Differentiation inducing activities of isocoumarins from Hydrangea Dulcis Folium

In the course of searching for differentiation inducers against leukemic cells from plants, we have recognized the differentiation inducing activities of the methanolic extract of Hydrangea Dulcis Folium. Activity guided separation of the extract was carried out using M1 cells, and seven isocoumarins were isolated as active substances. These isocoumarins showed the activities at the concentration of 100 microM and non-cytotoxic effects even at 300 microM.     

Dynamical origin of enhanced conformational searches of Tsallis statistics sampling

The characteristic sampling dynamics of importance samplings driven by the Tsallis weight [C. Tsallis, J. Stat. Phys. 52, 479 (1988)] has been analyzed in terms of recently developed Langevin stochastic model by considering the effects of the density of states and the potential smoothing of the Tsallis transformation. Our study reveals that the fixed points, which are determined by the crossing points of the statistical temperature and the Tsallis effective temperature, play a critical role in overall dynamics of the Tsallis statistics sampling. The dynamical origin of enhanced conformational searches of the Tsallis weight has been investigated by unveiling the intimate relationship between the sampling dynamics and the stability change of corresponding fixed points. Based on this stochastic analysis, we propose one effective method to realize a broad energy distribution in the Tsallis statistics sampling by determining optimal Tsallis parameters systematically based on preliminary canonical samplings. The effectiveness of our method has been validated in the folding simulation of Met-Enkephalin and liquid-solid transition simulation of Lennard-Jones cluster systems.     

Trimethylselenonium hydroxide: A new methylating agent

Trimethylselenonium hydroxide is very useful for methylating COOH, SH, aromatic OH, ring NH groups is aromatic heterocycles, etc.     

Application of synergistic MEHPA-DEHPA mixed solvent to the extraction of lanthanides(III)

The distribution ratio of neodymium(III) in extraction with mono(2-ethylhexyl)-phosphoric acid was determined as a function of extractant and Nd(III) concentrations, and effect of co-existing DEHPA was studied. A characteristic extraction of a tracer quantity of Nd(III) was found at an extractant concentration of approximately 0.01 M. Di(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid depresses the extraction of Nd(III) in MEHPA of a concentration of 0.01M, but enhances it at higher concentrations of MEHPA. Owing to the high Df values against lanthanides(III) and an excellent radiation stability, the synergistic combination of MEHPA-DEHPA, preferably at a DEHPA/MEHPA mole ratio of 3, was concluded to be applicable to the isolation of lanthanides (and actinides) from highly acidic solutions.     

L-shaped three-center two-electron (C-C-C)+ bonding array

The structures and reactivities of the complexes between carbenium ions (R(+)) and acetylene or propyne have been investigated with the aid of electron-correlated quantum mechanical calculations (hybrid density functional, perturbation theory, and coupled cluster methods). Depending on the R group, the acetylene/carbenium ion interaction can produce either an "open" 3c-2e structure or the conventional vinyl cation structure. The "open" 3c-2e C-C-C bonding geometry exists as a minimum for R = methyl and primary/secondary/tertiary alkyl, and hence is the most notable. The alignment of three carbon centers is neither bridged nor linear, but L-shaped, and represents a new type of "open" 3c-2e bonding that has so far escaped proper attention.     

Thermal transitions in the bilayer assembly of dimyristoylphosphatidylglycerol sodium salt dispersion in water: a new phase transition through an intermediate state

The thermal properties of the dispersion of sodium salt of dimyristoylphosphatidylglycerol (NaDMPG) in water have been investigated as functions of incubation temperature and aging time by DSC, XRD, sodium ion activity, pH, zeta-potential, and IR measurements. The DSC charts for NaDMPG dispersions incubated below 30 degrees C showed an endothermic peak at 31.7 degrees C with a small shoulder peak at Tm (gel-liquid crystal transition temperature: 23.5 degrees C). The temperature of 31.7 degrees C coincides with the T* temperature at which a high-order transition in the NaDMPG bilayer assembly has been found to occur in our previous studies. However, no peak was observed for the dispersions incubated above 32 degrees C. These results indicate that thermal properties of NaDMPG bilayers definitely differ below and above the T* temperature. The dispersion which had been once incubated at 40 degrees C for 24 h never showed the endothermic peak at T* even after the further aging at 3 degrees C for 12-day. Namely, the NaDMPG bilayer assembly exhibits an intensive thermohysteresis. The XRD charts for the NaDMPG dispersions incubated at 25 degrees C showed a sharp X-ray diffraction pattern corresponding to the repeat distance of d = 4.75 nm regardless of their aging time, while the dispersions incubated at 40 degrees C had no diffraction peak until 9-day elapsed. After 10-day aging at 40 degrees C, however, a diffraction peak corresponding to d = 5.55 nm clearly appeared. In the DSC measurements for the dispersion incubated at 40 degrees C, a few endothermic peaks began to appear between Tm and T* after approximately 7-day aging. Then, they shifted toward higher temperatures and finally converged into a single peak at 40-42 degrees C after 14-day aging. These XRD and DSC peaks observed after a long period of aging time above T* suggest that conformations of the hydrophilic groups and the hydrocarbon chains in the NaDMPG bilayers take a more tight and closer arrangement very slowly via an intermediate state above T*, and a new gel phase of the bilayers is consequently formed, the transition temperature (T(I) temperature) of which is 40-42 degrees C. A molecular interpretation for such transition processes in the bilayer assembly of NaDMPG dispersions has been proposed on the basis of pH, sodium ion activity, zeta-potential, IR data, etc.     

Characterization of cryptic plasmids from marine cyanobacteria and construction of a hybrid plasmid potentially capable of transformation of marine cyanobacterium,Synechococcus sp., and its transformation

Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology - Among forty strains of marine cyanobacteria isolated in our laboratory, five strains had 1–3 different plasmids. The unicellular marine...