Measuring oxygen saturation of skin with advancing age using iterative optical path-length matrix method

We measured the oxygen saturation of skin at various ages by iterating our previously proposed method that can rapidly simulate skin spectral reflectance with high accuracy. Oxygen saturation is commonly measured by a pulse oximeter to evaluate oxygen delivery for monitoring the functions of heart and lungs at a specific time. On the other hand, oxygen saturation of skin is expected to assess peripheral conditions. Our previously proposed method, the optical path-length matrix method (OPLM), is based on a Monte Carlo model of steady-state light transport in multi-layered tissue (MCML), but can simulate skin spectral reflectance 27,000 times faster than MCML. In this study, we implemented an iterative OPLM with a nonlinear optimization technique such that this method can also be used for estimating hemoglobin concentration and oxygen saturation from the measured skin spectral reflectance. The iterative OPLM was over 25,000 times faster than the MCML with 95 % accuracy. Before measurements in clinic, stability of oxygen saturation among measuring pressure was confirmed. Then, the skin reflectance spectra of 72 outpatients aged between 20 and 86 years were measured by a spectrophotometer. Three points were measured for each subject: the forearm, the thenar eminence, and the intermediate phalanx. The result showed that the oxygen saturation of skin remained constant at each point as the age varied.     

Effect of Light Conditions on the Resistance of Current-year <Emphasis Type="Italic">Fagus Crenata</Emphasis> Seedlings Against Fungal Pathogens Causing Damping-off in a Natural Beech Forest: Fungus Isolation and Histological and Chemical Resistance

Forest gap dynamics affects light intensity on the forest floor, which in turn may influence defense and survival of tree seedlings. Current-year Fagus crenata seedlings show high mortality under the canopy caused by damping-off. In contrast, they survive pathogen attacks in gaps. However, defense mechanisms against damping-off have not been fully understood. In order to determine the resistance factors that affect mortality in current-year seedlings, we compared seedling survival and chemical and histological characteristics of the hypocotyls of seedlings from closed-stand and forest-edge plots. Damping-off occurred in the current-year seedlings mainly from the end of June to July; survival rate of the seedlings was higher in the forest-edge plot than in the closed-stand plot. By performing an inoculation test on the seedling hypocotyls, we identified Colletotrichum dematium and Cylindrocarpon sp. as the causative pathogens under low illumination only. In the beginning of July, only seedling hypocotyls from the forest-edge plot exhibited periderm formation. From mid-June to July, seedling hypocotyls from the forest-edge plot accumulated approximately twice the amount of total phenols as those accumulated by seedling hypocotyls from the closed-stand plot. The ethyl acetate phase of methanol extracts of hypocotyls showed antifungal activity. We conclude that seedlings from the forest-edge plot may resist pathogenic attack via periderm formation and increased phenol synthesis. Plant defense mechanisms that are controlled by light intensity may be important for promoting seedling regeneration in forest gap dynamics.     

Study on structural and compositional transitions of coal ash by using NMR

Structural and compositional transitions of Datong coal ash and its CaCO₃ additional effects were carefully examined at a temperature range of 300 to 1 600 °C by using XRD and solid state NMR. The quantitative estimation of amorphous structures of ashes can be successfully obtained through the analyses of solid state NMR spectra. Viscosity of molten ash and its changes with CaCO₃ addition were also evaluated up to 1 700 °C by using a rotary type viscometer. Glasses with poor crystalline and amorphous phase were continuously formed through the eutectic reaction of silica above fusing temperature (FT>1 500 °C) that caused broadening and shift of ²⁹Si and ²⁷Al peaks in NMR results. With the additional amount of CaCO₃ increasing, the peaks shifted to downfield obviously; the fraction of Si(OAl)₀(OSi)₄ decreased, while that of Si(OAl)₁(OSi)₁ at −84.3×10⁻⁶ increased apparently. These transitions indicated the destruction of large alumina-silicate framework into small segments by the addition of Ca ion.     

Coherence filters and their uses II. One-dimensional realizations

Abstract

In part I of this investigation it was shown that the phenomenon of correlation-induced spectral changes may be used to construct novel types of spectral filter which could modify the spectrum of the source in any desired manner. In the present paper a method of realizing such filters is described and some of their potential applications are discussed.     

Development of large size dye-sensitized solar cell modules with high temperature durability

The DSSC sub-module of 120 mm² which has high temperature durability was fabricated. The durability was tested under 85 °C for 1000 h; at the end of the test the conversion efficiency was retained over 95% of the initial one. The high temperature durability was realized using the improved sealant, protective material of collecting grids and the new ruthenium-complex dye J2 which was developed by SIIT. By the same way the larger size module was developed.     

In Vivo and In Vitro Evaluation of Urinary Biomarkers in Ischemia/Reperfusion-Induced Kidney Injury

Oxidative stress plays an important role in the pathophysiology of acute kidney injury (AKI). Previously, we reported that vanin-1, which is involved in oxidative stress, is associated with renal tubular injury. This study was aimed to determine whether urinary vanin-1 is a biomarker for the early diagnosis of AKI in two experimental models: in vivo and in vitro. In a rat model of AKI, ischemic AKI was induced in uninephrectomized rats by clamping the left renal artery for 45 min and then reperfusing the kidney. On Day 1 after renal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R), serum creatinine (SCr) in I/R rats was higher than in sham-operated rats, but this did not reach significance. Urinary N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) exhibited a significant increase but decreased on Day 2 in I/R rats. In contrast, urinary vanin-1 significantly increased on Day 1 and remained at a significant high level on Day 2 in I/R rats. Renal vanin-1 protein decreased on Days 1 and 3. In line with these findings, immunofluorescence staining demonstrated that vanin-1 was attenuated in the renal proximal tubules of I/R rats. Our in vitro results confirmed that the supernatant from HK-2 cells under hypoxia/reoxygenation included significantly higher levels of vanin-1 as well as KIM-1 and NGAL. In conclusion, our results suggest that urinary vanin-1 might be a potential novel biomarker of AKI induced by I/R.     

Safety assessment of genetically engineered potatoes with designed soybean glycinin: compositional analyses of the potato tubers and digestibility of the newly expressed protein in transgenic potatoes

The compositions of transgenic potatoes with intact and modified genes for soybean glycinin were compared with those of control potatoes; non-transgenic or transgenic ones with a vector. The expression levels of glycinin proteins in the transgenic potato tubers were approximately 12–31 mg g⁻¹-total soluble protein. With reference to six major components, moisture, protein, lipid, fiber, ash and carbohydrate, there were no significant differences between transgenic and control potatoes. The levels of glycoalkaloids in transgenic potato tubers, as well as in transgenic controls, increased in comparison with those in non-transgenic ones, though the level was within the permitted limit. The modified glycinin expressed in the transgenic potato tuber was digested under the simulated gastric conditions. From these results, the transgenic potatoes with intact and modified glycinin genes are considered to be as safety utilization for food as non-transgenic potatoes. © 1999 Society of Chemical Industry     

Lignin–silica hybrids as precursors for silicon carbide

Lignin, prepared by digesting cedar with acetic acid, and tetraethoxysilane have been allowed for a sol–gel reaction in tetrahydrofuran using H₂SO₄ as catalyst to yield lignin–SiO₂ hybrids in the bulk gel form. The solid-state ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of the hybrids and products formed solely from the lignin under the acidic conditions revealed that the lignin underwent crosslinking during the sol–gel reaction. The degree of crosslinking increased with an increasing amount of H₂SO₄. The powdered hybrids have been heated at 1500°C in Ar for carbothermal reduction, resulting in the formation of SiC powders. The lignin-to-tetraethoxysilane mixing ratio of the starting solutions varied free carbon content in the SiC powders. In addition, the amount of carbonaceous residue formed from the lignin upon heating depended on the degree of crosslinking of the lignin. Thus, to adjust the amounts of both the lignin and H₂SO₄ was necessary for producing the hybrids suitable for precursors for SiC powders with high purity. Critical adjustment of the amounts led to the formation of SiC powders with a free carbon content of 0.57 wt %, implying that the lignin is a beneficial carbon source for the production of SiC powders by the hybrid route. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 73: 1321–1328, 1999     

Effects of solvent addition to acetylation medium on cellulose triacetate prepared from low-grade hardwood dissolving pulp

As cellulose triacetate was prepared from low-grade hardwood-dissolving pulp, a considerable amount of the insoluble residue was present in the acetylation medium of the acetic acid/acetic anhydride/sulfuric acid system, and it consisted mainly of cellulose triacetate (CTA) and xylan diacetate (XDA). As one of the remedies for reducing the insoluble residue, a solvent was added to the acetylation medium and the effects of the solvent addition on the amount of insoluble residue formed were studied. To do so, 17 different solvents were selected so as to cover a wide range of solubility parameters. The obtained results clearly indicated that the addition of the solvent affects the amount of insoluble residue and that, excluding dichloroacetic acid, nitromethane was effective for its reduction, but that neither methylene chloride nor nitroethane were in spite of their effectiveness for softwood-dissolving pulp, which would be due to the intrinsic properties of XDA on the solubility in the acetylation medium. A new acetylation system with such an appropriate solvent would, therefore, provide a clue as to an industrial usage of the low-grade hardwood-dissolving pulps for cellulose acetate production. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 69: 1445–1449, 1998     

Evolutionary construction of an immune network-based behavior arbitration mechanism for autonomous mobile robots

In recent years, in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), much attention has been focused on reactive planning approaches such as behavior-based AI and new AI. However, a criticism of these approaches is that their arbitration among competence modules is fixed against dynamically changing environments. On the other hand, biological information processing systems have various interesting characteristics from an engineering viewpoint. Among them, the immune system plays an important role in maintaining its own system against dynamically changing environments. Based on this fact, we have investigated a new decentralized consensus-making system for the behavior arbitration of autonomous mobile robots, inspired by the idiotypic network hypothesis in immunology. In this paper, we illustrate the usefulness of our proposed method by means of computer simulations and experiments. © 1998 Scripta Technica. Electr Eng Jpn, 123(3): 1–10, 1998