We demonstrate the blue InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with an embedded air-gap photonic crystal (PC) which was fabricated by the lateral epitaxial overgrowth of GaN layer on the tungsten (W) nano-masks. The periodic air-gap PC was formed by the chemical reaction of hydrogen with GaN on the W nano-mask. The optical output power of LEDs with an air-gap PC was increased by 26% compared to LEDs without an air-gap PC. The enhanced optical output power was attributed to the improvement in internal quantum efficiency and light extraction efficiency by the air-gap PC embedded in GaN layer.

Protein tyrosine nitration is considered as an important indicator of nitrosative stresses and as one of the main factors for pathogenesis of inflammation and neuronal degeneration. In this study, we investigated various nitrosative modifications of bovine carbonic anhydrase II (CAII) through qualitative and semi-quantitative analysis using the combined strategy of Fourier transformation ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) and ion-trap tandem mass spectrometry (IT-MS/MS). FT-ICR MS and its spectra were used for the search of the pattern of nitrosative modifications. Identification of nitrosatively modified tyrosine sites were executed through IT-MS/MS. In addition, we also tried to infer the reason for the site-specific nitrosative modifications in CAII. In view of the above purpose, we have explored- i) the side chain accessibility, ii) the electrostatic environment originated from the acidic/basic amino acid residues neighboring to the nitrosatively modified site and iii) the existence of competing amino acid residues for nitration.

A Cu(II) complex with an three nitrogens and one sulfur coordination environment was synthesized and characterized. Its redox potential was observed at 0.483 V vs. NHE, very similar to that of a Cu-containing fungal enzyme, galactose oxidase, which catalyzes the oxidation of alcohols to corresponding aldehydes with the concomitant reduction of molecular oxygen to water. The Cu(II) complex selectively oxidizes the benzylic alcohols using TEMPO/$O_2$ under mild reaction conditions to corresponding aldehydes without forming any over-oxidation product. Moreover, the catalyst can be recovered and reused multiple times for further oxidation reactions, thus minimizing the waste generation.

We have explored the potential energy surface for the dissociation of the pyridazine molecular ion using G3 model calculations. The pathways have been obtained for the formation of five possible $C_4H_4^{+{\bullet}}$ isomers by the loss of $N_2$ and the consecutive $H^{\bullet}$ loss. It is predicted that the methylenecyclopropene radical cation is the predominant product in the loss of $N_2$, which is formed via the allenylcarbene radical cation, and $CH_2=C-C{\equiv}CH^+$ is the predominant product in the consecutive $H^{\bullet}$ loss.

The effect the diameter of silver nanorod arrays whose distance between the nanorods was uniform at 65 nm have on Surface-enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) has been studied by varying the diameter from 28 to 51 nm. Nanorod length was fixed at approximately 62 nm, which is the optimum length for SERS by excitation with a 632.8 nm laser line. The transverse and longitudinal modes of the surface plasmon of these silver nanorods were near 400 and 630 nm, respectively. The extinction of the longitudinal mode increased with increasing nanorod diameter, while the transverse mode did not change significantly. High-quality SERS spectra of p-aminothiophenol and benzenethiol adsorbed on the tips of the silver nanorods were observed by excitation with a 632.8 nm laser line. The SERS enhancement increased with increasing nanorod diameter. We concluded that the SERS enhancement increases when the diameter of silver nanorods is increased mainly by increasing the excitation efficiency of the longitudinal mode. The enhancement factor for the silver nanorods with a 51 nm diameter was approximately $2{\times}10^7$.

An organic junction transistor with a vertical structure based on an active layer of poly(3-hexylthiophene) was fabricated by facile micro-contact printing combined with the Langmuir-Schaefer technique, without conventional e-beam or photo-lithography. Direct printing and subsequent annealing of Au-nanoparticles provided control over the thickness of the Au electrode and hence control of the electrical contact between the Au electrode and the active layer, ohmic or Schottky. The junction showed similar current-voltage characteristics to an NPN-type transistor. Current through the emitter was simply controllable by the base voltage and a high transconductance of ~0.2 mS was obtained. This novel fabrication method can be applied to amplifying or fast switching organic devices.

The vibronic emission spectra of isomeric trimethylbenzyl radicals were reassigned based on substituent effect on electronic transition energy as well as ab initio calculation of the benzyl radical. The electronic transition energy of three isomeric jet-cooled trimethylbenzyl radicals produced by corona discharge of 1,2,3,5-tetramethylbenzene were analyzed using the empirical data of three isomeric methylbenzyl radicals. Calculated data were obtained by summing up the shifts measured from methylbenzyl radicals as well as taking the position and alignment of substituents on the benzene ring into account. The revised assignments show better agreement with observation, and rationalize the validity of the model developed to explain the substituent effect on electronic transition energy of benzyl radicals.

In this work, we describe a very simple electroless deposition method to prepare moderate-SERS-active nanostructured Pd films deposited on the glass substrates. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the one-pot electroless method to deposit Pd nanostructures on the glass substrates. This method only requires the incubation of negatively charged glass substrates in ethanol-water mixture solutions of $Pd(NO_3)_2$ and butylamine at elevated temperatures. Pd films are then formed exclusively and evenly on glass substrates. Due to the aggregated structures of Pd, the SERS spectra of benzenethiol and organic isonitrile could be clearly identified using the Pd-coated glass as a SERS substrate. This one-step fabrication method of Pd thin film on glass is cost-effective and suitable for the mass production.

New software was developed for the assignment of elemental formulae based on high-resolution mass spectra and subsequent hydrogen/deuterium exchange data. Entire peaks in high-resolution mass spectra were grouped by their Kendrick mass defect values, and the weighted RMS deviations between theoretical and experimental values were used to determine elemental formulae. After this initial assignment, formulae containing deuterium atoms were sorted in order to interpret hydrogen/deuterium exchange spectra. The software was successfully applied to hydrogen/deuterium exchange spectra of resins and aromatic fractions from heavy crude oil.

The nucleophilic substitution reactions of Y-aryl N,N-dimethyl phosphoroamidochloridates with substituted anilines and deuterated anilines are kinetically investigated in acetonitrile at $65.0^{\circ}C$. A stepwise mechanism with a rate-limiting leaving group departure from the intermediate is proposed based on the positive ${\rho}_{XY}$ value. The deuterium kinetic isotope effects involving deuterated anilines show secondary inverse with all the nucleophiles, rationalized by a dominant backside nucleophilic attack.

Femtosecond vibrational spectroscopy was used to measure the vibrational population relaxation time ($T_1$) of different anions bound to ferric myoglobin ($Mb^{III}$) and hemoglobin ($Hb_{III}$) in $D_2O$ at 293 K. The $T_1$ values of the anti-symmetric stretching (${\nu}_1$) mode of NCS in the $NCS^-$ bound to $Mb^{III}$ ($Mb^{III}$NCS) and $Hb_{III}$ ($Hb_{III}$NCS) in $D_2O$ are $7.2{\pm}0.2$ and $6.6{\pm}0.2$ ps, respectively, which are smaller than that of free NCS. in $D_2O$ (18.3 ps). The $T_1$ values of the ${\nu}_1$ mode of NCO in the $NCO^-$ bound to $Mb^{III}$ ($Mb^{III}$NCO) and $Hb_{III}$ ($Hb_{III}$NCO) in $D_2O$ are $2.4{\pm}0.2$ and $2.6{\pm}0.2$ ps, respectively, which are larger than that of free $NCO^-$ in $D_2O$ ($1.9{\pm}0.2$ ps). The smaller $T_1$ values of the ${\nu}_1$ mode of the heme-bound NCS suggest that intramolecular vibrational relaxation (VR) is the dominant relaxation pathway for the excess vibrational energy. On the other hand, the longer $T_1$ values of the ${\nu}_1$ mode of the heme-bound NCO suggest that intermolecular VR is the dominant relaxation pathway for the excess vibrational energy in the ${\nu}_1$ mode of $NCO^-$ in $D_2O$, and that intramolecular VR becomes more important in the vibrational energy dissipation of the ${\nu}_1$ mode of NCO in $Mb^{III}$NCO and $Hb_{III}$NCO.

An analytical methodology was developed for qualitative and quantitative impurity profiling of the coloring agent Sudan III by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-diode array detection (DAD). The impurities in commercial Sudan III were characterized by comparison of their retention times and UV spectra with those of authentic standards. Four impurities regulated by International Committees in Sudan III were quantified by HPLC-selective UV detection. The impurities in Sudan dye were successfully separated on a reversed phase C18-column within 25 min and sensitively detected by UV spectrometry at two selective wavelengths. Method validation was conducted to determine linearity, precision, accuracy, and limit of quantification (LOQ). The linear dynamic range extended from 0.002 to 4.0%, with a correlation coefficient (R2) greater than 0.995. The LOQs of the impurities ranged from 8.04 to $54.29{\mu}g/mg$. Based on the established method, the levels of regulated impurities in five commercial Sudan III dyes were determined.

The bond dissociation energy (BDE) of the chemical bond between the carbon and oxygen atoms of a simple TEMPO-derivative is calculated by employing the density functional theory, the $2^{nd}$ order M${\phi}$ller-Plesset (MP2) perturbation theory, and complete basis set (CBS) methods. We find that BDE of the positive ion of the TEMPO-derivative is larger at least by 7 kcal/mol than that of the negative ion, which implies that the dissociation reaction rate of the positive ion should be slower than that of the negative ion. Such theoretical predictions are contrary to the results of our previous experiments (Anal. Chem. 2013, 85, 7044), in which the larger energy was required for negative o-TEMPO-Bz-C(O)-peptides to undergo the dissociation reactions than for the positive ones. By comparing our theoretical results to those of the experiments, we conclude that the dissociation reaction of o-TEMPO-Bz-C(O)-peptide should occur in a complicated fashion with a charge, either positive or negative, probably being located on the amino acid residues of the peptide.

The importance of including spin-orbit interactions for the correct description of structures and vibrational frequencies of haloiodomethanes is demonstrated by density functional theory calculations with spin-orbit relativistic effective core potentials (SO-DFT). The vibrational frequencies and the molecular geometries obtained by SO-DFT calculations do not match with the experimental results as well as for other cations without significant relativistic effects. In this sense, the present data can be considered as a guideline in the development of the relativistic quantum chemical methods. The influence of spin-orbit effects on the bending frequency of the cation could well be recognized by comparing the experimental and calculated results for $CH_2BrI$ and $CH_2ClI$ cations. Spin-orbit effects on the geometries and vibrational frequencies of $CH_2XI$ (X=F, Cl, Br, and I) neutral are negligible except that C-I bond lengths of haloiodomethane neutral is slightly increased by the inclusion of spin-orbit effects. The $^2A^{\prime}$ and $^2A^{{\prime}{\prime}}$ states were found in the cations of haloiodomethanes and mix due to the spin-orbit interactions and generate two $^2E_{1/2}$ fine-structure states. The geometries of $CH_2XI^+$ (X=F and Cl) from SO-DFT calculations are roughly in the middle of two cation geometries from DFT calculations since two cation states of $CH_2XI$ (X=F and Cl) from DFT calculations are energetically close enough to mix two cation states. The geometries of $CH_2XI^+$ (X=Br and I) from SO-DFT calculations are close to that of the most stable cation from DFT calculations since two cation states of $CH_2XI$(X=Br and I) from DFT calculations are energetically well separated near the fine-structure state minimum.

The binding interaction between a hemolytic peptide ${\delta}$-lysin and a zwitterionic lipid bilayer POPC was investigated through a series of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. ${\delta}$-Lysin is a 26-residue, amphipathic, ${\alpha}$-helical peptide toxin secreted by Staphylococcus aureus. Unlike typical antimicrobial peptides, ${\delta}$-lysin has no net charge and it is often found in aggregated forms in solution even at low concentration. Our study showed that only the monomer, not dimer, inserts into the bilayer interior. The monomer is preferentially attracted toward the membrane with its hydrophilic side facing the bilayer surface. However, peptide insertion requires the opposite orientation where the hydrophobic side of peptide points toward the membrane interior. Such orientation allows the charged residues, Lys and Asp, to have stable salt bridges with the lipid head-group while the hydrophobic residues are buried deeper in the hydrophobic lipid interior. Our simulations suggest that breaking these salt bridges is the key step for the monomer to be fully inserted into the center of lipid bilayer and, possibly, to translocate across the membrane.

To develop a methodology for absolute determination of the surface areal density of functional groups on organic and bio thin films, medium energy ion scattering (MEIS) spectroscopy was utilized to provide references for calibration of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) or Fourier transformation-infrared (FT-IR) intensities. By using the MEIS, XPS, and FT-IR techniques, we were able to analyze the organic thin film of a Ru dye compound ($C_{58}H_{86}O_8N_8S_2Ru$), which consists of one Ru atom and various stoichiometric functional groups. From the MEIS analysis, the absolute surface areal density of Ru atoms (or Ru dye molecules) was determined. The surface areal densities of stoichiometric functional groups in the Ru dye compound were used as references for the calibration of XPS and FT-IR intensities for each functional group. The complementary use of MEIS, XPS, and FT-IR to determine the absolute surface areal density of functional groups on organic and bio thin films will be useful for more reliable development of applications based on organic thin films in areas such as flexible displays, solar cells, organic sensors, biomaterials, and biochips.

We present calculations for diglycine - $(H_2O)_n$ (n = 0-3) to examine the effects of microsolvating water on the relative stability of the zwitterionic vs. canonical forms of the dipeptide. We calculate the structures, energies and Gibbs free energies of the conformers at wB97XD/6-311++G** and MP2/aug-cc-pvdz levels of theory level of theory. We predict that microsolvation by up to three water molecules does not give thermodynamic stability of the zwitterion relative to the canonical forms. Our calculations also suggest that zwitterionic diglycine - $(H_2O)_3$ is not stable kinetically in low temperature gas phase environment.

The shape invariant potentials are proved to be exactly solvable, i.e. the wave functions and energies of a particle moving under the influence of the shape invariant potentials can be algebraically determined without any approximations. It is well known that the SWKB quantization is exact for all shape invariant potentials though the SWKB quantization itself is approximate. This mystery has not been mathematically resolved yet and may not be solved in a concrete fashion even in the future. Therefore, in the present work, to understand (not prove) the mystery an attempt of deriving exactly solvable potentials directly from the SWKB quantization has been made. And it turns out that all the derived potentials are shape invariant. It implicitly explains why the SWKB quantization is exact for all known shape invariant potentials. Though any new potential has not been found in this study, this brute-force derivation of potentials helps one understand the characteristics of shape invariant potentials.

Bio-oil instability, or aging, is a significant problem for the long-term storage of fast pyrolysis oils. We investigated bio-oil aging at the molecular level using Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry. Petroleomic analysis suggests that bio-oil aging is resulted from the oligomerization of phenolic lignin products whereas 'sugaric' cellulose/hemicellulose products have negligible effect.

We applied the two-color resonant two-photon ionization and mass-analyzed threshold ionization techniques to record the vibronic and cation spectra of 2,4-difluorophenol. As supported by our theoretical calculations, only the cis form of 2,4-difluorophenol involves in the two-photon photoexcitation and pulsed field ionization processes. The band origin of the $S_1{\leftarrow}S_0$ electronic transition of cis-2,4-difluorophenol appears at 35 647 ${\pm}2cm^{-1}$ and the adiabatic ionization energy is determined to be 70 $030{\pm}5cm^{-1}$, respectively. Most of the observed active vibrations in the electronically excited $S_1$ and cationic ground $D_0$ states mainly involve in-plane ring deformation vibrations. Comparing these data of cis-2,4-difluorophenol with those of phenol, cis-2-fluorophenol, and 4-fluorophenol, we found that there is an additivity rule associated with the energy shift resulting from the additional fluorine substitution.

An isotope dilution liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (ID LC-MS/MS) method has been developed and applied to the determination of arsenobetaine (AsB, ${(CH_3)_3}^+AsCH_2COO^-$) from oyster candidate certified reference material (CRM). The exact matching isotope dilution approach was adopted for accurate determination of AsB using $^{13}C_2$-labeled AsB as an internal standard. Efficiencies of different AsB extraction methods were evaluated using a codfish reference material and a simple sonication method was selected as the method of choice for the certification of the oyster candidate CRM. The hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) combined with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI/MS/MS) in selected reaction monitoring (SRM) mode was optimized for adequate chromatographic retention and robust quantification of AsB from codfish and oyster samples. By analyzing 12 subsamples taken from each 12 bottles systematically selected from the whole oyster CRM batch, the certified value of AsB was determined as $6.60mg{\cdot}kg^{-1}{\pm}0.31mg{\cdot}kg^{-1}$ and it showed excellent between-bottle homogeneity of less than 0.42%, which is represented by relative standard deviation of 12 bottles from the CRM batch. The major source of uncertainty was the certified value of the AsB standard solution.

The spectroscopic properties of quercetin (QCT) were studied in the AOT reverse micelle by fluorescence spectroscopy. Because the molecular structure of QCT is completely planar, excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) occurs between the -OH at C(5) and carbonyl oxygen via intramolecular hydrogen bonding. This ESIPT happens at the $S_1$ state but not at the $S_2$ state. Because QCT is a good donor-acceptor-conjugated molecule at the excited state, this molecule can emit strong fluorescence but shows no $S_1{\rightarrow}S_o$ emission due to this ESIPT. Since the $S_2{\rightarrow}S_1$ internal conversion was very slow due to the small Franck-Condon factors, $S_2{\rightarrow}S_o$ fluorescence emission was observed. All of the experimental results indicated that the QCT resided at the bound water interface and that the position of solute did not change significantly in the micelle at various water concentrations.

The energy- and time-dependent branching to the competing dissociation paths are studied by theory for coupled unimolecular dissociations of the o-, m-, and p-chlorotoluene radical cations to $C_7{H_7}^+$ (benzylium and tropylium). There are four different paths to $C_7{H_7}^+$, three to the benzylium ion and one to the tropylium ion, and all of them are coupled together. The branching to the multiple paths leads to the multiexponential decay of reactant with the branching ratio depending on both internal energy and time. To gain insights into the multipath branching, we study the detailed kinetics as a function of time and internal energy on the basis of ab inito/RRKM calculations. The number of reaction steps to $C_7{H_7}^+$ is counted for each path. Of the three isomers, the meta mostly goes through the coupling, whereas the para proceeds with little or no coupling. In the beginning, some reactants with high internal energy decay fast to the benzylium ion without any coupling and others rearrange to the other isomers. Later on all three isomers dissociate to the products via long-lived intermediates. Thus, the reactant shows a multiexponential decay and the branching ratio varies with time as the average internal energy decreases with time. The reciprocal of the effective lifetime is taken as the rate constant. The resulting rate-energy curves are in line with experiments. The present results suggest that the coupling between the stable isomers is thermodynamically controlled, whereas the branching to the product is kinetically controlled.

The gas-phase radical-radical reaction $O(^3P)$ + $C_2H_5$ (ethyl) ${\rightarrow}$ $H(^2S)$ + $CH_3CHO$(acetaldehyde) was investigated by applying a combination of vacuum-ultraviolet laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy in a crossed beam configuration and ab initio calculations. The two radical reactants $O(^3P)$ and $C_2H_5$ were respectively produced by photolysis of $NO_2$ and supersonic flash pyrolysis of the synthesized precursor azoethane. Doppler profile analysis of the nascent H-atom products in the Lyman-${\alpha}$ region revealed that the average translational energy of the products and the average fraction of the total available energy released as translational energy were $5.01{\pm}0.72kcalmol^{-1}$ and 6.1%, respectively. The empirical data combined with CBS-QB3 level ab initio theory and statistical calculations demonstrated that the title exchange reaction is a major channel and proceeds via an addition-elimination mechanism through the formation of a short-lived, dynamical addition complex on the doublet potential energy surface. On the basis of systematic comparison with several exchange reactions of hydrocarbon radicals, the observed small kinetic energy release can be explained in terms of the loose transition state with a product-like geometry and a small reverse activation barrier along the reaction coordinate.

The rapid development of shotgun proteomics is paving the way for extensive proteome profiling, while providing extensive information on various post translational modifications (PTMs) that occur to a proteome of interest. For example, the current phosphoproteomic methods can yield more than 10,000 phosphopeptides identified from a proteome sample. Despite these developments, it remains a challenging issue to pinpoint the true phosphorylation sites, especially when multiple sites are possible for phosphorylation in the peptides. We developed the Phospho-UMC filter, which is a simple method of localizing the site of phosphorylation using unique mass classes (UMCs) information to differentiate phosphopeptides with different phosphorylation sites and increase the confidence in phosphorylation site localization. The method was applied to large scale phosphopeptide profiling data and was demonstrated to be effective in the reducing ambiguity associated with the tandem mass spectrometric data analysis of phosphopeptides.

Carotenoids, natural antenna pigments in photosynthesis share a symmetric backbone of conjugated polyenes. Contrary to the symmetric and almost planar geometries of carotenoids, excited state structure and dynamics of carotenoids are exceedingly complex. In this paper, recent infrared and visible transient absorption measurements and excitation dependent dynamics of 8'-apo-${\beta}$-caroten-8'-al and 7',7'-dicyano-7'-apo-${\beta}$-carotene will be reviewed. The recent visible transient absorption measurements of 8'-apo-${\beta}$-caroten-8'-al in polar and nonpolar solvents will also be introduced to emphasize the complex excited-state dynamics and unsolved problems in the $S_2$ and $S_1$ excited states.

Recently, many researches have shown that even photosynthetic light-harvesting pigment-protein complexes can have quantum coherence in their excitonic energy transfer at cryogenic and physiological temperatures. Because the protein supplies such noisy environment around pigments that conventional wisdom expects very short lived quantum coherence, elucidating the mechanism and searching for an applicability of the coherence have become an interesting topic in both experiment and theory. We have previously studied the quantum coherence of a phycocyanin 645 complex in a marine algae harvesting light system, using Poisson mapping bracket equation (PBME). PBME is one of the applicable methods for solving quantum-classical Liouville equation, for following the dynamics of such pigment-protein complexes. However, it may suffer from many defects mostly from mapping quantum degrees of freedom into classical ones. To make improvements against such defects, benchmarking targets with more accurately described dynamics is highly needed. Here, we fall back to reduced hierarchical equation of motion (HEOM), for such a purpose. Even though HEOM is known to applicable only to simplified system that is coupled to a set of harmonic oscillators, it can provide ultimate accuracy within the regime of quantum-classical description, thus providing perfect benchmark targets for certain systems. We compare the evolution of the density matrix of pigment excited states by HEOM against the PBME results at physiological temperature, and observe more sophisticated changes of density matrix elements from HEOM. In PBME, the population of states with intermediate energies display only monotonically increasing behaviors. Most importantly, PBME suffers a serious issue of wrong population in the long time limit, likely generated by the zero-point energy leaking problem. Future prospects for developments are briefly discussed as a concluding remark.

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were synthesized by laser (Nd:YAG, ${\lambda}$ = 1064 nm) ablation of a gold target immersed in various aqueous electrolyte solutions (7 mM of LiCl, NaCl, KCl, NaBr, and NaI) as well as in deionized water. The surface plasmon absorption and EDX of AuNPs so produced as well as their TEM images were analyzed to investigate the effects of ambient ions on the growth and aggregation of NPs. The size of AuNPs was reduced by laser ablation in the presence of chloride and bromide ions while it increased drastically when AuNPs were formed in iodide solution. Interestingly, triangular nanoplates were synthesized only in iodide solution. Surface chemistry on AuNPs in various electrolyte solutions was explored to elucidate the role of ions on the size and stability of AuNPs.

Monodispersed carbon nanospheres (CNSs) were fabricated by a novel method and their structural properties were investigated. CNSs were prepared by the pyrolysis of nanospherical polystyrenes (PS). With the coating of $SiO_2$ shell, PS particles were effectively separated during pyrolysis process which resulted to CNSs with an average diameter of 40 nm. Moreover, CNSs could be crosslinked with each other through the bondings between the functional groups on their surfaces. Morphology of the fabricated carbon spheres and their crosslinked form were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR).

Adsorption of 4,4'-bis(mercaptomethyl)biphenyl (44BMBP) on silver nanoparticles has been investigated by surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy. In addition, the Raman spectra of 44BMBP in solid state and in basic condition have been obtained for comparative study to elicit the characteristics of adsorption. The observed Raman and SERS spectra were analyzed comparing with the normal modes and vibrational frequencies from density functional theory (DFT) calculations performed for the feasible structures of 44BMBP molecule. On the basis of excellent agreement between the calculated and the experimental results, the molecule is found to have both the cis- and trans-forms for the mercaptomethyl groups in the solid state as well as in the basic condition. In contrast, the molecule is found to be chemisorbed on the silver surface by forming two Ag-S linkages only in the cis-form but not in the trans-form due to the steric interruption, which indicates the parallel orientation of molecules on the surface. Particularly, the spectral features in the SERS spectra such as the absence of the C-H stretching band and enhancement for the out-of-plane skeletal modes are confirmatory for the parallel geometry through ${\pi}$ interaction between the phenyl rings and the metal surface, based on the electromagnetic surface selection rule.

Photophysics of 10-hydroxybenzo[h]quinoline (HBQ) has been in controversy, in particular, on the nature of the electronic states before and after the excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT), even though the dynamics and mechanism of the ESIPT have been well established. We report highly time resolved fluorescence spectra over the full emission frequency regions of the enol and keto isomers and the anisotropy in time domain to determine the accurate rates of the population decay, spectral relaxation and anisotropy decay of the keto isomer. We have shown that the ~300 fs component observed frequently in ESIPT dynamics arises from the $S_2{\rightarrow}S_1$ internal conversion in the reaction product keto isomer and that the ESIPT occurs from the enol isomer in $S_1$ state to the keto isomer in $S_2$ state.

The properties of magnetic material of Nd-Fe-B are highly affected by various factors such as particle size, magnetic anisotropy, phase purity and crystal structure. Incorporation of excess neodymium was carried out in various percentages so that it will adjust the proportion of neodymium in the host crystal after reduction treatment and finally help to improve magnetic property of a material. The interdiffusion of Nd-Fe and boron was studied for various compositions and their effect on magnetic property was understood with theoretical concepts. The factors such as amount of hard and soft phase in the reduction treated product is also responsible for the possible exchange coupling between hard and soft phase magnets for better magnetic properties.

The ultrashort electron pulse, laser-emitted from the metal tip apex has been characterized and used as a probing source for a new electron microscope to visualize the morphology of the gold-mesh in the nanometric resolution. As the gap between the tungsten tip and Au-surface is approached within a few nm, the large electromagnetic field enhancement for the incident P-polarized laser pulse with respect to the tip-sample axis is strongly observed. Here, we demonstrate that the time-resolved tip-enhanced electron emission microscope (TEEM) can be implemented on the laboratory table top to give the two-dimensional image, opening lots of challenges and opportunities in the near future.

The wavelength dependence of the photoacoustic signal for n-type GaAs semiconductors in the region of the band-gap energies was investigated. The significant changes in the phase and amplitude of the photoacoustic signal near the band-gap absorption wavelengths were observed to occur when the Si-doping densities in GaAs were varied. Particularly, the first derivatives of the photoacoustic phase vs. wavelength graphs were evaluated and fitted with single Gaussian functions. The peak centers and the widths of the Gaussian curves clearly showed linear relationships with the log values of the Si-doping densities in n-type GaAs semiconductors. It is proposed that the wavelength-dependent PA spectroscopy can be used as a simple and nondestructive method for measuring the doping densities in bulk semiconductors.

The atomic structures and electronic properties of six classical and nonclassical $H_2O$@$C_{24}$ fullerene regioisomers are systematically studied using the hybrid density functional B3LYP method and M06-2X method with empirical dispersion in conjunction with the 6-31G(d,p) basis sets. The charge transfer, frontier orbitals, dipole moment, energy gap between the HOMO and LUMO, and volume change of the $C_{24}$ cage are analyzed upon encapsulation of a $H_2O$ molecule in each $C_{24}$ regioisomer. All encapsulation processes are endothermic and the relative stabilities of six $C_{24}$ fullerene regioisomers change upon encapsulation of $H_2O$.

The plasma and microwave surface treatments of carbon nanotubes that loaded on plastic substrates were carried out with expecting a change of carbon nanotube dispersion by increasing treatment time. The microwave treatment process was undergone by commercial microwave oven (800 W). The electrical property was measured by hall measurement and resistance was increased by increasing $O_2$ flow rate of plasma, suggesting an improvement of carbon nanotube dispersion and a possibility of controlling the resistances of carbon nanotubes by plasma surface treatment. The resistance was increased in both polyethylene terephthalate and polyimide substrates by increasing $O_2$ flow rate. Resistance changes only slightly with different $O_2$ flow treatment in measure rho for all polyimide samples. Sheet resistance is lowest in polyimide substrate not due to high carbon nanotube loading but due to tendency to remain in elongated structure. $O_2$ or $N_2$ plasma treatments on both polyethylene terephthalate and polyimide substrates lead to increase in sheet resistance.

Microgratings whose diffracted field at a fixed angle generate IR spectra of $SF_6$ or $NH_3$ were fabricated by MEMS techniques for the purpose of IR correlation spectroscopy. Each micrograting was composed of 1441 reflecting lines in the area of $19.2{\times}19.2mm^2$. The depth profile of the line elements was determined with a gradient searching method that was described in our previous publication (J. Mod. Opt. 2013, 60, 324-330), and was discretized into 16 levels between 0 and $6.90{\mu}m$. The diffraction field from a given depth profile was calculated with Fraunhofer equation. The fabricated microgratings showed errors in the depth and the width within acceptable ranges. As the result, the diffracted IR spectrum of each micrograting matched well with its target reference spectrum within spectral resolution of our optical setup.

Five mol % tungsten-doped tin oxide ($W_{0.05}Sn_{0.95}O_2$, TTO5) was prepared by co-precipitation of $SnCl_4{\cdot}5H_2O$ and $WCl_4$, followed by calcination at $1000^{\circ}C$. The as-prepared TTO5 was in the pure cassiterite phase with a particle size of ~50 nm and optical bandgap of 2.51 eV. Herein it was applied for the formation of TTO5/$TiO_2$ heterojunctions by covering the TTO5 surface with $TiO_2$ by sol-gel method. Under visible-light irradiation (${\lambda}{\geq}420$ nm), TTO5/$TiO_2$ showed a significantly high photocatalytic activity in removing gaseous 2-propanol (IP) and evolving $CO_2$. It is deduced that its high visible-light activity is caused by inter-semiconductor holetransfer between the valence band (VB) of TTO5 and $TiO_2$, since the TTO5 nanoparticle (NP) exhibits the absorption edge at ~450 nm and its VB level is located more positive side than that of $TiO_2$. The evidence for the hole-transport mechanism between TTO5 and $TiO_2$ was also investigated by monitoring the holescavenging reaction with 1,4-terephthalic acid (TA).

Ambient ionization can be achieved by generating an electrospray directly from plant tissue ("leaf spray"). The resulting mass spectra are characteristic of ionizable phytochemicals in the plant material. By subtracting the leaf spray spectra recorded from the petals of two hibiscus species H. moscheutos and H. syriacus one gains rapid access to the metabolites that differ most in the two petals. One such compound was identified as the sambubioside of quercitin (or delphinidin) while others are known flavones. Major interest centered on a $C_{19}H_{29}NO_5$ compound that occurs only in the large H. moscheutos bloom. Attempts were made to characterize this compound by mass spectrometry alone as a test of such an approach. This showed that the compound is an alkaloid, assigned to the polyhydroxylated pyrrolidine class, and bound via a $C_3$ hydrocarbon unit to a monoterpene.

A dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) was fabricated with a nanocrystalline $TiO_2$ film electrode on FTO glass, N719 dye, electrolytes (or $CsSnI_3$), and counter Pt electrode by incorporating it with single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). SWNTs were combined with $TiO_2$ film, $CsSnI_3$, Pt electrode, separately, and the SWNT-containing cell was compared with a pristine cell in cell performance. We also examined the performance change by pressing $TiO_2$ film, during cell fabrication, inside a high pressure chamber. Mostly, the change of conversion efficiency was compared for each cell, and an atomic force microscopy data were suggested to explain our results.

We explored interfacial electronic structures in indium tin oxide (ITO)/DNTPD/N,N'-diphenyl-N,N'-bis(1-naphthyl)-1,1'-biphenyl-4,4'-diamine (NPB) layer stack in an OLED to clarify the real role of an aromatic amine-based hole injection layer, DNTPD. A hole injection barrier at the ITO/DNTPD interface is lowered by 0.20 eV but a new hole barrier of 0.36 eV at the DNTPD/NPB is created. The new barrier at the DNTPD/NPB interface and its higher bulk resistance serve as hole retardation, and thus those cause the operation voltage for the ITO/DNTPD/NPB to increase. However, it improves current efficiency through balancing holes and electrons in the emitting layer.

A derivative of Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) has been used for the preparation of tuberculosis vaccines. To establish a Korean tuberculosis vaccine derived from BCG-Pasteur $1173P_2$, genome sequencing of a BCG-Korea strain was completed by Joung and coworkers. A comparison analysis of the genome sequences of the BCG-Pasteur $1173P_2$ and BCG-Korea strains showed marginal increases in the total genome length (~0.05%) and the number of genes (~4%) in the BCG-Korea genome. However, how the genomic changes affect the BCG-Korea protein expression levels remains unknown. Here, we provide evidence of the proteomic alterations in the BCG-Korea strain by using a SWATH-based mass spectrometric approach (Sequential Window Acquisition of all THeoretical mass spectra). Twenty BCG proteins were selected by top-rank identification in the BCG proteome analysis and the proteins were quantified by the SWATH method. Thirteen of 20 proteins showing significant changes were enough to discriminate between the two BCG proteomes. The SWATH method is very straightforward and provides a promising approach owing to its strong reliability and reproducibility during the proteomic analysis.

This paper discusses a coherence-gated three-dimensional imaging system based on photorefractive holography, which was applied to imaging through turbid media with a view to developing biomedical instrumentation. A rapid response photorefractive device doped with 2,4,7-trinitro-9-fluorenylidene malononitrile was used to generate the hologram grating. The estimated depth resolution was $20{\mu}m$, which corresponds to the coherence length of the light source. In this coherence imaging system, tomographic imaging of a 3-dimensional object composed of a $50{\mu}m$ thick cylindrical layer was achieved. The proposed coherence imaging system using an organic photorefractive material can be used as an optical tomography system for biological applications.