Selective hydrogenation of oleic acid to 9-octadecen-1-ol: Catalyst preparation and optimum reaction conditions

A new catalyst, ruthenium-tin-alumina is found to selectively hydrogenate oleic acid to 9-octadecen-1-ol (oleyl + elaidyl alcohol) at low pressure with high yield. Catalyst preparation methods, catalyst raw materials and activation conditions have a significant effect on the activity of the catalyst. The optimum atomic ratio of ruthenium to tin is about 1:2. Catalyst prepared by an improved sol-gel method shows higher activity and selectivity than catalysts prepared by impregnation and coprecipitation methods. Chloride is found to have a negative effect on catalytic activity. The best catalyst is prepared from chloride-free ruthenium and tin raw materials. Under the optimum reaction conditions of 250°C and 5.6 MPa, the selectivities for 9-octadecen-1-ol and total alcohol (9-octadecen-1-ol + stearyl alcohol) formation are 80.9% and 97%, respectively, at a conversion of 81.3%.     

Reduced Claudin-12 Expression Predicts Poor Prognosis in Cervical Cancer

Background: Within the claudin (CLDN) family, CLDN12 mRNA expression is altered in various types of cancer, but its clinicopathological relevance has yet to be established due to the absence of specific antibodies (Abs) with broad applications. Methods: We generated a monoclonal Ab (mAb) against human/mouse CLDN12 and verified its specificity. By performing immunohistochemical staining and semiquantification, we evaluated the relationship between CLDN12 expression and clinicopathological parameters in tissues from 138 cases of cervical cancer. Results: Western blot and immunohistochemical analyses revealed that the established mAb selectively recognized the CLDN12 protein. Twenty six of the 138 cases (18.8%) showed low CLDN12 expression, and the disease-specific survival (DSS) and recurrence-free survival rates were significantly decreased compared with those in the high CLDN12 expression group. We also demonstrated, via univariable and multivariable analyses, that the low CLDN12 expression represents a significant prognostic factor for the DSS of cervical cancer patients (HR 3.412, p = 0.002 and HR 2.615, p = 0.029, respectively). Conclusions: It can be concluded that a reduced CLDN12 expression predicts a poor outcome for cervical cancer. The novel anti-CLDN12 mAb could be a valuable tool to evaluate the biological relevance of the CLDN12 expression in diverse cancer types and other diseases.     

The Potential Roles of Dec1 and Dec2 in Periodontal Inflammation

Periodontal inflammation is a common inflammatory disease associated with chronic inflammation that can ultimately lead to alveolar attachment loss and bone destruction. Understanding autophagy and pyroptosis has suggested their significant roles in inflammation. In recent years, studies of differentiated embryo-chondrocyte expressed genes 1 and 2 (Dec1 and Dec2) have shown that they play important functions in autophagy and in pyroptosis, which contribute to the onset of periodontal inflammation. In this review, we summarize recent studies on the roles of clock genes, including Dec1 and Dec2, that are related to periodontal inflammation and other diseases.     

A novel method for determining vitamin B1 in a wide variety of foodstuffs with or without polyphenols

Certain foodstuffs exhibit matrix interference effects on the vitamin B₁ analysis prescribed in the official methods of the European Union, AOAC International, and Japan. In this study, we demonstrated that one of the problematic polyphenols in green tea or cocoa was tannin. For these matrices, thiamine was found to interact with tannin in the extraction step and was thus removed by filtration as a residue. To resolve the matrix interference, we proposed lowering the pH of the extraction solution by adding hydrochloric acid after the enzyme reaction. High precision (2–3% RSDr) and good recovery (98.3–103%) were obtained with reference materials using the proposed method. We also confirmed the equivalence of the obtained data from the proposed method and the Japanese official method for nutritional labeling. From these results, the method was found to be effective for vitamin B₁ analysis regardless of the presence of interference matrices.     

Anisotropic in vitro vessel model using poly(vinyl alcohol) hydro gel and mesh material

In the present study, the authors fabricated straight multilayer hybrid tubular in vitro vessel models (inner diameter D_in = 10 mm; thickness T = 4 mm) composed of poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogel (PVA‐H) and anisotropic mesh materials. The authors performed tensile, stress‐relaxation and cyclic‐tensile tests using axial and circumferential test pieces as well as pressure‐diameter (P‐D) tests using tubular test piece. In the tensile and stress‐relaxation tests, the anisotropic and nonlinear mechanical properties and hysteresis characteristic of the in vitro models were confirmed. The in vitro models also showed behavior qualitatively similar to that of native arteries in cycle‐tensile and P‐D tests. These results demonstrate that the mechanical properties of native vessels can be duplicated in an in vitro model by controlling the components of the mesh material, the orientation of elastic fibers in the mesh material, and the concentration and thickness of PVA‐H layers. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

Improvement in impact strength of modified cardanol‐bonded cellulose thermoplastic resin by adding modified silicones

The impact strength of cellulose diacetate (CDA) bonded with a modified cardanol (3‐pentadecylphenoxy acetic acid: PAA) was greatly improved up to 9 kJ/m² by adding a relatively small amount of modified silicones while suppressing a decrease in bending strength. In our recent research, this thermoplastic resin (PAA‐bonded CDA) exhibited high rigidity, glass transition temperature, and water resistance. However, its impact strength was insufficient for use in durable products. Therefore, silicones modified with polyether, amino, and epoxy groups were investigated as possible ways to improve the impact strength. The results show that adding polyether‐modified silicone (polyether silicone) with moderate polarity relative to PAA‐bonded CDA resulted in shearing deformation greatly enhances its impact strength while maintaining other properties, including glass transition temperature (T_g), water resistance, and thermoplasticity. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 40366.     

Terpendole E and its Derivative Inhibit STLC‐ and GSK‐1‐Resistant Eg5

Terpendole E is first natural product found to inhibit mitotic kinesin Eg5, but its inhibitory mechanism remains to be revealed. Here, we report the effects of terpendole E and 11ketopaspaline (a new natural terpendole E analogue) on the Eg5–microtubule interaction and in several Eg5 mutants. 11‐Ketopaspaline is a shunt product from terpendole E, and it shows potent inhibitory activity against the microtubule‐stimulated ATPase activity of Eg5. Unlike other Eg5 inhibitors, such as S‐trityl‐L ‐cysteine (STLC) and GSK‐1, both terpendole E and 11‐ketopaspaline only partially inhibited Eg5–microtubule interaction. Furthermore, terpendole E and 11‐ketopaspaline inhibited several Eg5 mutants that are resistant to STLC (Eg5^D130A, Eg5^L214A) or GSK‐1 (Eg5^I299F, Eg5^A356T), but with the same extent of inhibition against wild‐type Eg5. Because Eg5^D130A and Eg5^L214A show cross‐resistance to most known Eg5 inhibitors, which bind the L5 loop, these results suggest that terpendole E and its analogues have a different binding site and/or inhibitory mechanism to those for L5 loop‐binding type Eg5 inhibitors.     

In situ time-resolved X-ray diffraction of tobermorite formation in autoclaved aerated concrete: Influence of silica source reactivity and Al addition

The hydrothermal formation of tobermorite during the processing of autoclaved aerated concrete was investigated by in situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. High-energy X-rays from a synchrotron radiation source in combination with a newly developed autoclave cell and a photon-counting pixel array detector were used.To investigate the effects of the silica source, reactive quartz from chert and less-reactive quartz from quartz sand were used as starting materials. The effect of Al addition on tobermorite formation was also studied. In all cases, C-S-H, hydroxylellestadite and katoite were clearly observed as intermediates.Acceleration of tobermorite formation by Al addition was clearly observed. However, Al addition did not affect the dissolution rate of quartz. Two pathways, via C-S-H and katoite, were also observed in the Al-containing system. These results suggest that the structure of initially formed C-S-H is important for the subsequent tobermorite formation reactions.     

Thermal behaviors and flame‐retardancy of styrene–ethylene–butadiene–styrene–block copolymer containing various additives

The thermal behaviors and the flame‐retardancy of styrene–ethylene–butadiene–styrene–block copolymer containing various additives were studied. The combustion was measured by the Underwriter laboratory (UL) test and cone calorimeter test and thermogravimetric analysis and program‐mass spectroscopy were applied to analyze the thermal behaviors. The blend with halogen additives showed the best result in the UL test. However, the blend with red‐phosphorous was the best in the cone calorimeter test. As the styrene sequence in the copolymer tended to degradate at a lower temperature, the major scission products spouted out from the polymer surface originated from polystyrene. The shorter the ignition times of the blends with red‐phosphorous were, the lower the peak heat release rates were. It was an interesting phenomenon because it suggested that the chemical structure of the residue changed to more stable polymers. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 104: 156–161, 2007     

Star-shaped poly(lactic acid) with carboxylic acid terminal groups via poly-condensation

A series of star-shaped poly(lactic acid)s with carboxylic acid terminal groups have been synthesized by direct poly-condensation of lactic acid in the presence of a poly-carboxylic acid core molecule with triphenylphosphonium trifluoromethanesulfonate (TPP-T) catalyst.These star-polymers had thermal properties not very much different from those of star-shaped poly(lactic acid) with hydroxyl terminal groups and linear poly(lactic acid), irrespective of the structure of the core molecule and number of polymer arms. Solubility and degradability of these star-polymers were, however, greatly enhanced compared to those of star-polymers with hydroxyl terminal groups and increased depending on the number of polymer arms. From the star-shaped polymers, a variety of ammonium salts and the corresponding carboxyamides were successfully prepared.