The field-orientation dependent thermal conductivity of the heavy-fermion superconductor UPt_{3} was measured down to very low temperatures and under magnetic fields throughout the distinct superconducting phases: B and C phases. In the C phase, a striking twofold oscillation of the thermal conductivity within the basal plane is resolved reflecting the superconducting gap structure with a line of node along the a axis. Moreover, we find an abrupt vanishing of the oscillation across a transition to the B phase, as a clear indication of a change of gap symmetries. We also identify extra two line nodes below and above the equator in both B and C phases. From these results together with the symmetry consideration, the gap function of UPt_{3} is determined as a E_{1u} representation characterized by a combination of two line nodes at the tropics and point nodes at the poles.

We report the observation of two narrow structures in the mass spectra of the π^{±}Υ(nS)(n=1, 2, 3) and π^{±}h_{b}(mP)(m=1, 2) pairs that are produced in association with a single charged pion in Υ(5S) decays. The measured masses and widths of the two structures averaged over the five final states are M_{1}=(10 607.2±2.0)  MeV/c^{2}, Γ_{1}=(18.4±2.4)  MeV, and M_{2}=(10 652.2±1.5)  MeV/c^{2}, Γ_{2}=(11.5±2.2)  MeV. The results are obtained with a 121.4  fb^{-1} data sample collected with the Belle detector in the vicinity of the Υ(5S) resonance at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e^{+}e^{-} collider.

The aim of this study was to create a tablet database for use in designing tablet formulations. We focused on the contribution of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to tablet properties such as hardness and disintegration time (DT). Before we investigated the effects of the APIs, we optimized the tablet base formulation (placebo tablet) according to an expanded simplex search. The optimal placebo tablet showed sufficient hardness and rapid disintegration. We then tested 14 kinds of compounds as the model APIs. The APIs were characterized in terms of their physicochemical properties using Kohonen's self-organizing maps. We also prepared model tablets by incorporating the APIs into the optimal placebo tablet, and then examined the tablet properties, including tensile strength and DT. On the basis of the experimental data, an ensemble artificial neural network incorporating general regression analysis was conducted. A reliable model of the correlation between the physicochemical properties of the APIs and the tablet properties was thus constructed. From the correlation model, we clarified the detailed contributions of each physicochemical property to the tablet attributes. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association J Pharm Sci.

We reported previously that sustained release matrix tablets showed zero-order drug release without being affected by pH change. To understand drug release mechanisms more fully, we monitored the swelling and erosion of hydrating tablets using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Three different types of tablets comprised of polyion complex-forming materials and a hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) were used. Proton density- and diffusion-weighted images of the hydrating tablets were acquired at intervals. Furthermore, apparent self-diffusion coefficient maps were generated from diffusion-weighted imaging to evaluate the state of hydrating tablets. Our findings indicated that water penetration into polyion complex tablets was faster than that into HPMC matrix tablets. In polyion complex tablets, water molecules were dispersed homogeneously and their diffusivity was relatively high, whereas in HPMC matrix tablets, water molecule movement was tightly restricted within the gel. An optimal tablet formulation determined in a previous study had water molecule penetration and diffusivity properties that appeared intermediate to those of polyion complex and HPMC matrix tablets; water molecules were capable of penetrating throughout the tablets and relatively high diffusivity was similar to that in the polyion complex tablet, whereas like the HPMC matrix tablet, it was well swollen. This study succeeded in characterizing the tablet hydration process. MRI provides profound insight into the state of water molecules in hydrating tablets; thus, it is a useful tool for understanding drug release mechanisms at a molecular level.

We report the first observations of the spin-singlet bottomonium states h_{b}(1P) and h_{b}(2P). The states are produced in the reaction e^{+}e^{-}→h_{b}(nP)π^{+}π^{-} using a 121.4  fb^{-1} data sample collected at energies near the Υ(5S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e^{+}e^{-} collider. We determine M[h_{b}(1P)]=(9898.2_{-1.0-1.1}^{+1.1+1.0})  MeV/c^{2} and M[h_{b}(2P)]=(10 259.8±0.6_{-1.0}^{+1.4})  MeV/c^{2}, which correspond to P-wave hyperfine splittings ΔM_{HF}=(+1.7±1.5) and (+0.5_{-1.2}^{+1.6})  MeV/c^{2}, respectively. The significances of the h_{b}(1P) and h_{b}(2P) are 5.5σ and 11.2σ, respectively. We find that the production of the h_{b}(1P) and h_{b}(2P) is not suppressed relative to the production of the Υ(1S), Υ(2S), and Υ(3S).

Dividing a tablet into two halves and providing them to patients is a routine approach in clinical practice. Obviously, the drug release behavior of tablets should be constant, regardless of the dividing process. Here, we investigated the change in drug release behavior after dividing tablets into two halves. Five commercial theophylline sustained-release tablets designed to be taken once a day were used as test tablets (two original products and three generic products). A 24 h dissolution test was performed for each tablet, and changes in drug release behavior were evaluated using similarity factors, f2, calculated from the drug release profiles. The drug release rates were substantially increased by dividing the tablets into two halves. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that the effect of the dividing process on drug release behavior was more significant than that of changing the products. We further observed the feature of cross sectioning of the surface of the tablets using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and a laser-scanning microscope (LSM). The microscopic observations confirmed that the surface became rough and developed many cavities with the prolongation of the duration of the dissolution test. This study clarified that the division of tablets into two halves exerts significant effects on their drug release behavior, and may offer a profound insight into the proper use of pharmaceutical products.

Flow coefficients v_{n} for n=2, 3, 4, characterizing the anisotropic collective flow in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200  GeV, are measured relative to event planes Ψ_{n}, determined at large rapidity. We report v_{n} as a function of transverse momentum and collision centrality, and study the correlations among the event planes of different order n. The v_{n} are well described by hydrodynamic models which employ a Glauber Monte Carlo initial state geometry with fluctuations, providing additional constraining power on the interplay between initial conditions and the effects of viscosity as the system evolves. This new constraint can serve to improve the precision of the extracted shear viscosity to entropy density ratio η/s.

The precipitation of phenytoin sodium injection provoked by mixing with infusion fluids renders its use in clinical practice difficult, as rapid intravenous (i.v.) push and i.v. infusion are supposed to be avoided. As some of its aspects remain unclear, this study tried to elucidate this precipitation mechanism. In particular, this study focused on the significant precipitation induced by glucose infusion fluid. The precipitation provoked by 5% glucose infusion fluid was obviously different from the precipitation that accompanied simple pH reduction, in terms of the growth mode and morphology of crystals. In addition, the effect of glucose was partially unrelated to pH reduction. NMR measurements including a two-dimensional nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy (2D-NOESY) spectrum indicated the specific interaction between glucose and propylene glycol, which is incorporated into phenytoin sodium injection as a solubilizing agent. These results led to the conclusion that this interaction was crucial for the precipitation of phenytoin, as it diminished the solubilizing effect of propylene glycol, resulting in the enhancement of the crystallization of phenytoin. The determination of phenytoin solubility in aqueous solutions at different pH values revealed that phenytoin incorporated in the admixture could be dissolved completely, as long as the injection was diluted with saline or water. These findings offer a profound insight into the formulation design of phenytoin sodium injection and its use in clinical practice.

We report the first observation of the doubly Cabibbo-suppressed decays D^{+}→K^{+}η^{(')} using a 791  fb^{-1} data sample collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e^{+}e^{-} collider. The ratio of the branching fractions of doubly Cabibbo-suppressed relative to singly Cabibbo-suppressed D^{+}→π^{+}η^{(')} decays are B(D^{+}→K^{+}η)/B(D^{+}→π^{+}η)=(3.06±0.43±0.14)% and B(D^{+}→K^{+}η^{'})/B(D^{+}→π^{+}η^{'})=(3.77±0.39±0.10)%. From these, we find that the relative final-state phase difference between the tree and annihilation amplitudes in D^{+} decays, δ_{TA}, is (72±9)° or (288±9)°. We also report the most precise measurements of CP asymmetries to date: A_{CP}^{D^{+}→π^{+}η}=(+1.74±1.13±0.19)% and A_{CP}^{D^{+}→π^{+}η^{'}}=(-0.12±1.12±0.17)%.

Back-to-back hadron pair yields in d+Au and p+p collisions at √s(NN)=200 GeV were measured with the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. Rapidity separated hadron pairs were detected with the trigger hadron at pseudorapidity |η|<0.35 and the associated hadron at forward rapidity (deuteron direction, 3.0<η<3.8). Pairs were also detected with both hadrons measured at forward rapidity; in this case, the yield of back-to-back hadron pairs in d+Au collisions with small impact parameters is observed to be suppressed by a factor of 10 relative to p+p collisions. The kinematics of these pairs is expected to probe partons in the Au nucleus with a low fraction x of the nucleon momenta, where the gluon densities rise sharply. The observed suppression as a function of nuclear thickness, p(T), and η points to cold nuclear matter effects arising at high parton densities.