Control of the bioluminescence starting time by inoculated cell density.

In this study, we attempted to control the timing of light-emission from bioluminescent bacteria, by changed cell numbers inoculated into medium. Luminous bacteria express bioluminescence when the number of cells reached a threshold. Inoculated cell density had an effect on the time of bioluminescence starting. Samples were prepared by varying cell density of inoculation. In the results, all the vials showed different luminescence profiles in the order of inoculated cell population.     

Elucidation of solid-state complexation in ground mixtures of cholic acid and guest compounds

The solid-state complexation between cholic acid (CA) and either methyl p-hydroxybenzoate (MPB) or ibuprofen (IBP) was investigated. Powder X-ray diffractometry, IR spectroscopy and thermal analysis suggested the complex formation between CA and MPB as well as between CA and IBP by co-grinding method. The stoichiometry of CA-MPB was 1 : 1 while that of CA-IBP was 2 : 1, reflecting the effect of guest size on complex formation. The guest compounds were assumed to be included in the channel of complexes formed by hydrogen bonds among CA molecules.     

Sensitive measurement of methylene blue active substances by attenuated total reflection spectrometry with a trimethylsilane-modified glass slab optical waveguide

Attenuated total reflection spectrometry with a slab optical waveguide (SOWG) was explored for the simple, rapid and sensitive measurement of total anionic surfactants by the methylene blue active substance (MBAS) method. A fused-silica sheet used as a guiding layer was modified with trimethylsilane (TMS) to extract and concentrate the MBASs on the SOWG surface. Based on preliminary studies of the adsorption behavior and visible ATR spectrum of MB on the modified silica surface, a detection wavelength of 600 nm was chosen for the sensitive measurement of anionic surfactants. When the concentration of MB was set at 10 microM in the final measurement solution, the calibration curve for a typical anionic surfactant (sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate) was linear up to 0.6 microM and the detection limit was 0.07 microM. The proposed method was applied to the determination of total anionic surfactants in river water.     

Theoretical study of the thermal interconversion mechanism between the norbornadiene and quadricyclane radical cations

Geometry optimizations at the UHF/6-31G^* and UMP2/6-31G^* levels of theory were performed to find the transition state in the interconversion between norbornadiene (N) and quadricyclane (Q) radical cations. Two transition structures, TS^+·₁ and TS^+·₂, were obtained which have C₁ and C₂ symmetry, respectively. Vibrational analysis at the UHF and UMP2 levels of theory and IRC calculation showed that TS^+·₁ is the true transition state connecting N^+· and Q^+·, while TS^+·₂ is a second order saddle point.     

Optimal control of ultrafast cis-trans photoisomerization of retinal in rhodopsin via a conical intersection

Optimal control simulation is applied to the cis-trans photoisomerization of retinal in rhodopsin within a two-dimensional, two-electronic-state model with a conical intersection [S. Hahn and G. Stock, J. Phys. Chem. B 104, 1146 (2000)]. For this case study, we investigate coherent control mechanisms, in which laser pulses work cooperatively with a conical intersection that acts as a "wave-packet cannon." Optimally designed pulses largely consist of shaping subpulses that prepare a wave packet, which is localized along a reaction coordinate and has little energy in the coupling mode, through multiple electronic transitions. This shaping process is shown to be essential for achieving a high target yield although the envelopes of the calculated pulses depend on the local topography of the potential-energy surfaces around the conical intersection and the choice of target. The control mechanisms are analyzed by considering the motion of reduced wave packets in a nuclear configuration space as well as by snapshots of probability current-density maps.     

Development of novel chiral urea catalysts for the hetero-Michael reaction

Chiral urea compounds 10a-g were synthesized as catalysts for conjugate addition of pyrrolidine (2) to gamma-crotonolactone (3). In the presence of a catalytic amount of the chiral ureas, this hetero-Michael reaction was greatly accelerated. Asymmetric induction was observed with the catalysts 10e, 10f, and 10g.     

INVESTIGATIONS ON THE MECHANISM OF CHLORPROMAZINE PHOTOTOXICITY: EFFECTS ON LYSOSOMES OF CULTURED HUMAN FIBROBLASTS

Abstract The effect of chlorpromazine (CPZ) and UVA on lysosomes of cultured normal human fibroblasts has been investigated. Acid phosphatase (ACPase) activity in 12 000 g pellet of cells treated with CPZ (10 μg/m l ) and UVA (6 × 10⁴ J/m²) was found to be decreased as compared with non-treated, CPZ or UVA treated control cells. This decrease, however, was not accompanied by a concomitant increase in ACPase activity in the 12 000 g supernatant. The addition of Triton X-100 to cells pretreated with CPZ + UVA resulted in only a moderate increase in ACPase activity of the 12 000 g supernatant. ACPase activity of the cells incubated in media containing preirradiated CPZ was also found to he decreased. These results indicate that CPZ + UVA directly inactivate lysosomal enzymes, possibly without affecting the membrane.     

Zooxanthellamide Cs: vasoconstrictive polyhydroxylated macrolides with the largest lactone ring size from a marine dinoflagellate of Symbiodinium sp

Zooxanthellamide Cs (ZAD-Cs), C(128)H(220)N(2)O(53)S(2) (ca. 2.7 kDa), was obtained from a cultured marine dinoflagellate of the genus Symbiodinium as an inseparable isomeric mixture of polyhydroxylated 61- to 66-membered macrolides. The chemical structures of the components were clarified by detailed 2D NMR analysis to be the macrolactonized analogues of zooxanthellamide A (ZAD-A), which had been previously isolated from the same microalgae. Chemical lability of ZAD-Cs suggests that ZAD-A is an artifact derived from ZAD-Cs during the isolation steps. Three of the components possess the largest (63-, 64-, and 66-membered) ring sizes found to date among the natural macrolides. ZAD-Cs exhibited higher vasoconstrictive activity than that of the zooxanthellatoxins, the first vasoconstrictive macrolides from Symbiodinium sp. The structure-activity relationship suggests that the huge macrolactone structure is important for biological activity. The relationship between the structures of the polyol metabolites and the phylogenetic systematics of Symbiodinium sp. is also discussed.