Evaluation of Injured Axons Using Two-Photon Excited Fluorescence Microscopy after Spinal Cord Contusion Injury in YFP-H Line Mice

Elucidation of the process of degeneration of injured axons is important for the development of therapeutic modules for the treatment of spinal cord injuries. The aim of this study was to establish a method for time-lapse observation of injured axons in living animals after spinal cord contusion injury. YFP (yellow fluorescent protein)-H transgenic mice, which we used in this study, express fluorescence in their nerve fibers. Contusion damage to the spinal cord at the 11th vertebra was performed by IH (Infinite Horizon) impactor, which applied a pressure of 50 kdyn. The damaged spinal cords were re-exposed during the observation period under anesthesia, and then observed by two-photon excited fluorescence microscopy, which can observe deep regions of tissues including spinal cord axons. No significant morphological change of injured axons was observed immediately after injury. Three days after injury, the number of axons decreased, and residual axons were fragmented. Seven days after injury, only fragments were present in the damaged tissue. No hind-limb movement was observed during the observation period after injury. Despite the immediate paresis of hind-limbs following the contusion injury, the morphological degeneration of injured axons was delayed. This method may help clarification of pathophysiology of axon degeneration and development of therapeutic modules for the treatment of spinal cord injury.     

Pruritus in hemodialysis patients: Results from the Japanese Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (JDOPPS)

Pruritus affects many patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD). In this study, pruritus and its relationship to morbidity, quality of life (QoL), sleep quality, and patient laboratory measures were analyzed in a large sample of Japanese patients undergoing HD. Severity of patient‐reported pruritus symptoms experienced during a 4‐week period was collected from 6480 Japanese patients undergoing HD in three phases of the Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (DOPPS; 1996–2008; 60–65 study facilities/phase). Adjusted linear and logistic regressions were used to identify associations of pruritus with treatment parameters and QoL outcomes. Adjusted Cox regressions examined the influence of pruritus severity on mortality. Moderate to extreme pruritus was experienced by 44% of prevalent patients undergoing HD in the Japanese Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study. Many patient characteristics were significantly associated with pruritus, but this did not explain the large differences in pruritus among facilities (20–70%). Pruritus was slightly less common in patients starting HD than in patients on dialysis >1 year. Patients with moderate to extreme pruritus were more likely to feel drained (adjusted odds ratio = 2.2–5.8, P < 0.0001), have poor sleep quality (adjusted odds ratio = 1.9–3.7, P < 0.0001), and have QoL mental and physical composite scores 2.3–6.7 points lower (P < 0.0001) than patients with no/mild pruritus. Pruritus in patients undergoing HD was associated with a 23% higher mortality risk (P = 0.09). The many poor outcomes associated with pruritus underscore the need for better therapeutic agents to provide relief for the 40–50% of prevalent patients undergoing HD substantially affected by pruritus. Pruritus in new patients with end‐stage renal disease likely results from uremia or pre‐existing conditions (not HD per se), indicating the need to understand development of pruritus before end‐stage renal disease.     

A normal intensity level of psycho-physiological stress can benefit working memory performance at high load

In recent years, the effects of stress on adaptation and human performance have received considerable attention in medical literature and in occupational fields. In this study, we employed an acute psycho-physiological laboratory stressor, which is similar to real life stressful conditions and is capable of reliably eliciting the normal range of stress effects. The primary goal of the present study was to investigate whether the effect of stress on working memory performance depends on the number of images that need to be maintained (memory load), and the duration of the retention interval. By manipulating the number of images and the length of the retention interval of the modified Stenberg working memory test, we altered the task difficulty and examined the consequent effects on behavior. Twelve young students were submitted to a stressful condition one day and a control condition on another day. The stressor used included a physiological factor (socially evaluated cold pressor test) and a psychosocial factor (modified version of trier social stress test). The sympathetic nervous system and hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis activation were assessed by heart rate and salivary cortisol. It was found that this procedure, which involves exposure to a normal intensity level of psycho-physiological stress, can demonstrate the beneficial effect of stress on reaction time without decreasing accuracy at high memory loads, but not at low memory loads.     

R&D Needs-Drying of Sludges

ABSTRACT

Sludge management is very important subject for the environmental issue in many industrialized countries, because its generated volume is the largest in all generated wastes. In sludge management field, role of drying is becoming more needful as increase of difficulty for sludge disposal and need for sludge drying is expected in the future.

In this paper, the present status of drying of construction sludge, food industry sludge and municipal sludge are mentioned as concrete examples.

To respond these needs, it is necessary to advance further R & D     

Fading of azo dyes with sodium sulphite

The fading behaviour of a variety of naphthol azo dyes with an excess of sodium sulphite was investigated spectrophotometrically at 30°C in the pH range from 3 to 10. The fading occurred most efficiently under neutral conditions. The azo dyes employed were grouped distinctly into the following three types on basis of the observed spectroscopic characteristics: addition type (A-type), in which the dyes had relatively faster rates had isosbestic points at near 440 nm; reduction type (R-type), in which the dyes had slower fading rates and no clear isosbestic point; and no reaction type (N-type), in which the dyes showed no fading under the experimental conditions. The results suggested that the fading of the azo dyes with sodium sulphite occurred through a Michael addition of a sulphite ion to a conjugate active enone moiety in the hydrazone tautomer (A-type), or to a conjugate iminone moiety in the same tautomer (R-type).     

Effect of Maitake (Grifola frondosa) Mushroom Powder on Bread Properties

ABSTRACT: Maitake mushroom powder drastically decreased dough strength in Brabender farinography and was also effective in deteriorating bread-making properties (bread height and specific volume). These effects of maitake on farinograph values and bread-making properties were lost by boiling maitake/water suspensions or by adding EDTA, suggesting that the deteriorative effects by maitake may be caused by a metal protease. Flour dough that contained maitake was treated with 1% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and extracted proteins were subjected to SE-HPLC and SDS-PAGE. The range of high-molecular-weight (HMW) protein in those profiles gradually decreased with an increase of maitake, and HMW protein/total protein correlated well with bread height but did not have a clear effect on specific volume.     

分子量不同的奥德里奇腐植酸的官能团及其反应活性

研究了奥德里奇公司提供的腐植酸和钴60的络合能力与腐植酸分子大小的关系以及腐植酸的结构对两者络合作用的影响。在腐植酸浓度较低时,钴60与分子量大于100000 Da[HA(100)]的腐植酸相互作用,随着腐植酸浓度的增加,钴60倾向于与分子量在30000~100000 Da[HA(30~100)]之间的腐植酸相互作用。本研究用FTIR(傅里叶变换红外光谱),13C核磁共振光谱和酸碱滴定曲线表征分离出来的HA(100)和HA(30~100)。实验发现,HA(10)具有脂肪支链结构,-COOH较小,且具有较大的质子交换能力,该腐植酸成分在络合过程中共价键作用较小,离子交换作用起主要作用。此外,支链卷曲造成的空间位阻作用能影响两者的络合作用。HA(30~100)结构中以芳香-COOH和-OH为主,因此与钴60相互作用是以形成共价键为主,本研究用XPS测定了钴和腐植酸间的结合能,其结果证实了前面的假设。     

Evaluation of Solubility and the Gas-Liquid Equilibrium Coefficient of High Concentration Gaseous Ozone to Water

Solubility and the gas-liquid equilibrium coefficient of gaseous ozone to water were examined under higher concentrations of supplied gaseous ozone up to 100 mg/L. The experimental and modeling approach was employed to evaluate the gas-liquid equilibrium coefficients and mass transfer of ozone. The gas-liquid equilibrium coefficients were evaluated as 0.35, 0.31 and 0.25 (mg/L-liquid)/(mg/L-gas) at 15, 20 and 30 °C, respectively. These gas-liquid equilibrium coefficients are applicable for the wide concentration range of supplied ozone gas up to 100 mg/L. The calculation result by a model which has terms of the mass transfer of ozone, the gas-liquid equilibrium coefficient and the rate of ozone self-decomposition, was examined and had a good agreement with the experimental data over the wide range of temperatures, pHs, inorganic carbon concentrations and supplied ozone gas concentrations. The rate of ozone self-decomposition evaluated separately from this study was employed for the calculation. We can conclude that absorption of gaseous ozone to water is expressed by the three terms mentioned above when the rate of ozone self-decomposition is evaluated properly. In sensitive analysis, we elucidated that the rate of ozone self-decomposition affected strongly on the concentration of dissolved ozone at steady-state under higher concentration of supplied gaseous ozone.     

Urinary phthalate monoesters and endometriosis in infertile Japanese women

Phthalates may act as an estrogen and are a potential risk factor for estrogen-related diseases such as endometriosis. We assessed the association between phthalate exposure and endometriosis in 166 consecutive women who presented at a university hospital for consultation regarding infertility. The subjects were interviewed and provided a urine specimen prior to a laparoscopic diagnosis of endometriosis. They were then categorized by the severity of endometriosis as controls (stages 0-I) and cases (stages II-IV). Urinary concentrations of the phthalate metabolites monoethyl phthalate, mono-n-butyl phthalate, monobenzyl phthalate, mono(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP), mono(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl) phthalate, and mono(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate were measured in 57 cases and 80 controls using high-performance liquid chromatography isotope-dilution tandem mass spectrometry. Adjusted odds ratios for endometriosis in relation to dichotomized individual phthalate metabolites (standardized for creatinine) were calculated. No significant association between endometriosis and any urinary creatinine-adjusted phthalate monoester was seen. Adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) for higher dichotomized MEHP by endometriosis was 1.57 (0.74-3.30). No monotonic trend was seen in urinary creatinine-adjusted concentration of phthalate metabolites by endometriosis stage (p = 0.23-0.90). Our results do not support the hypothesis that higher urinary concentrations of phthalate metabolites are associated with the risk of endometriosis in infertile Japanese women.