Photochemical processes induced by 157-nm light in H(2)-impregnated glassy SiO(2):OH

F(2) excimer-laser irradiation induces two major changes in SiO(2): OH glass impregnated with H(2) molecules. First, the vacuum-UV optical absorption edge is bleached, and the absorption at 157 nm decreases from 0.95 to 0.68 cm(-1) . Second, preexisting free SiOH groups and interstitial H(2) are photochemically converted to hydrogen-bonded hydroxyl groups. It is suggested that the bleaching of the UV-absorption edge is caused by a change of OH groups from a free to a hydrogen-bonded state and by photolysis of distorted Si-O bonds that are absorbing in the edge region.     

Avenic acid,a new amino acid possessing an iron chelating activity

A new amino acid derivative possessing an iron chelating activity was isolated from root washings of water cultured $\text{Avena sativa}$ under iron deficient conditions. The structure of this compound, avenic acid A has been determined as 2(S),3′(S),3″(S)-N-[3-(3-hydroxy-3-carboxypropylamino)-3-carboxypropyl]-homoserine (1) on the basis of chemical and spectroscopic evidence.     

Stein's positive part estimator and bayes estimator

Summary Stein's positive part estimator forp normal means is known to dominate the M.L.E. ifp≧3. In this article by introducing some proirs we show that Stein's positive part estimator is posterior mode. We also consider the Bayes estimators (posterior mean) with respect to the same priors and show that some of them dominate M.L.E. and are admissible.     

Photodynamic Therapy for Cancer Cells Using a Flash Wave Light Xenon Lamp

We determined photodynamic therapy (PDT) efficacy using a flash wave (FW) and a continuous wave (CW) light, of which the fluence rate was 70 W/cm², for murine thymic lymphoma cells (EL-4) cultivated in vitro. The irradiation frequency and the pulse width of the FW light were in the range of 1–32 Hz and less than one millisecond, respectively. 5-Aminolevulinic acid-induced protoporphyrin IX (ALA-PpIX) was used as a photosensitizer. When EL-4 with ALA administration was irradiated by the light for 4 h (irradiation fluence: 1.0J/cm²), the survival rate of EL-4 by the FW light was lower than that by the CW light, except for the FW light with irradiation frequency of 32 Hz, and decreased gradually with decreasing irradiation frequency. Moreover, the FW light, especially at lower irradiation frequency, was superior to the CW light for the generation of singlet oxygen in an aqueous PpIX solution. Therefore, thehigher PDT efficacy for EL-4 of the FW light would be caused by the greater generation of singlet oxygen in the cells.     

Direct observation of chiral susceptibility in the canonical spin glass AuFe

The extraordinary Hall resistivity rho(xy) and the magnetization M of a canonical spin glass AuFe (8 at.% Fe) were measured simultaneously as functions of temperature with the best care to the thermal and the magnetic field hysteresis. The data of rho(xy) show an anomaly at the spin glass transition temperature T(g) and have different zero field cooling (ZFC) and field cooling (FC) measurements below T(g). Moreover, the value of rho(xy)/M, which represents the chiral susceptibility of the system in the present case, also shows the difference between ZFC and FC measurements. The results are consistent with the predictions of the chirality scenario of canonical spin glasses by Kawamura.     

Sterol composition of a cultured marine dinoflagellate,Heterocapsa circularisquama

The composition of sterols was determined in a cultured marine dinoflagellate Heterocapsa circularisquama. Ten kinds of the sterol in H. circularisquama were identified by capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The major sterol was a 4-methyl sterol, 4alpha,23,24-trimethyl-5alpha-cholest-22E-en-3beta-ol (dinosterol) which is the common sterol in many dinoflagellates.     

Water‐disintegrative and biodegradable blends containing poly(L‐lactic acid) and poly(butylene adipate‐co‐terephthalate)

In this study, novel biodegradable materials were successfully generated, which have excellent mechanical properties in air during usage and storage, but whose structure easily disintegrates when immersed in water. The materials were prepared by melt blending poly(L ‐lactic acid) (PLLA) and poly(butylene adipate‐co‐terephthalate) (PBAT) with a small amount of oligomeric poly(aspartic acid‐co‐lactide) (PAL) as a degradation accelerator. The degradation behavior of the blends was investigated by immersing the blend films in phosphate‐buffered saline (pH = 7.3) at 40 °C. It was shown that the PAL content and composition significantly affected morphology, mechanical properties, and hydrolysis rate of the blends. It was observed that the blends containing PAL with higher molar ratios of L ‐lactyl [LA]/[Asp] had smaller PBAT domain size, showing better mechanical properties when compared with those containing PAL with lower molar ratios of [LA]/[Asp]. The degradation rates of both PLLA and PBAT components in the ternary blends simultaneously became higher for the blends containing PAL with higher molar ratios of [LA]/[Asp]. It was confirmed that the PLLA component and its decomposed materials efficiently catalyze the hydrolytic degradation of the PBAT component, but by contrast that the PBAT component and its decomposed materials do not catalyze the hydrolytic degradation of the PLLA component in the blends. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2010     

Anomalous thermochromic transition of poly(di‐n‐octylsilane)

The thermochromic behavior of poly(di‐n‐octylsilane) {[Si(C₈H₁₇)₂]_n; PDOS} was studied by ultraviolet (UV) absorption, differential scanning calorimetry, and X‐ray diffraction measurements. The structure of PDOS in the low‐temperature phase strongly depended on not only the temperature but also the rate of cooling, that is, the thermal history. Temperature‐dependent UV absorption spectra were highly dependent on thermal hysteresis. Cooled rapidly (10 K/min), PDOS showed two absorption peaks at 3.32 and 3.51 eV in low‐temperature‐ordered phases, whereas a single absorption peak at 3.32 eV became predominant with slow cooling (0.3 K/min). The appearance of the two peaks at low temperatures suggested that a mixture of different conformations was introduced by rapid cooling. A fiber diffraction pattern measured at 240 K after rapid cooling also showed evidence of the existence of novel conformation. A temperature‐dependent powder X‐ray diffraction pattern changed significantly between 270 and 280 K. Rapid cooling reduced the intensity of the X‐ray diffraction peak in this temperature region. This intensity change was explained by the conformational mixture in the polymer. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 39: 1085–1092, 2001     

Classification Performance of a Low Pressure Differential Mobility Analyzer for Nanometer-sized Particles

Size distribution measurements and classification tests by a low pressure differential mobility analyzer (LPDMA) for nanometer-sized silver particles and cesium iodide particles under low pressure conditions (123–300 Torr) were performed using a transmission electron microscope (TEM) and the tandem DMA technique. When the ratio of the sheath gas flow rate and the aerosol gas flow rate was set at 5 : 1, the targeted sizes calculated from the classification voltage applied to the LPDMA at 160 Torr are found to be in good correlation with the count mean Feret diameter obtained from the TEM observation of the particles collected after a classification ranging from 6 to 25 nm, although the targeted sizes set by the LPDMA were approximately 15% greater than the count mean Feret diameter measured by the TEM after classification. The geometric standard deviations of DMA-classified particles measured by TEM and those obtained from the tandem DMA method ranged from 1.08 to 1.17 and from 1.05 to 1.13, respectively. They were slightly greater than the ideal geometric standard deviations (1.05) of the particles classified with the LPDMA, which was calculated by neglecting the broadening effects due to Brownian diffusion. We experimentally demonstrated the validity of our LPDMA system for size measurements and classification of the nanometer-sized particles under low pressure conditions.     

TritonX-100 selective chemosensor based on β-cyclodextrin modified by anthracene derivative

β-Cyclodextrin (CD) modified by 2-(9-anthracenecarboxamido)phenyl group (Ant-CD) was synthesized and their complexation behavior was investigated by UV and fluorescence spectroscopy. Fluorescence intensity of Ant-CD was dramatically enhanced ca. 10-fold by the addition of TritonX-100 (TX-100) in water below the critical micelle concentration. Ant-CD also showed ca. 4-fold fluorescence increasing in the addition of analogous materials, n-octylbenzenesulfonate in water. These results indicate that Ant-CD can act as a highly sensitive and selective chemosensor for TX-100. Ant-CD and TX-100 formed a pseudorotaxane supramolecular complex. This result was supported by ¹H-¹H NOESY NMR measurement.