Effect of dietary α-linolenate/linoleate balance on endotoxin-induced hepatitis in mice

Mice were fed diets with three different ratios of α-linolenate (18∶−3) to linoleate (18∶2n−6), and the severity of hepatitis during endotoxic shock was compared. Dietary enrichment with α-linolenate increased the severity of hepatitis and the mortality induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in combination with D-galactosamine (GalN). Differences in the dietary α-linolenate/linoleate balance were mainly reflected in the levels of arachidonate and eicosapenatenoate in liver phospholipids. Pretreatement of mice with indomethacin was found to also enhance the severity of GalN/LPS-hepatitis. This indicated that cyclooxygenase products of arachidonate may suppress the development of GalN/LPS-hepatitis. The enhancement by high α-linolenate diets was not observed when a lethal dose of LPS in the absence of GalN was given. Our results indicate that there are pathophysiological conditions of endotoxin-induced hepatitis under which cyclooxygenase products of arachidonate play protective roles.     

Static and dynamic deformation mechanisms of a high-density polyethylene having rownucleated crystalline texture of a-axis orientation as observed by orientation distribution function of crystallites

The rheo-optical properties of a high-density polyethylene having a row-nucleated crystalline texture of a-axis orientation were investigated in the machine direction (MD) and transverse direction (TD) of fabricating the specimen. The tensile complex dynamic compliance function $\text{J1}$ displays two dispersions designated as the α₂ and α₂ mechanical retardation processes with activation energies of about 21 and 35 kcal mol^?1, respectively, for both MD and TD specimens, and the complex dynamic stress-optical coefficient function $\text{M1}$ exhibits a single discrete dispersion designated as the α optical retardation process with an activation energy of about 24 kcal mol^?1 for both specimens over the same frequency and temperature ranges as those covered for the dynamic mechanical measurements. The real and imaginary components of $\text{M1}$ converge from positive values to almost zero at the highest frequencies and lowest temperatures covered for both specimens, with the exception of the real component of the MD specimen which converges to a small but definitely negative value. The analysis of this anomalous behaviour of the MD specimen in terms of the optical retardation time spectrum has ascribed the negative convergence to a negative form birefringence that arises from a dynamic lamellar splaying or bending process responding in phase with the dynamic bulk stress. The dynamic X-ray diffraction studies have revealed the α optical dispersion and possibly the α mechanical dispersion to be mostly attributed to the crystal orientation dispersions involving intralamellar shearing processes, i.e. detwisting and tilting processes of the lamellar segments for the MD and TD specimens, respectively. The optical dispersion, if any, associated with the lamellar splaying or bending process may be expected at higher frequencies or lower temperatures than those covered here to assign the β mechanical dispersion to the interlamellar shearing process.     

Molten-Salt Synthesis of Ba1–xPbxTiO3 in the System BaTiO3–PbCl2

Ba_{1– x} Pb _x TiO₃ powder with a fixed composition was prepared by the reaction of BaTiO₃ powders with molten PbCl₂at various PbCl₂/BaTiO₃ molar ratios at 600° and 800°C in a nitrogen atmosphere. When 0.1 μm powder was used, the reaction was finished when x = 0.9. Two phases of BaTiO₃and a solid solution of Ba_{1– x} Pb _x TiO₃ coexisted, but the final phase gave a solid solution of Ba_{1– x} Pb _x TiO₃ at 800°C. When 0.5 μm powder was used, the two phases coexisted in the products at 600°C at PbCl₂/BaTiO₃= 1.0. A sintered compact of Ba_{1– x} Pb _x TiO₃ powders solid solution was prepared by hot isostatic pressing, and its dielectric constant was measured in the temperature range 20°–550°C.     

Formation of a thiamine disulfide complex with fatty acid: Mechanism of formation of the complex

The formation of complexes between thiamine disulfide (TDS) orO-acetyl thiamine disulfide (O-acetyl TDS) and fatty acid or fatty acid methyl ester in methanol has been studied by fluorescence quenching and¹³C NMR relaxation (T₁) measurements. The association constants (K-values) of TDS andO-acetyl TDS with fatty acids (from 11∶0 to 18∶0, and 18∶1, 18∶2, 18∶3 and 20∶4) and fatty acid methyl esters have been determined. These values do not depend on either the number of carbon atoms or the degree of unsaturation of the fatty acid. The K-values of TDS andO-acetyl TDS with fatty acid were 7.8 M⁻¹ and 5.1 M⁻¹, respectively. The K-values of TDS andO-acetyl TDS with fatty acid methyl ester were very small. These results show that the-OH moiety in TDS and the-COOH moiety in the fatty acid are necessary for formation of the complex     

Electrode heat balances of electrochemical cells: application to NaCl electrolysis

This paper deals with a method of estimating single electrode heat balances during the electrolysis of molten NaCl-ZnCl₂ in a cell using a-alumina diaphragm. By measuring the thermoelectric power of the thermogalvanic cells: (T) Na/-alumina/NaCl-ZnCl₂/-alumina/Na(T+dT) and (T) C,Cl₂/NaCl-ZnCl₂/Cl₂,C(T+dT) the single electrode Peltier heat for sodium deposition and for chlorine evolution at 370° C were estimated to be –0.026±0.001 JC^–1 and+0.614±0.096 J C^–1, respectively.     

Evaluation of two-dimensional strain distribution by STEM/NBD

We proposed a strain mapping technique by Nano Beam electron Diffraction (NBD) combined with an energy filter (EF) and a scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) function. The STEM function improves the accuracy of a position where a diffraction pattern is acquired. The EF excludes inelastic scattering and enables novel numerical processing for the appropriate measurement of distances between diffraction disks. Using this technique, strain distributions were measured for two different types of p-MOSFETs, i.e., source/drain regions of each MOSFET is composed of different types of silicide, and the difference of their strain distributions in the channel region was confirmed. The proposed method was able to clarify that the strain distributions are quite different depending on the silicide materials even if the exterior of the MOSFETs was almost identical.     

Quantitative Determination of Neonicotinoid Insecticide Thiamethoxam in Agricultural Samples: a Comparative Verification Between High-Performance Liquid Chromatography and Monoclonal Antibody-Based Immunoassay

This work describes the analytical performance of the newly developed kit-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for neonicotinoid insecticide thiamethoxam to effectively exploit as a rapid and simple detection system for pesticide residue on the scenes of the agricultural production and distribution. The ELISA represents the satisfactory analytical characteristics (IC₅₀ value, 0.72 ng mL^?1; limit of detection, 0.1 ng mL^?1) to detect thiamethoxam at the maximum residue limits or thereabout in samples. For the ELISA analysis, methanol that showed the lowest influence on the assay performance was selected as the best extractant, and the final concentration in the well could be up to 5 % (v/v) without any negative influence on the ELISA. Dilution of sample extracts with water was effective in eliminating matrix interference. Average recoveries from thiamethoxam-spiked agricultural samples were >88 % using a rapid and simple extraction method with hand shaking for 5 min. Analytical results obtained from the ELISA were comparable to those obtained from the conventional HPLC method. These findings strongly indicate that the proposed kit-based ELISA for determination of thiamethoxam residue in agricultural samples may be routinely employed as a rapid, simple, and quantitative preliminary screening method for the monitoring of safety of agricultural products.     

Temperature dependence of open-circuit voltage in dye-sensitized solar cells

Temperature, T, dependence of open-circuit voltage, V_oc, was investigated in home-assembled and maker-trial dye-sensitized solar cells, which had wide variety in V_oc, i.e. 600–800 mV. A linear decrease of V_oc was observed with increasing T; all these cells had a slope of about ?2.5 mV/°C, irrespective of the V_ocs in the STC. The mechanism of the T dependence of V_oc was discussed with the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, EIS. Analyses of EIS data with a newly derived model revealed that this dependence is primarily ascribed to a shift of the TiO₂ conduction band.