Design of a widely tunable laser with a chirped ladder filter

We theoretically investigated a digitally tunable laser with a chirped ladder filter and a ring resonator to obtain a wide wavelength tuning range covering the whole C- or L- band. The clear relation between the tuning range and laser structure, especially the ladder filter, is described analytically. The introduction of a chirped structure into a ladder filter is effective in achieving both wide tunability and a stable lasing mode. A numerical simulation based on multimode rate equations shows that a tuning range of over 40 nm and a mode suppression ratio over 40 dB can be achieved by introducing a chirped ladder filter.     

Synthesis and properties of furo[4,3,2-de][1]benzopyran

A new heterocycle, furo[4,3,2-de][1]benzopyran ( 2 ), was synthesized. A key step in the sequence was the allylic bromination of 3,4-dihydrofuro[4,3,2-de][1]benzopyran ( 8 ) to give 3-bromo-3,4-dihydrofuro[4,3,2-de][1]-benzopyran ( 10 ) using N-bromosuccinimide under irradiation and high dilution conditions. Bromide 10 was dealt with 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene to afford compound 2 . Several reactions of 2 were examined. Protonation of 2 in trifluoroacetic acid occurred at the 2-position to form a pyrylium ion 12 . Catalytic hydrogenation of 2 with palladium on charcoal proceeded smoothly to give 8 . Reduction of 2 by sodium and ethanol afforded 3-ethyl-4-hydroxybenzofuran ( 14 ). Electrophilic substitutions of 2 such as formylation, acetylation, and bromination, occurred easily at the 2-position. The above results show that compound 2 has both properties of benzofuran and 4-methylenepyran.     

Electron g-factor in a gated InAs-inserted-channel In0.53Ga0.47As/In0.52Al0.48As heterostructure

We report on electron g-factor in an InAs-inserted In_0.53Ga_0.47As/In_0.52Al_0.48As heterostructure. The gate voltage dependence of g-factor is obtained from the coincidence method. The obtained g-factor values are surprisingly smaller than the g-factor value of bulk InAs, and it is close to the bare g-factor value of In_0.53Ga_0.47As. The large change in g-factor is observed by applying the gate voltage. The obtained gate voltage dependence is not simply explained by the energy dependence of g-factor.     

Imprinting by hot embossing in polymer substrates using a template of silica glass surface-structured by the ablation of LIBWE method

Laser-induced backside wet etching (LIBWE) of silica glass plates was performed to fabricate an imprinting template for hot embossing in polymer substrates such as polystyrene and silicone resin. Well-defined inverse surface-micropatterns of gratings and grid arrays on the substrates were produced by the hot embossing using a surface-structured silica glass as the template. These results indicate that the LIBWE method allows us to generate robust glass molding tools that exhibit the inverse shapes of the intended microstructures. PACS 52.38.Mf; 68.47.Mn; 81.05.Kf; 81.05.Lg; 83.50.Uv     

Drug-carrying latices for prolonged release of drugs

Dichlorophene was used as a model drug. Drug-carrying latex particles were prepared by soap-free emulsion copolymerization of dichlorophene acrylate with some hydrophilic methacrylate comonomers. The comonomers used affected not only the structure and colloidal stability of particles, but also the drug-activity of particles. Preliminary study of the drug activity revealed that highly hydrophilic latex particles were very stable and too inactive to be engulfed by amoebae and kill them. On the contrary, less hydrophilic particles carrying a large amount of drug can be an effective device to release drugs at a moderate rate to fight against extracelluar targets such as parasites.     

Thermodynamic Insight into the Origin of a Calix[n]arene-[60]fullerene Interaction and its Application to a Porphyrin-[60]fullerene Energy Transfer System

The calixarene-fullerene interaction,which causes only a slight change in the absorptionspectra, has been substantiated by calorimetricmeasurements: the H° values arecomparable with those obtained from the associationconstants estimated by a spectroscopic method. Furthermore, we determined the association constantbetween homooxacalix[3]arene and [60]fullerenederivatives with a porphyrin moiety by fluorescencespectra.     

Correlation between Site ll-Specific Human Serum Albumin (HSA) Binding Affinity and Murine in vivo Photosensitizing Efficacy of Some Photofrin Components

Human serum albumin (HSA) is one of the key components in human blood that may influence drug distribution. As such, it is important to know the affinity of any drug for albumin. Previously, Photofrina mixture of monomeric, dimeric and oligomeric porphyrins, has been subjected to HSA binding studies. However, due to its complex nature, binding studies on Photofrin or other hematoporphyrin derivatives with HSA are inconclusive. In this report, the binding properties of some components (dimers and trimers) of Photofrin® and the relationship between murine photosensitizing efficacy and those binding properties were investigated. The interaction of these porphyrins with HSA was investigated by direct ultrafiltration and fluorescent titration techniques with fluorescent probes such as dansyl-L-proline (DP), which is known to interact selectively with site II on HSA. Porphyrins also were tested for antitumor activity in a mouse model following intravenous administration and exposure to laser light. Together, the results suggest that the photosensitizers that were preferentially bound to site II of HSA were most effective at controlling murine tumor regrowth     

Furan derivatives. Part 8 On substituent effects in the synthesis of 4,5-dihydro-3H-naphtho[1,8-bc]furans

4,5-Dihydro-3H-naphtho[1,8-bc]furans 4 and 6 which have various substituents (R¹ and R²) have been synthesized from 8-oxo-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-1-naphthyloxyacetic acids 1 and 3 or their ethyl esters 2 . The reaction of acids 1 and 3 with sodium acetate in acetic anhydride gave a mixture of furans 4 and 6 and lactones 5 and 7 . The ratios of the products were varied according to the types of substituents (R¹ and R²) in acids 1 and 3 . As the substituent R¹ (R² = hydrogen) in acids 1 was changed from hydrogen to a methyl, ethyl or isopropyl group, production of furans 4 became more difficult. However, when a phenyl group was used as the substituent, furan 4 was obtained in good yield. Similarly, as the substituent R² (R¹ = hydrogen) in acids 1 was changed from hydrogen to a methyl, ethyl or isopropyl group, furan formation was more difficult. In contrast, acids 3 which had electron-withdrawing substituents such as chlorine, bromine or a nitro group at the 4-position afforded furans 6 in good yield. 4,5-Dihydro-3H-naphtho[1,8-bc]furans 4 and 4,5-dihydro-3H-naphtho[1,8-bc]furan-2-carbocylic acids 8 were synthesized from the reaction of esters 2 and potassium hydroxide in dioxane. When the substituents R¹ or R² in esters 2 were varied from hydrogen to a methyl, ethyl or isopropyl group the total yields of furans 4 and furancarboxylic acids 8 were reduced.     

Solid-state optical properties of a chiral supramolecular fluorophore consisting of chiral (1R,2R)-1,2-diphenylethylenediamine and fluorescent carboxylic acid derivatives

By using (1R,2R)-1,2-diphenylethylenediamine as a chiral molecule and 2-anthracenecarboxylic acid as a fluorescent molecule, we created a chiral supramolecular organic fluorophore having circularly polarized luminescence properties in the solid-state.     

Interactions between temperature-sensitive hydrogel microspheres and granulocytes

Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) has a low critical solution temperature (LCST) at 32°C in water and the hydrophilicity changes through the LCST. The microspheres whose surface was composed of PNIPAM exhibited phase transition behavior around 32°C. Therefore, the interactions between PNIPAM micropheres and granulocytes depended on the temperature. That is, the oxygen consumption and active oxygen production by cells in contact with PNIPAM-containing microspheres and adhesion of the microspheres to the cell surface were more enhanced above the LCST of PNIPAM than below it, whereas no significant temperature dependence of cell–microspheres interaction was observed in nonthermosensitive microsphere systems. It was suggested that the function of cells could be controlled with temperature using the temperature-sensitive microspheres.