Three-dimensional visualization of columnar vortices in rotating Rayleigh–Bénard convection

Journal of Visualization -  To enrich the three-dimensional experimental details of vortex structures in rotating Rayleigh–Bénard convection, we established a technique...     

Gaussian-weighted parton quasi-distribution(Lattice Parton Physics Project(LP~3))

正Recent years have witnessed rapid progress in calculating parton distribution functions (PDFs), rather than just their moments, from lattice QCD [1-9]. The most remarkable aspect of such calculations is that one can connect appropriately chosen Euclidean correlation functions calculable on the lattice to PDFs through a perturbative matching relation. This can be understood in the framework of the large-momentum     

Synthesis of fluorine‐containing star‐shaped poly(vinyl ether)s via arm‐linking reactions in living cationic polymerization

Various types of fluorine‐containing star‐shaped poly(vinyl ether)s were successfully synthesized by crosslinking reactions of living polymers based on living cationic polymerization. Star polymers with fluorinated arm chains were prepared by the reaction between a divinyl ether and living poly(vinyl ether)s with fluorine groups (C₄F₉, C₆F₁₃, and C₈F₁₇) at the side chain using cationogen/Et_1.5AlCl_1.5 in a fluorinated solvent (dichloropentafluoropropanes), giving star‐shaped fluorinated polymers in high yields with a relatively narrow molecular weight distribution. The concentration of living polymers for the crosslinking reaction and the molar feed ratio of a bifunctional vinyl ether to living polymers affected the yield and molecular weight of the star polymers. Star polymers with block arms were prepared by a linking reaction of living block copolymers of a fluorinated segment and a nonfluorinated segment. Heteroarm star‐shaped polymers containing two‐ or three‐arm species were synthesized using a mixture of different living polymer species for the reaction with a bifunctional vinyl ether. The obtained polymers underwent temperature‐induced solubility transitions in various organic solvents, and their concentrated solutions underwent sol–gel transitions, based on the solubility transition of a thermoresponsive fluorinated segment. Furthermore, a slight amount of fluorine groups were shown to be effective for physical gelation when those were located at the arm ends of a star polymer. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

A Novel Reactivity of Phosphanylalumane (>P−Al<): Reversible Addition of a Saturated Interelement Bond to Olefins

The reversible addition of olefins to a phosphanylalumane, P−Al single-bond species, was investigated. The P−Al bond added to ethylene and relatively small terminal alkenes (propylene and hex-1-ene) at room temperature to give the corresponding alkene adducts. Heating the terminal alkene adducts released the corresponding alkenes and regenerated the P−Al bond, but no release of ethylene was observed even under vacuum conditions. The reactivity of ethylene adduct as a new saturated C₂ vicinal P/Al-based FLP was also investigated. The ethylene adduct was found to undergo complexation with nitriles to give the corresponding nitrile adducts to the Al center, which retained the ethylene tether as in the case of the corresponding P/B-based FLP. However, the reactivity of ethylene toward CO₂ and benzaldehyde differed from that of the P/B system giving the corresponding adducts.     

Synthesis and Photocatalytic Property of Hectorite/(Pt,TiO2) and H4Nb6O17/(Pt,TiO2) Nanocomposites

Abstract

TiO₂ and Pt have been intercalated in hectorite and H₄Nb₆O₁₇. The height of TiO₂ and Pt pillars was less than 0.8 nm and the band gap energy of TiO₂ pillars was ca. 3.3 eV. Both hectorite/TiO₂ and H₄Nb₆O₁₇(Pt, TiO₂) were capable of hydrogen evolution following irradiation from a high pressure mercury are (λ > 290 nm) in the presence of methanol as a sacrificial hole acceptor and the hydrogen evolution was enhanced by co-incorporation of Pt, although hectorite and hectorite/Pt did not show photocatalytic activity. Incorporation of Pt or Pt and TiO₂ in the interlayer of H₄Nb₆O₁₇ has resulted in enhanced photo evolution of hydrogen, however, TiO₂ alone in the interlayer of H₄Nb₆O₁₇ showed adverse photocatalytic activity.     

Copper–Oxygen Dynamics in the Tyrosinase Mechanism

The dinuclear copper enzyme, tyrosinase, activates O₂ to form a (μ-η²:η²-peroxido)dicopper(II) species, which hydroxylates phenols to catechols. However, the exact mechanism of phenolase reaction in the catalytic site of tyrosinase is still under debate. We herein report the near atomic resolution X-ray crystal structures of the active tyrosinases with substrate l -tyrosine. At their catalytic sites, CuA moved toward l -tyrosine (CuA1 → CuA2), whose phenol oxygen directly coordinates to CuA2, involving the movement of CuB (CuB1 → CuB2). The crystal structures and spectroscopic analyses of the dioxygen-bound tyrosinases demonstrated that the peroxide ligand rotated, spontaneously weakening its O−O bond. Thus, the copper migration induced by the substrate-binding is accompanied by rearrangement of the bound peroxide species so as to provide one of the peroxide oxygen atoms with access to the phenol substrate's ϵ carbon atom.     

Organic Dicarboxylate Negative Electrode Materials with Remarkably Small Strain for High‐Voltage Bipolar Batteries

As advanced negative electrodes for powerful and useful high‐voltage bipolar batteries, an intercalated metal–organic framework (iMOF), 2,6‐naphthalene dicarboxylate dilithium, is described which has an organic‐inorganic layered structure of π‐stacked naphthalene and tetrahedral LiO₄ units. The material shows a reversible two‐electron‐transfer Li intercalation at a flat potential of 0.8 V with a small polarization. Detailed crystal structure analysis during Li intercalation shows the layered framework to be maintained and its volume change is only 0.33 %. The material possesses two‐dimensional pathways for efficient electron and Li⁺ transport formed by Li‐doped naphthalene packing and tetrahedral LiO₃C network. A cell with a high potential operating LiNi_0.5Mn_1.5O₄ spinel positive and the proposed negative electrodes exhibited favorable cycle performance (96 % capacity retention after 100 cycles), high specific energy (300 Wh kg^?1), and high specific power (5 kW kg^?1). An 8 V bipolar cell was also constructed by connecting only two cells in series.     

Recognition of caffeine by a water-soluble acyclic phane compound

Caffeine (1,3,7-trimethylxanthine) is a chemical substance associated with everyday human life. In order to recognize caffeine in water, six water-soluble acyclic phane compounds composed of three aromatic rings were examined as artificial receptors. ¹H NMR titration experiments revealed that 6,6′-[1,3-phenylenebis(carbonylimino)]bis-1,3-naphthalenedisulfonate had the highest binding ability for caffeine, with a binding constant (K_b) of 127±5 M⁻¹ at 300 K. While this phane compound also formed a complex with theophylline (1,3-dimethylxanthine) at around half the value of the binding constant for caffeine (K_b=64±4 M⁻¹), it showed weak or little complexation for adenosine, guanosine, inosine, and their 5′-phosphates (sodium salts of adenylic acid, guanylic acid, and inosinic acid).     

Study of the acute cardiovascular effects of several antihypertensive agents with the measurement of plasma catecholamines in mice

A highly sensitive determination method was established for catecholamines (norepinephrine (NE), epinephrine, and dopamine) with high-performance liquid chromatography-peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence reaction detection. In this study, the method was applied to mouse plasma, and it was determined that only 10 μl of mouse plasma was necessary for the selective and reproducible determination of catecholamines. Studies were then conducted in acute cardiovascular effects of sodium nitroprusside, nicardipine, captopril (angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor), candesartan, and olmesartan (type 1 angiotensin receptor antagonists (AT₁ antagonists)) by this method. Sodium nitroprusside and nicardipine elevated plasma NE concentrations significantly, whereas the ACE inhibitor and the AT₁ antagonists did not change plasma NE concentrations in anesthetized mice. These results suggested that angiotensin II-induced augmentation may be mainly carried through the central baroreflex pathway.