Development of a food frequency questionnaire to estimate habitual dietary intake in Japanese children

Background  

Food frequency questionnaires (FFQ) are used for epidemiological studies. Because of the wide variations in dietary habits within different populations, a FFQ must be developed to suit the specific group. To date, no FFQ has been developed for Japanese children. In this study, we developed a FFQ to assess the regular dietary intake of Japanese children. The FFQ included questions regarding both individual food items and mixed dishes.     

Sway measurement of overhead power lines by ITV‐based camera

We have developed a new method that can measure movement of overhead power lines in the wind. This method uses images from an ITV camera system. The sway of the power line is videotaped and analyzed. Its measured frequency response to wind is compared to a theoretical model. It is found that the new method yields results that are in good agreement with those obtained from the theoretical model for frequency response less than 0.5 Hz. With the result of frequency response, we can calculate the sway mode of the power line in the wind. Our method also offers displacement of the sway of the cable. We compared our method to the laser measurement, and found a difference of about 10 cm at 255 m from the camera. © 2001 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 137(4): 18–24, 2001     

Function of glycine during solid-state reaction toward well-crystallized fine particulate barium titanate

Effects of glycine added to BaCO₃ and TiO₂ mixtures were examined during a solid-state reaction toward phase pure BaTiO₃ for MLCC with the average particle size below 180 nm and the tetragonality, c/a, above 1.009. Changes in the states of glycine during heating were monitored by differential thermogravimetry and high-temperature X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Glycine residue persists up to around 350 °C and destabilizes Ti–O bonds in TiO₂ prior to the initiation of reaction toward BaTiO₃. This, in turn, leads to a decrease in the reaction termination temperature due to higher mobility of Ba²⁺ ions through the reaction zone.     

Development of thin film solar cell based on Cu2ZnSnS4 thin films

Cu₂ZnSnS₄ (hereafter CZTS) thin films were successfully formed by vapor-phase sulfurization of precursors on a soda lime glass substrate (hereafter SLG) and a Mo-coated one (hereafter Mo-SLG). From the optical properties, we estimate the band-gap energy of this thin film as 1.45–1.6 eV which is quite close to the optimum value for a solar cell. By using this thin film as an absorber layer, we could fabricate a new type of thin film solar cell, which was composed of Al/ZnO:Al/CdS/CZTS/Mo-SLG. The best conversion efficiency achieved in our study was 2.62% and the highest open-circuit voltage was 735 mV. These device results are the best reported so far for CZTS.     

Vitamin B6 suppresses serine protease inhibitor 3 expression in the colon of rats and in TNF-α-stimulated HT-29 cells

Scope: Previous reports in the areas of animal studies and, recently epidemiology, have linked anti‐tumorigenic and anti‐inflammatory effects to dietary vitamin B6. This study investigated the molecular mechanism of these effects of vitamin B6. Methods and results: DNA microarray analysis was used to obtain information on changes in colon gene expression from vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) repletion in vitamin B6‐deficient rats. Pyridoxine supplementation down‐regulated the inflammatory molecule, serine protease inhibitor clade A member 3 (SPI‐3) mRNA expression in the colon. This study also showed that tumor necrosis factor α (TNF‐α) induced SPI‐3 mRNA expression in HT‐29 human colon cancer cells, and vitamin B6 (pyridoxal hydrochloride) pretreatment of HT‐29 cells inhibited TNF ‐induced mRNA expression of SPI‐3. Vitamin B6 inhibited TNF‐α‐induced NF‐κB activation via suppression of IκBα degradation in HT‐29 cells. HT‐29 cells stably expressing epitope‐tagged ubiquitin were generated and vitamin B6 pretreatment was shown to inhibit ubiquitination of the IkB protein in response to TNF‐α‐i. Conclusion: Vitamin B6 suppressed SPI‐3 expression in the colon of rats and in TNF‐α‐stimulated HT‐29 cells. Further, this study showed a possible role of vitamin B6 in the regulation of protein ubiquitination.     

Numerical Study of the Mixing of Density-Stratified Fluid with a Jet

Density stratification of LNG （liquefied natural gas） is produced in a storage tank when one LNG is loaded on top of another LNG in the same tank. Mixing LNG by a jet issued from a nozzle on the tank wall is considered to a promising technique to prevent and eliminate stratification in LNG storage tanks. This study is concerned with the numerical simulation of a jet flow issued into a two-layer density-stratified fluid in a tank and the resultant mixing phenomena. The jet behavior was investigated with the laboratory-based experiment of the authors＇ previous study. A numerical method proposed by the authors is employed for the simulation. The upper and lower fluids are water and a NaCl-water solution, respectively, and the lower fluid is issued vertically upward from a nozzle on the bottom of the tank. The Reynolds number （Re） defined by the jet velocity and the nozzle diameter ranges from 95 to 2,378, and the mass concentration of the NaCl-water solution Co is set at 0.02 and 0.04. The simulation highlights the jet-induced mixing between the upper and lower fluids. It also clarifies the effects of Re and C0 on the height and horizontal spread of the jet.     

Distribution of deoxynivalenol and nivalenol in milling fractions from fusarium-infected Japanese wheat cultivars

The fate of the Fusarium mycotoxins deoxynivalenol and nivalenol during the milling of Japanese wheat cultivars artificially infected with Fusarium was investigated. Grain samples with different mycotoxin concentrations were milled using a laboratory-scale test mill to produce eight fractions: three breaking flours (1B, 2B, and 3B), three reduction flours (1M, 2M, and 3M), wheat bran, and wheat shorts. Patent flour for human consumption was made from the 1B, 2B, 1M, and 2M flours, and low-grade flour was made from 3B and 3M flours. The four resulting samples (patent flour, low-grade flour, bran, and shorts) were analyzed for deoxynivalenol and/or nivalenol with an in-house validated analytical method using high-performance liquid chromatography with UV absorbance detection. In samples with different mycotoxin concentrations, the distribution of those toxins differed among the milling fractions. Grains with a lower level of contamination produced bran and shorts samples with a high relative concentration of nivalenol. A high percentage of nivalenol was found in patent flour, followed by bran. Contrary to the less-contaminated sample, the concentration of nivalenol in moderately contaminated grain was high only in the shorts sample. The highest percentage of deoxynivalenol and nivalenol was observed in the patent flour. The results of this study indicate that the distribution of deoxynivalenol and nivalenol in milled Japanese wheat could be influenced by the contamination level of the original grain, and the milling process is not always effective for removal of toxins from wheat grains.     

Physicochemical characterization of densely packed poly(ethylene glycol) layer for minimizing nonspecific protein adsorption

Modification of the surface with densely packed poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) brush layer was studied to improve the protein repellent ability of the surface. A PEG-brushed layer was constructed on a gold substrate using a PEG possessing a mercapto group at the chain end. The density of the PEG brushed layer substantially increased with repetitive adsorption/rinse cycles of the PEG on the gold substrate, allowing dramatic reduction of nonspecific protein adsorption. Notably, formation of a short, filler layer of PEG (2 kDa) in the preconstructed longer PEG brushed layer (5 kDa) achieved high density brush and almost complete prevention of nonspecific protein adsorption. On the other hand, surface modification with only long PEG chain (5 kDa) showed lower PEG brush density regardless of repetitive immobilization. Detailed characterization of the PEGylated surface was done from the physicochemical (QCM, contact angle, and SPR) as well as the biological (protein adsorption) point of view to highlight the relation between the PEG brush density and the protein repellent ability. Densely packed PEG surface which showed great protein repellent ability, presented in this study, suggests promising utility as engineered biomaterials including high-throughput screening and clinical diagnostics.     

Study on rough-surface biaxially oriented polypropylene film. I. Formation of β-form crystals in sheet cast with T-die extruder

Sheets were cast by extruding polypropylenes (PP) which contained γ-quinacridone, a β-crystal nucleator, at levels of 0–10 ppm using a 30 mm ϕ extruder with a T-die at extrusion temperatures of 200–260°C and chill roll temperatures of 30–90°C. The influences of raw resin characteristics such as γ-quinacridone content and MFI of the base PP and casting conditions such as extrusion temperature and chill roll temperature on the amount of β-crystals formed in the sheet were studied. The amount of the β-crystals formed was larger as the γ-quinacridone content was higher and the extrusion temperature was lower and almost independent of the chill roll temperature. As for the influence of MFI of the base PP, the amount of the β-crystals formed was maximum at MFI ≑ 8 dg/min.