Designing Crystal Morphology by a Simple Approach

In separation processes containing solids, mostly crystals, the interest in shape modifications of the solids has increased. The idea in it is the necessity to save energy, to achieve specific product requirements, e.g. purities, or to provide downstream processes with better feed material. For an organic crystal a simple way to select a growth inhibitor is presented here, in contrast to the concept of “tailor-made additives”. The additive selected is structurally different from the host molecule and modifies the habit in a desired manner. The procedure of additive selection involves the analysis of the molecular structure of the crystal to be modified and the orientation of the molecules at the surfaces of the morphological most important faces. Furthermore the problem is discussed if the chosen additive is incorporated into the crystal or not. Results are shown for the system caprolactam/ethanol.     

Australian Honeypot Ant (Camponotus inflatus) Honey—A Comprehensive Analysis of the Physiochemical Characteristics,Bioactivity, and HPTLC Profile of a Traditional Indigenous Australian Food

Despite its cultural and nutritional importance for local Aboriginal people, the unusual insect honey produced by Western Australian honeypot ant (Camponotus inflatus) has to date been rarely investigated. This study reports on the honey’s physicochemical properties, its total phenolic, major sugars and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural contents, and its antioxidant activities. The honey’s color value is 467.63 mAU/63.39 mm Pfund, it has a pH of 3.85, and its electric conductivity is 449.71 µSiemens/cm. Its Brix value is 67.00, corresponding to a 33% moisture content. The total phenolics content is 19.62 mg gallic acid equivalent/100 g honey. Its antioxidant activity measured using the DPPH* (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) and FRAP (ferric reducing–antioxidant power) assays is 1367.67 µmol Trolox/kg and 3.52 mmol Fe⁺²/kg honey, respectively. Major sugars in the honey are glucose and fructose, with a fructose-to-glucose ratio of 0.85. Additionally, unidentified sugar was found in minor quantities.     

Apoptolidin: induction of apoptosis by a natural product

Apoptolidin is a natural product that selectively induces apoptosis in several cancer cell lines. Apoptosis, programmed cell death, is a biological key pathway for regulating homeostasis and morphogenesis. Apoptotic misregulations are connected with several diseases, in particular cancer. The extrinsic way to apoptosis leads through death ligands and death receptors to the activiation of the caspase cascade, which results in proteolytic degradation of the cell architecture. The intrinsic pathway transmits signals of internal cellular damage to the mitochondrion, which loses its structural integrity, and forms an apoptosome that initiates the caspase cascade. Compounds which regulate apoptosis are of high medical significance. Many natural products regulate apoptotic pathways, and apoptolidin is one of them. The known synthetic routes to apoptolidin are described and compared in this Review. Selected further natural products which regulate apoptosis are introduced briefly.     

On the formation and technical importance of the microsegregation in austenitic chromium-nickel alloyed steels

The austenitic chromium nickel alloyed steels are showing different types of concentration-distributions of the elements chromium and nickel in the austenite in dependance on the content of alloys. As a consequence of the crystallization of the heat to austenite the “equal directed” type of segregation forms. The ferritic solidification of a heat and the following ferrite to austenite transformation leads to “unequal directed” segregation in the austenite. Heats having both the types of segregation solidify by way a 3-phase reaction. For heats ferritically solidified better hot plasticity, lower susceptibility to hot cracking in the weld and better polishability is observed compared with heats solidified austenitically. The advantages are accounted to the lower separation during the ferritic solidification as consequence of the higher diffusivity of the alloying and accompanying elements in the ferrite compared with the austenite.     

Routes to control of H2 Coulomb explosion in few-cycle laser pulses

We have measured coincident ion pairs produced in the Coulomb explosion of H2 by 8-30 fs laser pulses at different laser intensities. We show how the Coulomb explosion of H2 can be experimentally controlled by tuning the appropriate pulse duration and laser intensity. For laser pulses less than 15 fs, we found that the rescattering-induced Coulomb explosion is dominated by first-return recollisions, while for longer pulses and at the proper laser intensity, the third return can be made to be the major one. Additionally, by choosing suitable pulse duration and laser intensity, we show H2 Coulomb explosion proceeding through three distinct processes that are simultaneously observable, each exhibiting different characteristics and revealing distinctive time information about the H2 evolution in the laser pulse.     

Phase control in a coherent superposition of degenerate quantum states through frequency control

We demonstrate a controlled phase change of π in a degenerate superposition by altering a laser frequency by only 10 MHz. The method relies on the preparation of an adiabatic state involving the M = ±2 and M = 0 states of the ³P₂ (J = 2) level of metastable neon. Dependent on the frequency, the preparation proceeds either by stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) or by coherent population trapping (CPT). In the former case the superposition is prepared by adiabatic transfer induced in an extended tripod linkage scheme. In the latter case population is optically pumped into the Zeeman manifold of the level ³P₂. The population which does not reach a dark state decays to the ground state of neon. The amplitudes and relative phases of the dark states differ for the two cases. The phase change is monitored using the method of phase-to-population mapping.