Simple methods for the syntheses of (E)-4- and (E)-5-alkenoic acids by the SN2′ type reactions of γ-vinyl-γ-butyrolactone and δ-vinyl-δ-valerolactone with organocopper reagents

γ-Vinyl-γ-butyrolactone and δ-vinylδ-valerolactone react regio- and stereoselectivity with Grignard reagents in the presence of a copper(I) catalyst or with diorganocuprates to afford (E)-4- and (E)-5-alkenoic acids, respectively, in high yields. Synthetic utility of the former reaction is demonstrated in the simple synthesis of (4E,7Z)-4,7-tridecadienyl acetate.     

10-Gbit/s Serial Optical Interconnection for an ATM Switch

Serial optical interconnection is proposed for connections in a Torus asynchronous transfer mode switch. A cross-point switch was developed that operates at a bit rate of 20 Gbit/s. The switching operation was successfully performed using cascaded cross-point switches through an optical interconnection configuration consisting of commercial optoelectronics devices. The measured switching rate was 10 Gbit/s, and it was limited by the responses of the optoelectronics devices.     

Ru-catalyzed ring-opening and substitution reactions of heteroaromatic compounds using propargylic carboxylates as precursors of vinylcarbenoids

[reaction: see text] The reaction of heteroaromatic compounds with propargylic carboxylates in the presence of a catalytic amount of [RuCl(2)(CO)(3)](2) or PtCl(2) gives trienes in good yields. The key intermediate is an electrophilic (1-acetoxylvinyl)carbene complex generated from the activated propargylic acetates with transition metals.     

Circumventing air bubbles in microfluidic systems and quantitative continuous-flow PCR applications

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is an essential part of research based on genomics or cell analysis. The development of a microfluidic device that would be suitable for high-temperature-based reactions therefore becomes an important contribution towards the integration of micro-total analysis systems (μTAS). However, problems associated with the generation of air bubbles in the microchannels before the introduction of the assay liquid, which we call the “initial start-up” in this study, made the flow irregular and unstable. In this report, we have tried to address these problems by adapting a novel liquid-flow method for high-temperature-based reactions. A PDMS-based microfluidic device was fabricated by soft-lithography techniques and placed on a cartridge heater. The generation of the air bubbles was prevented by introducing the fluorinated oil, an inert and highly viscous liquid, as the cap just before the introduction of the sample solutions into the microchannels. The technique was applied for continuous-flow PCR, which could perform PCR on-chip in a microfluidic system. For the evaluation of practical accuracy, plasmid DNA that serves as a reference molecule for the quantification of genetically modified (GM) maize was used as the template DNA for continuous-flow PCR. After PCR, the products were collected in a vial and analyzed by gel electrophoresis to confirm the accuracy of the results. Additionally, quantitative continuous-flow PCR was performed using TaqMan technology on our PCR device. A laser detection system was also used for the quantitative PCR method. We observed a linear relationship between the threshold cycle (Ct) and the initial DNA concentration. These results showed that it would be possible to quantify the initial copies of the template DNA on our microfluidic device. Accurate quantitative DNA analysis in microfluidic systems is required for the integration of PCR with μTAS, thus we anticipate that our device would have promising potential for applications in a wide range of research.     

Analyses of the EPR responses of sucrose and L-alpha-alanine radicals induced by C, Ne, and Ar ion irradiations

Using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), we investigated the signal responses of sucrose and L-alpha-alanine radicals produced by heavy-ion irradiation with various linear energy transfers (LETs) and absorbed dose. The spin yields for the two compounds showed a linear relation with the absorbed dose, as well as a logarithmic correlation with the LET. A quantitative EPR analysis showed that sucrose was more sensitive to the particle species than that of alanine. Hence, the present EPR results imply that sucrose can be useful as a radiation indicator. Further analysis was carried out for the radical-production cross section, which showed that stable radicals of the two compounds were produced through collisions of several particles with a single molecule.     

A concrete example with multiple limit cycles for three dimensional Lotka–Volterra systems

The number of limit cycles for three dimensional Lotka–Volterra systems is an open problem. Recently, Yu et al. (2016) constructed some examples with the possibility of the existence of four limit cycles. Unfortunately, multiple limit cycles are not visible by numerical simulations, because all of them are very close to the interior equilibrium and extremely small. We present a concrete example with multiple limit cycles for three dimensional Lotka–Volterra systems which we can confirm them by numerical simulations. First we prepare the modified formula to compute coefficients of the normal form for the generalized Hopf bifurcation. Applying this formula to three dimensional Lotka–Volterra competitive systems with the aid of the computer algebra system, we derive the critical parameter values explicitly such that the interior equilibrium is exactly an unstable weak focus. Also we show that the heteroclinic cycle on the boundary of ${\mathbb{R}}_{+}^3$ is repelling. This implies that there exists a stable limit cycle by the Poincare–Bendixson theorem. Then, adding some suitable perturbations to parameters, we generate additional two limit cycles near the interior equilibrium by the generalized Hopf bifurcation. Finally we confirm that there exist three limit cycles by numerical simulations.     

Development of a high‐resolution confocal micro‐XRF instrument equipped with a vacuum chamber

A confocal micro‐X‐ray fluorescence (micro‐XRF) instrument equipped with a vacuum chamber was newly developed. The instrument is operated under a vacuum condition to reduce the absorption of XRF in the atmosphere. Thin metal layers were developed to evaluate the confocal volume, corresponding to depth resolution. A set of thin metal layers (Al, Ti, Cr, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zr, Mo, and Au) was prepared by a magnetron sputtering technique. The depth resolutions of the new instrument were varied from 56.0 to 10.9 µm for an energy range from 1.4 to 17.4 keV, respectively. The lower limit of detection (LLD) was estimated by comparison with a glass standard reference material NIST SRM 621). The LLDs obtained by a conventional micro‐XRF were compared with the LLDs obtained by a confocal micro‐XRF instrument. The LLDs were improved in the measurement under confocal configuration because of the reduction of background intensity. Finally, layered materials related to forensic investigation were measured. The confocal micro‐XRF instrument was able to nondestructively obtain the distribution of light elements that cannot be detected by measurement in air. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Electron-boson coupling and oxygen-isotope effect in the optical conductivity of high-Tc superconductors

We have investigated electron-boson coupling in the optical conductivity of high-T_c superconductors through the optical self-energy. The real part of the self-energy (ReΣ^op(ω)) of YBa₂Cu₃O_y (YBCO) shows a characteristic doping dependence. In the optimally doped YBCO, ReΣ^op(ω) has a single peak around 65 meV, which corresponds to the kink structure of the band dispersion. On the other hand, in the under-doped YBCO, the peak structure of ReΣ^op(ω) splits into two parts. To evaluate contribution from the phonons in electron-boson coupling, we have measured oxygen-isotope effects by substituting ¹⁶O→¹⁸O for the optimally doped and under-doped YBCO.