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To study cell communication, it is essential that single cell responses in cellular networks are analyzed. Cardiomyocyte networks are known to simultaneously change membrane potential with spontaneous excitation. To measure the extracellular potential change in single cardiomyocytes in networks, we developed a microelectrode array (MEA) chip consisting of 8-µm-diameter and 3-µm-thick platinum-black (Pt-B)-coated indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes with agarose microchambers. Single cardiomyocytes were seeded individually on this MEA chip with a micropipette. The extracellular potential of a single cardiomyocyte could be measured with this MEA chip. The amplitude of the extracellular potential change in a single cardiomyocyte was very small (

Structures and magnetic properties were systematically investigated for the monolayer (ML)-controlled Co | Ni multilayers with various Ni layer thicknesses, where the Co and Ni layers were epitaxially grown on a Al2O3 (\(11\bar{2}0\)) single crystal substrate or deposited on a thermally oxidized Si substrate. The epitaxial Co | Ni multilayers exhibited high uniaxial magnetic anisotropy energies (Ku) and low effective magnetic damping constants (αeff), resulting in the perpendicular magnetization with low damping even for the 1 ML-Ni | 1 ML-Co multilayer. By comparing the experimental results with the first principles calculation, we found that the Ni atoms largely contributed to the perpendicular anisotropy for the Co | Ni multilayers. We also discussed the possible mechanism dominating the magnitude of αeff for the Co | Ni multilayers based on the experiments and the calculations. The present results suggest that the epitaxial Co | Ni multilayer is a promising material to achieve high Ku and low magnetic...

The features and the constitution of the microbial population of fresh feces were compared between pigs fed a diet supplemented with dietary microbes and pigs given nonsupplemented diets. The former were reared on farm C and the latter on farms A and B. The concentrations of ammonia-N, indole, and skatole of fresh feces were not significantly different between pigs reared on farm C and those raised on farms A and B, but the concentrations of ammonia-N and the skatole of fresh feces were significantly different between pigs reared on farms A and B. The total VFA (volatile fatty acids) concentration of fresh feces in pigs on farm C was slightly lower than in those on farms A and B. Moreover, the molar proportion of the acetic acid in feces in pigs on farm C was lower; inversely, that of propionic and butyric acids was higher in comparison with those on farms A and B. No differences were evident in the total viable counts of feces among pigs reared on the three different farms. Clostridium perfringens was abundant in feces of pigs raised on farms A and B, but it was not detected in pigs reared on farm C. Megasphaerae, bifidobacteria, and clostridia except for C. perfringens were more abundant in the feces of pigs fed a diet supplemented with dietary microbes on farm C, compared with pigs given the nonsupplemented diets on farms A and B.

o-(Fluorosilyl)(dimesitylboryl)benzenes have been prepared as colorless crystals by reacting fluorodimesitylborane with o-(fluorodimethylsilyl)phenyllithium and o-(fluorodiphenylsilyl)phenyllithium. The o-(fluorosilyl)(dimesitylboryl)benzenes serve as B/Si bidentate Lewis acid and efficiently capture fluoride ion from potassium fluoride in the presence of [2.2.2]cryptand or 18-crown-6 in toluene, giving the corresponding mu-fluoro bridged products. The structures were characterized by X-ray crystal structure analysis and multinuclear NMR spectroscopy. Fluoride ion affinities of the o-(fluorosilyl)(dimesitylboryl)benzenes were evaluated in comparison with non-silylated triarylborane.