Plastic crystalline lithium salt with solid-state ionic conductivity and high lithium transport number

Plastic crystallinity of lithium salt, [LiB(OCH(2)CH(2)OCH(3))(4)] (1), and its solid-state ionic conductivity are disclosed. The addition of small amounts of lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI) to borate 1 led to the drastic increase of the ionic conductivity and lithium transport number of the electrolyte.     

Scheduling elective surgery under uncertainty and downstream capacity constraints

The objective of this study is to generate an optimal surgery schedule of elective surgery patients with uncertain surgery operations, which includes uncertainty in surgery durations and the availability of downstream resources such as surgical intensive care unit (SICU) over multi-periods. The stochastic optimization is adapted and the sample average approximation (SAA) method is proposed for obtaining an optimal surgery schedule with respect to minimizing the total cost of patient costs and overtime costs. A computational experiment is presented to evaluate the performance of the proposed method.     

Hochschild Cohomology of Quiver Algebras Defined by Two Cycles and a Quantum-Like Relation

We consider quiver algebras A _q over a field k defined by two cycles and a quantum-like relation depending on a nonzero element q in k, and describe the minimal projective bimodule resolution of A _q . In particular, in the case q = 1, we determine the Hochschild cohomology ring of A ₁ and show that it is a finitely generated k-algebra. Moreover the Hochschild cohomology ring of A ₁ modulo nilpotence is isomorphic to the polynomial ring of two variables.     

The influence of heteroskedastic variances on cointegration tests: A comparison using Monte Carlo simulations

This paper investigates the influence of heteroskedastic variances on cointegration tests. The Monte Carlo simulation results show that cointegration tests allowing for threshold adjustments or structural breaks overreject the null hypothesis of no cointegration in the presence of GARCH errors and variance breaks. In particular, multivariate GARCH and bivariate variance breaks cause severe size distortions in such cointegration tests. On the other hand, a variance ratio cointegration test yields reasonable empirical sizes under most cases of heteroskedastic variances, as compared to other tests including standard cointegration tests.     

Coordination‐Induced Spin‐State Switching of an Aminyl‐Radical‐Bridged Nickel(II) Porphyrin Dimer between Doublet and Sextet States

A bis(Ni^II‐porphyrinyl)aminyl radical with meso‐C₆F₅ groups was prepared as a spin‐delocalized stable aminyl radical with a doublet spin state. Upon addition of pyridine, both Ni^II centers became hexacoordinated by accepting two axial pyridines, which triggered a spin‐state change of the Ni^II centers from diamagnetic (S=0) to paramagnetic (S=1). The resulting high‐spin Ni^II centers interact with the aminyl radical ferromagnetically to give rise to an overall sextet state (S=5/2). Importantly, this coordination‐induced spin‐state switching can be conducted in a reversible manner, in that washing of the high‐spin radical with aqueous hydrochloric acid regenerates the original doublet radical in good yield.     

Imaging mass spectrometry of gold nanoparticles in a tissue section as an immunohistochemical staining mass probe

For analysis of low abundance peptides in a tissue section, immunohistochemical staining through antibody‐antigen interaction is a usual technique. The antibody is conjugated with a probe moiety that aids in highly sensitive detection. Gold nanoparticles, which show excellent chemical stability and variation of surface modifications, are expected to act as a sensitive mass probe to desorb gold ions (Au⁺, Au₂⁺, Au₃⁺) that are distinguishable from fragment ions from organic molecules. Here, green fluorescent proteins (GFP) in a tissue section of a transgenic zebrafish were detected by the gold mass probe conjugated with antibodies. Due to the efficient ionization and desorption of gold ions, imaging mass spectrometry of Au₂⁺ ions indicated the distribution of gold nanoparticles stained in a tissue section, and the mass signal distribution was consistent with the area where the GFP‐expressing cells were distributed. Conventional immunofluorescence techniques showed intense autofluorescence that come from intrinsic fluorophores in the tissue section. In contrast, the gold nanoparticles acted as an immunostaining mass probe that displayed significantly lower background signals.     

Large Enhancement of the Single-Molecular Conductance of a Molecular Wire through a Radical Substituent

The single-molecular conductance between two π-conjugated wires with and without a radical substituent has been compared. Specifically, methyl- and iminonitroxide-substituted 4-(biphenyl-4-yl)pyridine wires bound onto a porphyrin template were subjected to scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) apparent-height measurement at the interface between highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) and octan-1-oic acid. Statistical analysis of the STM images revealed that the radical-substituted wire has 3.2±1.7-fold higher conductance than the methyl-substituted reference. Although density functional theory (DFT) calculation suggests that only 17 % of the SOMO is distributed on the wire moiety, the effect was significant. This study presents the potential of radical substituents to achieve high conductivity in molecular wires.     

Injectable Polypeptide Hydrogel Depot System for Assessment of the Immune Response–Inducing Efficacy of Sustained Antigen Release Alone

Vaccines typically contain an antigen, delivery system (vehicle), and adjuvant, all of which contribute to inducing a potent immune response. Consequently, design of new vaccines is difficult, because the contributions and interactions of these components are difficult to distinguish. Here, it is aimed to develop an easy‐to‐use, non‐immunogenic, injectable depot system for sustained antigen release that will be suitable for assessing the efficacy of prolonged antigen exposure per se for inducing an immune response. This should mimic real‐life infections. Recombinant elastin‐like polypeptides with periodic cysteine residues (cELPs) are selected, which reportedly show little or no immunogenicity, as carriers and tetanus toxoid (Ttd) as an antigen. After subcutaneous injection of the mixture, cELP rapidly forms a disulfide cross‐linked hydrogel in situ, within which Ttd is physically incorporated, affording a biodegradable antigen depot. A series of Ttd‐containing hydrogels is examined. A single injection induces high levels of tetanus antibody with high avidity for at least 20 weeks in mice. The chain length of cELP proves critical, whereas differences in hydrophobicity has little effect, although hydrophilic cELPs are more rapidly biodegraded. This system's ability to distinguish the contribution of sustained antigen release to antibody induction should be helpful for rational design of next‐generation vaccines.     

Aromaticity Relocation in Perylene Derivatives upon Two‐Electron Oxidation To Form Anthracene and Phenanthrene

We prepared perylene dications 1 ²⁺ and 2 ²⁺ by using “capped” perylene derivatives, and for the first time, successfully obtained single crystals of a perylene dication 1 ²⁺ that enabled us to perform its structural analysis. We realized that the substituted aryl groups on perylene control the positions of positive charges, thus the remaining electronic system satisfies Clar's sextet rule toward the highest number of localized sextets. Experimental and theoretical evidence proved that Clar's aromatic π‐sextet rule could be applied even for the dicationic perylenes in a very simple way.