Long-wavelength light emission from InAs quantum dots covered by GaAsSb grown on GaAs substrates

We fabricated InAs quantum dots (QDs) with a GaAsSb strain-reducing layer (SRL) on a GaAs(0 0 1) substrate. The wavelength of emission from InAs QD is shown to be controllable by changing the composition and thickness of the SRL. An increase in photoluminescence intensity with increasing compositions of Sb and thickness of the GaAsSb SRL is also seen. The efficiency of radiative recombination was improved under both conditions because the InAs/GaAsSb/GaAs hetero-interface band structure more effectively suppressed carrier escape from the InAs QDs.     

A globally convergent Newton method for solving strongly monotone variational inequalities

Variational inequality problems have been used to formulate and study equilibrium problems, which arise in many fields including economics, operations research and regional sciences. For solving variational inequality problems, various iterative methods such as projection methods and the nonlinear Jacobi method have been developed. These methods are convergent to a solution under certain conditions, but their rates of convergence are typically linear. In this paper we propose to modify the Newton method for variational inequality problems by using a certain differentiable merit function to determine a suitable step length. The purpose of introducing this merit function is to provide some measure of the discrepancy between the solution and the current iterate. It is then shown that, under the strong monotonicity assumption, the method is globally convergent and, under some additional assumptions, the rate of convergence is quadratic. Limited computational experience indicates the high efficiency of the proposed method.     

Action of phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C from Bacillus thuringiensis is significantly influenced by coexisting lipids in substrate-detergent micelles.

The effects of phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), sphingomyelin (SM), and cholesterol on the activity of phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (PI-PLC) from Bacillus thuringiensis were studied in detail in phosphatidylinositol (PI)/detergent mixed micelles. By addition of PC, the enzymatic hydrolysis of PI was significantly stimulated in PI/Triton X-100 as well as PI/sodium deoxycholate (SDC) mixed micelles. SM stimulated enzyme activity toward PI/Triton X-100 micelles at a lower molar ratio of SM to PI, but was rather inhibitory at a ratio higher than 2.0. The enzyme activity became significantly lower with an increase of PE or cholesterol in PI/Triton X-100 micelles. Actually, both PE and cholesterol were intensively inhibitory when added at a higher molar ratio to PI in Triton X-100-containing micelles. In the system of PI/SDC mixed micelles, not only PC but also SM, PE and cholesterol enhanced the enzymatic hydrolysis of PI. The difference between PI/Triton X-100 and PI/SDC micelles regarding the effects of these lipids on PI-PLC action, must be dependent on the physical state of micelles formed by these detergents and lipids.     

Application of negative chemical ionization mass spectrometry to the structure elucidation of perfluorochemicals and related compounds

The negative chemical ionization mass spectra of representative perfluorinated alkanes, cycloalkanes, ethers and tertiary amines have been examined, using Ar at about 0.5 torr as the reagent gas. The compounds chosen are typical of those under study as components of fluorochemical emulsion blood substitutes. Many such PFC's, particularly those with cyclic or branched structures, give intense molecular ions; most give simple spectra with a few major fragment ions at high mass, in marked contrast to the EI spectra which are dominated by m/e 69 (CF₃+) and 131 (C₃F₅+) of no value for structure elucidation. NCI-GC/MS is more sensitive than conventional EI-GC/MS and promises to be more generally useful for structure determination. Specific examples from the various classes will be presented, and their NCI and EI mass spectra compared.     

Changes in enzymatic and membrane-adsorbing activities of sphingomyelinase from Bacillus cereus by modification with a polyethylene glycol derivative.

Sphingomyelinase (SMPLC) from Bacillus cereus was modified with a polyethylene glycol (PEG) derivative, methoxypolyethylene glycol-succinimidyl succinate (ss-PEG). The molecular weight of the ss-PEG-modified SMPLC was calculated to be approx. 150 kDa by gel-filtration whereas that of the native enzyme, was 25 kDa. By this modification, the enzyme increased its thermostability and retained its hydrolytic activity toward 2-(N-hexadecanoylamino)-4-nitrophenylphosphocholine (HNP) and sphingomyelin (SM) in the mixed micelles with the surfactants such as Triton X-100 and sodium deoxycholate (SDC). However, the activity toward liposomal SM was significantly decreased, and all the enzyme activities toward bovine erythrocytes, including membraneous SM-hydrolyzing and hemolytic activities as well as the enzyme adsorption onto the erythrocyte membranes, were completely lost.     

Synthesis of large macrocyclic tetraaza compounds with a methylene backbone: Cyclo[-NH- (CH2)n-]4, (n = 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10). The formation of 28-, 32-, 36-, 40- and 44-membered rings

A series of macrocyclic tetraamines with 28-, 32-, 36-, 40- and 44-membered rings have been efficiently prepared from the corresponding ditosylamide and monobromoalcohol derivatives in 6 steps via a double condensation reaction. Overall yields were: 41, 41, 46, 29, and 33%, respectively, for 1,8,15,22-tetraazacyclooctacontane ( 11a ), 1,9,17,25-tetraazacyclodotriacontane ( 11b ), 1,10,19,28-tetraazacyclohexatriacontane ( 11c ), 1,11,21,31-tetraazacyclotetracontane ( 11d ) and 1,12,23,34-tetraazacyclotetratetracontane ( 11e ).     

In Situ Processing of Nano Crystalline Oxide Particles/Polymer Hybrid

Nano sized crystalline particles/polymer hybrids were synthesized form designed metal-organic precursors. The newly developed method is composed of the synthesis of organic matrix by polymerization and the in situ nucleation and growth of crystalline oxide particles in the organic matrix below 100°C. The design of metal-organic precursor modified with polymerizable ligand and the selection of reaction conditions does influence the size and crystallinity of ceramic particles in organic matrix. The nano-sized magnetic particle/polymer hybrid exhibits the interesting feature of superparamagnetism and quantum size effect. The crystalline particles of BaTiO₃/, PbTiO₃/, and KNbO₃/polymer hybrids behave to be dielectric and show the typical electro-rheological behavior.     

Palladium-catalyzed aminoallylation of activated olefins with allylic halides and phthalimide

The three-component aminoallylation reaction of the activated olefins 2 with the phthalimide 1a and allyl chloride proceeded very smoothly in the presence of Pd(2)dba(3).CHCl(3) (5 mol %)/P(4-FC(6)H(4))(3) (40 mol %) and Cs(2)CO(3) (3 equiv against 2) in dichloromethane at room temperature to give the corresponding aminoallylated products, N-pent-4-enylphthalimides 3, in 58-99% yields. The reaction of oxazolidinone 1b also proceeded very smoothly to give N-(2,2-dicyano-1-phenylpent-4-enyl)oxazolidinone in a quantitative yield; however, the Tsuji-Trost-type allylation products 4 were obtained in the case of dibenzylamine, N-tosylaniline, and pyrrolidin-2-one. Further, 2 underwent cycloaddition with N-tosylvinylaziridine 9a in the presence of Pd(2)dba(3).CHCl(3) (5 mol %)/P(4-FC(6)H(4))(3) (40 mol %) in THF at room temperature, giving the corresponding pyrrolidines 11 in 69-99% yields.     

Alkane Oxidation with Molecular Oxygen Using a New Efficient Catalytic System: N-Hydroxyphthalimide (NHPI) Combined with Co(acac)(n)() (n = 2 or 3)

A novel class of catalysts for alkane oxidation with molecular oxygen was examined. N-Hydroxyphthalimide (NHPI) combined with Co(acac)(n)() (n = 2 or 3) was found to be an efficient catalytic system for the aerobic oxidation of cycloalkanes and alkylbenzenes under mild conditions. Cycloalkanes were successfully oxidized with molecular oxygen in the presence of a catalytic amount of NHPI and Co(acac)(2) in acetic acid at 100 degrees C to give the corresponding cycloalkanones and dicarboxylic acids. Alkylbenzenes were also oxidized with dioxygen using this catalytic system. For example, toluene was converted into benzoic acid in excellent yield under these conditions. Ethyl- and butylbenzenes were selectively oxidized at their alpha-positions to form the corresponding ketones, acetophenone, and 1-phenyl-1-butanone, respectively, in good yields. A key intermediate in this oxidation is believed to be the phthalimide N-oxyl radical generated from NHPI and molecular oxygen using a Co(II) species. The isotope effect (k(H)/k(D)) in the oxidation of ethylbenzene and ethylbenzene-d(10) with dioxygen using NHPI/Co(acac)(2) was 3.8.     

Measurements of 127I M?ssbauer spectra for iodine compounds

127I M?ssbauer spectra of good quality were obtained at 20 K using a Zn127mTe source produced by high flux neutron irradiation of 66Zn-126Te at reactor core. The M?ssbauer spectra for KI and some iodine(III) compounds with absorption intensity of about 5% suggest that the 127I M?ssbauer spectroscopy is useful in elucidating the bonding nature of the iodine compounds. Preparative method of the M?ssbauer source and experimental technique are reported in detail.