A high-density ternary barcode detection system employing a stable fixed-period delay method

A fixed-period delay method is proposed to increase the detection range and detection stability of a ternary barcode detection system. The system combines an envelope differential detection technique containing nonlinear filtering and a fixed-period delay to detect the barcode over a longer range and at higher scanning speeds while being simple and capable of handling a large amount of information. The system was demonstrated with its miniaturized circuit, and it was established that the detection range of the system for a minimum bar width W = 0.25 mm was 1.8 times that of the conventional count-latch envelope differential technique because of the stable delay achieved by a shift register and the noise suppression by a nonlinear filter. In addition, the system operated at a maximum scanning speed of 8.3 times that of conventional charge-coupled device cameras under the practical detection range for W = 0.3 mm. This system is expected to facilitate the real-time identification of goods on production lines and in automated warehouses.     

FPGA-based photon-counting phase-modulation fluorometer and a brief comparison with that operated in a pulsed-excitation mode

We have constructed a high-efficiency, photon-counting phase-modulation fluorometer (PC-PMF) using a field-programmable gate array, which is a modified version of the photon-counting fluorometer (PCF) that works in a pulsed-excitation mode (Iwata and Mizuno in Meas Sci Technol 28:075501, 2017). The common working principle for both is the simultaneous detection of the photoelectron pulse train, which covers 64 ns with a 1.0-ns resolution time (1.0 ns/channel). The signal-gathering efficiency was improved more than 100 times over that of conventional time-correlated single-photon-counting at the expense of resolution time depending on the number of channels. The system dead time for building a histogram was eliminated, markedly shortening the measurement time for fluorescent samples with moderately high quantum yields. We describe the PC-PMF and make a brief comparison with the pulsed-excitation PCF in precision, demonstrating the potential advantage of PC-PMF.     

Suppressed Migration and Enhanced Cisplatin Chemosensitivity in Human Cancer Cell Lines by Tuning the Molecular Mobility of Supramolecular Biomaterials

Cancer cells recognize physical cues transmitted from the surrounding microenvironment, and accordingly alter the migration and chemosensitivity. Cell adhesive biomaterials with tunable physical properties can contribute to the understanding of cancer cell responses, and development of new cancer therapies. Previously, it was reported that polyrotaxane-based surfaces with molecular mobility effectively modulate cellular functions via the yes-associated protein (YAP)-related signaling pathway. In the present study, the impact of molecular mobility of polyrotaxane surfaces on the migration and chemosensitivity of lung (A549), pancreatic (BxPC-3), and breast cancer (MDA-MB-231) cell lines is investigated, and it is found that the cellular spreading of adherent A549 and BxPC-3 cells and nuclear YAP translocation are promoted on low-mobility surfaces, suggesting that cancer cells alter their subcellular YAP localization in response to molecular mobility. Furthermore, low-mobility surfaces suppress cellular migration more than high-mobility surfaces. Additionally, low-mobility surfaces promote the cisplatin chemosensitivity of each cancer cell line to a greater extent than high-mobility surfaces. These results suggest that the molecular mobility of polyrotaxane surfaces suppresses cellular migration and enhances chemosensitivity via the subcellular translocation of YAP in cancer cells. Biointerfaces based on polyrotaxanes can thus be a new platform for elucidating cancer cell migration and chemoresistance mechanisms.     

From organic conductors to bio-conductors

Two major categories of organic solids are known to offer the prospect of electrical conduction. One of them consists of charge-transfer complexes such as BEDT-TTF salts. A large number of studies on charge-transfer complexes have been carried out and their conductivity ranges from semiconductor to superconductor. The other group comprises single component materials. Typical examples are polycyclic aromatic compounds and also phthalocyanines; their conductivities are not as good as those of the donor-acceptor kinds.¹⁾ As one of those single component organic semiconductors, a group of cytochromes, electron carrier in biological system, was offered. Cytochrome c₃ (molecular weight = 13,995, 107 amino acid residers), an electron carrier in the reactions of very negative potentials in cells of Desulfovibrio, has four homes in the molecule.     

ChemInform Abstract: Theoretical Study on Spectroscopic Properties of Positive,Neutral, and Negative Species of BCl2 and AlCl2: The Stability of the Negative Species.

ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 100 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.     

Theoretical Studies of Group 1 Metal Complexes with Hydrogen Fluoride,M(HF)n,M: Li,Na, and K: A New Type of Electrides.

ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 200 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract, please click on HTML or PDF.     

Room-Temperature Alkyl-Diphenylpyrene Liquefication by Molecular Desymmetrization

Achieving the lowest phase transition temperature with minimal chemical modification in highly crystalline π-conjugated molecules is a universal problem in related research fields. This paper reports room-temperature liquefication of diphenylpyrene isomers by introducing bulky yet flexible branched alkyl chains through molecular desymmetrization. Six isomers with different symmetries depending on the positions of the phenyl groups and alkyl groups were synthesized, and three of the isomers were found to be liquids at 25 °C, a state in which they have remained for more than five years. Although it is generally believed that the lower the symmetry of a molecule, the less likely it is to crystallize, one molecule with a relatively high molecular symmetry unexpectedly did not crystallize, which was evidenced by the kinetic inhomogeneity of this amorphous material (practically stable liquid) assessed by rheological analysis.