Does 3-pentadecylcatechol,an urushiol derivative,get absorbed in the body? A rat oral administration experiment

Food Science and Biotechnology - Urushiols are important active compounds found in the sap of the lacquer tree (Rhus verniciflua Stokes). Recently, various biological effects of urushiols, such as...     

Adsorption of CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> and CO on H-zeolites with different framework topologies and chemical compositions and a correlation to probing protonic sites using NH<Subscript>3</Subscript> adsorption

Adsorption of CO₂ and CO at 25 °C has been conducted using commercially-available (Y, ZSM-5) and laboratory-synthesized (SSZ-13, SAPO-34) H-zeolites with different framework topologies and chemical compositions, and their textual and surface properties have been characterized by N₂ sorption and NH₃ adsorption techniques. All the zeolites were microporous, although ZSM-5 and SSZ-13 apparently showed a mesoporous sorption behavior due to the interparticle spaces. The zeolites had Si/Al values in the order of SSZ-13 (16.44) > ZSM-5 (16.08) ? Y (2.82) ? SAPO-34 (0.19). Regardless, high CO₂ adsorption capacity was obtained for SSZ-13 and SAPO-34 with a CHA framework. The FAU zeolite Y with the highest micropore volume showed less CO₂ adsorption than the CHA zeolites and the MFI-type ZSM-5 yielded the poorest performance. Probing acid sites in the H-form zeolites using NH₃ disclosed that these all contain both weak and strong acid sites with significant dependence of their strengths and amounts on the topology. The acid strength of the weak acid sites in the CHA zeolites was the weakest, which might allow a stronger interaction with CO₂. The H-zeolites gave CO₂/CO selectivity factors that were in the range of 4.61–11.0, depending on the framework topology.     

Design of a planar 3-DOF parallel micromanipulator

A planar three degree-of-freedom (DOF) parallel manipulator is proposed to be applied for alignment during assembly of microcomponents. It adopts a PRR (prismatic-revolute-revolute) mechanism to meet the requirements of high precision for assembly and robustness against disturbance. The mechanism was designed to have a large workspace and good dexterity because parallel mechanisms usually have a narrow range and singularity of motion compared to serial mechanisms. Inverse kinematics and a simple closed-loop algorithm of the parallel manipulator are presented to control it. Experimental tests have been carried out with high-resolution capacitance sensors to verify the performance of the mechanism. The results of experiments show that the manipulator has a large workspace of ±1.0 mm, ±1.0 mm, and ±10 mrad in the X-, Y-, and θ-directions, respectively. This is a large workspace when considering it adopts a parallel mechanism and has a small size, 100 × 100 × 100 mm³. It also has a good precision of 2 μm, 3 μm, and 0.2 mrad, in the X-, Y-, and θ-axes, respectively. These are high resolutions considering the manipulator adopts conventional joints. The manipulator is expected to have good dexterity.     

INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS OF ACCIDENT CAUSATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

kACMS (KOSHA Accident Causation Management System) has been developed to control human errors in Korean chemical industries. kACMS is a safety management system using the Korean GFT (general failure type) methodology, which has been found a good approach to eliminating, or at least minimizing human errors. To observe the trend of human errors in the chemical industry, about 5500 near-miss cases have been collected from a Korean chemical plant. The analysis of the collected cases shows that the removal of human errors is the key to preventing these near-miss cases that have the potential to lead to actual accidents.

A Korean petrochemical company applied kACMS in its 9 chemical plants. Fifty-five employees participated in the survey and 12,000 safety data were collected based on a questionnaire. As a result of each survey, the average, best, and worst scores were 85.0, 90.6, and 79.6, respectively. These results led to a thorough investigation of the safety systems of the worst scored plant and directions for improving safety.     

Metalorganic chemical vapor deposition of Sr x TiyO z thin films by using mixed metal precursorsO z thin films by using mixed metal precursors

Strontium titanate (Sr _x Ti _y O _z ) thin films were prepared by a chemical vapor deposition method using gaseous compounds, obtained by vaporizing a solid mixture of Sr(dpm)₂ and Ti(O-iPr)₂(dpm)₂ in one step, as the metal sources. The compositions of the films changed in proportion to the ratio of the precursors in the solid mixture, which is contrary to the case of films obtained from a mixture of individual precursor vapors. In the latter case, the film composition was not proportional to the mixing ratio of the precursors. The strontium titanate concentration in the film was changed by the deposition temperature even when the Sr/Ti ratio of the feed was fixed, i.e., the Sr/Ti ratio in the film decreased at high temperatures. An SrTiO₃ film, with an Sr/Ti ratio of 1/1, was obtained at 450 ‡C by using vapors from a solid mixture containing the metal precursors at a Sr/Ti of 1/1. The temperature, 450 ‡C in this case, was lower than that for producing the same film composition by a liquid injection method, 550 ‡C. The decomposition of the Ti and Sr precursors included in the solid mixture and possible reactions between them at elevated temperatures were investigated by thermogravimetry, differential scanning calorimetry, and mass spectrometry. When the solid mixture was heated, the Sr-O bond, that connected Sr to the dpm ligand, was dissociated at temperatures lower than 100 ‡C and the isopropoxide ligand of the Ti precursor was dissociated from the Ti atom at temperatures below 150 ‡C. At 162 ‡C, Ti(O-iPr)₂(dpm)₂ melted, forming an oligomer by reaction with surrounding Ti and Sr precursors. This reaction was confirmed by the presence of a mass peak at m/e=585, corresponding to a hetero-metallic compound containing Sr and Ti. The hetero-metallic compound vaporized at temperatures below 200 ‡C and eventually participated in the formation of a SrTiO₃ film.     

pH-triggered ionization of self-assembled monolayers investigated byin-situ surface plasmon resonance measurements

Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of 2-aminoethanethiolhydrochloride (AET) or 2-aminoethanethiol-hydrochloride (AHT) were formed on gold substrate. Deprotonation and reprotonation of SAMs of AET and AHT on gold substrate were investigated by using time-resolved surface plasmon resonance (SPR) measurements. The changes of the terminal functional groups from -NH₃ ⁺Cl-to -NH₂ (vice versa) via the HCl and NaOH treatment were successfully detected, based on the fact that the initially formed AET and AHT SAMs were assumed to be a zwitterion-like species,-NH₃ ⁺Cl^-. The authors (Surin Hong and Taewook Kang) contributed equally to this work.     

Adsorption and desorption of phenylalanine and tryptophane on a nonionic polymeric sorbent

Adsorption equilibrium of two amino acids — Phenylalanine (Phe) and Tryptophane (Trp) — onto nonionic polymeric sorbent, SP850 was studied under various pH values and temperatures. Adsorption equilibrium data of two amino acids on SP850 were fitted well with the Langmuir and Freundlich equations. Thermodynamic parameters such as Gibbs free energy (ΔG), enthalpy (ΔH), and entropy (ΔS) were evaluated by applying the Van’t Hoff equation. Besides, adsorption kinetic of Phe was also investigated. Adsorption kinetic data were analyzed using the models of pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order and intraparticle diffusion. The results indicated that the pseudo-second-order model was more successful in simulating the adsorption kinetic data and the adsorption rate was mainly controlled by the diffusion rate in adsorption process. On the other hand, desorption studies were conducted by employing different organic solvents such as isopropyl alcohol (IPA), ethanol, and methanol. It was found that IPA was the best material for desorbing amino acid on the polymeric sorbent.     

Overcoming Hypoxic-Resistance of Tumor Cells to TRAIL-Induced Apoptosis through Melatonin

A solid tumor is often exposed to hypoxic or anoxic conditions; thus, tumor cell responses to hypoxia are important for tumor progression as well as tumor therapy. Our previous studies indicated that tumor cells are resistant to tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL)-induced cell apoptosis under hypoxic conditions. Melatonin inhibits cell proliferation in many cancer types and induces apoptosis in some particular cancer types. Here, we examined the effects of melatonin on hypoxic resistant cells against TRAIL-induced apoptosis and the possible mechanisms of melatonin in the hypoxic response. Melatonin treatment increased TRAIL-induced A549 cell death under hypoxic conditions, although hypoxia inhibited TRAIL-mediated cell apoptosis. In a mechanistic study, hypoxia inducible factor-1α and prolyl-hydroxylase 2 proteins, which increase following exposure to hypoxia, were dose-dependently down-regulated by melatonin treatment. Melatonin also blocked the hypoxic responses that reduced pro-apoptotic proteins and increased anti-apoptotic proteins including Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL. Furthermore, melatonin treatment reduced TRAIL resistance by regulating the mitochondrial transmembrane potential and Bax translocation. Our results first demonstrated that melatonin treatment induces apoptosis in TRAIL-resistant hypoxic tumor cells by diminishing the anti-apoptotic signals mediated by hypoxia and also suggest that melatonin could be a tumor therapeutic tool by combining with other apoptotic ligands including TRAIL, particularly in solid tumor cells exposed to hypoxia.     

Ultrasonic inspection of long steel pipes using Lamb waves

An ultrasonic inspection technique using Lamb waves was evaluated to detect and determine the exact location of flaws present in long steel pipes. Since multiple modes of Lamb waves are generated due to their dispersive characteristics in the inspected pipes, the selection of a specific Lamb wave mode is very important for inspection of flaws. Experimental studies of flaw detectability with the use of each Lamb wave mode, namely, the A₀ S₀, A₁, and S₁ modes and their ultrasonic attenuation characteristics were conducted. The experimental results showed that the A₀ mode is the most effective for detection and exact determination of the location flaws. A lucite wedge containing a water column that generates the A₀ Lamb wave mode was developed and used in the present inspection study. It was found that the ultrasonic beam divergence after wrapping around the inspected pipe once interferes with exact determination of the location of flaws and that the maximum reflection signals are obtained when the transducer is offset axially from the straight line with the position of the flaw. The present study showed feasibilities of ultrasonic inspection with the use of Lamb waves for detection of flaws in insulated or inaccessible steel pipes.