Phase behavior of monoglycerol fatty acid esters in nonpolar oils: reverse rodlike micelles at elevated temperatures

We have studied nonaqueous phase behavior and self-assemblies of monoglycerol fatty acid esters having different alkyl chain lengths in different nonpolar oils, namely, liquid paraffin (LP 70), squalane, and squalene. At lower temperatures, oil and solid surfactants do not mix at all compositions of mixing. Upon an increase in the temperature of the surfactant system, the solid melts to give isotropic single or two-liquid phases, depending on the nature of the oil and the surfactant. All monolaurin/oil systems form an isotropic single-phase liquid, but with a decreasing alkyl chain length of surfactant, they become less lipophilic and immiscible in oils. As a result, a two-phase domain is observed in the oil rich region of all monocaprylin/oil systems over a wide range of concentrations. Judging from the phase diagrams, the surfactants are the least miscible with squalane, and the order of miscibility tendency is squalene > LP 70 > squalane. With a further increase of temperature, the solubility of the surfactant in the oil increases, and the two-liquid phase transforms to an isotropic single phase. This phase transformation corresponds to the reverse of the cloud-point phenomenon observed in aqueous nonionic surfactant systems. Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) measurements show the presence of reversed rodlike micelles in the isotropic single phase, and the length of the aggregates decreases with increasing temperature and increasing alkyl chain length of the surfactant. These results indicate a rod-sphere transformation with increasing lipophilicity of the surfactant and confirms the validity of Ninham's penetration model in the reversed system. An addition of a small amount of water dramatically enhances the elongation of the reverse micelles. Increasing the surfactant concentration or changing the oil from squalene to LP 70 also increases the length of the rodlike aggregates.     

VISCANA: visualized cluster analysis of protein-ligand interaction based on the ab initio fragment molecular orbital method for virtual ligand screening

We have developed a visualized cluster analysis of protein-ligand interaction (VISCANA) that analyzes the pattern of the interaction of the receptor and ligand on the basis of quantum theory for virtual ligand screening. Kitaura et al. (Chem. Phys. Lett. 1999, 312, 319-324.) have proposed an ab initio fragment molecular orbital (FMO) method by which large molecules such as proteins can be easily treated with chemical accuracy. In the FMO method, a total energy of the molecule is evaluated by summation of fragment energies and interfragment interaction energies (IFIEs). In this paper, we have proposed a cluster analysis using the dissimilarity that is defined as the squared Euclidean distance between IFIEs of two ligands. Although the result of an ordered table by clustering is still a massive collection of numbers, we combine a clustering method with a graphical representation of the IFIEs by representing each data point with colors that quantitatively and qualitatively reflect the IFIEs. We applied VISCANA to a docking study of pharmacophores of the human estrogen receptor alpha ligand-binding domain (57 amino acid residues). By using VISCANA, we could classify even structurally different ligands into functionally similar clusters according to the interaction pattern of a ligand and amino acid residues of the receptor protein. In addition, VISCANA could estimate the correct docking conformation by analyzing patterns of the receptor-ligand interactions of some conformations through the docking calculation.     

The comparison of two clean-up procedures, multifunctional column and immunoaffinity column, for HPLC determination of ochratoxin A in cereals, raisins and green coffee beans

To evaluate a clean-up method of detecting ochratoxin A (OTA) by HPLC, the performances of two different clean-up columns, an immunoaffinity column and a multifuntional column were compared in an inter-laboratory study. As samples, un-contaminated wheat, corn grits, green coffee beans and naturally contaminated raisins were used. The recovery test was performed at two different concentrations of OTA (0.5 and 5.0 μg/kg) except for naturally contaminated raisins. Using the immunoaffinity column, the recovery rates, and relative standard deviations for repeatability (R.S.D._r) and reproducibility (R.S.D._R) for wheat, corn grits and green coffee beans ranged 59.0-85.8, 4.2-7.8 and 22.9-29.2%, respectively. For naturally contaminated raisins, recovery, R.S.D._r and R.S.D._R were 84.1, 1.8 and 5.1%, respectively. Using the multifunctional column, the recovery rates, R.S.D._r and R.S.D._R for wheat, corn grits and green coffee beans ranged 80.8-185.0, 0.7-6.9 and 15.2-33.9%, respectively. For naturally contaminated raisins, the recovery, R.S.D._r and R.S.D._R were 128.7, 1.1 and 3.7%, respectively. The results suggest that a multifunctional column could be used to detect OTA in wheat and corn grits at a concentration as low as 0.5 μg/kg; however, it was difficult to detect OTA in green coffee beans and raisins at such a low level. Although an immunoaffinity column could be used for all the test samples in this study from a low level to a high level, the recovery rates were lower than with a multifunctional column.     

Amphezonol A, a novel polyhydroxyl metabolite from marine dinoflagellate Amphidinium sp.

Amphezonol A (1), a novel polyhydroxyl linear carbon-chain metabolite, has been isolated from the cultured marine dinoflagellate Amphidinium sp., which was isolated from an Okinawan marine acoel flatworm Amphiscolops sp. The structure of 1 was elucidated by detailed analyses of 2D NMR spectra. Amphezonol A (1) possesses one tetrahydrofuran ring, two tetrahydropyran rings, and twenty-one hydroxyl groups on C₆₀-linear aliphatic chain with one exo-methylene and one methyl branch. Amphezonol A (1) exhibited a modest inhibitory activity against DNA polymerase α.     

Isolating the whole complex of target proteins of FK506 using affinity resins from novel solid phases

The development of novel solid phases enabled us to create affinity resins that could be used to isolate the whole complex of target proteins responsible for the immunosuppressive effects of FK506 from rat brain lysate, whereas the affinity resins from commercially available matrices could not achieve this isolation. The results illustrate the enhanced effectiveness of the affinity resin made from this novel material at identifying the target protein of the bioactive compound compared to resins made from the well-known materials Affigel or Toyopearl. This effectiveness arises because the novel material is hydrophilic enough to reduce nonspecific binding proteins and because it has a higher density of ligands that capture the nonubiquitous target protein. Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available for this article at     

基于可见光和近红外光谱鲜猪肉蒸煮损失和嫩度检测的研究

蒸煮损失和嫩度是决定猪肉的食用品质的重要指标,文章提出了可见光/近红外漫反射光谱检测真空包装猪肉的蒸煮损失和嫩度的新方法,从而实现对其快速、无损、无污染测定。利用光谱专用分析软件Unscrambler9.6对采集的近红外漫反射光谱分别进行卷积平滑、二阶微分法和多元散射校正预处理,用偏最小二乘法(PLS)建立其定量校正模型。结果表明近红外光谱漫反射法的预测值与常规方法测定值的相关系数分别为0.81和0.78。该研究结果说明基于可见光/近红外光谱漫反射光谱的检测方法简便易行,是无损检测猪肉的蒸煮损失和嫩度的较好方法。     

Heteroaromatic alkaloids,nakijinamines, from a sponge Suberites sp.

The structures of seven new secondary metabolites isolated from an Okinawan marine sponge Suberites sp., nakijinamines A (1), B (2), and F–I (3–6) and 6-bromoconicamin (7), have been elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analysis, chemical conversion, and conformational analysis. These analyses disclosed that 1–6 were heteroaromatic alkaloids having the hybrid structures of an aaptamine-type alkaloid and an indole alkaloid, while 7 was a bromoindole alkaloid. Nakijinamine I (6) is the first example of an aaptamine-type alkaloid possessing a 1,4-dioxane ring. Antimicrobial activities of 1–7 were evaluated.     

Novel liquid crystal multistage circular polarization switch for three-dimensional laser pico projectors

Crosstalk is one of the most important factors affecting the image quality of polarization switching three-dimensional (3D) projectors. The variation in the phase difference of a polarization switch owing to dispersion degrades crosstalk performance. We propose a novel multistage circular polarization switch comprising liquid crystal devices using a ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) in-plane fast switch and a thick nematic liquid crystal (NLC) retarder. In this paper, we present a proof-of-concept model of a 3D laser pico projector using a scanning MEMS head in combination with the polarization switch. We also evaluate the crosstalk and 3D performance of the projector.     

Analysis of γ-ray production in neutral-current neutrino-oxygen interactions at energies above 200 MeV

It has long been recognized that the observation of γ rays originating from nuclear deexcitation can be exploited to identify neutral-current neutrino-nucleus interactions in water-Cherenkov detectors. We report the results of a calculation of the neutrino- and antineutrino-induced γ-ray production cross section for the oxygen target. Our analysis is focused on the kinematical region of neutrino energy larger than ～200 MeV, in which a single-nucleon knockout is known to be the dominant reaction mechanism. The numerical results have been obtained using for the first time a realistic model of the target spectral function, extensively tested against electron-nucleus scattering data. We find that at a neutrino energy of 600?MeV the fraction of neutral-current interactions leading to emission of γ?rays of energy larger than 6?MeV is ～41%, and that the contribution of the p_{3/2} state is overwhelming.     

Bulk GaN crystals grown by HVPE

We succeeded in preparing very thick c-plane bulk gallium nitride (GaN) crystals grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy. Growth of the bulk GaN crystals was performed on templates with 3 μm GaN layer grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition on (0 0 0 1) sapphire substrates. Colorless freestanding bulk GaN crystals were obtained through self-separation processes. The crystal's diameter and thickness were about 52 and 5.8 mm, respectively. No surface pits were observed within an area of 46 mm diameter of the bulk GaN crystal. The dislocation density decreased with growth direction (from N-face side to Ga-face side) and ranged from 5.1×10⁶ cm⁻² near the N-face surface to 1.2×10⁶ cm⁻² near the Ga-face. A major impurity was Si, and other impurities (O, C, Cl, H, Fe, Ni and Cr) were near or below the detection limits by SIMS measurements.