A tetrameric dialdehyde formed in the reaction of butyral dehyde and benzylamine: A possible intermediary component for protein cross-linking induced by lipid oxidation

We investigated the reaction of butyraldehyde and benzylamine and analyzed the products to identify the components that produce protein cross-linking in the reaction of butyraldehyde and proteins. When the mixtures of butyraldehyde and benzylamine were incubated at pH 7 and 37°C for 48 hr, many reaction products other than 2-ethyl-2-hexenal and Schiff bases of butyraldehyde and 2-ethyl-2-hexenal were produced. Fluorescent substance(s) were formed only in the presence of dissolved oxygen in the reaction mixture. Three new nonflourescent products—d,e andf—were isolated, and their structures are suggested to be 2,9-dibenzyl-4,6,8-triethyl-7-propyl-2,9-diazabicyclo[3,3,1] nona-3-ene (d), 1-phenyl-2-benzyl- 4,5,7-triethyl-6-propyl-1H,2H,3H,5H,6H,7H,8H-pyrido[1,2-clpyrimidine (e) and 1-phenyl-2-benzyl-4,5,7-triethyl-6-propyl-1H,2H,4aH,5H,6H,7H,8H-pyrido[1,2-c]pyrimidine (f). Formation of these compounds suggested that the protein, cross-linking with butyraldehyde is caused by the tretrameric dialdehyde formed by repeated aldol condensation and Michael reaction of butyraldehyde.     

Resonance surface X-ray scattering technique to determine the structure of electrodeposited Pt ultrathin layers on Au(1 1 1) surface

It is demonstrated that resonance surface X-ray scattering (RSXS), in which incident X-ray energy close to the Pt L_III absorption edge (11.55 keV) is used, is very useful for the determination of the structure of electrodeposited Pt thin layers on a Au(1 1 1) surface. This technique was applied to characterize the structure of electrodeposited Pt layers on Au(1 1 1) substrates prepared under two extreme conditions, which are known to provide rough and atomically flat layers. Detailed structural information was obtained by RSXS measurements and it was confirmed that the structures of the Pt layers were as reported. Pt atoms of the atomically flat monolayer were found to be situated at the threefold hollow cubic closest packing (ccp) sites of the Au(1 1 1)-(1 × 1) surface.     

One-Step Oxidation of Benzene to Phenol over Cu/Ti/HZSM-5 Catalysts

The gas-phase catalytic oxidation of benzene over copper supported on HZSM-5 added with titanium (Cu/Ti/HZSM-5) was carried out by using molecular oxygen as an oxidant. Phenol was effectively produced by the titanium addition to Cu/HZSM-5. The titanium addition to Cu/HZSM-5 induces the easy reduction of Cu²⁺ species to Cu⁺ species in the catalysts, and the produced Cu⁺ species seems to produce the phenol effectively.     

In utero exposure to a low concentration of diesel exhaust affects spontaneous locomotor activity and monoaminergic system in male mice

Background

Epidemiological studies suggest that inhalation of carbonaceous particulate matter from biomass combustion increases susceptibility to bacterial pneumonia. In vitro studies report that phagocytosis of carbon black by alveolar macrophages (AM) impairs killing of Streptococcus pneumoniae. We have previously reported high levels of black carbon in AM from biomass smoke-exposed children and adults. We therefore aimed to use a mouse model to test the hypothesis that high levels of carbon loading of AM in vivo increases susceptibility to pneumococcal pneumonia.

Methods

Female outbred mice were treated with either intranasal phosphate buffered saline (PBS) or ultrafine carbon black (UF-CB in PBS; 500 μg on day 1 and day 4), and then infected with S. pneumoniae strain D39 on day 5. Survival was assessed over 72 h. The effect of UF-CB on AM carbon loading, airway inflammation, and a urinary marker of pulmonary oxidative stress was assessed in uninfected animals.

Results

Instillation of UF-CB in mice resulted a pattern of AM carbon loading similar to that of biomass-smoke exposed humans. In uninfected animals, UF-CB treated animals had increased urinary 8-oxodG (P = 0.055), and an increased airway neutrophil differential count (P < 0.01). All PBS-treated mice died within 72 h after infection with S. pneumoniae, whereas morbidity and mortality after infection was reduced in UF-CB treated animals (median survival 48 h vs. 30 h, P < 0.001). At 24 hr post-infection, UF-CB treated mice had lower lung and the blood S. pneumoniae colony forming unit counts, and lower airway levels of keratinocyte-derived chemokine/growth-related oncogene (KC/GRO), and interferon gamma.

Conclusion

Acute high level loading of AM with ultrafine carbon black particles per se does not increase the susceptibility of mice to pneumococcal infection in vivo.     

Vasoinhibitory effect of leminoprazole, a H+,K(+)-ATPase inhibitor, on rat aortic rings

The effects of the marine ascidian compound bistratene A on in vitro cultures of Plasmodium falciparum were assessed. Concentrations from 0 to 1.5 micrograms ml(-1) of the compound were tested. The parasitaemia in asynchronous cultures treated with bistratene A increased normally over the first 40 h, then decreased leaving only gametocytes. When synchronized cultures were treated with a constant dose of 50 ng ml(-1), gametocytes developed more rapidly than they did in control cultures. In addition, gametocytes developed in drug-treated cultures of P. falciparum that normally do not produce gametocytes. Bistratene A appears to inhibit merozoite invasion as well as to induce gametocytogenesis.     

In situ high-temperature visible microspectroscopy for volcanic materials

In situ high-temperature visible microspectroscopy has been developed in order to study color change kinetics of volcanic materials. Olivine thin sections put on a synthetic alumina plate are heated on a heating stage at 600-800 degrees C under a visible microspectroscope. Changes in visible absorption spectra are monitored every 60 s for 5 hours. The obtained high-temperature visible spectra showed a gradual increase with time in absorbance in the shorter wavelength region (400-600 nm). The 430 nm absorbance (ligand field transition of Fe3+ increased more with time at higher temperatures. Assuming diffusional transport in plane sheets, apparent diffusion coefficients were determined at temperatures of 600-800 degrees C. The activation energy for this diffusion in olivine is 208 +/- 17 kJ/mol. This activation energy value is similar to those for the metal vacancy diffusion in olivine. This newly developed in situ high-temperature visible microspectroscopy can provide kinetic measurements of visible spectral change of materials at high temperatures such as volcanic materials.     

Fuzzy relational algebra for possibility-distribution-fuzzy-relational model of fuzzy data

In the real world, there exist a lot of fuzzy data which cannot or need not be precisely defined. We distinguish two types of fuzziness: one in an attribute value itself and the other in an association of them. For such fuzzy data, we propose a possibility-distribution-fuzzy-relational model, in which fuzzy data are represented by fuzzy relations whose grades of membership and attribute values are possibility distributions. In this model, the former fuzziness is represented by a possibility distribution and the latter by a grade of membership. Relational algebra for the ordinary relational database as defined by Codd includes the traditional set operations and the special relational operations. These operations are classified into the primitive operations, namely, union, difference, extended Cartesian product, selection and projection, and the additional operations, namely, intersection, join, and division. We define the relational algebra for the possibility-distribution-fuzzy-relational model of fuzzy databases.     

Crystallization Behavior of Molecular Compound in Binary Mixture System of 1,3‐Dioleoyl‐2‐Palmitoyl‐sn‐Glycerol and 1,3‐Dipalmitoyl‐2‐Oleoyl‐sn‐Glycerol

Previous studies showed that the stable β‐form of molecular compound (MC) crystals having a double‐chain‐length structure is formed in a binary mixture system of 1,3‐dioleoyl‐2‐palmitoyl‐sn‐glycerol (OPO) and 1,3‐dipalmitoyl‐2‐oleoyl‐sn‐glycerol (POP) with a 1:1 concentration ratio of OPO and POP. The use of MC crystals made of POP and OPO for edible applications, such as margarine, is advantageous due to no‐trans, low‐saturated, and high‐oleic fats. Industrial manufacturing technology involves rapid cooling processes, and the kinetic properties of crystallization of MC of OPO and POP are required. In this study, we clarified the crystallization of MC of OPO and POP under rapid cooling at rates of 1–150 °C min^?1, using synchrotron radiation time‐resolved X‐ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry methods. The main results are as follows: (1) POP and OPO crystallized in separate manners without the formation of MC crystals under rapid cooling (>40 °C min^?1), while MC crystals started to form with decreasing rates of cooling in addition to the POP and OPO crystals (<30 °C min^?1); (2) metastable and stable forms sub‐α, α, β′, and β of POP and OPO were formed, whereas the MC crystals of β were formed during the cooling processes; and (3) the heating processes after crystallization by rapid cooling caused separate melting of the metastable and stable forms of POP and OPO crystals and the formation of MC crystals of β made of POP and OPO, as well as melting of the MC crystals alone.