Isolation and analysis of age-related fluorescent substances in rat testes

Fluorescent substances were extracted from rat testicular tissue with 2,2-dimethoxypropane (DMP) and analyzed by 2-dimensional thin layer chromatography (TLC). One substance that accumulated with increasing age of the animals was isolated and analyzed quantitatively by spectrophotofluorometry using quinine sulfate as a standard. This substance, which was designated as an age-related fluorescent substance (ARFS), exhibited an excitation maximum at 355 nm and an emission maximum at 490 nm. Its fluorescence was quenched by metal chelators and at alkaline pH, indicating it contained a conjugated Schiff base structure. Quantitative analysis of this substance in the testes of rats 1, 2, 11 and 20 months of age showed that it increased linearly with age. The relation of this substance to aging also was indicated by its detection in animals of different ages fed diets of both low and high unsaturation.     

Solubility of BaS in BaO-BaF2 slag and the Influence of FeOx,SiO2, Cr2O3, BaCI2, CaO,and MgO on the sulfide capacity of this system

The influence of SiO₂, FeO_x, Cr₂O₃, BaCl₂, CaO, and MgO on the sulfide capacity of the BaO-BaF₂ system was measured at 1473 K, using a gas-slag-metal equilibration technique. It was found that the substitution of BaF₂ by SiO₂, FeO_x, Cr₂O₃, and BaCl₂ decreases the sulfide capacity of the BaO-BaF₂ system. Similar results were obtained for the carbonate capacity. The CaO-saturated BaO-BaF₂ flux, however, was found to have slightly higher sulfide and carbonate capacities than the pure BaO-BaF₂ flux. The solubility of CaO increased with increasing BaF₂ content and was 18 mol pet in BaF₂ at 1473 K. The solubility of MgO in the BaO-BaF₂ system at the same temperature is very low, and it has no effect on the sulfide and carbonate capacities. The solubility of BaS in the BaO-BaF₂ system was also measured at 1473 K and had its maximum for the slag containing 40 mass pet BaO. The activity of BaO in the system was calculated from those data. IVAN P. RACHEV, formerly Graduate Student, Department of Metallurgy, The University of Tokyo.     

Solubility of platinum in molten fluxes as a measure of basicity

The solubility of platinum in the molten BaO-Al₂O₃, BaO-SiO₂, CaO-Al₂O₃, CaO-SiO₂, Na₂O-SiO₂, and CaO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂ systems has been measured in order to seek a new measure of basicity. The solubility of platinum increases with increasing content of basic oxide. The correlations among the solubility of platinum, carbonate, sulfide, and phosphate capacities, basic oxide activities, and theoretical optical basicity are discussed.     

Forgetting in primed fragment completion.

Seven experiments examined the time course of primed fragment-completion performance. A pilot experiment and Experiment 1 showed that rapid forgetting occurs immediately after study for a period of approximately 5 min. The rate of this immediate forgetting is independent of the length of the list. Experiment 2 showed that priming effects were still present after 16 months. Experiments 3 and 4 provided further evidence of forgetting over 1 week. Experiment 5 showed that retention performance after 20 min is unaffected by the interpolated study and recall of other lists of words. Experiment 6 showed that 10-min retention performance was substantially reduced as list length was increased from 10 to 100 words; but it showed no evidence of intralist proactive interference. The combined results of the seven experiments illustrate some similarities and differences between forgetting in primed fragment completion and in episodic memory tasks such as recall and recognition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Thermodynamics of lead and bismuth in CaO–CaF2 melts

In order to understand a new refining process for removing tramp elements from alloy steels under strongly reducing conditions, the authors previously reported the thermodynamic behaviour of P, Sn, Sb, As and Cu in CaO–CaF₂ melts. In this investigation, the thermodynamic behaviour of Pb and Bi in CaO–CaF₂ melts under oxygen partial pressures from 10^?16 to 10^?20 atm was studied at temperatures ranging from 1360 to 1550°C, using a similar technique. It was shown that Pb and Bi exist in slag mainly as Ca₂Pb and Ca_1.5Bi, respectively, under very low oxygen partial pressure although a part of Pb is soluble in slags as metal. The obtained results were extrapolated to lower oxygen partial pressures to investigate the possibility of removing these tramp elements from molten iron, causing Bi to be removed from molten iron below an oxygen partial pressure of 10^?23 atm, whereas Pb is removed under higher oxygen partial pressures.     

Disturbance of consciousness associated with hypophosphatemia in a chronically alcoholic patient

A 69-year-old man with chronic alcoholism was admitted to our hospital due to disturbance of consciousness and oliguria. Emergency laboratory examination revealed metabolic acidosis, hypoglycemia, hyponatremia, mild liver dysfunction, acute renal failure and rhabdomyolysis. After administration of fluids and nutrients and continuous hemodiafiltration, he recovered from all signs and symptoms except for disturbance of consciousness after 7 days. Since severe hypophosphatemia persisted, we administered adequate phosphates, and then his level of consciousness normalized. We discuss the relationships among alcohol abuse, hypophosphatemia and disturbance of consciousness, and recommend that hypophosphatemia be considered a potential cause of disturbance of consciousness in alcoholic patients.     

Molecular characterization of hydroxyl-terminated polybutadienes

A comparative study has been made on the functionality distribution of two hydroxyl terminated polybutadiene products which are used largely as prepolymers for sealants, adhesives, and solid propellants. They are known to possess nearly the same molecular characteristics. To this end, each product was fractionated into 17 fractions with different molecular weights by the preparative GPC technique. Sample fractions thus obtained were subjected to “polarity-controlled adsorption” thin-layer chromatography (TLC) to determine the functionality distribution. From these experimental results it was concluded that a decisive difference between these products consists in the functionality distribution, within a molecular weight range higher than 7000.     

Study on quantitative analyses of hydroperoxides and alcohols by NMR shift reagent

Recently, much literature concerning the effects of NMR shift reagents upon compounds with Lewis’s basic functional groups have been reported. These literatures have shown the effects of NMR shift reagents upon hydroxyl, amino, carbonyl, ether, ester carbonyl, cyano, and epoxy compounds but not hydroperoxyl compounds. Chemical and paramagnetic shifts of protons in t-butyl and cumene hydroperoxides, t-butyl and 2-phenyl-2-propyl alcohols, and autoxidized methyl linoleate with incremental additions of an NMR shift reagent were determined. These experimental results indicated that each alcohol and hydroperoxide could be determined separately and quantitatively even in their mixtures. Moreover, this method can be recommended to obtain information about the structures of hydroperoxides, as well as alcohols.