Noncovalent Intermolecular Interaction in Cofacially Stacked 24π Antiaromatic Hexaphyrin Dimer

π–π Stacking is omnipresent not only in nature but in a wide variety of practical fields applied to our lives. Because of its importance in a performance of natural and artificial systems, such as light harvesting system and working layer in device, many researchers have put intensive effort into identifying its underlying nature. However, for the case of π–π stacked systems composed of antiaromatic units, the understanding of the fundamental mechanisms is still unclear. Herein, we synthesized a new type of planar β,β’-phenylene-bridged hexaphyrin (1.0.1.0.1.0), referred as naphthorosarin which possesses the 24π-electron conjugated pathway. Especially, the corresponding antiaromatic porphyrinoid shows the unique property to form dimeric species adopting the face-to-face geometry which is unprecedented in cases of known annulated naphthorosarins. In order to elucidate the intriguing properties derived from the stacked dimer, the current study focuses on the experimental support to rationalize the observed π–π interactions between the two subunits.     

A.第十九届国际高速摄影和光子学会议概况

本文对第19届国际高速摄影与光子学会议做了简介,主要谈到了光机式相机、高速视频技术、全息和干涉计量。     

直流电机的数字同步锁相

在某高速摄影机中,我们采用了同步数字锁相环路,本文叙述该机中直流电机的数字同步锁相原理及其所用数字相位误差积分器线路的构成。     

Signature invariants of covering links

We apply the theory of signature invariants of links in rational homology spheres to covering links of homology boundary links. From patterns and Seifert matrices of homology boundary links, we derive an explicit formula to compute signature invariants of their covering links. Using the formula, we produce fused boundary links that are positive mutants of ribbon links but are not concordant to boundary links. We also show that for any finite collection of patterns, there are homology boundary links that are not concordant to any homology boundary links admitting a pattern in the collection.

     

Understanding the junction degradation mechanism in CdS/CdTe solar cells using a Cd-deficient CdTe layer

It is known that CdTe solar cells are often degraded under solar illumination. But the degradation mechanism is not fully proved because it does not appear consistently. The junction degradation in CdS/CdTe solar cells was investigated using a CdTe layer with Cd deficient composition, where Cd vacancy concentration is high. It was found that the Cu atoms easily filled the Cd vacancies in CdTe and transport to junction area from Cu back contact. PL measurement and spectral quantum efficiency measurement showed that the incorporation of Cu atoms in CdS forms a defect energy level at 1.55 eV below the conduction band in CdS. As a result, the junction built-in potential is decreased and light penetration into CdTe absorber is shielded. For reliable and stable CdTe cells, the formation of Cd vacancy in CdTe should be avoided by careful control of CdTe.     

An inverse backward problem for degenerate parabolic equations

This work studies the inverse problem of reconstructing an initial value function in the degenerate parabolic equation using the final measurement data. Problems of this type have important applications in the field of financial engineering. Being different from other inverse backward parabolic problems, the mathematical model in our article may be allowed to degenerate at some part of boundaries, which may lead to the corresponding boundary conditions missing. The conditional stability of the solution is obtained using the logarithmic convexity method. A finite difference scheme is constructed to solve the direct problem and the corresponding stability and convergence are proved. The Landweber iteration algorithm is applied to the inverse problem and some typical numerical experiments are also performed in the paper. The numerical results show that the proposed method is stable and the unknown initial value is recovered very well.© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 33: 1900–1923, 2017     

Free‐Standing Membranes to Study the Optical Properties of Anodic TiO2 Nanotube Layers

In the present work we investigate various optical properties (such as light absorption and reflectance) of anodic TiO₂ nanotube layers directly transferred as self‐standing membranes onto quartz substrates. This allows investigation in a transmission geometry which provides significantly more reliable data than measurements on the metallic Ti substrate. Light transmission and reflectance measurements were carried out for layers of thickness varying from 1.8 to 50 μm, and the layers were investigated in their amorphous and crystalline forms. A series of wavelength‐dependent light attenuation coefficients are extrapolated and found to match the photocurrent versus irradiation wavelength behavior. A feature specific to anodic nanotubes is that their intrinsic carbon contamination content causes a proportional sub‐bandgap response. Overall, the extracted data provide a valuable basis and understanding for the design of photo‐electrochemical devices based on TiO₂ nanotubes.     

Co-localization and interaction of human organic anion transporter 4 with caveolin-1 in primary cultured human placental trophoblasts

The human organic anion transporter 4 (hOAT4) has been identified as the fourth isoform of OAT family. hOAT4 contributes to move several negatively charged organic compounds between cells and their extracellular milieu. The functional characteristics and regulatory mechanisms of hOAT4 remain to be elucidated. It is well known that caveolin plays a role in modulating proteins having some biological functions. To address this issue, we investigated the co-localization and interaction between hOAT4 and caveolin-1. hOAT4 and caveolin-1 (mRNA and protein expression) were observed in cultured human placental trophoblasts isolated from placenta. The confocal microscopy of immuno-cytochemistry using primary cultured human trophoblasts showed hOAT4 and caveolin-1 were co-localized at the plasma membrane of the cell. This finding was confirmed by Western blot analysis using isolated caveolae-enriched membrane fractions and immune-precipitates from the trophoblasts. When synthesized cRNA of hOAT4 along with scrambled- or antisense-oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) of Xenopus caveolin-1 were co-injected to Xenopus oocytes, the [3H]estrone sulfate uptake was significantly decreased by the co-injection of antisense ODN but not by scrambled ODN. These findings suggest that hOAT4 and caveolin-1 share a cellular expression in the plasma membrane and caveolin-1 up-regulates the organic anionic compound uptake by hOAT4 under the normal physiological condition.     

Fabrication of nanoporous templates from diblock copolymer thin films on alkylchlorosilane-neutralized surfaces

The fabrication of nanoporous templates from poly(styrene)-b-poly(methyl methacrylate) diblock copolymer thin films (PS-b-PMMA, volume ratio 70:30) on silicon requires precise control of interfacial energies to achieve a perpendicular orientation of the PMMA cylindrical microdomains relative to the substrate. To provide a simple, rapid, yet tunable approach for surface neutralization, we investigated the self-assembled ordering of PS-b-PMMA diblock copolymer thin films on silicon substrates modified with a partial monolayer of octadecyldimethyl chlorosilane (ODMS), i.e., a layer of ODMS with a grafting density less than the maximum possible monolayer surface coverage. We demonstrate herein the fabrication of nanoporous PS templates from annealed PS-b-PMMA diblock copolymer thin films on these partial ODMS SAMs.     

Analysis of fatty acids in sputum from patients with pulmonary tuberculosis using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry preceded by solid-phase microextraction and post-derivatization on the fiber

A method based on solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and post-derivatization on the fiber coupled to gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) was developed for the analysis of fatty acids in sputum from patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. The sputum specimens were digested, hydrolyzed, extracted, derivertized, injected and analyzed without cultivation or isolation of the microorganism. Under optimized conditions, the relative standard deviations (RSD, n = 5) for all analytes were below 17% and the limits of detection varied from 1.68 (C_24:0) to 150.4 μg L⁻¹ (C_12:0). Good linearity was observed for all the fatty acids studied except for C_12:0 within a wide concentration range of three orders of magnitudes with the correlation coefficients ranging from 0.91 (C_24:0) to 0.99 (C_14:0). Fatty acids in sputum specimens from 21 persons were directly analyzed using the proposed method. The results show that in all the sputum specimens from patients, who were clinically diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB), tuberculosis stearic acid (TBSA) was detected, while in all the sputum samples from persons without TB, TBSA was not found. The possibility of using the proposed method to detect mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) via the identification of TBSA in sputum was discussed. The comparison with other methods including sputum culture and microscopy of direct smears indicated that the proposed method is fast and sensitive for the analysis of fatty acids in sputum and offers an alternative for the detection of MTB in sputum.