Synthesis and reactivity of β-cyclodextrin-histamine as enzyme model

Cyclodextrin (CD) has a hydrophobic cavity which acts like a binding site of an actual enzyme. But enzymatic turnover reaction did not occur in CD-catalyzed reactions. -CD was modified by a histamine group to attach a reactive functional group. -CD-histamine accelerates the hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl acetate. Catalytic rate constant of this reaction is close to an actual enzyme, -chymotrypsin. Enzymatic turnover reaction is realized with this compound at around neutral pH value.     

Effect of conformational heterogeneity on excitation energy transfer efficiency in directly meso-meso linked Zn(II) porphyrin arrays

We have investigated the overall excitation energy relaxation dynamics in linear porphyrin arrays as well as the energy transport phenomena by attaching an energy acceptor to one end of a linear porphyrin array by using steady state and time-resolved spectroscopic measurements. We have revealed that the solvation dynamics as well as the conformational dynamics contributes significantly to the energy relaxation processes of linear porphyrin arrays. Consequently, long porphyrin arrays no longer serve as good energy transmission elements in donor-acceptor linked systems due to conformational heterogeneities which provide the non-radiative deactivation channels as energy quenchers.     

Dispersion-based short-time Fourier transform applied to dispersive wave analysis

Although time-frequency analysis is effective for characterizing dispersive wave signals, the time-frequency tilings of most conventional analysis methods do not take into account dispersion phenomena. An adaptive time-frequency analysis method is introduced whose time-frequency tiling is determined with respect to the wave dispersion characteristics. In the dispersion-based time-frequency tiling, each time-frequency atom is adaptively rotated in the time-frequency plane, depending on the local wave dispersion. Although this idea can be useful in various problems, its application to the analysis of dispersive wave signals has not been made. In this work, the adaptive time-frequency method was applied to the analysis of dispersive elastic waves measured in waveguide experiments and a theoretical investigation on its time-frequency resolution was presented. The time-frequency resolution of the proposed transform was then compared with that of the standard short-time Fourier transform to show its effectiveness in dealing with dispersive wave signals. In addition, to facilitate the adaptive time-frequency analysis of experimentally measured signals whose dispersion relations are not known, an iterative scheme for determining the relationships was developed. The validity of the present approach in dealing with dispersive waves was verified experimentally.     

Torsional wave experiments with a new magnetostrictive transducer configuration

For the efficient long-range nondestructive structural health inspection of pipes, guided waves have become widely used. Among the various guided wave modes, the torsional wave is most preferred since its first branch is nondispersive. Our objective in this work is to develop a new magnetostrictive transducer configuration to transmit and receive torsional waves in cylindrical waveguides. The conventional magnetostrictive transducer for the generation and measurement of torsional waves consists of solenoid coils and a nickel strip bonded circumferentially to test pipes. The strip must be premagnetized by a permanent magnet before actual measurements. Because of the premagnetization, the transducer is not suitable for the long-term on-line monitoring of pipes buried underground. To avoid the cumbersome premagnetization and to improve the transduction efficiency, we propose a new transducer configuration using several pieces of nickel strips installed at 45 degrees with respect to the pipe axis. If a static bias magnetic field is also applied, the transducer output can be substantially increased. Several experiments were conducted to study the performance of the proposed transducer configuration. The proposed transducer configuration was also applied for damage detection in an aluminum pipe.     

Quantum opacity, the RHIC Hanbury Brown-Twiss puzzle, and the chiral phase transition

We present a relativistic quantum-mechanical treatment of opacity and refractive effects that allows reproduction of observables measured in two-pion Hanbury Brown-Twiss (HBT) interferometry and pion spectra at RHIC. The inferred emission duration is substantial. The results are consistent with the emission of pions from a system that has a restored chiral symmetry.     

Self-consistent generation of superthermal electrons by beam-plasma interaction

It has been known since the early days of plasma physics research that superthermal electrons are generated during beam-plasma laboratory experiments. Superthermal electrons (the kappa distribution) are also ubiquitously observed in space. To explain such a feature, various particle acceleration mechanisms have been proposed. However, self-consistent acceleration of electrons in the context of plasma kinetic theory has not been demonstrated to date. This Letter reports such a demonstration. It is shown that the collisionality, defined via the "plasma parameter" g=1/n(lambda(D)(3), plays a pivotal role. It is found that a small but moderately finite value of is necessary for the superthermal tail to be generated, implying that purely collisionless (g=0) Vlasov theory cannot produce a superthermal population.     

Novel electronic structure of inhomogeneous quantum wires on a Si surface

A one-dimensional system of Si(111)-(5 x 2)-Au is explored using scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. The chain of Si adatoms called bright protrusions (BP's) is found to be semiconducting with an evanescent state in the gap, which originates from adjoining metallic BP-free segments. A quantitative analysis shows that the evanescent state decays in inverse-Gaussian form, leading to an appearance of a parabolic BP chain, and scales to its chain length. Spatial decay of the state suggests a quadratic band bending and the existence of a Schottky-like potential barrier at the interface driven by charge transfer.