A Far-Red Emitting Fluorescent Chemogenetic Reporter for In Vivo Molecular Imaging

Far-red emitting fluorescent labels are highly desirable for spectral multiplexing and deep tissue imaging. Here, we describe the generation of frFAST (far-red Fluorescence Activating and absorption Shifting Tag), a 14-kDa monomeric protein that forms a bright far-red fluorescent assembly with (4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-phenyl)allylidene rhodanine (HPAR-3OM). As HPAR-3OM is essentially non-fluorescent in solution and in cells, frFAST can be imaged with high contrast in presence of free HPAR-3OM, which allowed the rapid and efficient imaging of frFAST fusions in live cells, zebrafish embryo/larvae, and chicken embryos. Beyond enabling the genetic encoding of far-red fluorescence, frFAST allowed the design of a far-red chemogenetic reporter of protein–protein interactions, demonstrating its great potential for the design of innovative far-red emitting biosensors.     

An improved On-Surface Radiation Condition for acoustic scattering problems in the high-frequency spectrum

This Note addresses the derivation of an improved On-Surface Radiation Condition for the numerical solution of the exterior Helmholtz equation at high-frequencies. This condition is built as an approximation of the Neumann-to-Dirichlet map by using a local regularization of its principal classical symbol in the gliding zone for modelling the creeping waves. The numerical simulation of this pseudodifferential operator is efficiently realized with a linear cost according to the dimension of the boundary element approximation space using suitable complex Padé approximants. A numerical example is provided. To cite this article: X. Antoine et al., C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 340 (2005).     

Selection Principles and Sierpinski Sets

We show that a set of real numbers is a Sierpinski set if, and only if, it satisfies a selection property similar to the familiar Menger property.     

Time-resolved electron transport studies on InGaAs/GaAs-QWIPs

Due to the short internal response time, quantum-well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs) are interesting for high-speed applications such as heterodyne spectroscopy or laser pulse monitoring. We studied the photocurrent transients of InGaAs/GaAs-QWIPs after irradiation with infrared laser pulses of 250 fs duration. The excitation wavelength of about 9 μm matches the peak wavelength of the QWIP structure. The photocurrent transient consists of two different dynamical components, representing the fast photoionization in the quantum-wells and the slow injection current that compensates the remaining space charge. The investigations of the different components as a function of temperature and bias voltage were performed on a nanosecond time-scale. The experimental separation of the two photocurrent contributions allows us to determine the photoconductive gain. The Fourier transform of the photocurrent transient was compared with other experimental methods including heterodyne detection and microwave rectification. The quantitative agreement between these different measurement techniques is excellent.     

Expedient synthesis of villosin and its isomer (E)-labda-8(17),12,14-trien-15(16)-olide

The synthesis of the title compounds has been achieved in concise, highly regiocontrolled fashion from commercially available (+)-sclareolide. In addition, we offer evidence that the structure of a newly reported natural product from Zingiber ottensii is incorrect.     

Complete structure determination of the astrophysically important nucleus Na below the proton threshold

The fusion–evaporation reaction ¹⁰B(¹²C, 2n) was used to make the first observation of in-beam γ decays from the astrophysically important nucleus ²⁰Na, lying adjacent to the proton drip-line. All states below the proton threshold in ²⁰Na were populated and identified in the experiment. These include new levels, previously unresolved levels, and states located with improved energy precision. The level structure of ²⁰Na, and its γ transitions, are compared to the mirror partner ²⁰F measured simultaneously in this experiment. In particular, a high degree of energy stability is found for all negative parity states. These results are discussed in the context of the nuclear shell model.     

InAs/GaSb superlattice focal plane arrays for high-resolution thermal imaging

The first fully operational mid-IR (3–5 μm) 256×256 IR-FPA camera system based on a type-II InAs/GaSb short-period superlattice showing an excellent noise equivalent temperature difference below 10 mK and a very uniform performance has been realized. We report on the development and fabrication of the detecor chip, i.e., epitaxy, processing technology and electro-optical characterization of fully integrated InAs/GaSb superlattice focal plane arrays. While the superlattice design employed for the first demonstrator camera yielded a quantum efficiency around 30%, a superlattice structure grown with a thicker active layer and an optimized V/III BEP ratio during growth of the InAs layers exhibits a significant increase in quantum efficiency. Quantitative responsivity measurements reveal a quantum efficiency of about 60% for InAs/GaSb superlattice focal plane arrays after implementing this design improvement. The paper presented there appears in Infrared Photoelectronics, edited by Antoni Rogalski, Eustace L. Dereniak, Fiodor F. Sizov, Proc. SPIE Vol. 5957, 595707 (2005).