Radiation damage in Si photodiodes by high-temperature irradiation

Results are presented of a detailed study of the effects of high-temperature 4-MeV neutron irradiation on the performance degradation of Si pin photodiodes together with the radiation-induced defects, observed by deep level transient spectroscopy. The degradation of the device performance and the introduction rate of the lattice defects decrease with increasing sample temperature during irradiation. For a 250°C irradiation, the reduction of the reverse current is only 20% of the starting value. This result suggests that the creation and recovery of the radiation damage proceeds simultaneously at high temperatures. Carbon-related complex as hole capture levels is also mainly responsible for the device degradation for high-temperature neutron irradiation.     

Non-secular part of nuclear dipolar broadening detected by zero-field spin relaxation of positive muon

The zero-field spin relaxation function of μ⁺ observed in ZrH₂ has revealed that the second moment of the nuclear dipolar broadening is five times larger than the high-field value. This experiment clearly demonstrates the recovery of the non-secular part of dipolar interaction between unlike spins. A general expression of zero-field relaxation function is presented to account for a slow modulation of random fields on μ⁺ found at room temperature.     

Facile cell patterning on an albumin-coated surface

Fabrication of micropatterned surfaces to organize and control cell adhesion and proliferation is an indispensable technique for cell-based technologies. Although several successful strategies for creating cellular micropatterns on substrates have been demonstrated, a complex multistep process and requirements for special and expensive equipment or materials limit their prevalence as a general experimental tool. To circumvent these problems, we describe here a novel facile fabrication method for a micropatterned surface for cell patterning by utilizing the UV-induced conversion of the cell adhesive property of albumin, which is the most abundant protein in blood plasma. An albumin-coated surface was prepared by cross-linking albumin with ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether and subsequent casting of the cross-linked albumin solution on the cell culture dish. While cells did not attach to the albumin surface prepared in this way, UV exposure renders the surface cell-adhesive. Thus, surface micropatterning was achieved simply by exposing the albumin-coated surface to UV light through a mask with the desired pattern. Mouse fibroblast L929 cells were inoculated on the patterned albumin substrates, and cells attached and spread in a highly selective manner according to the UV-irradiated pattern. Although detailed investigation of the molecular-level mechanism concerning the change in cell adhesiveness of the albumin-coated surface is required, the present results would give a novel facile method for the fabrication of cell micropatterned surfaces.     

Stereoselective synthesis and absolute configuration of the C33-C42 fragment of symbiodinolide

Cross-metathesis of methyl ester which was prepared from symbiodinolide with ethylene was performed to give the C33-C42 degraded fragment. This fragment was estimated to be (36S,40S)-diol by the modified Mosher method. Stereoselective synthesis of the (36S,40S)-diol and its diastereomer (36R,40S)-diol was achieved from l-aspartic acid. Synthetic bis-(S)- and (R)-MTPA esters which were derivatized from the (36S,40S)-diol exhibited spectroscopic data identical with those of bis-(S)- and (R)-MTPA esters derived from the degraded product. Thus, the absolute stereochemistry of the C33-C42 fragment was elucidated to be (36S,40S).     

Supramolecular Approaches towards Ordered Polymer Materials

Controlled organization of polymer chains into ordered structures is highly important to tune or enhance the properties of the polymeric materials. A supramolecular approach using host–guest chemistry has allowed rational design of chain assemblies with many functional properties. Nanoporous materials with ordered channel structures are particularly useful for attaining precise assemblies of polymer chains through nanoconfinement.     

Development of SI-traceable C-peptide certified reference material NMIJ CRM 6901-a using isotope-dilution mass spectrometry-based amino acid analyses

A certified reference material (CRM) is a higher-order calibration material used to enable a traceable analysis. This paper describes the development of a C-peptide CRM (NMIJ CRM 6901-a) by the National Metrology Institute of Japan using two independent methods for amino acid analysis based on isotope-dilution mass spectrometry. C-peptide is a 31-mer peptide that is utilized for the evaluation of β-cell function in the pancreas in clinical testing. This CRM is a lyophilized synthetic peptide having the human C-peptide sequence, and contains deamidated and pyroglutamylated forms of C-peptide. By adding water (1.00 ± 0.01) g into the vial containing the CRM, the C-peptide solution in 10 mM phosphate buffer saline (pH 6.6) is reconstituted. We assigned two certified values that represent the concentrations of total C-peptide (mixture of C-peptide, deamidated C-peptide, and pyroglutamylated C-peptide) and C-peptide. The certified concentration of total C-peptide was determined by two amino acid analyses using pre-column derivatization liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and hydrophilic chromatography-mass spectrometry following acid hydrolysis. The certified concentration of C-peptide was determined by multiplying the concentration of total C-peptide by the ratio of the relative area of C-peptide to that of the total C-peptide measured by liquid chromatography. The certified value of C-peptide (80.7 ± 5.0) mg/L represents the concentration of the specific entity of C-peptide; on the other hand, the certified value of total C-peptide, (81.7 ± 5.1) mg/L can be used for analyses that does not differentiate deamidated and pyroglutamylated C-peptide from C-peptide itself, such as amino acid analyses and immunochemical assays.     

Ru-catalyzed ring-opening and substitution reactions of heteroaromatic compounds using propargylic carboxylates as precursors of vinylcarbenoids

[reaction: see text] The reaction of heteroaromatic compounds with propargylic carboxylates in the presence of a catalytic amount of [RuCl(2)(CO)(3)](2) or PtCl(2) gives trienes in good yields. The key intermediate is an electrophilic (1-acetoxylvinyl)carbene complex generated from the activated propargylic acetates with transition metals.     

Synthesis of silicon-bridged benzocrown ethers as novel ion-sensing chromophores based on the σ–π system

Compounds having two benzocrown ether units bridged by an organosilicon bridge were prepared by the reactions of lithiated benzocrown derivatives with dichloromono- and disilanes in THF, and the ionochromic effects on their optical properties were studied. Of those, disilanylene-bridged benzocrown ethers exhibited clear ionochromism in the emission spectra and the intensity of the original emission band at about 320 nm decreased and a new broad band centered at 400 nm appeared, when selected alkali or alkali-earth metal ions were added into the acetonitrile solutions. In contrast to this, no significant changes were observed in the UV absorption spectra on addition of the metal ions.