Regiospecific analysis by ethanolysis of oil with immobilized <Emphasis Type="Italic">Candida antarctica</Emphasis> lipase

A mixture of oil/ethanol (1∶3, w/w) was shaken at 30°C with 4% immobilized Candida antarctica lipase by weight of the reaction mixture. The reaction regiospecifically converted FA at the 1- and 3-positions to FA ethyl esters, and the lipase acted on C₁₄−C₂₄ FA to a similar degree. The content of 2-MAG reached a maximum after 4 h; the content was 28–29 mol% based on the total amount of FA in the reaction mixture at 59–69% ethanolysis. Only 2-MAG were present in the reaction mixture during the first 4 h, and 1(3)-MAG were detected after 7 h. After removal of ethanol from the 4-h reaction mixture by evaporation, 2-MAG were fractionated by silica gel column chromatography. The contents of FA in the 2-MAG obtained by ethanolysis of several oils coincided well with FA compositions at the 2-position, which was analyzed by Grignard degradation. It was shown that ethanolysis of oil with C. antarctica lipase can be applied to analysis of FA composition at the 2-position in TAG.     

Preparation of regioisomers of structured TAG consisting of one mole of CLA and two moles of caprylic acid

TAG (MLM) with medium-chain FA (MCFA) at the 1,3-positions and long-chain FA (LCFA) at the 2-position, and TAG (LMM) with LCFA at the 1(3)-position and MCFA at 2,3(1)-positions are a pair of TAG regioisomers. Large-scale preparation of the two TAG regioisomers was attempted. A commercially available FFA mixture (FFA-CLA) containing 9-cis, 11-trans (9c, 11t)- and 10t,12c-CLA was selected as LCFA, and caprylic acid (C₈FA) was selected as MCFA. The MLM isomer was synthesized by acidolysis of acyglycerols (AG) containing two CLA isomers with C₈FA: A mixture of AG-CLA/C₈ FA (1∶10, mol/mol) and 4 wt% immobilized Rhizomucor miehei lipase was agitated at 30°C for 72 h. The ratio of MLM to total AG was 51.1 wt%. Meanwhile, LMM isomer was synthesized by acidolysis of tricaprylin with FFA-CLA: A mixture of tricaprylin/FFA-CLA (1∶2, mol/mol) and 4 wt% immobilized R. miehei lipase was agitated at 30°C for 24 h. The ratio of LMM to total AG was 51.8 wt%. MLM and LMM were purified from 1,968 and 813 g reaction mixtures by stepwise short-path distillation, respectively. Consequently, MLM was purified to 92.3% with 49.1% recovery, and LMM was purified to 93.2% with 52.3% recovery. Regiospecific analyses of MLM and LMM indicated that the 2-positions of MLM and LMM were 95.1 mol% LCFA and 98.3 mol% C₈ FA, respectively. The results showed that a process comprising lipase reaction and short-path distillation is effective for large-scale preparation of high-purity regiospecific TAG isomers.     

Microstructure of ion-implanted region in TiNi alloy

TiNi alloy samples implanted with various fluences of 3 MeV Cu²⁺ ions were characterized by transmission electron microscope (TEM) and X-ray diffractometer. Cross-sectional TEM images of the samples showed that amorphous region was seen at the fluence of 10¹⁴ ions cm^?2 in case of ion implantation at 300 K of the substrate temperature, but in case of ion implantation at 100 K it did not appear even at 10¹⁵ ions cm^?2. These results were also confirmed by X-ray diffraction profiles of the same samples. Consequently, the extent of microstructure change of TiNi alloy by ion implantation was different depending on the substrate temperature.     

Simple evaluation of aortic arch calcification by chest radiography in hemodialysis patients

Vascular calcification is associated with a poor prognosis in dialysis patients. It can be assessed with computed tomography but simple inoffice techniques may provide useful information. We compared the results obtained with a simple noninvasive technique with those obtained using multidetector computed tomography for aortic arch calcification volume (AoACV) in chronic hemodialysis (HD) patients. The enrolled study subjects were 63 (32 men and 31 women) maintenance HD patients. Calcification of the aortic arch was semiquantitatively estimated with a AoAC score (AoACS) on plain chest radiology. The AoACV was increased, with a mean value of 6.6 ranging from 0% to 36.5%. The coefficient of intraobserver variation was less than 2.5%. Aortic arch calcification score was highly correlated with AoACV (r=0.635, P<0.001). Multiple regression analysis showed age (F value=12.62, P<0.001) and pulse pressure (F value=4.54, P=0.037) to be significant independent determinants of AoACS. In conclusion, a simple measurement of AoACS may be useful for inoffice imaging to choose a therapeutic regimen in HD patients.     

Effect of inorganic salts,amino acids and proteins on the degradation of pure magnesium in vitro

The possibility of magnesium and its alloys in medical applications is actively investigated in these days for the realization of biodegradable metallic devices. However, the degradation behavior and mechanisms of magnesium and its alloys in physiological environment such as inside the human body have not been elucidated. In this study, we performed 14-d long immersion tests of pure magnesium (3N) in 4 kinds of physiological solutions simulating the body fluids to examine the effects of the chemical components of the body fluids on the degradation of magnesium. The degradation rate of pure magnesium was strongly influenced by the kinds of the solution used. The highest degradation rate was obtained in NaCl, followed by E-MEM, Earle's solution, and E-MEM+FBS. The average degradation rate in NaCl for 8–14 d is about 100 times larger than that in E-MEM+FBS, which is the closest solution to human blood plasma. These results show that protein adsorption and insoluble salt formation retarded magnesium degradation, whereas organic compounds such as amino acids encourage the dissolution of magnesium. Buffering the solution also influenced the degradation rate; buffering NaCl with HEPES increased the degradation rate but buffering with NaHCO₃ decreased it. Based on these results, the use of appropriate solution such as E-MEM+FBS is important for in vitro evaluation of the magnesium degradation rate under the physiological environment simulating inside the human body.     

Development of rapid hygrothermal pasteurization using saturated water vapor

We developed a novel rapid hygrothermal pasteurization (RHP) method using saturated water vapor with a dew point of 100 °C. In the present study, the effects of RHP on microbiological quality and quality attributes such as color changes, firmness and ascorbic acid content on many fresh-cut fruits and vegetables (cabbage, cucumber, carrot, cherry tomato, bell pepper, strawberry, pineapple and melon) were investigated. The RHP was performed within a second by free-falling samples through a cylindrical processing chamber filled with steam. The RHP resulted in a 0.7–2.0 log order reduction in the numbers of naturally inoculated mesophilic bacteria. Furthermore, the RHP induced no significant changes in color and firmness of samples, except on the leafy vegetable, cabbage. Ascorbic acid was also retained approximately 80% and above. These results indicate that the RHP is a clean and effective method for decontaminating mesophilic bacteria on fresh fruits and vegetables with minimal changes in quality.Industrial relevanceIn fresh-cut industry, an effective and risk-free decontamination technology is required for use in place of a conventional method, washing by chlorine that can produce carcinogenic chlorinated by-products. In this study, the rapid hygrothermal pasteurization (RHP) method using saturated water vapor was invented and their ability for applying minimal processing was evaluated. The results showed that RHP, without using chemicals, can reduce microorganism load and preserve quality attributes in many kinds of fresh-cut fruits and vegetables. Therefore, RHP could be used as a novel method, which can be generally applicable to fresh-cut fruits and vegetables in the food industry.     

Quantum Effects on Hydrogen Isotopes Adsorption in Nanopores

We have investigated the applicability of simulations and theoretical techniques for exploring the selectivities of hydrogen isotopes. We have simulated the adsorption isotherms of H₂ in an idealized carbon slit pore at 77 K by using the grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations with the Feynman-Hibbs effective potential (FH-GCMC) and the rigorous path integral method (PI-GCMC), and we obtained good agreement between the isotherms from both simulations. This suggests that FH-GCMC, which uses the approximative Feynman-Hibbs treatment, is as useful as PI-GCMC for exploring H₂ adsorption at 77 K. Moreover, we show that the ideal adsorption solution theory (IAST) can predict the selectivity of D₂ over H₂ in the interstices of single-wall carbon nanotube (SWNT) bundles at 77 K (below 0.1 MPa) very well by comparing the obtained results with the mixture adsorption FH-GCMC simulations. This indicates that IAST is also applicable to the estimation of the selectivity of D₂ over H₂ at moderate pressures and at 77 K from experimental single-component adsorption isotherms. We also demonstrate that the FH-GCMC simulation can reproduce the experimental adsorption isotherms of H₂ and D₂ in aluminophosphate AlPO₄-5 at 77 K. Finally, we analyze the selectivity of D₂ over H₂ by IAST with the experimental single-component adsorption isotherms of H₂ and D₂ at 77 K for a variety of adsorbents: AlPO₄-5, activated carbon fibers (ACFs), HiPco SWNT, and SWNHs. The selectivities predicted by the experimental adsorption data based on the results from the FH-GCMC simulations are presented and discussed.     

Production of eicosapentaenoic acid by a recombinant marine cyanobacterium, Synechococcus sp.

The eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) synthesis gene cluster from an EPA-producing bacterium, Shewanella sp. SCRC-2738, was cloned into a broad-host range vector, pJRD215, and then introduced into a marine cyanobacterium, Synechococcus sp. NKBG15041c, by conjugation. The transconjugant cyanobacteria produced 3.7±0.2% (2.24±0.13 mg/L) EPA (n-3) and 2.5 ±0.2% (1.49±0.06 mg/L) eicosatetraenoic acid (n-3) of the total fatty acids when the cells were cultured at 23°C at a light intensity of 1,000–1,500 Lux. The EPA and eico-satetraenoic acid contents of the cells were increased to 4.6±0.6% (3.86±1.11 mg/L) and 4.7±0.3% (3.86±0.82 mg/L), and 7.5±0.3% (1.76±0.10 mg/L) and 5.1±0.2% (1.19±0.06 mg/L) when they were cultured at low temperature (18°C) and at lower light intensity (40 Lux), respectively.     

Ductility and toughenability study of epoxy resins under multiaxial stress states

The local strains in unmodified and rubber-modified epoxies under multiaxial stress states were examined. Matrix ductility was varied by using epoxide resins of different epoxide monomer molecular weights. The stress state was altered from a plane strain case to a plane stress case by varying the thickness of the test specimens. It was confirmed that, in the case of unmodified resins, the thinner specimens which experienced nearly uniaxial tensile stress exhibited much higher local strains at failure than the thicker counterparts which experienced highly triaxial tensile stress. Also, the cross-link density was reduced as monomer molecular weight increased, thus the increase in local plastic strain due to the stress state change also became greater. Furthermore, it was found that rubber modification markedly increased the plastic strain to failure, irrespective of the specimen dimensions, and that the extent of this plastic strain increased as cross-link density was lowered. These results are consistent with the concept that the cavitation of rubber particles relieves the initial multiaxial constraint in a thick specimen, induces a stress state closer to plane stress throughout the specimen, and consequently enables the matrix to deform to a larger extent. The results also show clearly that the toughenability of a matrix resin is not independent of the stress state and the matrix ductility.