Cationic fullerenes are effective and selective antimicrobial photosensitizers

Fullerenes are soccer ball-shaped molecules composed of carbon atoms, and, when derivatized with functional groups, they become soluble and can act as photosensitizers. Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy combines a nontoxic photosensitizer with harmless visible light to generate reactive oxygen species that kill microbial cells. We have compared the antimicrobial activity of six functionalized C(60) compounds with one, two, or three hydrophilic or cationic groups in combination with white light against gram-positive bacteria, gram-negative bacteria, and fungi. After a 10 min incubation, the bis- and tris-cationic fullerenes were highly active in killing all tested microbes (4-6 logs) under conditions in which mammalian cells were comparatively unharmed. These compounds performed significantly better than a widely used antimicrobial photosensitizer, toluidine blue O. The high selectivity and efficacy exhibited by these photosensitizers encourage further testing for antimicrobial applications.     

Synthesis and novel reactivity of halomethyldimethylsulfonium salts

Iodomethyl-, chloromethyl-, and fluoromethyldimethylsulfonium salts, 4b-d, have been synthesized and are observed to be highly reactive molecules that exhibit extraordinary diversity with respect to the nature of their reactivity, undergoing facile direct substitution (S(N)2) reactions, but also being highly susceptible to electron-transfer reactions. Cyclic voltametry experiments indicated that the iodomethyldimethylsulfonium compound, 4b, is a potent electron acceptor, even surpassing the reactivity of perfluoro-n-alkyl iodides in that capacity. The iodo- and chloromethyldimethylsulfonium salts, 4b,c, as well as the analogous iodomethyltrimethylammonium salt, 3a, are shown to be reactive SET acceptors.     

Dependence of relativistic backward wave oscillator properties oneffective beam gamma

The operation of a backward wave oscillator (BWO) is shown to be critically dependent on the energy of the slow space-charge wave of the electron beam. Experimental work parameterizing the dependence of microwave frequency on effective beam energy, γ_beam, reveals that through an understanding of electron-beam dynamics, a BWO could be systematically tuned through a desired frequency range while maintaining a high power of a few hundred megawatts and narrow frequency bandwidth, which was 400 MHz. Through variation of γ_beam, 1.2 to 1.5 for the experiment, the lack of scaling of peak microwave power with the kinetic energy of the electron beam for γ_beam >1.32 was observed. This effect was previously found in numerical simulation. In order to explain this effect, the relationship of the beam current to the space-charge-limiting current for increasing γ_beam is examined. Dramatic evidence of pulse shortening, a phenomenon known to relativistic oscillators, was also seen     

Recrystallization inhibition assessed by splat cooling and optical recrystallometry

Levels of recrystallization have been measured by two distinct techniques; a splat cooling assay and a new device, an optical recrystallometer, which measures the change in light transmittance through a frozen sample. Both techniques indicate the presence of recrystallization inhibitors in a grass extract and in other samples. The advantages of each method of measuring recrystallization are discussed.     

Cold tolerance and overwintering of an introduced New Zealand frog, the brown tree frog (Litoria ewingii)

The overwintering strategy of Litoria ewingii in Otago, New Zealand, was studied under laboratory and field conditions. Microhabitat temperature measurements showed that the frogs were often exposed to subzero temperatures. In the laboratory, Litoria ewingii tolerated freezing for up to 6 hrs at -1 degrees C, and after the completion of the freezing event (about 1 hr) at -2 degrees C. Frogs frozen with insulation survived freezing for 12 hrs at -1 degrees C. Frogs supercooled to -1.2 +/- 0.1 degrees C and -1.7 +/- 0.3 degrees C on wet and dry substrates respectively. L. Ewingii tolerated up to 47.5% of its body water frozen. Plasma glucose levels and osmolality were not increased during freezing. It is concluded that l. Ewingii cannot avoid freezing and is sufficiently freeze tolerant to survive the subzero temperatures encountered during winter in Otago.     

An experimental study of turbulence intensities and non-uniformities in the exit flow from a porous combustor

In this study, experiments were performed on a two-section porous burner operated on propane and air. The burner consisted of an upstream section of reticulated yttria stabilized zirconia with 23.6 pores per centimeter (ppc) followed by a downstream section of 3.9 ppc, composed of the same material. The velocity and turbulence intensity of the exit flow for reacting and non-reacting conditions were measured. The velocity profiles for both reacting and non-reacting flow were very non-uniform. The turbulence intensity for the reacting flow increased with distance due to turbulence created by the non-uniformities. Blow-off occurred first on one side of the burner, but otherwise the flame in this burner was stable.     

The fluorescence excitation spectrum of s-tetrazine cooled in a supersonic free jet

The fluorescence excitation spectrum of the ${}^1\text{B}{}_{\mathrm{3u}}\text{(v′ = 0) ←}{}^1\text{A}{}_{\mathrm{g}}\text{(v″ = 0)}$ transition in s-tetrazine has been observed and measured. The sample was cooled to a rotational temperature of <1 K by expansion in a supersonic free jet. In this way the rotational structure arising from asymmetry split low J lines could be observed. The rotational A and B axes of the ²H₁¹²C₂¹⁴N₄ isotope were observed to interchange upon electronic excitation and a theory describing the effect of this interchange upon the optical selection rules has been developed. Analysis of the resolved rotational structure suggests that the geometry change upon electronic excitation is smaller than that deduced from previous analysis of the room temperature optical spectrum.