Effect of crystallite size on the thermal phase change and porous properties of boehmite

The effect of crystallite size on the thermal phase change and porous properties of boehmite was investigated using boehmites with crystallite sizes of 2.9 to 24.4 nm and boehmite gels prepared by precipitation and hydrothermal methods. The dehydroxylation temperature of boehmite increases, its phase transition temperature from gamma- to theta-Al(2)O(3) decreases and the theta- to alpha-Al(2)O(3) transition temperature increases as the crystallite size of the boehmite increases. Boehmite with a crystallite size of approximately 5 nm shows the highest specific surface area and greatest thermal stability. This boehmite contains pores of about 2-3 nm radius, suggested to be responsible for the superior porous properties and thermal stability.     

Influence of bubble clustering on multibubble sonoluminescence

Influence of clustering of cavitation bubbles on multibubble sonoluminescence (MBSL) in standing wave fields is studied through measurement of MBSL intensity with a photomultiplier tube and observation of corresponding bubble behavior with a high-speed video camera and an intensified charge-coupled device one. It is clarified that, when the SL is quenched suddenly at excessive ultrasonic power, the behavior of bubbles clearly changes; the bubbles which form dendritic branches of filaments change into clusters due to the secondary Bjerknes force. The cluster is composed of several bubbles surrounded by many tiny bubbles, in which bubbles repeatedly coalesce and fragment, and run away from pressure antinodes. When the clusters are broken up by forced fluid motion, the quenching of MBSL is suppressed.     

Spin distributions in the vibrational excitations of closed-shell nuclei

Self-consistent Hartree-Fock and RPA calculations with the Skyrme-type interaction SGII are used for a systematic investigation of the 1⁺ and the triplet 0^?, 1^?, 2^? states in ⁴⁰Ca and ²⁰⁸Pb. Response functions to spin-dependent multipole operators are calculated and the particle-hole structure of the spin-dependent collective states is studied. Collective spin-dependent 0^? and 1^? states above the giant dipole resonance as well as a collective spin-independent 2^? state (twist mode) are identified. Transition spin and current densities are calculated for the collective excitations and found to be useful for the study of these excitation modes.     

Dual Meissner effect and magnetic displacement currents

The dual Meissner effect is observed without monopoles in quenched SU(2) QCD with Landau gauge fixing. Magnetic displacement currents that are time-dependent Abelian magnetic fields act as solenoidal currents squeezing Abelian electric fields. Monopoles are not always necessary for the dual Meissner effect. A mean-field calculation suggests that the dual Meissner effect through the mass generation of the Abelian electric field is related to a gluon condensate A(a)(mu)A(a)(mu) not equal 0 of mass dimension 2.     

Improved sensitivity for insulin in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry by premixing alpha-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid matrix with transferrin

This report describes an enhancement of the signal intensities of proteins and peptides in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOFMS). When alpha-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (CHCA) premixed with human transferrin (Tf) was used as a matrix, the signal intensity of insulin was amplified to more than ten times that of the respective control in CHCA without Tf. The detection limit of insulin was 0.39 fmol on-probe in the presence of Tf, while it was 6.3 fmol in the absence of Tf. The signal intensity of insulin was also enhanced when the CHCA matrix was premixed with proteins other than Tf (80 kDa), such as horse ferritin (20 kDa), bovine serum albumin (BSA, 66 kDa), or human immunoglobulin G (150 kDa). The optimum spectrum of insulin was obtained when the added amount of protein was in the range 0.26-0.62 pmol, regardless of the molecular weight of the added protein. Tf and BSA outperformed the other tested proteins, as determined by improvements in the resulting spectra. When the mass spectra of several peptides and proteins were recorded in the presence of Tf or BSA, the signal intensities of large peptides such as glucagon were enhanced, though those of smaller peptides were not enhanced. In addition, the signal enhancement achieved with Tf and BSA was more pronounced for the proteins, including cytochrome C, than for the large peptides. This enhancement effect could be applied to improve the sensitivity of MALDI-TOFMS to large peptides and proteins.     

Total synthesis of ingenol

A total synthesis of the biologically important diterpene ingenol has been completed. Ring-closing olefin metathesis was used to construct the strained "inside-outside" tetracyclic skeleton, and a series of diastereoselective reactions were employed to complete the synthesis. Another naturally occurring ingenane, 20-deoxyingenol, has also been prepared.     

The first samarium(II)-mediated aryl radical cyclisation onto an aromatic ring

Intramolecular arylation of aryl radicals was mediated by SmI(2)/HMPA in the presence of i-PrOH to give spirocycles and/or reduced cine-cyclised products, while the reaction in the absence of i-PrOH gave the rearomatised fused rings.     

Gluonic excitation of the three-quark system in SU(3) lattice QCD

We present the first study of the gluonic excitation in the three-quark (3Q) system in SU(3) lattice QCD with beta=5.8 and 16(3) x 32 at the quenched level. For the spatially fixed 3Q system, we measure the gluonic excited-state potential, which is responsible for the properties of hybrid baryons. The lowest gluonic-excitation energy in the 3Q system is found to be about 1 GeV in the hadronic scale. This large gluonic-excitation energy is expected to bring about the success of the simple quark model without gluonic modes.     

Synthesis and evaluation of 6-nitro-7-(1-piperazino)quinazolines: dual-acting compounds with inhibitory activities toward both tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) production and T cell proliferation

We investigated the chemical modifications of the nitroquinazoline derivative (1) through the replacement of the NH group at the C(4)-position with several N-alkyl groups to increase the lipophilicity at the C(4)-position. Among them, we found that the N-methyl analogue (5a) showed a 2-fold loss in the inhibitory activity toward tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) production in vitro as compared with the NH analogue (1); however, 5a exhibited an oral inhibitory activity on TNF-alpha production with an ED50 value of 26 mg/kg, whereas 1 did not. Moreover, the oral bioavailability of 5a was higher than that of 1 (1, F=1%; 5a, F=21%), and the calculated ClogP value for 5a was higher than that for 1. These results suggest that the improved lipophilicity of 5a compared with that of 1 reflects its greater inhibitory activity on TNF-alpha production in vivo as well as oral bioavailability.