Porphyromonas gingivalis Lipopolysaccharides Promote Proliferation and Migration of Human Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells through the MAPK/TLR4 Pathway

Atherosclerosis is a major cause of mortality worldwide. The initial change in atherosclerosis is intimal thickening due to muscle cell proliferation and migration. A correlation has been observed between periodontal disease and atherosclerosis. Here, we investigated the proliferation and migration of human aortic smooth muscle cells (HASMCs) using Porphyromonas gingivalis-derived LPS (Pg-LPS). To elucidate intracellular signaling, toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) of HASMCs were knocked down, and the role of these molecules in Pg-LPS-stimulated proliferation and migration was examined. The role of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) in HASMC proliferation and migration was further elucidated by MAPK inhibition. Pg-LPS stimulation increased the proliferation and migration of HASMCs and activated the TLR4/MyD88 pathway. TLR4 knockdown inhibited Pg-LPS stimulated HASMCs proliferation and migration. Pg-LPS stimulation led to the phosphorylation of P38 MAPK, JNK, and ERK, and MyD88 knockdown inhibited the phosphorylation of P38 MAPK and JNK but not ERK. P38 MAPK and SAPK/JNK inhibition did not suppress the proliferation of HASMCs upon Pg-LPS stimulation, but ERK inhibition significantly inhibited proliferation. SAPK/JNK and ERK inhibition suppressed Pg-LPS-stimulated migration of HASMCs. In conclusion, our findings suggest that Pg-LPS may promote atherosclerosis via the activation of MAPK through TLR4.     

Improvement of Li-ion conductivity in A-site disordering lithium-lanthanum-titanate perovskite oxides by adding LiF in synthesis

La_0.56−yLi_0.33TiO_3−3yF_3y (y = 0.017, 0.05) were prepared by a conventional solid-state reaction from a mixture of La₂O₃, LiCO₃, TiO_2, and 10% excess LiF. The variation of the lattice parameter with increase of y value in La_0.56−yLi_0.33TiO_3−3yF_3y was different from that in conventional lithium-lanthanum-titanate series perovskite oxides, La_0.56−yLi_0.33+3yTiO₃. Bulk Li-ion conductivities of the La_0.56−yLi_0.33TiO_3−3yF_3y are higher than those of La_0.56-yLi_0.33+3yTiO₃. Li-ion conductivity of La_0.56−yLi_0.33TiO_3−3yF_3y (y = 0.017) was 2.30 × 10⁻³ S cm⁻¹ at 30 °C, which is, to our knowledge, one of the highest Li-ion conductivities in the oxide compounds.     

Oxygen saturation of skin reflects blood flow and stagnation

Skin is the largest organ of human body which can easily be observed non-invasively, but objective assessment of skin status is difficult. Therefore, we have focused on the oxygen saturation, and proposed the iterative optical path-length matrix method (OPLM) for estimating oxygen saturation of skin. Oxygen saturation of skin may help finding pre-disease state. In Kampo medicine (Japanese traditional herbal medicine), inspection of skin and tongue is one of the principal methods for diagnosis of the state. Kampo medicine contains a number of concepts which are useful for preventive medicine. The Oketsu status is a pathological concept in Kampo medicine, primarily denoting blood stasis/stagnation. In this study, we focused on oxygen saturation of skin as an objective index of skin properties, and studied correlation with the blood flow and the Oketsu score. First, we acquired Oketsu score of the patients, and measured oxygen saturation, hemoglobin concentration and blood flow of the patients at two locations: fingertip of the right first finger and dorsal surface of the right hand. Then, correlation among the values was calculated. As the result, the oxygen saturation showed large correlation with the blood flow and the Oketsu score at dorsal surface of hand. The oxygen saturation of skin will reflect systemic blood flow and Oketsu status, and it would help objective diagnosis by measuring skin color spectrum.     

Carbon Stable Isotope Analysis for Glucose in Sake: Simple Freeze-Dried Sake Can Substitute for Glucose Following HPLC Isolation

Carbon stable isotope analysis of ethanol is an established method for determining the authenticity of alcoholic beverages, but there is no accepted method for measurements of glucose carbon stable isotopic composition (δ ¹³C). This study aims to establish two methods to determine accurately the δ ¹³C value of glucose isolated from sake by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) after three clean-up steps using ion exchange chromatography and in simple freeze-dried sake (total nonvolatile matter) and to examine two methods that yield different δ ¹³C values. In the glucose isolation procedure, the δ ¹³C values of glucose were not significantly affected by the glucose concentration, solvent (water or aqueous acetonitrile), drying method (freeze-dry or nitrogen-spraying), the clean-up step using ion exchange chromatography (weakly acidic cation-exchange, strongly acidic cation-exchange, and weakly basic anion-exchange resins), or HPLC isolation. Glucose nitrogen spray-dried after isolation by ion exchange chromatography and HPLC showed a carbon isotope discrimination value of <0.1 ‰. The glucose δ ¹³C values ranged from ?26.8 to ?25.5 ‰ in authentic sake and from ?27.0 to ?11.0 ‰ in commercial sake samples. This HPLC isolation approach may provide a first step toward visualizing the brewing process via isotopic carbon flow during fermentation. Additionally, there was no significant difference between the δ ¹³C values of glucose and total nonvolatile matter from sake. The δ ¹³C measurement of simple freeze-dried sake can substitute for glucose δ ¹³C measurement using HPLC isolation, thus aiding high-throughput detection of carbon derived from C₄ plants in sake.     

Photoinduced Synthesis of P‐Perfluoroalkylated Phosphines from Triarylphosphines and Their Application in the Copper‐Free Cross‐Coupling of Acid Chlorides and Terminal Alkynes

A practical synthesis yielding P‐perfluoroalkylated phosphines from triarylphosphines and perfluoroalkyl iodides has been developed. The photoinduced reaction involves the substitution of aryl groups on the phosphorus atom with perfluoroalkyl groups to successfully afford P‐perfluoroalkylated phosphines. In addition, the P‐perfluoroalkylated phosphines were found to promote the Cu‐free cross‐coupling reaction of acid chlorides with terminal alkynes.

     

Evaluation method of dam behavior during construction and reservoir filling and application to real dams

In this paper we analyzed a real fill-type dam, named the Minami-Aiki Dam, to verify a numerical consolidation method with an elastoplastic model for unsaturated soils. The validities were conducted by comparing the analyzed and measured values during construction and impounding. The settlements calculated showed good agreement to those observed. Though the changing patterns of the measured and calculated pore water pressures were similar, the amounts of pore water pressures induced by the self-weights of embankment and the dissipation speeds were different. The earth pressures measured at the bottom of the core zone showed good agreement with those calculated. This method is valid for estimating behavior of fill-type dams during construction and impounding.     

Selective growth of vertically-aligned ZnO nano-needles

Vertically-aligned zinc oxide (ZnO) nano-needles have been selectively grown on the Si (100) substrates using chemical vapor transport and condensation method without metal catalyst. The selective nucleation of nano-needles was achieved by the controlled treatment of substrate surface using zinc acetate aqueous solution. The nano-needles were selectively grown on the zinc acetate treated area, while the nano-tetrapod structures were formed on the non-treated area. The nano-needles have uniform tip-diameter and length, about 10 nm and 2-3 microm, respectively. The angle of the ZnO nano-needles from the substrate was 90 +/- 0.2 degrees. The structural and optical properties of nano-needles and nanotetrapod structures were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and photoluminescence (PL). The results showed that ZnO nano-needles grow along the c-axis of the crystal plane due to the c-oriented ZnO nanoseeds formed by zinc acetate treatment. The nano-needles have strong ultraviolet emission peak of 3.29 eV with green emission of 2.3 eV at room temperature. This selective growth technique of vertical nano-needles using aqueous solution method has potential applications in the field emission devices or optoelectronic devices hybridized with silicon based electronic devices.     

Synthesis and Properties of Cross-Linked Poly(vinylene-arsine)

Summary Cross-linked poly(vinylene-arsine)s (4) were synthesized by a free-radical terpolymerization of phenylacetylene (2), hexaphenylcyclohexaarsine (l), and p- or m-diethynylbenzene (p- or m-3) at different compositions in the presence of a catalytic amount of AIBN. The number-average molecular weights of the resulting polymers were a few thousands estimated by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) analysis. By gas chromatography (GC) analysis p-3 was found to be more reactive during the polymerization than m-3 and the resulting cross-linked polymer (p-4) showed lower solubility than that of m-4. The cross-linked poly(vinylene-arsine)s showed higher glass transition temperature in the measurement of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and more red-shifted emission in chloroform solution than that of the linear poly(vinylene-arsine). These properties could be tuned by varying the monomer feed ratio.