Electrolytic-reduction ion water protects keratinocytes from hydrogen peroxide through radical scavenging activity and induction of AQP3 expression.

Skin exposed to ultraviolet light produces hydrogen peroxide (HO) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) that cause protein denaturation and other disorders. We investigated whether electrolytic-reduction ion water (ERI), which has reducing properties and has been reported to protect skin, exhibits antioxidant activity in skin keratinocytes. The antioxidant activity of ERI was first examined using DPPH assay and Electron Spin Resonance to test for radicals, and using the Amplex Red method to test for HO.

Demonstration of the bluish color on veins.

This study aimed to demonstrate and quantify the greenish-blue color of veins using tissue paper and stocking via the simultaneous color contrast phenomenon. The colors of real skin and veins were accurately measured in the experiment and used as a reference to simulate the color of the skin and the veins. Subcutaneous veins were simulated using gray paper covered with tissue paper for Experiment 1 and stockings for Experiment 2.

Electrolytic-reduction ion water induces ceramide synthesis in human skin keratinocytes.

Ceramides play a critical role in the skin barrier. We previously demonstrated that electrolytic-reduction ion water (ERI) improves skin integrity and enhances the protective barrier function of the epidermis. Here, we first examine the effect of ERI on the expression of ceramide synthesis-related enzymes in human skin keratinocytes.

Antiviral effect of electrolyzed reduced water on SARS-CoV-2.

The inhibitory activity of electrolyzed reduced water (ERW) against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which is the etiological agent responsible for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), was tested in vitro on Vero E6 cells using a plaque assay. Infectious virus titers of cells treated with ERW 100%, 50% and 33.3% solutions and phosphate buffered saline (PBS, negative control) and exposed to the virus suspension for 60 seconds were 2.

The effect of tissue paper on the color appearance of colored papers.

A sheet of tissue paper can change color appearance. Various colors were observed through tissues, and the appearance was quantitatively measured by the elementary color naming method. The saturation decreased with tissues, but the color appearance was fairly vivid in spite of a marked decrease of excitation purity, suggesting that visual mechanisms neglect the white color appearance to judge the color behind the tissue.

An electrically conducting crystal composed of an octahedrally ligated porphyrin complex with high-spin iron(iii).

A porphyrin-based octahedrally ligated complex with high-spin iron(iii) was designed, and the resulting electrically conducting crystal TPP[Fe(tbp)Br] (TPP = tetraphenylphosphonium and tbp = tetrabenzoporphyrin) was synthesised. Although TPP[Fe(tbp)Br] was isostructural to the reported TPP[Fe(Mc)L] systems (Mc = macrocyclic ligands such as phthalocyanine (Pc) or tbp; and L = CN, Cl, or Br), the bond lengths between Fe and ligands in the [Fe(tbp)Br] unit were evidently longer than those in the other units, because of the different spin states of Fe: high-spin in TPP[Fe(tbp)Br] and low-spin in others. The magnetic anisotropy observed in the low-spin state vanished when the Fe is in the high-spin state.

A new strategy for inducing dipole moments in charge-transfer complexes: introduction of asymmetry into axially ligated iron phthalocyanines.

Introduction of asymmetry into charge-transfer complexes composed of axially ligated iron phthalocyanines was achieved. In the obtained crystals of TPP[Fe(Pc)(CN)Cl], TPP[Fe(Pc)(CN)Br], and TPP[Fe(Pc)BrCl] (TPP = tetraphenylphosphonium and Pc = phthalocyanine), the axial positions of the iron atoms were occupied by 50/50 ratios of the ligands CN/Cl, CN/Br, and Br/Cl, respectively. The crystal structures of the obtained CT complexes were isostructural to those composed of the symmetric analogues of the type [Fe(Pc)L] (L = CN, Cl or Br); the [Fe(Pc)LL'] units formed regular one-dimensional chains along the c-axis following the symmetry of the P4/n space group.

A giant negative magnetoresistance effect in an iron tetrabenzoporphyrin complex.

By measuring the electrical resistivity in TPP[Fe(tbp)(CN)] (TPP = tetraphenylphosphonium and tbp = tetrabenzoporphyrin) under the application of a static magnetic field, a giant negative magnetoresistance (MR) effect with high anisotropy is observed. More specifically, the MR ratio at 13 K under a field of 9 T perpendicular to the c axis is -70%, whereas the MR ratio under a field parallel to the c axis is -40%. Furthermore, electron spin resonance (ESR) measurements indicate large anisotropy in the principal g-values of d spin (S = 1/2) in the [Fe(tbp)(CN)] unit; the g value almost perpendicular to the tbp plane and the g and g values almost parallel to the tbp plane are 3.

Phthalocyanine-Based Single-Component Molecular Conductor [Mn(III)(Pc)(CN)]2O.

A new manganese complex, [Mn(Pc)(CN)]2O, was prepared by an electrocrystallization method. This material is a single-component molecular conductor that displays semiconducting behavior with room temperature conductivity of 4.5 × 10(-3) S cm(-1).

Research and development of an electron beam focusing system for a high-brightness X-ray generator.

A new type of rotating anticathode X-ray generator, where an electron beam of up to 60 keV irradiates the inner surface of a U-shaped Cu anticathode, has achieved a beam brilliance of 130 kW mm(-2) (at 2.3 kW). A higher-flux electron beam is expected from simulation by optimizing the geometry of a combined-function-type magnet instead of the fringing field of the bending magnet.

Performance of an electron gun for a high-brightness X-ray generator.

A prototype thermionic electron gun for a high-brightness X-ray generator has been developed. Its extraction voltage and design current are 60 kV and 100 mA (DC), respectively. The X-ray generator aims towards a maximum brilliance of 60 kW mm(-2).

Dose-dependent hypocholesterolemic actions of dietary apple polyphenol in rats fed cholesterol.

The dose-dependent hypocholesterolemic and antiatherogenic effects of dietary apple polyphenol (AP) from unripe apple, which contains approximately 85% catechin oligomers (procyanidins), were examined in male Sprague-Dawley rats (4 wk of age) given a purified diet containing 0.5% cholesterol. Dietary AP at 0.

Neocimicigenosides A and B, cycloartane glycosides from the rhizomes of Cimicifuga racemosa and their effects on CRF-stimulated ACTH secretion from AtT-20 cells.

Two new cycloartane glycosides, named neocimicigenosides A (1) and B (2), were isolated from the rhizomes of Cimicifuga racemosa. The structures of 1 and 2 were determined on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analysis and enzymatic hydrolysis followed by chromatographic and spectroscopic analyses to be (16S,23R,24S)-24-acetoxy-16,23:16,25-diepoxy-15alpha-hydroxycycloartan-3beta-yl alpha-L-arabinopyranoside (1) and (16S,23R,24S)-24-acetoxy-16,23:16,25-diepoxy-15alpha-hydroxycycloartan-3beta-yl beta-D-xylopyranoside (2), respectively. Neocimicigenosides A and B enhanced CRF-stimulated ACTH secretion from AtT-20 cells.

Inhibitory effect of polyphenol-enriched apple extracts on mast cell degranulation in vitro targeting the binding between IgE and FcepsilonRI.

Extracts from immature fruit of the apple (Rosaceae, Malus sp.), which contain procyanidins (polymers of catechins) as the major ingredients, are known to inhibit histamine release from mast cells. We analyzed in this study the mechanism for the anti-allergic activity of two polyphenol-enriched apple extracts.

Analytical separation of tea catechins and food-related polyphenols by high-speed counter-current chromatography.

High-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) using the type-J coil planet centrifuge was applied to compositional analysis of tea catechins and separation of other food-related polyphenols. The HSCCC separation of nine different standard compounds and those from extracts of commercial tea leaves was performed with a two-phase solvent system composed of tert-butyl methyl ether-acetonitrile-0.1% aqueous trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) (2:2:3, v/v/v) by eluting the upper organic phase at a flow rate of 2 ml/min.

Inhibitory effects of polyphenols on gastric injury by Helicobacter pylori VacA toxin.

Background: Helicobacter pylori induces gastric damage and may be involved in the pathogenesis of gastric cancer. H. pylori-vacuolating cytotoxin, VacA, is one of the important virulence factors, and is responsible for H.

Rhizoremediation of dioxin-like compounds by a recombinant Rhizobium tropici strain expressing carbazole 1,9a-dioxygenase constitutively.

A recombinant Rhizobium strain, PBK3-IS, that constitutively expressed the oxygenase component of carbazole 1,9a-dioxygenase from Sphingomonas sp. strain KA1, was constructed. In the water-cultured siratro rhizospheres inoculated with strain PBK3-IS, 48% of the dibenzofuran was removed within 3 days (initial substrate, 25 microg).