Lithium secondary batteries using modified-imidazolium room-temperature ionic liquid

Highly reversible, safe lithium secondary batteries that use imidazolium-cation-based room-temperature ionic liquid as an electrolyte and lithium metal as an anode material were realized by the molecular design. To achieve higher reduction stability, an electron-donating substituent was introduced to promote charge delocalization in the imidazolium cation of room-temperature ionic liquids.     

Effect of introducing acrylic and methacrylic acid groups on molecular relaxation of poly(ethyl methacrylate)

Dielectric and infrared data have been obtained over a wide temperature range on copolymers of ethyl methacrylate with methacrylic and acrylic acid synthesized by radical copolymerization. The dissociation energy ΔH⁰ for the acid dimer in the copolymer is estimated from the temperature dependence of the relaxation strength Δε_α of the α relaxation, which is associated with the glass transition. The value of δH⁰ obtained by this method is in fair agreement with that determined by infrared (IR) spectroscopy. The strength of the α relaxation and its activation energy are both increased by the incorporation of methacrylic acid units but are decreased by acrylic acid units. This behavior is attributed to the restriction of main-chain motions by hydrogen-bonded acid dimers in the copolymers with methacrylic acid and to the incorporation of more flexible links in the copolymers with acrylic acid. The β relaxation observed below the glass transition temperatures is almost unaffected by the incorporation of methacrylic acid.     

Synthesis of 5 beta-cholestane-3 alpha,6 beta,7 alpha,25,26-pentol and identification of a novel bile alcohol, alpha-trichechol, present in the West Indian manatee bile

In order to confirm the structure of alpha-trichechol, the major bile alcohol of the West Indian manatee, chemical synthesis of 5 beta-cholestane-3 alpha,6 beta,7 alpha,25,26-pentol was carried out. The chain of 3 alpha-hydroxy-5 beta-chol-6-en-24-oic acid was elongated by an Arndt-Eistert reaction to form 3 alpha-hydroxy-26,27-dinor-5 beta-cholest-6-en-25-oic acid. The unsaturated C25 bile acid was converted into 3 alpha,6 beta,7 alpha-trihydroxy-25-homo-5 beta-cholan-25-oic acid by 1,2-glycol formation of the delta 6-double bond. The acetylated derivative of the trihydroxy C25 bile acid was then converted into 3 alpha,6 beta,7 alpha,26-tetraacetoxy-27-nor-5 beta-cholestan-25-one by successive treatment with thionyl chloride, diazomethane, and acetic acid. A Grignard reaction of the 25-oxo compound with methylmagnesium iodide afforded the desired bile alcohol, 5 beta-cholestane-3 alpha,6 beta,7 alpha,25,26-pentol. By direct comparison with the synthetic pentahydroxy bile alcohol, the structure of the naturally occurring alpha-trichechol was determined to be 5 beta-cholestane-3 alpha,6 beta,7 alpha,25,26-pentol.     

Interlaboratory evaluation of two enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits for the detection of egg, milk, wheat, buckwheat, and peanut in foods

The labeling of 5 major allergenic ingredients (egg, milk, wheat, buckwheat, and peanut) is mandatory in Japan, and 2 series of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits have been established as official screening methods. However, these official methods have not provided the necessary sensitivity, due in part to poor extraction efficiency. To address this need, 2 novel ELISA kits have been developed: the FASTKIT ELISA Ver. II Series and the FASPEK Allergenic Substances Detection Kit. The new kit systems use an improved extraction buffer that can extract insoluble proteins produced by processing and feature new antibodies that bind to the denatured proteins extracted with the new extraction buffer. The analytical performances of the 2 new ELISA kit series were evaluated in an interlaboratory study. Ten laboratories participated in the study and determined the major allergenic ingredients contained in 5 types of model processed food. The 2 ELISAs displayed fairly good reproducibility and sufficient recovery.     

Antioxidant effects of photodegradation product of nifedipine

Recently, increasing evidence suggests that the antihypertensive drug nifedipine acts as a protective agent for endothelial cells, and that the activity is unrelated to its calcium channel blocking. Nifedipine is unstable under light and reportedly decomposes to a stable nitrosonifedipine (NO-NIF). NO-NIF has no antihypertensive effect, and it has been recognized as a contaminant of nifedipine. The present study for the first time demonstrated that NO-NIF changed to a NO-NIF radical in a time-dependent manner when it interacted with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). The electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) signal of NO-NIF radicals in HUVECs showed an asymmetric pattern suggesting that the radicals were located in the membrane. The NO-NIF radicals had radical scavenging activity for 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl, whereas neither NO-NIF nor nifedipine did. In addition, the NO-NIF radical more effectively quenched lipid peroxides than NO-NIF or nifedipine. Furthermore, NO-NIF attenuated the superoxide-derived free radicals in HUVECs stimulated with LY83583, and suppressed iron-nitrilotriacetic acid (Fe-NTA)-induced cytotoxicity in rat pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells. Our findings suggest that NO-NIF is a candidate for a new class of antioxidative drugs that protect cells against oxidative stress.     

Exciton and multi-exciton structures in GaAs quantum dots studied by single-photon correlation spectroscopy

Single-photon emitters and detectors are key devices for realizing secure communications by single-photon-based cryptography and single-photon-based quantum computing. For the establishment of these technologies, we need to understand the electronic structures of single and multiple excitons. Therefore, we have studied their emissions via the micro-photoluminescence (μ-PL) spectra of strain-free GaAs/AlGaAs single quantum dots, using excitation power dependence, time-resolved, and single-photon correlation measurements. Under pulsed excitation, we observed clear photon antibunching and bunching by auto- and cross-correlation measurements. From these results, we found that the emission peaks observed in the μ-PL spectra originated from exciton, charged exciton, and biexciton states.     

Artificial immunoglobulin G-binding protein mimetic to staphylococcal protein A. Its production and application to affinity purification of immunoglobulin G.

Staphylococcal protein A consists of a single polypeptide with five immunoglobulin G (IgG)-binding domains, which are linked as E-D-A-B-C in this order from the amino terminal. The DNA coding domains A-B were polymerized one to six times linearly, taking advantage of the non-palindromic nucleotide sequence of the AccI recognition site and the resultant DNAs were inserted in pTRP vector carrying trp promoter. The artificial IgG-binding proteins [pA(AB)1-6], which had been expressed in Escherichia coli JM109, were purified by methods involving IgG-Sepharose affinity chromatography. Among pA(AB)1-6 immobilized on cyanogen bromide-Sepharose, pA(AB)4-Sepharose was the highest in IgG-binding capacity at the same level of mg protein per ml gel, about 30% higher than protein A-Sepharose. At 8 mg protein per ml gel, it bound and eluted about 24 mg of IgG from rabbit serum. Its IgG-binding capacities were the highest with porcine, rabbit, human and guinea pig sera, intermediate with bovine, horse and sheep sera and the lowest with mouse, goat, rat and chicken sera.