Characteristics of Ti0.97Co0.03O2:Sb0.01 dilute magnetic semiconducting thin films deposited at 500 °C by pulsed laser deposition

Epitaxial Ti_0.97Co_0.03O₂:Sb_0.01(TCO:Sb) films were deposited on R-Al₂O₃ (1 1 0 2) substrates at 500 °C in various deposition pressures by pulsed laser deposition. The solubility of cobalt within the films increases with decreasing deposition pressure at a deposition temperature of 500 °C. The TCO:Sb films deposited at 5×10⁻⁶ Torr exhibit a p-type anomalous Hall effect having a hole concentration of 6.1×10²²/cm³ at 300 K. On the other hand, films deposited at 4×10⁻⁴ Torr exhibits an n-type anomalous Hall effect having an electron concentration of about 1.1×10²¹/cm³. p- or n-type DMS characteristics depends on the change of the structure of TCO:Sb films and the solubility of Co is possible by controlling the deposition pressure.     

Preparation of Fe–Si–B–Nb amorphous powder cores with excellent high-frequency magnetic properties

FeSiBNb amorphous powder cores were prepared with the amorphous powder by gas atomization and subsequent hot pressing of resulting powder after creating oxide layers on the amorphous powder. Fully amorphous FeSiBNb powders with good soft magnetic properties were successfully obtained in the particle size range below 100 μm. FeSiBNb amorphous powder cores exhibit stable permeability up to 10 MHz, showing excellent high-frequency characteristics.     

Uniform Drug Loading into Prefabricated Microparticles by Freeze‐Drying

Microparticle‐based drug delivery is a promising technology for small volume bioassay platforms. The general utilization of the drug‐loaded microparticles in the in vitro bioassay platforms requires the drug loading method, which should impregnate the general drug types (e.g., water insoluble) with high payload into the variously designed microparticles. Loading the drug into the prefabricated microparticles using solvent evaporation satisfies the requirement. However, similar to the “coffee‐ring effect,” drugs are loaded in a seriously nonuniform manner, caused by the capillary flow during the evaporation process. Here, it is presented that the freeze‐drying is an efficient way to load uniform and high amount of the drug into the prefabricated microparticles. It is demonstrated that freezing solvent can block the capillary flow during the solvent removal process, improving the loading uniformity. The delivered amount of drugs is linearly proportional to the initial loading amount of drugs. Also, this drug loading method is shown to be applied to the various drug types and the prefabricated microparticles with different properties. Considering many challenges to suppress the “coffee‐ring effect” that induces nonuniform impregnation/deposition, the proposed concept can be applied not only for microparticle‐based drug delivery but also for uniform coating applications (e.g., thin‐film coating, DNA/protein microarray).     

Dispersion measurement technique based on the self-seeding laser oscillation of a Fabry-Perot laser diode

A simple dispersion measurement technique has been proposed and demonstrated by using the self-seeding laser oscillation of a Fabry-Perot laser diode through an optical closed-loop path. When the multi-mode optical pulses emitted from the laser are re-injected into the laser after traversing a fiber-under-test, a single mode laser oscillation occurs through the closed-loop path due to the group velocity difference between the pulses of different wavelengths. We measured the dispersion parameter of the fiber-under-test from the modulation frequency changes required to induce single-mode laser oscillations through the optical closed-loop path. The maximum measurement error was less than 1.5% for the optical fibers as compared with a commercial instrument.     

Beam Combination using Stimulated Brillouin Scattering for the Ultimate High Power-Energy Laser System Operating at High Repetition Rate over 10 Hz for Laser Fusion Driver

After the laser was invented in 1960, a phase conjugation mirror has been respected to be the most fantastic one for the laser resonator composition because it can compensate any distortions of the laser beams occurred by the many inhomogenuities of the laser media and optical components. Among the many phase conjugation configurations, the stimulated Brillouin scattering phase conjugation mirror is the most simple one and many researchers have tried to utilize it to develop high power/energy laser systems. For realizing a high energy/power laser system the thermal problem is the most difficult to solve, and some researchers suggested a beam combination technique to reduce the thermal load of the big laser media to many small sized ones. To accomplish the beam combination using stimulated Brillouin scattering phase conjugation mirrors (SBS-PCMs), it is necessary to lock/control the phases of the SBS-PCMs. And some researchers have developed several ways for it, but they can lock the phases of a limited number of beams overlapped at the foci less than 5, or lock the phases by back-seeding technique but it loses the phase conjugation characteristics. For realization of the laser fusion driver, it is necessary to combine more than 10 or 100 beams. And the authors have developed recently a new phase controlling/locking technique which is isolated and independent totally from other beams and it can be applied to an unlimited number of beams in principle.     

Temperature‐dependent Raman scattering study of multiferroic MnWO4

We have measured polarized Raman spectra of MnWO₄ single crystals at low temperatures, and studied the temperature dependence of the various phonon modes. From our Raman studies of the MnWO₄, a new transition temperature, ∼180 K, was found. We have completely assigned the symmetries of the 18 observed Raman modes of the MnWO₄, as expected from a group theoretical analysis. These Raman modes have been classified into three groups according to weak, intermediate and strong temperature dependence of the modes in each group. Six internal modes have been identified by their weak temperature dependence of the Raman wavenumbers. The temperature dependence of the wavenumbers of the B_g modes in Mg O bonds, modes of intermediate temperature dependence group, shows an anomalous behavior under 50 K. The phonon modes of strong temperature dependence show an anomalous change at ∼180 K in the linewidths. This is believed to be a new transition temperature which involves the changes in the inter‐WO₆ octahedra structure. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A one-pot tandem synthesis of various 1,2-disubstituted benzimidazoles

A facile method to synthesize various 1,2-disubstituted benzimidazoles is developed. It is suggested that formation of a Meisenheimer adduct between the substrate, amine, and solvent aids the N-arylation process. The generality of the protocol is demonstrated by the efficient reactions involving numerous substituents ranging from electron-withdrawing groups to electron-donating groups.     

Effects of gamma irradiation on morphological changes and biological responses in plants

This review discusses the morphological changes and biological responses of plants irradiated with gamma rays. Seedlings exposed to relatively low doses of gamma rays (1-5 Gy) developed normally, while the growth of plants irradiated with a high dose gamma ray (50 Gy) was significantly inhibited. Based on TEM observations, chloroplasts were extremely sensitive to gamma irradiation compared to other cell organelles, particularly thylakoids being heavily swollen. In addition, some portions of the mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum were structurally altered, for example, distortion and swelling. The cerium perhydroxide deposition, as a maker for H(2)O(2) deposition, was typically manifest on the plasma membranes and cell walls of the tissues from both the control and irradiated plants. However, the intensities of cerium perhydroxide deposits (CPDs) were remarkably increased in the plasma membranes and cell walls of pumpkin tissues such as petiole, cotyledon, hypocotyl and especially leaf after gamma irradiation. These observations are in good agreement with the results of H(2)O(2) content in all tissues. The immuno-localization analysis for peroxidase (POD) on the tissues from pumpkin plant showed the same pattern between the control and irradiated plants, but the density of gold particles as indication of POD localization was significantly increased on the cell corner middle lamellae of parenchyma cells, especially in the petiole after gamma irradiation. However, accumulation and localization of H(2)O(2) and POD in vessels were not significantly different between both plants. The accumulation and localization of both H(2)O(2) and POD were differentially affected by gamma irradiation depending on the different tissue types. The deposition of both H(2)O(2) and POD in parenchyma cells appeared much higher than in vessels, suggesting that the former is more sensitive than the latter against gamma rays.     

Simultaneous In Situ Quantification of Two Cellular Lipid Pools Using Orthogonal Fluorescent Sensors

Lipids regulate a wide range of biological activities. Since their local concentrations are tightly controlled in a spatiotemporally specific manner, the simultaneous quantification of multiple lipids is essential for elucidation of the complex mechanisms of biological regulation. Here, we report a new method for the simultaneous in situ quantification of two lipid pools in mammalian cells using orthogonal fluorescent sensors. The sensors were prepared by incorporating two environmentally sensitive fluorophores with minimal spectral overlap separately into engineered lipid‐binding proteins. Dual ratiometric analysis of imaging data allowed accurate, spatiotemporally resolved quantification of two different lipids on the same leaflet of the plasma membrane or a single lipid on two opposite leaflets of the plasma membrane of live mammalian cells. This new imaging technology should serve as a powerful tool for systems‐level investigation of lipid‐mediated cell signaling and regulation.     

A Sensor for Serotonin and Dopamine Detection in Cancer Cells Line Based on the Conducting Polymer−Pd Complex Composite

An electrochemical sensor based on the conducting polymer composite with a palladium complex (Pd(C₂H₄N₂S₂)₂) was developed for the detection of serotonin and dopamine simultaneously in the breast cancer cell and human plasma samples. The proposed sensor was fabricated using the Pd(C₂H₄N₂S₂)₂ complex‐anchored poly2,2 : 5,2‐terthiophene‐3‐(p‐benzoic acid) (pTBA) layer on the AuNPs decorated reduced graphene oxide (AuNPs@rGO) substrate, which revealed the enhanced anodic current of the target species. The sensor probe was characterized by electrochemical and surface analysis methods. The experimental parameters affecting the sensor performance were optimized, in terms of AuNPs@rGO concentration, the number of electropolymerization cycle for pTBA, immobilization time of Pd(C₂H₄N₂S₂)₂, and pH. The dynamic ranges for serotonin and dopamine were obtained from 0.02 to 200 μM, and from 0.1 to 200 μM with the detection limit of 2.5, and 24.0 nM, respectively. The reliability of proposed sensor was evaluated using cancer cell lines for the clinical applications.