Stiffened ultrathin Pt films confirmed by acoustic-phonon resonances

Resonances of coherent acoustic phonons were excited and detected by femtosecond light pulses for determining the normal elastic constant of ultrathin platinum films. The elastic constant increases with the decrease of the film thickness, exceeds the bulk value at the thickness near 5 nm, and significantly increases at low temperatures. It shows a correlation with the normal lattice distance. Thus, this Letter provides evidence of the stiffness enhancement in ultrathin films caused by lattice anharmonicity.     

Effect of buffer layer on VOx film fabrication by reactive RF sputtering

Vanadium oxide VO_x films were fabricated by RF magnetron sputtering on various metal buffer layers or silica glass substrates at a substrate temperature of 400 °C. V₂O₅ film was fabricated on a silica glass substrate, and VO₂ films were fabricated on V, W, Fe, Ni, Ti, and Pt metal buffer layers. The transition temperature of the sample on the V buffer layer was 68 °C and that on the W buffer layer was 53 °C. The VO₂ film was also fabricated on the V buffer layer by non-reactive sputtering using a V₂O₅ target at a substrate temperature of 400 °C.     

Bubble motions confined in a microspace observed with stroboscopic technique

Dynamic motions of gas bubble confined in a microspace, i.e., in a channel of a microreactor, were observed with a video microscope and stroboscopic technique using a light emitting diode operated in a pulsed mode. There are many important phenomena related to the bubble dynamics synchronized with ultrasonic wave and continued for more than a few minutes. With the stroboscopic technique, the time-expanded bubble motions synchronized with ultrasound wave and the real time background images can be simultaneously observed. A number of interesting phenomena resulting from the dynamic motions of a microbubble in a microspace were observed; nonspherical bubble oscillation, rectified diffusion, emergence of cavitation, and microstreaming of different patterns depending on the input power of ultrasound. The observation technique described in this investigation could be a convenient tool for taming the bubble under a microscope to investigate the bubble dynamics in detail.     

Noninvasive spectral imaging of skin chromophores based on multiple regression analysis aided by Monte Carlo simulation

In order to visualize melanin and blood concentrations and oxygen saturation in human skin tissue, a simple imaging technique based on multispectral diffuse reflectance images acquired at six wavelengths (500, 520, 540, 560, 580 and 600 nm) was developed. The technique utilizes multiple regression analysis aided by Monte Carlo simulation for diffuse reflectance spectra. Using the absorbance spectrum as a response variable and the extinction coefficients of melanin, oxygenated hemoglobin, and deoxygenated hemoglobin as predictor variables, multiple regression analysis provides regression coefficients. Concentrations of melanin and total blood are then determined from the regression coefficients using conversion vectors that are deduced numerically in advance, while oxygen saturation is obtained directly from the regression coefficients. Experiments with a tissue-like agar gel phantom validated the method. In vivo experiments with human skin of the human hand during upper limb occlusion and of the inner forearm exposed to UV irradiation demonstrated the ability of the method to evaluate physiological reactions of human skin tissue.     

Genotoxic Responses of Mitochondrial Oxygen Consumption Rate and Mitochondrial Semiquinone Radicals in Tumor Cells

Our recent report demonstrated that genotoxic stimuli enhance mitochondrial energy metabolism in various tumor cell lines. However, the mitochondrial response against genotoxic stimuli has not been fully elucidated. In this study, to investigate mitochondrial functions in X-irradiated cells, the oxygen consumption rate (OCR) in human cervical adenocarcinoma HeLa cells was examined by electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy with lithium 5,9,14,18,23,27,32,36-octa-n-butoxy-2,3-naphthalocyanine. ESR oximetry demonstrated that basal respiration, ATP-linked respiration, proton leak, maximal respiration, and reserve capacity increased in HeLa cells 24 h after X-irradiation. However, a flow cytometric analysis using MitoTracker Green showed that mitochondrial mass also increased following X-irradiation. When the OCR was standardized to the mitochondria membrane mass, the radiation-induced increases in the respiratory parameters disappeared. This finding indicated that the radiation-induced increase in cellular OCR was explained by an increase in mitochondrial mass but not by the activation of mitochondrial respiratory-related enzymes. In addition, mitochondrial semiquinone radicals at g?=?2.004 were detected by low-temperature (110 K) ESR spectroscopy. The ESR signal intensity of semiquinone radicals was enhanced by X-irradiation, suggesting an increase in the electron flow in the electron transport chain. These data will be important to understand the mechanism of radio-sensitization by mitochondria-targeting reagents in tumor cells.     

Ultrasonic cavitation induced water in vegetable oil emulsion droplets--a simple and easy technique to synthesize manganese zinc ferrite nanocrystals with improved magnetization

In the present investigation, synthesis of manganese zinc ferrite (Mn_0.5Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄) nanoparticles with narrow size distribution have been prepared using ultrasound assisted emulsion (consisting of rapeseed oil as an oil phase and aqueous solution of Mn²⁺, Zn²⁺ and Fe²⁺ acetates) and evaporation processes. The as-prepared ferrite was nanocrystalline. In order to remove the small amount of oil present on the surface of the ferrite, it was subjected to heat treatment at 300 °C for 3 h. Both the as-prepared and heat treated ferrites have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (IR), TGA/DTA, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy dispersion X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) techniques. As-prepared ferrite is of 20 nm, whereas the heat treated ferrite shows the size of 33 nm. In addition, magnetic properties of the as-prepared as well as the heat treated ferrites have also been carried out and the results of which show that the spontaneous magnetization (σ_s) of the heat treated sample (24.1 emu/g) is significantly higher than that of the as-synthesized sample (1.81 emu/g). The key features of this method are avoiding (a) the cumbersome conditions that exist in the conventional methods; (b) usage of necessary additive components (stabilizers or surfactants, precipitants) and (c) calcination requirements. In addition, rapeseed oil as an oil phase has been used for the first time, replacing the toxic and troublesome organic nonpolar solvents. As a whole, this simple straightforward sonochemical approach results in more phase pure system with improved magnetization.     

Multiple-Scattering-Free Optical Glucose Monitoring Based on Femtosecond Pulse Interferometry

We have designed a novel multiple-scattering-free optical glucose monitoring system based on femtosecond pulse interferometry. The glucose concentration is determined by a time-of-flight method, while multiple-scattering light is rejected by a coherence gate. The resultant accuracy and precision were 94.7 and 24.5 mg/dl, respectively, for physiological-equivalent glucose concentrations in a scattering medium of 1.0% intralipid solution, while the accuracy and precision for a reference sample containing no scattering medium were 65.3 and 23.8 mg/dl, respectively. Comparing these results, we conclude that the proposed method is effective for glucose measurement in a scattering medium.     

Segregation of vapor and gas in a sonoluminescing bubble

Computer simulations of bubble oscillations in water are performed for various noble gases taking into account the segregation of water vapor and noble gas inside a collapsing bubble, which was predicted by Storey and Szeri [J. Fluid Mech. 396 (1999) 203]. It is clarified that the number of water vapor molecules dissociated inside a collapsing bubble is larger for heavier noble gases because of the lower thermal conductivity and the segregation of vapor and noble gas. It is also clarified that the temperature inside a helium bubble at the collapse increases considerably by the mixture segregation because a lesser amount of vapor is trapped inside a collapsing bubble. It is also clarified that multibubble sonoluminescence (MBSL) from heavier noble gases is brighter because of the lower ionization potential which results in the higher electron density and stronger plasma emissions.     

One-Pot Synthesis of Tri-Acetalated Aldohexoses with 1,1-Dialkoxycyclohexane–p-Toluenesulfonic Acid

Abstract

2-Deoxy-d-arabino-hexose (1), 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-d-glucose (2), and 2-deoxy-2-trifluoroacetamido-d-glucose (3) were each treated with 1,1-dimethoxycyclohexane or 1,1-dibenzyloxycyclohexane in 1,4-dioxane in the presence of p-toluenesulfonic acid. The major products were the 1,1-dimethyl or 1,1-dibenzyl acetals (4-9) of 3,4:5,6-di-O-cyclohexylidene-2-deoxy-aldehydo-d-arabino-hexose, and of 2- (acylamino)-3,4:5,6-di-O-cyclohexylidene-2-deoxy-aldehydo-D-glucose. The dibenzyl acetal derivatives were converted, by hydro-genolysis, into the corresponding, acyclic aldehydes (10-12) in good yields.     

Synthetic studies of the lichen macrolide lepranthin. Stereoselective synthesis of the diolide framework based on regioselective epoxide-opening reactions

Stereoselective synthesis of the 16-membered diolide 27, a fully functionalized congener of lepranthin (1), is described. The requisite five asymmetric carbon centers in monomer 23 were constructed in a highly stereoselective manner by using different epoxide-opening reactions of α,β-unsaturated γ,δ-epoxy esters and epoxy alcohol derivatives as the key steps. The monomer 23 was successfully transformed into the MOM protected diolide 27 by Yamaguchi macrolactonization.