Estrogenic activities of chemicals related to food contact plastics and rubbers tested by the yeast two-hybrid assay

Food contact plastics and rubbers possibly contain many kinds of chemicals such as monomers, oligomers, additives, degradation products of polymers and additives, and impurities. Among them, bisphenol A, nonylphenol, benzylbutyl phthalate, styrene oligomers and hydroxylated benzophenones have been reported to possess estrogenic activities. In this study, other chemicals related to food contact plastics and rubbers, and their metabolites induced by the S9-mixture were tested for their estrogenic activities using the yeast two-hybrid assay. Among the 150 chemicals, 10 chemicals such as bis(4-hydroxyphenyl) methane, 4-cyclohexylphenol, 4-phenylphenol, 4,4'-isopropylidenediphenol alkylphosphite, two type of styrenated phenol (including mono type), tris(nonylphenyl) phosphite, 2,2'-dihydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone, 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone and 2,4-diphenyl-4-methyl-1-pentene, their metabolites and the metabolites of 6 other chemicals, such as 2-(phenylmethyl) phenol, styrenated phenol (di and tri type), 1-(N-phenylamino)naphthalene, 4-tert-butylphenylsalicylate, nonylphenol ethoxylates and 2-methyl-6-tert-butylphenol, displayed estrogenic activities. All of them contained a phenol group in their chemical structures or formed one easily by hydrolysis or metabolism. However, most of the chemicals related to food contact plastics and rubbers, and their metabolites did not show any estrogenicity.     

Possible role of dentin matrix in region-specific deposition of cellular and acellular extrinsic fibre cementum

The mechanism whereby a region-specific deposition of the two types of cementum (cellular cementum and acellular extrinsic fibre cementum) is regulated on the growing root surface was tested using bisphosphonate-affected teeth of young rats and guinea pigs. The animals were injected subcutaneously with 8 or 10 mg P x kg body weight(-1) x day(-1) of 1-hydroxyethylidene-1,1-bisphosphonate (HEBP) for 1 or 2 weeks. In rat molars, HEBP prevented mineralization of newly formed root dentin matrix and totally inhibited de novo deposition of acellular extrinsic fibre cementum. Instead, thick cellular cementum was induced on the non-mineralized root dentin surface, irrespective of the position of the root. In both animals, cellular cementum was also induced on the non-mineralized surface of root analogue dentin in HEBP-affected incisors, where only acellular extrinsic fibre cementum is deposited under normal conditions. In normal rat molars, dentin sialoprotein (DSP) was concentrated along the dentin-cellular cementum border, but not that of dentin and acellular extrinsic fibre cementum. In HEBP-affected rat incisors, DSP was shown to penetrate through the non-mineralized dentin into the surrounding tissues, but not through the mineralized portions. These data suggest that, at the site of cellular cementum formation, putative inducing factors for cellular cementum might diffuse into the periodontal space through the newly deposited mantle dentin matrix before it is mineralized. At earlier stages of root formation, mantle dentin might mineralize more promptly not to allow such diffusion. The timing of mineralization of mantle dentin matrix might be the key determinant of the types of the cementum deposited on the growing root surface.     

Analysis of formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and oligomers in recycled polyethylene terephthalate

Formaldehyde (FA), acetaldehyde (AA) and oligomers in recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) were analyzed by HPLC. All of the physically recycled PET contained detectable levels of FA, AA and oligomers, and the levels were almost the same as in used bottles. Most superclean-like and chemically recycled PET contained lower levels than new pellets. These compounds showed no decrease upon physical recycling, but showed a marked decrease upon superclean-like recycling. In PET sheets made using physically recycled PET, FA was decreased, though AA was increased by the sheeting process as same as new one. FA, AA and oligomers originated from PET resin and their levels in recycled products were almost equivalent to those in new products. It was concluded that there is no particular safety concern about their presence in recycled PET.     

Pseudophase information from the complex analytic signal of speckle fields and its applications. Part II: statistical properties of the analytic signal of a white-light speckle pattern applied to the microdisplacement measurement

To provide a theoretical background for the superiority of the signal-domain phase-only correlation (SDPOC) technique proposed here for microdisplacement measurement, we study the first- and the second-order statistical properties of the complex amplitude of an analytic signal of a white-light speckle pattern, under the assumption of a Gaussian random process, and give a formula for the autocorrelation function of the pseudophase associated with the complex analytic signal. Based on these results, we show mathematically that SDPOC has a performance advantage over conventional intensity-based correlation techniques.     

Analysis of residual solvents in natural flavorings by headspace GC using the standard addition method

Headspace GC using the standard addition method has been developed for the simultaneous determination of organic solvents in natural flavorings. The procedure can be outlined as follows: an aliquot of the sample is transferred to a 10 mL vial. To each vial, a DMSO solution containing solvents at different concentrations is added as the standard solution. The vials are kept at 50 degrees C (for automatic injection) or 40 degrees C (for hand-operated injection) for 40 minutes. One mL of the vapor phase in each vial is injected into a gas chromatograph equipped with an Aquatic-2 column (0.25 mm i.d. x 60 m). To evaluate this method, we conducted a performance study in collaboration with 10 laboratories, using ginger oleoresin. We analyzed 6 solvents (methanol, 2-propanol, acetone, dichloromethane, hexane, and 1,1,2-trichloroethene) for which the maximum residue limits are established in Japan's Specifications and Standards for Food Additives. Methanol and acetone existed in the ginger oleoresin, so only the other that four kinds of solvents were added to it. Eight of the laboratories used automatic injection, while the remaining two used hand-operated injection. Statistical analyses were conducted on the data obtained from the 8 laboratories. Repeatability standard deviations (RSDr) ranged from 4.3 to 11.4%, and reproducibility standard deviations (RSDR) ranged from 8.4 to 19.0%.     

Production of low electron temperature ECR plasma for plasma processing

Low-electron-temperature ECR plasma with high electron density was realized under the mirror magnetic field configuration in the H₂ and the Ar/N₂ plasma. Especially, the electron temperature was observed to be less than 2 eV in the Ar/N₂ plasma. It was found from the calculation of particle and power balance in steady state that the decrease in the electron temperature observed in the Ar/N₂ plasma was due to the effect of the magnetic-mirror confinement of the N₂ plasma. Furthermore, our calculated results suggest that the effect of magnetic-mirror on the decrease in the electron temperature depends on the collisional cross section between electrons and neutral particles.     

Structural Study of PbO–B2O3 Glasses by X-ray Diffraction and 11B MAS NMR Techniques

The structure of PbO–B₂O₃ glasses has been investigated in the composition range of 25–80 mol% PbO by using X-ray diffraction and ¹¹B NMR techniques. The well-separated peaks due to Pb–O and Pb–Pb pairs were first observed in the radial distribution function, and peak deconvolution was performed by using a pair function method. The average coordination number of lead atoms was determined to be about 6 in the low-PbO-content region and about 3 in the high-PbO-content region. With an increase of PbO content, the peaks at 0.24 and 0.40 nm shifted to shorter distances, and especially the latter peak drastically increased in intensity in the composition range >50 mol% PbO. It was suggested that PbO is a main glass former in the high-PbO-content region. Based on the results obtained, we propose structural models of lead borate glasses.     

Development of compact CW-IR laser deposition system for high-throughput growth of organic single crystals

We developed a compact continuous-wave infrared (CW-IR) laser deposition system for the high-throughput growth of organic single crystals. In this system, two CW-IR lasers are used for the sample heating and thermal evaporation of materials. The CW-IR laser heating is simple and allows good control of the deposition rate and growth temperature, in response to the on/off laser switching. Six samples can be loaded simultaneously in a chamber, which allows one-by-one sequential deposition for high-throughput experiments, without breaking the vacuum. Using this setup, we studied the effect of ionic liquids on the growth of C₆₀ crystals in vacuum.