Structure of birational automorphism groups,I: non-uniruled varieties

Supported in part by the Educational Project for Japanese Mathematical Scientists     

Metal-complexed nanofiber formation in water from dicarboxylic valylvaline bolaamphiphiles

Nanofiber formation of dipeptide-based bolaamphiphiles, bis (N-alpha-amide--valyl--valine) 1,n-alkane dicarboxylate (n=6, 8, 10, and 12) in water was analyzed by TEM, SEM, IR, and XRD. The bolaamphiphiles proved to be coordinated to divalent transition-metal cations, such as Co2+, Ni2+, Cu2+, and Zn2+, giving precipitates, colloidal dispersions (loose hydrogels), and hydrogels upon self-assembly at 23 or 70 degrees C. Longer oligomethylene chains and strong interaction between the metal cations and the carboxylate anions are responsible for the hydrogel formation. Energy-filtering transmission electron microscopy (EF-TEM) and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (EF-SEM) images revealed that the colloidal dispersions and the hydrogels consist of a large number of nanofibers with widths of 15-20 nm and lengths of several micrometers. FT-IR and powder XRD measurement supported the existence of a beta-sheet structure-based nanofibers complexing with metal cations.     

Synthesis of 1-benzothiepine and 1-benzazepine derivatives as orally active CCR5 antagonists

Quaternary ammonium benzocycloheptene compound 1 has previously been reported as a clinical candidate for an injectable CCR5 antagonist. In order to develop an orally active CCR5 antagonist, derivatives of tertiary amine benzocycloheptene 2, the chemical precursor to 1, were investigated. The benzocycloheptene ring was converted to benzothiepine and benzazepine rings and it was found that these changes could enhance the potency of tertiary amine derivatives. In particular, the 1-benzothiepine-1,1-dioxide 11b and the N-methyl-1-benzazepine 18 showed increased activity and good preliminary pharmacokinetic properties. The synthesis of 1-benzothiepine and 1-benzazepine derivatives and their activity are described.     

Monomeric metal aqua complexes in the interlayer space of montmorillonites as strong Lewis acid catalysts for heterogeneous carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions

Montmorillonite-enwrapped copper and scandium catalysts (Cu(2+)- and Sc(3+)-monts) were easily prepared by treating Na(+)-mont with the aqueous solution of the copper nitrate and scandium triflate, respectively. The resulting Cu(2+)- and Sc(3+)-monts showed outstanding catalytic activities for a variety of carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions, such as the Michael reaction, the Sakurai-Hosomi allylation, and the Diels-Alder reaction, under solvent-free or aqueous conditions. The remarkable activity of the mont catalysts is attributable to the negatively charged silicate layers that are capable of stabilizing metal cations. Furthermore, these catalysts were reusable without any appreciable loss in activity and selectivity. The Cu(2+)-mont-catalyzed Michael reaction proceeds via a ternary complex in which both the 1,3-dicarbonyl compound and the enone are coordinated to a Lewis acid Cu(2+) center.     

Truncated microsupport and holomorphic solutions of D-modules

We study the truncated microsupport SS_k of sheaves on a real manifold. Applying our results to the case of , the complex of holomorphic solutions of a coherent -module , we show that SS_k(F) is completely determined by the characteristic variety of . As an application, we obtain an extension theorem for the sections of H^j(F), j<d, defined on an open subset whose boundary is non-characteristic outside of a complex analytic subvariety of codimension d. We also give a characterization of the perversity for -constructible sheaves in terms of their truncated microsupports.     

Elastic response of single DNA molecules exhibits a reentrant collapsing transition

We measured the elastic response of single DNA molecules at various concentrations of the trivalent cation, spermidine. When added spermidine caused the DNA to collapse, the force-extension curves showed either plateaus or stick-release patterns depending on the concentration. The periodic stick-release response determines a characteristic length, which may reflect toroidal supercoiling. At high concentrations of spermidine, we observed the reelongation of single molecules of collapsed DNA. Thus condensation occurs between lower and upper critical concentrations, verifying that the transition is reentrant as theoretically predicted.     

Nitration of 2'-deoxyguanosine by a NO/O2 gas mixture: identification and characterization of N2-nitro-2'-deoxyguanosine

[reaction: see text] A gas mixture of NO and O(2) was bubbled into 2'-deoxyguanosine solution at neutral pH and 37 degrees C. A novel nitrated nucleoside was generated in the reaction mixture in addition to 8-nitroguanine, 8-nitroxanthine, 2'-deoxyxanthosine, xanthine, and guanine. The novel nucleoside was identified as N(2)-nitro-2'-deoxyguanosine by spectrometric data.