Further studies on the anti-ulcerogenic effects of compound, 2-(E-2-decenoylamino)ethyl 2-(cyclohexylethyl) sulfide.

Tha anti-ulcerogenic mechanism of 2-(E-2-decenoylamino)ethyl 2-(cyclohexylethyl) sulfide (compd. III-1a) was investigated in various gastric defensive factors. Compound III-1a maintained the high molecular glycoprotein (relative content of Fr. I hexose) and accelerated hexosamine synthesis which were reduced by water immersion stress. But plaunotol did not have these actions. The lipid peroxide level in the gastric mucosa from water immersion stressed rat was lowered by the administration of compd. III-1a. Compound III-1a maintained prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and PGI2 contents which were reduced in the early phase of the stress and accelerated PGs synthesis in the late phase of the stress. Furthermore, compd. III-1a maintained phospholipase A2 (PLA2) activity which was reduced by the stress. The plaunotol treated group showed the same tendency as the compd. III-1a treated group on the lipid peroxide level, PGE2 and PGI2 contents, and PLA2 activity, but the potency of plaunotol was less than that of compd. III-1a. Compound III-1a accelerated gastric cell proliferation in pyloric glands of hydrocortisone treated rats. Tetragastrin accelerated significantly the cell proliferation in fundic glands. The sucralfate treated group showed the same tendency as the compd. III-1a treated group but the potency of sucralfate was less than that of compd. III-1a. The results in the present study suggest that compd. III-1a has a protective action on gastric mucosa.     

Radiation deterioration in mechanical properties and ion exchange capacity of Nafion N117 swelling in water

The base form Nafion N117 samples swelling in the oxygen-saturated distilled water were irradiated with γ-rays or with electron beams at various doses up to 1600 kGy at room temperature or at 343 K to obtain detailed information on the effect of oxygen on the radiation deterioration in the Nafion mechanical properties and in the ion exchange capacity. The contribution of the radical reactions where oxygen molecules did not participate was dominant for the radiation deterioration in the mechanical properties of the Nafion N117 membrane swelling in the oxygen-saturated distilled water at room temperature. The effect of oxygen molecules was not significant due to the little oxygen concentration in the distilled water even though oxygen was saturated in the water. The Nafion N117 membrane irradiated with γ-rays at 343 K became a weak and brittle material, since the rise of the temperature activated the reactions. Oxygen molecules, in contrast, have negligible part in the reactions at 343 K due to their lower solubility in the water. We observed the negligible effect of the radiation sources as well as of the dose rate below 10 kGy/h on the radiation deterioration in Nafion N117 mechanical properties at room temperature. The irradiation of the Nafion membrane with γ-rays or with electron beams is one of the acceleration tests of the Nafion degradation. We made clear that the dissolved fluorine measured using a fluoride ion meter is a hopeful index for the in situ judging of the Nafion mechanical deterioration. The ion exchange capacity of the membrane irradiated up to 1600 kGy was the 20% decrease of the initial capacity at room temperature. Nafion side chains terminating with –SO₃⁻ M⁺ groups were radiation-durable compared with the backbone.     

Arraying heterotypic single cells on photoactivatable cell-culturing substrates

This article describes a photochemical method for the site-selective assembly of heterotypic cells on a glass substrate modified with a silane coupling agent having a caged functional group. Silane coupling agents having a carboxyl (COOH), amino (NH 2), hydroxyl (OH), or thiol (SH) group protected by a photocleavable 2-nitrobenzyl group were synthesized to modify the surfaces of glass coverslips. The caged substrates were first coated by the adsorption of a blocking agent, bovine serum albumin (BSA), to make the entire surface non-cell-adhesive and then irradiated at 365 nm under a standard fluorescence microscope. The photocleavage reaction on the surface was followed by contact angle measurements and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. When COS7, NIH3T3, and HEK293 cells were seeded onto these substrates in a serum-free medium, the cells adhered selectively and efficiently to the irradiated regions on the caged NH 2 substrate, whereas the other caged COOH, SH, and OH substrates were nonphotoactivatable for cell adhesion. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of BSA adsorbed to the uncaged substrates revealed that this highly efficient photoactivation on the caged NH 2 substrate arose because of the following reasons: (i) upon photoactivation, BSA adsorbed in advance on the 2-nitrobenzyl groups was readsorbed onto the uncaged functional groups and (ii) BSA readsorbed onto the NH 2 groups became unable to passivate the surface against cell adhesion whereas BSA on the other groups still had normal passivating activity. It was also demonstrated that heterotypic single COS7, NIH3T3, and HEK293 cells were positioned at any desired arrangement on the caged NH 2 substrate by repeating the UV irradiation at optimized array spot sizes and cell seeding in optimized cell concentrations. The present method will be particularly useful in studying the dynamic processes of cell-cell interactions at a single-cell level.     

Single-scattering spectroscopy for extremely dense colloidal suspensions by use of a low-coherence interferometer

Single-scattering spectroscopy by use of a low-coherence interferometer is introduced to measure the power spectra of light scattered from extremely dense colloidal suspensions. The power spectrum of a heterodyne component can be obtained by subtraction of the power spectrum of a homodyne component from the measured power spectrum. The heterodyne power spectrum for light scattered from the medium is shown to coincide with the single-scattering spectrum to a depth of up to a few times the mean-free path length. Therefore single-scattering spectroscopy is newly proposed as a means by which to analyze the characteristics of extremely dense colloidal suspensions.     

Experimental study on air-liquid interface effect of Brownian dynamics using spectral-domain low-coherence dynamic light scattering

Space-variant dynamics of Brownian particles near an air-liquid interface is investigated by a one-shot analysis technique based on spectral-domain low-coherence dynamic light scattering. The expression “one shot” refers to the simultaneous and seamless measurement of temporal autocorrelation functions of the time-varying intensity depending on the scattering position without any scanning operation. It is experimentally confirmed that the Brownian motion is suppressed in a region close to an air-liquid interface, is activated by increasing the distance from the interface, and becomes freely diffusive far from the interface. This work is considered to be the first experimental confirmation of space-variant Brownian dynamics in the vicinity of an air-liquid interface.     

Improvement in carrier mobility of poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) nanowires synthesized in porous alumina templates

Polymeric nanowires of poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) are electrochemically synthesized using porous anodic alumina oxide (AAO) membranes as templates. Four‐point resistivity measurements on more than 100 PEDOT nanowires with different diameters (50–250 nm) reveal a statistically significant size‐dependent phenomenon in which the nanowires with a smaller diameter exhibit higher conductivity. Structural characterization with Raman spectroscopy and doping level estimation with energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectrometry and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicate that the observed conductivity enhancement can be attributed to improved carrier mobility in PEDOT nanowires having an elongated conjugation structure because of the effect of the AAO template. From the estimated doping levels (～5%) and conductivity data (～100 S/cm), it is found that the carrier mobility reach 2.0 cm²/V s for the nanowire with the smallest diameter, as compared with 4.0 × 10^?4 cm²/V s for a bulk PEDOT film. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2011