Analysis of characteristic odors from human male axillae

A number of studies concerning the analysis of axillary odors have assumed that the characteristic odor produced in the axillae is due to volatile steroids and isovaleric acid. Organoleptic evaluation of Chromatographic eluants from axillary extracts was employed to isolate the region in the chromatogram where the characteristic odor eluted. The odor of the dissolved eluant was eliminated when it was treated with base, suggesting that acids make up the characteristic axillary odor. Subsequent extraction of the pH-adjusted axillary extract in conjunction with organoleptic evaluation of the Chromatographic eluant, preparative gas chromatography, and analysis by GC-MS as well as GC-FTIR showed the presence of a number of C₆ to C₁₁ straight-chain, branched, and unsaturated acids as important contributors to the axillary odor. The major odor component is (E)-3-methyl-2-hexenoic acid. Three homologous series of minor components are also important odor contributors; these consist of the terminally unsaturated acids, the 2-methyl-C₆ to -C₁₀ acids and the 4-ethyl-C₅ to -C₁₁ acids. These types of acids have not been reported previously as components of the human axillary secretions and have not been proposed previously as part of the principal odor components in this area.     

The Attenuated Secretion of Hyaluronan by UVA-Exposed Human Fibroblasts Is Associated with Up- and Downregulation of HYBID and HAS2 Expression via Activated and Inactivated Signaling of the p38/ATF2 and JAK2/STAT3 Cascades

Little is known about the effects on hyaluronan (HA) metabolism of UVA radiation. This study demonstrates that the secretion of HA by human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) is downregulated by UVA, accompanied by the down- and upregulation of mRNA and protein levels of the HA-synthesizing enzyme (HAS2) and the HA-degrading protein, HYaluronan Binding protein Involved in HA Depolymerization(HYBID), respectively. Signaling analysis revealed that the exposure distinctly elicits activation of the p38/MSK1/CREB/c-Fos/AP-1 axis, the JNK/c-Jun axis, and the p38/ATF-2 axis, but downregulates the phosphorylation of NF-kB and JAK/STAT3. A signal inhibition study demonstrated that the inhibition of p38 significantly abrogates the UVA-accentuated mRNA level of HYBID. Furthermore, the inhibition of STAT3 significantly downregulates the level of HAS2 mRNA in non-UVA exposed HDFs. Analysis using siRNAs demonstrated that transfection of ATF-2 siRNA but not c-Fos siRNA abrogates the increased protein level of HYBID in UVA-exposed HDFs. An inhibitor of protein tyrosine phosphatase but not of protein serine/threonine phosphatase restored the diminished phosphorylation level of STAT3 at Tyr 705, accompanied by a significant abolishing effect on the decreased mRNA expression level of HAS2. Silencing with a protein tyrosine phosphatase PTP-Meg2 siRNA revealed that it abrogates the decreased phosphorylation of STAT3 at Tyr 705 in UVA-exposed HDFs. These findings suggest that the UVA-induced decrease in HA secretion by HDFs is attributable to the down- and upregulation of HAS2 and HYBID expression, respectively, changes that are mainly ascribed to the inactivated signaling of the STAT3 axis due to the activated tyrosine protein phosphatase PTP-Meg2 and the activated signaling of the p38/ATF2 axis, respectively.     

The use of lifetime functions in the optimization of interventions on existing bridges considering maintenance and failure costs

In the last decade, it became clear that life-cycle cost analysis of existing civil infrastructure must be used to optimally manage the growing number of aging and deteriorating structures. The uncertainties associated with deteriorating structures require the use of probabilistic methods to properly evaluate their lifetime performance. In this paper, the deterioration and the effect of maintenance actions are analyzed considering the performance of existing structures characterized by lifetime functions. These functions allow, in a simple manner, the consideration of the effect of aging on the decrease of the probability of survival of a structure, as well as the effect of maintenance actions. Models for the effects of proactive and reactive preventive maintenance, and essential maintenance actions are presented. Since the probability of failure is different from zero during the entire service life of a deteriorating structure and depends strongly on the maintenance strategy, the cost of failure is included in this analysis. The failure of one component in a structure does not usually lead to failure of the structure and, as a result, the safety of existing structures must be analyzed using a system reliability framework. The optimization consists of minimizing the sum of the cumulative maintenance and expected failure cost during the prescribed time horizon. Two examples of application of the proposed methodology are presented. In the first example, the sum of the maintenance and failure costs of a bridge in Colorado is minimized considering essential maintenance only and a fixed minimum acceptable probability of failure. In the second example, the expected lifetime cost, including maintenance and expected failure costs, of a multi-girder bridge is minimized considering reactive preventive maintenance actions.     

Detection of norovirus RNA in bivalve molluscs by using bacteria-culture-employed method (A3T method)

Norovirus (NV) RNA has rarely been detected in foods despite the use of highly sensitive methods such as RT-PCR and real-time RT-PCR. In the modified method (A3T method) reported previously, a bacterial culture process was introduced into the standard protocol for NV detection to remove some inhibitor(s) present in food ingredients. To confirm the efficiency of the A3T method and to examine NV contamination in bivalve molluscs, we tried to detect NV RNA in bivalve molluscs on the market and in oyster samples associated with foodborne outbreaks by using the standard method and the A3T method. NV RNAs were detected in 20 samples (18.0%) of 111 bivalve molluscs, including oysters, on the market by use of the A3T method, while only one sample (0.9%) was positive according to the standard method. NV RNA was also detected in 10 of 35 oyster samples related to foodborne outbreaks by the A3T method. Those results show that the A3T method is suitable for the detection of NV in bivalve molluscs in general laboratories.     

Application of Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Spaces to a Minimization Problem with Prescribed Nodes

The theory of reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces is applied to a minimization problem with prescribed nodes. We re-prove and generalize some results previously obtained by Gunawan et al. [2,3], and also discuss the Hölder continuity of the solution to the problem.     

Quantum Transport and Cyclotron Resonance Study of Ge/SiGe Quantum Wells in High Magnetic Fields

Shubnikov-de Haas oscillation and cyclotron resonance were studied for high mobility p-type Ge channels in strained Ge/Si_1?x Ge _x quantum wells, using pulsed high magnetic fields up to 50 T. Fine quantum oscillations were observed in ρ _xx . Reflecting the complex Landau level structure in the nearly degenerate valence bands, the Fourier transform of the oscillatory spectra consists of several peaks. Cyclotron resonance was measured at photon energies between 10 and 17 meV. Two well-defined resonance peaks were observed in two samples with different x, resulting in different strains. A large non-parabolicity and large strain dependence of the effective masses were observed.     

Isotope scrambling in the formation of cyanopolyynes by laser ablation of carbon particles in liquid acetonitrile

Cyanopolyynes, H(CC)_nCN (n = 3–6), were formed by laser ablation of carbon particles in liquid acetonitrile. The molecules were separated according to the size n and characterized by UV absorption spectroscopy, mass spectroscopy in combination with gas-chromatographic separation, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. For the study of nascent carbon cluster distribution during the growth of the long carbon chain molecules, isotopomer distribution was analyzed by NMR spectroscopy for the product molecules. Two cyanopolyynes of HC₇N and HC₉N were isolated from solutions after laser ablation of isotope-enriched carbon powder (99% ¹³C) in liquid acetonitrile, CH₃CN, of natural isotopic abundance (1.1% ¹³C). With the observed chemical shift, δ, and spin–spin coupling constants, J_CH and J_CC, spectral simulation was made to determine relative abundance of possible isotopomeric forms for HC₉N. We found that the isotope of ¹²C, mostly from solvent molecules, contributes substantially for the part of carbon in the cyano group, –CN, in HC₉N. The isotopomer distribution observed for the sequence of H–CC–CC– was fairly explainable by a binomial, random distribution of the two carbon isotopes of ¹²C and ¹³C, reducing the concentration of ¹³C to 76–55%.     

Development and validation of an HPLC-based screening method to acquire polyhydroxyalkanoate synthase mutants with altered substrate specificity

A rapid and convenient method for the compositional analysis of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) was developed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and alkaline sample pretreatment in a 96-well plate format. The reliability of this system was confirmed by the fact that a mutant with a D171G mutation of Aeromonas caviae PHA synthase (PhaC(Ac)), which gained higher reactivity toward 3-hydroxyhexanoate (3HHx), was selected from the D171X mutant library. Together with D171G mutant, several single mutants showing high reactivity toward 3HHx were isolated by the HPLC assay. These new mutants and double mutants combined with an N149S mutation were used to synthesize P(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3HHx) in Ralstonia eutropha PHB(-)4 from soybean oil as carbon source, achieving higher levels of 3HHx fraction than the wild-type enzyme. Based on these results, the high-throughput screening system will serve as a powerful tool for exploring new and beneficial mutations responsible for regulating copolymer composition of PHA.