All-Fiber Optical Add-Drop Multiplexer Using a Pair of Fiber Grating Couplers

A new all-fiber optical add-drop multiplexer (ADM) using a pair of fiber grating couplers (FGCs) was proposed and first demonstrated. It was theoretically and experimentally shown that both drop and add efficiencies could be maximized in the proposed ADM. It was also clarified that the crosstalk between dropped and added signals could be improved in the proposed ADM compared with that in the single FGC. Drop and add operations in the ADM for 3-channel WDM signals with 1.6 nm wavelength spacing were confirmed. The ADM with signal amplification ability, which consists of a pair of FGCs, an EDF, and a pump-LD, was proposed and demonstrated. It was confirmed that the dropped and transmitted optical signals could be amplified in the ADM, and would be able to expand fiber routing spans.     

A Sol-Gel Synthesis for Thermally Stable Aniline/Silica Material

Aniline/silica sol-gel material was obtained. The aniline was immobilized on the silica surface using chloropropyltrimethoxysilane as bridge reagent. The base activator NaH was used to produce a fast SN₂ reaction between the base and the alkylorganosilane. The resulting modified silica was characterized by elemental analysis and infrared spectroscopy using an oven cell. The organic coverage on the surface was proportional to the organic precursor concentration. The aniline/silica materials are thermally stable up to 300°C, in high vacuum.     

A new simple route to deoxyamino sugars from non-sugar material: synthesis of d-tolyposamine and 4-epi-d-tolyposamine and formal synthesis of d-vicenisamine

A new, simple strategy has been formulated for the synthesis of deoxyamino sugars from a non-sugar starting material. Starting from the enantiomerically pure diol obtained from ethyl sorbate by Sharpless asymmetric dihydroxylation, the synthesis of two types of 2,3,4,6-tetradeoxy-4-amino sugars—d-tolyposamine and 4-epi-d-tolyposamine—, and formal synthesis of 2,4,6-trideoxy-4-amino sugar—d-vicenisamine—were performed.     

Chemical synthesis and application of C-terminally 5-carboxyfluorescein-labelled thymopentin as a fluorescent probe for thymopoietin receptor.

Thymopentin (TP5) is a synthetic pentapeptide fragment, which corresponds to position 32 - 36 of thymic polypeptide thymopoietin. Thymopoietin and TP5 display a variety of biological functions, including phenotypic differentiation of T cells and the regulation of immune systems. Previous chemical modification experiments suggested that there was an absolute requirement for N-terminal amino acids to maintain the biological activity of TP5. On the basis of this structure-activity relationship, we designed and synthesized the C-terminally 5-carboxyfluorescein-coupled TP5 (TP5-FAM) as a fluorescent probe for thymopoietin receptor. TP5-FAM could bind to the membrane of human lymphoid cell lines, MOLT-4 cells, in which the thymopoietin receptor is expressed. The binding is specific and saturable (K(d) = 33 microM). TP5 and human splenopentin are nearly equipotent inhibitors of TP5-FAM binding to the thymopoietin receptor, but porcine secretin did not show any significant inhibition of TP5-FAM binding to MOLT-4 cells. Thus, TP5-FAM is suggested to be a potent and biologically active ligand that would be useful for studying the binding and functional characteristics of the human thymopoietin receptor.     

Determination of peptide φ angles in solids by relayed anisotropy correlation NMR

A solid state NMR method is presented for determination of a backbone dihedral angle φ in peptides, being based on the previously reported method, relayed anisotropy correlation (RACO) NMR [Y. Ishii et al., Chem. Phys. Lett. 256 (1996) 133]. In the present method, the and the dipolar tensors in the system are two-dimensionally (2D) correlated via polarization transfer from to under magic angle spinning (MAS). This method was applied to N-acetyl , -valine, and the H–C–N–H dihedral angle was determined to be 154.0±1.4° or 206.0±1.4°, the former agreeing with the X-ray value of 154±5°.     

Mössbauer spectroscopic study of frozen solutions of57Co using a specially designed cryostat for time differential coincidence emission Mössbauer spectroscopy of237Np

Experiments on the⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer effect in frozen solutions were carried out in order to demonstrate the capabilities of a cryostat which was developed for the emission Mössbauer spectroscopy of²³⁷Np. We confirmed the existence of an aliovalent state of⁵⁷Fe in the temperature range from 5.5 to 35 K. However, the relative amounts of Fe(II) and Fe(III) in the frozen matrix were almost constant for the temperature range from 5.5 to 150 K. The design, operation and capabilities of the cryostat are also described.     

Preparation and Characterization of Niobium Oxide Coated Cellulose Fiber

The Nb₂O₅/cellulose composite was prepared by reacting α-cellulose with NbCl_5-n(OC₂H₅)_n, in nonaqueous solvent, under nitrogen atmosphere and submitting the obtained material to hydrolysis. An increase in the crystallinity degree is observed in the composite material because the precursor reagent reacts with the amorphous phase of the cellulose fibers. Loadings between 4.5 and 16.0% of the oxide were achieved and in every case the oxide particles uniformly cover the fiber surface. Lewis and Brønsted acid sites were determined by using pyridine as the basic molecular probe.     

NMR study of prssure-induced magnetic transition in EuSe

The zero-field ¹⁵³Eu NMR in EuSe has been observed as a function of the pressure up to 14 kbar in the temperature range between 1.7 and 4.2 K. A sequent magnetic phase transition of NSNS-NNS-NNSS-NNN occurs with pressure at 1.7 K. In the NNSS state (2.0 ? P ? 4.8 kbar) the NMR frequency v is insensitive to the pressure. In the ferromagnetic state (P ? 4.8 kbar) v depends remarkably on the pressure, and the exchange interaction between the nearest Eu neighbours J₁ is shown to increase rapidly with decreasing the Eu-Eu distance. The pressure dependences of the Eu hyperfine field suggest that the magnetic moment of a Eu²⁺ ion in the ferromagnetic state under pressure is smaller than the ideal saturation value at 0 K.