A new high spin isomer in 146Eu

High spin states of ¹⁴⁶Eu were studied by in-beam gamma ray spectroscopic techniques using ¹⁴⁰Ce(¹⁰B,4n)¹⁴⁶Eu and ¹³⁹La(¹³C,6n)¹⁴⁶Eu reactions. The level scheme was established up to 10MeV. A new high spin isomer with 10ns half life was found. Configurations of yrast states were understood by a weak coupling of f_7/2 neutron to those of ¹⁴⁵Eu. Received: 2 November 1999     

Functional evaluation of hemoglobin-and lipidheme-vesicles as red cell substitutes

The two kinds of red cell substitutes, hemoglobin-vesicles (HbV) and lipidheme-vesicles (LihV, totally synthetic oxygen carrier), were evaluated in terms of physicochemical properties such as binding and dissociating reactions of ligands (CO, O₂ and NO), rheological and structural properties. Carbonylation of Hb during the purification of Hb and the preparation of HbV is effective to prevent Hb denaturation. The rates of oxygenation of both HbV and LihV are faster than that of red blood cells (RBC). Their oxygen affinities (P₅₀, HbV, 32 mmHg; LihV, 43 mmHg, cf. RBC, 28 mmHg) can be controlled to transport a sufficient amount of oxygen comparable with that of RBC. The smaller sizes of vesicles are advantageous for prompt ligand reaction and low viscosity. Both HbV and RBC show about 100 times less vasoconstrictive effects than stripped Hb. HbV shows only one sixth of the slow binding rate of NO (=endothelial derived relaxation factor) in comparison with stripped Hb. Inhibition of vasoconstriction by those vesicles is discussed from the kinetic data.     

Radiation effect on positronium formation in low-temperature polyethylene

The irradiation effect of γ-rays on polyethylene (PE) has been studied by positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS). In the case of non-irradiated PE samples, at a low temperature below the glass-transition temperature, the intensity of the long-lived component of positronium, I₃, increases due to an increase in the concentration of trapped electrons. However, the increase in I₃ obtained in a few MGy γ-irradiated samples became very small due to the effect of induced radicals. It has been observed that the trapped electrons were affected by the intensity of the positron sources used for a PALS experiment.     

HPLC-DAD Based Polyphenolic Profiling and Evaluation of Pharmacological Attributes of Putranjiva roxburghii Wall.

The current study was intended to explore the phytochemical profiling and therapeutic activities of Putranjiva roxburghii Wall. Crude extracts of different plant parts were subjected to the determination of antioxidant, antimicrobial, antidiabetic, cytotoxic, and protein kinase inhibitory potential by using solvents of varying polarity ranges. Maximum phenolic content was notified in distilled water extracts of the stem (DW-S) and leaf (DW-L) while the highest flavonoid content was obtained in ethyl acetate leaf (EA-L) extract. HPLC-DAD analysis confirmed the presence of various polyphenols, quantified in the range of 0.02 ± 0.36 to 2.05 ± 0.18 μg/mg extract. Maximum DPPH scavenging activity was expressed by methanolic extract of the stem (MeOH-S). The highest antioxidant capacity and reducing power was shown by MeOH-S and leaf methanolic extract (MeOH-L), respectively. Proficient antibacterial activity was shown by EA-L extract against Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli. Remarkable α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibition potential was expressed by ethyl acetate fruit (EA-F) and n-Hexane leaf (nH-L) extracts, respectively. In case of brine shrimp lethality assay, 41.67% of the extracts (LC₅₀ < 50 µg/mL) were considered as extremely cytotoxic. The test extracts also showed mild antifungal and protein kinase inhibition activities. The present study explores the therapeutic potential of P. roxburghii and calls for subsequent studies to isolate new bioactive leads through bioactivity-guided isolation.     

The synthesis and X‐ray structure of 1,2,3,4‐cyclobutane tetracarboxylic dianhydride and the preparation of a new type of polyimide showing excellent transparency and heat resistance

Some polyimide films based on cyclobutane‐1,2,3,4‐tetracarboxylic dianhydride (CBDA) and aromatic diamines were synthesized to investigate their temperature resistance and percent transmission of light. The preparations of CBDA were investigated; they produced almost 10 times the yield of CBDA in comparison to yields obtained by previous methods. The configuration of CBDA was determined by X‐ray analysis to be cis–trans–cis. The polymer films showed excellent thermal resistance and were transparent and colorless, desirable characteristics for practical applications in the field of polymer engineering. However, the polymer obtained from a pyromellitic dianhydride instead of from CBDA was deep yellow and not desirable for high‐qualified display materials such as liquid‐crystal displays. The percent transmission of the polymers obtained from CBDA and aromatic diamines ranged from 81.5 to 85.8%, whereas the deep‐yellow polymers showed low percent transmissions ranging from 48 to 63.9%. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 108–116, 2000     

Morphospecific polymer from the copolymerization of trioxane and ethylene oxide

Recently, we have observed the following phenomena during the copolymerization of trioxane and ethylene oxide using a boron trifluoride initiator. In almost all of the polymerization cases, all polymers were soluble in a p-chlorophenol-tetrachloroethane mixed solvent at 90°C. However, in some polymerization cases, a small portion of the polymer was insoluble at this temperature, and this mixed solvent-insoluble fraction showed a higher melting point than that of the other fractions. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) photographs of the polymer showed that a highly fibrous structure was formed for the mixed solvent-insoluble fraction, and this highly packed structure is thought to be the origin of the high melting fraction. The nature of this high melting fraction was further examined using X-ray diffraction and Raman spectra. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 35 : 2479–2486, 1997     

Improved stability of molecular organic EL devices

Influence of emission sites on emission efficiency and running durability of molecular organic electroluminescent devices was investigated. When fluorescent dye rubrene was doped into TPD diamine hole transport layer, rubrene molecule emitted bright yellow light with a max. luminance of 61 000 cd/m². The device had the highest efficiency of 9.8 Im/W at 100 cd/m². Half-decay time of the device from initial luminance of 530 cd/m² under constant direct current was 3 600 h. On the other hand, when rubrene was doped into BeBq₂ complex electron transport layer, the efficiency was 4.4 Im/W and the half-decay time was 110 h. Thus doping site is found to exert significant influence both on the emission efficiency and the running durability.