Separation and Determination of Functional Complex Lipids from Chicken Skin

Complex lipids including sphingolipid and plasmalogens were expected to be used as functional supplement, although their physiological activities have not been fully demonstrated. Although these complex lipids exist voluminously in brain and nervous tissues, hardly any animal resources of these lipids have been used since the outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy. Thus, the chemical composition and concentration method of complex lipids from the skin of mature laying hens, a huge amount of which is wasted every year, has been investigated. Total lipid yield (32 g/100 g) prepared from chicken skin contained 2% complex lipids. Total lipids predominantly consisted of triacylglycerol (TAG), with phosphatidylcholine, sphingomyelin (SM) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) generally predominant as complex lipids. PE was primarily plasmalogens (62 mol%), of which arachidonic acid (47.6 mol%) and docosahexaenoic acid (11.2 mol%) were the predominant fatty acids. The component sphingoid base of sphingomyelin was almost totally 4-trans sphingenine (sphingosine). The complex lipids were able to be separated from an ethanol extract of minced skin in good yield by solvent fractionation with a hexane/ethanol system. Moreover, highly purified SM (>95 wt%) was prepared by a combination of solvent fractionation and alkaline/acidic hydrolysis from the ethanol extract. Thus, it was shown that culled chicken skin could be a potential resource of the antioxidant phospholipid plasmalogens and human-type sphingolipid.     

Combined Damping Effect of Two Dampers on a Stay Cable

The combined effect of two dampers, either on the same end or opposite ends of a stay cable, is analytically studied in this paper. By considering small distances of the dampers from the anchorages, an asymptotic formula for the modal damping ratio of the cable is derived from which the total damping effect is presented in an explicit form. It is shown that when two dampers are installed at opposite ends of the cable, the total damping effect is asymptotically the sum of the contributions from single dampers. On the contrast, if two dampers are at the same end, there is no advantage of increasing the maximum modal damping in the cable over the use of a single damper.     

Low-Temperature Fabrication of Transparent Yttrium Aluminum Garnet (YAG) Ceramics without Additives

A carbonate precursor of yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) with an approximate composition of NH₄AlY_0.6(CO₃)_1.9(OH)₂·0.9H₂O was synthesized via a coprecipitation method from a mixed solution of ammonium aluminum sulfate and yttrium nitrate, using ammonium hydrogen carbonate as the precipitant. The precursor precipitate was characterized using chemical analysis, differential thermal analysis/thermogravimetry, X-ray diffractometry, and scanning electron microscopy. The sinterability of the YAG powders was evaluated by sintering at a constant rate of heating in air and vacuum sintering. The results showed that the precursor completely transforms to YAG at ∼1000°C via the formation of a yttrium aluminate perovskite (YAP) phase. YAG powders obtained by calcining the precursor at temperatures of ≤1200°C were highly sinterable and could be densified to transparency under vacuum at 1700°C in 1 h without additives.     

Wet-Chemical Routes Leading to Scandia Nanopowders

Two wet-chemical routes have been used to synthesize Sc₂O₃ nanopowders from nitrate solutions employing ammonia water (AW) and ammonium hydrogen carbonate (AHC) as the precipitants. The precursors and the resultant oxides are characterized by elemental analysis, X-ray diffractometry, differential thermal analysis/thermogravimetry, high-resolution scanning electron microscopy, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis. Crystalline γ-ScOOH· n H₂O ( n ≈ 0.5) is the only phase obtained by the AW method. This phase dehydrates to Sc₂O₃ at ∼400°C, yielding hard aggregated nanocrystalline Sc₂O₃ powders. Three types of precursors have been synthesized by the AHC method, depending on the AHC/Sc³⁺ molar ratio ( R ): amorphous basic carbonate [Sc(OH)CO₃·H₂O] at R ≤ 3, crystalline double carbonate [(NH₄)Sc(CO₃)₂·H₂O] at R ≥ 4, and a mixture of the two phases at 3 < R < 4. Among these precursors, only the basic carbonate shows spherical particle morphology, ultrafine particle size (∼50 nm), and weak agglomeration. Sc₂O₃ nanopowders (∼28 nm) with high surface area (∼49 m²/g) have been prepared by calcining the basic carbonate at 700°C for 2 h.     

Preparation of the bifidus milk powder

Malt extract and skim milk were used as the culture medium for bifidobacteria. Bifidobacterium longum E194b (ATCC 15707) selected from among four strains grew well in a nitrogen atmosphere regardless of the initial dissolved oxygen level of the culture medium. The optimum temperature range for growth was 34 to 37 degrees C. The viable cell numbers of Bifidobacterium in freeze-dried powder from neutralized bifidus milk were 20 times those found in powder from nonneutralized milk after storage for 30 d at 35 degrees C. The optimum residual water content in the powder for bacterial stability was about 3.5% or less. Bifidus milk powder prepared under these optimum conditions contained at least one billion viable cells even after storage for 30 d at 35 degrees C. The powder must be sealed with material made of aluminium for storage.     

Skeletal Muscle Depletion Predicts the Prognosis of Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treated with Sorafenib

The aim of this study was to determine whether skeletal muscle depletion predicts the prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) that is being treated with sorafenib. We evaluated 40 consecutive HCC patients who received sorafenib treatment. The skeletal muscle cross-sectional area was measured by computed tomography at the third lumbar vertebra (L3), from which the L3 skeletal muscle index (L3 SMI) was obtained. The factors contributing to overall survival, sorafenib dose reduction, and discontinuation of sorafenib were analyzed using the Cox proportional hazards model. L3 SMI (p = 0.020) and log (α-fetoprotein (AFP)) (p = 0.010) were identified as independent prognostic factors in HCC patients treated with sorafenib. The initial dose of sorafenib (p = 0.008) was an independent risk factor for sorafenib dose reduction, and log (AFP) (p = 0.008) was the only significant risk factor for the discontinuation of this drug. L3 SMI was not a risk factor for either dose reduction (p = 0.423) or the discontinuation (p = 0.132) of sorafenib. A multiple linear regression analysis determined the following relationship between skeletal muscle mass (assessed as L3 SMI) and the explanatory factors: L3 SMI = −0.1896 × (Age) − 10.3441 × (Child-Pugh score) − 9.3922 × (log (AFP)) + 1.6139 × (log (AFP)) × (Child-Pugh score) + 112.9166. Skeletal muscle depletion is inversely associated with age, Child-Pugh score, and log (AFP). Moreover, it is an independent prognostic factor for HCC patients treated with sorafenib.     

Scavenging of Siliceous Grain-Boundary Phase of 8-mol%-Ytterbia-Stabilized Zirconia without Additive

The grain-boundary conductivity (ς_gb) of 8-mol%-ytterbia-stabilized zirconia increased markedly with heat treatment between 1000° and 1300°C with a slow heating rate (0.1°C/min) before sintering. The extent of the ς_gb improvement was the same or larger than that via Al₂O₃ addition. The heat treatment did not affect the grain-interior conduction when sintered at 1600°C, while Al₂O₃-derived scavenging significantly did, given the larger increment of total conductivity in the heat-treated sample. The formation of a silicon-containing phase in a discrete form was suggested as a possible route of scavenging the resistive phase from the correlation between average grain size and ς_gb.     

Detection of Mycoplasma Contamination in Transplanted Retinal Cells by Rapid and Sensitive Polymerase Chain Reaction Test

Contamination of cells/tissues by infectious pathogens (e.g., fungi, viruses, or bacteria, including mycoplasma) is a major problem in cell-based transplantation. In this study, we tested a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method to provide rapid, simple, and sensitive detection of mycoplasma contamination in laboratory cultures for clinical use. This mycoplasma PCR system covers the Mycoplasma species (spp.) listed for testing in the 17th revision of the Japanese Pharmacopoeia, and we designed it for use in transplantable retinal cells. Here, we analyzed mycoplasma contamination in induced pluripotent stem cell (iPS cell)-derived transplantable retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells. In the spike tests to RPE cells with nine species of class Mollicutes bacteria, including seven Mycoplasma spp. and one of each Acholeplasma spp. and Ureaplasma spp., contamination at the concentration of 100 and 10 CFU/mL were detected with 100% probability in all cases, while 1 CFU/mL had a detection rate of 0–75%. DNA prepared from bacteria species other than class Mollicutes species was not detectable, indicating the specificity of this PCR. While iPS cells and iPS-RPE cells established in our laboratory were all negative by this PCR, some of the commercially available cell lines were positive. Cells for transplantation should never have infection, as once pathogens are implanted into the eyes, they can cause severe intraocular inflammation. Thus, it is imperative to monitor for infections in the transplants, although generally, mycoplasma infection is difficult to detect.     

Control of Wind-Induced Self-Excited Oscillations by Transfer of Internal Energy to Higher Modes of Vibration. I: Analysis in Two Degrees of Freedom

This paper and its companion paper present a new remedy to control wind-induced self-excited oscillation of long and flexible structures with low-internal damping, such as stay cables in cable-stayed bridges. A simple magnetic or mechanical device is used to disturb the cable motion in the lower modes of vibration and thus to transfer a portion of the internal energy of the system from the lower modes to higher modes. Because higher modes generally have high-positive aerodynamic damping when lower modes are excited by wind, the transferred energy is dissipated during the decay of high-frequency vibration. The present paper aims at capturing the fundamentals of energy transfer and dissipation through a detailed theoretical analysis based on a simplified model: A two-degree-of-freedom system with galloping-type self-exciting wind forces. The efficiency to reduce the amplitude of oscillation with a passive device and two types of semiactive devices is demonstrated using energy considerations. Results of numerical simulations are also presented.     

Down-scattered neutron imaging detector for areal density measurement of inertial confinement fusion

A custom developed (6)Li glass scintillator (APLF80+3Pr) for down-scattered neutron diagnostics in inertial confinement fusion experiments is presented. (6)Li provides an enhanced sensitivity for down-scattered neutrons in DD fusion and its experimentally observed 5-6 ns response time fulfills the requirement for down-scattered neutron detectors. A time-of-flight detector operating in the current mode using the APLF80+3Pr was designed and its feasibility observing down-scattered neutrons was demonstrated. Furthermore, a prototype design for a down-scattered neutron imaging detector was also demonstrated. This material promises viability as a future down-scattered neutron detector for the National Ignition Facility.