Assessing matrix assisted laser desorption/ ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometry as a means of rapid embryo protein identification in rice.

Rice embryo proteins were separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE). A total of 105 spots were digested with trypsin and the resultant peptides were analyzed by matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). Raw mass spectra were fully-automatically processed and searched with selected monoisotopic masses against SWISS-PROT/TrEMBL and NCBInr databases. High quality mass spectra were obtained from 53 spots, of which 36 spots were identified including 29 not registered in databases. Fifty percent of the rice embryo proteins resolved in 2-DE could not be identified, indicating more efficient sample preparation techniques need to be developed in the future. At least four to five matching peptides were found to be essential for unambiguous identification of rice embryo proteins; peptide matching of less than four lead to ambiguous results. The suitability of peptide mass fingerprinting method as a means of rapid embryo protein identification in rice was discussed.     

SnCl4-mediated oxidative biaryl coupling reaction of 1-naphthol and subsequent ring closure of 2,2′-binaphthol to the dinaphthofuran framework

A simple method for the direct synthesis of 2,2′-binaphthols 2 and dinaphtho[1,2-b;2′,1′-d]furans 3 under mild conditions was developed, utilizing a biaryl coupling reaction via electron donor-acceptor complexes of 1-naphthols with SnCl₄. Heating of the complex in a sealed tube for (18-24 h) afforded the corresponding o-o coupled product 2 in excellent yield. Prolonged reaction (56-65 h) under the same conditions afforded 3 in high yield in one step. We also found that in the case of α-naphthol without substituents other than a hydroxyl group at the C-1 position, regioselective o-o coupling reaction proceeded. The products 2a, 2b and 2g should be useful as synthetic intermediates for naturally occurring 3,3′-bijuglone, 3,3′-biplumbagin and elliptinone.     

Formation of Anatase Nanocrystals in Sol-Gel Derived TiO2-SiO2 Thin Films with Hot Water Treatment

We have successfully prepared transparent and porous anatase nanocrystals-dispersed films by treating the sol-gel derived TiO₂-SiO₂ films containing poly(ethylene glycol), PEG, with hot water. This process was done at temperatures lower than 100°C under atmospheric pressure, and thus anatase nanocrystals-dispersed films can be formed on various kinds of substrates including organic polymers with poor heat resistance. The changes in structure and composition of the TiO₂-SiO₂ gel films with hot water treatment were related to the formation process of anatase nanocrystals in the TiO₂-SiO₂ gel films with hot water treatment. The formation of anatase nanocrystals was found to proceed to hydrolysis of Si–O–Ti bonds and dissolution of SiO₂ component. In addition, porous film structure formed by leaching of PEG with hot water treatment led to homogenous dispersion of anatase nonocrystals in the films.     

Ru(II)‐mediated living radical polymerization: block and random copolymerizations of N,N‐dimethylacrylamide and methyl methacrylate

RuCl₂(PPh₃)₃ led to living radical copolymerization of N,N‐dimethylacrylamide (DMAA) and methyl methacrylate (MMA) in conjunction with a halide‐initiator (R‐X; CHCl₂COPh, CCl₃Br) and Al(Oi‐Pr)₃ in toluene at 80°C. Both the monomers were polymerized at almost the same rate into random copolymers, where the number‐average molecular weights (M_n) increased in direct proportion to weight of the obtained polymers, and the molecular weight distributions (MWDs) were narrow throughout the reactions (M_w/M_n = 1.2‐1.6). MMA was consumed faster in the copolymerization than in the homopolymerization, which was due to the interaction of DMAA with the ruthenium complex. The Ru(II)‐based initiating system was also effective in block copolymerization of DMAA and MMA.     

Development of a new radiation detector utilizing CNTs as anodes

A new gas-multiplication radiation detector utilizing CNTs as anodes is proposed. A very compact detector with good spatial and temporal resolutions might be built. The designing and development of a prototype detector is described. Argon gas or liquid is adopted as radiation-converting medium. The detector body can be evacuated and cooled down to liquid nitrogen temperature. Silicon wafers on which single-wall CNTs are grown are used as the detector anode.     

A Fast Encoding Method for Vector Quantization Using Modified Memory-Efficient Sum Pyramid

Based on the concept of multi-resolutions, full search (FS) equivalent fast search methods for vector quantization (VQ) using mean-type pyramid have been developed in previous work.^1–4) In this paper, a modified memory-efficient sum pyramid is proposed, which is exact for computing the difference in integer form and features one more new resolution L₀₁ in-between the top 2 levels L₀ and L₁ of a conventional pyramid. Benefiting from a recursive difference computation at the top 3 levels, the proposed method can reduce the total computational cost obviously. Furthermore, a memory-efficient way of storage for the top 3 levels is integrated to reduce extra memory requirement.     

Spin-spiral ordering in magnetic superconductors

The spin-spiral ordering in magnetic superconductors is caused by the interplay among the photon-field, the persistent current, and localized spin moments. The dynamical spin-susceptibility of this system is derived and the dynamical properties are studied in connection with this spin-spiral ordering.     

Photoelectrochemical properties of supramolecular composite of fullerene nanoclusters and 9-mesityl-10-carboxymethylacridinium ion on SnO2

[structure: see text] The photovoltaic cell composed of both fullerene nanoclusters and 9-mesityl-10-carboxymethylacridinium ion exhibits significant enhancement in the photoelectrochemical performance as well as broader photoresponse in the visible and near-infrared regions as compared with the reference system containing only each component.