Basic characteristics of interference image obtained using spatially phase-modulated mirror array

Single-shot full-field optical coherence tomography (OCT) using spatially phase-modulated reference light has been proposed to achieve a higher sensitivity.16) The reference light can be generated by a spatially phase-modulated mirror array (SPMA). The basic characteristics of an interference image using SPMA have been demonstrated using a superluminescent diode (SLD) with a center wavelength of 840 nm as a popular low-coherence light source. SPMA consisted of a small mirror of 10 × 10 mm² and had a full area of 5 × 5mm². The magnifications in the reference arm were 3, 2, and 1. The corresponding magnifications in the signal arm were 18.1, 12.2, and 5.2. The ratios of the interference area to the full CCD area were 0.68, 0.32, and 0.13. Visibilities and ratios for calculations were measured at 0.38 (54%), 0.19 (28%), and 0.062 (8.2%). The periodical background noise was high owing to interferences with scattered lights from SPMA. From the spectra of signal intensity profiles in the subtracted image between two interference images, it was confirmed that the optical phase in the reference light was spatially and periodically modulated by SPMA.     

Periodic Polypeptides Based on Poly(L-Alanylglycine): Biological Synthesis and Verification of the Structure of A Series of Polymers Containing Tandem —(Alagly)xGlugly— Repeats

The experiments reported herein constitute part of an investigation of the relationship between primary sequence and higher order structure in repetitive polypeptides. Three series of artificial DNAs encoding poly-peptides represented by the general formula + (GlyAla)_nGlyGlu]_m— were constructed and cloned in Escherichia coli.Protein expression was monitored by in-vivo labeling with ³H-glycine. Protein products were isolated from the cell lysates by stepwise acidification in yields of 20–50 mg/L of culture, and fusion fragments derived from the cloning vectors were removed by cyanogen bromide cleavage. Amino acid sequence analysis verified the expected sequences through the first 40–50 N-terminal residues.     

Nuclear Monobromination of Alkyl Phenyl Ethers with NaClO2, NaBr,Mn(acac)3, and Moist Silica Gel in Aprotic Solvent

Nuclear monobromination of aromatic ethers can be achieved with a NaClO₂/NaBr/Mn(acac)₃ catalyst/silica gel system in dichloromethane in regioselective and high-yielding manner under mild conditions.     

Cellulose propionate/poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone-co-vinyl acetate) blends: dependence of the miscibility on propionyl DS and copolymer composition

Blend miscibility of cellulose propionate (CP) with synthetic copolymers comprising N-vinyl pyrrolidone (VP) and vinyl acetate (VAc) units was examined, and a data map was constructed as a function of the degree of substitution (DS) of CP and the VP fraction in the copolymer component. Results of differential scanning calorimetry and Fourier transform infrared measurements indicated that the pairing of CP/P(VP-co-VAc) formed a miscible or immiscible blend system according to the balance in effectiveness of the following factors: (1) hydrogen bonding between residual hydroxyls of CP and VP carbonyls of P(VP-co-VAc); (2) steric hindrance of propionyl side-groups to the interaction specified in (1); (3) intramolecular repulsion between the two units constituting the vinyl copolymer; and, additionally, (4) structural affinity between two segmental moieties involving the propionyl group and VAc unit, respectively. The factor 3 inducing intercomponent attraction is responsible for the appearance of a so-called “miscibility window” in the miscibility map, and the factor 4 substantially expands the miscible region whole, wider relative to those in the maps for the corresponding blend series based on cellulose acetate and butyrate. In further refined estimation by dynamic mechanical analysis and T _1ρ ^H quantification in solid-state ¹³C NMR, it was found that the miscible blends of hydrogen-bonding type (using CPs of DS < 2.7) were completely homogeneous on a scale within a few nanometers, whereas the polymer pairs situated in the window region (using CPs of DS > 2.7) formed blends exhibiting a somewhat larger size of heterogeneity (ca. 5–20 nm).     

MMPP (Magnesium Monoperoxyphthalate) in Acetonitrile; A New Approach to the Synthesis of Lactones via Baeyer-Villiger Oxidation of Cyclic Ketones

A variety of unsubstituted and mono- or di-substituted cycloalkanones can be oxidised with modest excess of magnesium monoperoxyphthalate hexahydrate in acetonitrile to produce the corresponding lactones in a facile, selective, and high yielding manner.     

Adsorption Equilibrium Equation of Carboxylic Acids on Anion-Exchange Resins in Water

The adsorption of propionic acid and benzoic acid on anion-exchange resins was analyzed, and an adsorption equilibrium equation of carboxylic acids was proposed. The adsorption of carboxylic acids on the anion-exchange resins was considered to be the sum of the physical adsorption of the molecule and the ion-exchange adsorption of the ion, which were independent of each other. For the physical adsorption of carboxylic acids, it was conformed to the Freundlich equation. For the ion-exchange adsorption of carboxylate ions, the equilibrium equation corresponded well with the experimental results for wide ranges of concentration and pH. The equation contains a selectivity coefficient S(A)(Cl) for the chloride ion versus the carboxylate ion, which was considered essentially a constant. The influent of the bicarbonate ion from carbon dioxide in air could also be expressed by the additional equilibrium equation with the selectivity coefficient S(HCO(3))(Cl) for the chloride ion versus the bicarbonate ion. Consequently, an adsorption equilibrium equation can estimate the equilibrium adsorption amounts. Even the effect of a coexisting bicarbonate ion is inconsequential when the parameters of the Freundlich isotherm equation and the selectivity coefficients of the carboxylate ion and the bicarbonate ion in each resin are determined in advance. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.     

Colchicine Models: Synthesis and Binding to Tubulin of Tertamethoxybiphenyls

Syntheis of tetramethoxybiphenyl 21 was accomplished from 4-phenylcylohexane-1,3-dione 13 by aromatization to biphenyl 19 and reductive removal of the phenolic OH group as phenyltetrazolyl ether. Tertramethoxybiphenyls 34 and 40 were obtained from 4-phenylcyclohexenone 26 via ester 27 . The tetramethoxybiphenyls 21, 34 , and 40 , and analogs 28, 29 , and 31 were evaluated for antitubulin activity and as antimitotic agents with L1210 murine leukemia cells. Compounds 31 and 34 had significant effects on the in-vitro polymerization of tubulin. Compound 31 was the most cytotoxic of the six new biphenyls studied (IC₅₀ for cell growth, 0.6M ) and caused the accumulation of cells in metaphase arrest.     

Polyaniline/Silica Hybrid Composite Gels Prepared by the Sol-Gel Process

The preparation of polyaniline/silica hybrid gel was studied by chemical polymerization of aniline with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) during the sol-gel processing. As a typical procedure, aqueous solutions of SDS, aniline, HCl, and tetramethoxysilane (TMOS) were mixed. Then ammonium peroxodisulfate (APS) in an acidic aqueous solution was added as initiator oxidant into the sol-gel systems at different sol-gel stages: (A) just after mixing (sol), (B) after gelation (wet gel), and (C) after 7 d (dried gel). As for the condition (A), several green areas and several tens of dark green spots with absorption peaks at 343, 422, and 802 nm were seen in the xerogel, indicating that emeraldine salt type polyaniline is aggregated in the silica xerogel. Polymerization of aniline little occurred in the dried gel (C), possibly because APS could not soak the silica pores and/or aniline could not polymerize in the gel. The xerogel from (B) showed a homogeneously green color with peaks at 339, 425, and 769 nm, showing that emeraldine salt type polyaniline can be uniformly dispersed in sol-gel silica.     

A Convenient Biphasic System (Alumina-Dichloromethane) for the Efficient Aromatic Monochlorination of Alkyl Phenyl Ethers with Sodium Chlorite in the Catalytic Presence of Manganese(III) Salt

A combination of sodium chlorite, (salen)manganese(III) catalyst, and chromatographic neutral alumina in dichloromethane can be successfully utilized for the aromatic monochlorination of a variety of alkyl phenyl ethers in excellent to quantitative yields under mild and anhydrous conditions.