of glycerol, glucose, non-added samples. Effect of temperature on the mean square displacement (MSD) of atoms in the samples was investigated by incoherent elastic neutron scattering. The MSD increased gradually with an increase in temperature depending on the aw and added solute. From the linear fitting, three dynamical transition temperatures (low-, middle- and high-Tds) were determined. The Couchman-Karasz model suggested that the added solute and bacteria were not completely miscible.

Latent ion tracks were finally observed in diamond

Amekura, Hiroshi*; Chettah, A.*; Narumi, Kazumasa*; Chiba, Atsuya*; Hirano, Yoshimi*; Yamada, Keisuke*; Yamamoto, Shunya*; Leino, A. A.*; Djurabekova, F.*; Nordlund, K.*; et al.

Nature Communications (Internet), 15, p.1786_1 - 1786_10, 2024/02

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45934-4

Injecting high-energy heavy ions in the electronic stopping regime into solids can create cylindrical damage zones called latent ion tracks. Although these tracks form in many materials, none have ever been observed in diamond, even when irradiated with high-energy GeV uranium ions. Here we report the first observation of ion track formation in diamond irradiated with 2-9 MeV C fullerene ions. Depending on the ion energy, the mean track length (diameter) changed from 17 (3.2) nm to 52 (7.1) nm. High resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy (HR-STEM) indicated the amorphization in the tracks, in which -bonding signal from graphite was detected by the electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS).

A Study on convection in molten zone of aluminum alloy during Fe/Al resistance spot welding

Iyota, Muneyoshi*; Matsuda, Tomoki*; Sano, Tomokazu*; Shigeta, Masaya*; Shobu, Takahisa; Yumoto, Hirokatsu*; Koyama, Takahisa*; Yamazaki, Hiroshi*; Semba, Yasunori*; Ohashi, Haruhiko*; et al.

Journal of Manufacturing Processes, 94, p.424 - 434, 2023/05

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmapro.2023.03.032

Effect of water activity on the mechanical glass transition and dynamical transition of bacteria

Sogabe, Tomochika*; Nakagawa, Hiroshi; Yamada, Takeshi*; Koseki, Shigenobu*; Kawai, Kiyoshi*

Biophysical Journal, 121(20), p.3874 - 3882, 2022/10

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpj.2022.09.001

The purpose of this study was to clarify the glass transition behavior of bacteria () as a function of water activity (). Mechanical relaxation was investigated at 298 K, and the mechanical ( at which mechanical glass transition occurs at 298 K) was determined to be 0.667. Temperature-dependency of mean square displacement was investigated by inelastic neutron scattering. From the linear fitting, two dynamical transition temperatures (low and high-) were determined. There was a minor effect of on the low- except for the anhydrous sample. The high- largely increased with the decrease in . The dynamical determined by high- (0.688) was slightly higher than the mechanical because of the difference in the measurement time-scale. The high- was converted to the glass transition temperature (), and anhydrous was estimated to be 411 K. Bacterial inactive-active transition was discussed according to the glass transition behavior.

Rotation of complex ions with ninefold hydrogen coordination studied by quasielastic neutron scattering and first-principles molecular dynamics calculations

Omasa, Yoshinori*; Takagi, Shigeyuki*; Toshima, Kento*; Yokoyama, Kaito*; Endo, Wataru*; Orimo, Shinichi*; Saito, Hiroyuki*; Yamada, Takeshi*; Kawakita, Yukinobu; Ikeda, Kazutaka*; et al.

Physical Review Research (Internet), 4(3), p.033215_1 - 033215_9, 2022/09

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.033215

Evaluation of sample cell materials for aqueous solutions used in quasi-elastic neutron scattering measurements

Tominaga, Taiki*; Sahara, Masae*; Kawakita, Yukinobu; Nakagawa, Hiroshi; Yamada, Takeshi*

Journal of Applied Crystallography, 54(6), p.1631 - 1640, 2021/12

https://doi.org/10.1107/S1600576721009687

Position dependency of the scattered intensity in the time-of-flight backscattering spectrometer DNA

Matsuura, Masato*; Yamada, Takeshi*; Tominaga, Taiki*; Kobayashi, Makoto*; Nakagawa, Hiroshi; Kawakita, Yukinobu

JPS Conference Proceedings (Internet), 33, p.011068_1 - 011068_6, 2021/03

https://doi.org/10.7566/JPSCP.33.011068

The position dependence of the scattered intensity in the time-of-flight backscattering spectrometer DNA was investigated. A periodic structure for both vertical (pixel) and horizontal (PSD) directions was observed. The solar slit and over-bending of an analyzer crystal is discussed as a possible origin of the modulation in the intensity. We have developed software program for the systematic correction of the position-dependent intensity and offset energy for the elastic peak. This corrects the deviation from the true scattering intensity and improve the quality of the data, which includes the energy resolution.

Thermally altered subsurface material of asteroid (162173) Ryugu

Kitazato, Kohei*; Milliken, R. E.*; Iwata, Takahiro*; Abe, Masanao*; Otake, Makiko*; Matsuura, Shuji*; Takagi, Yasuhiko*; Nakamura, Tomoki*; Hiroi, Takahiro*; Matsuoka, Moe*; et al.

Nature Astronomy (Internet), 5(3), p.246 - 250, 2021/03

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-020-01271-2

Here we report observations of Ryugu's subsurface material by the Near-Infrared Spectrometer (NIRS3) on the Hayabusa2 spacecraft. Reflectance spectra of excavated material exhibit a hydroxyl (OH) absorption feature that is slightly stronger and peak-shifted compared with that observed for the surface, indicating that space weathering and/or radiative heating have caused subtle spectral changes in the uppermost surface. However, the strength and shape of the OH feature still suggests that the subsurface material experienced heating above 300 C, similar to the surface. In contrast, thermophysical modeling indicates that radiative heating does not increase the temperature above 200 C at the estimated excavation depth of 1 m, even if the semimajor axis is reduced to 0.344 au. This supports the hypothesis that primary thermal alteration occurred due to radiogenic and/or impact heating on Ryugu's parent body.

Eco-friendly carboxymethyl cellulose nanofiber hydrogels prepared via freeze cross-linking and their applications

Sekine, Yurina; Nankawa, Takuya; Yunoki, Shunji*; Sugita, Tsuyoshi; Nakagawa, Hiroshi; Yamada, Teppei*

ACS Applied Polymer Materials (Internet), 2(12), p.5482 - 5491, 2020/12

https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.0c00831

We developed a cross-linking method using freeze concentration and used it to synthesize a new type of carboxymethyl cellulose nanofiber (CMCF) hydrogel with high compressive strength ( 80 MPa) and high compressive recoverability. The hydrogels were prepared by adding an aqueous solution of citric acid (CA) to a frozen CMCF sol and then thawing the sol. The reaction between the freeze-concentrated CMCF and CA created a rigid porous structure that reflected the ice crystal structure. Their cross-linked structure has a high stability to compressive stress. Bentonite was immobilized on a CMCF hydrogel by adding bentonite to the CMCF sol before freeze cross-linking. The CMCF-bentonite hydrogel showed high adsorptivity for chemical dyes. The physically cross-linked CMCF hydrogels are non-toxic, metal-free, and simple to prepare, and thus they may be useful as sustainable materials in various fields.

Status of study of long-term assessment of transport of radioactive contaminants in the environment of Fukushima (FY2018) (Translated document)

Nagao, Fumiya; Niizato, Tadafumi; Sasaki, Yoshito; Ito, Satomi; Watanabe, Takayoshi; Dohi, Terumi; Nakanishi, Takahiro; Sakuma, Kazuyuki; Hagiwara, Hiroki; Funaki, Hironori; et al.

JAEA-Research 2020-007, 249 Pages, 2020/10

JAEA-Research-2020-007.pdf:15.83MB

The accident of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. occurred due to the Great East Japan Earthquake, Sanriku offshore earthquake, of 9.0 magnitude and the accompanying tsunami. As a result, large amount of radioactive materials was released into the environment. Under these circumstances, Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has been conducting "Long-term Assessment of Transport of Radioactive Contaminants in the Environment of Fukushima" concerning radioactive materials released in environment, especially migration behavior of radioactive cesium since November 2012. This report is a summary of the research results that have been obtained in environmental dynamics research conducted by JAEA in Fukushima Prefecture.