Design of holographic polymer‐dispersed liquid crystals based on solubility parameters

BACKGROUND: A slight change of polymer structure leads to a significantly different solubility parameter (SP), which is related to incompatibility and interface anchoring energy between a polymer and a liquid crystal (LC). RESULTS: Holographic gratings in polymer‐dispersed liquid crystals have been fabricated based on various urethane acrylate oligomer sizes and type of reactive diluent at two LC loadings. A large SP gap, using N‐vinylpyrrolidone as reactive diluent, gave much faster saturation of diffraction efficiency at higher level, but the grating failed to operate. On the contrary, films having a small SP gap, using 2‐ethylhexyl acrylate, operated under 20 V with a response time of about 10 ms, although their saturation of diffraction efficiency was relatively low. The results were interpreted in terms of morphology (determined using scanning electron microscopy), anchoring energy and resin elasticity. CONCLUSION: Low driving voltage and high diffraction efficiency are obtained by controlling the SP gap between LC and polymer. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry     

Public willingness to pay a premium for uni‐material beverage container in Korea: a contingent valuation study

The use of uni‐materials can reduce the total waste generation by a high recycling rate. This study assesses the public's willingness to pay (WTP) a premium for the uni‐material beverage container (UBC) in Korea using a specific case of bottled mineral water in polyethylene terephthalate (PET). For this purpose, a contingent valuation (CV) survey of 1000 consumers was conducted to derive the additional WTP for the mineral water in UBC instead of that in non‐UBC. Given that the average price of the mineral water (500 mL) in non‐UBC was KRW 1000 (USD 0.88), the mean additional WTP a premium for that in UBC was estimated to be KRW 107 (USD 0.09). This value amounts to 10.7% of price of the mineral water in non‐UBC and can be interpreted as the public value of the UBC. The consumers in Korea are ready to pay a significant premium for UBCs.     

Chlorella vulgaris Attenuates Dermatophagoides Farinae-Induced Atopic Dermatitis-Like Symptoms in NC/Nga Mice

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic and inflammatory skin disease that can place a significant burden on quality of life for patients. AD most frequently appears under the age of six and although its prevalence is increasing worldwide, therapeutic treatment options are limited. Chlorella vulgaris (CV) is a species of the freshwater green algae genus chlorella, and has been reported to modulate allergy-inducible factors when ingested. Here, we examined the effect of CV supplementation on AD-like symptoms in NC/Nga mice. CV was orally administrated for six weeks while AD-like symptoms were induced via topical application of Dermatophagoides farinae extract (DFE). CV treatment reduced dermatitis scores, epidermal thickness, and skin hydration. Histological analysis also revealed that CV treatment reduced DFE-induced eosinophil and mast cell infiltration into the skin, while analysis of serum chemokine levels indicated that CV treatment downregulated thymus- and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC) and macrophage-derived chemokine (MDC) levels. In addition, CV treatment downregulated mRNA expression levels of IL-4 and IFN-γ. Taken together, these results suggest that CV extract may have potential as a nutraceutical ingredient for the prevention of AD.     

关于住居能源碳排放量影响因素的研究——基于中国省际面板数据的实证分析

以中国省级行政单位为研究对象对与居民生活息息相关的住居领域内所产生的能源消费与CO2排放的地区间差异性进行研究,并在此基础上对产生这一差异性的影响因素进行了深入的分析。以人均碳排放量为因变量,分别从人口、社会和经济特征及区域环境特征两大方面出发选取了10个影响因素作为自变量构建了从2002—2011年10年间以全国28个省份为对象的4个均衡面板数据模型并进行了估计分析。从模型估计结果来看,个人属性以及家庭结构等都对住居领域的碳排放有着显著性的影响;城镇居民的人均住宅建筑面积越大其碳排放量就越高。基于此,研究认为在制定有关节能减排措施时,要充分考虑到个人属性、家庭结构等人口和社会经济性因素以及住宅类型、城市形态等区域环境因素所带来的影响,根据各个地区不同的经济发展水平和实际情况因地制宜地制定和实施节能减排政策。     

Comparative evaluation of nutritional compositions between transgenic rice harboring the <Emphasis Type="Italic">CaMsrB2</Emphasis> gene and the conventional counterpart

As a part of a safety assessment of new transgenic crops, compositional equivalence studies between transgenic crops with non-transgenic comparators are almost universally required. This study was conducted to compare nutritional profiles of proximate composition, and fatty acid, amino acid, mineral, and vitamin contents, and anti-nutrients, between transgenic drought-tolerant Agb0103 rice harboring the pepper methionine sulfoxide reductase B2 gene CaMsrB2 and the parental rice cultivar, ‘Ilmi’ as a non-transgenic control. Both transgenic and non-transgenic rice were grown and harvested in 2 different locations. Proximate compositions of moisture, starch, protein, lipid, and ash content of Agb0103 rice were similar to parental non-transgenic rice. There were no differences between transgenic and non-transgenic rice with respect to the whole nutritional composition, except for minor locality differences for a few nutritional components. Agb0103 rice with improved resistance to drought is nutritionally equivalent to the parental rice cultivar.     

Development of a Simple,Rapid Multiplex PCR Method Using the 16S rRNA Gene to Determine the Country of Origin of Brackish Water Bivalve <Emphasis Type="Italic">Corbicula japonica</Emphasis>

In this study, a multiplex PCR detection method was developed to identify the country of origin of Corbicula japonica (clams), a commercially important bivalve in Asia. Specific primer sets that have a single nucleotide mismatch at the 3′ terminus were designed after sequencing the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene of clams identified as C. japonica originating from Korea, China, and Japan. Using this method, each origin was clearly identified based on the PCR products: three bands for Korean C. japonica (100, 283, and 384 bp), one band for Chinese C. japonica (384 bp), and two bands for Japanese C. japonica (384 and 100 bp). These results indicate that the 16S rRNA gene, which is usually used to identify species, can distinguish the country of origin within C. japonica. Our multiplex PCR assay should be a useful tool for the fair trade of the species.