Photocatalytic behavior of TiO2 nanoparticles supported on porous aluminosilicate surface modified by cationic surfactant

In order to utilize the photocatalytic function of TiO₂ nanoparticles in materials manufactured from organic polymeric compounds, such as paper, resins, and textiles, TiO₂ nanoparticles supported on aluminosilicate, which contained 1, 5, and 10 wt% of TiO₂ were prepared by mixing commercial TiO₂ nanoparticles and porous aluminosilicate at pH 7 in a cationic surfactant aqueous solution. Most of the supported TiO₂ nanoparticles on the aluminosilicate surface were observed by TEM–EDS (energy depressive X-ray spectroscopy) analysis. TiO₂ nanoparticles supported on aluminosilicate reduced the formaldehyde concentration from 20 to 0 ppm after UV irradiation for 20 h; the reduction of formaldehyde concentration under UV irradiation was obviously different from that in the dark. Moreover, a paper mixed with 20 wt% of TiO₂ nanoparticles supported on aluminosilicate bleached the stains colored with cigarette tar after UV irradiation for 6 h. However, the paper maintained its initial tensile strength even after UV irradiation for 1 year; in contrast, the paper mixed with a simple dry mixture of TiO₂ powder and aluminosilicate lost approximately half of its initial tensile strength after a year. TiO₂ nanoparticles supported on aluminosilicate could exhibit photocatalytic activity without decomposing the organic polymeric compounds.     

Flavin-Dependent Monooxygenases NotI and NotI′ Mediate Spiro-Oxindole Formation in Biosynthesis of the Notoamides

The fungal indole alkaloids are a unique class of complex molecules that have a characteristic bicyclo[2.2.2]diazaoctane ring and frequently contain a spiro-oxindole moiety. While various strains produce these compounds, an intriguing case involves the formation of individual antipodes by two unique species of fungi in the generation of the potent anticancer agents (+)- and (−)-notoamide A. NotI and NotI′ have been characterized as flavin-dependent monooxygenases that catalyze epoxidation and semi-pinacol rearrangement to form the spiro-oxindole center within these molecules. This work elucidates a key step in the biosynthesis of the notoamides and provides an evolutionary hypothesis regarding a common ancestor for production of enantiopure notoamides.     

Characterization of Pyrolytic Graphite Sheet: A New Type of Adsorption Substrate for Studies of Superfluid Thin Films

In the customary mode of operation of a SQUID, the electromagnetic field in the SQUID is an oscillatory function of time. In this situation, electromagnetic radiation is emitted and couples to the sample. This is a back action that can alter the state that we intend to measure. A circuit that could perform as a stationary SQUID consists of a loop of superconducting material that encloses the magnetic flux, connected to a superconducting and to a normal electrode. This circuit does not contain Josephson junctions, or any other miniature feature. We study the evolution of the order parameter and of the electrochemical potential in this circuit; they converge to a stationary regime, and the voltage between the electrodes depends on the enclosed flux. We obtain expressions for the power dissipation and for the heat transported by the electric current; the validity of these expressions does not rely on a particular evolution model for the order parameter. We evaluate the influence of fluctuations. For a SQUID perimeter of the order of 1\(\mu \)m and temperature \(0.9T_c\), we obtain a flux resolution of the order of \(10^{-5}\Phi _0/\)Hz\(^{1/2}\); the resolution is expected to improve as the temperature is lowered.     

Effects of MoOx modification on photocatalytic activity of hydroxyapatite and Ti-doped hydroxyapatite

Titanium-doped hydroxyapatite (Ti-HAp, (Ca_10-2x, Ti_x, □_x) (PO₄)₆(OH)₂, □: defect in Ca site) and hydroxyapatite (HAp, Ca₁₀(PO₄)₆(OH)₂) powders were modified with an ethanol solution of molybdenyl acetylacetonate (MoO₂(C₅H₈O₂)₂) using chemisorption calcination cycle (CCC) technique, which provides metal oxide clusters. Their photocatalytic activity under UV illumination was evaluated by the decomposition of gaseous 2-propanol. The photocatalytic activity of the Mo-modified Ti-HAp samples increased concomitantly with increasing Mo concentration up to 0.72% against P. The highest photocatalytic activity of Mo-modified Ti-HAp was about 13 times higher than that of Ti-HAp. The signal appearance of Mo(V) in electron spin resonance spectra and the decrease of photoluminescence intensity suggest electron transfer from the Ti-hybridized band to the MoO_x cluster, which suppresses recombination of the photoinduced electron and hole pairs. The photocatalytic activity of Mo-modified HAp samples was attributed to HOMO–LUMO excitation of MoO_x cluster.     

Nanopatterning of silicon with use of self-organized porous alumina and colloidal crystals as mask

Nanopatterning processes based on a localized anodization of Si and the subsequent chemical etching of SiO₂ were developed to fabricate a dot array and a hole array on an Si surface using self-organized anodic porous alumina as a mask. Through the porous alumina mask, regularly arranged metal nanopatterns on the Si surface were fabricated by the electroless deposition of Cu nanodots in a CuSO₄/hydrofluoric acid (HF) solution. The periodicity of the Cu dot arrays was determined using the pore interval of the upper anodic alumina. Using self-assembled nanospheres as a mask for an electroless plating of metals such as Cu and Ag on the Si substrate, the patterning of an ordered honeycomb structure and a hexagonally arranged convex array of metals on Si was also developed by the combination of colloidal crystal patterning and wet chemical etching. The proposed patterning processes of the Si surface have potential technological applications in fields that need textured surfaces of controlled nanoscale periodicity and morphology owing to their relative simplicity and low cost.     

Effects of rice bran oil on the intestinal microbiota and metabolism of isoflavones in adult mice

This study examined the effects of rice bran oil (RBO) on mouse intestinal microbiota and urinary isoflavonoids. Dietary RBO affects intestinal cholesterol absorption. Intestinal microbiota seem to play an important role in isoflavone metabolism. We hypothesized that dietary RBO changes the metabolism of isoflavonoids and intestinal microbiota in mice. Male mice were randomly divided into two groups: those fed a 0.05% daidzein with 10% RBO diet (RO group) and those fed a 0.05% daidzein with 10% lard control diet (LO group) for 30 days. Urinary amounts of daidzein and dihydrodaidzein were significantly lower in the RO group than in the LO group. The ratio of equol/daidzein was significantly higher in the RO group (p < 0.01) than in the LO group. The amount of fecal bile acids was significantly greater in the RO group than in the LO group. The composition of cecal microbiota differed between the RO and LO groups. The occupation ratios of Lactobacillales were significantly higher in the RO group (p < 0.05). Significant positive correlation (r = 0.591) was observed between the occupation ratios of Lactobacillales and fecal bile acid content of two dietary groups. This study suggests that dietary rice bran oil has the potential to affect the metabolism of daidzein by altering the metabolic activity of intestinal microbiota.     

Chronic Monocular Deprivation Reveals MMP9-Dependent and -Independent Aspects of Murine Visual System Plasticity

The deletion of matrix metalloproteinase MMP9 is combined here with chronic monocular deprivation (cMD) to identify the contributions of this proteinase to plasticity in the visual system. Calcium imaging of supragranular neurons of the binocular region of primary visual cortex (V1b) of wild-type mice revealed that cMD initiated at eye opening significantly decreased the strength of deprived-eye visual responses to all stimulus contrasts and spatial frequencies. cMD did not change the selectivity of V1b neurons for the spatial frequency, but orientation selectivity was higher in low spatial frequency-tuned neurons, and orientation and direction selectivity were lower in high spatial frequency-tuned neurons. Constitutive deletion of MMP9 did not impact the stimulus selectivity of V1b neurons, including ocular preference and tuning for spatial frequency, orientation, and direction. However, MMP9^−/− mice were completely insensitive to plasticity engaged by cMD, such that the strength of the visual responses evoked by deprived-eye stimulation was maintained across all stimulus contrasts, orientations, directions, and spatial frequencies. Other forms of experience-dependent plasticity, including stimulus selective response potentiation, were normal in MMP9^−/− mice. Thus, MMP9 activity is dispensable for many forms of activity-dependent plasticity in the mouse visual system, but is obligatory for the plasticity engaged by cMD.     

Effects of starch on nitrous acid-induced oxidation of kaempferol and inhibition of α-amylase-catalysed digestion of starch by kaempferol under conditions simulating the stomach and the intestine

Kaempferol glycosides can be hydrolyzed to their aglycone kaempferol during cooking under acidic conditions and in the oral cavity and the intestine by glycosidases. Kaempferol was oxidised by nitrite under acidic conditions (pH 2.0) to produce nitric oxide (NO), and the nitrite-induced oxidation of kaempferol was enhanced and inhibited by 10 and 100 mg of starch ml⁻¹, respectively. The opposite effects of starch were discussed by considering the binding of kaempferol to starch and starch-dependent inhibition of the accessibility of nitrous acid to kaempferol. Kaempferol inhibited α-amylase-catalysed starch digestion by forming starch/kaempferol complexes, and the inhibitory effects increased in the order of amylopectin < soluble starch < amylose. The different effects of kaempferol were discussed to be due to the difference in binding sites of kaempferol between amylose and amylopectin. From the present study, dual-function of kaempferol became apparent in the digestive tract.