Shape controlled synthesis of inorganic nanocrystals is one of the important issues in materials chemistry due to their novel shape dependent properties. Although various shapes of nanocrystals have been developed, a systematic account on the shape control of these nanocrystals still remains an important subject in materials chemistry. In this article, we will overview the recent developments in the geometrical shape evolution of semiconductor and metal oxide nanocrystals obtained by nonhydrolytic synthetic methods. Many structurally unprecedented motifs have appeared as zero-dimesional (D) polyhedrons, one-D rods and wires, two-D plates and prisms, and other advanced shapes such as branched rods, stars, and inorganic dendrites. Important parameters which determine the geometrical shapes of nanocrystals are also illustrated. In addition, as a possible application of such nanocrystals for biomedical sciences, we further describe their utilizations for cancer diagnosis through nanocrystal-assisted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

The synthesis of 4'-phenyl and 1'-methyl doubly branched carbocyclic nucleoside was accomplished from 2-hydroxy acetophenone. The 4'-phenyl group was installed via a [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement reaction, and the carbonyl addition of methylmagnesium bromide was used to introduce the 1'-methyl group. Cyclization of divinyl 9 was performed using $2^{nd}$ generation Grubbs catalyst. The coupling of cyclopentenol 12$\alpha$ with 6-chloropurine by Mitsunobu reaction and desilylation was used to synthesize the target nucleoside 15.

Novel copolymers consisting of poly(2-hydroxyethyl aspartamide-co-N,N'-dimethyl-1,3-propane aspartamide) (PHEA-DPA) were prepared from polysuccinimide (PSI), which is the thermal polycondensation product of aspartic acid, via a ring-opening reaction with N,N'-dimethyl-1,3-propane diamine (DPA) and ethanolamine. The prepared water-soluble copolymer was then crosslinked by reacting it with hexamethylene diisocyanate to provide the corresponding gel. The swelling behavior and morphology of the crosslinked hydrogels were investigated. The degree of swelling decreased with increasing crosslinking reagent due to the higher crosslinking density. It was also confirmed that the swelling property is affected by pH. At low pH (< pH 4), swelling is increased due to the ionization of DPA with a tertiary amine moiety. In addition, a reversible swelling and de-swelling behavior was demonstrated by adjusting the pH of the solution. The prepared hydrogels showed a well-interconnected microporous structure with regular 5-20 $\mu$m sized pores.

As key nucleoside intermediates for the preparation of cyclic adenosine diphosphate ribose (cADPR, 1) analogues, 8-alkyl-2' (or 3')-azido(or amino)-adenosine derivatives (16-19) were successfully prepared by alkylating selectively protected adenosine derivatives (12, 13) via Pd(0) catalyzed cross-coupling reaction with tetraalkyltin reagents, followed by the sugar modification of these 8-alkyl-adenosine derivatives according to our precedent procedure. Compared to other precedent procedures, our 8-alkylation methodology using selectively TBDMS-protected 8-alkyl adenosine derivatives as starting materials will be utilized very conveniently to prepare highly functionalized adenosine analogues, which will be serve as key intermediates for the cADPR.

Herein, insoluble single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) was successfully dispersed into water in the presence of a special kind of surfactant-dicetyl phosphate (DCP), subsequently, a SWNT-DCP composite film coated glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was fabricated. The electrochemical behaviors of 6-benzylaminopurine (6-BAP) at the unmodified GCE and SWNT-DCP modified GCE were examined. It is found that the SWNT-DCP modified GCE remarkably enhances the oxidation peak current of 6-BAP, indicating great potential in the determination of trace level of 6-BAP. Finally, a sensitive and simple voltammetric method with a good linear relationship in the range of ${\times}5.0\;\;10^{-8}\sim 2.5\;{\times}\;10^{-6}$ mol/L, was developed for the determination of 6-BAP. The detection limit is as low as $2.0\;{\times}\;10^{-8}$ mol/L for 3-min accumulation. This newly-proposed method was successfully demonstrated with practical samples.

Three new compounds orizaanthracenol (1-methoxyanthracen-2-ol, 1), 1-hydroxy-7-((2S,3R,4R,5S)-2'',3'',4''-trihydroxy-5''-(hydroxymethyl)tetrahydro-2H-pyran-1-yloxy)anthracen- 2-yl 3',7'-dimethyloctanoate (2) and 1-hydroxy-7-((2S,3R,4R,5S)-2'',3'',4''-trihydroxy-5''-(hydroxymethyl)tetrahydro-2H-pyran-1-yloxy)anthracen- 2-yl 3',7',11',15',19'-pentamethyltricosanoate (3) have been isolated and determined from the rice hulls of Oryza sativa. The structures of the compounds were elucidated using 1D and 2D NMR spectral methods, viz: 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, DEPT, COSY and HSQC, and HMBC aided by IR, EIMS and FAB-MS. These isolated compounds were tested in bioassay on germination of radish to detect their inhibitory activities, in which compound 1 exhibited the most inhibition at the concentration of 40 ppm was 50.96% of total dry weight. Furthermore, germination and growth of radish were reduced by 27 to 48%, and dry weight of shoot and root were arranged from 50 to 52%, whilst compounds 2 and 3 exhibited weak inhibition than 1.

The m-calpain activity hydrolyzing a fluorogenic substrate of N-Succinyl-Leu-Leu-Val-Tyr-7-amino-4-methylcourmarin (LLVY-AMC) was significantly stimulated by more than two-fold in the presence of 5$\mu$M $\alpha$synuclein at $15{^{\circ}C}$. The stimulation was also confirmed with azocasein. The stimulation of the peptide hydrolyzing activity required structural intactness of $\alpha$-synuclein since the C-terminally or N-terminally modified proteins such as $\beta$-synuclein, $\alpha$-syn1-97, and $\alpha$-syn61-140 did not increase the proteolytic activity. Instead, however, the N-terminally truncated $\alpha$-syn61-140 was shown to drastically suppress the calpain activity. Since the N-terminal truncation was known to be the primary cleaving event of calpain-mediated proteolysis of $\alpha$-synuclein and the $\alpha$-syn61-140 has been demonstrated to be resistant against the calpain digestion, it has been proposed that the intracellular calpain activity could be regulated in a reciprocal manner by $\alpha$-synuclein and its proteolyzed C-terminal fragment. Based on the results, a possible physiological function of $\alpha$-synuclein has been suggested as a calpain regulator which contains both stimulatory and inhibitory activities.

The reaction of $AgClO_{4}$ with acyclic potential tridentate N,N,N',N',N''-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine (pmdeta) has given colorless crystals suitable for X-ray crystallography. The crystal structure ($P2_{1}$/n, a = 14.413(1) $\AA$, b = 25.270(2) $\AA$, c = 16.130(1) $\AA$, b = $103.012(1){^{\circ}}$, V = 5723.7(8) A$\AA^{3}$, Z = 4, R = 0.0349) has been solved and refined. Three silver(I) ions connect four pmdeta ligands to produce discrete complex of $[Ag_3(pmdeta)_4](ClO_4)_3$. A pmdeta ligand is bridged to three silver(I) ions, and three other pmdeta ligands are chelated to each silver(I) center in a tridentate mode. Thus, the product is a rare tri-nuclear silver(I) complex with two different chemical environments. $^{13}C$ NMR and $MAS\;^{13}$C NMR indicate that the tri-nuclear silver(I) complex is not rigid in solution. The contact angles and thermal analyses of the complex are measured and discussed.

Density functional theory calculations are applied to investigate the intramolecular proton transfer in the tautomers of thymine radical cation and its hydrated complexes with one water molecule. The optimized structures and energies for 6 tautomers and 6 transition states of thymine radical cation are calculated at the B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) level. It is predicted that the order of relative stability for the keto and enol tautomers of thymine radical cation is the same with that of the neutral thymine tautomers, though the enol tautomers are more stabilized with respect to the di-keto form in the radical cation than in the neutral state. A new channel of proton transfer from >C5-$CH_{3}$ of thymine is found to open and have the lowest energy barrier of other proton transfer processes in thymine radical cation. The roles of hydration are also investigated with thymine-water 1 : 1 complex ions. The presence of water significantly lowers the barrier of the proton transfer, which clearly shows the assisting role of hydration even with one water molecule

The peptide with structural similarity to mammalian substance P (M-SP) has been isolated from extract of the body of the African lungfish, Protopterus dolloi, using the rectum of the newt as the bioassay system. The primary structure of the SP-related peptide was identified as Lys-Pro-Arg-Pro-Asp-Gln-Phe-Tyr-Gly-Leu-Met-NH2 (L-SP) and contained four substitutions ($Lys^{1}\rightarrow $ Arg, $Arg^{3}\rightarrow$ Lys, $Asp^{5}\rightarrow$ Gln, and $Tyr^{8}\rightarrow$ Phe) compared with M-SP; this structure is identical to that of the peptide isolated from the gut of the Australian lungfish. Circular dichroism spectra showed that L-SP had an unordered structure in the buffer solution and phospholipid bilayers. This peptide was found to have an excitatory effect on rectal muscle tissues of newt, quail, and fish. L-SP also had a more potent vasodilatory effect on the guinea-pig aorta than that of M-SP. The identification of the peptide provides evidence that SP family, hitherto confined to mammals, have a widespread occurrence in lungfish.

In this report, we describe the synthesis of mono- and di-valent cationic $3\beta$ [L-Lysinamide-carbamoyl] cholesterol (K-Chol) derivatives by solid-phase peptide synthesis method and the characteristics of K-Chol/antisense oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) complexes. K-Chol was able to interact with antisense ODNs electrostatically and constructed nanometer-sized complexes of 50-100 nm in diameter. The formation of K-Chol/antisense ODN complexes was demonstrated by non-denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis assay and atomic force microscopy. The cell-associated radioactivity was measured to monitor the cellular uptake of the complexes containing radioactive antisense ODNs using HL 60 cells.

A 3D-CoMFA model with pranlukast analogues was constructed, which could be applied to predict the antagonistic activity of aryl benzyl ether analogues against LTD4. Molecular modeling and 3D-CoMFA studies were performed on 78 pranlukast analogues and 14 aryl benzyl ethers to evaluate the antagonistic behavior of aryl benzyl ethers and provide information for further modification of this kind of compounds. The aryl benzyl ether core was found to be in excellent three dimensional match with the central planar moiety of pranlukast analogues, and the pranlukast 3D-CoMFA model could be successfully applied to predict the biological activity of aryl benzyl ether analogues.

New nickel complexes containing novel tetradentate ligands, 4,5-substituted-1,2-bis(pyridine-2-carboxamide)-benzene ligands but lacking alkyl or halide ligands in the coordination sphere have been prepared. They were activated with MMAO (modified methylaluminoxane) to be proven as efficient catalysts for the polymerization of norbornene. Both electron-donating and -withdrawing substituents on the benzene ring and polar solvents enhance the catalytic activity for olefin polymerization. Improvement in thermal stability of the complexes was observed. Some of these complexes were crystallographically determined to have square planar geometry. A plausible mechanism involving dissociation of ligands is proposed.

A new type of DTPA-bis-amides (L1-L4) and their Gd(III)-complexes of the type $[Gd(L)(H_2O)]{\cdot}nH_2O$ (5: L1; 6: L2; 7: L3; 8: L4) have been prepared and characterized by analytical and spectroscopic techniques. The X-ray crystal structure of 8 has been determined for structural confirmation. The coordination geometry adopts a tricapped trigonal prism geometry with L4 acting as a chelate octadentate and a water molecule in the coordination sphere. Crystals are monoclinic, $P2_1$, a = 14.468(3), b = 19.235(4), c = 13.527(2) $\AA$ $\beta$ = $107.245(3)^{\circ}$, V = 3595.2(11) $\AA^3$, Z = 4, $D_{calc}$ = 1.570. Significant increases in relaxivities are observed with 6 and 7 as compared with that of $Omniscan^{(R)}$, a commercial MR agent: R1 = 12.46 $mM^{-1}\;s^{-1}$, R2 = 8.76 $mM^{-1}\;s^{-1}$ for 6; R1 = 12.77 nm-1 s-1, R2 = 7.60 mM-1 s-1 for 7; R1 = 4.9 $mM^{-1}\;s^{-1}$, R2 = 4.8 $mm^{-1}\;s^{-1}$ for $Omniscan^{(R)}$. In the case of 5, however, both R1 and R2 are found to be lower to show 2.09 $mM^{-1}\;s^{-1}$, and 1.82 $mM^{-1}\;s^{-1}$, respectively.

New electroluminescence polymer, poly(5,10-dihexyl-5,10-dihydroindolo[3,2-b]indole-2,7-diyl) (PININO) was synthesized by Yamamoto conditions with Ni(0) catalyst. The full characterization of structures and properties as well as the performances of the electroluminescence devices of the new polymer are presented. The resulting polymer, which exhibits good solubility in common organic solvents, was used as the electroluminescence layer for the light-emitting diodes (LEDs) (ITO/PEDOT/polymer/Al). PININO shows turn-on voltage of 2.5 V, and electroluminescence (EL) with maximum peak at 490 nm, maximum brightness of 40 cd/$m^{2}$ at 8 V, and efficiency of 0.002 cd/A at 350 mA/$cm^{2}$.

Ab initio calculations of the structure, atomic charges and natural bond orbital (NBO) have been performed at HF/6-311G** and B3LYP/6-311G** levels for the title compound of dibenzothiazyl-disulfide. The calculated results show that the two nitrogen atoms have the biggest negative charges and they are the potential sites to react with the metallic ions, which make the title compound become a di-dentate ligand. Vibrational frequencies of the title compound have been obtained and compared with the experimental value and the comparison indicates that B3LYP/6-311G** level is better than HF/6-311G** level to predict the vibrational frequencies for the system studied here. For the title compound, electronic absorption spectra calculated by time?ependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) are more accurate than Hartree-Focksingle-excitation CI (CI-Singles) method. NBO analyses show that the electronic transitions are mainly derived from the contribution of bands $\pi\rightarrow\pi^{*}$. Thermodynamic calculated results show that the formation of the title compound from 2-mercaptobenzothiazole is a spontaneous process at room temperature with the change of free Gibbs being negative value.