Comparison of yield and metabolites according to the types of hilling materials utilized during Glehnia littoralis sprout vegetable cultivation

Food Science and Biotechnology - Various hilling materials (rice hulls, pine sawdust, and perlite) were compared to produce sprout vegetables using beach silvertop (Glehnia littoralis Fr. Schm. ex...     

In vivo Kinetic Biodistribution of Nano‐Sized Outer Membrane Vesicles Derived from Bacteria

Evaluation of kinetic distribution and behaviors of nanoparticles in vivo provides crucial clues into their roles in living organisms. Extracellular vesicles are evolutionary conserved nanoparticles, known to play important biological functions in intercellular, inter‐species, and inter‐kingdom communication. In this study, the first kinetic analysis of the biodistribution of outer membrane vesicles (OMVs)—bacterial extracellular vesicles—with immune‐modulatory functions is performed. OMVs, injected intraperitoneally, spread to the whole mouse body and accumulate in the liver, lung, spleen, and kidney within 3 h of administration. As an early systemic inflammation response, increased levels of TNF‐α and IL‐6 are observed in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. In addition, the number of leukocytes and platelets in the blood is decreased. OMVs and cytokine concentrations, as well as body temperature are gradually decreased 6 h after OMV injection, in concomitance with the formation of eye exudates, and of an increase in ICAM‐1 levels in the lung. Following OMV elimination, most of the inflammatory signs are reverted, 12 h post‐injection. However, leukocytes in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid are increased as a late reaction. Taken together, these results suggest that OMVs are effective mediators of long distance communication in vivo.     

Stabilization of 6H-Hexagonal SrMnO3 Polymorph by Al2O3 insertion

We demonstrate the structural evolution of polymorphic phases in Al₂O₃-inserted SrMnO₃ ceramics synthesized by solid state reaction. While the 4H-hexagonal phase is predominant in pure SrMnO₃ ceramics, a small amount of 6H-hexagonal polymorph is identified in addition to the primary 4H-hexagonal SrMnO₃ and the secondary hexagonal SrAl₂O₄ phases in the as-sintered ceramics, evidenced by x-ray diffraction and subsequent Rietveld refinement analyses. The existence of the 6H-hexagonal SrMnO₃ phase is corroborated using Raman spectroscopy. The chemical compositions and electronic structures of the Al₂O₃-inserted SrMnO₃ compounds are also examined using energy dispersive spectroscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, respectively. The first-principles calculations reveal that there is no clear difference between the total energies of 4H- and 6H-hexagonal polymorphs regardless of the presence/absence of Sr and oxygen vacancies. Possible origins are discussed with the estimation of actual strain based on the refined lattice parameter of 6H SrMnO₃.     

Role of additives in fabrication of soy-based rigid polyurethane foam for structural and thermal insulation applications

Environmental concerns continue to pose the challenge to replace petroleum-based products with renewable ones completely or at least partially while maintaining comparable properties. Herein, rigid polyurethane (PU) foams were prepared using soy-based polyol for structural and thermal insulation applications. Cell size, density, thermal resistivity, and compression force deflection (CFD) values were evaluated and compared with that of petroleum-based PU foam Baydur 683. The roles of different additives, that is, catalyst, blowing agent, surfactants, and different functionalities of polyol on the properties of fabricated foam were also investigated. For this study, dibutyltin dilaurate was employed as catalyst and water as environment friendly blowing agent. Their competitive effect on density and cell size of the PU foams were evaluated. Five different silicone-based surfactants were employed to study the effect of surface tension on cell size of foam. It was also found that 5 g of surfactant per 100 g of polyol produced a foam with minimum surface tension and highest thermal resistivity (R value: 26.11 m²·K/W). However, CFD values were compromised for higher surfactant loading. Additionally, blending of 5 g of higher functionality soy-based polyol improved the CFD values to 328.19 kPa, which was comparable to that of petroleum-based foam Baydur 683.