Near-Infrared Imaging Using a High-Speed Monitoring Near Infrared Hyperspectral Camera(Compovision)

This review paper reports near-infrared (NIR) imaging studies using a newly-developed NIR camera, Compovision. Compovision can measure a significantly wide area of 150 mm×250 mm at high speed of between 2 and 5 s. It enables a wide spectral region measurement in the 1 000～2 350 nm range at 6 nm intervals. We investigated the potential of Compovision in the applications to industrial problems such as the evaluation of pharmaceutical tablets and polymers. Our studies have demonstrated that NIR imaging based on Compovision can solve several issues such as long acquisition times and relatively low sensitivity of detection. NIR imaging with Compovision is strongly expected to be applied not only to pharmaceutical tablet monitoring and polymer characterization but also to various applications such as those to food products, biomedical substances and organic and inorganic materials.     

Evaluation of left ventricular function with cardiac magnetic resonance imaging using Fourier fitting

The aims of this study were to investigate the applicability of Fourier fitting in the magnetic resonance (MR) evaluation of left ventricular (LV) function and to determine the optimal number of harmonics for fitting. Cine cardiac MR imaging was performed in 10 subjects, and an LV time–volume curve was generated. Fourier fitting was applied to the original curve using 1–10 harmonics, and the qualities of the time–volume curve and first-derivative curve were evaluated. LV functional parameters were calculated from curves generated with and without fitting. The quality of the original time–volume curve was good, and Fourier fitting had no substantial effect on functional parameters obtained directly from the time–volume curve such as ejection fraction. The first-derivative curve generated without fitting showed substantial artificial fluctuation. The application of Fourier fitting depressed the fluctuation and tended to decrease estimates of peak ejection rate and peak filling rate. Five or six harmonics appeared to be appropriate for obtaining a high-quality first-derivative curve. In conclusion, Fourier fitting was indicated to aid in reducing the artificial fluctuation of the first-derivative curve generated from cine cardiac MR imaging and to contribute to the evaluation of functional parameters derived from the first-derivative curve.     

Fundamental studies on enhancement and blinking mechanism of surface-enhanced Raman scattering （SERS） and basic applications of SERS biological sensing

We review recent our results in the fundamental study of surface-enhanced Raman scattering （SERS） with emphasis on experiments that attempted to identify the enhancement and blinking mechanism using single Ag nanoparticle dimers attached to dye molecules. These results are quantitatively discussed in the framework of electromagnetic mechanism. We also review recent our results in basic SERS applications for biological sensing regarding detections of cell surface molecules and distinction of disease marker molecules under single cell and single molecule level.     

Sugar Binding Effects on the Enzymatic Reaction and Conformation Near the Active Site of Pokeweed Antiviral Protein Revealed by Fluorescence Spectroscopy

In various trials for elucidating the physiological function of pokeweed antiviral protein (PAP), studies on the interaction with sugar are essential. The fluorescence titration curves showed that PAP retained the strong affinity against N-acetylglucosamine (NAG) and two sites in one PAP molecule co-operatively participated in the binding. In the complex of PAP with NAG, Trp208 located at the entrance lid site of substrate came closer to Tyr72 about 0.3 Å. Furthermore, the fluorescence anisotropy decay measurement demonstrated that the segmental rotation of Trp208 was enlarged by the binding of PAP with NAG. Such conformational changes around the active site closely correlate with the enzymatic activity of PAP. The N-glycosidase activity of PAP was enhanced more than two times in the presence of NAG. The obtained results consistently suggested the enzymatic activity of PAP would be regulated through the conformation change near the active site induced by the binding with NAG.     

Spatiotemporal alteration of phospholipids and prostaglandins in a rat model of spinal cord injury

We determined quantitative and qualitative alterations in lipids during the occurrence and progression of spinal cord injury (SCI) in rats to identify potential clinical indicators of SCI pathology. Imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) was used to visualize twelve molecular species of phosphatidylcholine (PC) on thin slices of spinal cord with SCI. In addition, twelve species of phospholipids and five species of prostaglandins (PGs) were quantified by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) of lipid extracts from control/injured spinal cords. Unique distribution patterns were observed for phospholipids with different fatty acid compositions, and distinct dynamic changes were seen in both their amounts and their distributions in tissue as tissue damage resulting from SCI progressed. In particular, PCs containing docosahexaenoic acid localized to the large nucleus in the anterior horn region at one day post-SCI and rapidly decreased thereafter. In contrast, PCs containing arachidonic acid (AA-PCs) were normally found in the posterior horn region and were intensely and temporarily elevated one week after SCI. Lysophosphatidylcholines (LPCs) also increased at the same SCI stage and in regions with elevated AA-PCs, indicating the release of AA and the production of PGs. Moreover, LC-ESI-MS/MS analysis of lipid extracts from the spinal cord tissue at the impact site demonstrated a peak in PGE2 that reflected the elevation/reduction pattern of AA-PCs and LPC. Although further investigation is required, we suggest that invasive immune cells that penetrated from the impaired blood-brain barrier at 1-2 weeks post-SCI may have produced LPCs, released AA from AA-PCs, and produced PGs in SCI tissue at sites enriched in AA-PCs/LPC.     

The effect of metal cations on the nature of the first electronic transition of liquid water as studied by attenuated total reflection far-ultraviolet spectroscopy

The first electronic transition (?←X?) of liquid water was studied from the perspective of the hydration of cations by analyzing the attenuated total reflection far-ultraviolet (ATR-FUV) spectra of the Group I, II, and XIII metal nitrate electrolyte solutions. The ?←X? transition energies of 1 M electrolyte solutions are higher (Li(+): 8.024 eV and Cs(+): 8.013 eV) than that of pure water (8.010 eV) and linearly correlate with the Gibbs energies of hydration of the cations. The increases in the ?←X? transition energies are mostly attributable to the hydrogen bond formation energies of water molecules in the ground state induced by the presence of the cations. The deviation from the linear relation was observed for the high charge density cations, H(+), Li(+), and Be(2+), which reflects that the electronic energies in the excited states are also perturbed. Quantum chemical calculations show that the ?←X? transition energies of the water-cation complexes depend on the hydration structures of the cations. The calculated ?←X? transition energies of the water molecules hydrating high charge density cations spread more widely than those of the low charge density cations. The calculated transition energy spreads of the water-cation complexes directly correlate with the widths of the ?←X? transition bands measured by ATR-FUV spectroscopy.     

Enhanced dissolution of copolymers bearing photobase- or photoacid-generating groups in polar solvents by photochemical formation of ionic pairs

Solubility changes in the irradiation of copolymers bearing photoacid- or photobase-generating groups and low molecular weight photobase generators (PBGs) or photoacid generators (PAGs) were investigated. Copolymers bearing acyloxyimino (AOI) groups were used as those generating pendant amino groups photochemically. Copolymers bearing o-nitrobenzyloxycarbonyl and imino sulfonate groups were used as those generating carboxy and sulfo groups, respectively. The solubility of copolymers bearing AOI groups into polar solvents was enhanced by added PAGs such as β-keto sulfones or imino sulfonates after irradiation. A similar enhancement was observed in copolymers bearing o-nitrobenzyloxycarbonyl groups in the presence of PBGs such as oxime esters or o-nitrobenzyl carbamates. These results showed that the formation of acid–base pairs on irradiation was effective for dissolution into polar solvents. Copolymers bearing imino sulfonate groups showed a high solubility, and no such enhancement was observed by PBG. Films of copolymers bearing β-keto sulfone groups became insoluble because of crosslinking. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 39: 1708–1715, 2001     

Ultraviolet-visible and Surface-enhanced Raman Scattering Spectroscopy Studies on Ruthenium Phthalocyanine Monolayer Films Formed on Terephthalonitrile-modified Silver Substrates

A self-assembled monolayer film(SAM) of ruthenium phthalocyanine (RuPe) fabricated on a silver sub-strate premodified with an SAM of terephthalonitrile (TPN) was studied by means of surface-enhanced Ra-man seattering(SERS) and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) speetroseopies. TPN was used as a ligand to linkRuPe since it can not only modify the silver suhstrate but also deliver the nitrile groups protruding from thesilver surface. Therefore, we can explore the relationship between the structure and the orientation of RuPeand the TPN-modified substrate. The UV-Vis spectra indicate a strong interaction between RuPe and TPN inthe composite film. The result is further confirmed by the SERS spectra of RuPe-TPN SAM, in which the vi-brational bands arising from both the RuPe and TPN moieties appear clearly, indicating that the RuPe is suc-cessfully assembled on the TPN film.     

Division polynomials and canonical local heights on hyperelliptic Jacobians

We generalize the division polynomials of elliptic curves to hyperelliptic Jacobians over the complex numbers. We construct them by using the hyperelliptic sigma function. Using the division polynomial, we describe a condition that a point on the Jacobian is a torsion point. We prove several properties of the division polynomials such as determinantal expressions and recurrence formulas. We also study relations among the sigma function, the division polynomials, and the canonical local height functions.