Shape design of cerium oxide nanoparticles for enhancement of enzyme mimetic activity in therapeutic applications

Cerium oxide nanoparticles (CONPs), widely used in catalytic applications owing to their robust redox reaction, are now being considered in therapeutic applications based on their enzyme mimetic properties such as catalase and super oxide dismutase (SOD) mimetic activities. In therapeutic applications, the emerging demand for CONPs with low cytotoxicity, high cost efficiency, and high enzyme mimetic capability necessitates the exploration of alternative synthesis and effective material design. This study presents a room temperature aqueous synthesis for low-cost production of shape-selective CONPs without potentially harmful organic substances, and additionally, investigates cell viability and catalase and SOD mimetic activities. This synthesis, at room temperature, produced CONPs with particular planes: {111}/{100} nanopolyhedra, {100} nano/submicron cubes, and {111}/{100} nanorods that grew in [110] longitudinal direction. Enzymatic activity assays indicated that nanopolyhedra with a high concentration of Ce⁴⁺ ions promoted catalase mimetic activity, while nanocubes and nanorods with high Ce³⁺ ion concentrations enhanced SOD mimetic activity. This is the first study indicating that shape and facet configuration design of CONPs, coupled with the retention of dominant, specific Ce valence states, potentiates enzyme mimetic activities. These findings may be utilized for CONP design aimed at enhancing enzyme mimetic activities in therapeutic applications.

Open image in new window

     

Dielectric properties of woven fabric glass fiber reinforced polymer-matrix composites in the THz frequency range

Electromagnetic wave transmittances of plain woven fabric glass fiber reinforced epoxy matrix composite (PW-GFRP) and eight-harness-stain fabric glass fiber reinforced polyimide matrix composite (8H-GFRP) with 1.0 mm thickness were measured in a terahertz (THz) frequency range. The transmittance values for both composites are nearly zero at a frequency of 1.0 THz. The real parts of the complex dielectric constant, ε′(ω) are 4.45 and 3.87 for PW-GFRP and 8H-GFRP, respectively, in the frequency range from 0.2 to 1.0 THz, and they are almost frequency independent. Conversely, the imaginary parts of the dielectric constant, ε′′(ω) for both composites linearly increases with increase of the frequency from 0.13 to 0.37 for PW-GFRP, and from 0.12 to 0.33 for 8H-GFRP.     

Design of a spotsize-converter-integrated laser diode (SS-LD) witha lateral taper, thin-film core and ridge in the 1.3-μm-wavelengthregion based on the 3-D BPM

In order to develop spotsize-converter-integrated laser diodes (SS-LDs) with high efficiency and large-misalignment tolerances in the 13-μm-wavelength region, spotsize converters (SSCs), which consist of lateral taper, thin-film core and ridge, are investigated employing the three-dimensional (3-D) semivectorial finite-difference beam propagation method (FD-BPM) with nonequidistant discretization. The sum of the spot-conversion loss and coupling loss between the laser diode (LD) eigenmode and the single-mode fiber (SMF) eigenmode are calculated for various structural parameters. Small loss of around 1.5 dB can be achieved by introducing a nonlinear taper. The fabrication tolerances for the SSCs are also clarified. The calculated results agree well with the results for actually fabricated SS-LD's. It is also shown that the radiation loss and coupling characteristics of the SS-LDs with a buried thin-film core structure can be improved using a nonlinear taper     

Lasing mode behavior of a single-mode MQW laser injected with TMpolarized light

The lasing mode behavior of a multiple quantum well (MQW) distributed feedback (DFB) laser was measured when intensity-modulated orthogonally polarized transverse magnetic (TM) mode light was injected. The 3-dB bandwidth of the frequency response shows a trend different from that observed with conventional bias current modulation: at high bias currents, it decreases with increasing bias current. The maximum bandwidth of 3 dB was observed when the normalized bias current was 4, and it reached 16 GHz at this bias current. The gain saturation coefficients for the transverse electric (TE) and TM modes estimated from these results were ∈_p^E; 2.5×10^-17 cm³ and ∈_q^E 5.7×10^-18 cm³ for the TE mode, and ∈_p^M: 6.0×10^-17 cm³ and ∈_q^M: 2.0×10^-14 cm³ for the TM mode     

Enhanced renal toxicity by inorganic mercury in metallothionein-null mice

To elucidate a protective role of metallothionein (MT) in the manifestation of inorganic mercury toxicity, we studied the susceptibility of MT-null mice to the renal toxicity of mercuric chloride. Because the MT-null (J) mice are a genetic background of 129/Sv strain, the 129/Sv mice were used as wild-type controls. Nine-week-old male MT-null (J) and 129/Sv mice were given subcutaneous injections of mercuric chloride at doses of 10 to 40 micromol/kg. The basal MT level in the kidney of MT-null (J) mice was undetectable (<0.2 microg/g of tissue) and approximately 2.5 microg/g of tissue in 129/Sv mice. The sensitivity to the renal toxicity of mercuric chloride was markedly enhanced in the MT-null (J) mice compared with the 129/Sv mice. The renal mercury level was similar for the MT-null (J) and 129/Sv mice at 4 hr after the injection of mercuric chloride (20 micromol/kg) but became significantly lower in MT-null (J) mice than in 129/Sv mice at 24 and 72 hr. Based on the present results, we conclude that MT is an important protective factor against the renal toxicity caused by inorganic mercury and that it may play a major role in the retention of mercury in the kidney.     

Inhibitory effect of selenium on biliary secretion of methyl mercury in rats

The inhibitory effect of sodium selenite on biliary secretion of methyl mercury was examined in rats. The biliary secretion of methyl mercury in rat treated with 1 mumol/kg of methyl mercury was significantly decreased by administration of selenite at doses of 0.05 mumol/kg or higher. In rats given 10 mumol/kg of methyl mercury, marked depression of biliary secretion of mercury was observed when selenite was injected at a dose of 0.2 mumol/kg. On the other hand, secretion of substantial amounts of selenium was observed when biliary secretion of mercury was depressed. When the concentration of selenium in the bile was higher than 5 nmol/ml, biliary secretion of mercury was markedly depressed independently of the dose of methyl mercury administered (1 mumol/kg or 10 mumol/kg). These results suggest that the degree of inhibitory effect of selenite may be determined by the selenium concentration in the liver or the bile after treatment with selenite rather than the molar ratio of the dose of methyl mercury and selenite. We concluded that the decrease in biliary secretion of methyl mercury induced by selenite may result from inhibition of pathway for secretion of methyl mercury from liver to bile rather than the direct formation of a complex between methyl mercury and selenium. Methyl mercury has been considered to be secreted from liver to bile as a complex with glutathione (GSH). However, administration of selenite did not affect biliary secretion of GSH or hepatic glutathione S-transferase activity. Moreover, gel filtration of liver cytosol demonstrated that the distribution pattern of hepatic methyl mercury between macromolecules and GSH was not significantly changed by administration of selenite. These results suggest that selenite does not affect complex formation of methyl mercury with GSH at least in the liver. Selenite might specifically inhibit the activity of the canalicular transporter(s) which transport complexes of methyl mercury and GSH from the liver to bile.     

High-speed InGaAlAs-InAlAs MQW directional coupler waveguide switchmodules integrated with a spotsize converter having a lateral taper,thin-film core, and ridge

Fully packaged 2×2 and 4×4 semiconductor optical switch modules are successfully developed by integrating spotsize converters (SSCs) consisting of lateral tapers, thin-film cores, and ridges in InGaAlAs-InAlAs multiple quantum-well (MQW) directional coupler waveguide switches in the 1.55-μm wavelength region. Good reproducibility is obtained for the perfect coupling length of the directional coupler by appropriately designing the ridge width and gap of strip-loaded optical waveguides and by making use of the Cl₂ reactive-ion-beam-etching and successive wet-etching. Since the switching time is sufficiently short (<70 ps, which is limited by the driver speed) for the 4×4 switch module, no bits are lost during a 10-Gb/s switching experiment at a wavelength of 1.55 μm     

High-speed InGaAlAs/InAlAs multiple quantum well optical modulators

High-speed modulation over 22 GHz for waveguided InGaAlAs/InAlAs multiple quantum well (MQW) optical modulators is described. A large on/off ratio of over 25 dB is demonstrated with a low-drive voltage (6 V) operating in the 1.55-μm wavelength region. The design and characteristics of MQW p-i-n modulators are discussed. The causes of large-insertion loss and the required drive voltage bandwidth figure of merit for the MQW modulator are discussed. The frequency response measurements show that the response speed is limited by the RC time constant of the device. This suggests that the speed can be further enhanced by decreasing the size and capacitance of the device