“Molecular Rope Curtain” Type of Liquid Crystals Based on a Sliding Graft Copolymer Having Mobile PEG Side Chains

A sliding graft copolymer having a polyrotaxane main chain and side chains of polyethylene glycol with a molecular weight of 2000 (PEG2000) was found to be a novel “molecular rope curtain” type of liquid crystalline material, which displayed a smectic A mesophase between 51 °C and 250 °C without any rigid mesogenic moieties.     

Improvement in the Purification Process of the Capsular Polysaccharide from Haemophilus influenzae Type b by Using Tangential Ultrafiltration and Diafiltration

Capsular polysaccharide produced by Haemophilus influenzae b (Hib) is the main virulent agent and used as the antigen in the vaccine formulation. In this study, an improved process of polysaccharide purification was established based on tangential flow ultrafiltration using detergents (cocamidopropyl betaine and sodium deoxycholate), two selective ethanol precipitations steps, and extensive enzymatic hydrolysis as strategy. The relative purity (RP) related to protein and nucleic acids were 122??263 and 294??480, respectively, and compatible with the specifications established by the World Health Organization for Hib vaccine, RP????100. These results make this process simple, cheaper, efficient, environmentally friendly, and prone to be scaled up.     

Size-selected copper oxide nanoparticles synthesized by laser ablation

Size-tuned copper oxide nanoparticles with sizes of 9, 12, and 15 nm were fabricated by laser ablation and on-line size selection using a differential mobility analyzer at a gas pressure of 666 Pa. The dependence of the particle properties on the in situ annealing temperatures and selection sizes was investigated. The crystalline phases of the nanoparticles fabricated at temperatures below 973 K were assigned to monoclinic cupric oxide (CuO) which converted into cubic cuprous oxide (Cu₂O) when the annealing temperature was above 1,173 K. This indicates that the crystalline phases can be easily controlled by changing the annealing temperature. TEM images confirmed that well-crystallized and well-dispersed CuO and Cu₂O nanoparticles with narrow size distributions were obtained using this method. This fabrication process is useful and promising for the future investigation of the intrinsic size-dependent properties of CuO and Cu₂O.     

Experimental demonstration of spin geometric phase: radius dependence of time-reversal Aharonov-Casher oscillations

A geometric phase of electron spin is studied in arrays of InAlAs/InGaAs two-dimensional electron gas rings. By increasing the radius of the rings, the time-reversal symmetric Aharonov-Casher oscillations of the electrical resistance are shifted towards weaker spin-orbit interaction regions with their shortened period. We conclude that the shift is due to a modulation of the spin geometric phase, the maximum modulation of which is approximately 1.5 rad. We further show that the Aharonov-Casher oscillations in various radius arrays collapse onto a universal curve if the radius and the strength of Rashba spin-orbit interaction are taken into account. The result is interpreted as the observation of the effective spin-dependent flux through a ring.     

Development of an electrochemical cholesterol sensor system for food analysis

In this article, we report on a food-cholesterol monitoring sensor based on a non-enzymatic approach. Amorphous and single-crystal gold electrodes were modified with an alkanethiol self-assembled monolayer to quantify it by voltammetry. We first discuss the basic characteristics of these sensors and provide more information about the instrument developed by JSK Co. This instrument is a battery-operated handheld voltammetric analyzer, which mounts a sensor chip to monitor cholesterol contents in food samples. The sensor showed excellent linearity with the cholesterol concentration; egg-yolk samples were analyzed to give an excellent agreement between the values obtained by the sensor (1.4 mM) and chromatography (1.1 mM).     

Rotational Spectra of XeH and Its Isotopic Species

Frequencies of rotational transitions of XeH⁺ and its isotopic species were measured in the 1–5 THz region with a highprecision far-infrared spectrometer using a tunable radiation source. Measured frequencies were analyzed together with previous microwave and infrared measurements to refine mass-independent Dunham parameters.     

Four novel withanolide-type steroids from the leaves of Solanum cilistum.

Four novel withanolide-type steroids named cilistols p, pm, p1 and u (1-4, respectively), were isolated from the leaves of Solanum cilistum. The respective structures were characterized by spectroscopic means as follows: cilistol p (1) was (22R,24R,25R,26S)-1-oxo-22,26-epoxy-3alpha,5alpha-cycloergostane-6beta,17alpha, 24,25,26-pentaol 26-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside, cilistol pm (2) corresponded to the 6-O-methyl ether derivative of 1; cilistol p1 (3) was represented as the 24-O-methyl ether of 1, and cilistol u (4) was shown to be the epoxide between C-24 and -25, presumably bearing cilistols p, pm and p1 by ring-opening.     

Novel and efficient one‐pot synthesis of azuleno[1,2‐b]‐benzothiophenic enones from the corresponding 2‐cycloheptatrientyl‐3‐(2‐furyl)benzothiophenes

2‐Cycloheptatrienyl‐3‐(2‐furyl)benzothiophenes, which are prepared by Stille coupling reaction of 2‐cyclo‐heptatrienyl‐3‐bromobenzothiophene with the 5‐substituted 2‐trimethylstannylfurans, react with triphenylmethyl tetrafluoroborate to give the corresponding azuleno[1,2‐b]benzothiophenic enones in excellent yields.     

The Microwave Spectrum of Methyl Formate (HCOOCH3) in the Frequency Range from 7 to 200 GHz

The rotational spectrum of methyl formate (HCOOCH₃) has been observed in the frequency range from 7 to 200 GHz. We newly assigned 1612 lines in the ground torsional state and simultaneously analyzed both A- and E-species data including previously reported lines on the basis of the internal axis method. A total of 3077 lines were fitted to a 1σ standard deviation of 139 kHz, and molecular parameters were determined.     

Bias reduction using surrogate endpoints as auxiliary variables

Annals of the Institute of Statistical Mathematics - Recently, it is becoming more active to apply appropriate statistical methods dealing with missing data in clinical trials. Under not missing at...