Liquid‐Crystalline Biomacromolecular Templates for the Formation of Oriented Thin‐Film Hybrids Composed of Ordered Chitin and Alkaline‐Earth Carbonate

Macroscopically ordered inorganic thin films have been formed on unidirectionally oriented, liquid‐crystalline chitin matrices. In the presence of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA), unidirectionally oriented chitin films act as templates for the formation of oriented thin‐film crystals of alkaline‐earth carbonates such as SrCO₃ and BaCO₃. The morphology and orientation of crystals are dependent on the metal ion concentration. For SrCO₃ crystallization, unidirectional thin films and hexagonal‐shaped thin films have been deposited from 200 and 25 mm concentration strontium solutions, respectively.     

Rapid and easy protein staining for SDS-PAGE using an intramolecular charge transfer-based fluorescent reagent

High-performance staining for 1-D and 2-D SDS-PAGE was carried out using a novel protein-binding fluorophore (Dye 1), which noncovalently interacts with proteins and provides a fluorescence emission response to proteins by intramolecular charge transfer. In order to achieve the high-throughput analysis of proteins for SDS-PAGE, the general protocols for in-gel protein staining (SDS-PAGE, fixation, staining, washing, and detection) were simplified to produce an easy and rapid protocol (SDS-PAGE together with staining, washing, and detection). This method was performed by preparation of an electrophoresis buffer containing Dye 1 under optimum conditions, and by the binding of Dye 1 to proteins in the gel during the SDS-PAGE. As a result, this study required only 15 min for protein staining as a minimum time. On the other hand, it takes several hours for the general protein staining method, such as SYPRO Ruby staining (18 h) and CBB staining (105 min). Moreover, the protein-to-protein variation was low, and the detection limit was 7.0 ng/band of BSA (S/N = 3.0) in this method, which was as sensitive as the short-protocol silver staining methods. On the basis of these results, this rapid and easy protocol for SDS-PAGE using Dye 1 may be widely applicable and convenient for users in the various scientific and medical fields.     

Synthesis and biological evaluation of a beauveriolide analogue library

Synthesis of beauveriolide III (1b), which is an inhibitor of lipid droplet accumulation in macrophages, was achieved by solid-phase assembly of linear depsipeptide using a 2-chlorotrityl linker followed by solution-phase cyclization. On the basis of this strategy, a combinatorial library of beauveriolide analogues was carried out by radio frequency-encoded combinatorial chemistry. After automated purification using preparative reversed-phase HPLC, the library was tested for inhibitory activity of CE synthesis in macrophages to determine structure-activity relationships of beauveriolides. Among them, we found that diphenyl derivative 7{9,1} is 10 times more potent than 1b.     

Electronic structure of Ga1−xCrxN investigated by photoemission spectroscopy

We have obtained the Cr 3d-like energy states, which located in the band gap of GaN by means of resonant photoemission spectroscopy. In the difference spectrum between the valence band photoemission spectra of non-doped GaN and that of the Ga_0.937Cr_0.063N, we observed the new energy state, in band gap, consists of Cr 3d-like and N 2p-like component by strong hybridization.     

Synthesis and characterization of Rh(PVP) nanoparticles studied by XPS and NEXAFS

Rhodium nanoparticles were synthesized by the reduction of Rh³⁺ ion in ethanol solvent with use of the polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) of various molecular weights and the solvent of different volume ratios of water to ethanol. The formed Rh(PVP) nanoparticles have been characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) techniques. The TEM and AFM results show that the Rh(PVP) nanoparticles are monodispersed and do not agglomerate with each other. The particle size can be controlled by the molecular weight of PVP and/or the water/ethanol ratio of the solvent. The XPS and NEXAFS results indicate that the chlorine derived from RhCl₃(3H₂O) remains in the obtained nanoparticles but can be removed by heating.     

Competitive Price Equilibrium with Consumer Reservation Utility

This paper studies a competitive price equilibrium in the market of a product category where consumers are homogeneous with a reservation utility below which they will not purchase the product. The impact of the reservation utility on the price equilibrium is of particular interest, because the reservation utility may change according to the business cycle and economic environments. Using multinomial logit model to describe market response, we study the comparative statics of the prices, profits and market shares of firms, each of which produces one brand in the product category, with respect to the reservation utility in the Nash equilibrium. It is shown that, as the reservation utility increases, the prices as well as the profits at Nash equilibrium decrease. Also, in the case of duopoly market, the firm with lower cost structure will increase its market share as the reservation utility increases.     

The orbital characters and kz dispersions of bands in iron-pnictide NaFeAs

The electronic structure and orbital characters of iron-pnictide NaFeAs have been studied by polarization dependent angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Some of the bands are mixed with the orbitals of opposite symmetries, which could be interpreted by the hybridization among the bands. According to the photon energy dependent experiment, the k_z dispersions of the bands that cross the Fermi energy are weak in both paramagnetic and spin density wave states. However, a band well below the Fermi level shows a k_z dispersion of 41 meV, which mainly contains the d_z² orbital.     

High-resolution angle-resolved photoemission study of Ni(1 1 1) surface state

High-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) has been conducted to study the Shockley state (SS) in ferromagnetic Ni(1 1 1) located at the point of the surface Brillouin zone. We have determined the Fermi wave vector and Fermi energy of the state with excitation photon energies of hν = 6.9-27.5 eV. On the basis of ARPES spectral shape analyses, we have found significant electron-electron interaction in the SS.     

Manipulation of the heme electronic structure by external stimuli and ligand field

This review describes the switching behaviors of the electronic structure, which were observed in iron(III) porphyrinoids, by the addition of external stimuli. The combined analysis by various methods, such as EPR, M?ssbauer, SQUID, single crystal X-ray structure analysis, revealed a wide variety of electronic structures of the heme related complexes. This paper focuses in particular on the spin-crossover phenomenon in the solid state. An overview of spin-crossover phenomena found in iron(III) porphyrinoids between (i) S?= 5/2 and S?= 1/2, (ii) S?= 3/2 and S?= 1/2, (iii) S?= 5/2 and S?= 3/2, will be described.