Organelle‐Targeted BODIPY Photocages: Visible‐Light‐Mediated Subcellular Photorelease

Photocaging facilitates non‐invasive and precise spatio‐temporal control over the release of biologically relevant small‐ and macro‐molecules using light. However, sub‐cellular organelles are dispersed in cells in a manner that renders selective light‐irradiation of a complete organelle impractical. Organelle‐specific photocages could provide a powerful method for releasing bioactive molecules in sub‐cellular locations. Herein, we report a general post‐synthetic method for the chemical functionalization and further conjugation of meso‐methyl BODIPY photocages and the synthesis of endoplasmic reticulum (ER)‐, lysosome‐, and mitochondria‐targeted derivatives. We also demonstrate that 2,4‐dinitrophenol, a mitochondrial uncoupler, and puromycin, a protein biosynthesis inhibitor, can be selectively photoreleased in mitochondria and ER, respectively, in live cells by using visible light. Additionally, photocaging is shown to lead to higher efficacy of the released molecules, probably owing to a localized and abrupt release.     

The Optimal Shape of Riblets in the Viscous Sublayer

Our aim is to find the optimal shape of periodically distributed microstructures on surfaces of swimming bodies in order to reduce their drag. The model describes the flow in the viscous sublayer of the boundary layer of a turbulent flow. The microscopic optimization problem is reduced applying homogenization. In the reduced so-called macroscopic optimization problem we minimize the Navier constant subject to the boundary layer equations which are solved in a very small part of the original domain. Under the assumptions that the microstructures can be represented as smooth functions the sensitivity can be determined analytically. The optimization problem is then solved by a sensitivity based method (steepest descent with optimal step size) and the state equations are solved in each iteration with an external software. Our reduced model is validated by comparing the results from the homogenized model with those obtained by simulating the whole rough channel. An improved shape is found and a drag reduction up to 10% can be shown.     

Nitrogen dioxide multiphase chemistry: uptake kinetics on aqueous solutions containing phenolic compounds

The uptake coefficients of NO2 on aqueous solutions containing guaiacol, syringol and catechol were determined over the pH range from 1 to 13 using the wetted wall flowtube technique. The measured uptake coefficients were used to determine the rate coefficients for the reaction of the physically dissolved NO2 with the neutral and deprotonated forms of phenolic compounds listed above. These organic compounds are ubiquitous not only in biomass burning plumes but also in soils, where they form part of the building blocks of humic acids. The NO2 uptake kinetics on solutions containing guaiacol, syringol or catechol were observed to be strongly pH dependent with uptake coefficients increasing from below 10(-7), under acidic conditions, to more than 10(-5) at pH values above 10. This behaviour illustrates the difference of reactivity between the neutral phenolic species and the phenoxide ions. The corresponding second order rate coefficients were typically observed to increase from 10(5) M(-1) s(-1) for the neutral compounds to a minimum of 10(8) M(-1) s(-1) for the phenoxide ions.     

Laterally deformable nanomechanical zeroth-order gratings: anomalous diffraction studied by rigorous coupled-wave analysis

We describe a novel optomechanical device that produces strong reflectance and polarization modulation of incident light. The structure is based on a suspended nanomechanical grating with lateral deformability, and rigorous coupled-wave analysis has been used to fully model the optical properties of the device. The grating consists of two interdigitated gratings that may be moved with respect to each other with an applied force. The structures proposed here are designed to be readily manufacturable with device processing developed for surface-micromachined microelectromechanical systems and with known microelectromechanical systems materials, such as silicon, silicon nitride, and amorphous diamond. As the spacing of the grating is changed, an anomalous diffraction effect is observed, a Wood's type anomaly in which there exists a resonance in propagating leaky modes within the grating, resulting in a dramatic change in the reflectance characteristics for slight changes in the grating. One of the unique features of this structure is that a reflected optical signal can be used to detect subangstrom in-plane motion of structures greater than 10 nm.     

Aufnahme von Spurenmengen Antimon (Radioantimon) durch Metalloxidhydrat-Niederschläge, 2. Mitt.: Oxidhydrate von Yttrium,Lanthan und Ytterbium

Uptake of carrier-free radioantimony (¹²⁵Sb) by the hydrated oxides of Y, La and Yb is influenced strongly by the aging of the precipitates: Coprecipitated radioantimony is released from the precipitates as aging proceeds, uptake is reduced strongly if preformed precipitates are aged. Such influence of aging of these hydrated oxides is not found for the uptake of all trace elements. Uptake of radioantimony due to coprecipitation exceeds sorption on preformed precipitates by about one order of magnitude. Thus, coprecipitated radioantimony is predominantly incorporated into the precipitate particles. Only a small fraction is adsorbed on the surface. The dependance of the uptake on pH and addition of NaCl was determined.