DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE OF THE OKAZAKI LARGE SPECTROGRAPH FOR PHOTOBIOLOGICAL RESEARCH

A computer-operated spectrograph was recently built at Okazaki, Japan. Different specimens can be placed on a horseshoe-shaped focal curve (10 m long) covering a wavelength range of 250 to 1000 nm so they can be irradiated simultaneously. The linear dispersion is about 0.8 nm/cm. The photon fluence rate on the focal curve is 5 x 10¹⁵. photons x cm^-2 x s^-1 at 300nm and 1 x 10¹⁶ photons x cm^-2 x s^-1 at 600 and at 900 nm. The spectral half width is 5.5 nm or less on the focal curve. The stray light content is about 10^-5 of the main peak at the peak wavelength ± 100 nm. Specimens are set in microcomputer-controlled threshold boxes so that wavelengths, photon fluence rates, photon fluences and timing of irradiations are controlled automatically according to a pre-programmed schedule. An optical fiber system is also provided for remote irradiations.     

Sensitive determination of diazepam and N-desmethyldiazepam in human material using capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

A reliable and sensitive capillary gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric method was developed for the detection and determination of diazepam and its major metabolite, N-desmethyldiazepam, in human material. Medazepam served as the internal standard. Quantitative determination was achieved using mass fragmentography with selected ions of m/z 256 for diazepam and m/z 242 for N-desmethyldiazepam and medazepam. The limit of detection was 1 ng/g and the recoveries were 98.54 +/- 3.95% for diazepam and 98.66 +/- 6.48% for N-desmethyldiazepam. The calibration graph was linear over the concentration range from 1.0 ng/g to 1.0 microgram/g for diazepam and N-desmethyldiazepam. Using this method, trace amounts of diazepam and N-desmethyldiazepam were detected in the tissues of an autopsied individual.     

Novel quinazoline ring synthesis by cycloaddition of N-arylketenimines with N,N-disubstituted cyanamides

The reaction of N-aryl-substituted ketenimines with N,N-disubstituted cyanamides or (MeS)2C=N-CN under high pressure afforded 4-(N,N-disubstituted amino) or 4-(MeS)2C=N-substituted quinazoline derivatives, respectively. These products were formed by [4+2] cycloaddition between the aza-diene moieties of the N-arylsubstituted ketenimines and cyano groups. A 4-(unsubstituted amino)quinazoline derivative was synthesized by hydrolysis of the latter product.     

Triplet-mediated coupling of 5-bromo-1,3-dimetrhyluracil to Nb-methoxycarbonyltryptamine involving a double electron transfer

On acetone-sensitization, 5-bromo-1,3-dimethyluracil ($\text{1}$ reacts with N^b-methoxycarbonyltryptamine ($\text{4}$ under the assistance of an electron carrier such as 2-methoxynaphthalene to give a coupling product $\text{6}$. A mechanism involving a double electron transfer via the triplet state of $\text{1}$ is proposed.     

Complex formation of amphiphilic polymers with azo dyes and their photoviscosity behavior

The hydrophobic interaction of amphiphilic copolymers, which contain 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate(HEMA) and 1vinyl-2-pyrrolidone (VPy), with Methyl Orange (MO) was compared with that of HEMA-acrylamide (AAm) copolymers to deduce the correlation between their complexation ability in a photochromic azo dye and the photoviscosity effect in aqueous copolymer/dye complex solution. On the basis of the dialysis data and fluorometric analysis it appeared that the complexation dependence on HEMA content in the copolymers was due to the hydrophobic interaction between the polymer and the dye. For a comparable HEMA content AAm copolymers bound less MO than VPy copolymers. It was confiied by photoviscosity measurements that the conformation of the complex composed of photochromic azo dye and HEMA copolymer changed reversibly in response to the photo- and thermal isomerization of the dye. In HEMA-AAm copolymer systems the photoviscosity effect was small compared with that of HEMA-VPy copolymer systems. From these results it was concluded that the complexation ability of polymers due to the hydrophobic interaction was an important factor in producing a large photoinduced conformational change in water.     

Radiation-induced emission from golden hamster embryo cells

Emission from high-energy-electron-irradiated golden hamster embryo (GHE) cells has been studied over the temperature range 12–300 K both by a one-shot-single-photon-counting method and by photocurrent measurements with an oscilloscope. Emission from the irradiated phosphate buffered saline (PBS) also has been studied. The emission spectra from PBS at 12 and 77 K show a maximum around 330 and 380 nm, respectively, which are the same spectra as those from irradiated pure H₂O. The emission from irradiated GHE consists of the new band at 480 nm in addition to the emission from H₂O. The 480 nm emission is observed at the temperature range of 12–300 K, though the emission at 300 K is much lower than that at low temperature. The 480 nm emission is ascribed to the transition from excited organic substances in GHE cells. The intensity of 480 nm emission at 300 K increases linearly with increasing irradiation-dose in the range of 11–600 Gy.     

Multiplex amplified product-length polymorphism analysis of 36 mitochondrial single-nucleotide polymorphisms for haplogrouping of East Asian populations

We present a reliable, rapid, and economical multiplex amplified product-length polymorphism (APLP) method for analyzing the haplogroup-diagnostic mitochondrial single-nucleotide polymorphisms (mtSNPs) in East Asian populations. By examining only 36 haplogroup-specific mtSNPs in the coding region by using four 9-multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and subsequent electrophoresis, we could safely assign 1815 individuals from 8 populations of Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Germans to 45 relevant haplogroups. This multiplex APLP analysis of coding-region mtSNPs for haplogrouping is especially useful not only for molecular phylogenetic studies but also for large-scale association studies due to its rapid and economical nature. This is the first panel of mtSNPs in the coding region to be used for haplogrouping of East Asian populations.     

Palladium-catalyzed reaction of allyl carbamates; allylation of carbonucleophiles,and protection-deprotection of amines

Allylation of carbonucleophiles with allylic carbamates under neutral conditions has been studied. The C-allylation of carbonucleophile is competitive with the N-allylation of amines, and the structure of amines is crucial for the selectivity. Bulky secondary amines gave the best results. Also a new method of protection-deprotection of amines as carbamates has been developed. Smooth deprotection is possible by the palladium-catalyzed reaction of allyl carbamates with formic acid. This method is particulary useful for primary amines, including optically active amino acids.     

Direct observation of the multistep helix formation of poly-L-glutamic acids

The helix formation dynamics of poly-L-glutamic acids (PGAs) were observed by the microsecond-resolved Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopies. The helix formation of 34-residue PGA from random coil at pH (or pD for FTIR) 8.0 was initiated by a pH jump to 4.9 using the rapid solution mixer whose mixing dead time is 50 micros. The amide I' line in the time-resolved FTIR spectra exhibited the fast (<100 micros) increase of the total helical content. The time-resolved CD spectra of the same process also showed the fast (<150 micros) formation of short helical segments (5 +/- 1 residues), which was followed by the slower (<1 ms) elongation of the short helices to longer helices (>10 residues). Similar dynamics were observed for the same pH jump of approximately 190-residue PGA, although there were additional steps that made the helix formation of approximately 190-residue PGA more complex. The observed multistep helix formation is likely caused by the strong hydrogen-bonding interactions between the protonated side chains of PGAs.     

A theoretical study of the dielectric solvent effect on vicinal spin coupling constants

The dielectric solvent effect on HCCH, HCNH and HCNC spin coupling constants in ethane, tetrachloroethane and trans N-methylformamide has been calculated by finite perturbation theory based on the INDO and CNDO/2 approximations incorporating solvaton theory. The available experimental data are interpreted using the calculated variations of spin coupling constants. The effect of dielectric constant on the general form of the Karplus relation is included in the finite perturbation calculations.