There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

The lithium metal battery is strongly considered to be one of the most promising candidates for high-energy-density energy storage devices in our modern and technology-based society. However, uncontrollable lithium dendrite growth induces poor cycling efficiency and severe safety concerns, dragging lithium metal batteries out of practical applications. This review presents a comprehensive overview of the lithium metal anode and its dendritic lithium growth. First, the working principles and technical challenges of a lithium metal anode are underscored. Specific attention is paid to the mechanistic understandings and quantitative models for solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) formation, lithium dendrite nucleation, and growth. On the basis of previous theoretical understanding and analysis, recently proposed strategies to suppress dendrite growth of lithium metal anode and some other metal anodes are reviewed. A section dedicated to the potential of full-cell lithium metal batteries for practical applicatio...

Toward Safe Lithium Metal Anode in Rechargeable Batteries: A Review.

The author's preface gives an outline: "This book is about weakconvergence methods in metric spaces, with applications sufficient to show their power and utility. The Introduction motivates the definitions and indicates how the theory will yield solutions to problems arising outside it. Chapter 1 sets out the basic general theorems, which are then specialized in Chapter 2 to the space C[0, l ] of continuous functions on the unit interval and in Chapter 3 to the space D [0, 1 ] of functions with discontinuities of the first kind. The results of the first three chapters are used in Chapter 4 to derive a variety of limit theorems for dependent sequences of random variables. " The book develops and expands on Donsker's 1951 and 1952 papers on the invariance principle and empirical distributions. The basic random variables remain real-valued although, of course, measures on C[0, l ] and D[0, l ] are vitally used. Within this framework, there are various possibilities for a different and apparently better treatment of the material. More of the general theory of weak convergence of probabilities on separable metric spaces would be useful. Metrizability of the convergence is not brought up until late in the Appendix. The close relation of the Prokhorov metric and a metric for convergence in probability is (hence) not mentioned (see V. Strassen, Ann. Math. Statist. 36 (1965), 423-439; the reviewer, ibid. 39 (1968), 1563-1572). This relation would illuminate and organize such results as Theorems 4.1, 4.2 and 4.4 which give isolated, ad hoc connections between weak convergence of measures and nearness in probability. In the middle of p. 16, it should be noted that C*(S) consists of signed measures which need only be finitely additive if 5 is not compact. On p. 239, where the author twice speaks of separable subsets having nonmeasurable cardinal, he means "discrete" rather than "separable." Theorem 1.4 is Ulam's theorem that a Borel probability on a complete separable metric space is tight. Theorem 1 of Appendix 3 weakens completeness to topological completeness. After mentioning that probabilities on the rationals are tight, the author says it is an

Convergence of probability measures

Naphthalenesulfonamides such as N-(6-amino-hexyl)-5-chloro-1-naphthalenesulfonamide (W-7) are potent calmodulin (CaM) antagonists and act upon several protein kinases at higher concentration. When the naphthalene ring was replaced by isoquinoline, the derivatives were no longer CaM antagonists but retained the ability to inhibit protein kinases, and some of the derivatives exhibited selective inhibition toward a certain protein kinase. cAMP-dependent, cGMP-dependent, and Ca2+-phospholipid-dependent (protein kinase C) protein kinases were inhibited significantly by addition of 10(-6) M N-[2-(methylamino)ethyl]-5-isoquinoline-sulfonamide (H-8) and 1-(5-isoquinolinylsulfonyl)-2-methylpiperazine (H-7). H-8 was the most active of the inhibitors in this series and inhibited more markedly cyclic nucleotide dependent protein kinases, than other kinases, while the derivative with the sulfonylpiperazine residue (H-7) was the most potent in inhibiting protein kinase C. Apparent Ki values of H-8 were 0.48 and 1.2 microM for cGMP-dependent and cAMP-dependent protein kinases, respectively, and the Ki value of H-7 for protein kinase C was 6 microM. Both the holoenzyme and the catalytic subunit (or fragment), which is active without an enzyme activator, are susceptible to these compounds with a similar concentration dependency, thereby indicating that the inhibitory effect is attributed to the direct interaction of the compound with the active center of the enzyme but not with the enzyme activator. The inhibitions were freely reversible and of the competitive type with respect to ATP and of the noncompetitive type with respect to the phosphate acceptor.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Isoquinolinesulfonamides, novel and potent inhibitors of cyclic nucleotide dependent protein kinase and protein kinase C.

Metal Oxides and Oxysalts as Anode Materials for Li Ion Batteries

Naphthalene diimide derivative 1 carrying ferrocenyl moieties at the termini of imide substituents binds intact calf thymus DNA 4 times more strongly than the denatured DNA, and its complex with the intact DNA dissociates 80 times more slowly than that with the denatured DNA. On the basis of these observations, ligand 1 was applied to a probe of electrochemical DNA sensing. A thiol-linked single-stranded DNA probe was immobilized through the S−Au bonding to 20−30 pmol/mm2 on a gold electrode. Following hybridization with the complementary DNA, the electrode was soaked in a solution containing 1 (intercalation step) and then washed with buffer for 5 s. The cyclic voltammogram and differential pulse voltammogram for this electrode gave an electrochemical signal due to the redox reaction of 1 that was bound to the double-stranded DNA on the electrode. Thus, dA20 and the yeast choline transport gene were quantitated at the subpicomole level. The sensitivity of DNA detection was improved to 10 zmol by reducing...

DNA sensing on a DNA probe-modified electrode using ferrocenylnaphthalene diimide as the electrochemically active ligand.

Purpose 
Nonequilibrium atmospheric pressure plasma (NEAPP) therapy has recently been focused on as a novel medical practice. Using cells with acquired paclitaxel/cisplatin resistance, we elucidated effects of indirect NEAPP-activated medium (NEAPP-AM) exposure on cell viability and tumor growth in vitro and in vivo.


Methods 
Using chronic paclitaxel/cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer cells, we applied indirect NEAPP-exposed medium to cells and xenografted tumors in a mouse model. Furthermore, we examined the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) or their scavengers in the above-mentioned EOC cells.


Results 
We assessed the viability of NOS2 and NOS3 cells exposed to NEAPP-AM, which was prepared beforehand by irradiation with NEAPP for the indicated time. In NOS2 cells, viability decreased by approximately 30% after NEAPP-AM 120-sec treatment (P<0.01). The growth-inhibitory effects of NEAPP-AM were completely inhibited by N-acetyl cysteine treatment, while L-buthionine-[S, R]-sulfoximine, an inhibitor of the ROS scavenger used with NEAPP-AM, decreased cell viability by 85% after NEAPP-AM 60-sec treatment(P<0.05) and by 52% after 120 sec, compared to the control (P<0.01). In the murine subcutaneous tumor-formation model, NEAPP-AM injection resulted in an average inhibition of the NOS2 cell-inoculated tumor by 66% (P<0.05) and NOS2TR cell-inoculated tumor by 52% (P<0.05), as compared with the control.


Conclusion 
We demonstrated that plasma-activated medium also had an anti-tumor effect on chemo-resistant cells in vitro and in vivo. Indirect plasma therapy is a promising treatment option for EOC and may contribute to a better patient prognosis in the future.

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0081576&type=printable

Effect of Indirect Nonequilibrium Atmospheric Pressure Plasma on Anti-Proliferative Activity against Chronic Chemo-Resistant Ovarian Cancer Cells In Vitro and In Vivo

Two independent ovarian cancer cell lines and fibroblast controls were treated with nonequilibrium atmospheric pressure plasma (NEAPP). Most ovarian cancer cells were detached from the culture dish by continuous plasma treatment to a single spot on the dish. Next, the plasma source was applied over the whole dish using a robot arm. In vitro cell proliferation assays showed that plasma treatments significantly decreased proliferation rates of ovarian cancer cells compared to fibroblast cells. Flow cytometry and western blot analysis showed that plasma treatment of ovarian cancer cells induced apoptosis. NEAPP could be a promising tool for therapy for ovarian cancers.

Selective killing of ovarian cancer cells through induction of apoptosis by nonequilibrium atmospheric pressure plasma

An aerobic oxidative coupling of arenes/alkenes with arylboronic acids (C–H/C–B coupling) using catalytic Pd(II)–sulfoxide–oxazoline (sox) ligand and iron–phthalocyanine (FePc) has been developed. This dual catalyst system enables the synthesis of sterically hindered heterobiaryls and styrene derivatives under air without stoichiometric co-oxidants. Additionally, this chemistry demonstrated an advance toward an enantioselective biaryl coupling through C–H functionalization.

Aromatic C–H coupling with hindered arylboronic acids by Pd/Fe dual catalysts

Magnetic resonance and kinetic studies of the manganese(II) ion and substrate complexes of the catalytic subunit of adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate dependent protein kinase from bovine heart.

Hiroki Kondo

Papers

DNA sensing on a DNA probe-modified electrode using ferrocenylnaphthalene diimide as the electrochemically active ligand.

Effect of Indirect Nonequilibrium Atmospheric Pressure Plasma on Anti-Proliferative Activity against Chronic Chemo-Resistant Ovarian Cancer Cells In Vitro and In Vivo

Selective killing of ovarian cancer cells through induction of apoptosis by nonequilibrium atmospheric pressure plasma

Aromatic C–H coupling with hindered arylboronic acids by Pd/Fe dual catalysts

Magnetic resonance and kinetic studies of the manganese(II) ion and substrate complexes of the catalytic subunit of adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate dependent protein kinase from bovine heart.