Water-soluble constituents of dill

From the water-soluble portion of the methanol extract of dill (fruit of Anethum graveolens L.), which has been used as a spice and medicine, thirty-three compounds, including a new monoterpenoid, six new monoterpenoid glycosides, a new aromatic compound glucoside and a new alkyl glucoside were obtained. Their structures were clarified by spectral investigation.     

The Change of Grip Strength in a Patient with Congenital Myotonic Dystrophy Over a 4-year Period

Myotonic dystrophy (MyD) is a neuromuscular disease that is autosomal dominant and the most common form of muscular dystrophy affecting adults. The clinical features of MyD include a multisystemic disorder characterized by myotonia, progressive muscle weakness and wasting, cataracts, premature balding and mental retardation. The most severe type of MyD is classified as congenital MyD (CMyD). The muscle weakness in CMyD is very severe, but muscle development can be observed in the period of growth. However, no clinical case of this type has been reported yet. Therefore, we report on a girl with CMyD who had an increase in muscle strength over a four-year period. The girl with CMyD participated in this study from the age of 9 to the age of 12. The measurement of muscle strength was recorded as the maximum score of grip strength with the use of dynamometers. Grip strength was assessed once a year by the same two physical therapists. Grip strength of CMyD for each year was markedly weak when compared with the normal controls, but muscle strength changed within some specific growth areas. The muscle weakness in CMyD was remarkable, but the result showed that specific muscle strength of CMyD in childhood was actually increased.     

Spin distributions in the vibrational excitations of closed-shell nuclei

Self-consistent Hartree-Fock and RPA calculations with the Skyrme-type interaction SGII are used for a systematic investigation of the 1⁺ and the triplet 0^?, 1^?, 2^? states in ⁴⁰Ca and ²⁰⁸Pb. Response functions to spin-dependent multipole operators are calculated and the particle-hole structure of the spin-dependent collective states is studied. Collective spin-dependent 0^? and 1^? states above the giant dipole resonance as well as a collective spin-independent 2^? state (twist mode) are identified. Transition spin and current densities are calculated for the collective excitations and found to be useful for the study of these excitation modes.     

The first samarium(II)-mediated aryl radical cyclisation onto an aromatic ring

Intramolecular arylation of aryl radicals was mediated by SmI(2)/HMPA in the presence of i-PrOH to give spirocycles and/or reduced cine-cyclised products, while the reaction in the absence of i-PrOH gave the rearomatised fused rings.     

Synthesis and evaluation of 6-nitro-7-(1-piperazino)quinazolines: dual-acting compounds with inhibitory activities toward both tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) production and T cell proliferation

We investigated the chemical modifications of the nitroquinazoline derivative (1) through the replacement of the NH group at the C(4)-position with several N-alkyl groups to increase the lipophilicity at the C(4)-position. Among them, we found that the N-methyl analogue (5a) showed a 2-fold loss in the inhibitory activity toward tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) production in vitro as compared with the NH analogue (1); however, 5a exhibited an oral inhibitory activity on TNF-alpha production with an ED50 value of 26 mg/kg, whereas 1 did not. Moreover, the oral bioavailability of 5a was higher than that of 1 (1, F=1%; 5a, F=21%), and the calculated ClogP value for 5a was higher than that for 1. These results suggest that the improved lipophilicity of 5a compared with that of 1 reflects its greater inhibitory activity on TNF-alpha production in vivo as well as oral bioavailability.     

Photomobile Polymer Materials with Crosslinked Liquid‐Crystalline Structures: Molecular Design,Fabrication, and Functions

Crosslinked liquid‐crystalline polymer materials that macroscopically deform when irradiated with light have been extensively studied in the past decade because of their potential in various applications, such as microactuators and microfluidic devices. The basic motions of these materials are contraction–expansion and bending–unbending, which are observed mainly in polysiloxanes and polyacrylates that contain photochromic moieties. Other sophisticated motions such as twisting, oscillation, rotation, and translational motion have also been achieved. In recent years, efforts have been made to improve the photoresponsive and mechanical properties of this novel class of materials through the modification of molecular structures, development of new fabrication methods, and construction of composite structures. Herein, we review structures, functions, and working mechanisms of photomobile materials and recent advances in this field.     

Steady-state polarization measurements of lithium insertion electrodes for high-power lithium-ion batteries

Steady-state polarization measurements of lithium titanium oxide (LTO; Li[Li_1/3Ti_5/3]O₄) were carried out using the 0-V lithium-ion cells consisting of two identical LTO-electrodes with a parallel-plate symmetrical electrode configuration. The sinusoidal voltage with the peak amplitude of 1.0 V was imposed at 0.1 Hz upon the 0-V cells and the current response was measured as a function of time. The steady-state polarization, obtained by plotting the current versus applied voltage, was linear in current up to approximately 60 mA cm^?2 or 4 A g^?1 based on the LTO weight and suggested the resistance polarization only for the lithium insertion electrode of the LTO. The method was also applied to lithium aluminum manganese oxide (LAMO; Li[Li_0.1Al_0.1Mn_1.8]O₄) and the resistance polarization of the LAMO-electrode was determined for currents up to approximately 25 mA cm^?2 or 2 A g^?1 based on the LAMO weight. The validity of the results was examined for the polarization measurements of the 2.5-V lithium-ion battery consisting of LTO and LAMO, and the significance of the polarization measurements of lithium insertion electrodes for high-power applications was discussed.     

Exploring the thermochromism of sulfite-embedded polyoxometalate capsules

The Dawson-type polyanion [α-Mo(18)O(54)(SO(3))(2)](4-), with two SO(3)(2-) templates embedded inside a polyoxomolybdate(vi) cage, exhibits thermochromism over an exceptionally wide temperature range (～500 K). The temperature dependence of the cluster structure, established from X-ray crystallography, IR and Raman spectroscopy and DFT calculations, is related to a decreasing HOMO-LUMO gap in the near UV with increasing temperature. We postulate this is due to geometrical changes that affect both the occupied and unoccupied frontier molecular orbitals of this cluster anion.     

Theoretical study on singlet oxygen adsorption onto surface of graphene-like aromatic hydrocarbon molecules

Recently, graphene sheet is one of interesting systems to realize novel electronic properties. Especially, interaction between graphene and adsorbed oxygen molecule is very important to control electronic condition. In this paper, we employed some aromatic hydrocarbons as simple systems of graphene sheet and ab initio MO calculations were carried out to investigate inter-molecular interaction. It is found that not triplet but singlet O₂ molecule have potential of chemisorption onto graphene surface. From the calculated potential energy surface (PES) for distance between benzene and O₂ molecules, meta-stable structure is found at about 1.5 Å with potential barrier. In the optimized structure of its meta-stable state, structural strain can be relaxed through bending of planer benzene ring. Its energy is estimated at 70.10 kcal/mol for benzene. We also estimated the strain effects for naphthalene and pyrene molecules as larger case of graphene and they were 80.85 and 72.45 kcal/mol, respectively.