Terada Torahiko, a Physicist and a Haikai Poet

Terada Torahiko is known as a scientific essayist in Japan, but hardly anyone knows he was a haikai poet as well as a physicist. According to him, haikai poetry and physics are two different ways of conceiving Nature, both valid and perhaps complementary to each other. Seeing his research in physics looking for regularities in apparently irregular phenomena in everyday life, we may say his haiku haikai spirit is manifest there and that he was pioneering a new science such as the one developed later by Ilya Prigogine. His association of haiku haikai poetry and Freudian interpretations of dreams leads us to rethink the relation between science and literature. This paper examines Terada\u27s poetics as well as his research in physics in order to see how one can associate the Two Cultures separated from each other for such a long time

Release of organic compounds from some Antarctic CI and CM chondrites by laboratory heating

Thermal release of organic compounds from three CI chondrites (Belgica (B)-7904,Yamato (Y)-82162,and Y-86720) and three CM chondrites (Y-74662,Y-791198,and Y-793321) was examined by DTA/TG-MS analysis. For identification of the compounds released, Y-791198 was also examined by DTA/TG-GC/MS analysis. The relative amounts of organic compounds released from these chondrites are, Y-74662≃Y-791198>Y-82162>Y-793321≃B-7094>Y-86720 The compounds released are aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons and N-, S-, and O-containing compounds. Of these, benzene and thiophene are the most abundant. Release patterns of some representative compounds were obtained along a programmed temperature profile from room temperature to 800℃. These patterns fall under one of two kinds; in one the release starts around 250℃ and continues to 700℃, and in the other release starts at 100℃ or 150℃ and ends at 300℃. The kinds and amounts of the organic compounds released are roughly related to the extent of the alteration and/or metamorphism of the chondrites as determined by mineralogical and petrographic studies

Traceless synthesis of protein thioesters using enzyme-mediated hydrazinolysis and subsequent self-editing of cysteinyl prolyl sequence

A traceless thioester-producing protocol featuring carboxypeptidase Y-mediated hydrazinolysis of cysteinyl prolyl leucine-tagged peptides has been developed. The hydrazinolysis followed by thioesterification affords cysteinyl prolyl thioesters. Self-editing of the tag and subsequent trans-thioesterification yields peptide thioesters. The developed protocol was successfully applied to conversion of recombinant proteins to thioesters

Synthesis of lactam-bridged cyclic peptides using sequential olefin metathesis and diimide reduction reactions

A new approach has been developed for the synthesis of lactam-bridged cyclic peptides. Following the introduction of N-allyl glutamine and α-allylglycine into the peptide backbone, the side chains of these residues were subjected to a cyclization reaction by ring-closing metathesis (RCM). Reduction of the resulting peptide bearing olefin moiety was achieved using diimide, which was generated in situ from o-nitrobenzenesulfonyl hydrazine and piperidine, gave the corresponding saturated cyclic peptides

Synthesis of lactam-bridged cyclic peptides using sequential olefin metathesis and diimide reduction reactions

A new approach has been developed for the synthesis of lactam-bridged cyclic peptides. Following the introduction of N-allyl glutamine and α-allylglycine into the peptide backbone, the side chains of these residues were subjected to a cyclization reaction by ring-closing metathesis (RCM). Reduction of the resulting peptide bearing olefin moiety was achieved using diimide, which was generated in situ from o-nitrobenzenesulfonyl hydrazine and piperidine, gave the corresponding saturated cyclic peptides

A photoinduced growth system of peptide nanofibres addressed by DNA hybridization

Spatiotemporal control of peptide nanofibre growth was achieved by photocleavage of a DNA-conjugated β-sheet forming peptide that is linked through a photoresponsive amino acid residue. Peptide nanofibres were selectively formed by photocleaving the conjugate on complementary DNA-immobilised glass substrate

Liquid-Phase Synthesis of Bridged Peptides Using Olefin Metathesis of a Protected Peptide with a Long Aliphatic Chain Anchor

Bridged peptides including stapled peptides are attractive tools for regulating protein-protein interactions (PPIs). An effective synthetic methodology in a heterogeneous system for the preparation of these peptides using olefin metathesis and hydrogenation of protected peptides with a long aliphatic chain anchor is reported