An increased ratio of interleukin-1 receptor antagonist to interleukin-1alpha in inflammatory skin diseases

IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) is a cytokine that competitively binds the IL-1 receptor to antagonize IL-1 activity without any agonist function. Previous experiments indicated that the ratio of IL-1ra to IL-1alpha in the normal stratum corneum (SC) was much higher in the sun-exposed face than in the sun-protected area, upper arms. It was also reported by another laboratory that IL-1ra is increased in the lesional skin of psoriatic patients. This study was designed to measure the contents of IL-1alpha and IL-1ra in non-lesional and pathological SC obtained from inflammatory skin diseases including psoriasis and non-psoriatic dermatoses such as atopic dermatitis. The SC materials were obtained with a non-invasive tape-stripping method. Their soluble fractions were prepared and assayed for IL-1alpha and IL-1ra by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. As a result we confirmed the previous findings that the ratio of IL-1ra to IL-1alpha in the normal SC was much higher in the face than in the sun-protected sites, the trunk as well as extremities. Next, we found that IL-1alpha contents were significantly reduced in the SC samples obtained from inflammatory skin regardless of whether their IL-1ra contents increased or unchanged. Moreover, we noted that an increased ratio of IL-1ra to IL-1alpha in the SC was not specific to psoriasis, but was also found in other inflammatory skin diseases including atopic dermatitis. This ratio was found to become lower after successful treatment of these skin lesions with topical glucocorticoids. We conclude from these observations that the increased ratio of IL-1ra to IL-1alpha in the SC is a non-specific phenomenon that can occur in any inflammatory skin diseases regardless of the inflammatory pattern, probably reflecting a skin regulation process against various kinds of inflammation.     

Factors affecting the optical properties of Pd-free Au–Pt-based dental alloys

The optical properties of experimental Au-Pt-based alloys containing a small amount of In, Sn, and Zn were investigated by spectrophotometric colorimetry to extract factors affecting color of Au-Pt-based high-karat dental alloys. It was found that the optical properties of Au-Pt-based alloys are strongly affected by the number of valence electrons per atom in an alloy, namely, the electron:atom ratio, e/a. That is, by increasing the e/a-value, activities of reflection in the long-wavelength range and absorption in the short-wavelength range in the visible spectrum apparently increased. As a result, the maximum slope of the spectral reflectance curve at the absorption edge, which is located near 515 nm (approximately 2.4 eV), apparently increased with e/a-value. Due to this effect, the b*-coordinate (yellow-blue) in the CIELAB color space considerably increased and the a*-coordinate (red-green) slightly increased with e/a-value. The addition of a third element with a higher number of valence electrons to the binary Au-Pt alloy is, therefore, effective in giving a gold tinge to the parent Au-Pt alloy. This information may be useful in controlling the color of Au-Pt-based dental alloys.     

Stress and temperature effects on optical loss increase for phosphor-doped silica fibre in the long wavelength region

Irreversible loss increase in the long-wavelength region is first observed for phosphor-doped silica fibres with silicone resin layer by applying the stress at high temperature. The loss increment becomes larger for longer wavelengths. Experimental results show that the loss increase is strongly dependent on stress and temperature.     

Activities in Cu2S-FeS-PbS melts at 1200 °C

The dew-point method was used to determine the vapor pressures of PbS over liquid sulfides of the system Cu₂S-FeS-PbS at 1200 °C. From the PbS activity data, activities of Cu₂S and FeS were evaluated both in binary and ternary melts by Gibbs-Duhem calculations. The systems Cu₂S-PbS and Cu₂S-FeS exhibit negative departures from ideal behavior, while the FeS-PbS melts are ideal solutions at 1200 °C.     

Hypolipidemic action of the soybean isoflavones genistein and genistin in glomerulonephritic rats

Effects of genistein and its glycoside genistin were studied in nephritic rats with endogenous hyperlipidemia. Male Wistar rats with glomerulonephritis caused by a single intravenous injection of nephrotoxic serum were orally given 5 mg of genistein or 8 mg of genistin/d/100 g body weight for 12 d. These isoflavones suppressed nephritis-induced severe hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia, and their hypolipidemic action was almost identical. Fecal steroid excretion was unchanged by administration of the two isoflavones. Genistein inhibited the incorporation of [1-¹⁴C]acetate into cholesterol and FA in liver slices from nephritic rats when added to an incubation buffer, whereas genistin did not. These results suggest that genistin may be hydrolyzed to genistein and that genistein itself and/or its metabolite(s) may be intracorporal entities suppressing hepatic lipid syntheses. They also suggest that the suppression of hepatic lipid synthesis may be one mechanism of the hypolipidemic action of genistein.     

Modification of glassy carbon properties under low energy proton irradiation

Glassy carbon plates were irradiated with 15 keV H⁺ ion-beam in the fluence range of 1 × 10¹⁶–3 × 10¹⁸ ion cm⁻². The influence of ion irradiation on surface morphology and topology was examined by scanning electron and atomic force microscopy. Structural changes were monitored by Raman spectrometry, while changes of wettability and the content of surface oxygen complexes were examined by contact angle measurements and temperature programmed desorption. Elastic recoil detection analysis was applied for determination of hydrogen concentration profiles in irradiated samples. Cyclic voltammetry was used for the assessment of the electrochemical properties of modified glassy carbon electrodes. It was concluded that there is critical fluence range (2 × 10¹⁷–5 × 10¹⁷ ion cm⁻²) inside of which significant changes of glassy carbon properties occur.     

Choosing a standard reactor: International competition and domestic politics in Chinese nuclear policy

China has ambitious plans to expand its nuclear power capacity. One of the policy goals that high-level policymakers have desired is to base the nuclear program on a standardized reactor design. However, this has not materialized so far. By examining its nuclear reactor choices for individual projects, we argue that China’s policymaking process has been greatly influenced by international competition and domestic politics. Multiple international nuclear vendors are intent upon maintaining their respective niches in the expanding Chinese reactor market, and they have used various forms of economic and political pressure to achieve their objectives. On the other hand, China’s policymaking process is fragmented and the shifting power balances among powerful domestic actors do not allow a fixed path to be followed. Further, because of the high costs and potential profits involved, nuclear reactor choices in China have been driven not just by technical considerations but also by foreign and trade policy objectives. All of these make it unlikely that China will standardize the reactor type it constructs in the near future.     

Omnidirectional Control of Large Electrical Output in a Topological Antiferromagnet

Control of magnetization direction is essential for the wide application of ferromagnets; it defines the signal size of memory and sensor. However, the magnetization itself causes a dilemma. While its size matters to obtain strong responses upon its reversal, the large magnetization concomitantly suppresses the range of its directional control because of the demagnetizing field. On the other hand, realization of the desired magnetic anisotropy requires careful engineering of crystalline and interfacial effects to overcome the demagnetization barrier. Thus, it would be ideal if one could find alternative magnets that carry no magnetization but strong responses. The discovery of a topological metallic state in the antiferromagnet Mn₃Sn is significant; they host a large Berry curvature in momentum space, enabling the observation of disproportionately large transverse responses such as anomalous Hall and Nernst effects, the key functionalities for replacing ferromagnets in the magnetic devices. Here, the experimental realization of omnidirectional control of the large responses in an antiferromagnet is reported. In particular, it is demonstrated that the absence of shape anisotropy enables the omnidirectional control, and lifts the shape constraint in designing the magnetic devices. This work lays the technological foundation for developing simple-structured high-performance devices including multi-level memory and heat flux sensor.     

Ionic salt permeability through phase‐separated membranes composed of amphoteric polymers

Amphoteric copolymers composed of hydrophilic poly(dimethyl acrylamide) and hydrophobic poly(dimethyl siloxane) formed phase‐separated membranes. The hydrophilic and hydrophobic components formed continuous phase‐separated domains in the membranes. The hydrated poly(dimethyl acrylamide) domains formed membrane‐spanning pathways, which permitted an ionic salt to permeate the membranes. The permeability of the ionic salt through the amphoteric copolymer membranes was studied. On the basis of the results, the mechanism of salt transport could be explained by the free‐volume theory, which was used for the analysis of diffusive transport in the hydrated, homogeneous membranes. The diffusion coefficient of the ionic salt increased exponentially as the volume ratio of the hydrophilic polymer to water [(1 − H)/H, where H is the degree of hydration] decreased in the membrane. It was possible to postulate that the diffusion of the ionic salt through the membranes was dependent on the free‐volume fractions of water and hydrophilic poly(dimethyl acrylamide) domains in the membranes. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011