Paper‐Based Electronic Tongue

We present a low cost paper‐based electronic tongue capable of discriminating forged water samples. System comprises of 4 paper‐based potentiometric sensors (sensitive to Cl^?, Na⁺/K⁺, Ca²⁺/Mg²⁺, ) and a traditional Ag/AgCl reference electrode. Different electrode materials and methods of insulation were tested with best results obtained for pencil graphite and lamination. The presented electronic tongue was able to distinguish tap and lake water from mineral water samples (PCA – Principal Component Analysis and KNN ? K‐nearest neighbour). In total 14 different water samples were used in this study. Sensors presented good signal repeatability, selectivity and reasonable sensitivity.     

Enantioselective Borylative Dearomatization of Indoles through Copper(I) Catalysis

The enantioselective borylative dearomatization of a heteroaromatic compound has been achieved using a copper(I) catalyst and a diboron reagent. This reaction involves the regio‐ and enantioselective addition of active borylcopper(I) species to indole‐2‐carboxylates, followed by the diastereoselective protonation of the resulting copper(I) enolate to give the corresponding chiral indolines, which bear consecutive stereogenic centers.     

Combined mode-I and mode-II fracture of ceramics with crack-face grain and/or whisker bridging

Crack-face grain and/or whisker bridging in ceramics was investigated under combined mode-I and mode-II loading. A novel technique for analysing the stress shielding at the crack tip caused by the bridging was proposed, in which the critical values of the local mode-I and mode-II stress intensity factors were numerically derived from an azimuthal angle at the onset of noncoplanar crack extension using the mixed-mode failure criteria. The wedging effect, which induced local mode-I crack opening at the tip, was identified under the combined-mode loading on polycrystalline alumina as well as an alumina matrix composite reinforced with silicon carbide whiskers. The effect was accelerated with the increase in the mode-II component of nominally applied loading and the decrease in the bridging zone length. It was also found that the stress shielding due to the whisker bridging was not only effective for mode-I but also for mode-II crack opening.     

Performance comparison of bilinear interpolation, bicubic interpolation, and B-spline interpolation in parallel phase-shifting digital holography

To improve the quality of reconstructed images, we apply bicubic interpolation and B-spline interpolation to parallel phase-shifting digital holography for the first time. The effectiveness of bilinear interpolation, bicubic interpolation, and B-spline interpolation in parallel phase-shifting digital holography is shown by a numerical simulation. In the simulation result, the application of bicubic interpolation and B-spline interpolation succeeded in decreasing the rootmean- square error of the reconstructed image by 12.6 and 11.9%, respectively.     

Effect of intensity quantization level in parallel phase-shifting digital holography

Parallel phase-shifting digital holography (PPSDH) enables the instantaneous recording of three-dimensional fields. The three-dimensional field can be reconstructed using a computer by numerical scalar wave propagation. In PPSDH, we record a space-division multiplexed hologram that includes the required phase retardation in the spatial distribution of the reference wave and then interpolate the data at blanked pixels for each phase retardation to obtain the complex amplitude distribution of an object wave. The recorded quality of the multiplexed hologram influences the reconstruction quality. In this study, we investigate the effect of the intensity quantization of a multiplexed hologram on the reconstruction quality. We compare the influence of intensity quantization in PPSDH with that in the conventional phase-shifting method. Random noise is also added to the multiplexed hologram. The required intensity quantization level is helpful for selecting a digital image sensor.     

General N‐Dark–Dark Solitons in the Coupled Nonlinear Schrödinger Equations

N‐dark–dark solitons in the integrable coupled NLS equations are derived by the KP‐hierarchy reduction method. These solitons exist when nonlinearities are all defocusing, or both focusing and defocusing nonlinearities are mixed. When these solitons collide with each other, energies in both components of the solitons completely transmit through. This behavior contrasts collisions of bright–bright solitons in similar systems, where polarization rotation and soliton reflection can take place. It is also shown that in the mixed‐nonlinearity case, two dark–dark solitons can form a stationary bound state.     

Nakijinamines C-E, new heteroaromatic alkaloids from the sponge Suberites species

Three new heteroaromatic alkaloids, nakijinamines C-E (1-3), which are a hybrid of the aaptamine-type and bromoindole alkaloids possessing a taurine- or histidine-derived residue, have been isolated from an Okinawan marine sponge Suberites species. The structures of 1-3 were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data and chemical conversions. Nakijinamines C (1) and E (3) are the first natural products possessing a 1H-oxazolo[4',5':4,5]benzo[1,2,3-de][1,6]naphthyridine ring system.     

Hyrtioseragamines A and B, new alkaloids from the sponge Hyrtios species

Two novel alkaloids with a furo[2,3-b]pyrazin-2(1H)-one moiety and a guanidino group, hyrtioseragamines A (1) and B (2), have been isolated from an Okinawan marine sponge Hyrtios species. The structures of 1 and 2 were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data and chemical conversions. Compounds 1 and 2 are the first natural products possessing a furo[2,3-b]pyrazine-related moiety.     

In-water dehydrative alkylation of ammonia and amines with alcohols by a polymeric bimetallic catalyst

An in-water dehydrative alkylation with a novel heterobimetallic polymeric catalyst is described. Thus, a boron-iridium heterobimetallic polymeric catalyst was prepared by ionic convolution of a poly(catechol borate) and an iridium complex. The alkylation of ammonia and amines with alcohols, alkylating agents, was performed with 1 mol % Ir of the heterogeneous catalyst in water without the use of organic solvents under aerobic conditions to give the corresponding alkylated amines.     

Asymmetric aziridination of cyclic enones using chiral diamine catalysts and its application to the total synthesis of (-)-agelastatin A

The asymmetric aziridination of cyclic enones with N-tosyloxycarbamates, using N-neopentyl 1,2-diphenylethylenediamine as a catalyst, and its application to the formal total synthesis of (-)-agelastatin A, using a one-pot silylation-selenylation procedure and the regioselective aziridine-opening by an azide anion as key steps, are described.