We studied the roles of hepatitis C virus (HCV) core protein in hepatic steatosis and changes in hepatic lipid metabolism. HCV core protein expression plasmid was transfected in HepG2. ...Triacylglyceride (TG) and mRNA level associated with lipid metabolism were measured. Male C57BL/6 mice were infected with HCV core recombinant adenovirus and used for lipids and mRNA studies. In HCV core protein-expressing cells, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)alpha, multidrug resistance protein (MDR) 3, and microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP) were down-regulated 48 hr after transfection. In HCV core protein-expressing mice, hepatic TG content and hepatic thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances increased. PPARalpha, MDR2, acyl-CoA oxidase (AOX), and carnitine palmitoyl transferase-1 (CPT-1) were down-regulated. HCV core protein down-regulated lipid metabolism-associated gene expression, Mdr2, CPT, and AOX, accompanied by down-regulation of PPARalpha. There findings may contribute to the understanding of HCV-related steatosis, induction of reactive oxygen species, and carcinogenesis.
Hybrid materials with nano-size interfaces between organic and inorganic offer exceptional opportunities to create entirely unique properties. Bridged polyethers are a family of hybrid ...organic/inorganic materials prepared by sol–gel processing of monomers that contain a variable polyether bridging group and functional silyl groups. The materials possess thermal as well as chemical tolerance at high temperatures due to the inorganic interfaces in the macromolecules. In the present paper, organic/inorganic nanohybrid membrane has been prepared for proton conducting polymer electrolyte by incorporating heteropolyacids such as 12-phosphotungstic acid (PWA) clusters at the interfaces and high temperature conductivity has been examined. While the intermediate temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) can be a candidate for overcoming major problems in the current PEMFC such as CO poisoning on the Pt electrodes surfaces and heat managements, new proton conducting polymer electrolytes with more temperature tolerance has been investigated on functional hybrids. The unique hybrid macromolecules with fast ionic conduction at higher temperature have been synthesized in the present work.
Amounts of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and oxygenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (oxy-PAHs) in samples collected from the air, from the dust on a guardrail, and from the soils on a ...tunnel roadway at five sampling sites in a regular roadway tunnel were chemically analyzed in order to determine their sources. Among the 23 PAHs found in the air samples, pyrene was found in the highest concentration (43±7.2
ng/m
3), followed by fluoranthene (26±4.3
ng/m
3). Among 20 oxy-PAHs found in the air samples, anthraquinone was found in the greatest amount (56±3.9
ng/m
3). The average concentration of the major PAHs found in the guardrail dust samples were 6.9±0.77
μg/g for pyrene, 5.5±0.76
μg/g for fluoranthene, and 2.6±0.30
μg/g for phenanthrene. The average concentration of the major oxy-PAHs found in the guardrail dust samples were 9.2±3.5
μg/g for anthraquinone and 1.4±0.50
μg/g for 2-methylanthraquinone. The average concentration of the major PAHs found in the soil samples were 1.1±0.31
μg/g for fluoranthene, 0.92±0.21
μg/g for pyrene, and 0.72±0.16
μg/g for phenanthrene. The average concentration of the major oxy-PAHs found in the soil samples were 1.2±0.88
μg/g for anthraquinone, 0.18±0.04
μg/g for 4-biphenylcarboxaldehyde, and 0.13±0.08
μg/g for 2-methylanthraquinone. The BeP ratios calculated from the results suggest that most PAHs found in the samples collected from the roadway tunnel were from automobile exhaust gases.
A novel device based on a porous Pt–WO
3
metal-insulator-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MISFET) for carbon monoxide (CO) gas sensing has been fabricated. The structure integrates the ...catalytic properties of porous Pt as a thin catalytic layer, and the spillover effect onto WO
3
film as a gas adsorptive oxide layer, with surface-sensitive MISFET. The operation characteristics of the device for the detection of CO gas are presented as a function of CO gas concentration. The drain current increased rapidly with time depending on the CO gas concentration. It was possible to detect 54 ppm of CO gas with a response time of less than 1 min at 75°C. A model was proposed to explain the operation. The sensing mechanism of the device is supported well by experimental data.
The genus Tyrus Aubé is redescribed with major diagnostic features illustrated. The first male specimen of T. sinensis Raffray (Type locality: Yunnan, China) is reported from Xizang, China, and two ...new species, Tyrus sichuanicus Yin & Nomura, sp. n. and Tyrus yajiangensis Yin & Li, sp. n., are described from Sichuan, China. All treated species are (re-)described, illustrated and distinguished.
Background and purpose: Smoking is a risk factor for the onset of postoperative complications. Although itis thought that surgeons should provide explanations to patients on the significance of ...quitting smokingprior to surgery and that smoking cessation outpatient programs should be introduced, the response so farhas been insufficient. The attitudes of surgeons regarding preoperative cessation of smoking also remainunclear. Here we report the results of a questionnaire survey on the preoperative cessation of smokingconducted on surgeons who regularly perform surgery under general anesthesia. This survey was conducted toinvestigate the attitudes of surgeons affiliated with the National Hospital Association on preoperativecessation of smoking. Subjects and methods: The National Hospital Association comprises 143 affiliated medical facilities. Weconducted an anonymous, voluntary, web-based questionnaire survey on surgeons affiliated with 90 of thesefacilities, excluding our own facility. Results: Responses were received from 60 surgeons. Thirty-eight (63.3%) surgeons were affiliated with cancertreatment core hospitals and 48 (80% ) were gastroenterologists. The average annual number of surgeriesperformed per surgeon was 100. Twenty-eight (46.6%) surgeons responded that their affiliated facility had anoutpatient smoking cessation program. The percentage of smokers among surgery outpatients was 34.2%. Fiftyeight(96.7%) surgeons responded that they recommended their outpatients to quit smoking prior to surgery.All respondent surgeons indicated that they were aware that smoking is a risk factor for postoperativecomplications. However, eight (13.3%) surgeons indicated that they only provided outpatient consultations onsmoking cessation and 39 (65% ) responded that they did not know about the Guideline for PerioperativeSmoking Cessation published by the Safety Committee of Japanese Society of Anesthesiologists. Conclusions: The smoking rate among patients undergoing medical examinations is high, and although there isawareness regarding the necessity to quit smoking during the perioperative period, only 13.3% of surgeonsreported referring patients to outpatient smoking cessation programs. The results of this study suggest thatthis is because of the insufficient availability of outpatient smoking cessation programs and the low degreeof recognition of perioperative smoking cessation therapies.
SrBi 4 Ti 4 O 15 (SBTi) and CaBi 4 Ti 4 O 15 (CBTi) dielectric films of bismuth layered-structure dielectrics (BLSD) are prepared on Pt(100) film for constructing stacked-type dielectric capacitors; ...it is observed that they are c-axis single-oriented crystalline films. Compared with the perovskite barium titanate family of (Ba,Sr)TiO 3 (BST), it is observed that the SBTi film keeps a low leakage of 10 -7 A/cm 2 at 250 kV/ cm, which is smaller by an order of magnitude than the BST film, even with thinner SBTi film. The temperature coefficient of capacitance (TCC) of the SBTi or CBTi film is about 100 to 250 ppm/K and is much smaller than that of the perovskite BST film. Because the SBTi and CBTi films have opposite polarities of TCC in this experiment, they are expected to cancel out the temperature dependence in the SBTi/CBTi composite capacitor. These results indicate that the BLSD films of SBTi and CBTi are effective for application in high-temperature and high-permittivity capacitors with the practical barium perovskite oxide family.
We developed high-sensitivity magnetization measurement devices composed of micro-dc-SQUIDs and a superconducting Sr\(_2\)RuO\(_4\) microplate, aiming to investigate novel magnetic properties related ...to a spin-triplet chiral p-wave superconductor with a mesoscopic size. Micron-sized dc-SQUID was fabricated by thin Al electrodes, and the SQUID structure was improved to prevent magnetic fluxes from intruding into SQUID electrodes. A Sr\(_2\)RuO\(_4\) superconducting microplate was fabricated into the size as small as the SQUID loop using a focused ion beam and directly mounted on the SQUID with precise positioning for high-sensitivity magnetization measurements. In the preliminary magnetization measurements of this device, we observed vortices trapped into the plate and thus the lower critical field. The improved magnetization measurement device developed to exclude undesirable flux intrusion successfully enabled high-sensitivity detection of quantized vortex.
PDF
