Biomimetics through bioconjugation of 16-methylheptadecanoic acid to damaged hair for hair barrier recovery.

The primary component of the lipid barrier on human hair, which is essential for defense against aging and environmental stresses, is 18-methyleicosanoic acid (18-MEA), which provides hydrophobic properties and protective benefits. Since 18-MEA cannot be regenerated once damaged, developing technology that can permanently bind alternative materials to hair is critical. Once 18-MEA was removed from hair via X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), pentaerythritol tetraisoosterate (PTIS) was hydrolyzed and observed via gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) to confirm that it mimicked 18-MEA, and 16-methylheptadecanoic acid (16-MHA) was obtained at pH 4 or lower.

Spontaneous detachment of Streptococcus mutans biofilm by synergistic effect between zwitterion and sugar alcohol.

A biofilm, a community of microorganisms, is highly resistant to antibiotics, resulting in massive losses in various areas. We herein present a strategy to remove Streptococcus mutans biofilms through a spontaneous exfoliation by the synergistic effect between zwitterion and sugar alcohols. It is assumed that the anionic site of zwitterion can be coupled with sugar alcohols and the cationic site remains in the state of lacking electrons.

Aerobic oxygenative cleavage of electron deficient C-C triple bonds in the gold-catalyzed cyclization of 1,6-enynes.

Gold-catalyzed aerobic oxygenative cleavage of triple bonds that occurs under the ambient pressure of air and at room temperature is reported; radical inhibition tests suggest that oxygenation occurs via a gold-bound metalloradical intermediate.

INS/EKF-based stride length, height and direction intent detection for walking assistance robots.

We propose an algorithm used to obtain the information on stride length, height difference, and direction based on user's intent during walking. For exoskeleton robots used to assist paraplegic patients' walking, this information is used to generate gait patterns by themselves in on-line. To obtain this information, we attach an inertial measurement unit(IMU) on crutches and apply an extended kalman filter-based error correction method to reduce the phenomena of drift due to bias of the IMU.

Gold-catalyzed intermolecular reactions of propiolic acids with alkenes: [4 + 2] annulation and enyne cross metathesis.

A gold-catalyzed intermolecular reaction of propiolic acids with alkenes led to a [4 + 2] annulation or enyne cross metathesis. The [4 + 2] annulation proceeds with net cis-addition with respect to alkenes and provides an expedient route to α,β-unsaturated δ-lactones, for which preliminary asymmetric reactions were also demonstrated. For 1,2-disubstituted alkenes, unprecedented enyne cross metathesis occurred to give 1,3-dienes in a completely stereospecific fashion.