Rearrangement of 6,7-dithiabicyclo[3.1.1]heptane 6-oxides to a 7,8-dithia-6-oxabicyclo[3.2.1]octane catalyzed by montmorillonite K 10

Treatment of 2,2,4,4-tetramethyl-1,5-diphenyl-6,7-dithiabicyclo[3.1.1]heptane 6-endo-oxide ( 2 ) with Montmorillonitc K 10 in dichloromethane gave 2,2,-4,4-tetramethyl-1,5-diphenyl-7,8-dithia-6-oxabicyclo-[3.2.1]octane ( 6 ) (11%) with recovery of 2 (87%). Under similar reaction conditions, the 6-exo-oxide 7 and the sulfenate 6 gave a mixture of 6 (21%), 2 (67%), and 7 (9%) and a mixture of 2 (89%) and 6 (9%), respectively. These results indicate the relative thermodynamic stabilities of the three compounds to be 2 > 6 > 7 . PM3 calculations on these compounds showed the heats of formation (kcal/mol) to be in the following order: 6 (44.12783), 2 (57.46721), and 7 (59.37918). The driving force of this unusual 1,2-rearrangement of 2 and 7 to 6 would be the release of the ring strain of the bicyclo[3.1.1]heptane system of 2 and 7 by ring expansion.     

Distinguishability and Disturbance in the Quantum Key Distribution Protocol Using the Mean Multi-Kings’ Problem

We introduce a quantum key distribution protocol using mean multi-kings’ problem. Using this protocol, a sender can share a bit sequence as a secret key with receivers. We consider a relation between information gain by an eavesdropper and disturbance contained in legitimate users’ information. In BB84 protocol, such relation is known as the so-called information disturbance theorem. We focus on a setting that the sender and two receivers try to share bit sequences and the eavesdropper tries to extract information by interacting legitimate users’ systems and an ancilla system. We derive trade-off inequalities between distinguishability of quantum states corresponding to the bit sequence for the eavesdropper and error probability of the bit sequence shared with the legitimate users. Our inequalities show that eavesdropper’s extracting information regarding the secret keys inevitably induces disturbing the states and increasing the error probability.     

Protective Effect of Ferulic Acid against Hydrogen Peroxide Induced Apoptosis in PC12 Cells

Ferulic Acid (FA) is a highly abundant phenolic phytochemical which is present in plant tissues. FA has biological effects on physiological and pathological processes due to its anti-apoptotic and anti-oxidative properties, however, the detailed mechanism(s) of function is poorly understood. We have identified FA as a molecule that inhibits apoptosis induced by hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) or actinomycin D (ActD) in rat pheochromocytoma, PC12 cell. We also found that FA reduces H₂O₂-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in PC12 cell, thereby acting as an anti-oxidant. Then, we analyzed FA-mediated signaling responses in rat pheochromocytoma, PC12 cells using antibody arrays for phosphokinase and apoptosis related proteins. This FA signaling pathway in PC12 cells includes inactivation of pro-apoptotic proteins, SMAC/Diablo and Bad. In addition, FA attenuates the cell injury by H₂O₂ through the inhibition of phosphorylation of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK). Importantly, we find that FA restores expression levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a key neuroprotective effector, in H₂O₂-treated PC12 cells. As a possible mechanism, FA increases BDNF by regulating microRNA-10b expression following H₂O₂ stimulation. Taken together, FA has broad biological effects as a neuroprotective modulator to regulate the expression of phosphokinases, apoptosis-related proteins and microRNAs against oxidative stress in PC12 cells.     

Antibacterial metal implant with a TiO2‐conferred photocatalytic bactericidal effect against Staphylococcus aureus

Photocatalysis with anatase Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) under ultraviolet A (UVA) has a well recognized bactericidal effect. There have been a few reports, however, on the effects of photocatalysis on bio‐implant‐related infections. The purpose of present study was to evaluate the photocatalytic bactericidal effects of anatase TiO₂ on Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) associated with surgical site infections. TiO₂ films were synthesized on commercially pure titanium substrates and SUS316 stainless steel using a plasma source ion implantation method followed by annealing. The chemical composition of the surface layers was determined using GXRD and XPS. The disks were seeded with cultured S. aureus and exposed to UVA illumination from black light. The bactericidal effect of the TiO₂ films was evaluated by counting the survived colonies statistically. A structural gradient anatase type TiO₂ layer formed on all substrates. The viability of the bacteria on the photocatalytic TiO₂ film coated on titanium was suppressed to 7.0% at 30 minutes and 5.5% at 45 minutes, whereas that on a similarly coated stainless steel was suppressed to 45.8% at 30 minute and 28.6% at 45 minutes (ANOVA: p < 0.05). Complete bacterial inactivation was achieved after 90 minutes on titanium and after 60 minutes on stainless steel. The photocatalytic bactericidal effect of TiO₂ is useful for sterilizing the contaminated surfaces of bioimplants. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Investigation of chlorophylls as a scavenger of manganese(II) and zinc(II) using a radiotracer technique

Uptake of manganese(II) and zinc(II) by chlorophylla (Chl) was investigated using a radiotracer technique in order to elucidate its ability of scavenging metals released into the soil environment. Two possibilities were considered for the metal uptake: (1) substitutional complexation with Chl and (2) inclusion of the metals into Chl aggregates. It was found that manganese(II) was not trapped appreciably by both Chl itself and its aggregates. Magnesium of Chl was exchanged with zinc(II) in aqueous phase giving Zn−Chl at pH values higher than 7. Zinc(II) was found to be trapped by Chl aggregates depending on the pH of the aqueous phase.     

Depth-adaptive regularized reconstruction for reflection diffuse optical tomography

We study reflection diffuse optical tomography using two-dimensional (2D) continuous-wave source-detector arrays on the surface of semi-infinite medium, aiming at imaging the perfusion and the hemoglobin oxygen saturation variation of human cerebral cortex with brain activation. We had previously formulated the inverse problem with Moore-Penrose inversion. When we use simple regularization in this inverse problem, the reconstruction sensitivity decreases markedly with the depth so that the signal in the deep range may be masked by an unwanted signal in the shallow range. In this paper, we propose a depth-adaptive regularized reconstruction, in which we assign a smaller regularization parameter with the depth. We demonstrate improvement of the three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction uniformity using the proposed scheme.     

Detection of multiple anions by thin-layer chromatography

A novel detection method for 21 different anions by thin-layer chromatography is presented. Anions on the target plate form salts with amine in a developing solvent and are visualized after staining with citric acid-acetic anhydride reagent as white spots contrasting against a pale red-pink background. This method has particularly high sensitivity for anions of chlorate, sulfate, phosphate, chromate and dichromate (0.02-0.05 microg). The method is demonstrated to efficiently detect toxic arsenite in curry sauce as an example application. The proposed method offers highly efficient indirect detection for a wide range of anions, and serves as a purification procedure for the preparation of anionic sample solutions for other analytical methods.