Formation of various polymorphs of calcium carbonate on porous membrane by electrochemical approach

Calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) formation was observed without surface modification of the organic template and in the absence of chemical additives such as macromolecules and divalent cations. Our innovative electrochemical approach that involves the use of an alternating current facilitated the crystallization of CaCO₃ polymorphs on a porous polymer membrane. A solution of calcium chloride (CaCl₂) and sodium carbonate (Na₂CO₃) was filled in a glass cell, and the porous membrane was interposed in the cell. A sine waveform of 10 Hz was applied to the platinum electrodes using a high-speed bipolar power supply. An alternating current was generated for 60 min. The crystal morphology and crystal structure of the resulting hybrid membrane were studied. In this electrochemical approach, versatile polymorphs of vaterite, aragonite, and calcite were formed on the membrane, thereby showing that the alternating current induced the formation of various polymorphs of CaCO₃ on the porous membrane even in the absence of any additives.     

Compact optical duplicate system for satellite-ground laser communications: application of averaging effects

In recent years, there has been considerable interest in satellite-ground laser communication due to an increase in the quantity of data exchanged between satellites and the ground. However, improving the quality of this data communication is necessary as laser communication is vulnerable to air fluctuation. We first verify the spatial and temporal averaging effects using light beam intensity images acquired from middle-range transmission experiments between two ground positions and the superposition of these images using simulations. Based on these results, we propose a compact and lightweight optical duplicate system as a multi-beam generation device with which it is easy to apply the spatial averaging effect. Although an optical duplicate system is already used for optical correlation operations, we present optimum design solutions, design a compact optical duplicate system for satellite-ground laser communications, and demonstrate the efficacy of this system using simulations.     

Modified Synthesis and Supramolecular Polymerization of Rim-to-Rim Connected Bisresorcinarenes

The acid-catalyzed condensation reaction of resorcinol and bisdimethoxyacetals gave rise to rim-to-rim connected bisresorcinarenes in good yields. In the presence of ethanol, the homoditopic bisresorcinarenes assembled to form supramolecular polymers via hydrogen bonding interactions. The fibrous morphologies of the supramolecular polymers were confirmed by atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy.     

Selective Capture and Collection of Live Target Cells Using a Photoreactive Silicon Wafer Device Modified with Antibodies via a Photocleavable Linker

A device for the capture and recollection of live target cells is described. The platform was a silicon (Si) wafer modified with an anti-HEL antibody (anti-HEL-IgG, HEL = hen egg lysozyme) through a photocleavable 3-amino-3-(2-nitrophenyl)propionic acid (ANP) linker. The modification processes of the Si wafer surface were monitored by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy-attenuated total reflection (FTIR-ATR) and fast-scanning atomic force microscopy (FS-AFM). The attachment of IgG and its release reaction on the Si surface via the photochemical cleavage of the ANP linker were observed directly by FS-AFM. The results of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) indicated that the photorelease of the complex of anti-HEL-IgG with the secondary antibody-alkaline phosphatase hybrid (secondary IgG-AP) from the Si surface occurs with minimum damage. Furthermore, it was possible to collect SP2/O cells selectively that express HEL on their cell membranes (SP2/O-HEL) on the Si wafer device. Photochemical cleavage of the ANP linker facilitated the effective release of living SP2/O cells whose viability was verified by staining experiments using tripan blue. Moreover, it was possible to reculture the recovered cells. This methodology represents an effective strategy for isolating intact target cells in the biological and medicinal sciences and related fields.     

Development of an electrochemical cholesterol sensor system for food analysis

In this article, we report on a food-cholesterol monitoring sensor based on a non-enzymatic approach. Amorphous and single-crystal gold electrodes were modified with an alkanethiol self-assembled monolayer to quantify it by voltammetry. We first discuss the basic characteristics of these sensors and provide more information about the instrument developed by JSK Co. This instrument is a battery-operated handheld voltammetric analyzer, which mounts a sensor chip to monitor cholesterol contents in food samples. The sensor showed excellent linearity with the cholesterol concentration; egg-yolk samples were analyzed to give an excellent agreement between the values obtained by the sensor (1.4 mM) and chromatography (1.1 mM).     

Direct drug metabolism monitoring in a live single hepatic cell by video mass spectrometry

The metabolism of anti-breast cancer drug, tamoxifen, in a single human hepatocellular carcinoma cell, HepG2, was directly monitored by a video-mass spectroscope. The cytoplasm, a vacuole or nucleus of the cell was directly sucked by a nano-spray tip under a video-microscope, and then was introduced into a mass spectrometer. Unchanged drug molecules were found in cytoplasm and a vacuole, but the metabolites were only found in the cytoplasm. This direct detection of drug metabolites in a live single cell is useful for speedy drug metabolism monitoring.     

Triterpene saponins with hyaluronidase inhibitory activity from the seeds of Camellia sinensis

The MeOH extract of the seeds of Camellia sinensis (L.) KUNTZE gave twelve new saponins (1-12) along with ten known saponins (13-22). These saponins (1-22) showed stronger hyaluronidase inhibitory activity than the positive control, rosmarinic acid.     

Preparations, crystal structures, and magnetic properties of N,N-dipyridylaminoxyl as a new magnetic coupler and its one-dimensional cobalt(II) chains

N,N-Dipyridilaminoxyl, NOpy(2), having a stable aminoxyl, was prepared as a new magnetic coupler for heterospin systems. Solutions of NOpy(2) were mixed with those of bis{1,1,1,5,5,5, hexafluoro-4-(phenylimino)-2-pentanonate}cobalt derivatives, Co(hfpip-X)(2), at a 1:1 ratio to afford the polymeric cobalt(II) complexes, [Co(hfpip-X)(2)(NOpy(2))](n); X = H (1), F (2), F(3) (3), F(5) (4), Cl (5), Cl(3) (6), Br (7), and I (8) as single crystals. In all complexes, the local structures of the cobalt-complex units were compressed octahedra and the pyridine ligands in NOpy(2) units coordinated to the cobalt ions in trans configuration to form linear chains for 1-4 and in cis configuration to form helical chains for 5-8. In the chains, the aminoxyl in NOpy(2) ferromagnetically interacted with the cobalt ions to produce the ferromagnetic chains with J(intra)/k(B) = 9-14 K. In the magnetic susceptibility experiments of aligned sample of 6, the magnetic easy axis was determined to be the a* axis, which was the direction perpendicular to the b axis of the chain axis. The resulting chains, all except 4, interacted antiferromagnetically among each other, and especially in 1, 5, 7, and 8, the magnetic behaviors characteristic to canted two-dimensional (2D) antiferromagnets with T(c) = 5.6, 4.0, 4.0, and 6.2 K, respectively, were observed. All complexes showed slow magnetic relaxations affected by the interchain antiferromagnetic interaction. The effective activation barriers, Δ(eff)/k(B), for the reorientation of the magnetism for all complexes except 4 were estimated to be 25-39 K in the presence of a direct current (dc) field.     

Synthesis of oxovanadium complexes and their apoptosis-inducing activity in leukemia cells

Vanadium complexes with different ligands were synthesized and evaluated for antiproliferative activity on U937 cells. The alkyl chain length of the ligands affected the antiproliferative activity, and two complexes-3b and 4-exhibited strong activities with IC(50) values of 6.02 and 3.90 μM respectively. Annexin V staining and DNA ladder formation indicated that these complexes induced apoptosis in U937 cells.