Modulation of the absorption maximum of rhodopsin by amino acids in the C-terminus

Vision begins when light is absorbed by visual pigments. It is commonly believed that the absorption spectra of visual pigments are modulated by interactions between the retinal and amino acids within or near 4.5 angstroms of the retinal in the transmembrane (TM) segments. However, this dogma has not been rigorously tested. In this study, we show that the retinal-opsin interactions extend well beyond the retinal binding pocket. We found that, although it is positioned outside of TM segments, the C-terminus of the rhodopsin in the rockfish longspine thornyhead (Sebastolobus altivelis) modulates its lambda(max) by interacting mainly with the last TM segment. Our results illustrate how amino acids in the C-terminus are likely to interact with the retinal. We anticipate our analyses to be a starting point for viewing the spectral tuning of visual pigments as interactions between the retinal and key amino acids that are distributed throughout the entire pigment.     

Synthesis of dimethyl gloiosiphone a by way of palladium-catalyzed domino cyclization

The synthesis of a spiro[4.4]nonane skeleton by the palladium-catalyzed domino cyclization of a linear 7-methylene-2,10-undecadienyl acetate is described. The pi-allylpalladium intermediate underwent intramolecular alkene insertion with high intraannular diastereoselectivity, followed by intramolecular Heck-type cyclization, leading to a spiro[4.4]nonane system. Oxidation of the allylic ether moiety and transformation of the vinyl group to an exo-methylene unit provided 3, which is the known synthetic intermediate of dimethyl gloiosiphone A (2).     

Two-directional elaboration of hydroxyacetone under thermodynamically controlled conditions: allylation or 2-propynylation and aldol reaction

Enolate generated from O-(tetrahydropyran-2-yl)hydroxyacetone under thermodynamically controlled conditions (1.3 equiv of NaH, THF, 0 degrees C to rt) was allylated at the carbon bearing the protected hydroxy group with very high regioselectively. When tert-BuOH, equivalent to the excessive portion of initially added NaH, was introduced into the mixture followed by addition of aldehyde, aldol reaction took place on the methyl group to give 1-substituted 4-hydroxy-(1E),6-heptadien-3-one in acceptable yields after acidic treatment of the mixture for dehydration and deprotection. Introducing a chiral auxiliary protecting group into hydroxyacetone led to asymmetric allylation though stereoselectivity was around 50% ee. Thus, the hidden aspect of the chemoselective nature of protected hydroxyacetone-derived enolate generated under thermodynamically controlled conditions has opened a new avenue for two-directional elaboration of hydroxyacetone that should be potentially useful in organic synthesis.     

Structure of the electrical double layer on the aqueous solution side of the polarized interface between water and a room-temperature ionic liquid, tetrahexylammonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide

The structure of the electrical double layer on the aqueous solution side has been studied by measuring electrocapillary curves at the polarized interface between a room-temperature ionic liquid (RTIL), tetrahexylammonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide, and water (W) at different concentrations of LiCl. Thermodynamic analysis of the electrocapillary curves indicates that Li+ ions negatively adsorb at the point of zero charge. The adsorption of Li+ and Cl- ions in the polarized potential window of about 200 mV can be explained by the Gouy's double layer model, and the specific adsorption of Li+ and Cl- ions at the RTIL|W interface is negligible within the polarized potential window.     

Time-resolved in situ ATR-IR observations of the process of sorption of water into a poly(2-methoxyethyl acrylate) film

A process of water sorption into a biocompatible polymer, poly(2-methoxyethyl acrylate) (PMEA), was investigated by time-resolved, in situ, attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy. Evidence for three different types of hydrated water in PMEA, that is, nonfreezing water, freezing bound water, and freezing water, were found. Each hydration structure was elucidated at the functional group level. Nonfreezing water, which never crystallizes, even at -100 degrees C, has a C=O...H-O type of hydrogen bonding interaction with the carbonyl group of PMEA. Freezing bound water, which crystallizes in a heating process below 0 degrees C, interacts with the methoxy moiety in the PMEA side chain terminal. Freezing water, which crystallizes approximately 0 degrees C, has bulk-water-like structure with an O-H...O-H hydrogen bonds network. It has been concluded from the present study that the methoxy moiety in the PMEA side chain terminal plays an important role for the excellent biocompatibility of PMEA.     

Molecular aggregates of partially fluorinated quaternary ammonium salt gemini surfactants

The size and shape of novel partially fluorinated gemini surfactant 1,2-bis[dimethyl-(3-perfluoroalkyl-2-hydroxypropyl)ammonium]ethane bromide (CnFC3-2-C3CnF, where n=4, 6, and 8) were investigated in aqueous solution by means of light scattering and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The sizes of these molecular aggregates changed with increasing carbon number of the alkyl chain and concentration. For example, the apparent hydrodynamic radius by dynamic light scattering was 18 nm at a concentration of cmcx5 for n=4, 115 nm at the cmcx15 for n=6, and 62 nm at the cmcx30 for n=8, at 298.2 K. The shapes of CnFC3-2-C3CnF aggregates drastically changed with the alkyl chain length; the aggregates were mainly in the form of large or irregular small aggregates (n=4), string-like aggregates (n=6), and vesicles (n=8). The bromide-ion activity was measured using a bromide-ion-selective electrode to determine the degree of counterion binding to the aggregates. The degree of counterion binding to aggregate was very small compared with that in the typical hydrogenated gemini surfactants. These results indicated that the small curvature of large aggregates was not influenced by an electrostatic repulsion between the cationic head groups in the case of the bulky molecular volume of fluorinated gemini surfactants.     

On proportional constants of the mean value of class numbers of quadratic extensions

In this article, we give a refinement of the mean value theorem for the class number of quadratic extensions obtained by Goldfeld-Hoffstein and Datskovsky. More specifically, we determine the proportional constants of the mean value for fields that satisfy any local conditions including wild ramification at places dividing .

     

Effect of Material Response Time on Optical Bistability in Nonlinear Distributed Feedback Gratings

The dynamic behaviors of nonlinear periodic waveguides with a finite material response time have been investigated by numerically solving both the coupled-mode equations and Debye relaxation equation. When the response time of the nonlinearity is more than the transit time through the grating, a modulational instability is sufficiently suppressed and one can obtain optical bistability. Unlike a nonlinear Fabry-Perot resonator or ring resonators, overshoot in the transmission never takes place in the case of zero detuning. However, a relaxation (or damped) oscillation always takes place in the presence of detuning. It is also found that the switch-on time depends on the material response time and the switch-off time is almost independent of it.     

Unsupervised Image Segmentation Using Hierarchical Clustering

In the analysis of a medical image database aimed at formulating useful knowledge for image diagnosis requires an unsupervised image processing technique without preconceived knowledge. In this paper, we propose a method for unsupervised image segmentation, which is suitable for finding the features contained in an image. A small region around each pixel is considered as a pattern vector, and the set of pattern vectors acquired from the whole image is classified using the hierarchical clustering technique. In hierarchical clustering, the classification of pattern vectors is divided into two clusters at each node according to the statistical criterion based on the entropy in thermodynamics. Results of the test image generated by the Markov random field (MRF) model and real medical images photomicrographs of a colon tumor are shown.     

High Efficiency Electrically-Addressable Phase-Only Spatial Light Modulator

To realize a high efficiency electrically addressable phase-only modulator, we have coupled a liquid crystal display (LCD) to an optically addressed parallel-aligned nematic liquid crystal spatial light modulator (PAL-SLM) with a set of lenses. Phase modulation exceeding 3ϖ at 532 nm wavelength was obtained. We obtained linear transfer characteristics for phase modulation at various desired phase levels after calibration and adjustment of the transfer characteristics of the PAL-SLM and the LCD. Diffraction efficiency of 40% for binary phase grating and of 90% for 8-level blazed phase grating, which were very close to the simulation values, were observed. The power loss of the readout light was caused when passed through a half mirror, therefore, we examined a setup using an oblique readout light at the modulator. Very high diffraction efficiency was obtained from the setup by optimizing the polarization direction and optical path for this light, and the orientation of liquid crystals. Since the modulator can perform at better than 90% diffraction efficiency and at nearly 100% reflectivity, various high efficiency systems utilizing such modulators are expected.