Vector magnetometer studies of the easy magnetisation direction in epitaxially grown DyFe2 film

A vector vibrating sample magnetometer has been used to determine the direction of easy magnetisation in a thin film of DyFe₂. The 4000 Å thick film, with a [1 1 0] growth direction, was prepared using molecular beam epitaxy. The results show that the direction of easy magnetisation is temperature dependent. At 4 K this direction corresponds to the [0 0 1] type axes. But at 290  the easy axis is close to a direction, but pointing out of the plane of the film at angle of (14±3)°. On the basis of the vector magnetometer results at 290 K we find two easy magnetisation axes close to or (and opposite directions). Finally, it is shown that DyFe₂ films are unique in that the remanent magnetisation can be manipulated to point either in or out of the plane of the film.     

ISOLATION OF MUTANTS OF THE FUNGUS Cercospora nicotianae ALTERED IN THEIR RESPONSE TO SINGLET-OXYGEN-GENERATING PHOTOSENSITIZERS

Fungi in the genus Cercospora produce a singlet-oxygen-generating photosensitizing toxin cercosporin, which plays an important role in the ability of these fungi to parasitize plants. Previous studies demonstrated that resistance to cercosporin was associated with the ability of the fungus to reduce and detoxify cercosporin transiently. In order to characterize the mechanism of cercosporin resistance further, two types of mutants were isolated. One set of mutants was selected directly for sensitivity to cercosporin. Six cercosporin-sensitive mutants were isolated. Five of the mutants were totally inhibited by cercosporin as well as by five other photosensitizers, methylene blue, toluidine blue, eosin Y, rose bengal and hematoporphyrin. These five mutants were also deficient in cercosporin-reducing ability. The sixth cercosporin-sensitive mutant was only partially inhibited by cercosporin. This mutant was unaltered in cercosporin-reducing ability and in its response to the other photosensitizers. In order to test hypotheses concerning the mechanism of cercosporin reduction, a second set of mutants was selected for general deficiency in cell surface-reducing capability by screening for the inability to reduce two tetrazolium dyes (p-tolyltetrazolium red and 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride) of similar redox potential to cercosporin. Dye-reduction-deficient mutants were unaltered in their resistance to cercosporin and in cercosporin-reducing ability. We conclude that cercosporin resistance of these fungi is strongly correlated with the ability to reduce cercosporin. However, cercosporin-reducing ability is separable from the general ability to reduce external electron acceptors.     

Enhancement of chi((2)) cascading processes in one-dimensional photonic bandgap structures

We theoretically analyze the nonlinear phase shifts induced by cascaded chi((2)):chi((2)) processes in one-dimensional photonic bandgap structures. We find that the enhancement of the density of modes near the band edge, coupled with a suitable choice of relative phase mismatch, leads to a remarkable new effect: The relative phase shift of the fundamental field on transmission can be of the order of pi over a distance of 7mum , with input intensities of the order of only 10 MW/cm(2).     

Nordehydrocyclodercitin, a hexacyclic pyridoacridine alkaloid from the marine ascidian, Aplidium sp

A new hexacyclic pyridoacridine alkaloid, nordehydrocyclodercitin (1), from an ascidian, Aplidium sp., cf. Aplidium cratiferum collected at Arab Reef, Great Barrier Reef, Australia is reported. Nordehydrocyclodercitin is structurally related to stellettamine (2) and cyclodercitin (3), which are sponge metabolites, and cycloshermilamine D (4) which was isolated from the marine tunicate Cystodytes violatinctus. The structure of nordehydrocyclodercitin was determined by interpretation of spectroscopic data, particularly those obtained from HMBC correlations, and by comparison with reported data for known related pyridoacridine alkaloids.     

Synthesis of the first poly(diaminosulfide)s and an investigation of their applications as drug delivery vehicles

This paper reports the first examples of poly(diaminosulfide)s that were synthesized by the reaction of a sulfur transfer reagent and several secondary diamines. The diaminosulfide group has the general structure of R(2)N-S-NR(2) and, although it has been used in the synthesis of small molecules, it has never been utilized in the synthesis of macromolecules until this report. A series of poly(diaminosulfide)s were synthesized at elevated temperatures, and the molecular weights of the polymers were as high as 12,400 g mol(-1) with conversions for the polymerization reaction up to 99%. The rate constants for the transamination reactions that lead to the polymers were measured in several solvents to provide an understanding the reaction conditions necessary to polymerize the monomers. The degradation of diaminosulfides were studied in D(2)O, C(6)D(6), CD(3)OD, CDCl(3), and DMSO-d(6)/D(2)O to demonstrate that they were very stable in organic solvents but degraded within hours under aqueous conditions. These results clearly demonstrated that diaminosulfides are very stable in organic solvents under ambient conditions. Poly(diaminosulfide)s have sufficient stabilities to be useful for many applications. The ability of these polymers to function as drug delivery vehicles were studied by the fabrication of nanoparticles of a water-insoluble poly(diaminosulfide) with a dye. The microparticles were readily absorbed into human embryonic 293 cells and possessed no measureable toxicity towards these same cells.     

A new rearranged dolabellane diterpene from the soft coral Clavularia inflata

A new dolabellane type diterpene 1 has been isolated through its acetate 1a. The structure of 1a was elucidated by extensive 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy and confirmed by mass spectrometry. The structure of 1 was deduced by comparison of its NMR spectral data with those of 1a, while its relative stereochemistry was deduced by NOESY. The absolute stereochemistry of C-7 was determined by analyses of 1 separately esterified with R and S O-mandelic acids.     

Third-harmonic generation and self-channeling in air using high-power femtosecond laser pulses

It is shown, both theoretically and experimentally, that during laser pulse filamentation in air an intense ultrashort third-harmonic pulse is generated forming a two-colored filament. The third-harmonic pulse maintains both its peak intensity and energy over distances much longer than the characteristic coherence length. We argue that this is due to a nonlinear phase-locking mechanism between the two pulses in the filament and is independent of the initial material wave-vector mismatch. A rich spatiotemporal propagation dynamics of the third-harmonic pulse is predicted. Potential applications of this phenomenon to other parametric processes are discussed.