Formation of dityrosine and other fluorescent amino acids by reaction of amino acids with lipid hydroperoxides

Formation of fluorescence by the reaction of various amino acids with lipid hydroperoxides,i.e., linoleic acid 13-monohydroperoxide, methyl linoleate 13-monohydroperoxide and phosphatidylcholine hydroperoxide, in the presence of methemoglobin was investigated. Two types of fluorescence were produced: fluorescent dityrosine (3,3′-dityrosine) from tyrosine, and unidentified fluorophores with α- and ε-amino groups of various amino acids. While the former was stable after treatment with borohydride, the latter fluorophores were readily destroyed. The rate of dityrosine formation was rapid, and the yield of dityrosine was dependent on the concentrations of tyrosine and the lipid hydroperoxides. Butylated hydroxytoluene and tocopherol inhibited the formation of dityrosine, but did not affect the formation of fluorophores on the amino groups. Dityrosine appears to be formed by radical reaction of the lipid hydroperoxides, while the other fluorophores seem to be created by nonradical mechanisms.     

Fischer–Tropsch synthesis over Co–SiO2 catalysts prepared by the sol–gel method

Fischer–Tropsch synthesis was carried out in slurry phase over uniformly dispersed Co–SiO₂ catalysts prepared by the sol–gel method. When 0.01–1 wt.% of noble metals were added to the Co–SiO₂ catalysts, a high and stable catalytic activity was obtained over 60 h of the reaction at 503 K and 1 MPa. The addition of noble metals increased the reducibility of surface Co on the catalysts, without changing the particle size of Co metal significantly. High dispersion of metallic Co species stabilized on SiO₂ was responsible for stable activity. The uniform pore size of the catalysts was enlarged by varying the preparation conditions and by adding organic compounds such as N,N-dimethylformamide and formamide. Increased pore size resulted in decrease in CO conversion and selectivity for CO₂, a byproduct, and an increase in the olefin/paraffin ratio of the products. By modifying the surface of wide pore silica with Co–SiO₂ prepared by the sol–gel method, a bimodal pore structured catalyst was prepared. The bimodal catalyst showed high catalytic performance with reducing the amount of the expensive sol–gel Co–SiO₂.     

Reinforcement of polypropylene by cellulose microfibers modified with polydopamine and octadecylamine

Cellulose microfibers (CMFs) having surfaces modified with polydopamine (PDPA) and octadecylamine (ODA) were prepared, and their reinforcing abilities for polypropylene (PP) were investigated. The PDPA coating was made via self-polymerization of dopamine (P-CMF), and subsequent alkylation was conducted by the reaction with ODA (OP-CMF). The modified CMFs exhibited improved dispersibility in the PP matrix due to the reduced hydrophilicity. The OP-CMF/PP composite prepared by batch mixing had a higher tensile modulus compared to that for the pure PP and composites with unmodified CMFs. However, excess alkylation lowered the tensile modulus, and the presence of an optimal degree of alkylation was demonstrated. The CMF/PP-IM composites fabricated by injection molding exhibited improved tensile properties compared to those prepared by batch mixing. Both the tensile modulus and yield stress were increased by increasing the CMF content and improved by the surface modification of the CMFs.     

Development of a robot assisted carotid blood flow measurement system

The ultrasound diagnosis of the carotid artery is one of the most common non-invasive methods to detect early stage heart and cerebrovascular diseases. However, the precision and repetitiveness of the probe positioning depend exclusively on the operator's skills and dexterity. For this purpose, we propose the development of a robot assisted system to enhance the accuracy and repetitiveness of the probe positioning to measure the wave intensity (WI) index. In this paper, the Waseda-Tokyo Women's Medical-Aloka Blood Flow Measurement Robot System No. 2 Refined (WTA-2R) is presented. The WTA-2R consists of a conventional ultrasound diagnosis system, a 6-DOFs parallel link slave manipulator, a 6-DOFs serial link passive arm, and a master device. Experiments were carried out to verify its effectiveness in terms of accuracy and required time to perform the task. From the experimental results, the positioning accuracy and reduction of required time were confirmed.     

Microbial degradation of cyanobacterial cyclic peptides

Bacterial strain B-9 possesses hydrolytic enzymes capable of degrading microcystins (MCs) and nodularin that are toxic cyclic peptides produced by cyanobacteria. In the present study, the degradation activities of the cell extract of B-9 against non-toxic cyanobacterial cyclic peptides other than the MCs and nodularin were investigated, and the degradation products were analyzed by liquid chromatography/ion trap tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ITMS). It was confirmed that B-9 could also degrade these cyanobacterial cyclic peptides by hydrolysis of their peptide bonds. These results indicated that this bacterium possesses a very unique hydrolytic activity that can degrade structurally different cyclic peptides and that this may be effective for the detoxification of hazardous cyclic peptides.     

Gene Expression over Time during Cell Transformation Due to Non-Genotoxic Carcinogen Treatment of Bhas 42 Cells

The Bhas 42 cell transformation assay (Bhas 42 CTA) is the first Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)-certificated method used as a specific tool for the detection of the cell-transformation potential of tumor-promoting compounds, including non-genotoxic carcinogens (NGTxCs), as separate from genotoxic carcinogens. This assay offers the great advantage of enabling the phenotypic detection of oncotransformation. A key benefit of using the Bhas 42 CTA in the study of the cell-transformation mechanisms of tumor-promoting compounds, including non-genotoxic carcinogens, is that the cell-transformation potential of the chemical can be detected directly without treatment with a tumor-initiating compound since Bhas 42 cell line was established by transfecting the v-Ha-ras gene into a mouse fibroblast cloned cell line. Here, we analyzed the gene expression over time, using DNA microarrays, in Bhas 42 cells treated with the tumor-promoting compound 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), and NGTxC, with a total of three repeat experiments. This is the first paper to report on gene expression over time during the process of cell transformation with only a tumor-promoting compound. Pathways that were activated or inactivated during the process of cell transformation in the Bhas 42 cells treated with TPA were related not only directly to RAS but also to various pathways in the hallmarks of cancer.     

Analysis of specific IgE antibodies to staphylococcal enterotoxins,total serum IgE and hemogramme in carriers of Staphylococcus aureus

In order to evaluate the relationship between nasal carriers of S. aureus and their history of allergic diseases, the total serum IgE titer, the hemogramme pattern, and the titers of specific IgE antibody to Staphylococcal enterotoxins A and B (SEA and SEB) and of specific IgG antibody to SEB were investigated in 98 trade school students. Fifteen (15.3%) of the 98 students were sensitized to SEA and/or SEB (40.0% to SEA and 93.3% to SEB). In this group, 11 subjects were S. aureus carriers (73.0%) and 12 had a history of allergic diseases (80.0%). Low levels of specific IgG antibody to SEB were identified from both S. aureus carriers and non-carriers. The S. aureus carriers had significantly higher levels of total IgE titer than the non-carriers and the individuals with a history of allergic diseases had significantly higher total IgE titer levels than those having no history of allergic diseases (p < 0.01). In the hemogramme patterns of S. aureus carriers, a significant positive correlation was observed between the total IgE antibodies and the eosinophil rate (p < 0.05), and a negative correlation (p < 0.001) was recognized between the neutrophil and the lymphocyte rates.     

The Anomalous Optical Conductivity of Metallic La2?xSrxCuO4

The in-plane optical conductivity of three metallic La_2–x Sr _x CuO₄ single crystals with 0.10 x 0.15 has been studied between 30 and 295 K. Strong peaks in the far-infrared are observed, which cannot be explained by Drude-like models. Their similarity with peaks reported in Cu–O ladders with one-dimensional charge-ordering, their extremely low frequency, and their behavior with temperature allows us to conclude that those anomalous features are excitations of charge stripes in the Cu–O planes.     

Impurity scattering effect on the anisotropic resistivity for La2−x Sr x CuO4−δ with a wide range of x

We have investigated the effect of the impurity scattering due to a small amount of oxygen defect, ( < 0.01) on the anisotropic resistivity of La _2–x Sr _x CuO _4– in a wide x range up to x = 0.26. In the superconducting region with 0.06 x 0.22, we found that impurity scattering by the oxygen defect remarkably decreases the c-axis resistivity c over the whole temperature range. The finding is interpreted in terms of the nonmetallic conduction along the c axis which is enhanced by scattering the confined carriers in the CuO ₂ plane. On the other hand, the enhancement of the c-axis conduction diminishes in the nonsuperconducting region. This is consistent with the two-dimensional nature of the electronic state which stabilizes the superconducting ground state in the cuprates.     

Reaction of thiobarbituric acid with saturated aldehydes

The reaction of thiobarbituric acid (TBA) with saturated aldehydes, i.e., 1-butanal, 1-hexanal and 1-heptanal, produced a 455-nm yellow and a 532-nm red pigment. Formation of the pigments depended on the reaction conditions. The yellow pigment was unstable in the presence of excess amounts of the saturated aldehydes. The red pigment was formed only when the reaction was performed at a TBA/aldehyde ratio of 1∶1 in aqueous acetic acid. Formation of the yellow and red pigments required molecular oxygen. The colorless adducts, intermediates for the yellow and the red pigments, were isolated from the reaction mixtures. Aldol condensation and dehydration of 2 mol of the saturated aldehydes initially gave the α,β-unsaturated aldehydes, which in turn reacted with TBA to form the colorless adducts, pyranopyrimidine derivatives. The adducts were then converted into the yellow and red pigments under aerobic conditions.