Membrane potential across reverse osmosis membranes under pressure gradient

Membrane potential measurement has been widely used for the characterization of ionic membranes such as ion-exchange membranes without solvent permeability. However, there have been few studies on membrane potentials across pressure-driven processes such as reverse osmosis (RO) membranes with solvent permeability. In the present study, the membrane potential across RO membranes in NaCl and MgCl2 under the pressure gradient, DeltaP=0-0.3 MPa, was measured. The experimental results were analyzed by the theoretical model based on the Donnan equilibrium and the extended Nernst-Planck flux equation considering the pressure effect. The theoretical values agreed well with the experimental ones. This indicates that membrane potential is useful for characterizing the effective charge density of the active layer of RO membranes under pressure gradient.     

Biodegradation of chitin with enzymes and vital components

Chitin from squid pen was effectively degraded by the chitinase from Bacillus sp. PI-7S, while the degradation of chitin with lysozyme proceeded very slowly. Among the various vital components studied, the degradation of chitin from squid pen was performed not by canine serum, canine tela subcutanea, canine tela liver, and equine serum but by bovine serum and caprine serum. Noteworthy is the fact that chitin sponge subcutaneously implanted in dog reported not to have chitinase was degraded in ca. 14 days.     

In vivo assessment of the permeability of the blood--brain barrier and blood-retinal barrier to fluorescent indoline derivatives in zebrafish

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Successful delivery of compounds to the brain and retina is a challenge in the development of therapeutic drugs and imaging agents. This challenge arises because internalization of compounds into the brain and retina is restricted by the blood--brain barrier (BBB) and blood-retinal barrier (BRB), respectively. Simple and reliable in vivo assays are necessary to identify compounds that can easily cross the BBB and BRB. METHODS: We developed six fluorescent indoline derivatives (IDs) and examined their ability to cross the BBB and BRB in zebrafish by in vivo fluorescence imaging. These fluorescent IDs were administered to live zebrafish by immersing the zebrafish larvae at 7--8 days post fertilization in medium containing the ID, or by intracardiac injection. We also examined the effect of multidrug resistance proteins (MRPs) on the permeability of the BBB and BRB to the ID using MK571, a selective inhibitor of MRPs. RESULTS: The permeability of these barriers to fluorescent IDs administered by simple immersion was comparable to when administered by intracardiac injection. Thus, this finding supports the validity of drug administration by simple immersion for the assessment of BBB and BRB permeability to fluorescent IDs. Using this zebrafish model, we demonstrated that the length of the methylene chain in these fluorescent IDs significantly affected their ability to cross the BBB and BRB via MRPs. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated that in vivo assessment of the permeability of the BBB and BRB to fluorescent IDs could be simply and reliably performed using zebrafish. The structure of fluorescent IDs can be flexibly modified and, thus, the permeability of the BBB and BRB to a large number of IDs can be assessed using this zebrafish-based assay. The large amount of data acquired might be useful for in silico analysis to elucidate the precise mechanisms underlying the interactions between chemical structure and the efflux transporters at the BBB and BRB. In turn, understanding these mechanisms may lead to the efficient design of compounds targeting the brain and retina.     

Cascade reactions in crystals through cation-π-controlled reorientation on exposure to HCl gas

Exposure of 4-azachalcones to HCl gas produced the corresponding HCl salts with a head-to-tail stacked alignment, irradiation of which produced the corresponding syn-HT dimers with high regio- and stereoselectivities, thus showing the effectiveness of the cascade process in crystals.     

Poly(ethylene terephthalate) Nanofibers Made by Sea–Island‐Type Conjugated Melt Spinning and Laser‐Heated Flow Drawing

Nylon‐6/poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) ultra‐multi‐island sea–island conjugated melt‐spun fibers are flow‐drawn at a draw ratio of 174 with heating by CO₂ laser irradiation. Continuous PET nanofibers that have a diameter of 39 nm could be obtained from the flow‐drawn fiber with further drawing and removal of the sea component. In addition, the drawn fiber has a strength of 0.54 GPa. This result shows that a PET nanofiber having a strength almost equal to that of a conventional PET fiber can be obtained by the combination of conjugate‐melt‐spinning and laser‐heated flow‐drawing.

     

Electrical properties of lateral npn junctions using molecular beam epitaxy grown Si-doped GaAs on patterned substrates

We investigated electrical properties of laterally aligned npn junctions formed with one-step molecular beam epitaxial growth of Si-doped GaAs on patterned substrates. Detailed current-voltage (I-V) measurements of the lateral npn junctions showed asymmetric characteristics which suggest that the junction configuration is rather nn⁻pn with a highly compensated n⁻ region than a simple npn configuration. Temperature dependence of the I-V curves was also examined. Cross-sectional electron beam induced current and transmitted electron microscope measurements revealed the critical angle of the crystal plane at which conduction type of Si-doping converts to be exactly 25°, i.e. (311)A plane.     

寻找超高能宇宙线源——西藏广延空气簇射实验

总结了１９９０年６月到１９９３年１０月期间西藏空气簇射阵列的观测结果。寻找了来自于蟹状星云、Ｘ射线双星、脉冲星、活动星系核和其它活动天体的能量为１０ＴｅＶγ射线连续发射，没有发现连续稳定发射的迹象，但给出了每个源的流强上限。在阵列所观测的天区寻找了１０ＴｅＶ的γ暴，结果没有发现能量１０ＴｅＶ的γ暴，最后也给出了发现此种γ暴的上限。应用该阵列，明显地观测到了能量为１０ＴｅＶ的宇宙线流强的太阳和月亮阴影。观测了朝向和远离太阳的行星际空间磁场对宇宙线阴影的影响，这是行星际磁场对阴影位移影响的第一次直接观测。研究并发现在实验期间，太阳阴影的位置每年都在变化。同时观测在此期间，朝向和远离方向的宇宙线阴影的不同变化。另外，应用该实验的数据，给出了所谓的“膝”区的原初宇宙线能谱。