Determination of preservative and antimicrobial compounds in fish from Manila Bay, Philippines using ultra high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry, and assessment of human dietary exposure

Ultra high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) determination of four paraben preservatives (methyl, ethyl, propyl and butyl) and two antimicrobial agents (triclosan and triclocarban) belonging to personal care products (PCPs) in 20 species of fish from Manila Bay (Philippines) was performed. Detection of PCPs with greater frequency indicates the ubiquitous contamination of Manila Bay. Concentrations of total paraben were one order of magnitude higher than the antimicrobials in almost all fish, except in Stolephorus indicus and Leiognathus equulus. A positive correlation was observed between parabens concentration and fish length (r = 0.31-0.49; p<0.05 to <0.001) and fish weight (r = 0.28-0.49; p<0.05 to <0.001), but not for the antimicrobials. The estimated dietary exposure values of the four parabens in the Philippines through fish is four orders of magnitude lower than the acceptable daily intake (ADI) of 10mg/kg/day, but the values of antimicrobials are just half of the ADI of TCS. To our knowledge, this is the first report of PCPs contamination in fish from Philippines.     

Computational Prediction of Resistance Induced Alanine-Mutation in ATP Site of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) resistance to tyrosine kinase inhibitors can cause low survival rates in mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer patients. It is necessary to predict new mutations in the development of more potent EGFR inhibitors since classical and rare mutations observed were known to affect the effectiveness of the therapy. Therefore, this research aimed to perform alanine mutagenesis scanning on ATP binding site residues without COSMIC data, followed by molecular dynamic simulations to determine their molecular interactions with ATP and erlotinib compared to wild-type complexes. Based on the result, eight mutations were found to cause changes in the binding energy of the ATP analogue to become more negative. These included G779A, Q791A, L792A, R841A, N842A, V843A, I853A, and D855A, which were predicted to enhance the affinity of ATP and reduce the binding ability of inhibitors with the same interaction site. Erlotinib showed more positive energy among G779A, Q791A, I853A, and D855A, due to their weaker binding energy than ATP. These four mutations could be anticipated in the development of the next inhibitor to overcome the incidence of resistance in lung cancer patients.     

Photoluminescence and doping mechanism of theranostic Eu3+/Fe3+ dual-doped hydroxyapatite nanoparticles

Theranostic nanoparticles currently have been regarded as an emerging concept of ‘personalized medicine’ with diagnostic and therapeutic dual-functions. Eu³⁺ doped hydroxyapatite (HAp) has been regarded as a promising fluorescent probe for in vivo imaging applications. Additionally, substitution of Ca²⁺ with Fe³⁺ in HAp crystal may endow the capability of producing heat upon exposure to a magnetic field. Here we report a preliminary study of doping mechanism and photoluminescence of Eu³⁺ and Fe³⁺ doped HAp nanoparticles (Eu/Fe:HAp). HAp with varied concentration of Eu³⁺ and Fe³⁺ doping are presented as Eu(10 mol%):HAp, Eu(7 mol%)-Fe(3 mol%):HAp, Eu(5 mol%)-Fe(5 mol%):HAp, Eu(3 mol%)-Fe(7 mol%):HAp, and Fe(10 mol%):HAp in the study. The results showed that the HAp particles, in nano-size with rod-like morphology, were successfully doped with Eu³⁺ and Fe³⁺, and the particles can be well suspended in cell culture medium. Photoluminescence analysis revealed that particles have prominent emissions at 536 nm, 590 nm, 615 nm, 650 nm and 695 nm upon excitation at a wavelength of 397 nm. Moreover, these Eu/Fe:HAp nanoparticles belonged to B-type carbonated HAp, which has been considered an effective biodegradable and biocompatible drug/gene carrier in biological applications.     

Competitive adsorption of α-lactalbumin in the molten globule state

The molten globule state of α-lactalbumin is a partially denatured form with native-like secondary structure and disordered tertiary structure. Using circular dichroism measurements, it was demonstrated that the molten globule state was produced by decreasing the pH to 2.0 at 25°C or by removing bound Ca²⁺ by treatment with ethylenediamine—tetraacetic acid (EDTA) at pH 7.5 and 40°C. Tension measurements showed that α-lactalbumin in the molten globule state is more easily unfolded at liquid interfaces than is the native protein. Results of competitive adsorption experiments involving α-lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin at the oil droplet surface in emulsions are consistent with preferential adsorption of α-lactalbumin during emulsification when it is in the molten globule state. In contrast to the difficulty of exchange between α-lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin at the oil-water interface in emulsions at 25°C, it has been found that the two whey proteins are able partially to displace one another from the oil—water interface at 40°C. While native α-lactalbumin was found to be readily displaced from the oil—water interface by β-lactoglobulin at 40°C, it was found that α-lactalbumin in the molten globule state in the presence of EDTA at 40°C had itself the capacity for displacing β-lactoglobulin from the interface.     

Development of lateral displacement sensor for real‐time detection of structural damage

We have developed a novel sensor that enables us to measure the relative story displacement of a building structure in real time. This lateral displacement sensor (LDS) is composed of a light‐emitting diode (LED) array, which is fixed on the ceiling, and a position‐sensitive detector (PSD) unit, which is placed on the floor. We optimized the LDS to achieve high accuracy in lateral displacement measurement. The accuracy was evaluated to be 60 µm by conducting shaking table tests. Two LDSs were implemented in an actual building equipped with an active variable stiffness (AVS) system, and the building was vibrated with seismic waveforms by an exciter placed on the rooftop. The seismic displacement of the second floor relative to the first floor was measured using the LDS. Furthermore, the inclination angle of the second floor could be measured using the LDS during the seismic vibration. Using the AVS system, we realized the residual displacement of the second floor without inducing damage to the building, and succeeded in real‐time residual displacement measurement for the first time. These results indicate that the LDS is useful for the health diagnosis of a building structure. © 2011 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Efficient preconditioning for noisy separable nonnegative matrix factorization problems by successive projection based low-rank approximations

The successive projection algorithm (SPA) can quickly solve a nonnegative matrix factorization problem under a separability assumption. Even if noise is added to the problem, SPA is robust as long as the perturbations caused by the noise are small. In particular, robustness against noise should be high when handling the problems arising from real applications. The preconditioner proposed by Gillis and Vavasis (SIAM J Optim 25(1):677–698, 2015) makes it possible to enhance the noise robustness of SPA. Meanwhile, an additional computational cost is required. The construction of the preconditioner contains a step to compute the top-k truncated singular value decomposition of an input matrix. It is known that the decomposition provides the best rank-k approximation to the input matrix; in other words, a matrix with the smallest approximation error among all matrices of rank less than k. This step is an obstacle to an efficient implementation of the preconditioned SPA. To address the cost issue, we propose a modification of the algorithm for constructing the preconditioner. Although the original algorithm uses the best rank-k approximation, instead of it, our modification uses an alternative. Ideally, this alternative should have high approximation accuracy and low computational cost. To ensure this, our modification employs a rank-k approximation produced by an SPA based algorithm. We analyze the accuracy of the approximation and evaluate the computational cost of the algorithm. We then present an empirical study revealing the actual performance of the SPA based rank-k approximation algorithm and the modified preconditioned SPA.     

Preferential mineralization of CaCO3 layers on polymer surfaces from CaCl2 and water‐soluble carbonate salt solutions supersaturated by poly(acrylic acid)

CaCO₃ was mineralized from solutions supersaturated only by poly(acrylic acid) (PAA), without bubbling any CO₂ gas in the solution. For example, a layer of CaCO₃ was built up on the surface of a chitosan membrane from a supersaturated aqueous solution containing CaCl₂, Na₂CO₃, and PAA. In this newly developed method, the PAA alone suppresses the precipitation of CaCO₃ from the bulk solution, and therefore, increases the supersaturated concentration. This concentration is estimated to be the same order as that attained in the method in which both CO₂ gas and PAA were used. At the same time, PAA supplies nucleation fields by forming a polymer complex with chitosan. The crystal system obtained was different from those obtained when using CO₂ gas. Self‐organization of aragonite crystallites led to the formation of uniform, concentric, or branching patterns in the surface‐domain structure. These patterns had morphologies similar to those discovered by other researchers, typically in the crystallization of ascorbic acid. Thicker layers of CaCO₃ could be formed on chitosan membranes, the surfaces of which had been converted to a polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) by exposure to PAA solution before the onset of mineralization. Under certain conditions, the CaCO₃ layer had a small spherical curvature, similar to a half‐lens, and generated Newton's ring pattern from the interference fringes of visible light. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 91:3627–3634, 2004     

Natural Compounds Attenuate Denervation-Induced Skeletal Muscle Atrophy

The weight of skeletal muscle accounts for approximately 40% of the whole weight in a healthy individual, and the normal metabolism and motor function of the muscle are indispensable for healthy life. In addition, the skeletal muscle of the maxillofacial region plays an important role not only in eating and swallowing, but also in communication, such as facial expressions and conversations. In recent years, skeletal muscle atrophy has received worldwide attention as a serious health problem. However, the mechanism of skeletal muscle atrophy that has been clarified at present is insufficient, and a therapeutic method against skeletal muscle atrophy has not been established. This review provides views on the importance of skeletal muscle in the maxillofacial region and explains the differences between skeletal muscles in the maxillofacial region and other regions. We summarize the findings to change in gene expression in muscle remodeling and emphasize the advantages and disadvantages of denervation-induced skeletal muscle atrophy model. Finally, we discuss the newly discovered beneficial effects of natural compounds on skeletal muscle atrophy.     

BIO SKIN Urban Cooling Facade

Numbering 65, Nikken Sekkei's research group is the size of many substantial practices. Tomohiko Yamanashi, Tatsuya Hatori, Yoshito Ishihara and Norihisa Kawashima at Nikken Sekkei Ltd and Katsumi Niwa at the Nikken Sekkei Research Institute (NSRI) describe the unique collaborative processes that make the NSRI's contribution essential to any Nikken projects requiring the development of cutting-edge technology or urban planning proposals. Here, they detail the development of BIO SKIN, an innovative facade system developed for the Sony Research and Development Center in Tokyo, which addresses the urban heat island effect, one of the main environmental research areas of the NSRI. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.