Determination of captafol,cyhexatin, 1-naphthylacetic acid and quintozene in apple,Japanese pear and melon by simultaneous extraction

A simple and rapid method is described for the determination of the non-registered pesticides, captafol, quintozene (PCNB), cyhexatin and 1-naphthylacetic acid (NAA), in fruits. These pesticides were extracted with acidified acetone, then captafol and PCNB were purified with a Florisil mini column and analyzed by GC-ECD. Cyhexatin was ethylated with ethylmagnesium bromide, and the ethyl derivative was analyzed by GC-FPD (Sn filter). NAA was purified with liquid-liquid extraction and determined by HPLC equipped with a fluorescence detector. These analytes were identified with GC/MS or LC/MS. The minimum identified concentration of the pesticides was below 0.2 ng per injection, which corresponds to a detection limit of below 0.02 microgram/g in the original samples. Recoveries of the pesticides spiked at 0.1 microgram/g into apple, Japanese pear and melon were greater than 61%.     

Roasting effects on the distribution of tocopherols and phospholipids within each structural part and section of soybeans

To clarify the effects of microwave roasting on the distribution of tocopherols and FA of phospholipids within soybeans, whole soybeans (Glycine max) were treated by microwave and further evaluted as compared to a raw sample. Tocopherol homologs, measured using HPLC, and phospholipid profiles, quantified with GC, were determined in the seed coat, the embryonic axis, and selections of cotyledons separated from three cultivars. The tocopherols were predominantly detected in the axis, followed by the cotyledons, and then very little in the coat. As much as 25% of the individual tocopherols originally present in the coat were lost at 12 min of roasting, whereas <25% was lost in the cotyledons and the axis after 20 min of roasting. The greatest rate of phospholipid loss (P<0.05) was observed in PE, followed by PC and PI, and their changing patterns were more pronounced in the coat than in the cotyledons or the axis. Thus, tocopherol content and phospholipid profiles change with microwave roasting according to tissue.     

Adaptive Ray‐bundle Tracing with Memory Usage Prediction: Efficient Global Illumination in Large Scenes

This paper proposes an adaptive rendering technique for ray‐bundle tracing. Ray‐bundle tracing can be done by per‐pixel linked‐list construction on a GPU rasterization pipeline. This rasterization based approach offers significant benefits for the efficient generation of light maps (e.g., hardware acceleration, tessellation, and recycling of shaders used in real‐time graphics). However, it is inapplicable to large and complex scenes due to the limited capacity of the GPU memory because it requires a high‐resolution frame buffer and high‐capacity node buffer for the linked‐lists. In addition, memory overflow can potentially occur on the per‐pixel linked‐list since the memory usage of the lists is usually unknown before the rendering process. We introduce an adaptive tiling technique with memory usage prediction. Our method uses an appropriately tiled frame buffer, thus eliminating almost all of the overflow risks thanks to our adaptive tile subdivision scheme. Using this technique, we are able to render high‐quality light maps of large and complex scenes which cannot be computed using previous ray‐bundle based methods.     

Lateral Inhomogeneity in the Electronic Structure of a Conjugated Poly(3‐hexylthiophene) Thin Film

How annealing influences the morphology of a highly regioregular poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (RR‐P3HT) film at the substrate interface as well as the lateral inhomogeneity in the electronic structure of the film are elucidated. Whereas previous studies have reported that high‐molecular‐weight (MW) RR‐P3HT films tend to show low crystallinity even after annealing, it is found that high‐MW RR‐P3HT does show high crystallinity after annealing at high temperature for a long time. Photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM), X‐ray photoemission spectroscopy, and ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy results clearly resolve a considerable lateral inhomogeneity in the morphology of RR‐P3HT film, which results in a variation of the electronic structure depending on the local crystallinity. The PEEM results show how annealing facilitates crystal growth in a high‐MW RR‐P3HT film.     

Effect of Microstructure on the Radioluminescence and Transparency of Ce-Doped Strontium Hafnate Ceramics

In this paper we report on the fabrication and characterization of SrHfO(3):Ce ceramics. Powders were prepared by solid-state synthesis using metal oxides and carbonates. X-ray diffraction measurements showed that phase-pure SrHfO(3) is formed at 1200°C. Inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy confirmed the purity and composition of each batch. SrHfO(3) exhibits several phase changes in the solid, but this does not appear to be detrimental to the ceramics. Microprobe experiments showed uniform elemental grain composition, whereas aluminum added as charge compensation for trivalent cerium congregated at grain boundaries and triple points. Radioluminescence spectra revealed that the light yield decreases when the concentration of excess Sr increases. The decrease in the light yield may be related to the change of Ce(3+) into Ce(4+) ions. For stoichiometric SrHfO(3):Ce, the light yield is about four times that of bismuth germanate (BGO), the conventional benchmark, indicating great potential for many scintillator applications.     

New bleeding model of additives in a polypropylene film under atmospheric pressure II

Many additives are commercially used to add more favorable qualities to films. The bleeding process by which the additive in a film comes to the surface is considered. A new bleeding model of additives in a polypropylene film under atmospheric pressure was investigated. Solubility and diffusion are found to be important for explaining this bleeding process. It was found that the experimental results were explained more precisely by assuming a two‐step transport process between the crystalline regions and the amorphous ones. The solubilities and diffusion coefficients of UV‐stabilizers such as 2‐(2H‐benzotriazol‐2‐yl)‐4‐(1,1,3,3‐tetramethylbutyl)phenol and 2‐(2H‐benzotriazol‐2‐yl)‐4‐methylphenol were determined at 40°C. The difference between the saturation solubilities and the diffusion coefficients of UV‐stabilizers was discussed by comparing with the results of molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007     

In vitro spontaneous and UVB-induced lymphocyte apoptosis are not specific to SLE

We studied in vitro spontaneous and ultraviolet light (UV)-induced lymphocyte apoptosis in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE, n = 11), cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE, n = 8), and other collagen diseases (n = 6), as well as normal individuals (n = 6). Apoptosis was confirmed by the presence of a 180 bp DNA ladder on gel electrophoresis. UVB-induced apoptosis was observed in 4 of 11 patients with SLE (36.3%), 3 of 8 patients with CLE (37.5%) and 2 of 6 patients (33.3%) with other collagen diseases. There was no clinical correlation between clinical photosensitivity and UV-induced apoptosis. Similarly, spontaneous apoptosis was also found in lymphocytes from patients with diseases other than SLE. No apoptosis was found in normal subjects with or without UVB irradiation (25 mJ/cm2). These data suggest that UV-induced lymphocyte apoptosis may not be specific to SLE but may be common in collagen diseases.     

Supramolecular Ligands for Histone Tails by Employing a Multivalent Display of Trisulfonated Calix[4]arenes

Post‐translational modification of histone tails plays critical roles in gene regulation. Thus, molecules recognizing histone tails and controlling their epigenetic modification are desirable as biochemical tools to elucidate regulatory mechanisms. There are, however, only a few synthetic ligands that bind to histone tails with substantial affinity. We report CA2 and CA3, which exhibited sub‐micromolar affinity to histone tails (especially tails with a trimethylated lysine). Multivalent display of trisulfonated calix[4]arene was important for strong binding. CA2 was applicable not only to synthetic tail peptides but also to endogenous histone proteins, and was successfully used to pull‐down endogenous histones from nuclear extract. These findings indicate the utility of these supramolecular ligands as biochemical tools for studying chromatin regulator protein and as a targeting motif in ligand‐directed catalysis to control epigenetic modifications.     

Experimental analysis for extrusion screw geometry to produce highly transparent polypropylene sheets

The observation was experimentally conducted by using many screws with various geometries to obtain a highly transparent polypropylene melt resin sheet. The pressure distribution in the extruder, melt temperature profile across melt flow, the extruder throughput and the specific energy consumption were monitored. In a preliminary evaluation, transparent melt web was obtained in a simple straight channel depth screw and a straight channel depth screw with a torpedo type barrier section. The transparency of melted resin sheet was obtained by the screw geometry so that the specific energy consumption was small and the melted temperature was low. Based on these results and taking a wide applicability for a large size extruder of the production machine into consideration, the screw of gently tapered compression with a torpedo type barrier section was selected as the basic design of the screw geometry to satisfy both the transparency and the extrusion stability. The screw geometry optimization was conducted using the analysis of melting performance by the cooling experiment and the pressure pattern. As a result, the screw geometry to satisfy a low external haze and an extrusion stability under higher throughput conditions was designed. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2010. © 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Preparation and evaluation of a novel wound dressing sheet comprised of β-glucan–chitosan complex

A transparent wound dressing sheet was obtained by forming a complex between β-glucan and chitosan (CS). These materials were chosen for their biocompatible, bioabsorbable, and biodegradable properties, and they were expected to promote the therapeutic efficacy of the dressing by increasing the wound healing response. The therapeutic efficacy of the β-glucan–CS complex sheet as a wound dressing was evaluated in wounds created on the dorsal surfaces of mice. β-glucan–CS complex sheets demonstrated therapeutic efficacies comparable or superior to that of Beschitin®W, a commercial wound dressing made from CS. Additionally, the β-glucan–CS complex sheet did not dissolve during the application period, did not adhere to wounds, and was easy to remove. Cumulatively, these results indicate that β-glucan–CS complex sheets are a promising new wound dressing product.