Structures and electronic transport on silicon surfaces

By utilizing a variety of surface superstructures formed on silicon surfaces and atomic layers grown on them, close correlations between the atomic-scale structures and electrical conduction phenomena at the surfaces have been revealed. State-of-art techniques for analyzing and controlling atomic/electronic structures of surfaces are leading to an understanding of the novel electronic transport properties at surfaces. For example, the electrical conduction through surface-state bands, which are inherent in the surface superstructure, has been confirmed in in-situ measurements. An important phenomenon has also been found, where adatoms donate carriers into the surface-state band, resulting in a remarkable enhancement in electrical conductance. The nucleation of the adatoms diminishes such a doping effect. Furthermore, electrical conduction through atomic layers grown on the surfaces, whose growth structures are sensitive to the substrate surface structures, will be also discussed. In this review, we emphasize that the surface electronic transport properties are closely related to the atomic structures and atomistic dynamics on surfaces. The ultimate two-dimensional electron systems, consisting of the surface-state bands and grown atomic layers, are expected to provide a new stage in surface physics, as well as a precursory stage leading to atomic-scale electronics devices.     

Hydrolytic cleavage of pyroglutamyl-peptide bond. V. selective removal of pyroglutamic acid from biologically active pyroglutamylpeptides in high concentrations of aqueous methanesulfonic acid

Application of aqueous methanesulfonic acid (MSA) for selective chemical removal of pyroglutamic acid (pGlu) residue from five biologically active pyroglutamyl-peptides (pGlu-X-peptides, X=amino acid residue at position 2) was examined. Gonadotropin releasing hormone (Gn-RH), dog neuromedin U-8 (d-NMU-8), physalaemin (PH), a bradykinin potentiating peptide (BPP-5a) and neurotensin (NT) as pGlu-X-peptides were incubated in either 70% or 90% aqueous MSA at 25 degrees C. HPLC analysis of the incubation solutions showed that the main decomposition product was H-X-peptide derived from each pGlu-X-peptide by the removal of pGlu. The results revealed that the pGlu-X peptide bond had higher susceptibility than various internal amide bonds in the five peptides examined, including the Trp-Ser bond in Gn-RH, the C-terminal Asn-NH(2) in d-NMU-8, and the Asp-Pro bond in PH, whose acid susceptibility is well known. Thus, mild hydrolysis with high concentrations of aqueous MSA may be applicable to chemically selective removal of pGlu from pGlu-X-peptides for structural examinations.     

A confocal set‐up for micro‐XRF and XAFS experiments using diamond‐anvil cells

A confocal set‐up is presented that improves micro‐XRF and XAFS experiments with high‐pressure diamond‐anvil cells (DACs). In this experiment a probing volume is defined by the focus of the incoming synchrotron radiation beam and that of a polycapillary X‐ray half‐lens with a very long working distance, which is placed in front of the fluorescence detector. This set‐up enhances the quality of the fluorescence and XAFS spectra, and thus the sensitivity for detecting elements at low concentrations. It efficiently suppresses signal from outside the sample chamber, which stems from elastic and inelastic scattering of the incoming beam by the diamond anvils as well as from excitation of fluorescence from the body of the DAC.     

Structure and magnetism in compressed iron–cobalt alloys

Combined Co K-edge XANES-XMCD and XRD measurements were used to shed light on the magnetic and structural phase diagram of the Fe_1?x Co _x alloy under HP in the Co-rich region (x≥0.5). At 0.5≤x≤0.75, the alloy shows a pressure-induced structural/magnetic phase transition from bcc-FM to hcp-non-FM phase just like pure iron but at higher pressures. The x=0.9 sample has an fcc structure in the pressure range investigated but presents an FM to non-FM transition at P=64 GPa, a significantly lower pressure compared with pure Co (predicted ≈120 GPa), showing that Fe impurities strongly affect the HP Co response.     

Bio‐reduction of Redox‐Sensitive Albumin Conjugates in FcRn‐Expressing Cells

Disulfide‐containing IgG‐, Fc‐, or albumin‐based prodrugs that rely on FcRn‐trafficking by endothelial cells for prolonged circulation in the body might be hampered by premature bio‐reduction processes during FcRn‐mediated recycling events. A detailed bio‐reduction analysis of redox‐sensitive albumin conjugates in two FcRn‐expressing cell lines has been performed. The obtained results indicate that the FcRn‐mediated recycling pathway is not (or is only poorly) bio‐reducing.     

Exact expressions for quantum corrections to spinning strings

The one-loop worldsheet quantum corrections to the energy of spinning strings on R×S³$\mathbb{R}\times S^3$ within AdS₅×S⁵${\mathit{AdS}}_5\times S^5$ are reexamined. The explicit expansion in the effective 't Hooft coupling λ^′=λ/J²${\lambda }^{\prime }=\lambda /J^2$ is rigorously derived. The expansion contains both analytic and non-analytic terms in λ^′${\lambda }^{\prime }$, as well as exponential corrections. Furthermore, we pin down the origin of the terms that are not captured by the quantum string Bethe ansatz, which only produces analytic terms in λ^′${\lambda }^{\prime }$. It is shown that the analytic terms arise from string fluctuations within the S³$S^3$, whereas the non-analytic and exponential terms, which are not captured by the Bethe ansatz, originate from the fluctuations in all directions within the supersymmetric sigma model on AdS₅×S⁵${\mathit{AdS}}_5\times S^5$. We also comment on the case of spinning string in AdS₃×S¹${\mathit{AdS}}_3\times S^1$.     

Contractile activity of porcine neuromedin U-25 and various neuromedin U-related peptide fragments on isolated chicken crop smooth muscle.

Contractile activity of porcine neuromedin U-25 (p-NMU-25) and various neuromedin U (NMU) peptide fragment amides was examined on chicken crop smooth muscle preparation. The relative activity (expressed as RA value) of p-NMU-25 to porcine neuromedin U-8 (p-NMU-8) was 5.51 +/- 0.09, and p-NMU-25 (15-25) was the most potent fragment with an RA value of 7.78 +/- 0.05. All C-terminal 11-peptide amides of rat, rabbit, and frog NMU peptides retained activity about three-fold higher than the corresponding C-terminal 8-peptide amides. The peptide segment Asn15-Arg-Arg17 of p-NMU-25, as well as the corresponding positions of various NMU peptides: Ser13-Gly-Gly15 of rat NMU and Ser15-Arg-Gly17 of rabbit and frog NMUs, appeared to be involved in the structural requirements for increased contractile activity in the assay system.     

On the relation between the entropy balance and the numerical solutions of systems of conservation laws

This work deals with the relation between the numerical solutions of hyperbolic systems of conservation laws and the associated entropy evolution. An analysis of the continuum problem by means of variational calculus clearly emphasizes the consequences of the adopted reconstruction procedure on the induced entropy balance. A methodology is proposed that allows for a posterior local and global spurious entropy production estimates on the basis of an additional equation representing a discrete approximation to the entropy inequality. The problem of defining a consistent approximation of the numerical entropy flux is also addressed in detail. Properly designed numerical experiments support the analysis and contribute to providing a more comprehensive evaluation of the numerical entropy dynamics. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Accuracy evaluation in temperature‐dependent EXAFS measurements of CdTe

The evaluation of uncertainty in temperature‐dependent EXAFS measurements is discussed, considering the specific case of a recent experiment performed on CdTe. EXAFS at both Cd and Te K‐edges was measured at different times and at different beamlines in a temperature range from 5 to 300 K. Attention is focused on the nearest‐neighbours parameters: bond thermal expansion, parallel and perpendicular mean‐square relative displacements and the third cumulant. Different causes of uncertainty, a comparison of experimental results with theoretical models, the difference between EXAFS and crystallographic thermal expansions and the meaning of the third cumulant are discussed.