Preparation of holographic gratings of liquid crystals dispersed in polyurethane acrylates under controlled reaction conditions.

Transmission gratings of holographic polymer-dispersed liquid crystals (HPDLC) are prepared under controlled reaction conditions by adding various amounts of chain-transfer agent (CTA). The resulting films have a higher gel content with lower cross-link density, less dark reaction, less grating shrinkage with much smoother LC/polymer interfaces, smaller induction period, and fast saturation of diffraction efficiency, which shows a maximum of 95 % with 1 % CTA. An optimum LC content of 35 % is verified on the basis of morphology and reaction kinetics.     

Studies on mass production of transformed Panax ginseng hairy roots in bioreactor

The growth properties of Panax ginseng hairy roots transformed by Agrobacterium rhizogenes were compared between flask and aerated column or stirred bioreactor. In flask cultures, sucrose, initially 30 g/L, was nearly exhausted after 45 d of culture. The pH of the medium dropped from 5.5 to 4.96 after 10 d, but afterward it gradually increased to 6.4. After 45 d, hairy roots grew about 16-folds. The growth rate of hairy roots in air-bubble column or stirred bioreactor cultures was 1.13 (1.11) to 1.23 (1.20) g fresh wt (dry wt)/(g of cells·d), respectively. For both bioreactors, growth was about three times as high as in the flask cultivation.     

Surface-enhanced Raman study of organic sulfides adsorbed on silver

The surface-enhanced Raman scatterings of dimethyl sulfide, diethyl sulfide and dimethyl disulfide have been investigated in silver sol. The dimethyl disulfide molecule decomposes on silver to the corresponding mercaptide implying facile cleavage of its S---S bond. The C---S bond in dialkyl monosulfide appears not to cleave on silver. For diethyl sulfide, the C₂ conformation seems to be favorable on silver than other conformations.     

Polyarylate–polystyrene block copolymer from macro-azoinitiator: Synthesis and its thermal properties

A macro-azoinitiator containing polyarylate segment and azo group was prepared by the solution polycondensation of azobiscyanopentanoyl chloride and hydroxy-terminated polyarylates having viscosity-average molecular weights of 6200, 8100, and 12 400. These macro-azoinitiators were used in the radical polymerization of styrene to synthesize polyarylate-polystyrene block copolymers. Thermal properties measured by the differential scanning calorimetry indicated the phase separated morphology of the block copolymers except at low molecular weight of the block constituents. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Quantitation of trimethyl amine by headspace gas chromatography-mass spectrometry using a base-modified column

Headspace gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) has been successfully applied to the analysis of the highly volatile species trimethyl amine (TMA). TMA quantitation in fiberglass insulation resins (ultimately used by the automotive and building products industries) is of interest because of its highly odoriferous nature. The release of TMA from fiberglass insulation products is the principal component responsible for the "fishy" odor encountered in automobiles. Currently, the industry standard for the analysis of TMA involves injecting an aqueous insulation extract into the GC-MS equipped with a polyethylene glycol column. Several problems inherent in this analysis prohibit consistent performance and enhance the possibility for wide variations in the quantitative results. This article reports the development of a new approach to the quantitation of TMA from fiberglass insulation between the levels of 1 and 150 ppm.     

Submanifolds of complex space forms admitting an almost contact metric compound structure

Summary Real hypersurfaces of an almost Hermitian manifold naturally admit an almost contact metric structure and the (f, g, u, v, w, , , )-structure is defined on submanifolds of codimension 3 of an almost Hermitian manifold. We study the so-called semi-invariant submanifolds of a complex space form with almost contact metric compound structure which is a general notion of (f, g, u, v, w, , , )-structure.Dedicated to professor Eulyong Pak on his 60th birthdayThis research was partially supported by Korean Science and Engineering Foundation Grant.     

A Mets motif peptide found in copper transport proteins selectively binds Cu(I) with methionine-only coordination

Mets motifs, which refer to methionine-rich sequences found in the high-affinity copper transporter Ctr1, also appear in other proteins involved in copper trafficking and homeostasis, including other Ctrs as well as Pco and Cop proteins isolated from copper-resistant bacteria. To understand the coordination chemistry utilized by these proteins, we studied the copper binding properties of a peptide labeled Mets7-PcoC with the sequence Met-Thr-Gly-Met-Lys-Gly-Met-Ser. By comparing this sequence to a series of mutants containing noncoordinating norleucine in place of methionine, we confirm that all three methionine residues are involved in a thioether-only binding site that is selective for Cu(I). Two independent methods, one based on mass spectrometry and one based on rate differences for the copper-catalyzed oxidation of ascorbic acid, provide an effective K(D) of approximately 2.5 microM at pH 4.5 for the 1:1 complex of Mets7-PcoC with Cu(I). These results establish that a relatively simple peptide containing an MX(2)MX(2)M motif is sufficient to bind Cu(I) with an affinity that corresponds well with its proposed biological function of extracellular copper acquisition.     

Sequence- and site-specific photodissociation at 266 nm of protonated synthetic polypeptides containing a tryptophanyl residue

Photodissociation at 266 nm of protonated synthetic polypeptides containing a tryptophanyl residue was investigated using a homebuilt tandem time-of-flight mass spectrometer equipped with a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization source. Efficient photodissociation of the protonated peptides was demonstrated. Most of the intense peaks in the laser-induced tandem mass spectra were sequence ions. Furthermore, sequence ions due to cleavages at all the peptide bonds were observed; this is a feature of the technique that is particularly useful for peptide sequencing. Fragmentations at both ends of the tryptophanyl residue were especially prevalent, which can be useful for location of the tryptophanyl chromophore in a peptide.