Group chase and escape with conversion from targets to chasers

We study the effect of converting caught targets into new chasers in the context of the recently proposed ‘group chase and escape’ problem. Numerical simulations have shown that this conversion can substantially reduce the lifetimes of the targets when a large number of them are initially present. At the same time, it also leads to a non-monotonic dependence on the initial number of targets, resulting in the existence of a maximum lifetime. As a counter-effect for this conversion, we further introduce self-multiplying abilities to the targets. We found that the longest lifetime exists when a suitable combination of these two effects is created.     

Indium(III) triflate-catalyzed reaction of 2-carbomethoxycyclobutanone with nitrones

2-Carbomethoxycyclobutanone reacted with N-phenyl-C-arylnitrones to afford methyl 5-oxo-2-[aryl(phenylamino)methyl]tetrahydrofuran-2-carboxylates by the catalysis of indium(III) triflate in the presence of magnesium sulfate.     

Titanium(IV) chloride-mediated ring cleavage and Michael addition of 3,3-dialkylcyclobutanones and 3-[(trimethylsilyl)methyl]-cyclobutanones

β'-Chloro and β',γ'-unsaturated trichlorotitanium enolates, which were formed in situ by titanium(IV) chloride-mediated ring cleavage of 3,3-dialkylcyclobutanones and 3-[(trimethylsilyl)methyl]cyclobutanones, reacted with enones to give Michael adducts with keeping a labile β'-chloro or β',γ'-unsaturated group.     

Almost Alternating Diagrams and Fibered Links in S3

Let R be a Seifert surface obtained by applying Seifert's algorithmto a connected diagram D for a link L. In this paper, lettingD be almost alternating, we give a practical algorithm to determinewhether L is a fibered link and R is a fiber surface. We furthershow that L is a fibered link and R is a fiber surface for Lif and only if R is a Hopf plumbing, that is, a successive plumbingof a finite number of Hopf bands. It has been known for sometime that this is true if D is alternating, and we show thatit is not always true if D is 2-almost alternating. In the appendix,we partially answer C. Adams's open question concerning almostalternating diagrams. 2000 Mathematical Subject Classification:57M25.     

Enantiomer-selective radical cyclopolymerization of rac-2,4-pentanediyl dimethacrylate using a ruthenium-mediated chiral atom transfer radical polymerization initiating system

The enantiomer-selective radical polymerization of rac-2,4-pentanediyl dimethacrylate, an equimolar mixture of (2S,4S)-2,4-pentanediyl dimethacrylate (SS- 1 ) and (2R,4R)-2,4-pentanediyl dimethacrylate (RR- 1 ), was carried out with a chiral atom transfer radical polymerization initiating system consisting of methyl 2-bromoisobutyrate ( 3 ), dichlorotris(triphenylphosphine)ruthenium [RuCl₂(PPh₃)₃], and a chiral additive in anisole at 60 °C. When (S)-1,1′-bi-2-naphthol ( a-3 ) was used as the chiral additive, the recovered monomer was enriched in SS- 1 , and the enantiomeric excess was 16.9% at a 22.6% monomer conversion. The specific rotation ([α]₄₃₅, c 0.3, CHCl₃) of the resulting polymer was +40.3° at a 22.6% monomer conversion. For the copolymerization of SS- 1 and RR- 1 with 3 /RuCl₂(PPh₃)₃/ a-3 in anisole at 60 °C, the monomer reactivity ratio for RR- 1 (r_R) was determined to be 4.94, and that for SS- 1 (r_S) was 0.27. For the homopolymerizations of SS- 1 and RR- 1 with 3 /RuCl₂(PPh₃)₃/ a-3 in anisole at 60 °C, the polymerization rate of RR- 1 was considerably faster than that of SS- 1 , and the rate constants for the homopolymerizations were determined to be k_SS = 2.0 × 10⁻³ h⁻¹ and k_RR = 8.2 × 10⁻³ h⁻¹, respectively. With the values of k_SS, k_RR, r_R, and r_S, the relative ratio k_SS/k_RR/k_SR/k_RS was determined to be 1.2:4.9:4.5:1, which indicated that both the growing end of SS- 1 and that of RR- 1 preferentially reacted with RR- 1 . © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 4563–4569, 2004     

Biochemical, molecular genetic, and structural analyses of the staphylococcal nucleoid.

The nucleoid structure of an important human pathogen, Staphylococcus aureus, was dissected by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The nucleoids dispersed on a cover glass consisted of fibrous units with two different widths of 40 and 80 nm, a feature shared with those of Escherichia coli. On the other hand, cells exposed to an oxidative stress exhibited clogged nucleoids. A knock-out of mrgA (metallo regulated genes A) encoding a staphylococcal homolog of the nucleoid compaction factor (E. coli Dps) eliminated the compaction response to the oxidative stress and reduced the susceptibilities to H2O2 and UV irradiation. We also observed that the negative supercoiling of plasmids is increased by the oxidative stress. A possible interrelation between the helical density and the nucleoid compaction is discussed in relation to the oxidative stress response.     

A porphyrin nanochannel: formation of cationic channels by a protonated saddle-distorted porphyrin and its inclusion behavior

A highly saddle-distorted dodecaphenylporphyrin dication (H4DPP2+) was revealed by X-ray crystallography to form positively charged porphyrin nanochannels which were 1 nm in diameter; chloride anion and redox-active hydroquinone could be incorporated in the channels.     

Catalytic asymmetric synthesis of alpha-amino phosphonates using enantioselective carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions

We have developed highly enantioselelctive reactions of silicon enolates with N-acyl-alpha-iminophosphonates leading to optically active alpha-amino phophonates. A copper (II)-diamine complex was shown to be effective in this reaction, and high levels of yield and selectivity were achieved. It is noteworthy that this reaction opens a way to various biologically important, optically active alpha-amino phosphonate derivatives.