Enhanced photon generation in a Nb/n-InGaAs/p-InP superconductor/semiconductor-diode light emitting device

We experimentally demonstrate Cooper pairs' drastic enhancement of the band-to-band radiative recombination rate in a semiconductor. Electron Cooper pairs injected from a superconducting electrode into an active layer by the proximity effect recombine with holes injected from a p-type electrode. The recombination of a Cooper pair with p-type carriers dramatically increases the photon generation probability of a light-emitting diode in the optical-fiber communication band. The measured radiative decay time rapidly decreases with decreasing temperature below the superconducting transition temperature of the niobium electrodes. Our results indicate the possibility to open up new interdisciplinary fields between superconductivity and optoelectronics.     

Superstructure-mechanical property relationships of polyglutamic acid esters

A study has been made of the relaxation phenomena in a series of poly-γ-n-alkyl-D-glutamates having linear side chains of different lengths in the temperature range from ?170 to 250°C. The solid-state films of poly-γ-n-alkyl-D-glutamate were cast from solutions in α-helix and random coil forming solvents. The technique of dynamic mechanical relaxation at various frequencies up to 110 Hz was used in the investigation. X-ray, IR, and density measurements were used as supplements to the mechanical measurements in order to determine the relationships between the mechanical properties and superstructures. Six relaxation regions are discernible in the temperature range investigated, and these are labeled α, β, γ, δ, ε, and ζ in order of decreasing temperature. The following mechanisms are assigned to these relaxations: (1) The α-relaxation arises from the thermal molecular motion of the α-helices in the crystalline region. (2) The β relaxation arises from micro-Brownian segmental motion of the disordered region or the distorted part of the a-helices, (3) The γ and δ relaxations are associated with motions of the entire side-chain groups in the crystalline and the disordered regions, respectively. (4) The ε and ζ relaxations involve the conformational rearrangements of n-alkyl groups including carboxyl group and n-alkyl groups alone, respectively.     

Potentiation of ifosfamide toxicity by chlordiazepoxide, diazepam and oxazepam

The effects of chlordiazepoxide, diazepam and oxazepam on the lethal toxicity and metabolic activation of ifosfamide were investigated in mice. Ifosfamide was administered 24 h after the final injection of chlordiazepoxide, diazepam or oxazepam (100 mg/kg/d for 3 d, i.p.). The prior administration of chlordiazepoxide, diazepam or oxazepam enhanced the toxicity of ifosfamide (778 mg/kg, i.p.) during observation for 6 d after the administration of ifosfamide. In chlordiazepoxide-, diazepam- or oxazepam-treated mice, a higher concentration of active metabolite in the plasma after the administration of ifosfamide (200 or 600 mg/kg, i.p.) was observed as compared with that in mice treated with ifosfamide alone. On the other hand, chlordizepoxide, diazepam or oxazepam markedly enhanced the activity of ifosfamide oxidase in the liver microsomes. These results suggest that the potentiation of ifosfamide toxicity is due to stimulation of the metabolic activation of ifosfamide by chlordizepoxide, diazepam and oxazepam.     

Transport properties of a lateral semiconductor quantum dot defined by a single connected metallic front-gate

We present studies on the electric transport in a lateral GaAs/AlGaAs quantum dot defined by a patterned single connected metallic front-gate. This gate design allows to easily couple a large number of quantum dots and therefore holds high potential in the design of new materials with tailor-made band structures based on quantum dot superlattices of controlled shape. Clear Coulomb diamond structures and well pronounced tunneling peaks observed in experiment indicate that single-electron control has been achieved. However, the dependence on electron density in the heterostructure embedding the dot, which is controlled by an additional back-gate, reveals that transport characteristics are strongly influenced supposedly by potential fluctuations in the dot and lead regions.     

Facile synthesis of platinum nanoparticle-containing porous carbons,and their application to amperometric glucose biosensing

This study describes the facile synthesis of platinum nanoparticle-containing porous carbons (Pt/C) by carbonization of freeze-dried agarose gels containing potassium tetrachloroplatinate under a nitrogen atmosphere at 800 °C. By adjusting the ratio between agarose and platinate in the freeze-dried gels, the Pt content in the final Pt/C products could be systematically varied from 0–10 wt.%. Transmission electron microscopy, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and nitrogen physisorption measurements revealed that the Pt/C materials obtained by this method possess high surface areas (350–500 m² g⁻¹), narrow Pt nanoparticle size distributions (6 ± 3 nm) and nanocrystalline graphite –like carbon character. By immobilization of glucose oxidase on the surface of a 4 wt.% Pt/C electrocatalyst prepared by this route, a very sensitive amperometric glucose biosensor was obtained (response time <2 min, sensitivity 1.9 mA M⁻¹; and a linear response with glucose concentration up to 10 mM). The simplicity and versatility of the described synthetic method suggests its application to the preparation of carbon supported noble metal catalysts including palladium/C and gold/C.

This study describes the facile synthesis of platinum nanoparticle-containing porous carbons (Pt/C) by carbonization of freeze-dried agarose gels containing potassium tetrachloroplatinate. The Pt/C materials exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activities, as demonstrated by their successful integration into amperometric glucose biosensor

     

Quantum proton transfer in hydrated sulfuric acid clusters: a perspective from semiempirical path integral simulations

We have carried out path-integral molecular dynamics simulations for hydrated sulfuric acid clusters to understand acid-dissociation and hydrogen-bonded structural rearrangement processes in these clusters from a quantum mechanical viewpoint. The simulations were performed using the PM6 semiempirical electronic structure level whose parameters were modified on the basis of the specific reaction parameters strategy so that relative energies of optimized structures, as well as water binding energies reproduce ab initio and density-functional theory calculations. We have found that the acid dissociation processes, first and second deprotonation, effectively occur in a hydrated cluster with a specific cluster size. The mechanisms of the proton-transfer processes were analyzed in detail and it was found that the distance between O in sulfuric acid and O in the proton-accepting water is playing an important role. We also found that the water coordination number of the poton-accepting water is important in the proton-transfer processes.     

Incipient structural and vibrational relaxation process of photolyzed carbonmonoxy myoglobin: statistical analysis by perturbation ensemble molecular dynamics method

The incipient structural and vibrational energy relaxation process of photolyzed carbonmonoxy myoglobin was analyzed by the perturbation ensemble molecular dynamics (PEMD) method, in which many pairs of perturbed and unperturbed MD simulations are executed for ensemble-averaging to obtain statistically significant results by canceling out thermal fluctuations. First, we have shown that the experimentally reported anisotropic expansion can be detected within a picosecond after photolysis. The good agreement between the experimental and computational results indicates that the PEMD method can predict legitimately those changes driven by perturbations even if the changes might be subtle and smaller than thermal fluctuations. Second, the structural relaxation including the ??clamshell rotation?? in E and F helices was successfully analyzed. The high time resolution analysis has clarified the incipient structural dynamics on a subpicosecond timescale: the clamshell rotation starts at His64, Val68, and His93 following both the heme doming and the dissociated CO ligand collision. Third, the vibrational energy relaxation from the heme to the globin matrix is elucidated not only temporally but also spatially. This is the first ??thorough?? report of the spacetime-resolved excess kinetic energy redistribution of photolyzed MbCO in the globin matrix with a statistically significant precision, ±1?K. The incipient anisotropic vibrational relaxation occurs clearly within a picosecond in the direction perpendicular to the heme plane by the ??through-bond?? and ??through-projectile?? pathways, and the isotropic relaxation then follows by the ??through-space?? pathway. Finally, it is concluded that the PEMD method is a powerful tool to understand the incipient relaxation process driven by the perturbation.     

Permeation flux of organic molecules through silica-surfactant nanochannels in a porous alumina membrane.

The permeation fluxes of phenol, benzene sulfonate (BS) and benzene disulfonate (BDS) through a porous anodic alumina membrane with the perpendicularly oriented silica-surfactant nanochannel assembly membrane (NAM) were measured in water-ethanol mixture media. The permeation flux depended on solute charges and on solvent composition. As the ethanol ratio increased, the fluxes of BS and BDS increased and the flux of phenol decreased. The results of extraction/elution experiments also depended on the solute charges and the solvent composition. Chromatographic experiments in n-hexane showed that dipole and hydrophobic interactions affect the retention of solutes. Permeation of the solute across the NAM in water-ethanol mixture is likely to be determined by various factors such as dipole interaction, hydrophobic interaction, solvation, and anion-exchange efficiencies.     

Formation of kink bands by compression of the extrudate of solid linear polyethylene

Extrudates of solid linear polyethylene prepared under proper pressure and temperature conditions have a high c axis orientation along the extrusion direction, with lamellar crystals and amorphous layers stacked alternately along the extrusion direction. Kink bands were formed by compressing the oriented extrudate at room temperature along the extrusion direction. Inspection of the kink bands by wide-angle and small-angle x-ray diffraction and electron microscopy revealed that the fiber axis was rotated from the original axis direction by 70–75° and that the lamellar crystals were inclined to the fiber axis in the kink band by 55–60° and stacked nearly parallel to the kink boundary. The superstructural change during the formation of the kink band could not be interpreted in terms of uniform c axis shear alone. In addition to such a mechanism, it was necessary to take into account intermicrofibril and/or intercrystallite slip.