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Strong intermolecular electronic coupling and well-ordered molecular arrangements enable efficient transport of both charge carriers and excitons in semiconducting π-conjugated molecular solids. Thus, molecular heteroepitaxy to form crystallized donor–acceptor molecular interfaces potentially leads to a novel strategy for creating efficient organic optoelectronic devices via the concomitance of these two requirements. In the present study, the crystallographic and electronic structures of a heteroepitaxial molecular interface, perfluoropentacene (PFP, C22F14) grown on pentacene single crystals (Pn-SCs, C22H14), were determined by means of grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXD) and angle-resolved ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (ARUPS), respectively. GIXD revealed that PFP uniquely aligned its primary axis along the [110] axis of crystalline pentacene to form well-crystallized overlayers. Valence band dispersion (at least 0.49 eV wide) was successfully resolved by ARUPS. This indicated a signif...

Recently, the next generation (5-th generation: 5G) mobile communication systems have been actively investigated all over the world. Various systems exist when considering the microwave bands after the introduction of 5G systems. Hence, the propagation characteristics when considering the interference among the systems is very important. In this paper, we compare the characteristics of loss when radio waves propagate from outdoor to indoor (O2I) through a window at 5 GHz band where many IoT devices are expected to be used. In this report, we show O2I penetration loss characteristics at 5 GHz for different incident angles considering not only vertical but horizontal plane.

This note describes an algorithm for enumerating all the elements in a finite set based on uniformly random sampling from the set. This algorithm can be used for enumeration by fair sampling with quantum annealing. Our algorithm is based on a lemma of the coupon collector's problem and is an improved version of the algorithm described in arXiv:2007.08487 (2020). We provide a mathematical analysis and a numerical demonstration of our algorithm.

The high expression of metabolic enzymes, including glutaminase (GA) and lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA), which contribute to bioenergetics and biosynthesis of mammalian cells, has been identified in a variety of cancer types. The current study indicated intratumoral heterogeneity with respect to protein expression of the metabolic enzymes in colorectal cancer (CRC). GA protein expression was determined using immunohistochemistry in 98 cases of surgically resected T3 CRC. A total of 75 cases (74%) exhibited moderate to strong immunopositivity of GA based on whole-section examination. A significant correlation was demonstrated between GA expression and clinicopathological features, including histological type and tumor budding in a patient population. Detailed histological analysis revealed the upregulation of GA protein expression at the invasive margin, including tumor budding of CRC tissues. Semi-quantitative examination revealed a significant difference in immunoexpression level of GA between the invasive margin and central CRC. However, LDHA expression exhibited an opposite pattern, with expression elevated at the center and significantly decreased at the tumors invasive margin. Immunohistochemical expression of another glycolytic enzyme hexokinase II was equivalent in both regions. Furthermore, gene silencing of GLS1, which encodes GA protein, and GA inhibitor treatment significantly inhibited cell growth of CRC cell lines. Therefore, the results of the present study demonstrated that the alteration in GA and LDHA expression is more prominent at the invasive margin, which involves tumor budding in CRC.

The effects of fine particle peening conditions on the rotational bending fatigue strength of a vacuum-carburized transformation-induced plasticity-aided martensitic steel with a chemical composition of 0.20 pct C, 1.49 pct Si, 1.50 pct Mn, 0.99 pct Cr, 0.02 pct Mo, and 0.05 pct Nb were investigated for the fabrication of automotive drivetrain parts. The maximum fatigue limit, resulting from high hardness and compressive residual stress in the surface-hardened layer caused by the severe plastic deformation and the strain-induced martensite transformation of the retained austenite during fine particle peening, was obtained by fine particle peening at an arc height of 0.21 mm (N). The high fatigue limit was also a result of the increased martensite fraction and the active plastic relaxation via the strain-induced martensite transformation during fatigue deformation, as well as preferential crack initiation on the surface or at the subsurface.

Fatigue properties of a transformation-induced plasticity-aided martensitic steel subjected to vacuum carburisation under carbon potentials ranging from 0.70 to 0.80 mass% and subsequent fine-parti...

An efficient sampling algorithm is proposed for computing reactive islands, which consist of intersections of reactive trajectories and a Poincare surface of section (PSOS), and are characterized by the number of times the reactive trajectories intersect the PSOS before/after reactions take place. The boundaries of reactive islands are series of intersections of cylindrical stable and unstable invariant manifolds emanated from a normally hyperbolic invariant manifold located, typically, nearby a rank-one potential energy saddle, which forms “reactivity boundaries”. The reactive islands structures enable us to predict the fate of trajectories. The proposed algorithm estimates regions of reactive islands on the PSOS as a Voronoi diagram constructed from the set of labeled intersections of computed molecular dynamics trajectories. The algorithm iteratively refines the boundaries of the estimated reactive islands efficiently, by computing trajectories of which initial condition is sampled from the estimated boundaries of reactive islands in the Voronoi diagram of the previous iteration step. The efficiency of the proposed algorithm is scrutinized, compared with random sampling algorithm and using a two-degrees of freedom Hamiltonian system of a double well potential, and further possible extensions of the proposed algorithm are addressed.

One can display images and harvest energy by utilizing ambient light with a stack of an optical shutter array, a luminescent layer and a solar cell. In our experiment, a luminescent layer and a corresponding color filter were attached to a polycrystalline Si solar cell with 13% power conversion efficiency. For each configuration using BBOT, Coumarin 6 and Lumogen F Red 305, the power conversion efficiency was measured to be 6.7%, 8.0% and 8.9%, respectively. The luminance of these configurations was proportional to the illuminance in all cases. Its color gamut was comparable to the National Television System Committee standard.

The effects of fine particle peening on the fatigue properties of a transformation-induced plasticity-aided martensitic steel with a chemical composition of 0.2% C, 1.5% Si, 1.5% Mn, 1.0% Cr, and 0.05% Nb (mass%) were investigated for applications in precision gears. When this steel was subjected to fine particle peening after heat treatment, higher fatigue limits and lower notch sensitivity were achieved compared with those of SNCM420 martensitic steel. The increased fatigue limits are principally associated with higher hardness and compressive residual stress on and just below the surface, as well as low surface roughness. Fine particle peening also increased the threshold stress intensity factor range in stage I, and decreased the crack propagation rate in stage II in this steel. The crack propagation behavior was mainly suppressed by (1) high hardness and high compressive residual stress, and (2) the strain-induced martensite transformation of retained austenite and high internal stress resulting from a difference in flow stress between the soft martensite matrix and the finely dispersed hard MA-like phase that developed during fatigue deformation.

The structure of pn heterojunctions is an important subject in the field of organic semiconductor devices. In this work, the crystallinity of an epitaxial pn heterojunction of C60 on single crystal pentacene is investigated by non-contact mode atomic force microscopy and high-resolution grazing incidence x-ray diffraction. Analysis shows that the C60 molecules assemble into grains consisting of single crystallites on the pentacene single crystal surface. The in-plane mean crystallite size exceeds 0.1 µm, which is at least five time larger than the size of crystallites deposited onto polycrystalline pentacene thin films grown on SiO2. The results indicate that improvement in the crystal quality of the underlying molecular substrate leads to drastic promotion of the crystallinity at the organic semiconductor heterojunction.

Summary Protein Ne-acylation is emerging as a ubiquitous post-translational modification. In Corynebacterium glutamicum, which is utilized for industrial production of L-glutamate, the levels of protein acetylation and succinylation change drastically under the conditions that induce glutamate overproduction. Here, we characterized the acylation of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC), an anaplerotic enzyme that supplies oxaloacetate for glutamate overproduction. We showed that acetylation of PEPC at lysine 653 decreased enzymatic activity, leading to reduced glutamate production. An acetylation-mimic (KQ) mutant of K653 showed severely reduced glutamate production, while the corresponding KR mutant showed normal production levels. Using an acetyllysine-incorporated PEPC protein, we verified that K653-acetylation negatively regulates PEPC activity. In addition, NCgl0616, a sirtuin-type deacetylase, deacetylated K653-acetylated PEPC in vitro. Interestingly, the specific activity of PEPC was increased during glutamate overproduction, which was blocked by the K653R mutation or deletion of sirtuin-type deacetylase homologues. These findings suggested that deacetylation of K653 by NCgl0616 likely plays a role in the activation of PEPC, which maintains carbon flux under glutamate-producing conditions. PEPC deletion increased protein acetylation levels in cells under glutamate-producing conditions, supporting our hypothesis that PEPC is responsible for a large carbon flux change under glutamate-producing conditions. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

When entering a virtual world, the users expect an experience that feels natural. Huge progress has been made with regards to motion, vision, physical interactivity, whereas interactivity with non-playable character stays behind. This live-demo introduces a method that leads to more aware, expressive and lively agents that can answer their own needs and interact with the player. Notably, the live-demo covers the use of an emotional component and the addition of a layer of communication (speech) to allow more immersive and interactive Als in VR.

The nonadiabatic photodissociation dynamics of alkali halide molecules excited by a femtosecond laser pulse in the gas phase are investigated theoretically, and it is shown that the population of the photoexcited molecules exhibits power-law decay with exponent -1/2, in contrast to exponential decay, which is often assumed in femtosecond spectroscopy and unimolecular reaction theory. To elucidate the mechanism of the power-law decay, a diagrammatic method that visualizes the structure of the nonadiabatic reaction dynamics as a pattern of occurrence of dynamical events, such as wavepacket bifurcation, turning, and dissociation, is developed. Using this diagrammatic method, an analytical formula for the power-law decay is derived, and the theoretical decay curve is compared with the corresponding numerical decay curve computed by a wavepacket dynamics simulation in the case of lithium fluoride. This study reveals that the cause of the power-law decay is the quantum interference arising from the wavepacket bifurcation and merging due to nonadiabatic transitions.

Designing molecular p-n heterojunction structures, i.e., electron donor-acceptor contacts, is one of the central challenges for further development of organic electronic devices. In the present study, a well-defined p-n heterojunction of two representative molecular semiconductors, pentacene and C60, formed on the single-crystal surface of pentacene is precisely investigated in terms of its growth behavior and crystallographic structure. C60 assembles into a (111)-oriented face-centered-cubic crystal structure with a specific epitaxial orientation on the (001) surface of the pentacene single crystal. The present experimental findings provide molecular scale insights into the formation mechanisms of the organic p-n heterojunction through an accurate structural analysis of the single-crystalline molecular contact.

The bacterium Corynebacterium glutamicum is utilized during industrial fermentation to produce amino acids such as l‐glutamate. During l‐glutamate fermentation, C. glutamicum changes the flux of central carbon metabolism to favor l‐glutamate production, but the molecular mechanisms that explain these flux changes remain largely unknown. Here, we found that the profiles of two major lysine acyl modifications were significantly altered upon glutamate overproduction in C. glutamicum; acetylation decreased, whereas succinylation increased. A label‐free semi‐quantitative proteomic analysis identified 604 acetylated proteins with 1328 unique acetylation sites and 288 succinylated proteins with 651 unique succinylation sites. Acetylation and succinylation targeted enzymes in central carbon metabolic pathways that are directly related to glutamate production, including the 2‐oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complex (ODHC), a key enzyme regulating glutamate overproduction. Structural mapping revealed that several critical lysine residues in the ODHC components were susceptible to acetylation and succinylation. Furthermore, induction of glutamate production was associated with changes in the extent of acetylation and succinylation of lysine, suggesting that these modifications may affect the activity of enzymes involved in glutamate production. Deletion of phosphotransacetylase decreased the extent of protein acetylation in nonproducing condition, suggesting that acetyl phosphate‐dependent acetylation is active in C. glutamicum. However, no effect was observed on the profiles of acetylation and succinylation in glutamate‐producing condition upon disruption of acetyl phosphate metabolism or deacetylase homologs. It was considered likely that the reduced acetylation in glutamate‐producing condition may reflect metabolic states where the flux through acid‐producing pathways is very low, and substrates for acetylation do not accumulate in the cell. Succinylation would occur more easily than acetylation in such conditions where the substrates for both acetylation and succinylation are limited. This is the first study investigating the acetylome and succinylome of C. glutamicum, and it provides new insight into the roles of acyl modifications in C. glutamicum biology.

Long-term glucose supplementation is required to prevent hypoglycemia after massive insulin overdosing. We fitted the blood insulin concentration-time profile to the model: I = A·exp(-a·t) + B·exp(-b·t), where I (μU/mL) is the serum/plasma insulin concentration, A (μU/mL) and B (μU/mL) are the peak insulin concentrations of each component, a (time-1) and b (time-1) are the time constants of each component, and t (h) is the time elapsed from the peak of blood insulin level. Additional components were considered as needed. Patient 1 had auto-injected 600 U NovoRapid® 30Mix, and Patient 2 had auto-injected 300 U Novolet®R (regular) and 1,800 U NovoLet®N (NPH). We used the disappearance of therapeutic doses of the respective insulin in healthy individuals as controls, and we obtained parameters by Excel solver. In Patient 1, the parameter values were A = 1490.04 and a = 0.15 for insulin aspart and B = 60.66 and b = 0.04 for protaminated aspart. In Patient 2, the values were A = 784.45 and a = 0.38 for regular insulin and B = 395.84 and b = 0.03 for NPH. Compared with controls, the half-lives (t1/2) for insulin aspart and protaminated aspart were 4 and 2 times longer, respectively, in Patient 1. In Patient 2, the t1/2 for regular and NPH insulin were 2 and 7 times longer than those in the controls, respectively. In conclusion, the t1/2 for insulin was elongated 2 to 7 times after massive overdosing, explaining why glucose supplementation is needed for long periods in these cases.

The effects of fine particle peening on the torsional strength of a transformation-inducedplasticity (TRIP)-aided martensitic (TM) steel were investigated for applications to precision gears. Fine particle peening increased the fatigue limits and lowered the notch-sensitivities of steel, compared with quenched and subsequently tempered SNCM420 steel. In addition, fine particle peening lowered the fatigue crack propagation rate in TM steel with a high threshold value of the stress intensity range. These results were associated with (1) higher Vickers hardness, (2) higher compressive residual stress, and (3) a larger amount of untransformed retained austenite in the surface layer when compared with SNCM420 steel.