Although gold is the subject of one of the most ancient themes of investigation in science, its renaissance now leads to an exponentially increasing number of publications, especially in the context of emerging nanoscience and nanotechnology with nanoparticles and self-assembled monolayers (SAMs). We will limit the present review to gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), also called gold colloids. AuNPs are the most stable metal nanoparticles, and they present fascinating aspects such as their assembly of multiple types involving materials science, the behavior of the individual particles, size-related electronic, magnetic and optical properties (quantum size effect), and their applications to catalysis and biology. Their promises are in these fields as well as in the bottom-up approach of nanotechnology, and they will be key materials and building block in the 21st century. Whereas the extraction of gold started in the 5th millennium B.C. near Varna (Bulgaria) and reached 10 tons per year in Egypt around 1200-1300 B.C. when the marvelous statue of Touthankamon was constructed, it is probable that “soluble” gold appeared around the 5th or 4th century B.C. in Egypt and China. In antiquity, materials were used in an ecological sense for both aesthetic and curative purposes. Colloidal gold was used to make ruby glass 293 Chem. Rev. 2004, 104, 293−346

Gold nanoparticles: assembly, supramolecular chemistry, quantum-size-related properties, and applications toward biology, catalysis, and nanotechnology.

Titanium Dioxide Nanomaterials: Synthesis, Properties, Modifications, and Applications

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) offer the possibilities to design solar cells with a large flexibility in shape, color, and transparency. DSC research groups have been established around the worl ...

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Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

J. Appl. Cryst.の発刊に際して

The long-standing challenge of designing and constructing new crystalline solid-state materials from molecular building blocks is just beginning to be addressed with success. A conceptual approach that requires the use of secondary building units to direct the assembly of ordered frameworks epitomizes this process: we call this approach reticular synthesis. This chemistry has yielded materials designed to have predetermined structures, compositions and properties. In particular, highly porous frameworks held together by strong metal-oxygen-carbon bonds and with exceptionally large surface area and capacity for gas storage have been prepared and their pore metrics systematically varied and functionalized.

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Reticular synthesis and the design of new materials

The incidence of a fracture of the sella turcica is reported to be rare and the authors reported a case of a sellar fracture associated with several neurological and endocrinological complications. A 16-year-old boy was struck at the face and the forehead on the road in a motorcycle accident and was hospitalized in a confusional state. Neurological examinations showed dilatation of the both pupils, sluggish light reflex on both sides and bilateral oculomotor palsy but motor weakness or sensory disturbance was not present. On the tenth hospital day, he developed diabetes insipidus and endocrinological examinations disclosed the impairment of GH, LH and FSH reserves, too. Neuroradiological examinations disclosed fractures of bilateral frontal bones and fractures of the left optic canal and ethmoidal roof as well as a fracture of the sella turcica. On the 28th hospital day, he also developed CSF rhinorrhea and pneumocephalus. Surgical repair for the CSF rhinorrhea was performed. Fractures of the sella turcica were reviewed in 23 cases including our personal case and a special consideration regarding the mechanism of sellar fractures and their major complications was made. The authors stressed the early recognition of a fracture of the sella turcica in head injuries, which would suggest a severe hypothalamo-pituitary involvement or other neurological disorders.

[Fracture of the sella turcica--a case report and review of the literature].

Sixty-three patients (aged from 4 to 75 years) who had suffered severe head injury or cerebrovascular disease were placed on barbiturate regimens in which intravenous administration was given in amounts of 1-4 mg/kg/hr. Dobutamine and dopamine were also administered to prevent cardiac failure and renal failure. Immediate and delayed complications caused by barbiturate therapy were investigated and analyzed. Immediate complications included tachycardia which was seen in 16 cases (25%), and hypotension in 14 cases (22%), respectively. Higher incidence of those complications was noted among the patients who underwent surgery. Delayed complications included hypokalemia (41 cases, 65%), liver dysfunction hypernatremia (24 cases, 38%), infection (21 cases, 33%), cardiac failure (8 cases, 13%) and renal failure (1 case, 2%), respectively. Therefore, in patients treated under barbiturate regimens great care should be taken in order to avoid above mentioned complications.

Problems in general management during barbiturate therapy

The authors evaluated results of surgical treatment for 12 cases of prolactin-secreting pituitary microadenomas with respect to the effect on the endocrinological status and compared these results with those for 10 cases of macroadenomas. The cases of microadenomas were all female; 10 cases with amenorrhea and galactorrhea, a case with oligomenorrhea and galactorrhea and a case with only amenorrhea. Both microadenomas and macroadenomas were operated on through the transsphenoidal route. Microadenomas were considered to have been removed completely but macroadenomas were not always removed completely because of their larger size. The relation between operative findings of microadenomas and basal serum PRL levels was analysed. Two elastic and firm adenomas showed elevated serum PRL levels (p<0.001) exceeding 400 ng/ml and two eosinophilic and two mixed adenomas showed higher serum PRL levels than the chromophobes (p<0.01). Adenomas with serum PRL levels around or over 200 ng/ml were all peripheral types. Localization within the sella turcica or size of the tumors had little relation to serum PRL levels. In microadenomas, serum PRL levels fell to the normal level in nine cases (75.0%) within a month after the operation. Three cases with normal PRL levels, however, gradually returned to elevated levels in the follow-up after a month. Conversely, no drop to the normal level was observed in cases of macroadenomas. Surgical impacts on HGH, TSH, LH, FSH and ACTH reserves were examined. Only four out of 18 cases (22.2%) among the microadenomas and macroadenomas had impaired hormonal reserves after transsphenoidal surgery which was considered to be a safe procedure. Regular menses were restored in nine out of 12 cases (75.0%) of microadenomas after a mean interval of a month and a half after the operation. Six cases showed ovulatory menses. One case experienced normal delivery and two cases became pregnant among the six patients. Galactorrhea disappeared in nine out of 11 cases (81.8%) of microadenomas after a mean interval of 2 months and a half after the operation and another case showed a remarkable decrease in lactation. However, none of the seven cases of macroadenomas showed restored menses, only one out of six cases had cessation of lactation and another two cases showed a decrease in lactation after the operation. Transsphenoidal removal of prolactin-secreting microadenomas was a safe and satisfactory treatment of choice.

Prolactin-Secreting Pituitary Microadenomas

Disclosed is a liquid crystal display device to display moving and still images with superior image quality, comparable to common LCDs and to display memory images by a voltage lower than conventional electronic paper, and a method for operating the same. The liquid crystal display device comprises: a pair of electrode substrates facing each other; an orientation film of a polymer material on the pair of electrode substrates; a liquid crystal material between the pair of electrode substrates, wherein the liquid crystal display device displays an image by varying orientation of the liquid crystal material and a surfacial region of the orientation film, depending on temperature and voltage.

Liquid crystal display and operation method thereof

It is considerably interesting to explore the vortex behavior in a nanoscale superconductor. A Nb film of thickness 100 nm was prepared by the sputtering of Nb on a silicon substrate (4 × 4 mm). A honeycomb microhole network of the Nb film has been fabricated by the electron beam lithography, where the period is 7.4 μm and line width is 1 μm. This geometry corresponds to the matching field H φ =0.437 G. We carried out the experimental investigations by a SQUID magnetometer as well as a SQUID microscope. The observation area of the SQUID microscope is typically 128 × 128 μm with a scan step of 1 μm at the various different temperatures. The experimental results are compared with the theoretical predictions obtained by means of the linearized Ginzburg–Landau network equations.

Osamu Sato

Papers

[Fracture of the sella turcica--a case report and review of the literature].

Problems in general management during barbiturate therapy

Prolactin-Secreting Pituitary Microadenomas

Liquid crystal display and operation method thereof

Vortex configurations in the nanofabricated network of Nb: direct observations and calculations