Oral Supplementation with Dihomo-γ-Linolenic Acid (DGLA)-Enriched Oil Increases Serum DGLA Content in Healthy Adults

Dihomo-γ-linolenic acid (DGLA) is one of the polyunsaturated fatty acids, and is expected to show anti-allergic activity. We examined the effects of supplementation with DGLA-enriched oil (450 mg as free DGLA) for 4 weeks in healthy adults in a randomized controlled study. The DGLA composition in the total fatty acids of serum phospholipids increased from 2.0 to 3.4%, and returned to the initial level after a 4-week washout. No side effects or changes in blood biochemical parameters were observed. These results indicate that serum DGLA content can be safely increased by supplementation with 450 mg DGLA under these conditions.     

Design and synthesis of binding growth factors

Growth factors play important roles in tissue regeneration. However, because of their instability and diffusible nature, improvements in their performance would be desirable for therapeutic applications. Conferring binding affinities would be one way to improve their applicability. Here we review techniques for conjugating growth factors to polypeptides with particular affinities. Conjugation has been designed at the level of gene fusion and of polypeptide ligation. We summarize and discuss the designs and applications of binding growth factors prepared by such conjugation approaches.     

A freestanding oscillator for resonant-ultrasound microscopy

Resonant-ultrasound microscopy with a freestanding rod oscillator has been developed for mapping a material's elastic properties in a localized surface region, for the purpose of evaluating elastic stiffness through the resonance frequency of the oscillator contacting the specimen by its tip. A stronger biasing static magnetic field makes the ferritic steel oscillator plumb without any other mechanical support except tip-sample contact. For a noncontacting acoustical coupling, the longitudinal vibration of the oscillator is excited and detected with a surrounding solenoid coil by the magnetostrictive effect. This freestanding configuration realizes only a mechanical "point" contact between the oscillator and the sample surface, which yields accurate measurement of the local elastic stiffness. As an illustrated example, the new microscopy method is applied to an SCS- 6 SiCf/Ti-6Al-4V composite to visualize its elastic-stiffness distribution.     

Temperature Dependence of Surface Tension of Sn-Ag Alloys

The surface tension of molten Sn-Ag alloys was measured using a specially developed high-accuracy sessile drop apparatus. In this apparatus, a molten sample is dropped onto a R-Al₂O₃ substrate in order to prevent any reaction between the sample and substrate during the heating process. The droplet shape was recorded from two perpendicular directions to confirm its symmetry. The oxygen partial pressure ( $ {P_{{{\text{O}}_2}}} $ ) was controlled by a Mg furnace to a value of about 10^?16 to 10^?15 Pa. The sample compositions used were Sn-20Ag, Sn-50Ag, and Sn-80Ag (at.%) and were alloyed from pure Sn (99.999%) and Ag (99.99%) in the dropping tube. The accuracy of the experimental results was confirmed by an extremely small scatter. The measured temperature dependence of the surface tension of the molten Sn-50Ag (at.%) alloy indicated a characteristic curve that changed from positive to negative with increasing temperature. Furthermore, the surface tension of the molten Sn-20Ag (at.%) alloy has a temperature dependence that changes from flat to negative, while the Sn-80Ag (at.%) alloy has a negative temperature dependence across the whole temperature range. Based on a theoretical discussion using Butler’s equation, these temperature dependencies can be determined by negative straight lines when assuming the surface composition.     

Transport phenomena of poly(3-alkylthiophene) at the solid-liquid phase transition

We have tried to confirm the sign inversion of the photocarrier in regiorandom poly(3-octadecylthiophene), PAT18, by means of the time-of-flight (TOF) method. It was found that the hole mobility decreases with increasing temperature. At the temperature near the solid-liquid phase transition, the hole mobility decreases drastically, and eventually the melting temperature, it was impossible to evaluate the hole mobility from noisy transient photocurrent. On the other hand, transient photocurrents based on electron transport are observed above the melting point. The negative carrier mobility was evaluated in the range from 10/sup -6/ to 10/sup -5/ cm/sup 2//Vs, which is comparably the hole mobility at the solid state. Moreover, the electrical conductivity changes drastically at the instant of the solid-liquid phase transition, and transport in the liquid state was not influenced remarkably by applied hydrostatic pressure, which suggests electronic transport and not ionic transport. These facts suggest that the same mechanism, for example interchain hopping limits carrier transport, and the negative carrier is electron. This unique phenomenon is interpreted as modulation of electronic energy state caused by conformational change of the main chain.     

Transcriptional Induction of Metallothionein by Tris(pentafluorophenyl)stibane in Cultured Bovine Aortic Endothelial Cells

Vascular endothelial cells cover the luminal surface of blood vessels and contribute to the prevention of vascular disorders such as atherosclerosis. Metallothionein (MT) is a low molecular weight, cysteine-rich, metal-binding, inducible protein, which protects cells from the toxicity of heavy metals and active oxygen species. Endothelial MT is not induced by inorganic zinc. Adequate tools are required to investigate the mechanisms underlying endothelial MT induction. In the present study, we found that an organoantimony compound, tris(pentafluorophenyl)stibane, induces gene expression of MT-1A and MT-2A, which are subisoforms of MT in bovine aortic endothelial cells. The data reveal that MT-1A is induced by activation of both the MTF-1–MRE and Nrf2–ARE pathways, whereas MT-2A expression requires only activation of the MTF-1–MRE pathway. The present data suggest that the original role of MT-1 is to protect cells from heavy metal toxicity and oxidative stress in the biological defense system, while that of MT-2 is to regulate intracellular zinc metabolism.     

Application of a Nickel-Bispidine Complex as Pre-Catalyst for C(<Emphasis Type="Italic">sp</Emphasis><Superscript>2</Superscript>)–C(<Emphasis Type="Italic">sp</Emphasis><Superscript>3</Superscript>) Bond Formations

Abstract  

In the present study, the nickel-catalyzed cross coupling of aryl halides with benzyl zinc bromides or dialkyl zinc reagents to create C(sp ²)–C(sp ³) bonds has been explored. As pre-catalyst the well-defined and easy-accessible (bispidine)Ni(NO₃)₂ complex has been applied. After investigation of different reaction parameters a broad scope of C(sp ²)–C(sp ³) bond formations were feasible under mild reaction conditions.