Stereoselective synthesis of the octahydroisobenzofuran skeleton of the eunicellins

A de novo asymmetric synthesis of the octahydroisobenzofuran skeleton contained within the eunicellin family of natural products has been completed. The key transformations involve the convergent assembly of a tetrasubstituted tetrahydrofuran by condensation of a functionalised allylsiloxane with an aldehyde; controlled epimerisation of a C4 aldehyde by intramolecular trapping; installation of the isopropyl substituent by stereoselective Michael addition to a 5,5-bicyclic enone; and ring expansion of the 5,5-system to the target structure by radical-mediated cyclopropane fragmentation.     

Imprinted diffractive optics for terahertz radiation

Terahertz diffractive optic elements have been fabricated in polypropylene by imprinting with a silicon master. A silicon master is created with eight phase levels for high diffraction efficiency and etched using inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching. This technique enables the rapid replication of complex optical structures in a high transmission material. Excellent replication of multilevel high efficiency Fresnel lenses is shown. The resulting lenses were tested with a 2 THz quantum cascade laser. The signal strength at the focus was 70 times the base signal strength.     

Baryon rapidity loss in relativistic Au + Au collisions

An excitation function of proton rapidity distributions for different centralities is reported from AGS Experiment E917 for Au+Au collisions at 6, 8, and 10.8 GeV/nucleon. The rapidity distributions from peripheral collisions have a valley at midrapidity which smoothly change to distributions that display a broad peak at midrapidity for central collisions. The mean rapidity loss increases with increasing beam energy, whereas the fraction of protons consistent with isotropic emission from a stationary source at midrapidity decreases with increasing beam energy. The data suggest that the stopping is substantially less than complete at these energies.     

A simple, sensitive and selective quantum-dot-based western blot method for the simultaneous detection of multiple targets from cell lysates

Quantum dots (Qdots) are fluorescent nanoparticles that have great potential as detection agents in biological applications. Their optical properties, including photostability and narrow, symmetrical emission bands with large Stokes shifts, and the potential for multiplexing of many different colours, give them significant advantages over traditionally used fluorescent dyes. Here, we report the straightforward generation of stable, covalent quantum dot–protein A/G bioconjugates that will be able to bind to almost any IgG antibody, and therefore can be used in many applications. An additional advantage is that the requirement for a secondary antibody is removed, simplifying experimental design. To demonstrate their use, we show their application in multiplexed western blotting. The sensitivity of Qdot conjugates is found to be superior to fluorescent dyes, and comparable to, or potentially better than, enhanced chemiluminescence. We show a true biological validation using a four-colour multiplexed western blot against a complex cell lysate background, and have significantly improved previously reported non-specific binding of the Qdots to cellular proteins.     

A terahertz polarization insensitive dual band metamaterial absorber

Metamaterial absorbers have attracted considerable attention for applications in the terahertz range. In this Letter, we report the design, fabrication, and characterization of a terahertz dual band metamaterial absorber that shows two distinct absorption peaks with high absorption. By manipulating the periodic patterned structures as well as the dielectric layer thickness of the metal-dielectric-metal structure, significantly high absorption can be obtained at specific resonance frequencies. Finite-difference time-domain modeling is used to design the structure of the absorber. The fabricated devices have been characterized using a Fourier transform IR spectrometer. The experimental results show two distinct absorption peaks at 2.7 and 5.2?THz, which are in good agreement with the simulation. The absorption magnitudes at 2.7 and 5.2?THz are 0.68 and 0.74, respectively.     

Method for vector characterization of polar liquids using frequency-domain spectroscopy

A device for performing vector transmission spectroscopy on aqueous and polar solvent specimens at terahertz frequencies is presented. The device enables the direct measurement of the complex dielectric function across the terahertz band using a Fourier transform IR spectrometer for lossy solutions. Using microfluidic sampling, specimen handling is straightforward and direct measurements on polar specimens are made possible. The method is scalable to longer or shorter wavelengths.