A Hollow Foldecture with Truncated Trigonal Bipyramid Shape from the Self‐Assembly of an 11‐Helical Foldamer

The creation of self‐assembling microscale architectures that possess new and useful physical properties remains a significant challenge. Herein we report that an 11‐helical foldamer self‐assembles in a controlled manner to form a series of 3D foldectures with unusual three‐fold symmetrical shapes that are distinct from those generated from 12‐helical foldamers. The foldamer packing motif was revealed by powder X‐ray diffraction technique, and provides an important link between the molecular‐level symmetry and the microscale morphologies. The utility of foldectures with hollow interiors as robust and well‐defined supramolecular hosts was demonstrated for inorganic, organic, and even protein guests. This work will pave the way for the design of functional foldectures with greater 3D shape diversity and for the development of biocompatible delivery vehicles and containment vessels.     

A triazine compound S06 inhibits proinvasive crosstalk between carcinoma cells and stromal fibroblasts via binding to heat shock protein 90

Carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) promote tumor invasion by secreting soluble factors. A tagged triazine library was screened in our novel transwell coculture model of CAF and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). We discovered compound S06, which reduced OSCC invasion by inhibiting secretion of CAF-derived proinvasive chemokines. The N-terminus of Hsp90 was found to be the cellular target of S06. Importantly, S06 did not induce hepatic toxicity, a side effect associated with well-known Hsp90 inhibitors. Moreover, S06 inhibited tumor cell migration in a zebrafish xenograft model. Our results demonstrate that Hsp90 is a novel target for stromal-based therapy to modulate proinvasive molecular crosstalk within the tumor microenvironment. Furthermore, S06 represents a new class of Hsp90 inhibitor and is an attractive candidate for anticancer drug development.     

Raman fingerprint of doping due to metal adsorbates on graphene

The properties of single-layer graphene are strongly affected by metal adsorbates and clusters on graphene. Here, we study the effect of a thin layer of chromium (Cr) and titanium (Ti) metals on chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-grown graphene by using Raman spectroscopy and transport measurements. The Raman spectra and transport measurements show that both Cr and Ti metals affect the structure as well as the electronic properties of the CVD-grown graphene. The shift of peak frequencies, intensities and widths of the Raman bands are analyzed after the deposition of metal films of different thickness on CVD-grown graphene. The shifts in G and 2D peak positions indicate the doping effect of graphene by Cr and Ti metals. While p-type doping was observed for Cr-coated graphene, n-type doping was observed for Ti-coated graphene. The doping effect is also confirmed by measuring the gate voltage dependent resistivity of graphene. We have also found that annealing in Ar atmosphere induces a p-type doping effect on Cr- or Ti-coated CVD-grown graphene.     

Ball lens based lensed patch cord probes for optical coherence tomography in the field of dentistry

A lensed patch cord probe has been made with a ball lens packaged in a metal cylinder. By simply placing a ball lens directly in front of a fiber patch cord, a compact and potentially disposable sampling probe for optical coherence tomography (OCT) could be implemented. To achieve a sufficiently long working distance and a good transverse resolution simultaneously, the proper ball lens diameter and the distance between the ball lens and the fiber patch cord were investigated. Experimentally, a working distance of up to 5.2 mm, 3 dB bandwidth of 2 mm, and transverse resolution of 16 μm were achieved. With the patch cord probe, a common path swept source OCT system was implemented and used to demonstrate the feasibility as the dedicated probe for dentistry.     

Single-shot electronic optical activity interferometry: power and phase fluctuation-free measurement

We demonstrate that a single-pulse characterization of electronic optical activity-free induction decay, which carries information on both circular dichroism and optical rotatory dispersion, is experimentally feasible. Employing a self-referencing scheme, we show that a highly reliable interferometric chiroptical measurement free from power and phase fluctuations is achievable on a shot-by-shot basis.     

Effect of changing data size on eigenvalues in the Korean and Japanese stock markets

In this study, we attempted to determine how eigenvalues change, according to random matrix theory (RMT), in stock market data as the number of stocks comprising the correlation matrix changes. Specifically, we tested for changes in the eigenvalue properties as a function of the number and type of stocks in the correlation matrix. We determined that the value of the eigenvalue increases in proportion with the number of stocks. Furthermore, we noted that the largest eigenvalue maintains its identical properties, regardless of the number and type, whereas other eigenvalues evidence different features.     

Topological properties of stock networks based on minimal spanning tree and random matrix theory in financial time series

We investigated the topological properties of stock networks constructed by a minimal spanning tree. We compared the original stock network with the estimated network; the original network is obtained by the actual stock returns, while the estimated network is the correlation matrix created by random matrix theory. We found that the consistency between the two networks increases as more eigenvalues are considered. In addition, we suggested that the largest eigenvalue has a significant influence on the formation of stock networks.     

Biosynthesis, purification and characterization of silver nanoparticles using Escherichia coli

The application of nanoscale materials and structures, usually ranging from 1 to 100 nanometers (nm), is an emerging area of nanoscience and nanotechnology. Nanomaterials may provide solutions to technological and environmental challenges in the areas of solar energy conversion, catalysis, medicine, and water-treatment. The development of techniques for the controlled synthesis of nanoparticles of well-defined size, shape and composition, to be used in the biomedical field and areas such as optics and electronics, has become a big challenge. Development of reliable and eco-friendly processes for synthesis of metallic nanoparticles is an important step in the field of application of nanotechnology. One of the options to achieve this objective is to use ‘natural factories’ such as biological systems. This study reports the optimal conditions for maximum synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) through reduction of Ag⁺ ions by the culture supernatant of Escherichia coli. The synthesized silver nanoparticles were purified by using sucrose density gradient centrifugation. The purified sample was further characterized by UV–vis spectra, fluorescence spectroscopy and TEM. The purified solution yielded the maximum absorbance peak at 420 nm and the TEM characterization showed a uniform distribution of nanoparticles, with an average size of 50 nm. X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectrum of the silver nanoparticles exhibited 2θ values corresponding to the silver nanocrystal. The size-distribution of nanoparticles was determined using a particle-size analyzer and the average particle size was found to be 50 nm. This study also demonstrates that particle size could be controlled by varying the parameters such as temperature, pH and concentration of AgNO₃.     

Effects of fingerprint development reagents on subsequent DNA analysis

A variety of evidences are found at crime scenes. Fingerprint and DNA evidences are especially important in the process of identifying personal sources. Among evidences found at crime scenes, cigarette butts are important because they might contain both fingerprints and DNA. In this study, latent fingerprints were detected in cigarette butts using 1,8‐diazafluoren‐9‐one (DFO) and 1,2‐Indanedione/zinc chloride (1,2‐IND/Zn). Next, DNA extraction and real‐time qPCR were performed to quantify and identify the DNA present. Short tandem repeat (STR) profiling was also performed. The results showed that the quantity of DNA recovered was decreased by 16% in DFO‐treated cigarettes and by 27% in 1,2‐IND/Zn‐treated cigarettes when compared to untreated controls. When the STR profiling results were compared with those of the control sample, DFO, and 1,2‐IND/Zn reagent‐treated DNA samples showed individualized genotyping at several loci. Results of this study showed that when cigarette butts were found, DFO and 1,2‐IND/Zn reagents could be used for DNA profiling after fingerprint identification. However, the effect of DFO on STR profiling was less than that of 1,2‐IND/Zn. Therefore, we recommend the use of DFO for fingerprinting cigarette butts if further DNA processing is planned.     

Enhancement of optical nonlinearity in a guest-host system by nematic ordering

Second-harmonic generation (SHG) has been studied for understanding the enhancement mechanism for the second-order optical nonlinearity by the nematic (or axial) ordering in a liquid crystal doped with one-dimensional nonlinear optical (NLO) organic molecules. An extended version of the Maier-Saupe mean-field theory for nematic liquid crystals was developed to obtain analytical expressions for the second-order NLO coefficients in terms of the axial order, the polar order and the effective nematic potential. From the SHG data in a guest-host system composed ofN,N'-dimethylaminonitrostilbene molecules (0.5% by weight) and a liquid crystal, the enhancement of the second-order NLO coefficient,d ₃₃, by nematic ordering becomes almost 3, which agrees well with our theoretical predictions.