Magneto-chiral dichroism of artificial light-harvesting antenna

We have demonstrated the presence of magneto-chiral dichroism (MChD) of chiral J-aggregates of zinc chlorins. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first observation of MChD in artificial light-harvesting antennas.     

Fusion using fast heating of a compactly imploded CD core

A compact fast core heating experiment is described. A 4-J 0.4-ns output of a laser-diode-pumped high-repetition laser HAMA is divided into four beams, two of which counterilluminate double-deuterated polystyrene foils separated by 100 μm for implosion. The remaining two beams, compressed to 110 fs for fast heating, illuminate the same paths. Hot electrons produced by the heating pulses heat the imploded core, emitting x-ray radiations >20 eV and yielding some 10(3) thermal neutrons.     

Observation of charge transfer process for optical emission of rare-earth dopant using electric probing technique

Charge propagation dynamics for the excitation and de-excitation of samarium doped titanium dioxide (TiO₂:Sm) were observed by an electric measurement technique, namely, the phase response of complex impedance to step-function UV irradiation. The probing frequency for the impedance measurement was widely changed, and a critical frequency that emphasizes a specific charge propagation path was found. Above the critical frequency of 1 kHz the transitions from the photo-excited state to ground state progressed via a rapid, and a slow charge propagation path. Through a comparison of the frequency responses obtained under continuous UV light (photo-excited state) and in the dark (ground state), the rapid path was assigned to charge recombination in a defect-dopant complex in TiO₂:Sm, which is consistent with the persistence of luminescence observed in conventional optical measurements. The slow path that is not associated with the optical transition was explained by a dissipation of excited charges. Similar path consistent with the charge dissipation explanation was confirmed below the critical frequency <1 kHz.     

Application of high-resolution ESI and MALDI mass spectrometry to metabolite profiling of small interfering RNA duplex

We investigated the application of a high-resolution Orbitrap mass spectrometer equipped with an electrospray ionization (ESI) source and a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometer to the metabolite profiling of a model small interfering RNA (siRNA) duplex TSR#34 and compared their functions and capabilities. TSR#34 duplex was incubated in human serum in vitro, and the duplex and its metabolites were then purified by ion exchange chromatography in order to remove the biological matrices. The fraction containing the siRNA duplex and its metabolites was collected and desalted and then subjected to high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) equipped with a reversed phase column. The siRNA and its metabolites were separated into single strands by elevated chromatographic temperature and analyzed using the ESI-Orbitrap or the MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer. Using this method, the 5' and/or 3' truncated metabolites of each strand were detected in the human serum samples. The ESI-Orbitrap mass spectrometer enabled differentiation between two possible RNA-based sequences, a monoisotopic molecular mass difference which was less than 2 Da, with an intrinsic mass resolving power. In-source decay (ISD) analysis using a MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer allowed the sequencing of the RNA metabolite with characteristic fragment ions, using 2,4-dihydroxyacetophenone (2,4-DHAP) as a matrix. The ESI-Orbitrap mass spectrometer provided the highest mass accuracy and the benefit of on-line coupling with HPLC for metabolite profiling. Meanwhile, the MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer, in combination with 2,4-DHAP, has the potential for the sequencing of RNA by ISD analysis. The combined use of these methods will be beneficial to characterize the metabolites of therapeutic siRNA compounds. Copyright ? 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Facile one‐step fabrication of highly transparent and flexible superhydrophobic substrate by room‐temperature ion irradiation method

Highly transparent (transparency 96.5%), flexible and antireflective superhydrophobic (water contact angle >150°) surfaces have been fabricated at room temperature by the ion irradiation method. This one‐step fabrication route was fairly easy to carry out without any heat or chemical treatment and can be completed within few seconds. This novel chemical free fabricating strategy could be extended to numerous polymeric substrates to achieve transparent and flexible superhydrophobic structures for their potential applications in diverse fields. (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Is the 7/2(1)- isomer state of 43S spherical?

We report on the spectroscopic quadrupole moment measurement of the 7/2(1)(-) isomeric state in (16)(43)S(27) [E*=320.5(5) keV, T(1/2)=415(3) ns], using the time dependent perturbed angular distribution technique at the RIKEN RIBF facility. Our value, |Q(s)|=23(3) efm(2), is larger than that expected for a single-particle state. Shell model calculations using the modern SDPF-U interaction for this mass region reproduce remarkably well the measured |Q(s)|, and show that non-negligible correlations drive the isomeric state away from a purely spherical shape.     

Self-motion of a camphanic acid disk on water with different types of surfactants

Control of the self-motion of a camphanic acid disk on water was investigated upon the addition of different kinds of surfactants (Triton X-100 and Brij58 as neutral surfactants, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as a cationic surfactant, and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as an anionic surfactant) to the water phase. With an increase in the concentration of surfactant, continuous motion changed to no motion via intermittent motion (repetition between motion and rest), and the concentration regions of these motions were different among these surfactants. Although the concentration regions of these motions were determined by the surface tension for neutral surfactants, they were different than those for CTAB and SDS. These characteristics of self-motion are discussed in relation to the surface tension, depending on the concentration of individual surfactants, and the hydrophilic effect of the surfactants.     

2,2′-Biphenyldiol-bridged bis(free base porphyrin): synthesis and chiroptical probing of asymmetric amino alcohols

A new type of bis(free base porphyrin) 1, in which two porphyrin units are attached to the 5,5′-positions of the 2,2′-biphenyldiol group, has been synthesized. It exhibits exciton-coupled bisignate circular dichroism (CD) spectra upon interaction with chiral amino alcohols. The chiral information from the stereogenic center of amino alcohols is introduced as a twist of the porphyrin units in 1 via hydrogen bonding interactions, detectable by the signal in the CD spectrum. Based on these findings, it is proposed that 1 should serve as a reporter unit of chiral sensor systems.     

Minimum augmentation of local edge-connectivity between vertices and vertex subsets in undirected graphs

Given an undirected multigraph G=(V,E), a family W of sets W⊆V of vertices (areas), and a requirement function r:W→Z⁺ (where Z⁺ is the set of nonnegative integers), we consider the problem of augmenting G by the smallest number of new edges so that the resulting graph has at least r(W) edge-disjoint paths between v and W for every pair of a vertex v∈V and an area W∈W. So far this problem was shown to be NP-hard in the uniform case of r(W)=1 for each W∈W, and polynomially solvable in the uniform case of r(W)=r?2 for each W∈W. In this paper, we show that the problem can be solved in time, even if r(W)?2 holds for each W∈W, where n=|V|, m=|{{u,v}|(u,v)∈E}|, p=|W|, and r^*=max{r(W)∣W∈W}.     

Temperature-driven oxygenation rate control by polymeric photosensitizer

A polymeric photosensitizer, poly(NIPAM-co-BP), consisting of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) and benzophenone (BP) units, demonstrates a temperature-controlled oxygenation activity in water. The system promotes a heat-induced oxygenation enhancement at <17 degrees C and suppression at >22 degrees C. This unprecedented photo-oxygenation activity is triggered by a heat-induced phase transition of the polymer from coil to micelle, and then to globule state, cleverly controlling the stability and diffusion of singlet oxygen and the location of substrate.