Removal of fine powders from film surface. I. Effect of electrostatic force on the removal efficiency

A novel fine particle removal system composed of a corona-discharge neutralizer, a pulse-jet air unit and an image processing system has been developed. First of all, adhesion force between particle and film was directly measured and effect of electrostatic force on the adhesion force was calculated experimentally and theoretically. The electrostatic force was found to be significant, leading to the suggestion that the countermeasure for the electrostatic force was required to effectively remove fine particles. This system was then applied to the removal of fine particles from surface of a gelatin film used for conventional capsule material. The number of particles removed by the system was calculated by an image processing system and number base removal efficiency was computed with and without the elimination of electrostatic charge by the neutralizer. It was found that the difference between the removal efficiency of particles with elimination of electrostatic charge and that of without the elimination showed linear relationship with the electrostatic adhesion force. The data confirmed the necessity of electrostatic charge elimination for the effective removal of fine particles.     

Studies on aldose reductase inhibitors from natural products. II. Active components of a Paraguayan crude drug "Para-parai mí," Phyllanthus niruri

Aldose reductase (AR) inhibitory activity-directed fractionation of the 70% ethanolic extract of Para-parai mí, Phyllanthus niruri, has led to the isolation of three active components, ellagic acid (1), brevifolin carboxylic acid (4) and ethyl brevifolin carboxylate (5). Among them, 1 showed the highest inhibitory activity, being about 6 times more potent than quercitrin, which is a known natural inhibitor of AR.     

Structural variety of membrane permeable peptides

Peptide-mediated protein delivery into living cells has been attracting our attention. Among the peptides that have been reported to have carrier activity, the one from the human immunodeficient virus (HIV)-1 Tat has been most often used for the introduction of exogenous macromolecules into cells. We have shown that not only the Tat peptide, but also various arginine-rich peptides showed very similar characteristics in translocation, and the possible presence of ubiquitous internalization mechanisms among the arginine-rich peptides has also been suggested. These arginine-rich peptides includes ones derived from HIV-1 Rev and flock house virus coat proteins. The linear- and branched-chain peptides containing approximately 8 residues of arginine also show a similar ability. In this review, we present the structural variety of membrane permeable peptides and provide a survey of the findings on the translocation of these peptides through the cell membranes.     

Total synthesis of (+)-tubelactomicin A. 2. Synthesis of the upper-half segment and completion of the total synthesis

[reaction: see text]. We have completed the total synthesis of natural (+)-tubelactomicin A (1), a 16-membered macrolide antibiotic. This Letter presents a highly efficient synthesis of the upper-half segment (C14-C24) and the completion of the total synthesis featuring a high-yielding Stille coupling for the connection of the upper-half and lower-half segments and Mukaiyama macrolactonization for the construction of the entire structure of 1.     

Multielement determination in tobacco leaves by photon activation analysis

A nondestructive photon activation procedure with 30 MeV bremsstrahlung followed by high-resolution gamma-spectrometry has been applied to the multielement determination in tobacco leaves and commercial cigarettes. The elements determined by this method included essential minor elements such as Ca, Cl, K and Mg, essential trace elements such as Fe, Mn and Zn, and possibly toxic elements such As and Sb. The NBS Orchard Leaves could successfully be used as a comparative standard. The method is quite simple and gives good reproducible results for at least 12 elements.     

In Situ Processing of Nano Crystalline Oxide Particles/Polymer Hybrid

Nano sized crystalline particles/polymer hybrids were synthesized form designed metal-organic precursors. The newly developed method is composed of the synthesis of organic matrix by polymerization and the in situ nucleation and growth of crystalline oxide particles in the organic matrix below 100°C. The design of metal-organic precursor modified with polymerizable ligand and the selection of reaction conditions does influence the size and crystallinity of ceramic particles in organic matrix. The nano-sized magnetic particle/polymer hybrid exhibits the interesting feature of superparamagnetism and quantum size effect. The crystalline particles of BaTiO₃/, PbTiO₃/, and KNbO₃/polymer hybrids behave to be dielectric and show the typical electro-rheological behavior.     

Design and synthesis of highly sensitive and selective fluorescein-derived magnesium fluorescent probes and application to intracellular 3D Mg2+ imaging

The role of intracellular magnesium ions is of high interest in the fields of pharmacology and cellular biology. To accomplish the dynamic and three-dimensional imaging of intracellular Mg2+, there is a strong desire for the development of optimized Mg2+ fluorescent probes. In this paper we describe the design, synthesis, and cellular application of the three novel Mg2+ fluorescent probes KMG-101, -103, and -104. The compounds of this series feature a charged beta-diketone as a binding site specific for Mg2+ and a fluorescein residue as the fluorophore that can be excited with an Ar+ laser such as is widely used in confocal scanning microscopy. This molecular design leads to an intensive off-on-type fluorescent response toward Mg2+ ions. The two fluorescent probes KMG-103 and -104 showed suitable dissociation constants (Kd,Mg2+ = 2 mM) and nearly a 10-fold fluorescence enhancement over the intracellular magnesium ion concentration range (0.1-6 mM), allowing high-contrast, sensitive, and selective Mg2+ measurements. For intracellular applications, the membrane-permeable probe KMG-104AM was synthesized and successfully incorporated into PC12 cells. Upon application of the mitochondria uncoupler FCCP to the probe-incorporated cells, the resulting increase in the free magnesium ion concentration could be followed over time. By using a confocal microscope, the intracellular 3D magnesium ion concentration distributions were satisfactorily observed.     

Determination of urea by ion chromatography with an immobilized urease reactor

An immobilized urease reactor can be used with ion chromatography for the simultaneous determination of urea, and sodium, potassium and ammonium ions. The conversion of urea to ammonium ion was found to be 76.5%. The calibration graph for urea was linear over the range 1 × 10^?5?1 × 10^?3 M (RSD 3%). The method was applied to human urine and a chemical fertilizer.