Room temperature oxidation of organic sulfides with polyvinylpyrrolidone-supported hydrogen peroxide (PVP-$H_2O_2$) in the presence of Mn(III) complexes of meso-tetraphenylporphyrin, Mn(TPP)X (X = OCN, SCN, OAc, Cl) and imidazole (ImH) leads to the highly chemoselective (ca. 90%) oxidation of sulfides to the corresponding sulfoxide. The efficiency of reaction has been shown to be influenced by different reaction parameters such as the nature of counterion (X) and solvent as well as the molar ratio of reactants. Using Mn(TPP)OCN and ImH in 1:15 molar ratio and acetone as the solvent leads to the efficient oxidation of different sulfides.

The use of Smiles rearrangement in Ugi-type couplings with tropolone allows very straightforward multicomponent formation of 2-(N,N-dialkylamino)-2,4,6-cycloheptatrien-1-one derivatives. The Ugi four-component reaction of isocyanides with tropolone (2-hydroxy-2,4,6-cycloheptatrien-1-one), primary amines and aldehydes proceeds smoothly and cleanly under mild conditions to afford 2-(N,N-dialkylamino)-2,4,6-cycloheptatrien-1-one derivatives in fairly good yields.

An efficient synthetic method for the preparation of quinolines through indium(III) chloride-catalyzed tandem addition-cyclization-oxidation reactions of imines with alkynes was developed. The processes can provide a diverse range of quinoline derivatives in good yields from simple imines and alkynes.

The $[Fe_4S_4]^{2+}$ clusters with 2-, 3-, and 4-pyridinemethanethiolate (S2-Pic, S3-Pic, and S4-Pic, respectively) terminal ligands have been synthesized from the ligand substitution reaction of the $(^nBu_4N)_2[Fe_4S_4Cl_4]$ (I) cluster. The new $(^nBu_4N)_2[Fe_4S_4(SR)_4]$ (R = 2-Pic; II, 3-Pic; III, 4-Pic; IV) clusters were characterized by FTIR and UV-Vis spectroscopy. Cluster II was crystallized in the monoclinic space group C2/c with a = 24.530 (5) $\AA$, b = 24.636(4) $\AA$, c = 21.762(4) $\AA$, ${\beta}=103.253(3)^{\circ}$, and Z = 8. The X-ray structure of II showed two unique 2:2 site-differentiated $[Fe_4S_4]^{2+}$ clusters due to the bidentate-mode coordination by 2-pyridinemethanethiolate ligands. Cluster III was crystallized in the same monoclinic space group C2/c with a = 26.0740(18) $\AA$, b = 23.3195(16) $\AA$, c = 22.3720(15) $\AA$, ${\beta}=100.467(2)^{\circ}$, and Z = 8. The 3-pyridinemethanethiolate ligand of III was coordinated to the $[Fe_4S_4]^{2+}$ core as a terminal mode. Cluster IV with 4-pyridinemethanethiolate ligands was found to have a similar structure to the cluster III. Fully reversible $[Fe_4S_4]^{2+}/[Fe_4S_4]^+$ redox waves were observed from all three clusters by cyclic voltammetry measurement. The electrochemical potentials for the $[Fe_4S_4]^{2+}/[Fe_4S_4]^+$ transition decreased in the order of II, III and IV, and the reduction potential changes by the ligands were explained based on the structural differences among the complexes. The complex III was reacted with sulfonium salt of $[PhMeSCH_2-p-C_6H_4CN](BF_4)$ in MeCN to test possible radical-involving reaction as a functional model of the [$Fe_4S_4$]-SAM (S-adenosylmethionine) cofactor. However, the isolated reaction products of 3-pyridinemethanethiolate-p-cyanobenzylsulfide and thioanisole suggested that the reaction followed an ionic mechanism and the products formed from the terminal ligand attack to the sulfonium.

Treatments of organic isothiocyanates (R-NCS) with $NaN_3$ in the presence of pyridine in water at room temperature gave corresponding various organic tetrazole-thiones, [$S=CN_4(R)$] (R = alkyl or aryl). Isolated products are obtained as white or yellow solids in good yields (76-97%). The molecular structure by X-ray diffraction study for one of products shows the proposed formation. In addition, one-pot synthesis of 1-substituted 5-alkyl(or aryl)sulfanyltetrazoles has been demonstrated. Addition of alkyl or aryl halides into the mixture of organic isothiocyanates, $NaN_3$, and pyridine in water at room temperature exclusively formed 1-substituted 5-alkyl(or aryl)sulfanyltetrazoles (S-derivatives) in high yields.

Silver(I) [bis(alkylthio)methylene]malonates were synthesized from the reaction of silver nitrate and potassium [bis(alkylthio)methylene]malonates. The structures of the Ag complexes were characterized with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and elemental analysis. Ag nanoparticles (NPs) were obtained from the decomposition of the Ag complexes in 1,2-dichlorobenzene at $110^{\circ}C$ without an additional surfactant. The average sizes of the Ag NPs are in the range of 5.1-6.3 nm and could be controlled by varying the length of the alkyl chain. The optical properties, crystalline structure and surface composition of Ag NPs were characterized with ultraviolet-visible (UV-visible) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA).

Novel type $Li_{1.1}V_{0.9-2x}W_xMo_xO_2$ powders were prepared by a solid-state reaction of $Li_2CO_3$, $V_2O_3$, $WO_2$ and $MoO_2$ precursors in a nitrogen atmosphere containing 10 mol % hydrogen gas, and assessed as anode materials in lithium-ion batteries. The specific charge and discharge capacities of the $Li_{1.1}V_{0.9-2x}W_xMo_xO_2$ anodes were higher than those of the bare $Li_{1.1}V_{0.9}O_2$ anode. The cyclic efficiency of these anodes was approximately 73.3% at the first cycle, regardless of the presence of W and Mo doping. The composite anode, which was composed of $Li_{1.1}V_{0.75}W_{0.075}Mo_{0.075}O_2$ (20 wt %) and natural graphite (80 wt %), demonstrated reasonable specific capacity, high cyclic efficiency, and good cycling performance, even at high rates without capacity fading.

Five-channel electrochemical chips were fabricated based on the Micro-electromechanical System (MEMS) technology and were used as platforms to develop DNA arrays. Different kinds of thiolated DNA strands, whose sequences were related to white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) gene, were separately immobilized onto different working electrodes to fabricate a combinatorial biosensor system. As a result, different kinds of target DNA could be analyzed on one chip via a simultaneous recognition process using potassium ferricyanide as an indicator. To perform quantitative target DNA detection, a limit of 70 nM (S/N=3) was found in the presence of 600 nM coexisting noncomplementary ssDNA. The real samples of loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) products were detected by the proposed method with satisfactory result, suggesting that the multichannel chips had the potential for a high effective microdevice to recognize specific gene sequence for pointof-care applications.

A novel and efficient tetrahydrofuranyl ring opening method was developed using the highly reactive TFAT reagent in the presence of an acid scavenger, 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-methylpyridine. Various acid sensitive groups are compatible with the reaction condition, making it generally applicable to many tetrahydrofuranyl steroids. Moreover, it is a synthetic equivalent of 'Marker degradation' affording an efficient synthesis of C17-OH rockogenin acetate.

Due to the potential importance and usefulness, usage of highly ordered nanoporous anodized aluminum oxide can be broadened in industry, when highly ordered anodized aluminum oxide can be placed on a substrate with controlled thickness. Here we report a facile route to highly ordered nanoporous alumina with the thickness of hundreds-of-nanometer on a silicon wafer substrate. Hexagonally or tetragonally ordered nanoporous alumina could be prepared by way of thermal imprinting, dry etching, and anodization. Adoption of reusable polymer soft molds enabled the control of the thickness of the highly ordered porous alumina. It also increased reproducibility of imprinting process and reduced the expense for mold production and pattern generation. As nanoporous alumina templates are mechanically and thermally stable, we expect that the simple and costeffective fabrication through our method would be highly applicable in electronics industry.

The furan-2-ylidene acetates (3a-d), obtained from the furan-2,3-diones (1a-b) and methyl/ethyl (triphenylphosphoranylidene)-acetates (2a-b), were converted via the Michael type reactions with 2,3-diaminopyridine and its derivatives (4a-c) into the corresponding pyrrol-2-ylidene-acetates (5a-j) in moderate yields (45-94%). Structures of these compounds were determined by the IR, NMR, elemental analysis, and X-ray diffraction method.

Two novel copper(II) complexes, [Cu(dmamhp)$(H_2O)_2(SO_4)]_n$ (1) and [Cu(dmamhp)$(NO_3)_2(H_2O)]{\cdot}H_2O$ (2) [dmamhp = 2-dimethylaminomethyl-3-hydroxypyridine] have been synthesized and structurally characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Compound 1 displays a double one-dimensional chains structure, in which each chain is constituted with the distorted octahedral copper(II) complex bridged through bidentate sulfate ligands resulting in a coordination polymer. The bifurcated hydrogen bonds and $\pi-\pi$ interactions play important roles in the formation of the double chains structure. On the other hand, compound 2 adopts a distorted square pyramidal geometry around copper(II) ion and exists as a discrete monomer. There are intermolecular bifurcated hydrogen bonds and $\pi-\pi$ stacking interactions between the monomeric units. The magnetic properties revealed that the paramagnetic behaviors are dominantly manifested and there are no intermolecular magnetic interactions in both compound 1 and 2.

Thrombin is a serine protease that catalyzes the conversion of soluble fibrinogen to insoluble fibrin, and thus induces physiological and pathological blood coagulation. Therefore, it is important to detect thrombin in blood serum for purposes of diagnosis. To achieve this goal, it has been suggested that a 15-mer aptamer strongly binds with thrombin to form a G-quartet structure of the aptamer. Generally, 5'-end thiol-functionalized aptamer has been used as an anti-thrombin binder. Herein, we evaluate the possibility of utilizing a 3'-SH aptasensor for thrombin detection using SPR spectroscopy, and compare the enhancement of the electrochemical signal of the thrombin-aptamer bound on a porous gold substrate. Although the two aptamers have similar configurations, in SPR analysis, the 3'-SH aptamer was a effective aptasensor as well as 5'-SH aptamer. Results from electrochemical analysis showed that the porous gold substrate acted as a good substrate for an aptasensor and demonstrated 5-fold enhancement of current change, as compared to gold thin film.

A europium (III)-sensitized, spectrofluorimetric (FL) method is presented for the determination of sparfloxacin (SPAR) using an anionic surfactant, sodium dodecyl benzene sulphonate (SDBS). The method is based on the strong fluorescence (FL) enhancement of SPAR after the addition of $Eu^{3+}$ ions as fluorescence probes. The experimental results indicated that the FL intensity of the SPAR-$Eu^{3+}$ system was enhanced markedly by SDBS. The maximum FL emission signal was obtained at about 615 nm when excited at 372 nm. The experimental conditions that affected the FL intensity of the SPAR-$Eu^{3+}$-SDBS system were optimized systematically. The enhanced FL intensity of the system exhibited a good linear relationship with the SPAR concentration over the range of $1.5{\times}10^{-9}-1.2{\times}10^{-7}mol\;L^{-1}$ with a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.9987. The limit of detection ($3{\delta}$) was $4.15{\times}10^{-10}mol\;L^{-1}$ with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 1.65%. This method was successfully applied for the determination of SPAR in pharmaceuticals, and human serum and urine samples with higher sensitivity, wide dynamic range and better stability. The possible interaction mechanism of the system is also discussed in detail by ultraviolet absorption spectra and FL spectra.

Androgen receptor (AR) is ligand-inducible nuclear hormone receptor which has been focused on key molecular target in growth and progression of prostate cancer. We synthesized a series of 4-aryl 2-substituted aniline-thiazole analogs and evaluated their anti-cancer activity in AR-dependent human prostate cancer LNCap cells. Among them, the compound 6 inhibited the tumor growth in LNCap-inoculated xenograft model.

Apidaecin Ib had strong antimicrobial activity against several tested Gram-negative bacteria including Escherichia coli, Enterobacter cloacae, and Shigella flexneri (MECs; $0.3-1.5{\mu}g/mL$), but showed no activity against all the tested Gram-positive bacteria including Bacillus subtilis, Micrococcus luteus, Staphylococcus aureus and one yeast, Candida albicans (MECs; > $125{\mu}g/mL$). Interestingly, this peptide showed potent antibacterial activity only against Edwardsiella species (MECs; $0.6-3.6{\mu}g/mL$) among the tested fish pathogenic bacteria through a bacteriostatic process and showed no significant hemolytic activity. Apidaecin Ib took an unordered structure in all environments and also had very weak membrane perturbation activity even at $25{\mu}M$. Anti-Edwardsiella activity of apidaecin Ib is stronger than those of other antimicrobial polypeptides or antibiotics, but its activity is salt-sensitive. These results suggest that apidaecin Ib has Edwardsiella speciesspecific antibacterial activity and could be applied as new preventive or control additives for Edwardsiella species infection in freshwater fish aquaculture.

A facile and simple procedure for the synthesis of novel and known calix[4]resorcinarene derivatives were developed via a reaction of arylaldehydes with resorcinol in the presence of catalytic amounts of tungstate sulfuric acid (TSA) under solvent-free conditions. This eco-friendly method has many appealing attributes, such as excellent yields, short reactions times, use of safe and recoverable catalyst, and simple work-up procedures. TSA was characterized by powdered X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and FTIR spectroscopy.

We report the solid-phase library construction of 222 number of a novel N-[alkyl sulfonamido-spiro(2H-1-benzopyran-2,4-piperidine)-6-yl] substituted amide 1A and amine 1B derivatives. The polymer-bound N-[alkylsulfonamido-spiro(2H-1-benzopyran-2,4-piperidine)-6-yl] substituted amide 9 and amine 10 derivatives were obtained by first diversity generation with various acid chlorides and alkyl halides. Further reactions on the resins 9 and 10 with substituted sulfonyl chlorides produced the desired N-[alkylsulfonamido-spiro(2H-1-benzopyran-2,4-piperidine)-6-yl] substituted amide 1A and amine 1B analogues.

The convergent synthetic strategy for the emissive dendrimers having the chromophore at core via the coppercatalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction between alkyne and azide was described. 2,7-Diazido-9,9-dioctyl-9H-fluorene, designed to serve as the core in dendrimer, was stitched with the alkyne-functionalized Frechettype and PAMAM dendrons by the click chemistry leading to the formation of the corresponding fluorescent dendrimers in high yields. The preliminary photoluminescence studies indicated that 2,7-diazido-9,9-dioctyl-9H-fluorene showed no fluorescence due to the quenching effect from the electron-rich ${\alpha}$-nitrogen of the azido group but the dendrimers fluoresced due to the elimination of the quenching through the formation of the triazole ring.

The photodissociation dynamics of cyclopropyl bromide ($C_3H_5Br$) and cyclobutyl bromide ($C_4H_7Br$) at 234 nm was investigated. A two-dimensional photofragment ion-imaging technique coupled with a [2+1] resonanceenhanced multiphoton ionization scheme was utilized to obtain speed and angular distributions of the nascent $Br(^2P_{3/2})$ and $Br^*(^2P_{1/2})$ atoms. The recoil anisotropies for the Br and $Br^*$ channels were measured to be ${\beta}_{Br}=0.92{\pm}0.03$ and ${\beta}_{Br^*}=1.52{\pm}0.04$ for $C_3H_5Br$ and ${\beta}_{Br}=1.10{\pm}0.03$ and ${\beta}_{Br^*}=1.49{\pm}0.05$ for $C_4H_7Br$. The relative quantum yield for Br was found to be ${\Phi}_{Br}=0.13{\pm}0.03$ and for $C_3H_5Br$ and $C_4H_7Br$, respectively. The soft radical limit of the impulsive model adequately modeled the related energy partitioning. The nonadiabatic transition probability from the 3A' and 4A' potential energy surfaces was estimated and discussed.

The (S)-(+)-decursin and its analogues are reported as potent inhibitors of melanin production in B16 murine melanoma cells. In order to understand the factors responsible for potency as well as inhibition of potency of (S)-(+)-decursin and its analogues, three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship (3D-QSAR) studies were performed. Since receptor structures are not available, a pharmacophore model was constructed. Using PHASE, we generated 3 different models and selected the seven-site model, which returned excellent statistical values ($r^2$ = 0.9127, $Q^2$ = 0.6878, Pearson-R = 0.9014). Using the generated pharmacophore model, we screened a natural products library and obtained 4'-epi-decursin as the most related compound. 4'-epidecursin is similar to (S)-(+)-decursin, but shows additional interaction possibilities with tyrosinase. The study thus sheds some light on possibility of developing more potent tyrosinase inhibitors.

The hydrogenation of $AlB_2$-type BaGaGe exhibits a metal to insulator (MI) transition, inducing a puckering distortion of the original hexagonal [GaGe] layers. We investigate the electronic structure changes associated with the hydrogen-induced MI transition, using extended H$\ddot{u}$ckel tight-binding band calculations. The results indicate that hydrogen incorporation in the precursor BaGaGe is characterized by an antibonding interaction of $\pi$ on GaGe with hydrogen 1s and the second-order mixing of the singly occupied antibonding $\pi^*$ orbital into it, through Ga-H bond formation. As a result, the fully occupied bonding $\pi$ band in BaGaGe changes to a weakly dispersive band with Ge pz (lone pair) character in the hydride, which becomes located just below the Fermi level. The Ga-Ge bonds within a layered polyanion are slightly weakened by hydrogen incorporation. A rationale for this is given.

We have introduced the Pickering emulsion systems to generate novel confining geometries for the selforganization of monodisperse polymer microspheres using nanoparticle-stabilized emulsion droplets encapsulating the building block particles. Then, through the slow evaporation of emulsion phases by heating, these microspheres were packed into regular polyhedral colloidal clusters covered with nanoparticle-stabilizers made of silica. Furthermore, polymer composite colloidal clusters were burnt out leaving nonspherical hollow micro-particles, in which the configurations of the cluster structure were preserved during calcination. The selfassembled porous architectures in this study will be potentially useful in various applications such as novel building block particles or supporting materials for catalysis or gas adsorption.

A test-area molecular dynamics simulation method for the vapor-liquid interface of argon through a Lennard-Jones intermolecular potential is presented in this paper as a primary study of interfacial systems. We found that the calculated density profile along the z-direction normal to the interface is not changed with time after equilibration and that the values of surface tension computed from this test-area method are fully consistent with the experimental data. We compared the thermodynamic properties of vapor argon, liquid argon, and argon in the vapor-liquid interface. Comparisons are made with kinetic and potential energies, diffusion coefficient, and viscosity.

A novel chemiluminescence (CL) system was established for the determination of cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C) in pharmaceutical preparations. It was showed that a clear CL signal was observed when Eosin Y mixed with Fenton reagent. The CL intensity was decreased significantly when Ara-C was added to the reaction system and partially scavenged the hydroxyl radicals in the solution. The extent of decrease in the CL intensity had a good stoichiometrical relationship with the Ara-C concentration. Based on this, we developed a new method for the determination of Ara-C using a flow injection analysis (FIA) technique with CL detection. Under the optimal conditions, the linear range of Ara-C concentration was $6.0{\times}10^{-9}\sim1.0{\times}10^{-7}mol/L$ (R = 0.9982) with a detection limit of $7.6{\times}10^{-10}mol/L$ (S/N=3), the RSD was 5.6% for $6.0{\times}10^{-8}mol/L$ Ara-C (n = 11). The method was successfully applied to the determination of Ara-C in injection samples. The possible chemiluminescence reaction mechanism was discussed.

A new composition of standardized Scutellariae Radix extract (HPO12) was developed for treatment of Alzheimer's disease. For the preclinical pharmacokinetic study of HPO12, a rapid, sensitive, and selective LCMS/MS method was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of 4 bioactive compounds, baicalein, baicalin, wogonin, and wogonoside. After extraction with ethylacetate, chromatographic analysis was performed on a Thermo $C_{18}$ column ($150mm{\times}2.1mm$, $3{\mu}m$) with a mobile phase consisting of 0.1% formic acid (A) and 0.1% formic acid in 95% acetonitrile (B) by using gradient elution at a flow rate of $250{\mu}L/min$. Analytes introduced to a mass spectrometer were monitored by multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) in positive ion mode. Using $25{\mu}L$ of plasma sample, the method was validated over the following concentration ranges: 25-5000 ng/mL for baicalein, 20-40000 ng/mL for baicalin, 1-1000 ng/mL for wogonin, and 5-10000 ng/mL for wogonoside. The intra- and inter-day precision and accuracy of the quality control samples at the 4 concentrations showed $\leq$ 13.7% relative standard deviation (RSD) and 86.6-105.5% accuracy. The method was successfully applied to determine the concentrations of baicalein, baicalin, wogonin, and wogonoside in rat plasma after intraperitoneal and oral administrations of HPO12.

A blue phosphorescent $Ir(dfpypy)_3$ (dfpypy:fluorinated pyridine-pyridine ligand) complex with meridional configuration has been synthesized by newly developed effective method and its solid state structure and photoluminescence are characterized. For this complex, mer-$Ir(dfpypy)_3$, the glass-transition and decomposition temperatures appear at $160^{\circ}C$ and $384^{\circ}C$ respectively in TGA and DSC experiments, which indicates that this complex has high thermal stability. In a crystalline structure, an average Ir-C bond length of mer-$Ir(dfpypy)_3$ is slightly longer than that of fac-$Ir(dfpypy)_3$, which assumed to be due to the weak trans-influence. The absorption and emission spectra are observed more red-shifted in mer-$Ir(dfpypy)_3$ than fac-$Ir(dfpypy)_3$. In addition, the former is readily oxidized than the latter in electrochemical behavior.

ZnO nanorods were grown on the $Cd_xZn_{1-x}O$ seed layers with various Cd mole fractions by hydrothermal method. The effects of the Cd mole fraction for $Cd_xZn_{1-x}O$ seed layers on the structural and optical properties of the ZnO nanorods were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and photoluminescence. The narrowest full-width at half-maximum and largest grain size of the $Cd_xZn_{1-x}O$ seed layers, indicating improvement in crystal quality, were observed at the Cd mole fraction of 0.5. At the Cd mole fraction of 0.5, the largest enhancement in the density, the crystal quality, and the growth rate of the ZnO nanorods was observed while their appearance was not affected significantly by the incorporation of the Cd in the $Cd_xZn_{1-x}O$ seed layers. Consequently, the luminescent properties of the ZnO nanorods were enhanced. The largest improvement in the structural and optical properties of the ZnO nanorods was observed at the Cd mole fraction of 0.5.

In this work, we studied the microstructural changes of ITO during the annealing process. ITO nanoparticles were prepared by the sol-gel method using indium tin hydroxide as the precursor. The prepared sample was investigated using TEM, powder XRD, XPS, DRIFT, and 2D correlation analysis. The O 1s XPS spectra suggested that the microstructural changes during the annealing process are closely correlated with the oxygen sites of the ITO nanoparticles. The temperature-dependent in situ DRIFT spectra suggested that In-OH in the terminal sites is firstly decomposed and, then, Sn-O-Sn is produced in the ITO nanoparticles during the thermal annealing process. Based on the 2D correlation analysis, we deduced the following sequence of events: 1483 (due to In-OH bending mode) ${\rightarrow}$ 2268, 2164 (due to In-OH stretching mode) ${\rightarrow}$ 1546 (due to overtones of Sn-O-Sn modes) ${\rightarrow}$ 1412 (due to overtones of Sn-O-Sn modes) $cm^{-1}$.

A modified sol-gel method and $N_2$-plasma treatment were used to prepare bulk and surface doped N-$TiO_2$, respectively. XRD, TEM, UV-vis spectroscopy, $N_2$ adsorption, Elemental Analyzer, Photoluminescence, and XP spectra were used to characterize the prepared $TiO_2$ samples. The N doping did not change the phase composition and particle sizes of $TiO_2$ samples, but increased the visible light absorption. The photocatalytic activities were tested in the degradation of an aqueous solution of a reactive dyestuff, methylene blue, under visible light. The photocatalytic activity of surface doped N-$TiO_2$ prepared by $N_2$-plasma was much higher than that of bulk doped N-$TiO_2$ prepared by sol-gel method. The possible mechanism for the photocatalysis was proposed.

A novel chemiluminescence (CL) flow injection method for the determination of balofloxacin is described. The method is based on the weak CL signal arising from the reaction of $KBrO_3$ with $Na_2S_2O_4$ in acidic medium being significantly enhanced by balofloxacin in the presence of europium (III) ion and sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS). The experimental conditions that affected CL intensity were carefully optimized and the CL reaction mechanism was briefly discussed. Under the optimum conditions, the relative CL intensity was proportional to the concentration of balofloxacin in the range of $7.0{\times}10^{-11}$ to $3.0{\times}10^{-7}g\;mL^{-1}$. The detection limit was $2.7{\times}10^{-11}g\;mL^{-1}$ and the relative standard deviation was 2.1% for $7.0{\times}10^{-10}g\;mL^{-1}$ balofloxacin (n = 13). The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of balofloxacin in pharmaceutical formulations and biological fluids.

In this work, the reduced graphene nanosheets were synthesized from pre-exfoliated graphite flakes. The pristine graphite flakes were firstly pre-exfoliated to graphite nanoplatelets in the presence of acetic acid. The obtained graphite nanoplatelets were treated by Hummer's method to produce graphite oxide sheets and were finally exfoliated to graphene nanosheets by ultrasonication and reduction processes. The prepared graphene nanosheets were studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). From the results, it was found that the preexfoliation process showed significant influence on preparation of graphite oxide sheets and graphene nanosheets. The prepared graphene nanosheets were applied to the preparation of conductive materials, which yielded a greatly improved electrical resistance of $200{\Omega}/sq$.

ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized through a facile route and were used as ozonation catalysts. With the increase of calcination temperature ($150-300^{\circ}C$), surface hydroxyl groups and catalytic efficiency of asobtained ZnO decreased remarkably, and the ZnO obtained at $150^{\circ}C$ showed the best catalytic activity. Compared with ozonation alone, the degradation efficiency of phenol increased above 50% due to the catalysis of ZnO-150. In the reaction temperatures range from $5^{\circ}C$ to $35^{\circ}C$, ZnO nanocatalyst revealed remarkable catalytic properties, and the catalytic effect of ZnO was better at lower temperature. Through the effect of tertbutanol on degradation of phenol and the catalytic properties of ZnO on degradation of nitrobenzene, it was proposed that the degradation of phenol was ascribed to the direct oxidation by ozone molecules based on solidliquid interface reaction.

DNA-functionalized silver and silver/gold bimetallic nanoparticle superstructure probes with controllable sizes and optical properties are synthesized using monothiol DNA and dithiothreitol. The superstructures exhibit a very narrow size distribution, which can be easily controlled by balancing the ratio of dithiothreitol and DNA. These superstructures assemble reversibly in a highly cooperative manner, and are SERS active. Multiplexed colorimetric detection of DNA targets using these superstructure probes has been demonstrated to identify three different DNA target sequences that are associated with three lethal diseases, respectively.

Galectins are generally believed to be potential candidates for use in the development of novel antiinflammatory agents or as selective modulators of the immune response. In particular, galectin-9 exhibits some of the extracellular functions, including cell aggregation, adhesion, chemoattraction, activation, and apoptosis. Tl-galectin (Tl-gal, galectin-9 homologue gene) was isolated from an adult worm of the Toxascaris leonina. The full-length Tl-gal gene, which was incorporated into pET-28a, was overexpressed in E. coli and purified by nickel affinity and gel filtration chromatographies. The purified Tl-gal was crystallized using the hangingdrop vapor-diffusion method. The crystal belonged to the tetragonal space group $P4_1$, with unit-cell parameters of a = b = $75.7\AA$ and c = $248.4\AA$. The crystals were obtained at $20^{\circ}C$ and diffracted to a resolution of $3.0\AA$. The asymmetric unit contained four molecules of Tl-gal, which gave a crystal volume per protein mass (Vm) of $2.8\AA^3Da^{-1}$ and a solvent content of 54.1%.

A new synthetic method for dimethyl 2,3-dihydrobenzo[b]oxepine-2,4-dicarboxylates and methyl 2-(2-carbomethoxybenzo[b]furan-3-yl)propanoates by an intramolecular conjugate displacement reaction or an $S_N2$ reaction of acetates of Morita-Baylis-Hillman adducts of methyl (2-formylphenoxy)acetates has been described.

Photocatalysis has been applied to decompose the waste and toxic materials produced in daily life and in the global environment. Pure $TiO_2$ (Zn-$TiO_2$-0) and Zn-doped $TiO_2$ (Zn-$TiO_2$-x, x = 3-10 mol %) samples were synthesized using a novel sol-gel and ammonia-evaporation method. The Zn-doped $TiO_2$ samples showed high photocatalytic activity for the degradation of methylene blue (MB). The physicochemical properties of the samples were investigated using XRD, SEM, ICP, DLS and BET methods. In addition, the most important measurement of photocatalytic ability was investigated by a UV-vis spectrophotometer. The effects of the mol % of zinc ion doping in $TiO_2$ on photocatalytic activity were studied. Among the mol % Zn ions investigated, the Zn-$TiO_2$-9 sample showed the highest photoreactivity. This sample removed 91.4% of the MB after 4 h, while the pure $TiO_2$ only removed 46.4% of the MB.

During the monolayer assembly of zeolite microcrystals using sonication with stacking (SS) method, the factors that govern the degree of close packing (DCP) between the microcrystals, the rate of attachment (rA) of microcrystals onto the substrate, the degree of coverage (DOC), and the binding strength (BS) between each crystal and the substrate were investigated for each mode of binding linkage (MBL). The tested MBLs were covalent linkage (CL), ionic linkage (IL), and polyelectrolyte-mediated ionic linkage (p-IL). Unlike the monolayers of zeolite crystals assembled on glass with a covalent linkage, the strong BS, very high DOC, and very high DCP do not decrease during monolayer assembly on glass through ionic linkages. This results indicate that the surface migration of crystals undergo linkage-nondestructively when crystals were attached to the substrates through ionic linkages.

A new series of silaanthracenophanes 2-5 composed of 1,8-diethynylanthracene unit has been synthesized from silylation reactions of 1,8-di(lithioethynyl)anthracene with 1,3-dichloro-1,1,3,3-tetraalkyldisiloxanes and 1,2-dichlorotetramethyldisilane. The silaanthracenophane products 2-4 were characterized by spectroscopic methods and X-ray crystallographic analysis.

The cyclic dimers of enkephalin were isolated as minor components during the solution synthesis of the corresponding cyclic monomers. The ratio of cyclic dimer to monomer was approximately 1:4 from the percent of yields. In the receptor binding assay of two cyclic dimmers, ($Tyr_2-C[D-Glu-Phe-gPhe]_2$ 6, $Tyr_2-C[D-Asp-Phe-gPhe-rLeu]_2$ 8), both analogs exhibited the high preference for ${\delta}$ receptor compared to monocyclic counterparts. In the nociceptive activity, both showed about 5 times less potent than the cyclic monomers. The repeated synthesis of 14-membered cyclic analog, Tyr-C[D-Glu-Phe-gPhe-D-rLeu] 14, which was known as having three distinct cis-trans isomers, gave rise to apparently different conformational analog arousing only trans isomer. In the receptor binding assay, it showed tremendously high selectivity toward ${\mu}$ receptor $({\delta}/{\mu}=160)$.

The nucleophilic substitution reactions of 1,2-phenylene phosphorochloridate (1c) with X-pyridines are investigated kinetically in acetonitrile at $-25.0^{\circ}C$. The free energy correlations for substituent X variations in the nucleophiles exhibit biphasic concave upwards with a break point at X = 3-Ph. The pyridinolysis rate of 1c with a cyclic five-membered ring is $2.70{\times}10^5$ times faster than its acyclic counterpart (1a: phenyl ethyl chlorophosphate) because of great positive value of the entropy of activation of 1c (${\Delta}S^{\neq}$ = +26 eu) compared to negative value of 1a (${\Delta}S^{\neq}$= -24 eu) over considerably unfavorable enthalpy of activation of 1c (${\Delta}H^{\neq}=20.5kcal\;mol^{-1}$) compared to 1a (${\Delta}H^{\neq}=12.7kcal\;mol^{-1}$). Great enthalpy and positive entropy of activation are ascribed to sterically congested transition state (TS) and solvent structure breaking in the TS. A concerted mechanism involving a change of nucleophilic attacking direction from a frontside attack with the strongly basic pyridines to a backside attack with the weakly basic pyridines is proposed on the basis of greater selectivity parameters (${\rho}_X$ = -1.99 and ${\beta}_X$ = 0.41) with the strongly basic pyridines compared to those (${\rho}_X$ = -0.42 and ${\beta}_X$ = 0.07) with the weakly basic pyridines.