Photoaddition of maleic anhydride to unsaturated polymers in homogeneous solution,solid polymer–solution,and solid polymer–vapor systems

Photoreactions of maleic anhydride (MAH) with unsaturated olefinic polymers such as 1,2-polybutadiene, 1,4-polybutadiene, block copolymer of styrene and butadiene, polystyrene, poly(styrene-co-isoprene), and poly(styrene-alt-methyl methacrylate) were investigated in air. When the polymers have olefinic unsaturation, the addition of MAH to the polymers in homogeneous solutions proceeded efficiently by a chain mechanism, and the quantum yield of the photoaddition of MAH was greater than unity under irradiation at λ > 310 nm. From the effects of solvent and photosensitizer, a radical chain mechanism involving crosslinking of the polymers by MAH molecules was suggested. Together with the spectroscopic results, the reaction mechanism was discussed. The photoaddition reaction was then applied to the surface photomodification of polymer films. Photoreactions were conducted at the interphase between solid polymer and acetone solution of MAH and also at the interphase between solid polymer and gaseous MAH. Irradiation by a 300-W high-pressure mercury lamp could bring about considerable modification of the surface properties of the polymers, which then show improved wettability and dyeability. From the oxygen permeation experiments, the present interfacial phototreatment was shown to provide a double-layered polymer film in which one side of the film is polar and hydrophilic while the other side is nonpolar and hydrophobic.     

EFFECTS OF 8-METHOXYPSORALEN PLUS NEAR-ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT ON THE NEMATODE

Abstract— Effects of 8-methoxypsoralen plus near-UV light on the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans were studied as a novel example of photosensitized actions at the individual level. Either the eggs or the worms were illuminated with near-UV light in the presence of 8-methoxypsoralen. The treatment decreased hatchability of the eggs depending on light fluence and concentration of the sensitizer. Inhibition of growth and premature death were observed when the larvae in the second stage were illuminated in the presence of 8-methoxypsoralen. When young adults were treated before the beginning of egg-laying, they grew to lay eggs, but the total number of eggs deposited per hermaphrodite was decreased and the life span was shortened.     

Development of Ultrasensitive Terahertz ESR Spectroscopy for Metalloprotein Using a Microcantilever

In this article, we report a novel method for ultrasensitive high-frequency electron spin resonance (HFESR) using a microcantilever. With this method, a field-gradient force exerting on a sample-holding cantilever is detected as cantilever displacement. A unique feature of this method is that a very tiny sample (~1 µg) is sufficient for HFESR measurement in the terahertz region. Thus, the application of this method to metalloprotein is expected to be of particular interest in the future. In this study, we developed two types of HFESR techniques: one for fiber-optic detection and the other for piezoresistive detection. We applied these techniques to multi-frequency HFESR measurements of metal-containing porphyrin compounds as a model metalloprotein substance and evaluated the sensitivity and feasibility of each technique.     

Design and Experimental Evaluation of a Database-Assisted V2V Communications System Over TV White Space

In the past years, many works have demonstrated the applicability of Coarse-Grained Reconfigurable Array (CGRA) accelerators to optimize loops by using software pipelining approaches. They are proven to be effective in reducing the total execution time of multimedia and signal processing applications. However, the run-time reconfigurability of CGRAs is hampered overheads introduced by the needed translation and mapping steps. In this work, we present a novel run-time translation technique for the modulo scheduling approach that can convert binary code on-the-fly to run on a CGRA. We propose a greedy approach, since the modulo scheduling for CGRA is an NP-complete problem. In addition to read-after-write dependencies, the dynamic modulo scheduling faces new challenges, such as register insertion to solve recurrence dependences and to balance the pipelining paths. Our results demonstrate that the greedy run-time algorithm can reach a near-optimal ILP rate, better than an off-line compiler approach for a 16-issue VLIW processor. The proposed mechanism ensures software compatibility as it supports different source ISAs. As proof of concept of scaling, a change in the memory bandwidth has been evaluated. In this analysis it is demonstrated that when changing from one memory access per cycle to two memory accesses per cycle, the modulo scheduling algorithm is able to exploit this increase in memory bandwidth and enhance performance accordingly. Additionally, to measure area and performance, the proposed CGRA was prototyped on an FPGA. The area comparisons show that a crossbar CGRA (with 16 processing elements and including an 4-issue VLIW host processor) is only 1.11 × bigger than a standalone 8-issue VLIW softcore processor.     

Merging Pd0/PdII Redox and PdII/PdII Non-redox Catalytic Cycles for the Allylarylation of Electron-Deficient Alkenes

An allylarylation of electron-deficient alkenes with aryl boronates and allylic carbonates has been developed. This method allows access to a wide variety of carbon skeletons from readily available starting materials. Mechanistic studies indicate that this reaction is enabled by a cooperative catalysis based on merging Pd⁰/Pd^II redox and Pd^II/Pd^II non-redox catalytic cycles.     

Order Parameters of β-Substituted Anthraquinone Dyes I: 1-Amino-4-Hydroxyanthraquinone Derivatives

A study is presented of the optical order parameters and spectroscopic properties of I-amino-4-hydroxyanthraquinone derivatives containing various substituents in the 2-position in a nematic liquid crystalline mixture composed of cyanophenylcyclohexane derivatives. The results are discussed in terms of the effects of the dye structure on the order parameters. By introducing a-SCH₂-group into the 2-position, magenta dyes have been obtained which show high order parameters and solubilities. In addition, preliminary data on the solubility and photostability of the dyes are reported.