A novel chain reaction induced by cathodic reduction. Addition of trichloromethyl anion to aldehydes or vimyl acetate

A novel chain reaction induced by cathodic reduction was found in the reaction system consisting of carbon tetrachloride, chloroform, and electrophiles such as aldehydes or vinyl acetate. The current efficiency of addition of trichloromethyl anion to electrophiles was extremely high. Synthesis of an analogue of ethyl chrysanthemate using this new reaction was also described.     

The Effect of Physical Form of DNA on ExonucleaseIII Activity Revealed by Single-molecule Observations

Single-molecule studies have revealed molecular behaviors usually hidden in the ensemble and time averaging of bulk experiments. Single-molecule measurement that can control physical form of individual DNA molecules is a powerful method to obtain new knowledge about correlation between DNA-tension and enzyme activity. Here we study the effect of physical form of DNA on exonucleaseIII (ExoIII) reaction. ExoIII has a double-stranded DNA specific 3′→5′ exonuclease activity and the digestion is distributive. We observed the ExoIII digestion of individual stretched DNA molecules from the free ends. The sequentially captured photographs demonstrated that the digested DNA molecule linearly shortened with the reaction time. We also carried out the single-molecule observation under random coiled form by pausing the buffer flow. The digestion rates obtained from both single-molecule experiments showed that the digestion rate under the stretched condition was two times higher than the random coiled condition. The correlation between physical form of DNA and digestion rate of ExoIII was clearly demonstrated by single-molecule observations.     

Device for direct measurement of dynamic viscoelastic properties of solid-state materials at frequencies higher than 1 kHz

Viscoelastic (VE) materials are widely used in daily life. For the effective utilization of VE materials, it is necessary to know their viscoelasticity with accuracy over a wide range of frequencies, especially for high frequencies. Currently, the viscoelasticity of solid-state materials is directly measured only in the low-frequency range; for high frequencies, it is estimated based on the time-temperature superposition (TTS) principle. However, it is generally recognized that the TTS principle is suitable only for estimating the viscoelasticity of rheologically simple materials for temperatures within a limited range that is higher than the glass-transition temperature. In this paper, we propose a device that can directly measure the shear modulus and tan δ values of solid-state VE materials at high frequencies. We also propose a method for compensating for the shear deformation mode resonance of VE materials based on the mass of the moving part, to gain a more accurate understanding of viscoelasticity in the high-frequency range, and discuss the causes of errors in the compensation method. Finally, we report the VE properties of natural rubber (NR 65 IRHD) measured using the developed device and compensation method, and compare the measured results with those obtained using commercial VE measurement equipment.     

New eremophilanes from Farfugium japonicum

Eighteen new eremophilanes (dimeric lactones, lactams, carboxylic acid, methyl ester, tetranor- and dinor-ketones, furanoeremophilane, enoleremophilanolide, epoxyeremophilanolide, and hydroxy- or methoxyeremophilanolides) have been isolated from the methanol extract of fresh rhizomes of Farfugium japonicum (Compositae), and their structures have been determined on the basis of high-resolution 2D NMR and X-ray crystallographic analyses as well as by chemical transformations.     

Spatiotemporal synchronization of coupled oscillators in a laboratory plasma

The spatiotemporal synchronization between two plasma instabilities of autonomous glow discharge tubes is observed experimentally. For this purpose, two tubes are placed separately and two chaotic waves interact with each other through a coupler. When the coupling strength is changed, the coupled oscillators exhibit synchronization in time and space. This is the first experimental evidence of spatiotemporal synchronization by mutual chaotic wave interaction in plasma.     

Significant enhancement of ferromagnetism in Zn1-xCrxTe doped with iodine as an n-type dopant

The effect of additional doping of charge impurities was investigated in a ferromagnetic semiconductor Zn1-xCrxTe. It was found that the doping of iodine, which is expected to act as an n-type dopant in ZnTe, brought about a drastic enhancement of the ferromagnetism in Zn1-xCrxTe, while the grown films remained electrically insulating. In particular, at a fixed Cr composition of x=0.05, the ferromagnetic transition temperature TC increased up to 300 K at maximum due to the iodine doping from TC=30 K of the undoped counterpart, while the ferromagnetism disappeared due to the doping of nitrogen as a p-type dopant. The observed systematic correlation of ferromagnetism with the doping of charge impurities of both the p and n type, suggesting a key role of the position of Fermi level within the impurity d state, is discussed on the basis of the double-exchange interaction as a mechanism of ferromagnetism in this material.     

Phenomenological aspects of Hořava–Lifshitz cosmology

We show that, assuming the dispersion relation proposed recently by Ho?ava in the context of quantum gravity, radiation energy density exhibits a peculiar dependence on the scale factor; the radiation energy density decreases proportional to a⁻⁶$a^{\mathrm{-6}}$. This simple scaling can have an impact on cosmology. As an example, we show that the resultant baryon asymmetry as well as the stochastic gravity waves can be enhanced. We also discuss current observational constraint on the dispersion relation.     

Molecular structure of carbonyl fluoride as studied by gas electron diffraction and microwave data

The molecular structure of carbonyl fluoride has been determined by electron diffraction. The results have been used in conjunction with the rotational constants reported by Carpenter in a combined structure analysis. The values so obtained are r_z (C=O) = 1.1717 ± 0.0013 Å, r_z (C-F) = 1.3157 ± 0.0005 Å, and ∠_zF-C-F = 107.71 ± 0.08°. These agree with the corresponding parameters estimated by Carpenter from the rotational constants alone. The effective constants, α₃, representing the cubic anharmonicity of bond stretching vibrations have been estimated.