The content of tocopherols and oxidative quality of oils prepared from sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) seeds roasted in a microwave oven

Sunflower seeds ((Helianthus annuus were roasted for 6, 12, 20 or 30 min at a frequency of 2450 MHz using a domestic microwave oven. After the kernels were separated from the sunflower seeds, the quality characteristics and the compositions of the oils were investigated in relation to their tocopherol distributions, and they were further evaluated as compared with an unroasted oil sample. Only minor increases (p < 0.05) in chemical and physical changes of the oils, such as the carbonyl value, the p‐anisidine value and the color development, occurred at a prolonged roasting period. Significant decrease (p < 0.05) was observed in the amounts of phospholipids in the oils after microwave roasting. Nevertheless, compared to the original level, more than 92 wt‐% tocopherols still remained after 30 min of roasting. With a few exceptions, these results indicate that the exposure of sunflower seeds to microwaves for 12 min caused no significant (p < 0.05) loss or change in the content of tocopherols and polyunsaturated fatty acids in the kernels.     

Detection of light-absorbing iron oxide particles using a modified single-particle soot photometer

Copyright © 2016 American Association for Aerosol Research     

Characterization of alternative plasticizers in poly(vinyl chloride) sheets for blood containers

This study aimed to optimize the ratio of dioctyl 4‐cyclohexene‐1,2‐dicarboxylate (DOTH) and di‐isononyl‐cyclohexane‐1,2‐dicarboxylate (DINCH^®) for use as plasticizers in poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) sheets. We also evaluated the biological safety of DOTH for its potential to be part of a safe PVC‐based blood container. The suppression of hemolysis in mannitol‐adenine‐phosphate / red cell concentrates (MAP/RCC) with DOTH/(DINCH^®‐PVC) sheets and the elution of plasticizers from the sheets increased with higher DOTH compositions. The properties of the PVC sheet containing DOTH and DINCH^® in the ratio of 25:33 parts against PVC 100 parts as a weight were almost identical to the PVC sheet made of di(2‐ethylhexyl) phthalate. From a subchronic toxicity test, DOTH did not show any adverse effects on all organs, including the testes, epididymis, liver, and kidneys. The no‐observed‐adverse‐effect level was 300 mg/kg body weight/day in a rat. These results suggest that DOTH/DINCH^® (25:33) is a promising candidate for the replacement of di(2‐ethylhexyl) phthalate in blood containers. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 22:520–528, 2016. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Cerebral Hyperperfusion after Revascularization Inhibits Development of Cerebral Ischemic Lesions Due to Artery-to-Artery Emboli during Carotid Exposure in Endarterectomy for Patients with Preoperative Cerebral Hemodynamic Insufficiency: Revisiting the “Impaired Clearance of Emboli” Concept

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether cerebral hyperperfusion after revascularization inhibits development of cerebral ischemic lesions due to artery-to-artery emboli during exposure of the carotid arteries in carotid endarterectomy (CEA). In patients undergoing CEA for internal carotid artery stenosis (≥70%), cerebral blood flow (CBF) was measured using single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) before and immediately after CEA. Microembolic signals (MES) were identified using transcranial Doppler during carotid exposure. Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) was performed within 24 h after surgery. Of 32 patients with a combination of reduced cerebrovascular reactivity to acetazolamide on preoperative brain perfusion SPECT and MES during carotid exposure, 14 (44%) showed cerebral hyperperfusion (defined as postoperative CBF increase ≥100% compared with preoperative values), and 16 (50%) developed DWI-characterized postoperative cerebral ischemic lesions. Postoperative cerebral hyperperfusion was significantly associated with the absence of DWI-characterized postoperative cerebral ischemic lesions (95% confidence interval, 0.001–0.179; p = 0.0009). These data suggest that cerebral hyperperfusion after revascularization inhibits development of cerebral ischemic lesions due to artery-to-artery emboli during carotid exposure in CEA, supporting the “impaired clearance of emboli” concept. Blood pressure elevation following carotid declamping would be effective when embolism not accompanied by cerebral hyperperfusion occurs during CEA.     

Development on a coaxial heat integrated distillation column (HIDiC)

Various configurations of a column for performing the principle of HIDiC can be proposed, but a coaxial column which is installed a packing in an inside tube and outer side may be one of the simplest columns for HIDiC. In order to examine whether or not the configuration of the packed column mentioned above is appropriate to HIDiC, an experimental apparatus has been set up and heat and mass transfer rates have been measured by using benzene-toluene system. This paper was presented at The 5th International Symposium on Separation Technology-Korea and Japan held at Seoul between August 19 and 21, 1999.     

Photocatalytic oxidation of alkane at a steady rate over alkali-ion-modified vanadium oxide supported on silica

Photocatalysts were applied to photocatalytic oxidation of propane in a fixed bed flow reactor. Titanium dioxide exhibited fairly high activity but the deep oxidation was predominant. Silica-supported vanadium oxide (VS) favors the partial oxidation to form propanone and variety of aldehydes and the fast deactivation took place accompanied by reduction of vanadium ions. On the other hand, alkali-ion-modified VS exhibited the highest activity and high selectivity to propanone. The activity was stable because vanadates in alkali-ion-modified VS do not change their structure or are not poisoned by water molecules throughout the reaction. The cleavage of C=C double bond to form aldehydes predominantly proceeded in the case of photo-oxidation of 1-butene over VS while in the case of photo-oxidation of Rb-modified VS, the oxidation of secondary carbon atom to form methyl vinyl ketone is favored. Methyl ethyl ketone was produced at a steady rate over Rb-VS in the photo-oxidation of n-butane.     

Investigation of the morphological changes promoted by heating of Si–C–O ceramics derived from a phenyl-rich hybrid polymer. Effect of Ni in the polymeric precursor

This study focuses on the structural and morphological changes promoted by heating of silicon oxycarbide ceramics obtained from hybrid polymeric precursors based on poly(methylsiloxane) and divinylbenzene, with or without nickel acetate, by pyrolysis under Ar at different temperatures. The increase of the temperature from 950 to 1500 °C promoted the densification and crystallization of SiC and graphite nanodomains in the ceramic bulk with or without Ni, as identified by HRTEM. Moreover, the Ni-containing precursor led to the formation of ultra-long amorphous nanowires on the surface and voids in the ceramic body obtained at 1500 °C. These nanowires presented different sizes and morphologies, but similar compositions, basically composed by silicon and oxygen, with the presence of carbon at their external layers. The growth mechanism and the nature of the nanowires are also proposed. The addition of nickel acetate in the polymeric precursor induced the formation of nanowires with different morphologies in the Si–O–C system.     

Marked Effect of Mo and Fe Addition Upon Liquid Phase Methanol Reforming with Water Over Al2O3 Supported Pt Catalysts

Successively impregnated Pt–Mo/Al₂O₃ and Pt–Fe/Al₂O₃ catalysts exhibited large enhancement effect in H₂ formation rate of liquid phase methanol reforming. Added Mo oxide forms monolayer on Al₂O₃ and facilitates the higher dispersion of Pt particles. In the case of Fe, formation of some surface bimetallic clusters between Pt and Fe was confirmed by XAS analysis, which causes the enhancement effect of H₂ formation in MeOH–H₂O reaction.     

A high-speed vector-controlled spindle motor drive with closedtransition between with encoder control and without encoder control

A 40000-r/min vector-controlled induction motor drive is introduced. The vector control of induction motors has been widely accepted in spindle drives of machine tools where they replace conventional DC motors because of the low maintenance requirements. Another important feature of the AC spindle drive is its high-speed capability. The magnetic encoder is most widely used as the speed detector because it is suited for use in an adverse environment. However, the magnetic encoder with high resolution and a high S/N ratio loses the output pulses at extremely high speed. In the drive system introduced, the conventional vector control is used in the low-speed range, and the vector control without the encoder is used in the high-speed range. Close transition between two modes is made without interrupting the operation     

Inhibitory Effects of Cholesterol Derivatives on DNA Polymerase and Topoisomerase Activities, and Human Cancer Cell Growth

This paper describes the inhibitory activities of cholesterol derivatives such as cholesterol, sodium cholesteryl sulfate, cholesteryl-5α, 6α-epoxide, cholesteryl chloride, cholesteryl bromide, and cholesteryl hemisuccinate (compounds 1–6, respectively) against DNA polymerase (pol), DNA topoisomerase (topo), and human cancer cell growth. Among the compounds tested, compounds 2 and 6 revealed themselves to be potent inhibitors of animal pols, and the IC₅₀ values for pols were 0.84–11.6 and 2.9–148 μM, respectively. Compounds 2, 3 and 6 inhibited the activity of human topo II, with IC₅₀ values of 5.0, 12.5 and 120 μM, respectively. Compounds 2, 3 and 6 also suppressed human cancer cell (promyelocytic leukemia cell line, HL-60) growth, and LD₅₀ values were 8.8, 20.2 and 72.3 μM, respectively, suggesting that cell growth inhibition had the same tendency as the inhibition of topos rather than pols. Compounds 2 and 6 arrested the cells in S and G2/M phases, compound 3 arrested the cells in the G2/M phase, and these compounds also increased sub-G1 phase in the cell cycle. These results suggested that the effect of cell cycle arrest might be effective on both pols and topos activities. From these findings, the action mode of cholesterol derivatives as anti-cancer compounds is discussed.