Temperature-controlled changeable oxygenation selectivity by singlet oxygen with a polymeric photosensitizer

A polymeric photosensitizer, poly(NIPAM-co-RB), consisting of N-isopropylacrylamide and rose bengal units, demonstrates a temperature-controlled changeable oxygenation selectivity by singlet oxygen in water.     

Alternating Copolymerization of Ethylene and 5‐Hexen‐1‐ol with [Ethylene(1‐indenyl)(9‐fluorenyl)]‐zirconium Dichloride/Methylaluminoxane as the Catalyst

The copolymerization of ethylene and 5‐hexen‐1‐ol pretreated with trimethylaluminium was performed using [ethylene(1‐indenyl)(9‐fluorenyl)]zirconium dichloride/methylaluminoxane as the catalyst. The 5‐hexen‐1‐ol unit in the copolymer could be increased to about 50 mol‐% with increasing [5‐hexen‐1‐ol/ethylene[ ratio. ¹³C NMR analysis proved that the poly(ethylene‐co‐(5‐hexen‐1‐ol)) containing 50 mol‐% of 5‐hexen‐1‐ol units is an almost alternating copolymer.     

Study on the effect of sound duration on the annoyance of helicopter noise by applying a technique of time compression and expansion of sound signals

The number of helicopter operations has rapidly increased during the last 20 years in Japan. Helicopter noise sounds different from other aircraft; the waveform of the sound pressure is impulsive and the signal duration is relatively long. The Environmental Agency of Japan implemented new guidelines for evaluating noise exposure around small airports, including heliports, in 1990. This study was executed in connection with the development of provisional guidelines. Psychoacoustic experiments were carried out to identify an evaluation index for helicopter noise. In order to examine the effect of duration independently, we not only used original sound recordings, but also synthesized sound signals. The durations of these sound signals were time compressed or expanded without degrading the quality of the original sound recording. The test results show that the effect of duration is significant, and that the A-weighted sound exposure level is a better index than the maximum A-weighted sound pressure level for the evaluation of helicopter noise.     

Tuning of Electronic Properties of Single‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes under Homogenous Conditions

Reversible and non‐bonding interaction between SWNTs and ODCB is observed from the analyses of visible near‐infrared absorption data and Raman spectroscopies (see spectra). The solvent effect on SWNTs effectively controls the electronic structure of SWNTs under homogeneous conditions.

     

Photoinduced magnetization in copper octacyanomolybdate

This article describes the studies of a photomagnetic cyanide-bridged Cu-Mo bimetallic assembly, Cu(II)(2)[Mo(IV)(CN)(8)].8H(2)O (Cu(II), S = (1)/(2); Mo(IV), S = 0) (1), which has an intervalence transfer (IT) band from Mo(IV)-CN-Cu(II) to Mo(V)-CN-Cu(I) around 480 nm. Wide-angle X-ray scattering and X-ray spectroscopic studies provide precise information about the 3D connectivity and the local environment of the transition metal ions. Irradiating with blue light causes solid 1 to exhibit a spontaneous magnetization (Curie temperature = 25 K). The thermal reversibility is carefully studied and shows the long-time stability of the photoinduced state up to 100 K. Photoreversibility is also observed; i.e., the magnetization is induced by irradiation with light below 520 nm, while the magnetization is reduced by irradiation with light above 520 nm. The UV-vis absorption spectrum after irradiation shows a decrease of the IT band and the appearance of the reverse-IT band in the region of 600-900 nm (lambda(max) = 710 nm). This UV-vis absorption spectrum is recovered to the original spectrum by irradiation with 658-, 785-, and 840-nm light. In this photomagnetic effect, the excitation of the IT band causes an electron transfer from Mo(IV) to Cu(II), producing a ferromagnetic mixed-valence isomer of Cu(I)Cu(II)[Mo(V)(CN)(8)].8H(2)O (Cu(I), S = 0; Cu(II), S = (1)/(2); Mo(V), S = (1)/(2)) (1'). 1' returns to 1 by irradiation of the reverse-IT band, which obeys the scheme for the potential energy surface in mixed-valence class II compounds.     

Kinetics of Iterative Carbohydrate Transfer to Polysaccharide Catalyzed by Chondroitin Polymerase on a Highly Sensitive Flow‐Type 27 MHz Quartz‐Crystal Microbalance

Using a highly sensitive flow‐type 27 MHz quartz crystal microbalance, we could detect a small mass change during stepwise and alternating one‐sugar transfer of glucuronic acid (GlcA) and N‐acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc) to an acceptor, catalyzed by chondroitin polymerase from Escherichia coli strain K4 (K4CP), and analyze the elongation mechanism of K4CP. K4CP was found to bind strongly to a chondroitin acceptor (K_d=0.97 μM ). Although the binding affinity and the catalytic rate constant for each monomer were considerably different, the apparent catalytic efficiency (k_cat/K_m) was similar (6.3×10⁴ M ^?1 s^?1 for GlcA transfer and 3.4×10⁴ M ^?1 s^?1 for the GalNAc transfer). This is reasonable for the smooth alternating elongation of GlcA and GalNAc on the acceptor. This is the first study to report the determination of kinetic parameters for enzymatic, alternated, sugar elongation.     

Photocatalytic Activity and Photo-Induced Wettability Conversion of TiO2 Thin Film Prepared by Sol-Gel Process on a Soda-Lime Glass

We have developed the transparent photoactive TiO₂ thin film coated on soda lime glass (SLG) by sol-gel process. Titanium dioxide thin films coated on SLG exhibit lower photocatalytic activity due to the thermal diffusion of Na ion from the SLG substrate. Thin SiO₂ film precoating is very effective to prevent the thermal diffusion of Na ion. We have evaluated the photocatalytic decomposition of gaseous acetaldehyde and the photo-induced surface wettability of TiO₂ films with and without SiO₂ precoating layer. As expected, the TiO₂ film on SiO₂/SLG is more photoactive to decompose acetaldehyde than that on SLG. However, as for wettability conversion, there was little difference in the conversion rate between TiO₂ film without SiO₂, and TiO₂ film with SiO₂. Different dependence of Na ion diffusion on two kinds of photo-induced reaction on TiO₂ is discussed based on the difference of the photo-induced reaction mechanism.     

Photoluminescence and population analysis of single-walled carbon nanotubes produced by CVD and pulsed-laser vaporization methods

Band gap photoluminescence (PL) behaviors of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) grown by the methods of chemical vapor deposition and pulsed-laser vaporization are investigated over the wide diameter range (≈0.8–1.4 nm). The peak intensity of the PL signals strongly depends on chirality and the ‘(2n + m) family type’ of SWNTs. Based on the PL results, a population analysis of these SWNTs is conducted by combining the calculated PL yields for each (n, m) tube. The results are directly compared with the histograms of diameter distributions estimated by the transmission electron microscope (TEM) observations to check the validity of the analysis.     

Noise Analysis of Duplicated Data on Microarrays Using Mixture Distribution Modeling

We propose a technique for estimating gene expression values for duplicated data on cDNA microarrays. In the scatter plots, the distribution is constructed from a mixture of normal two-dimensional distributions, which represent fluctuations in gene expression values due to noise. An expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm is used for estimating the modeling parameters. The probability that duplicated data is shifted by noise is calculated using Bayesian estimation. Six data sets of rice cDNA microarray assays were used to test the proposed technique. Genes in the data sets were subjected to clustering based on probability of true value. Clustering successfully identified candidate genes regulated by circadian rhythms in rice.