Quartz plates were treated with an azobenzene compound having a triethoxysilyl group to modify the surface with the photosensitive unit and were employed for constructing a nematic liquid crystalline cell.The reversible change in the transmittance of the cell set between two crossed polarizers was induced by alternate exposure to UV and visible light, which resulted in the photoisomerization of the monolayered azobenzene.

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We report on the first demonstration of generating a spin current and spin transport in a highly doped Si channel at room temperature (RT) using a four-terminal lateral device with a spin injector and a detector consisting of an Fe/MgO tunnel barrier.Spin current was generated using a nonlocal technique, and spin injection signals and Hanle-type spin precession were successfully detected at 300 K, thus proving spin injection with the elimination of spurious signals. The spin diffusion length and its lifetime at RT were estimated to be 0.6 m and 1.3 ns by the Hanle-type spin precession, respectively.

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Electric fields at interfaces exhibit useful phenomena, such as switching functions in transistors, through electron accumulations and/or electric dipole inductions. We find one potentially unique situation in a metal–dielectric interface in which the electric field is atomically inhomogeneous because of the strong electrostatic screening effect in metals. Such electric fields enable us to access electric quadrupoles of the electron shell. Here we show, by synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy, electric field induction of magnetic dipole moments in a platinum monatomic layer placed on ferromagnetic iron. Our theoretical analysis indicates that electric quadrupole induction produces magnetic dipole moments and provides a large magnetic anisotropy change. In contrast with the inability of current designs to offer ultrahigh-density memory devices using electric-field-induced spin control, our findings enable a material design showing more than ten times larger anisotropy energy change for such a use and highlight a path in electric-field control of condensed matter.

Various poly(trialkyL3-(and 4)vinylbenzylammonium chloride)s were prepared and their antibacterial activities were assessed by the conventional spread plate method and the viable counting method. They are in general more active against Gram-positive bacteria such as Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus than against Gram-negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Aerobacter aerogenes and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Compounds with the longest alkyl chain studied (dodecyl) were found to exhibit particularly high activity, and this was ascribed to the contribution of the increased hydrophobicity of the compounds to the activity. The most significant finding was that the polymers are more active than the corresponding monomers. The higher activity of the polymers was discussed and interpreted in terms of their greater contribution to each elementary process in the cidal action: their favored adsorption onto the bacterial cell surface and the cytoplasmic membrane with subsequent disruption of its integrity.

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Accumulating evidence suggests that transcriptional regulation is required for maintenance of long-term memories (LTMs). Here we characterize global transcriptional and epigenetic changes that occur during LTM storage in the Drosophila mushroom bodies (MBs), structures important for memory. Although LTM formation requires the CREB transcription factor and its coactivator, CBP, subsequent early maintenance requires CREB and a different coactivator, CRTC. Late maintenance becomes CREB independent and instead requires the transcription factor Bx. Bx expression initially depends on CREB/CRTC activity, but later becomes CREB/CRTC independent. The timing of the CREB/CRTC early maintenance phase correlates with the time window for LTM extinction and we identify different subsets of CREB/CRTC target genes that are required for memory maintenance and extinction. Furthermore, we find that prolonging CREB/CRTC-dependent transcription extends the time window for LTM extinction. Our results demonstrate the dynamic nature of stored memory and its regulation by shifting transcription systems in the MBs.