Studies on cardiac ingredients of plants. VII: Chemical transformation of proscillaridin by means of the Diels-Alder reaction and biological activities of its derivatives.

The Diels-Alder reactions of a cardiac glycoside, proscillaridin (1), with some dienophiles were investigated. The reaction of 1 with alkenes such as methyl vinyl ketone and methyl acrylate afforded 3-oxo-2-oxabicyclo[2.2.2]oct-7-enes (2-5) and para-substituted benzene derivatives (6 and 7), while 1 reacted with alkynes (3-butyn-2-one, methyl propiolate) to yield para- or meta-substituted benzene derivatives (6-9). The biological activities of the resulting derivatives were evaluated by the use of isolated guinea-pig papillary muscle preparations and Na+,K(+)-adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) preparation from dog kidney. Among the proscillaridin derivatives, compounds 4 and 7 moderately inhibited Na+,K(+)-ATPase activity. Furthermore, the concentration range of 7 over which its positive inotropic effect on guinea-pig papillary muscle preparations, increased from 5% to 95% of maximum was broader than that of 1, i.e., concentration dependency was maintained over a greater range of concentration.     

A finite cutting plane method for facial disjunctive programs

This paper shows that any linear disjunctive program with a finite number of constraints can be transformed into an equivalent facial program. Based upon linear programming technique, a new, finite cutting plane method is presented for the facial programs.

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Zusammenfassung Die Arbeit zeigt, daß jedes lineare disjunktive Optimierungsproblem mit endlich vielen Restriktionen in ein äquivalentes Fazetten-Problem transformiert werden kann. Auf der Grundlage von linearer Optimierungstechnik wird für das Fazetten-Problem ein neues, endliches Schnittebenenverfahren vorgestellt.

     

Idempotents in compact semigroups and Ramsey theory

We prove a theorem about idempotents in compact semigroups. This theorem gives a new proof of van der Waerden’s theorem on arithmetic progressions as well as the Hales-Jewett theorem. It also gives an infinitary version of the Hales-Jewett theorem which includes results of T. J. Carlson and S. G. Simpson. Research supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DMS86-05098.     

A novel method for the preparation of T3 free plasma/serum for routine RIA

A novel method to eliminate T₃ from gross sera/plasma based on prior treatment with 8-anilino-1-naphthalene sulphonic acid has been standardized. This method is rapid with a minimum loss of protein and uses only small quantities of charcoal. The treated sera have been tested for acceptance in the RIA system for routine assays.     

Influence of internal degrees of freedom on the structure of one-dimensional systems

Summary The influence of internal degrees of freedom on the behaviour of one-dimensional systems is discussed. For systems with half-filled bands the coupling to internalviz. lattice coordinates decides whether Peierls distortion is caused by intramonomer coordinates or by a lattice coordinate. Thereby the various intramonomer degrees of freedom act cooperatively. We show that there is a small regime of parameters where both kinds of distortion exist simultaneously. For increasing temperature we find that distortions can also move from the lattice coordinate to the intramonomer coordinate.     

Fejér means of functions on noncommutative Vilenkin groups with respect to the character system

Summary It is known that the Fejér means - with respect to the character system of the Walsh, and bounded Vilenkin groups - of an integrable function converge to the function a.e. In this work we discuss analogous problems on the complete product of finite, not necessarily Abelian groups with respect to the character system for functions that are constant on the conjugacy classes. We find that the nonabelian case differs from the commutative case. We prove the a.e. convergence of the (C,1) means of the Fourier series of square integrable functions. We also prove the existence of a function f∊L^q for some q >1 such that sup |σ_n f | = + ∞ a.e. This is a sharp contrast between the Abelian and the nonabelian cases.     

Development of high-repetition-rate LD pumped Nd:YAG laser and its application

High-average-power and high-energy lasers with good beam quality are fundamental tools for pumping high-peak and high-average-power ultrafast Ti:sapphire laser systems. Laser-diode (LD) pumped solid slate lasers with phase conjugation offer a unique combination of efficiency, reliability, and compactness. We present the design details and performance characteristics of a 360-W 1-kHz LD pumped Nd:YAG phase-conjugated laser. We also discuss the basic design aspects and present our preliminary experimental investigations on ultrashort-pulse laser systems.     

Structural and electrical properties of core–shell structured GaP nanowires with outer Ga2O3 oxide layers

This paper presents a review of our current experimental research on GaP nanowires grown by a vapor deposition method. Their structural, electrical, opto-electric transport, and gas-adsorption properties are reviewed. Our structural studies showed that a GaP nanowire consisted of a core–shell structure with a single-crystalline GaP core and an outer Ga₂O₃ layer. The individual GaP nanowires exhibited n-type field effects. Their electron mobilities were in the range of about 6 to 22 cm²/V s at room temperature. When the nanowires were illuminated with an ultraviolet light source, an abrupt increase of conductance occurred resulting from carrier generation in the nanowire and de-adsorption of adsorbed OH^- or O₂ ^- ions on the Ga₂O₃ surface shell. Using an intrinsic Ga₂O₃ shell layer as a gate dielectric, top-gated GaP nanowire field-effect transistors were fabricated and characterized. Like other metal oxide nanowires, the carrier concentration and mobility of GaP nanowires were significantly affected by the surface molecular adsorption of OH or O₂. The GaP nanowire devices were fabricated as sensors for NO₂, NH₃, and H₂ gases by using a simple metal decoration technique. PACS 73.63.-b; 72.80.Ey; 85.35.-p