Controlled Thiolate-Protected Gold and Alloy Clusters

Small metal clusters exhibit physical and chemical properties that differ substantially from those of corresponding bulk metals. Furthermore, the properties of clusters vary greatly depending on the number of constituent atoms. Metal clusters with these characteristics currently attract great attention in a wide range of fields as new nanoscale functional materials. In recent years, the techniques to precisely synthesize metal clusters protected with organic ligands and polymers with atomic precision have advanced dramatically. In addition, substantial knowledge of the size-specific physical/chemical properties exhibited by these metal clusters has been accumulated. In this chapter, we describe the precise synthesis methods of the most studied thiolate (SR)-protected gold clusters Aun(SR)m and their heteroatom-substituted clusters (alloy clusters)

Possibility Of Simultaneous Observation Of Nucleus Fragment And -ray Family In The Stratosphere

We propose simultaneous observation of surviving fragment nuclei (,Li,...) and the -ray family (,e,N,...) produced by the collision of an ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray nucleus (10141016 eV/nucleus) with an air target in the stratosphere (10 g/cm2). We support the proposal with extensive Monte Carlo calculations, which are also relevant to analysis of other atmospheric cascade experiments. © 1987 The American Physical Society.36378379

Mission X: Train Like an Astronaut Pilot Study

Mission X: Train Like an Astronaut is an international educational challenge focusing on fitness and nutrition as we encourage students to "train like an astronaut." Teams of students (aged 8-12) learn principles of healthy eating and exercise, compete for points by finishing training modules, and get excited about their future as "fit explorers." The 18 core exercises (targeting strength, endurance, coordination, balance, spatial awareness, and more) involve the same types of skills that astronauts learn in their training and use in spaceflight. This first-of-its-kind cooperative outreach program has allowed 14 space agencies and various partner institutions to work together to address quality health/fitness education, challenge students to be more physically active, increase awareness of the importance of lifelong health and fitness, teach students how fitness plays a vital role in human performance for exploration, and inspire and motivate students to pursue careers in STEM fields. The project was initiated in 2009 in response to a request by the International Space Life Sciences Working Group. USA, Netherlands, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Colombia, Spain, and United Kingdom hosted teams for the pilot this past spring, and Japan held a modified version of the challenge. Several more agencies provided input into the preparations. Competing on 131 teams, more than 3700 students from 40 cities worldwide participated in the first round of Mission X. OUTCOMES AND BEST PRACTICES Members of the Mission X core team will highlight the outcomes of this international educational outreach pilot project, show video highlights of the challenge, provide the working group s initial assessment of the project and discuss the future potential of the effort. The team will also discuss ideas and best practices for international partnership in education outreach efforts from various agency perspectives and experience

Exotic silicon phases synthesized through ultrashort laser-induced microexplosion: Characterization with Raman microspectroscopy

Exotic metastable phases of silicon formed under high pressure are expected to have attractive semiconducting properties including narrow band gaps that open up novel technological applications. Confined microexplosions induced by powerful ultrashort laser pulses have been demonstrated as an advanced tool for the creation of new high-pressure phases that cannot be synthesized by other means. Tightly focused laser pulses are used to generate localised modifications inside the material structure, providing the possibility for precise controlled bandgap engineering. In this study, non-invasive Raman spectroscopy was used for analysis of laser-modified zones in silicon and to determine the metastable high- pressure phases contained. Low laser energies induced the formation of amorphous only silicon, while higher energies led to crystalline silicon polymorphs within the modifications, albeit under considerable residual stress up to 4.5 GPa. The presence of the structurally similar r8-Si, bc8-Si and bt8-Si phases is revealed, as well as other yet to be identified phases, and the stacking-related 9R Si polytype is evidenced, presumably stress-induced by the highly compressed laser-modified zone. The ab initio random structure searching approach is used to complementary calculate the Raman signatures and help to identify different Si polymorphs. These findings by Raman spectroscopy from ultrashort laser-induced microexplosion sites may yield novel insights into the local structure and properties of new silicon metastable phases and on the prospect of utilising exotic phases for extending current applications.Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Awar

SERS Sensing of Dopamine with Fe(III)-Sensitized Nanogaps in Recleanable AuNP Monolayer Films

Sensing of neurotransmitters (NTs) down to nm concentrations is demonstrated by utilizing self-assembled monolayers of plasmonic 60 nm Au nanoparticles in close-packed arrays immobilized onto glass substrates. Multiplicative surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy enhancements are achieved by integrating Fe(III) sensitizers into the precisely-defined <1 nm nanogaps, to target dopamine (DA) sensing. The transparent glass substrates allow for efficient access from both sides of the monolayer aggregate films by fluid and light, allowing repeated sensing in different analytes. Repeated reusability after analyte sensing is shown through oxygen plasma cleaning protocols, which restore pristine conditions for the nanogaps. Examining binding competition in multiplexed sensing of two catecholamine NTs, DA and epinephrine, reveals their bidentate binding and their interactions. These systems are promising for widespread microfluidic integration enabling a wide range of continuous biofluid monitoring for applications in precision health

Diamond nano-pillar arrays for quantum microscopy of neuronal signals

Modern neuroscience is currently limited in its capacity to perform long term, wide-field measurements of neuron electromagnetics with nanoscale resolution. Quantum microscopy using the nitrogen vacancy centre (NV) can provide a potential solution to this problem with electric and magnetic field sensing at nano-scale resolution and good biocompatibility. However, the performance of existing NV sensing technology does not allow for studies of small mammalian neurons yet. In this paper, we propose a solution to this problem by engineering NV quantum sensors in diamond nanopillar arrays. The pillars improve light collection efficiency by guiding excitation/emission light, which improves sensitivity. More importantly, they also improve the size of the signal at the NV by removing screening charges as well as coordinating the neuron growth to the tips of the pillars where the NV is located. Here, we provide a growth study to demonstrate coordinated neuron growth as well as the first simulation of nano-scopic neuron electric and magnetic fields to assess the enhancement provided by the nanopillar geometry.Comment: 18 pages including supplementary and references, 12 figure

No mutation in RAS-MAPK pathway genes in 30 patients with Kabuki syndrome.

Kabuki (Niikawa-Kuroki) syndrome (KS) is a multiple congenital anomaly/mental retardation (MCA/MR) syndrome characterized by long palpebral fissures with eversion of the lower eyelids, skeletal anomalies, persistence of fingerpads, short stature, joint laxity, and occasional immune abnormalities. Previous molecular cytogenetic approaches including fluorescence in situ hybridization and whole-genome CGH microarray analysis failed to find copy-number changes in the genome of KS patients. Recently, germline mutations in PTPN11/KRAS/SOS1/RAF1, HRAS, and KRAS/BRAF/MEK1/MEK2 were shown to be causes of Noonan syndrome, Costello syndrome and cardio-facio-cutaneous syndrome, respectively. Since KS patients share some phenotypical manifestations with the syndromes above, we hypothesized that KS may be associated with mutations in genes involving the RAS-MAPK pathway. Sixteen genes (PTPN11, GRB2, SOS1, HRAS, ERAS, NRAS, KRAS, ARAF, BRAF, RAF1, MEK1, MEK2, RASA1, RASA2, RASA3, and RASA4) in the pathway were screened for mutations. DNA from 30 KS patients (14 females and 16 males) was sequenced for entire coding regions and splice junctions of the 16 genes. We identified 29 base substitutions in the genes, including 9 nonsynonymous changes, 18 synonymous changes, one in 5’ untranslated region and one at position “-4” in splice acceptor site. But they were almost all confirmed as SNPs listed in the NCBI database or found in 82-89 normal Japanese individuals, while two of them were rare variants with nonsynonymous changes

イネ サイバイ ガクシュウ ガ ヨウジ キョウイク ニ モタラス エイキョウ ト ヤクワリ ニ カンスル ケンショウ

本研究は2013年に世田谷区立松ヶ丘幼稚園5歳児年長組を対象として実施した。幼稚園園庭のプランターを用いた「イネ栽培体験」を基軸に,園児や保護者を対象に「ポットイネの観察」を合わせた2つの活動を展開した。イネを通じた食育活動から,子どもが示した反応の記録と保護者に実施したアンケート結果を絡めて,本活動の効果や役割を検討した。子どもは,イネ栽培の導入として位置づけられる概要説明時から栽培期間,調整作業を終えるまで,イネに興味を持って積極的に向き合っていた。このことは,イネ栽培を通じた他者との関わりを含めて「楽しさ」の芽生えが作業を「遊び」にしていることに加え,植物栽培および食べ物つくりにとって格好の場である幼稚園で実施したことが要因になっていると考えられた。また,本活動によって子どもが興味を持ってイネと関わることにより植物を育てる面白さを感じ,自分のおコメを得るという目的意識の中で,責任感や連帯感,思いやりを育むといった多岐にわたる効果が得られた。This study was carried out for five-year-old children who belong to senior classes at Matsugaoka Kindergarten of Setagaya-ku in 2013. We had two programs: one was "rice cultivation study" and the other "observation of some rice cultivars in pots" in the kindergarten yard. In these dietary education programs with rice, we analyzed effects and roles from the responses of children and the questionnaire results from their parents. The children were much interested in rice cultivation throughout the primary orientation, sowing, transplanting, harvesting, processing, and others. The factors in their responses were that "fun feelings" make the cultivation works into "play", and that these programs were carried out in the kindergarten, where it was well-fitted for plant cultivation and food production. In addition, we recognized the various effects that children could find the charm in the plant cultivation by treating rice plants, and foster the sense of responsibility, solidarity and warmth, in the consciousness of the purpose of obtaining their own rice

Kinase-activating and kinase-impaired cardio-facio-cutaneous syndrome alleles have activity during zebrafish development and are sensitive to small molecule inhibitors

The Ras/MAPK pathway is critical for human development and plays a central role in the formation and progression of most cancers. Children born with germ-line mutations in BRAF, MEK1 or MEK2 develop cardio-facio-cutaneous (CFC) syndrome, an autosomal dominant syndrome characterized by a distinctive facial appearance, heart defects, skin and hair abnormalities and mental retardation. CFC syndrome mutations in BRAF promote both kinase-activating and kinase-impaired variants. CFC syndrome has a progressive phenotype, and the availability of clinically active inhibitors of the MAPK pathway prompts the important question as to whether such inhibitors might be therapeutically effective in the treatment of CFC syndrome. To study the developmental effects of CFC mutant alleles in vivo, we have expressed a panel of 28 BRAF and MEK alleles in zebrafish embryos to assess the function of human disease alleles and available chemical inhibitors of this pathway. We find that both kinase-activating and kinase-impaired CFC mutant alleles promote the equivalent developmental outcome when expressed during early development and that treatment of CFC-zebrafish embryos with inhibitors of the FGF-MAPK pathway can restore normal early development. Importantly, we find a developmental window in which treatment with a MEK inhibitor can restore the normal early development of the embryo, without the additional, unwanted developmental effects of the drug