A dithienylethene-tethered beta-cyclodextrin dimer as a photoswitchable host

The binding of TSPP by a dithienylethene-tethered beta-cyclodextrin dimer can be altered reversibly by irradiation with light.     

A convergent approach to 3-substituted-5-methoxyindoles. Application to the synthesis of melatonin [correction

A convergent, radical based synthesis of 5-methoxyindoles including melatonin is described.     

Highly enantioselective syntheses of functionalized alpha-methylene-gamma-butyrolactones via Rh(I)-catalyzed intramolecular Alder ene reaction: application to formal synthesis of (+)-pilocarpine

A highly enantioselective Rh(I)-catalyzed intramolecular Alder ene reaction has been developed. The desired products, 3-vinyl, vinyl acetate, and vinyl ether-substitued alpha-methylene-gamma-butyrolactones were formed in high yields. Aldehydes were produced with the formation of gamma-lactones when alcohols were substituted at allylic position in the substrates. All reactions with listed substrates proceeded in over 99% ee. A formal synthesis of (+)-pilocarpine is an excellent example to demonstrate the synthetic utility of this methodology.     

Evidence for nearby supernova explosions

Supernova (SN) explosions are one of the most energetic---and potentially lethal---phenomena in the Universe. We show that the Scorpius-Centaurus OB association, a group of young stars currently located at approximately 130 pc from the Sun, has generated 20 SN explosions during the last 11 Myr, some of them probably as close as 40 pc to our planet. The deposition on Earth of (60)Fe atoms produced by these explosions can explain the recent measurements of an excess of this isotope in deep ocean crust samples. We propose that approximately 2 Myr ago, one of the SNe exploded close enough to Earth to seriously damage the ozone layer, provoking or contributing to the Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary marine extinction.     

Finite heat conduction in a 2D disorder lattice

Recently, the thermal conductivity in disordered chains has attracted a lot of attention, including the discussion of the disorder anharmonic and harmonic chains. A natural problem concerns the higher-dimensional disordered lattice system. This paper gives a 2D harmonic lattice model with missing bond defects. When the defect density is large enough, a temperature gradient builds up and a finite heat conduction is found in this model.     

Influence of attenuation on the behavior of refracted elastic waves at the interface between anisotropic media

During the ultrasonic non-destructive evaluation of complex materials, like multilayer or composite materials, the behavior of the ultrasonic waves at the interface of samples is strongly dependent upon the anisotropy as well as the attenuation characteristics of the propagation media. In the generally arbitrary case, the incident wave is assumed to be inhomogeneous. Therefore the application of the Snell-Descartes laws requires to consider the real as well as the imaginary parts of all the quantities encountered during the study. In that aim, we use a representation of the complex slowness curves so-called slowness interface curves which point out the evolution of the interaction of the waves at the interface with the inhomogeneity factors, i.e. the imaginary part of the slowness vectors. The continuous distortion of the curves with the inhomogeneity factor increasing is an interesting approach of these complicated phenomena.     

Use of a microelectromechanical mirror for adaptive optics in the human eye

Ophthalmic instrumentation equipped with adaptive optics offers the possibility of rapid and automated correction of the eye's optics for improving vision and for improving images of the retina. One factor that limits the widespread implementation of adaptive optics is the cost of the wave-front corrector, such as a deformable mirror. In addition, the large apertures of these elements require high pupil magnification, and hence the systems tend to be physically large. We present what are believed to be the first closed-loop results when a compact, low-cost, surface micromachined, microelectromechanical mirror is used in a vision adaptive-optics system. The correction performance of the mirror is shown to be comparable to that of a Xinetics mirror for a 4.6-mm pupil size. Furthermore, for a pupil diameter of 6.0-mm, the residual rms error is reduced from 0.36 to 0.12 microm and individual photoreceptors are resolved at a pupil eccentricity of 1 degrees from the fovea.     

Novel Covalently Linked Self-Assembled Films from a Functional Hyperbranched Conjugated Poly(Phenylene Vinylene)

The hotSPOt in the fields of molecular films focuses on highly ordered, ultrathin filmswith molecularly controllable surface properties. It is attractive tO stUdy supramolecularfunctional POlymeric materials with suitable physical properties and abilities to formorganized superstrUctures at the interfacesl'2'3A. Dendritic macromolecules are a kind ofmaterials which is capable of self-organizing into superstrUctUres'. So a new dendrimerlike POly(Phenylene vinylene)- --hyperbranched conj "…     

Investigation of trace laser mass p-dichlorobenzene using spectrometry

The time-of-flight mass spectrum （TOFMS） relative to the resonant two-photon ionization of gas phase p- dichlorobenzene was obtained in the wavelength range of 240 - 250 nm by a home-made system. A special design was made to reduce the effect of memory on the inner wall of the sample inlet system suitable for the investigation of semi-volatile organic compound. In this wavelength range, p-dichlorobenzene molecules firstly absorbed one photon to be excited from the ground state ^1Ag（So） to the first excited state ^1B2u （S1）, then absorbed another photon to be ionized. The relationship between the signal intensity of p-dichlorobenzene molecular ion C6H4^35Cl2^＋ at 248-nm wavelength and the laser power was given. The 1.52 power index of C6H4^35Cl2^＋ was a typical identification of the 3/2 power law. The relationship between the ion signal intensity of C6H4^35Cl2^＋ and the sample concentration was close to a linear one in the ppm（V/V） range, which led to a detection limit of 125 ppb（V/V） for p-dichlorobenzene.