Cellulose dimethylphenylcarbamate-bonded carbon-clad zirconia for chiral separation in high performance liquid chromatography.

Porous zirconia particles are very robust material and have received considerable attention as a stationary phase support for HPLC. We prepared cellulose dimethylphenylcarbamate-bonded carbon-clad zirconia (CDMPCCZ) as a chiral stationary phase (CSP) for separation of enantiomers of a set of 14 racemic compounds in normal phase (NP) and reversed-phase (RP) liquid chromatography. Retention and enantioselectivity on CDMPCCZ were compared to those on CDMPC-coated zirconia (CDMPCZ) to see how the change in immobilization method of the chiral selector affects the retention and chiral selectivity. In NPLC, retention was longer and the number of resolved racemates was smaller on CDMPCCZ than on CDMPCZ. However, chiral selectivity factors for some resolved racemates were better on CDMPCCZ than on CDMPCZ. The longer retention on CDMPCCZ is likely due to strong, non-chiral discriminating interactions with the carbon layer on CDMPCZ. In RPLC only two racemates were resolved on CDMPCCZ, but retention times were shorter than, and resolutions were comparable to, those in NPLC, indicating a potential for improving chromatographic performance of the CDMPCCZ column in RPLC with optimized column preparation and separation conditions.     

Scanning mirror on a vibrating membrane for dynamic optical trapping

A study of the variation of the spectral shape and the harmonic distribution of the high-order harmonics generated from silver plasma on the frequency chirp of the driving laser radiation (793 nm 48 fs) is reported. The results of the systematic study of the harmonic generation from the 21st order up to the 61st order (λ=13 nm) are presented. A tuning of the harmonic wavelength up to 0.8 nm can be accomplished by variation of the laser chirp. PACS 42.65.Ky; 42.79.Nv; 52.38.Mf     

Cancer cells undergoing epigenetic transition show short-term resistance and are transformed into cells with medium-term resistance by drug treatment

To elucidate the epigenetic mechanisms of drug resistance, epigenetically reprogrammed H460 cancer cells (R-H460) were established by the transient introduction of reprogramming factors. Then, the R-H460 cells were induced to differentiate by the withdrawal of stem cell media for various durations, which resulted in differentiated R-H460 cells (dR-H460). Notably, dR-H460 cells differentiated for 13 days (13dR-H460 cells) formed a significantly greater number of colonies showing drug resistance to both cisplatin and paclitaxel, whereas the dR-H460 cells differentiated for 40 days (40dR-H460 cells) lost drug resistance; this suggests that 13dR-cancer cells present short-term resistance (less than a month). Similarly, increased drug resistance to both cisplatin and paclitaxel was observed in another R-cancer cell model prepared from N87 cells. The resistant phenotype of the cisplatin-resistant (CR) colonies obtained through cisplatin treatment was maintained for 2–3 months after drug treatment, suggesting that drug treatment transforms cells with short-term resistance into cells with medium-term resistance. In single-cell analyses, heterogeneity was not found to increase in 13dR-H460 cells, suggesting that cancer cells with short-term resistance, rather than heterogeneous cells, may confer epigenetically driven drug resistance in our reprogrammed cancer model. The epigenetically driven short-term and medium-term drug resistance mechanisms could provide new cancer-fighting strategies involving the control of cancer cells during epigenetic transition.Subject terms: Tumour heterogeneity, Epigenetics     

Hydrogen transport through Pd-Ni alloy electrodeposited on Pd substrate

Hydrogen transport through a Pd-Ni alloy electrodeposited on a Pd substrate (Pd-Ni/Pd bilayer symmetric electrode) has been investigated using cyclic voltammetry and a.c. impedance spectroscopy combined with the electrochemical hydrogen permeation method. The permeation build-up current transients and the measured impedance spectra were analyzed using the time-lag method for the bilayer electrode and a complex non-linear least squares data-fitting method based upon the derived Faradaic admittance for the hydrogen absorption into and diffusion through the bilayer electrode under the permeable boundary condition, respectively. The value of the hydrogen diffusivity in the Pd-Ni layer was lower than that in the Pd layer. Furthermore, the values of the charge transfer resistance and equilibrium absorption constant for the Pd-Ni/Pd bilayer electrode were higher than those for the Pd single layer electrode. From the experimental results, the role of the thin Ni(OH)₂ film formed on the Pd-Ni layer surface in the hydrogen transport through the Pd-Ni/Pd bilayer electrode is discussed in terms of its passivating effect and extremely large hydrogen solubility. Received: 22 January 1997 / Accepted: 15 April 1997