Achieving structured colour in inorganic systems: Learning from the natural world

Structural colour is observed in a number of naturally occurring minerals such as labradorite, bornite, hematite and ammolite, in addition to the well-known example of opal, the semi-precious gemstone. The origin of the structural colour is examined for these inorganic systems using electron microscopy to obtain structural information on the nanoscale. The structural colour that is observed in natural inorganic systems can be mimicked in synthetic inorganic systems, as exemplified by the synthetic opals reported herein. These systems exhibit stop bands, i.e. wavelength regions in which visible light cannot propagate, which show a shift in their wavelength location when the angle of the incident light is varied. When light-emitting phosphors and dyes are incorporated into the opal structures, their emission spectra are modified when the stop bands of the opals overlap the emission bands of the light-emitting materials.     

The Absolute Instability of Thin Wakes in an Incompressible/Compressible Fluid

RID="ID=" Communicated by P. HallAbstract:The absolute/convective instability of two-dimensional wakes forming behind a flat plate and near the trailing-edge of a thin wedge-shaped aerofoil in an incompressible/compressible fluid is investigated. The mean velocity profiles are obtained by solving numerically the classical compressible boundary-layer equations with a negative pressure gradient for the flat plate case, and the incompressible triple-deck equations for a thin wedge-shaped trailing-edge. In addition for a Joukowski aerofoil the incompressible mean boundary-layer flow in the vicinity of the trailing-edge is also calculated by solving the interactive boundary-layer equations. A linear stability analysis of the boundary-layer profiles shows that a pocket of absolute instability occurs downstream of the trailing-edge with the extent of the instability region increasing with more adverse pressure gradients. The region of absolute instability persists along the near-wake axis, while the majority of the wake is convectively unstable. For a thin wedge-shaped trailing-edge in an incompressible fluid, a similar stability analysis of the velocity profiles obtained via a composite expansion, also shows the occurrence of absolute instability behind the trailing-edge for a wedge angle greater than a critical value. For increasing values of the wedge angle and for thicker aerofoils, separation takes place near the trailing-edge and the extent of absolute instability increases. Calculations also show that for insulated plates compressibility has a stabilizing effect but cooling the wall destabilizes the flow unlike wall heating.} Received 11 May 1998 and accepted 25 February 1999     

Contact charge accumulation and separation discharge

The cumulative triboelectrification of solids by repeated contact and separation is not completely understood. For nominally identical contact, the transferred charge often requires multiple cycles to saturate, and in some cases does not saturate at all. Several explanations have been proposed for this behaviour, but quantitative validation is complicated by the potentially dominant role of separation discharge. This paper presents a new method for controlling or suppressing the discharge, without affecting the initial transferred charge. The phenomenon of separation discharge is described, and its effect on charge accumulation speculated upon. The proposed charge measurement technique is then discussed quantitatively. Lastly, the design and construction of a prototype experimental apparatus are described.     

Simple methodology for the therapeutic drug monitoring of the tyrosine kinase inhibitors dasatinib and imatinib

A simple HPLC method has been developed to measure imatinib and N‐desmethylimatinib (norimatinib) in plasma or serum at concentrations attained during therapy. Adaptation of this method to LC‐MS/MS also allows dasatinib assay. A small sample volume (100 μL HPLC‐UV, 50 μL LC‐MS/MS) is required and analysis time is <5 min in each case. Detection was by UV (270 nm) or selective reaction monitoring (two transitions per analyte) tandem mass spectrometry. Assay calibration was linear (0.05–10 mg/L imatinib, 0.01–2.0 mg/L norimatinib and 1–200 µg/L dasatinib), with acceptable accuracy (86–114%) and precision (<14% RSD) for both methods. A comparison between whole blood and plasma confirmed that plasma is the preferred sample for imatinib and norimatinib assay. For dasatinib, although whole blood concentrations were slightly higher, plasma is still the preferred sample. Despite considerable variation in the (median, range) plasma imatinib and norimatinib concentrations in patient samples [1.66 (0.02–4.96) and 0.32 (0.01–0.99) mg/L, respectively, N = 104], plasma imatinib was >1 mg/L (suggested target for response) in all but one sample from patients achieving complete molecular response. As to dasatinib, the median (range) plasma dasatinib concentration was 13 (2‐143) µg/L (N = 33). More observations are needed to properly assess the potential role of therapeutic drug monitoring in guiding treatment with dasatinib. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Lipase-catalyzed Irreversible Transesterification of Secondary Alcohols Using Isopropenyl Acetate

Summary. Asymmetric acetylation of a set of secondary alcohols with the innocuous acyl donor isopropenyl acetate catalyzed by a lipase from Pseudomonas cepacia immobilized on ceramic particles (PSL-C) in toluene as organic medium afforded the chiral alcohols and the corresponding acetates in high enantiomeric excess (up to 99%). An effective baseline separation of the enantiomers of both substrate and product was performed in one analysis without derivatization using gas chromatography on a new chiral stationary phase (CSP) Chirasil--Dex containing an undecamethylene spacer (C11-Chirasil-Dex).Received November 27, 2002; accepted (revised) January 9, 2003 Published online June 2, 2003     

Analysis of soybean sapogenins by high-performance liquid chromatography

A method for the analysis of soybean sapogenins is described. The method is based on the extraction of soybean saponins from a defatted sample. The triterpene glycosides are then hydrolysed with subsequent analysis of the liberated sapogenins by high-performance liquid chromatography using gradient elution and mass detection. By use of a sapogenin/carbohydrate ratio, an estimate of the total saponin content can be made.     

Dopant ion size and electronic structure effects on transparent conducting oxides. Sc-doped CdO thin films grown by MOCVD

A series of Sc-doped CdO (CSO) thin films have been grown on both amorphous glass and single-crystal MgO(100) substrates at 400 degrees C by MOCVD. Both the experimental data and theoretical calculations indicate that Sc3+ doping shrinks the CdO lattice parameters due to its relatively small six-coordinate ionic radius, 0.89 angstroms, vs 1.09 angstroms for Cd2+. Conductivities as high as 18100 S/cm are achieved for CSO films grown on MgO(100) at a Sc doping level of 1.8 atom %. The CSO thin films exhibit an average transmittance >80% in the visible range. Sc3+ doping widens the optical band gap from 2.7 to 3.4 eV via a Burstein-Moss energy level shift, in agreement with the results of band structure calculations within the sX-LDA (screened-exchange local density approximation) formalism. Epitaxial CSO films on single-crystal MgO(100) exhibit significantly higher mobilities (up to 217 cm2/(V x s)) and carrier concentrations than films on glass, arguing that the epitaxial CSO films possess fewer scattering centers and higher doping efficiencies due to the highly textured microstructure. Finally, the band structure calculations provide a microscopic explanation for the observed dopant size effects on the structural, electronic, and optical properties of CSO.     

A new cytotoxic and tubulin-interactive milnamide derivative from a marine sponge Cymbastela sp

[structure: see text] The crude methanol extract of a marine sponge Cymbastela sp. collected in Papua New Guinea was selected for chemical investigation due to its significant cytotoxicity. Fractionation of the extract led to the isolation of jaspamide (1), hemiasterlin (2), milnamide A (3), and a new metabolite, milnamide D (4). The structure was solved by interpretation of NMR and mass spectra data. The cytotoxic and antitubulin activities of milnamide D (4) were evaluated.