Tomatine,chlorophyll, β‐carotene and lycopene content in tomatoes during growth and maturation

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) plants synthesise nutrients, pigments and secondary metabolites. These include the green pigment chlorophyll, the yellow pigment β‐carotene, the red pigment lycopene and the colourless glycoalkaloid α‐tomatine. The levels of these compounds are strongly influenced by the maturity of the tomatoes. Widely consumed Japanese tomato varieties Momotaro, Momotaro‐T93 and First Memory at five different stages of ripeness, each harvested at 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 days after flowering of the plants, were analysed for the contents of these compounds. Additionally, tomato clusters from different locations along the vine on the same plant were also evaluated. The results show that chlorophyll and tomatine concentrations decrease rapidly during the growth of the tomatoes. By contrast, β‐carotene and lycopene levels are low in immature and high in mature tomatoes. The location of the tomato clusters and tomato variety did not significantly affect these results. The possible usefulness of these results to optimise health‐promoting effects of tomatoes is discussed. © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

Inhibitory effect on LPS-induced tumor necrosis factor in calves treated with chlorpromazine or pentoxifylline

The inhibitory effect of chlorpromazine (CPZ), pentoxifylline (PTX) and dexamethasone (DEX) was investigated in a model of endotoxin shock in Holstein calves following an intravenous administration of Esherichia coli endotoxin (LPS). Initial correlations with its effects on the levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF), a pivotal mediator of endotoxin shock, and clinical signs were obtained. The pretreatment of CPZ or DEX significantly decreased the serum levels of TNF, and reduced endotoxic shock. But the pretreatment of PTX hardly reduced the increase of serum TNF levels and endotoxin shock. The levels of serum endotoxin were not significantly different a minute of postinjection of LPS in calves. The results of this study indicate that pretreatment of CPZ or DEX inhibit various biological effects on endotoxin in calves.     

X-ray absorption fine structure study on residue bromine in carbons with different degrees of graphitization

The structure of bromine residue compounds was investigated by X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) in order to interpret where and how bromine is present in carbons with different degrees of graphitization. The residue compounds can be classified into three groups, as obtained from X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectra and the values of the intramolecular distance r_Br–Br determined by extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS). In Group I, prepared from the host carbons heat treated at temperatures higher than 1900 °C, bromine exists in the interlayer space of graphite in the form of Br₂ molecules with interaction of the π electrons of graphite. In Group III, from carbon heat treated at 1000 °C, most of the bromine probably reacts with carbon atoms having a dangling bond or functional groups. For Group II, where the host carbons are heat treated at intermediate temperatures, it is likely that bromine exists in undeveloped defects with a unique electronic state.     

Analysis of annotations on documents for recycling of information

In order to make collaborative business activities fruitful, it is essential to know characteristics of organizations and persons in more details and to gather information relevant to the activities. In this paper, we describe a notion of “information recycling” that actualizes these requirements by analyzing documents. The key of recycling information is to utilize annotations on documents as clues for generating user profiles and for weighting contents in the context of the activities. We also propose a method of extracting annotations on paper documents just by pressing one button with the help of techniques of camera‐based document image analysis. Experimental results demonstrate that it is fundamentally capable of acquiring annotations on paper documents on the condition that their electronic versions without annotations are available for the processing. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 165(2): 60–68, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20516     

Chemical modification of zein by bifunctional polycaprolactone (PCL)

Prepolymer was synthesized by use of PCL and hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI), and then used to prepare modified zein-based polymers (ZPs). Solid-state ¹³C NMR results showed that at least four amino acids (Glu, Gln, Tyr and His) reacted with the prepolymer, and urea-urethane links were prominent. Thermal analysis indicated that micro-phase separation formed between zein matrix and PCL-HDI (PCLH) component in ZPs. With the increasing PCLH content, the melting point of PCL in ZP decreased, and the T_g of zein reduced due to plasticizer role of PCLH. The breaking elongation of modified zein containing 10% PCLH content, increased about 15 times while its strength at break only reduced by about 2 times than that of commercial zein. In addition, with the increasing PCLH content, the flexibility of modified zein sheet improved dramatically with negligible reduction in strength. This indicates that PCL was an elastic fraction in ZPs. Therefore, it is an effective way to improve the mechanical properties of zein by modification with PCL, showing a potential in the field of biodegradable polymers.     

Analysis of pulmonary manifestations in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

We studied chest X rays of 911 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The findings showed interstitial shadow in 28 patients (3.1%), pleuritis in 13 patients (1.4%) and nodular shadow in 3 patients (0.3%). RA patients with interstitial pneumonia were commonly male and older. And they had significantly high levels of rheumatoid factor (RF), RAPA and IgG-RF in serum, but they were not associated with high score of Lansbary index. All patients with more than 1500 IU/ml in RF value had a complication of interstitial pneumonia. These results suggest the importance of chest X-ray in the management of RA patients with high titer in RF.     

A metalloproteinase inhibitor prevents lethal acute graft-versus-host disease in mice

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and Fas ligand (FasL) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), which is a major complication after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. We examined here the ameliorating effect of a metalloproteinase inhibitor (KB-R7785) that inhibits TNF-alpha and FasL release in a lethal acute GVHD model in mice. Administration of KB-R7785 into (BALB/c x C57BL/6) F1 that received C57BL/6 spleen cells markedly reduced the mortality and weight loss in association with minimal signs of GVHD pathology in the liver, intestine, and hematopoietic tissues. The ameliorating effect of KB-R7785 was superior to that of anti-TNF-alpha antibody. Our results suggest that KB-R7785 could be a potent therapeutic agent for GVHD.     

Recovery of 80 GHz optical clock from 160 Gbit/s data using regeneratively modelocked laser diode

An 80 GHz optical clock signal was successfully recovered from a 160 Gbit/s data stream using a regeneratively modelocking scheme of a semiconductor modelocked laser (MLLD). To handle an 80 GHz electrical signal, the MLLD integrated with a high-mesa electroabsorption modulator and a W-band UTC-PD module are used in this scheme.     

Optical electric-power sensor by use of one bismuth germanate crystal

An optical electric-power sensor is presented that allows active and apparent powers to be measured simultaneously using one block of bismuth germanate (Bi/sub 4/Ge/sub 3/O/sub 12/) crystal as sensing element, which exhibits both the Faraday effect and the Pockels effect. It is based on the fact that the polarization-related intensity of the light wave passing through the crystal can be modulated by the product signal of applied electric and magnetic fields. When load current and voltage are simultaneously applied to the sensing crystal, the instantaneous electric power signal can be directly obtained from the intensity-modulated light wave. The simultaneous measurements of active power and apparent power, as well as the direction of power flow, have been carried out in experiments. Measurement uncertainty is theoretically analyzed. The potential applications of the proposed optical electric-power sensor are also discussed.