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 new luciferase reporter gene assay for the detection of androgenic and antiandrogenic effects based on a human prostate specific antigen promoter and PC3/AR human prostate cancer cells.

We developed a new mammalian cell-based luciferase reporter gene assay for androgenic and antiandrogenic activities of chemicals and environmental samples. Environmental samples usually have a complex matrix that may contain the constituents acting as androgen receptor (AR) agonists, AR antagonists or aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) agonists. AhR agonists are known to elicit the antiandrogenic effect through cross-talk between AR and AhR signal transduction pathways. In this study, PC3/AR human prostate carcinoma cells were transiently transfected with a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) promoter-driven luciferase expression plasmid. The cells were treated with a test compound or an environmental sample for 24 h at 37 degrees C and then measured for luciferase activity. The luciferase activity was induced by dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in a concentration-dependent manner in a concentration range from 10 fM to 1 nM. R1881, a synthetic androgen receptor agonist, induced luciferase activity and its inductive effects was additive to that of DHT. The luciferase activity was not induced by cortisol, a glucocorticoid, progesterone, a progestin, and 17beta-estradiol, an estrogen in a concentration range of up to 1 microM. DHT-induced luciferase activity was reduced by bicalutamide and cyproterone acetate, AR antagonists, and also by benzo[a]pyrene, an aryl hydrocarbon receptor agonist, through AhR-mediated pathways. All of these findings indicate that the present assay system correctly responds to AR agonists, AR antagonists and AhR agonist and, therefore, it is a powerful tool for the sensitive and selective screening of chemicals and environmental samples for their androgenic and antiandrogenic activities. We developed the first assay system, in which the expression of luciferase was driven by the promoter of a prostate-specific antigen gene, a typical human androgen-regulated gene.     

Classification for dimethylarsenate-decomposing bacteria using a restrict fragment length polymorphism analysis of 16S rRNA genes.

A new monitoring system for bacterial communities involving dimethylarsinic acid (DMAA) decomposition was provided by combining the MPN (Most Probable Number) method and RFLP (restriction-fragment-length polymorphism analysis). The abundance of DMAA decomposing bacteria was estimated by the MPN method using a bacterial culture medium, which included DMAA as the sole carbon source, indicating bacterial cell densities of 1700 cells/ml in Lake Kahokugata and 330 cells/ml in Lake Kibagata. After isolating the dominant bacteria using agar plates, the isolates were classified into some genotype groups by RFLP analysis using 16S rDNA sequences. Classification of the RFLP analysis indicated that 14 isolates of Lake Kahokugata were classified into 6 types, which included 2 dominant types related to genus Pseudomonas, while 8 isolates of Lake Kibagata displayed 6 types including one or two isolates. Moreover, the RFLP types were unique for each lake, suggesting that DMAA decomposing bacteria were specific for the aquatic environment related to the arsenic cycle. The activities of DMAA decomposition mostly matched with the RFLP type category of the isolates. Accordingly, combining the MPN method with the RFLP analysis will play an important role in elucidating the distributions and dynamics of the DMAA-decomposing bacterial community.     

‘Me2CuLi·TMSCl in CH2Cl2’. The most powerful methylating agent for sterically congested α,β-enoates

The reaction of Me₂CuLi with sterically congested α,β-unsaturated esters in the presence of TMSCl in CH₂Cl₂ proceeded very smoothly to produce the conjugate addition products in high yields.     

Computation of the quasi-stationary distributions inM(n)/GI/1/K andGI/M(n)/1/K queues

In this paper, we provide numerical means to compute the quasi-stationary (QS) distributions inM/GI/1/K queues with state-dependent arrivals andGI/M/1/K queues with state-dependent services. These queues are described as finite quasi-birth-death processes by approximating the general distributions in terms of phase-type distributions. Then, we reduce the problem of obtaining the QS distribution to determining the Perron-Frobenius eigenvalue of some Hessenberg matrix. Based on these arguments, we develop a numerical algorithm to compute the QS distributions. The doubly-limiting conditional distribution is also obtained by following this approach. Since the results obtained are free of phase-type representations, they are applicable for general distributions. Finally, numerical examples are given to demonstrate the power of our method.     

High-resolution infrared spectra of NCCN and NCCN

High-resolution spectra of ¹⁵N¹²C¹²C¹⁵N and ¹⁴N¹³C¹³C¹⁴N have been measured and analyzed from 200 to 3600 cm⁻¹. All the vibrational levels below 900 cm⁻¹ have been observed and characterized. The Fermi resonance between ν₂ and 2ν₄ has been studied and the resonance constant has been determined for several cases. Several Σ⁻ states have been directly observed for the first time for each isotopomer, the (0001111)0f, (0011111)0f, and (0002222)0f states. The pattern of the energy levels for clusters of l-type resonance coupled levels, such as 0001131,3, has been determined for cyanogen for the first time. Among other things this involved the determination of the vibrational l-type resonance constant, r₄₅. Many of the power series constants, α_i and x_ij, and higher order constants have been determined.     

Experimental Study on Time-Spread/Wavelength-Hop Optical Code Division Multiplexing with Dispersion-Compensating En/Decoder

10Gbit/s time-spread/wavelength-hop optical code generation and decoding are performed by dispersion-compensating fiber Bragg grating (FBG) en/decoder pair. Error-free 10km single mode fiber (SMF) transmission of 10Gbit/s optical code division multiplexing (OCDM) has been experimentally demonstrated.     

Numerical reconstruction of an infrared wavefront utilizing an optical phase modulation device

We utilize nitroanisole, that absorbs infrared (IR) radiation as heat, as an optical modulation device based on a thermal process. The nitroanisole exhibits a thermal lens effect, i.e. a temperature dependent refractive index. Hence, the nitroanisole can induce phase modulation to visible light, in direct response to intensity of the incident IR radiation. The proposed method can be used to obtain the phase modulation distribution that corresponds to the IR intensity distribution, i.e. the IR hologram itself, on the nitroanisole by examining the phase map of visible light that is modulated upon passing through the nitroanisole. The IR wavefront can be reconstructed by calculating extracted IR holograms through the Fresnel transform. It is verified that both the amplitude and the phase of the IR wavefront can be reconstructed accurately by proposed method.     

Application of ODMR to the study of DNA complexes of bisintercalating antibiotics and their biosynthesized derivatives

The DNA complexes of triostin A, echinomycin, and the monoquinoline (1QN) and bisquinoline (2QN) biosynthesized derivatives of echinomycin were investigated by optical detection of triplet-state magnetic resonance (ODMR) spectroscopy, with the quinoxaline and quinoline moieties of the DNA-binding peptides used as intrinsic probes. Plots of zero-field splitting (zfs)D parameter versus monitored wavelength revealed heterogeneity in the phosphorescence emission of echinomycin, triostin A, and 2QN ascribed to the occurrence of major and minor forms of the peptides in aqueous solution. ODMR results, in conjunction with findings from phosphorescence studies, indicate that the quinoxaline and quinoline chromophores of the major forms of the peptides are involved in aromatic stacking interactions in complexes with the natural DNAs fromMicrococcus lysodeikticus, Escherichia coli, and calf thymus as evidenced by red shifts in the phosphorescence 0,0 bands of the drugs, reductions in the phosphorescence lifetimes and zfsD andE parameters, and polarity reversal of the ODMR slow passage signals upon drug complexation. The reversal in ODMR signal polarity of echinomycin and 2QN is a consequence of changes in the triplet-state sublevel decay constants upon peptide binding to the natural DNAs. The extent of reduction of theD parameter for the major form of echinomycin, 2QN, and the quinoline moiety of 1QN upon complexation with polymeric DNAs was found to correlate with the binding affinities measured for these targets [1], but no correlation was found for the quinoxaline moiety of 1QN. Preliminary studies of triostin A-DNA complexes also revealed no correlation between the reduction in zfsD-value upon complexation and binding affinity, although the largest reductions inD-value among the peptides investigated in this report were exhibited by the poly(dG-dC)·poly(dG-dC) and natural DNA complexes of triostin A.