Excited-State THz Vibrations in Aggregates of PtII Complexes Contribute to the Enhancement of Near-Infrared Emission Efficiencies.

The exploration of deactivation mechanisms for near-infrared(NIR)-emissive organic molecules has been a key issue in chemistry, materials science and molecular biology. In this study, based on transient absorption spectroscopy and transient grating photoluminescence spectroscopy, we demonstrate that the aggregated PtII complex 4H (efficient NIR emitter) exhibits collective out-of-plane motions with a frequency of 32 cm-1 (0.96 THz) in the excited states. Importantly, similar THz characteristics were also observed in analogous PtII complexes with prominent NIR emission efficiency. The conservation of THz motions enables excited-state deactivation to proceed along low-frequency vibrational coordinates, contributing to the suppression of nonradiative decay and remarkable NIR emission. These novel results highlight the significance of excited-state vibrations in nonradiative processes, which serve as a benchmark for improving device performance.

Vortex beam assisted energy up-scaling for multiple-plate compression with a single spiral phase plate.

The vortex beam (Laguerre-Gaussian, LG10 mode) is employed to alleviate crystal damage in multiple-plate continuum generation. We successfully compressed 190-fs, 1030-nm pulses to 42 fs with 590 µJ input pulse energy, which is 5.5 times higher than that obtained by a Gaussian beam setup of the same footprint. High throughput (86%) and high intensity-weighted beam homogeneity (>98%) have also been achieved. This experiment confirms the great potential of beam shaping in energy up-scaling of nonlinear pulse compression.

Rhizobium alvei sp. nov., isolated from a freshwater river.

A bacterial strain designated TNR-22(T) was isolated from a freshwater river in Taiwan and characterized using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. Cells of strain TNR-22(T) were facultatively anaerobic, Gram-stain-negative, rod-shaped, motile by a single polar flagellum and formed cream-coloured colonies. Growth occurred at 4-45 °C (optimum, 25-30 °C), with 0-1.0 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 0.5 %) and at pH 7.0-8.0 (optimum, pH 7.0). Strain TNR-22(T) did not form nodules on Macroptilium atropurpureum. The nifH gene encoding denitrogenase reductase was not detected by PCR. The major fatty acids (>10 %) of strain TNR-22(T) were C18 : 1ω7c and C16 : 0. The DNA G+C content was 60.3 mol%. The polar lipid profile consisted of a mixture of phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine, diphosphatidylglycerol, an uncharacterized aminoglycolipid and an uncharacterized phospholipid. Comparative analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain TNR-22(T) constituted a distinct branch within the genus Rhizobium, showing the highest level of sequence similarity with Rhizobium rosettiformans W3(T) (96.3 %). Phenotypic characteristics of the novel strain also differed from those of the most closely related species of the genus Rhizobium. On the basis of the genotypic, chemotaxonomic and phenotypic data, strain TNR-22(T) represents a novel species in the genus Rhizobium, for which the name Rhizobium alvei sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is TNR-22(T) ( = BCRC 80408(T) = LMG 26895(T) = KCTC 23919(T)).

Tepidimonas fonticaldi sp. nov., a slightly thermophilic betaproteobacterium isolated from a hot spring.

A slightly thermophilic bacterial strain, designated AT-A2(T), was isolated from a hot spring water sample taken from the Antun hot spring in Taiwan and characterized using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. Cells of strain AT-A2(T) were aerobic, Gram-negative, motile by a single polar flagellum and formed non-pigmented colonies. Growth occurred at 35-60 °C (optimum, 55 °C), with 0-1.0 % NaCl (optimum, 0.2 %) and at pH 7.0-9.0 (optimum, pH 7.0). Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain AT-A2(T) belonged to the genus Tepidimonas and its closest neighbour was Tepidimonas thermarum AA-1(T) with a sequence similarity of 97.5 %. The predominant cellular fatty acids were C16 : 0 (40.2 %), summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω7c and/or C16 : 1ω6c; 20.1 %) and C17 : 0 cyclo (11.5 %). The major respiratory quinone was Q-8. The polar lipid profile consisted of phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, an uncharacterized aminolipid and several uncharacterized phospholipids. The DNA G+C content of strain AT-A2(T) was 70.1 mol%. The mean level of DNA-DNA relatedness between strain AT-A2(T) and Tepidimonas thermarum AA-1(T) was 23.9 %. On the basis of the phylogenetic and phenotypic data, strain AT-A2(T) should be classified as representing a novel species, for which the name Tepidimonas fonticaldi sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is AT-A2(T) ( = LMG 26746(T) = KCTC 23862(T) = BCRC 80391(T)).