New scheme for positron accumulation in ultrahigh vacuum

A new positron accumulation scheme compatible with ultrahigh vacuum conditions has been developed, which is realized by preparing a high density electron plasma as high as approximately 10(11) cm(-3) and an ion cloud as energy absorbers. The present accumulation rate normalized by the intensity of 22Na positron source is (3.6+/-0.3)x10(2)e(+)/s/mCi, which is more than one and a half orders of magnitude higher than other ultrahigh vacuum compatible schemes so far reported.     

Image Defogging Framework Using Segmentation and the Dark Channel Prior

Foggy images suffer from low contrast and poor visibility problem along with little color information of the scene. It is imperative to remove fog from images as a pre-processing step in computer vision. The Dark Channel Prior (DCP) technique is a very promising defogging technique due to excellent restoring results for images containing no homogeneous region. However, having a large homogeneous region such as sky region, the restored images suffer from color distortion and block effects. Thus, to overcome the limitation of DCP method, we introduce a framework which is based on sky and non-sky region segmentation and restoring sky and non-sky parts separately. Here, isolation of the sky and non-sky part is done by using a binary mask formulated by floodfill algorithm. The foggy sky part is restored by using Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization (CLAHE) and non-sky part by modified DCP. The restored parts are blended together for the resultant image. The proposed method is evaluated using both synthetic and real world foggy images against state of the art techniques. The experimental result shows that our proposed method provides better entropy value than other stated techniques along with have better natural visual effects while consuming much lower processing time.     

Hydrogen bonding between aromatic H and F groups leading to a stripe structure with R‐ and S‐columns: the crystal structure of (2,7‐dimethoxynaphthalen‐1‐yl)(3‐fluorophenyl)methanone and comparison with its 1‐aroylnaphthalene analogues

In the molecule of (2,7‐dimethoxynaphthalen‐1‐yl)(3‐fluorophenyl)methanone, C₁₉H₁₅FO₃, (I), the dihedral angle between the plane of the naphthalene ring system and that of the benzene ring is 85.90 (5)°. The molecules exhibit axial chirality, with either an R‐ or an S‐stereogenic axis. In the crystal structure, each enantiomer is stacked into a columnar structure and the columns are arranged alternately to form a stripe structure. A pair of (methoxy)C—H...F hydrogen bonds and π–π interactions between the benzene rings of the aroyl groups link an R‐ and an S‐isomer to form a dimeric pair. These dimeric pairs are piled up in a columnar fashion through (benzene)C—H...O=C and (benzene)C—H...OCH₃ hydrogen bonds. The analogous 1‐benzoylated compound, namely (2,7‐dimethoxynaphthalen‐1‐yl)(phenyl)methanone [Kato et al. (2010). Acta Cryst. E 66 , o2659], (II), affords three independent molecules having slightly different dihedral angles between the benzene and naphthalene rings. The three independent molecules form separate columns and the three types of column are connected to each other via two C—H...OCH₃ hydrogen bonds and one C—H...O=C hydrogen bond. Two of the three columns are formed by the same enantiomeric isomer, whereas the remaining column consists of the counterpart isomer. In the case of the fluorinated 1‐benzoylated naphthalene analogue, namely (2,7‐dimethoxynaphthalen‐1‐yl)(4‐fluorophenyl)methanone [Watanabe et al. (2011). Acta Cryst. E 67 , o1466], (III), the molecular packing is similar to that of (I), i.e. it consists of stripes of R‐ and S‐enantiomeric columns. A pair of C—H...F hydrogen bonds between R‐ and S‐isomers, and C—H...O=C hydrogen bonds between R(or S)‐isomers, are also observed. Consequently, the stripe structure is apparently induced by the formation of R...S dimeric pairs stacked in a columnar fashion. The pair of C—H...F hydrogen bonds effectively stabilizes the dimeric pair of R‐ and S‐enantiomers. In addition, the co‐existence of C—H...F and C—H...O=C hydrogen bonds makes possible the formation of a structure with just one independent molecule.     

Studies on panax acetylenes: absolute structure of a new panax acetylene, and inhibitory effects of related acetylenes on the growth of L-1210 cells

A new Panax acetylene, 3-oxo-PQ-1 (1), was isolated from Panax quinquefolium. The absolute configurations of 3-oxo-PQ-1 (1) and PQ-1 (2) were determined to be (9R,10R) and (3R,9R,10R), respectively, by synthesizing 1 and 2 starting from D-(-)-diethyl tartrate, and by synthesizing their stereoisomers from L-(+)-diethyl tartrate. The growth inhibitory effects of Panax acetylenes (1-8) and their stereoisomers against leukemia cells were tested. Unnatural acetylenes having the (3S)-configuration (2, 5, 6, 7, 8; IC(50)=0.01-0.1 microg/ml) were found to be approximately ten times more potent than natural acetylenes (IC(50)=0.1-1.0 microg/ml) with the (3R)-configuration. Potency differences due to the configuration at C-9 and C-10 were unrelated to this stereochemistry. The C(14)-polyacetylenes, PQ-8 (4) and its isomer (IC(50)=1.0-10.0 microg/ml), were found to exhibit weaker cytotoxicity than the C(17)-polyacetylenes.     

N-spiro chiral quaternary ammonium bromide catalyzed diastereo- and enantioselective conjugate addition of nitroalkanes to cyclic alpha,beta-unsaturated ketones under phase-transfer conditions

[reaction, structure: see text] Conjugate addition of various prochiral nitroalkanes to cyclic alpha,beta-unsaturated ketones was found to be efficiently catalyzed by N-spiro C2-symmetric chiral quaternary ammonium bromide 1b possessing a 3,5-bis(3,4,5-trifluorophenyl)phenyl substituent under solid-liquid phase-transfer conditions to afford the corresponding gamma-nitro ketones in excellent chemical yields with unprecedented levels of diastereo- and enantiocontrol.     

Kähler Moduli Space for a D-Brane at Orbifold Singularities

We develop a method to analyze systematically the configuration space of a D-brane localized at the orbifold singular point of a Calabi–Yau d-fold of the form ℂ ^d /Γ using the theory of toric quotients. This approach elucidates the structure of the K?hler moduli space associated with the problem. As an application, we compute the toric data of the Γ-Hilbert scheme. Received: 9 June 1998 / Accepted: 18 November 1998     

Systematic approach to the chemical synthesis of arabidopyrones,the unique α-pyrones of Arabidopsis metabolites

Abstract

Total synthesis of two arabidopyrones, iso-arabidopyl alcohol (1) and iso-arabidopic acid (2) isolated from Arabidopsis thaliana was achieved for the first time using Claisen condensation and Wittig reaction as the key steps. In addition, arabidopic acid (4) was synthesized from the methyl ester of arabidopyl alcohol (3). Thus, chemical synthesis of the unique natural α-pyrones 1–4 was accomplished with a short synthetic route by a systematic approach from readily available substances.     

Antihydrogen atom formation in a CUSP trap towards spin polarized beams

The ASACUSA collaboration has been making a path to realize high precision microwave spectroscopy of ground-state hyperfine transitions of antihydrogen atom in flight for stringent test of the CPT symmetry. For this purpose, an efficient extraction of a spin polarized antihydrogen beam is essential. In 2010, we have succeeded in synthesizing our first cold antihydrogen atoms employing a CUSP trap. The CUSP trap confines antiprotons and positrons simultaneously with its axially symmetric magnetic field to form antihydrogen atoms. It is expected that antihydrogen atoms in the low-field-seeking states are preferentially focused along the cusp magnetic field axis whereas those in the high-field-seeking states are defocused, resulting in the formation of a spin-polarized antihydrogen beam.     

Liposomalization of hydroxyphenyl fluorescein as a reagent for detecting highly reactive oxygen species

It has been shown that lifestyle-related diseases and aging are related to reactive oxygen species (ROS), and many studies have reported on the direct detection of ROS. The topical fluorescence reagent 2,7-dichlorodihydrofluorescein (DCDHF) is used to measure oxidation. However, there are problems regarding its stability, and its similar sensitivity to ROS cannot be easily distinguished. In this study, we used hydroxyphenyl fluorescein (HPF), which is a novel fluorescence probe with high stability against light that undergoes specific reactions with highly ROS (hROS). We examined the specificity for hROS of HPF solution and liposomal HPF in different reactions. HPF containing high cholesterol liposomes (HC-H-lipo) maintained its ability to tolerate light scattering energy, dependent on the turbidity of this solution, but DCDHF did not. In the reaction with hydroxyl radicals, the fluorescein concentration in HC-H-lipo was increased compared with that in HPF solution. In contrast, in the reaction with peroxynitrite, HC-H-lipo was inhibited. It was confirmed that HC-H-lipo that reacted specifically with hydroxyl radicals was able to distinguishably detect hydroxyl radicals. It was regarded to be useful as an examination kit. Tissue disorder induced by sodium valproate (SV) was one of the prepared murine disease models. The reactivity ratio of HC-H-lipo with serum to that of HPF solution was markedly different between the normal group (30%) and SV group (70%). In conclusion, HC-H-lipo cannot only simply and directly detect ROS but can also selectively detect ROS type. This nanocarrier is expected to be used as a novel diagnosis method.     

Flavonoid metabolism: the synthesis of phenolic glucuronides and sulfates as candidate metabolites for bioactivity studies of dietary flavonoids

Epidemiological studies indicate that flavonoid intake is inversely associated with the risk of coronary heart disease, yet the mechanisms responsible for their bioactivity are still a matter of debate. Based on the rapid and extensive metabolism of most flavonoids, their health effects most likely result from the biological activity of their metabolites. However, a lack of commercially available compounds/standards has prevented the study of metabolite bioactivity and resulted in a focus on non-physiologically relevant precursor/parent structures. This paper details the synthesis of a series of phenolic glucuronide 1a–e and sulfate 2a–e derivates as candidate metabolites for use as reference compounds in metabolic profiling studies and for the exploration of flavonoid bioactivity.