A Palladium‐Nanoparticle and Silicon‐Nanowire‐Array Hybrid: A Platform for Catalytic Heterogeneous Reactions

We report the development of a silicon nanowire array‐stabilized palladium nanoparticle catalyst, SiNA‐Pd. Its use in the palladium‐catalyzed Mizoroki‐Heck reaction, the hydrogenation of an alkene, the hydrogenolysis of nitrobenzene, the hydrosilylation of an α,β‐unsaturated ketone, and the C‐H bond functionalization reactions of thiophenes and indoles achieved a quantitative production with high reusability. The catalytic activity reached several hundred‐mol ppb of palladium, reaching a TON of 2 000 000.     

How is it possible to obtain buried interface information through very thick films using a hard-X-ray PEEM?

We analyze the excitation of secondary electrons by hard-X-rays in subsurface layers. By studying core-excited photoelectron lines and their plasmon satellites in photoemission spectra, we show how electrons excited by hard-X-rays can carry information from deep regions deep within the sample to the surface. It is believed that the decay of high-energy photoelectrons via plasmon-loss is strongly related to the production of secondary electrons. For high-energy electrons, however, the momentum transfer to plasmons is small compared to the electron’s initial momentum, so the lateral position on the surface from which the secondary electrons are emitted is close to that of the atom initially excited by the hard-X-rays. This explains why the spatial resolution of hard-X-ray photoelectron emission microscope (HX-PEEM) images is good even if the buried interface is covered by a film with a thickness many times the inelastic mean free path of the primary electrons. This argument explains well recent HX-PEEM results.     

Surface acetylation of bacterial cellulose

Bacterial cellulose was partially acetylated by the fibrous acetylationmethod to modify its physical properties, while preserving the microfibrillarmorphology. The overall degree of substitution was varied from 0.04 to 2.77 bychanging the amount of acetic anhydride added. X-ray diffraction of thepartially acetylated samples showed the crystalline pattern of unmodified celluloseI up to moderate degrees of acetylation, and the change in peak widthsindicatedthat acetylation proceeded from the surface of microfibrils, leaving the coreportion unreacted. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that even low levelsofacetylation were effective to maintain the original microfibrillar morphologyofbacterial cellulose on direct drying from water.     

Charge transfer in duplex DNA containing mismatch

A theory for charge transfer between the electrode and the donor/acceptor molecule coupled through a DNA bridge in solution is developed. We explore the crossover between the coherent tunneling and the incoherent sequential transfer regimes by varying the electrode potential and discuss the effects of single-base mismatches in DNA duplex in both regimes. In the former regime a single-base mismatch in DNA duplex causes a reduction in the charge transfer rate simply by decreasing the electron tunneling matrix element, however, in the latter regime the effects are rather complicated.     

Microvasculature of the olfactory organ in the Japanese monkey (Macaca fuscata fuscata).

Olfaction is an important and primitive sense. As its importance has changed with evolution, anatomic adjustments have occurred in its structure and vasculature. Primates are a family of vertebrates that have had to develop their visual system to adapt to the arboreal environment and have evolved from a macrosmatic to a microsmatic species as the optic system has enlarged. This has resulted in anatomic changes of a small but critical area at the base of the brain. This paper describes the three-dimensional vascular anatomy of the olfactory organ of the Japanese monkey (Macaca fuscata fuscata). This is best understood by dividing the organ into three parts: the olfactory tract, olfactory bulb, and olfactory nerves in the nasal mucosa. The bulb can be partitioned into an outer or cortical part and inner or medullary part. The vasculature and tissue were examined grossly and with light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy of vascular corrosion casts. The olfactory tract and bulb were supplied by an arteriole from the anterior cerebral artery on each side. The tract was supplied by capillaries running spirally with a coarse network. At the olfactory bulb, the arteriole ramified into the intracortical and medullary branches that formed capillary networks. The bulbar intracortical capillaries were divided into two layers with different densities and vascular patterns. The capillaries of the superficial layer had a ladder-like pattern. The branches that ran into the medulla of the olfactory bulb were more widely spaced. Twigs from the posterior ethmoidal artery ran along the nerve fiber and formed intra- and extrafascicular networks. Each region of the olfactory organ had characteristic three-dimensional vascular patterns that were related to their cellular architecture.     

Automated recognition of common geometrical patterns among a variety of three-dimensional moleculars structures

A computer program, COMPASS, is described for searches for common geometrical pattern among a set of chemical compounds. The approach is based on a distance geometry method. The program allows the user to specify some search conditions which are defined with weighting atoms of different types and distance allowance. Information of charges on each atom in molecules can also be included. Examples are presented to illustrate the abilities of the program in relation to structure/activity problems.     

Chemical states of localized Fe atoms in ethylene matrices using in-beam Mössbauer spectroscopy

The reaction products of isolated single iron atoms in a low concentration matrix of ethylene were studied using in-beam Mössbauer spectroscopy with a short-lived ⁵⁷Mn (T _1/2=1.45 m) beam. The in-beam Mössbauer spectrum of ⁵⁷Fe arising from ⁵⁷Mn in a matrix of ethylene and argon measured at 16 K was analyzed with four components. Density functional theory calculations were carried out to confirm the assignments. It was suggested that the reaction produced monoiron species of Fe(C ₂ H ₄) with a spin state of S = 2.     

Mössbauer spectra obtained using β − γ coincidence method after 57Mn implantation into LiH and LiD

Highly energetic ⁵⁷Mn (T_1/2 = 1.45 m) was generated by nuclear projectile fragmentation in a heavy-ion accelerator, and implanted into lithium hydride (LiH) and lithium deuteride (LiD) at 578 K. Mössbauer spectroscopy with β ? γ coincidence detection was then carried out on the ⁵⁷Fe obtained from β^?decay of the ⁵⁷Mn to study the time dependence of the site distributions and coordination environments of dilute Fe atoms implanted in the LiH and LiD. The results suggest that the Fe atoms can substitute for either the Li and H or D atoms within 100 ns. Additionally, the displacement behavior of the substitutional ⁵⁷Fe atoms on the lattice sites is discussed.     

Affine Vertex Operator Algebras and Modular Linear Differential Equations

In this paper, we list all affine vertex operator algebras of positive integral levels whose dimensions of spaces of characters are at most 5 and show that a basis of the space of characters of each affine vertex operator algebra in the list gives a fundamental system of solutions of a modular linear differential equation. Further, we determine the dimensions of the spaces of characters of affine vertex operator algebras whose numbers of inequivalent simple modules are not exceeding 20.