Mössbauer studies at Milli-Kelvin temperature region

Using a³He dilution refrigerator, Mössbauer measurements at extremely low temperatures have been carried out. From the nuclear polarization of⁵⁷Fe in an Fe metal foil absorber, the lowest temperature was determined to be 5mK.⁵⁷Fe results on a triangular Fe³⁺cluster complex and¹¹⁹Sn results on RPd₂Sn(R=Er, Tm) are briefly presented.     

Metallic superlattices

Multilayered metal films with artificial superstructures are prepared by alternate deposition of two elements in ultrahigh vacuum. Preparation and characterization for Fe-Mg and Fe-V superlattices are described. From hyperfine field measurements, chemical profiles of interfaces are discussed. Magnetic properties of extremely thin Fe layers sandwiched in between Mg layers are studied by means of Mőssbauer absorption spectroscopy.     

Amorphous-to-crystalline transformation of ultrathin Fe Layers:57Fe Mössbauer study of artificial multilayers

Multilayered films consisting of ultrathin Fe layers with spacer layers of other materials, such as Mg, Nd, or C, have been prepared by using vacuum deposition techniques. The properties of Fe layers have been investigated from⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy. If the stacking is nonepitaxial, the structure of the Fe layers is amorphous as long as the thickness is less than a critical value. It is found that a structural transformation from amorphous to crystalline (bcc) generally takes place in the course of nonepitaxial film growth.     

Recent Progress of Thioester Method

Introduction Theavailabilityofsite specificallymodifiedpep tidesisofvitalimportanceforbiochemicalandbiophys icalstudies.Biologicalmethods,suchasexpression usingbacteria,areuseful.Theyare,however,notal waysapplicabletothesynthesisofpeptideswithsite specifi…     

Biselides A-E: novel polyketides from the Okinawan ascidian Didemnidae sp.

Five new polyketides, biselides A (1), B (2), C (3), D (4), and E (5), were isolated from the Okinawan ascidian Didemnidae sp. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic analysis. Biselides A (1), B (2), and C (3) showed cytotoxicity against human cancer cells NCI-H460 and MDA-MB-231.     

Novel heparan sulfate mimetic compounds as antitumor agents

Heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycans (HSGAGs) are involved in tumor cell growth, adhesion, invasion, and migration, due to their interactions with various proteins. In this study, novel HSGAG-mimetic compounds (KI compounds) were designed and synthesized. As a result of cell-based assays, KI-105 was found to exert potent inhibitory activities against migration and invasion of human fibrosarcoma HT1080 cells. The present results indicate that a novel invasion/migration inhibitor, KI-105, can increase the adherence of HT1080 cells. It was conceivable that this cellular effect was caused by an increase in the amount of cell-surface HSGAGs and focal adhesions. Although further investigations are needed to decipher the molecular mechanism of KI-105, it is suggested that heparanase and Cdc42 are involved in its biological effects.     

Mössbauer-effect studies of multilayers and interfaces

The usefulness of Mössbauer spectroscopy for the investigation of magnetic multilayer systems is described. By applying ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy, the behavior of ultrathin magnetic layers, such as FCC-like Fe films on Cu(0 0 1), is studied. Position-specified (depth-selective) information is available by preparing samples in which monatomic ⁵⁷Fe probe layers are placed at specific vertical positions, e.g. at interfaces or at the surface. As demonstrated for epitaxial chemically ordered Fe₅₀Pt₅₀ alloy films and polycrystalline nanostructured Tb/Fe multilayers, the Fe-spin structure can be determined directly, and a site-selective Fe-specific magnetic hysteresis loop can be traced in very-high-coercivity materials. For the studies of non-magnetic layers, on the other hand, hyperfine field observations by ¹⁹⁷Au and ¹¹⁹Sn probes are worthwhile. Spin polarizations in Au layers penetrating from neighboring ferromagnetic 3D layers are estimated ¹⁹⁷Au from Mössbauer spectra and are also studied by inserted ¹¹⁹Sn probes in Au/3D multilayers. In the Sn spectra for Cr/Sn multilayers, it was found that remarkably large spin polarization is penetrating into Sn layers from a contacting Cr layer, which suggests that Cr atoms in the surface layer have a ferromagnetic alignment.     

Nanometer-sized alumina coated with chromotropic acid as solid phase metal extractant from environmental samples and determination by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry

A method for solid phase extraction of trace metals such as Cd²⁺, Cr⁶⁺, Cu²⁺, Fe³⁺, Mn²⁺, Ni²⁺, Pb²⁺ and Zn²⁺ using nanometer-sized alumina coated with chromotropic acid prior to determination by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) has been developed. Various influencing parameters on the separation and preconcentration of trace metals, pH, flow rate, sample volume, amount of adsorbent, concentration of eluent and sorption kinetics have been studied. The detection limits for Cd²⁺, Cr⁶⁺, Cu²⁺, Fe³⁺, Mn²⁺, Ni²⁺, Pb²⁺ and Zn²⁺ were found to be 0.14, 0.62, 0.22, 0.54, 0.27, 0.28, 0.53 and 0.38 ng ml^− 1, respectively. The adsorption capacity of the solid phase adsorption material is 10.3, 11.3, 14.5, 16.4, 15.1, 11.7, 15.4 and 16.8 mg g^− 1 for Cd²⁺, Cr⁶⁺, Cu²⁺, Fe³⁺, Mn²⁺, Ni^2+, Pb²⁺ and Zn²⁺, respectively. The preconcentration factor was obtained in the range of 50-100 for all studied metal ions. Coexisting ions over a high concentration range have not shown any significant effects on the determination of aforesaid metal ions. The accuracy of the proposed method was tested by standard reference materials (NIST 1643e: water, NIST 1573a: tomato leaves and NIST 1568a rice flour) and natural waters and the results obtained were in good agreement with the certified values.     

Reduction of magnetic moments in very thin Cr layers of Fe/Cr multilayers: evidence from 119Sn Mössbauer spectroscopy

Fe/Cr multilayers with monatomic Sn layers embedded in the Cr layers were grown epitaxially on MgO(001) substrates, and the magnetic hyperfine field at the 119Sn nuclear sites was examined using M?ssbauer spectroscopy. It was found that nonzero hyperfine field is induced at the Sn sites at room temperature and that the value reduces drastically from 10 to 2 T when the Cr layer thickness decreases from 80 to 10 A. The result indicates that the Cr layers are magnetically ordered even when the thickness is very small and that the magnetic moments of Cr become smaller as the Cr layer thickness decreases.