Laser cleaning of glass

The pulse lasers, YAG-, CO₂-, and N₂-lasers, are examined for use in the cleaning of glass. Cleaning is found to be due to the evaporation and sputtering of stains on the glass by the heat energy of the laser light. Only the N₂ laser can be used for the cleaning of the exit surface of the glass (the opposite side to the laser). A laser with a high peak power of about 10⁶J/s and short-pulse duration below 100 ns is found to be necessary in practice.     

Reduction of dislocation density and improvement of optical quality in ZnO layers by MgO-buffer annealing

Optical properties of ZnO thin films with/without MgO-buffer annealing were investigated by low and room temperature photoluminescence measurements. The ZnO films were grown on c-sapphire substrates by plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy employing a thin MgO-buffer layer. Dislocation density of ZnO layer was reduced from 5.3 × 10⁹ to 1.9 × 10⁹ cm⁻² by annealing MgO-buffer prior to the growth of ZnO. The intensity of free exciton emission from the sample with MgO-buffer annealing was almost twice of that from the sample without annealing, while the deep level emission from the sample with MgO-buffer annealing was about 1/3 of that without annealing. The MgO-buffer annealing improves optical quality of overgrown ZnO films.     

Optical characterization of CdTe/ZnSe fractional monolayer structures grown by atomic layer epitaxy

Luminescence properties of CdTe/ZnSe fractional monolayer grown by atomic layer epitaxy have been investigated. To investigate the origin of the highly efficient luminescence, various optical spectroscopic methods such as, photoluminescence (PL), temporal/spatial resolved PL, temperature dependence PL, and excitation power dependence PL have been used. It is found that structural inhomogeneities affect dominant influence on the line width and line shape of luminescence. The luminescence intensity greatly enhanced by the localization of exciton at the disorder induced localized states.     

Rotational isomerism involving an acetylenic carbon. Part 5: Restricted rotation about acetylenic axis in sterically crowded bis(1-phenyl-9-anthryl)ethynes

The title sterically crowded di-9-anthrylethyne derivative with 3,5-ⁱPr₂-phenyl groups at 1-position showed a barrier to rotation about the acetylenic axis of 18.0 kcal mol⁻¹ based on a dynamic NMR study, which is an extremely high value for acyclic diarylethynes. The mechanism of the dynamic stereochemistry and the substituent effect on the rotational barrier are discussed.     

New alcohol resistant strains ofSaccharomyces cerevisiae species for potable alcohol production using molasse

Two alcohol resistant strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae species were isolated from a Greek vineyard plantation. The strain AXAZ-1 gave a concentration of 17.6% v/v alcohol and AXAZ-2 16.5%, when musts from raisin and sultana grapes, respectively, were employed in alcoholic fermentations. They were found to be more alcohol tolerant and fermentative in the fermentation of molasse than the traditional baker's yeast. Specifically, using an initial [symbol: see text] Be density of 16 [symbol: see text] Be at the repeated batch fermentation process, in the first as well as fourth batch, the better AXAZ-1 gave final [symbol: see text] Be densities of 6.0 and 10.5 respectively, and the baker's yeast 11.6 and 14.5.     

Studies on antiallergic agents. I. Synthesis and antiallergic activity of novel pyrazine derivatives.

Various pyrazine derivatives were synthesized and their antiallergic activity was examined. The inhibitory activity on allergic histamine release of the compounds bearing a 5-tetrazolyl group was more potent than that of the corresponding carboxyl derivatives. The introduction of -CONH- or -NHCO- between the pyrazine ring and the 5-tetrazolyl group as a spacer greatly enhanced the activity. N-(1H-Tetrazol-5-yl)-2-pyrazinecarboxamide (I-3) was estimated to exhibit nearly the same potency as disodium cromoglycate (DSCG). The structure-activity relationship among various derivatives modified by introducing some substituents onto the 3-, 5- or 6-position of the pyrazine ring of I-3 was investigated. The activity remained unchanged or was reduced when such substituents as methyl, chloro, methoxy, methylamino and dimethylamino were introduced at the 3- or 5-position. In contrast, 6-substitution with various alkylamino groups more or less increased the activity. Among them, the 6-dimethylamino (I-17c) and 6-(1-pyrrolidinyl) (I-34) derivative were proved to be most potent. The IC50 values (concentration which produces 50% inhibition of the allergic histamine release) of I-17c and I-34 were determined to be 4.7 x 10(-10) and 4.6 x 10(-10) M, respectively. These two compounds produced a potent inhibitory activity on passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (PCA) in rat, not only by the intravenous route (ED50 = 0.0096 mg/kg for both compounds) but also by the oral route (ED50 = 0.19 and 0.18 mg/kg, respectively). On the other hand, when the pyrazine ring of some representative compounds was replaced with a pyridine ring, the inhibitory activity on histamine release was significantly reduced.     

Efficient routes to optically active azido-, amino-, di-azido- and di-amino-cyclitols with chiro- and allo-configuration from myo-inositol

Efficient routes to hitherto unknown 1d-2,5-di-azido-di-deoxy-allo-inositol, 1d-2,5-di-amino-di-deoxy-allo-inositol, 1l-1-azido-1-deoxy-chiro-inositol and 1l-1-amino-1-deoxy-chiro-inositol were developed by using cheaply available myo-inositol as the starting material. Preliminary investigations on the enzyme inhibitory properties were done. The methodology reported is amenable to gram scale synthesis and thus can find application in natural product synthesis.     

Simultaneous determination of sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim in human plasma by capillary zone electrophoresis

A capillary electrophoretic method for the simultaneous determination of sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim in plasma was developed. Sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim extracted from human plasma with ethyl acetate were analyzed at 20 kV and 25 degrees C using 15 mm phosphate buffer (pH 6.2) as the electrolyte. The detection was by UV at 220 nm. The run time was 8.0 min and the limit of quantification was 10.00 microg/mL for sulfamethoxazole and 2.00 microg/mL for trimethoprim. The recovery was >99% for both compounds. This method enabled the detection of sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim in plasma of patients after oral ingestion of their combined formulation. The present simple and rapid method is applicable to drug monitoring in immunocompromised patients who are taking the combined formulation of these compounds for the treatment or prophylaxis of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia.