Syntheses of 2‐Keto‐3‐deoxy‐D‐xylonate and 2‐Keto‐3‐deoxy‐L‐arabinonate as Stereochemical Probes for Demonstrating the Metabolic Promiscuity of Sulfolobus solfataricus Towards D‐Xylose and L‐Arabinose

Practical syntheses of 2‐keto‐3‐deoxy‐D ‐xylonate (D ‐KDX) and 2‐keto‐3‐deoxy‐L ‐arabinonate (L ‐KDA) that rely on reaction of the anion of ethyl 2‐[(tert‐butyldimethylsilyl)oxy]‐2‐(dimethoxy phosphoryl) acetate with enantiopure glyceraldehyde acetonide, followed by global deprotection of the resultant O‐silyl‐enol esters, have been developed. This has enabled us to confirm that a 2‐keto‐3‐deoxy‐D ‐gluconate aldolase from the archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus demonstrates good activity for catalysis of the retro‐aldol cleavage of both these enantiomers to afford pyruvate and glycolaldehyde. The stereochemical promiscuity of this aldolase towards these enantiomeric aldol substrates confirms that this organism employs a metabolically promiscuous pathway to catabolise the C5‐sugars D ‐xylose and L ‐arabinose.     

Large-amplitude plasma wave generation with a high-intensity short-pulse beat wave

A short-pulse laser beat wave scheme for advanced particle accelerator applications is examined. A short, intense (3-ps, >10(18)-W cm(-2)) two-frequency laser pulse is produced by use of a modified chirped-pulse amplification scheme and is shown to produce relativistic plasma waves during interactions with low-density plasmas. The generation of plasma waves was observed by measurement of forward Raman scattering. Resonance was found to occur at an electron density many times that expected, owing to ponderomotive displacement of plasma within the focal region.     

使用二元相位菲涅尔波带片产生轴向线聚焦

介绍了一种全新的轴向线聚焦方案.采用菲涅尔波带片，在实验中产生了沿轴向长为5mm，宽 100μm的线聚焦.光学测量表明，线聚焦轴向强度分布比较均匀.这些参数基本上可以满足激 光等离子体实验的要求. 关键词： 菲涅尔波带片 轴向线聚焦     

激光等离子体的电子温度对Thomson散射离子声波双峰的影响

通过对不同激光条件产生的等离子体进行Thomson散射实验诊断，发现在距靶面为150 μm的临界密度面内，离子声波双峰强度出现明显的不对称性，而且强峰的位置发生了转移：当等离子体的电子温度较高时，强峰出现在短波方向；当等离子体电子温度较低时，强峰出现在长波方向.光的拉曼散射效应对应地解释了离子声波的双峰结构、双峰强度不对称性及强峰出现的位置.建立了光的拉曼散射与电子的Thomson散射的对应关系.     

A pulse stacker for time-resolved laser plasma diagnostics

A passive splitter array is described which allows time-resolved plasma diagnostic measurements to be performed on a single shot basis. The advantage of this stacker is that it has high efficiency, is simple, easy to adjust, and can be inserted into an optical beam path without disturbance to alignment.     

Detecting functional magnetic resonance imaging activation in white matter: Interhemispheric transfer across the corpus callosum

Background  

It is generally believed that activation in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is restricted to gray matter. Despite this, a number of studies have reported white matter activation, particularly when the corpus callosum is targeted using interhemispheric transfer tasks. These findings suggest that fMRI signals may not be neatly confined to gray matter tissue. In the current experiment, 4 T fMRI was employed to evaluate whether it is possible to detect white matter activation. We used an interhemispheric transfer task modelled after neurological studies of callosal disconnection. It was hypothesized that white matter activation could be detected using fMRI.     

Pilot Study on Exhaled Breath Analysis for a Healthy Adult Population in Hawaii

Fast diagnostic results using breath analysis are an anticipated possibility for disease diagnosis or general health screenings. Tests that do not require sending specimens to medical laboratories possess capabilities to speed patient diagnosis and protect both patient and healthcare staff from unnecessary prolonged exposure. The objective of this work was to develop testing procedures on an initial healthy subject cohort in Hawaii to act as a range-finding pilot study for characterizing the baseline of exhaled breath prior to further research. Using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC), this study analyzed exhaled breath from a healthy adult population in Hawaii to profile the range of different volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and survey Hawaii-specific differences. The most consistently reported compounds in the breath profile of individuals were acetic acid, dimethoxymethane, benzoic acid methyl ester, and n-hexane. In comparison to other breathprinting studies, the list of compounds discovered was representative of control cohorts. This must be considered when implementing proposed breath diagnostics in new locations with increased interpersonal variation due to diversity. Further studies on larger numbers of subjects over longer periods of time will provide additional foundational data on baseline breath VOC profiles of control populations for comparison to disease-positive cohorts.     

35 J broadband femtosecond optical parametric chirped pulse amplification system

We report on what is believed to be the first large-aperture and high-energy optical parametric chirped pulse amplification system. The system, based on a three-stage amplifier, shows 25% pump-to-signal conversion efficiency and amplification of the full 70 nm width of the seed spectrum. Pulse compression to 84 fs achieved after amplification indicates a potential of 300 TW pulse power for 35 J amplified pulse energy.     

Synthesis of the 6-6-6 tricyclic skeleton of the anti-influenza A diterpene wickerol A

A five-step synthesis of the 6-6-6 tricyclic skeleton of the diterpene wickerol A is described. The synthesis features a diastereoselective d-proline-mediated Robinson annulation and N-heterocyclic carbene-catalyzed Stetter reaction as key transformations to give the tricyclic carbon skeleton of this promising anti-influenza A natural product.