Effects of extraction solvents,cooking procedures and storage conditions on the contents of ergothioneine and phenolic compounds and antioxidative capacity of the cultivated mushroom Flammulina velutipes

Edible mushrooms contain considerable amounts of the potent natural antioxidant 2‐thiol‐l ‐histidine‐betaine (l ‐ergothioneine, ESH). The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of extraction solvents, common cooking methods and storage conditions on the ESH content, total phenols (TPs) and antioxidant capacity of the edible mushroom Flammulina velutipes fruiting body and its hot water extract that had been stored at different temperatures. Regarding cooking procedures, boiling in water resulted in the highest losses of antioxidant activity of both ESH and TPs. Most of the losses of ESH and TPs were detected in the cooking water. The ESH contents in the raw mushroom fruiting bodies significantly decreased after 8 days of refrigerated storage under both dark and fluorescent lighting conditions. However, the TP content in the raw mushroom stored under fluorescent lighting significantly increased during 10 days of refrigeration. In contrast, the ESH and TP contents as well as DPPH radical scavenging ability of the fruiting bodies remained unchanged for up to 15 days of frozen storage at ?18 °C. The same behaviour was obtained with the mushroom extract packed in plastic tubes. The correlation between DPPH radical scavenging activity and ESH contents was higher than that for TP compounds.     

Microstructural analysis of the stir zone of Al alloy produced by friction stir spot welding

The present study applied friction spot joining (FSJ), which was recently developed as a lap joining technique of Al alloys, to two sheets of Al alloy 6061, 1 mm in thickness, and then examined the microstructural feature in the weld. The weld had the nugget-shaped stir zone around the exit hole of the probe, and the stir zone exhibited the equiaxed grain structure having finer grain size than that of the base material. The crystallographic texture analysis using electron backscattered diffraction method suggested that the material movement occurred along the rotating direction of the welding tool in the wide region including the stir zone. In the periphery of the nugget-shaped stir zone, which was characterized as the region having the finer grain size than that of the stir zone interior, any inclusions and precipitates were not found in the SEM scale. The weld was softened around the weld centre. The softening could be explained by dissolution and/or growth of the strengthening precipitates due to thermal cycle of FSJ.     

Optical sensing of materials movements occurring at a plant surface with a probe beam

Optical sensing of materials movements across a plant surface with a probe beam is reported. It is based on monitoring of deflection of a probe beam passing through a vicinity of the plant surface. The deflection of the probe beam was caused by concentration gradients of chemical species involved in the materials moments in physiological activities of the plant. Typha angustifolia L. was used as a model plant. The beam deflection at different locations of both leaves and roots in respiration process were monitored and compared. It is found that deflection signals changed with time and locations. Experimental results showed that the beam deflection method could be used for noninvasive sensing and monitoring of materials movements across the plant surface.     

A novel ferromagnetic thermo-stent for plaque stabilization that self-regulates the temperature

The purpose of this study is to investigate the vascular wall with a thermally self-regulating, cylindrical stent made of a low Curie temperature ferromagnetic alloy. Physiologic saline was circulated in the silicone model vessel implanted with the stent. The stent-temperature remained nearly constant for variable saline flows, saline temperatures, and magnetic flux densities. Stent implants of this type in human blood vessels could potentially enable thermotherapy and temperature determination without catheterization.     

Electrochemical removal of p-nonylphenol from dilute solutions using a carbon fiber anode

p-Nonylphenol, which is widely used as raw material in industrial activities has been regarded as an environmental endocrine disrupter. In an effort to develop a new treatment method for p-nonylphenol, we initially investigated the electrochemical behavior of p-nonylphenol by voltammetric techniques. The electrochemical oxidation of p-nonylphenol led to the formation of electropolymerized film on the glassy carbon electrode surface. The fouling on the electrode surface by the electropolymerized film was evaluated by monitoring the electrode response of ferrocyanide ions as the redox marker. The electrochemical removal of p-nonylphenol based on the formation of the electropolymerized film on an anode surface was performed using a carbon fiber (CF) with a very large surface area. The high removal efficiency for p-nonylphenol was obtained by applying a potential at 0.7 V. The maximum surface coverage of electropolymerized p-nonylphenol on the CF was about 5 x 10(-9) mol/cm2. The presence of humic acid hardly inhibited the removal of p-nonylphenol. Furthermore, the application to the removal of phenol, o-chlorophenol, p-chlorophenol, 2,4-dichlorophenol, and 2,4,5-trichlorophenol was attempted by using this method.     

Application of nonlinear fitting and selection of the most fitted equation by AIC in stability test of pharmaceutical ingredients

We proposed a method for objectively selecting the most fitted rate equation among candidate rate equations based on chemical kinetics by both nonlinear regression analysis and Akaike's information criterion (AIC), to express the decrease of pharmaceutical ingredient as an appropriate equation. Pseudo-zero, first, and second-order rate equations were prepared as candidates beforehand, and AIC was introduced for selecting the most fitted rate equation among the candidates. We compared the proposed method to the Weibull method that expressed any decrease patterns as a single equation.

We quantified the contents of thiamine nitrate (VB1) and taurine after storage for one, three, and six months under 40°C-75% relative humidity by high-pressure liquid chromatography. Decrease patterns of each sample were most fitted to one of the candidate rate equations, that is, pseudo-zero, first, and second-order rate equations, respectively, and the degree of fit in the most fitted equation was superior to that of the Weibull method, except for the pseudo-first-order rate equation.

Moreover, we confirmed that the proposed method was considerably precise for estimating the stability of pharmaceuticals by comparing estimated residual rates and confidence intervals to experimental data.     

Optical properties of end-sealed hollow fibers

We propose sealing techniques for medical hollow fibers to protect the inner surface of fibers from debris or water that scatters from targets. First, hollow fibers are sealed with a film of polymer that is easily formed by use of a dipping technique. The transmission loss of 20-microm-thick sealing film was 0.2 dB for Er:YAG laser light, and the maximum energy that is available for the film was 180 mJ. Second, a sealed glass cap was applied to the output end of hollow fiber. The silica-glass cap with a wall thickness of 400 microm shows a transmission loss of 0.5 dB and was not damaged by radiation of 400-mJ energy pulses.     

Extended treatment with bupropion SR for cigarette smoking cessation.

The authors present results of a randomized clinical trial of the efficacy of extended treatment with bupropion SR in producing longer term cigarette smoking cessation. Adult smokers (N = 362) received open-label treatment (11 weeks) that combined relapse prevention training, bupropion SR, and nicotine patch followed by extended treatment (14 weeks) with bupropion SR or matching placebo. Abstinence percentages were relatively high (week 11: 52%; week 25: bupropion, 42%; placebo, 38%; week 52: bupropion, 33%; placebo, 34%), but bupropion SR did not surpass placebo. Gender and baseline craving level were identified as significant, independent moderators of treatment response. Men were more likely to abstain than women (week 11: 59% vs. 43%, p = .001; week 25: 48% vs. 31%, p = .001; week 52: 39% vs. 27%, p = .01). Because most smokers suffer relapse with any current cessation treatment, the comparatively high abstinence percentages achieved in this trial are of interest. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Numerical prediction of fraction of eutectic phase in Sn−Ag−Cu soldring using the phase-field method

A combination of macroscale solidification simulation and phase-field calculation is employed to predict the volume fraction of the eutectic phase in Sn-4.0 mass% Ag-XCu solder alloys (X=0.5–1.1 mass%). The solidification simulation incorporates the cooling rate in the phase-field simulation. We assume the residual liquid solidifies as eutectic phase when the driving force for the nucleation of Cu₆Sn₅ amounts to a critical value, which is determined based on the experimental data. Though the calculation results depend on the experimental data, the obtained fractions are about 40% for 0.5 mass% Cu and more than 90% for 1.1 mass% Cu alloy, which shows good agreement with the experimental data.     

Sinusoidal model based on instantaneous frequency attractors

We propose a sinusoidal synthesis method based on instantaneous frequency (IF) attractors, which correspond to harmonic frequency trajectories. The algorithm is novel in extracting accurate sinusoidal components. Since the continuity of IF attractors is well-defined and simple to detect, the IF attractors can be extracted from audio signals without any explicit constraint or complicated algorithm; therefore, they can be directly applied to sinusoidal synthesis. Accuracy of IF attractor analysis can be further improved by time-warping analysis, which improves resolution for harmonic components whose frequencies that change rapidly. We describe the procedure for sinusoidal synthesis and precise phase estimation along with examples and also evaluate the effect of time-warping on analysis and synthesis of speech.