Cyclopentenone prostaglandins (PGs) are transported into cells and stimulate the expression of various stress genes, such as that coding for BiP (an ER luminal protein). To reveal the site of action of the PGs for the induction of stress-gene expression, we introduced a fluorescent probe, pyrene, into two types of PG analogue, GIF0010 (a cyclopentenone type) and GIF0037 (a cyclopentanone type) ...

The process of internal conversion is at the heart of many chemical reactions by being responsible for the conversion of electronic excitation energy into vibrational energy. The ultrafast process from higher electronic states assures that it can rival competing pathways. This also implies that nuclear motion in only a very few vibrational degrees of freedom are involved in internal conversion—...

In this study, micron-sized pored membranes, based on the co-polymer polyvinylidene difluoride hexafluoropropylene (PVdF-HFP) were prepared via phase inversion techniques. The aim of the approach was to find less harmful and less toxic solvents to fabricate such films. Therefore, the Hansen solubility approach was used to identify safer and less toxic organic solvents for the phase inversion pr...

We have measured the infra-red absorption spectra of chlorophyll and some of its derivatives in order to obtain information useful for eventual understanding of reversible transformations of this pigment. Such transformations are (a) Moliseh phase test, (b) bleaching by FeCl3, and (c) photochemical reduction by ascorbic acid-"Krasnovsky reaction" (10, 13, 16). Only in the case of the phase test...