A new water-soluble chromogenic indicator: an application to the determination of chlorine in aqueous solutions.

A novel compound, N,N'-bis(2,4-di-sulfobenzyl)tolidine tetrasodium salt (SBT), was synthesized for use as a chromogenic indicator for oxidizing substances, and its applicability to the colorimetric determination of chlorine in water was examined.     

Flow-induced soliton lattice in superfluid 3He-A

It is shown that in the presence of superflow, υ_s, parallel to a strong magnetic field H (|H| ? 20 Oe), the uniform texture becomes unstable againts the formation of a one dimensional soliton lattice forυ_s ? υ_c2 (≈1 mm/s). The period of the resulting soliton lattice as well as the related NMR frequencies are determined as functions of υ_s.     

Micropatterning of ZnO nanoarrays by forced hydrolysis of anhydrous zinc acetate

Micropatterns of ZnO nanoarrays were simply and successfully fabricated in an aqueous solution without any high-temperature treatment and/or expensive catalyst. In situ forced hydrolysis of patterned anhydrous zinc acetate, derived by ultraviolet irradiation with a photomask, resulted in heterogeneous nucleation and growth to form ZnO nanoarrays. Micropatterns of ZnO nanoarrays were characterized by FE-SEM and XRD. ZnO nanoarrays were well site-selectively deposited on anhydrous zinc acetate coated regions at 88 degrees C. HR-TEM clarified the formation mechanism in which anhydrous zinc acetate showed a tendency of forced hydrolyzation to ZnO nanocrystals at the initial stage in the reaction solution.     

On-chip screening method for cell migration genes based on a transfection microarray

Cell migration plays a major role in a variety of biological processes and a detailed understanding of associated mechanisms should lead to advances in the medical sciences, for example, in drug discovery for cancer therapy. However, the traditional methods used for analysis of cell migration cannot easily be scaled up for high-throughput screening. In this study, we have attempted to develop a novel simple method for high-throughput phenotypic screening for the identification of genes that are required for cell migration. As the appropriate cell line for the method, we found NBT-L2b cells that would be suitable for screening of migration-related genes in our method without influence by other cellular processes. Moreover, the idea for printing both the labeled fibronectin, for identification of the starting region of a cell, and the green fluorescent protein (GFP) expression vector, for identification of cells that had been transfected with siRNA and of the end point of migration, brings a rapid and efficient high-throughput screening procedure. Our new method will lead to an enhanced understanding of cell migration.     

Coexistence of two aggregation modes in exotic liquid-crystalline superstructure: systematic maximum entropy analysis for cubic mesogen, 1,2-bis(4'-n-alkoxybenzoyl)hydrazine [BABH(n)

Structure of a complex superstructure self-organized by thermotropic mesogen, 1,2-bis(4'- n-alkoxybenzoyl)hydrazine [BABH(n), where n is the number of carbon atoms in an alkoxy chain] was studied while paying special attention to the structure at the molecular level. Maximum entropy (MEM) analysis revealed that the molecular cores form two kinds of aggregates: Jungle gym with 3-fold junctions roughly on P minimal surface and spherical shells.     

Polaron dynamics of heavily doped regioregular and regiorandom poly(3-alkylthiophenes) revealed by electron spin resonance spectroscopy

Electron spin resonance (ESR) features in heavily doped conjugated polymers are investigated through the comparison of temperature dependences of ESR spectra between head-to-tail coupled regioregular (RR) and regiorandom (RRa) poly(3-octylthiophenes) (P3OTs). RR-P3OT, used as a model of having crystalline grains in the solid film, is found to exhibit anisotropic ESR spectra, whereas RRa-P3OT gives almost isotropic ESR spectra similar to those of usual heavily doped conjugated polymers. This difference in the degree of spectral anisotropy primarily arises from a difference in their film morphology. Spectral simulations show the anisotropy observed in RR-P3OT to be caused by g-anisotropy. The presence of the g-anisotropy in RR-P3OT indicates that its polarons spend most of the time within a single crystalline grain that has some domains with a common direction of the g-tensor. The g-anisotropy turns out to decrease with increasing temperature. This result is explained by thermally activated hopping motions between crystalline grains. We emphasize that the decrease in the g-anisotropy with temperature should be associated with its activated type of temperature dependence of conductivity. In RRa-P3OT, its isotropic ESR spectra are suggested to be caused by the interchain motion as well as the intrachain one.     

Formulation study of intravesical oxybutynin instillation solution with enhanced retention in bladder

A formulation study of intravesical oxybutynin (OB) preparations was carried out in order to improve the effectiveness in intravesical instillation therapy for spastic neurogenetic bladder. Sodium hyaluronate (HYA) was introduced to enhance the muco-adhesiveness of the instillation preparation, and the physicochemical properties of the OB formulation were evaluated in comparison with a conventional formulation containing hydroxypropylcellulose (HPC). The viscous properties and in vitro adhesiveness increased with the amount of the polymeric additives, and retention properties of OB in rabbit bladder were comparable after addition of 0.4% HYA and 1.0% HPC. HYA was able to enhance the intravesical retention properties of OB instillation solution to a lesser degree than HPC, it seemed to be a useful additive in the OB instillation due to its safety and mucosal-protective effect.     

Qualitative PCR method for Roundup Ready soybean: interlaboratory study

Quantitative and qualitative methods based on PCR have been developed for genetically modified organisms (GMO). Interlaboratory studies were previously conducted for GMO quantitative methods; in this study, an interlaboratory study was conducted for a qualitative method for a GM soybean, Roundup Ready soy (RR soy), with primer pairs designed for the quantitative method of RR soy studied previously. Fourteen laboratories in Japan participated. Each participant extracted DNA from 1.0 g each of the soy samples containing 0, 0.05, and 0.10% of RR soy, and performed PCR with primer pairs for an internal control gene (Le1) and RR soy followed by agarose gel electrophoresis. The PCR product amplified in this PCR system for Le1 was detected from all samples. The sensitivity, specificity, and false-negative and false-positive rates of the method were obtained from the results of RR soy detection. False-negative rates at the level of 0.05 and 0.10% of the RR soy samples were 6.0 and 2.3%, respectively, revealing that the LOD of the method was somewhat below 0.10%. The current study demonstrated that the qualitative method would be practical for monitoring the labeling system of GM soy in kernel lots.