An agar-microchamber cell-cultivation system: flexible change of microchamber shapes during cultivation by photo-thermal etching

A new type of cell-cultivation system based on photo-thermal etching has been developed for the on-chip cultivation of living cells using an agarose microchamber array. The method can be used to flexibly change the chamber structure by photo-thermal etching, even during the cultivation of cells, depending upon the progress in cell growth. We used an infrared (1064 nm) focused laser beam as a heat source to melt and remove agar gel at the heated spot on a thin chromium layer. The melting of the agar occurred just near the chromium thin layer, and the size of the photo-thermally etched area depended almost linearly on the power of the irradiated laser beam from 2 microm to 50 microm. Thus by using photo-thermal etching with adequate laser power we could easily fabricate narrow tunnel-shaped channels between the microchambers at the bottom of the agar-layer even during cell cultivation. After 48 h of cultivation of nerve cells, the nerve cells in two adjacent chambers made fiber connections through the fabricated narrow tunnel-shaped channels. These results suggest that photo-thermal etching occurred only in the area where an absorbing material was used, which means that it is possible to photo-thermally etch lines without damaging the cells in the microchambers. The results also suggest that the agar-microchamber cell cultivation system in combination with photo-thermal etching can potentially be used for the next stage of single cell cultivation including the real-time control of the interaction of cells during cell cultivation.     

Phylogenetic studies of dogs with emphasis on Japanese and Asian breeds

The first domestication of the dog occurred in East Asia, and major ancestor of the dog was a wolf subspecies, Canis lupus chanco. This finding derives from data on the nucleotide sequences of mtDNA and the frequency of genes controlling blood protein polymorphisms in various subspecies of wolves and dog breeds around the world. The results of the allele frequency distribution of genes controlling 16 blood protein polymorphisms, and the incidence of dogs possessing erythrocytes with high potassium (HK) in Japan, East Asia and Europe allowed us to posturate the following hypothesis about the origins of Japanese dogs and the history of their development. In the Jomon period the first dogs entered the Japanese archipelago from southern or northern continental Asia. These dogs eventually spread throughout Japan. Then, during the Yayoi and Kofun periods, other dogs were brought over via the Korean Peninsula, and crossbreeding occurred with the original dogs. The resulted offspring can be assumed to be the ancestors of most of the Japanese breeds that exist today. Ethological studies have revealed a significant breed difference in behavioral traits among canine breeds with Japanese dogs, showing more aggressive dispositions than most of European dogs.     

Spectral sets of certain unbounded functions

Summary A. Beurling introduced the concept of spectral sets of unbounded functions to study the possibility of the approximation of those by trigonometric polynomials. We consider spectral sets of unbounded functions in a certain class which contains the square of the Riemann zeta-function as a typical example.     

The first utilization of acidic ionic liquid for preparation of tetraarylporphyrins

A phase-separated acidic ionic liquid affords to catalyze a reaction of pyrrole with benzaldehyde in dichloromethane, forming porphyrins in a comparable yield to the Lindsey method and is reusable at least ten times without loss of catalytic activity.     

Generation of 5-W deep-UV continuous-wave radiation at 266 nm by an external cavity with a CsLiB6O10 crystal

A Brewster-cut CsLiB6O10 crystal is employed as an external resonant frequency doubler to generate cw deep-UV radiation at 266 nm. We have generated 5.0 W of usable cw output power, which is 6.1 W in the crystal, for an incident green power of 9.6 W, corresponding to an internal conversion efficiency of 61.8%. The power obtained is, to our knowledge, three times higher than previously reported for cw 266-nm generation.     

Synthesis and antifungal activity of novel 14-membered benzomacrolides, as galbonolide analogues

Asymmetric total synthesis of benzene analogues of galbonolide, a 14-membered antifungal macrolide, possessing a benzene ring instead of a conjugated diene structure, was achieved starting from chiral 1-aryl-1-propanol obtained by enzyme-catalyzed kinetic resolution with high enantioselectivity. Representatively, a method for the introduction of a methylthio and chloride function at the vinyl position was also established. The resulting analogues unfortunately exhibited very little antifungal potency in comparison with galbonolide A.     

A new triterpene glucosyl ester from the fruit of the blackberry (Rubus allegheniensis)

A new triterpene glucosyl ester, rubusside A, has been isolated from the fruit of the blackberry (Rubus allegheniensis PORT.) along with a known triterpene glucosyl ester, niga-ichigoside F1. The chemical structure of rubusside A was determined on the basis of spectroscopic data as well as chemical evidence.     

Psychological impression and listening score while listening to audio signal under meaningless steady noise

The indices for evaluating psychological impression and listening score are first introduced in the case of listening to a Japanese monosyllabic audio signal while subjected to meaningless steady noise. Hereupon, the mutual relationship between the power spectrum level of audio signal and that of external noise is reflected in the above evaluation indices. Next, estimation and/or prediction problems of the psychological impression and listening score are discussed. The predicted values of the psychological impression and listening score are compared with the experimental observed data. A useful index is discussed, considering consistency between predicted and observed values.