Validation of Platelet Counting Accuracy With the Celltac F Automated Hematology Analyzer

Rapid and accurate analysis of platelet count plays an important role in evaluating hemorrhagic status. Therefore, we evaluated platelet counting performance of a hematology analyzer, Celltac F (MEK-8222, Nihon Kohden Corporation, Tokyo, Japan), that features easy use with low reagent consumption and high throughput while occupying minimal space in the clinical laboratory. All blood samples were anticoagulated with dipotassium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA-2K). The samples were stored at room temperature (18^{^}C–22^{^}C) and tested within 4 hours of phlebotomy. We evaluated the counting ability of the Celltac F hematology analyzer by comparing it with the platelet counts obtained by the flow cytometry method that ISLH and ICSH recommended, and also the manual visual method by Unopette (Becton Dickinson Vacutainer Systems). The ICSH/ISLH reference method is based on the fact that platelets can be stained with monoclonal antibodies to CD41 and/or CD61. The dilution ratio was optimized after the precision, coincidence events, and debris counts were confirmed by the reference method. Good correlation of platelet count between the Celltac F and the ICSH/ISLH reference method (r = 0.99, and the manual visual method (r= 0.93) were obtained. The regressions were y = 0.90 x+9.0 and y=1.11x+8.4, respectively. We conclude that the Celltac F hematology analyzer for platelet counting was well suited to the ICSH/ISLH reference method for rapidness and reliability.     

Production of dihomo-γ-linolenic acid byMortierella alpina 1S-4

The mycelial dihomo-γ-linolenic acid content of an arachidonic acid-producing fungus,Mortierella alpina 1S-4, was found to increase, with an accompanying marked decrease in its arachidonic acid content, on cultivation with sesame oil. The resultant mycelia were found to be a rich source of dihomo-γ-linolenic acid. This unique phenomenon was suggested to be due to specific repression of the conversion of dihomo-γ-linolenic acid to arachidonic acid by the oil. After fractionation of the oil with acetone into oil and non-oil fractions, it was found that the effective factor(s) was present in the non-oil fraction. In a study on optimization of the culture conditions for the production of dihomo-γ-linolenic acid byM. alpina 1S-4, a medium containing glucose, yeast extract and the non-oil fraction was found to be suitable for the production. Under the optimal conditions in a 50-1 fermentor, the fungus produced 107 mg of dihomo-γ-linolenic acid/g dry mycelia (2.17 g/l of culture broth). This value accounted for 23.1% of the total fatty acids in the lipids extracted from the mycelia. The mycelia were also rich in arachidonic acid (53.5 mg/g dry mycelia, 11.2%). Other major fatty acids in the lipids were palmitic acid (24.1%), stearic acid (7.0), oleic acid (20.1), linoleic acid (6.6) and γ-linolenic acid (4.1). On leave from Suntory Ltd.     

Dynamic Mechanical Properties and Adhesive Joint Strengths of Emulsion Polymers Produced by Power Feed Technique. III. Adhesive Joint Strengths of Grafted Power Feed Copolymer

Power feed copolymers were synthesized using styrene and n-butyl acrylate through non-uniform feeding emulsion polymerization. Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) was used as a protective colloid, onto which vinyl monomers were grafted. Power feed copolymer had a very broad glass transition temperature compared with random copolymer, even if grafting and/or crosslinking were introduced to the system. This tendency was almost the same as the non-grafted power feed copolymer where only low molecular weight surfactant was used.

Adhesive joint strengths of power feed copolymers were evaluated compared with random copolymers. In the case of usual linear power feed copolymer, the adhesive joint strengths were not higher than those of random copolymer, which was considered to be due to the lower film strengths of the power feed copolymer. Power feed copolymer having grafting showed slightly higher adhesive joint strengths over a wide range of temperatures than random copolymer. When crosslinking was introduced to the system, power feed copolymer showed much higher adhesive joint strengths over a wide temperature range.     

Novel method of preparing Ag–Hg alloy on polyacrylamide films and their structure

A novel method is proposed of preparing thin Ag–Hg alloy on PAAm film surface at room temperature: The film of interest is formed by holding PAAm aqueous solution with AgNO₃ in Hg-saturated atmosphere. Two kinds of films, one of which is a conductor and the other an insulator, can be selectively formed with pH-controlled PAAm solution by ammonia. The conducting surface is assigned to the α phase of Ag–Hg alloy by means of X-ray analysis. Potentiometric titration and IR spectral studies suggest the existence of PAAm–Ag⁺ complexes. On the basis of their structure and the oxidation and reduction potential of Ag⁺ and Hg²⁺, the mechanism of film formation is also discussed.     

Preserving worker privacy in crowdsourcing

This paper proposes a crowdsourcing quality control method with worker-privacy preservation. Crowdsourcing allows us to outsource tasks to a number of workers. The results of tasks obtained in crowdsourcing are often low-quality due to the difference in the degree of skill. Therefore, we need quality control methods to estimate reliable results from low-quality results. In this paper, we point out privacy problems of workers in crowdsourcing. Personal information of workers can be inferred from the results provided by each worker. To formulate and to address the privacy problems, we define a worker-private quality control problem, a variation of the quality control problem that preserves privacy of workers. We propose a worker-private latent class protocol where a requester can estimate the true results with worker privacy preserved. The key ideas are decentralization of computation and introduction of secure computation. We theoretically guarantee the security of the proposed protocol and experimentally examine the computational efficiency and accuracy.     

Influence of the nigrosine dye on the thermal behavior of polyamide 66

To reveal the effect of the nigrosine dye, that the addition of the dye lowers the crystallization point (T_c) of molten polyamide resins with substantially no shift in the melting point (T_m), thus suppressing the crystallization enhancement of the crystalline nucleation agents, the characteristics of polyamide 66 (PA‐66) containing nigrosine dye EX (N‐EX) were investigated. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis showed that the addition of N‐EX reduced the crystallization rate and T_c of molten PA‐66 with substantially no shift in T_m, and the crystallization enthalpy per unit of weight of PA‐66 was substantially constant. T_c of molten PA‐66 was lowered with an increase in the amount of N‐EX and reached its maximum at 13 wt % N‐EX. Dynamic mechanical analysis showed that the glass‐transition temperature and the secondary glass‐transition temperature increased with an increasing amount of the dye. On the other hand, the DSC and X‐ray diffraction results indicated that no dye molecule was present in the crystal structure of PA‐66. This effect of the nigrosine dye on PA‐66 is in contrast to those of crystalline nucleation agents, plasticizers, and antiplasticizers. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 101: 3270–3274, 2006     

Redox properties of CeO2 and Pt-Rh/CeO2 studied by TAP method

Redox properties of CeO₂ and Pt-Rh/CeO₂ were studied by temporal analysis of products (TAP) method using alternative pulses of CO and O₂. A portion of pulsed CO was oxidized to CO₂ and a portion of CO was adsorbed on the surface. Pulsing ¹⁸O₂ onto the catalyst which has surface species derived from CO, evolved CO₂ contained no ¹⁸O suggesting that the surface species will be carbonate ions.     

A new maritime lifesaving multiple-effect solar still design

This paper presents a new maritime lifesaving multiple-effect solar still design where several extended wicks feed seawater to their evaporating areas by capillary force, and the resulting water vapor diffuses and condenses on facing wicks with the condensate flowing through the wicks into storage bags. A theoretical analysis showed that a temperature drop through diffusion layers between evaporating and condensing wicks slowly increases in the main evaporating areas and rapidly near salt depositions whereas the evaporation rate decreases slowly in the main area and rapidly near salt depositions. These changes are caused by increases in salt concentrations and resulting boiling point elevation. With steady-state transfer analysis, the proposed still is predicted to produce about 15 kg m ⁻²d⁻¹ fresh water on a sunny day of 22 MJm⁻²d⁻¹ solar radiation, showing a potential to be a maritime lifesaving desalinator.     

A facile chemical synthesis of cholest-4-en-3-one. Carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance spectral properties of cholest-4-en-3-one and cholest-5-en-3-one

This paper presents a simplified method for the chemical synthesis of cholest-4-en-3-one, which is a naturally occurring steroid and a salient intermediate in steroid chemistry. Pyridinium chlorochromate (PCC) in refluxing benzene has been found to be an effective and convenient reagent for the oxidation and concomitant isomerization of cholest-5-en-3β-ol (cholesterol) to cholest-4-en-3-one in high yield. Also described are the carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance spectral properties of cholest-4-en-3-one and of the isolated reaction intermediate cholest-5-en-3-one. Based on a paper presented at the Symposium on Plant and Fungal Sterols: Biosynthesis Metabolism and function held at the AOCS Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD, April 1990.     

Sintering of the Mechanochemically Activated Powders of Hexagonal Boron Nitride

Pressureless sintering of hexagonal boron nitride (BN) was performed using a powder activated by mechano-chemical treatments. Physical properties of the sintered BN bodies depend on the type of starting powder and the conditions of the treatments. The BN body, which was obtained at 2000°C using an appropriate activated powder, was 99 wt% pure and was excellent in mechanical and physical properties, in spite of its low density (1.64 g/cm³).