Quasi-free scattering in the 6Li breakup into a deuteron and an α-particle by electrons

Effects due to the d-α final-state interaction are taken into account in the calculation of quasi-free scattering in the ⁶Li(e, e′d) and (e, e′α) reactions. The results agree with the data at incident electron energies of around 520 MeV, from which a value of ≈ 4.8 is deduced for the d-α vertex constant of ⁶Li.     

Gelation dynamics and gel structure of fibrinogen

Gelation dynamics and gel structure of fibrinogen induced by serine protease, thrombin, was investigated by light scattering, real space observation using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), and turbidity. Effects of additives, such as (linear) saccharides, glucose to dextran, and cyclodextrin, were studied focusing on the interaction with fibrin(ogen) and thrombin. Light scattering measurement was ascertained to be able to characterize the gelation process and growth kinetics. Stepwise (two-step) gelation process, formation of fibrin monomers and protofibrils followed by the lateral aggregation to form fibrin fibers and gel network, was clearly ascertained. Gelation point could be characterized quantitatively. At the gelation point, dynamic light scattering exhibited a self-similar nature of the fibrin gel network, and the fractal dimension was evaluated in good accordance with the reconstructed 3D image of gel network by CLSM. The interaction between the additives and fibrin(ogen) and thrombin were studied by the inhibition test using synthesized substrate. Temporal variation of microstructure of fibrin gel network (lateral fiber growth) was investigated by turbidity in detail. Addition of saccharides affects significantly the network formation as revealed by turbidity. The interaction of dextran with fibrin fibers was examined by fluorescence microscopy, too, and the characteristic spatial distribution was observed.     

A rotating disk electrode study on catalytic activity of iron(II) phthalocyanine-modified electrodes for oxygen reduction in acidic media

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - Catalytic activity of monometric metal macrocycles for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) was investigated using rotating disk electrode voltammetry in acidic...     

PHANTOM MAPS AND SPACES OF THE SAME n-TYPE FOR ALL n

1.IntroductionLetXbeaconnectedCWcomplexandX.denoteitsn-skeleton.Amapf:X-YiscalledaphantommapifitsrestrictiontoeachskeletonXuisnullhomotopic.ItiseasytoknowthateveryphantommapfromafiniteCWcomplexortoaspacewithonlyfinitenootrivialhomotopygroupsisnecessarilytrivialuptohomotopy.HenceessentialphantommapcanoccuronlywhenthedomainXisaninfinitedimensionalspaceorthetargetisaspacewithinfinitenontrivialhomotopygroups.Suchmapsappeartobenullhomotopicfromanumberofdifferentpoilltsofview;e.g.,theyinducethe…     

Syntheses and Characterization of a Pair of Isomers of Heteroleptic Bis(Bidentate) Ruthenium(II) Complexes with Two Different Monodentate Ligands

Two isomers of heteroleptic bis(bidentate) ruthenium(II) complexes with dimethyl sulfoxide (dmso) and chloride ligands, trans(Cl,N_bpy)- and trans(Cl,N_Hdpa)-[Ru(bpy)Cl(dmso-S)(Hdpa)]⁺ (bpy: 2,2′-bipyridine; Hdpa: di-2-pyridylamine), are synthesized. This is the first report on the selective synthesis of a pair of isomers of cis-[Ru(L)(L′)XY]ⁿ⁺ (L≠L′: bidentate ligands; X≠Y: monodentate ligands). The structures of the ruthenium(II) complexes are clarified by means of X-ray crystallography, and the signals in the ¹H NMR spectra are assigned based on ¹H–¹H COSY spectra. The colors of the two isomers are clearly different in both the solid state and solution: the trans(Cl,N_bpy) isomer has a deep red color, whereas the trans(Cl,N_Hdpa) isomer is yellow. Although both complexes have intense absorption bands at λ≈440–450 nm, only the trans(Cl,N_bpy) isomer has a shoulder band at λ≈550 nm. DFT calculations indicate that the LUMOs of both isomers are the π* orbitals in the bpy ligand, and that the LUMO level of the trans(Cl,N_bpy) isomer is lower than that of the trans(Cl,N_Hdpa) isomer due to the trans effect of the Cl ligand; thus resulting in the appearance of the shoulder band. The HOMO levels are almost the same in both isomers. The energy levels are experimentally supported by cyclic voltammograms, in which these isomers have different reduction potentials and similar oxidation potentials.     

Model building by coset space dimensional reduction in eight-dimensions

We investigate gauge-Higgs unification models in eight-dimensional spacetime where extra-dimensional space has the structure of a four-dimensional compact coset space. The combinations of the coset space and the gauge group in the eight-dimensional spacetime of such models are listed. After the dimensional reduction of the coset space, we identified SO(10)$\mathrm{SO}(10)$, SO(10)×U(1)$\mathrm{SO}(10)\times \mathrm{U}(1)$ and SO(10)×U(1)×U(1)$\mathrm{SO}(10)\times \mathrm{U}(1)\times \mathrm{U}(1)$ as the possible gauge groups in the four-dimensional theory that can accomodate the Standard Model and thus is phenomenologically promising. Representations for fermions and scalars for these gauge groups are tabulated.     

Cytotoxicity of active ingredients extracted from plants of the Brazilian "Cerrado"

Cytotoxicity assays are needed for the screening of natural products with potential anti-inflammatory. The purpose of this study was to compare the basal cytotoxicity of active ingredients extracted from plants of the Brazilian "cerrado". The viability was assayed with the neutral red uptake assay in Mac Coy cells after 24h of exposition. The dose evaluated was 50 microg/microL. The test substances were: cinnamic acid, p-coumaric acid, chlorogenic acid, syringic acid, vannilic acid, homogentisic acid, scandenin, palustric acid, diosgenin, cabraleone. Studies of cytotoxicity demonstrated that all active compounds evaluated have low toxicity in vitro. The substances showed cell viability above 60% for the concentration used. However, the cinnamic acid, sacandenin and palustric acid showed highest toxicity with a 50% reduction in cell viability for the dose of 50 microg/microL. Cytotoxic screening results are useful to estimate the best concentrations of those compounds with potential anti-inflammatory without their cause cell death.     

Influence of boron doping on roughness microcrystalline silicon

We have studied roughness of boron-doped microcrystalline Si (μc-Si) surfaces with an emphasis on the influence of heavy doping. μc-Si films were prepared using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) with different boron concentrations in gas phase from 0% to 2%. Growth-induced roughening of μc-Si surfaces was monitored ex situ using an atomic force microscope (AFM). With an increase in the deposition time, the surface width (rms roughness), w, of undoped μc-Si surface exhibited usual behaviors; first, (a) w increased, (b) slightly dropped, (c) rose again, and then (d) gradually increased. In the case of B-doped μc-Si, w differently behaved; (a) w increased very soon, (b) slightly dropped, (a′) rose again, (b′) slightly dropped again, (c) rose, and finally (d) gradually increased. The quick increase in w indicates that boron doping promotes the nucleation, and the repeated nucleation is responsible for the behavior (a′)–(b′). Additionally, the nucleation density, that was derived using the lateral correlation length of surface heights, monotonically increased with an increase in the boron concentration. The effects of boron doping are discussed with the catalytic effects and the formation of the surface-covering layer.     

A novel method for analyzing formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue sections by mass spectrometry imaging

Significant advances have been made in the past decade in the field of mass spectrometry imaging (MS imaging). It is a relatively unestablished technique aimed at direct, high-sensitive and spatially exclusive detection of biological molecules from the surface of tissue sections, so that semi-quantitative distribution map of the analyte can be reconstituted from the mass spectra obtained. There is tremendous potential in its application especially in clinical field, such as biomarker discovery or pharmacokinetic study. However, vast majority of the work has been performed on frozen tissue sections, while it remains generally unpractical to produce frozen sections with clinically resected tumor samples. Here we report our novel sample preparation technique that enabled MS imaging from formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue section, including retrospective archive as old as 11 years. FFPE sections were first dewaxed with pre-warmed xylene, and exposed tissue surface was enzymatically digested in nanoliter scale droplets to retain analyte localization. As a result, we succeeded in obtaining MS images of peptide peaks derived from several proteins, identified by MS/MS analysis, using ovarian cancer FFPE sections. The qualities of mass spectra obtained by this method were not significantly different from those obtained from frozen sections. By this, we opened the door to retrospective study of past clinical cases in aim to discover molecular biomarker.