Amorphous nanoparticles in clays, soils and marine sediments analyzed with a small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) method.

This paper describes the amounts and size distributions of amorphous nanoparticles in clays, soils and marine sediments, and the effect of amorphous nanoparticles on the properties of clays, soils and marine sediments. So far aluminum-silicate amorphous nanoparticles such as allophane were observed only in soils of volcanic origin with a transmission electron microscope, and thus most people believed that aluminum-silicate amorphous nanoparticles were present only in soils of special origin. Recently, a method has been devised to quantify amorphous nanoparticles by using small angle X-ray scattering intensity.

Remediation of Pb-contaminated soils by washing with hydrochloric acid and subsequent immobilization with calcite and allophanic soil.

Removal of heavy metals from contaminated soil is not popular because of its high cost. Reducing the bioaccessible heavy metals content to an allowable level by washing with inorganic acids and subsequent immobilization of remained metals may be a low cost option for soil remediation. The applicability of this combined treatment was investigated using three different types of soil, a kaolinitic, a smectitic and an allophanic soil, which were artificially contaminated with Pb.

Spontaneous uterine rupture of a twin pregnancy after a laparoscopic adenomyomectomy: a case report.

Adenomyomectomy is a treatment option to preserve fertility and reduce symptoms associated with adenomyosis. Although this procedure is reasonably expected to increase the risk of uterine rupture during pregnancy, reports on this issue are scarce. We recently encountered a 33-year-old nulliparous woman with a twin pregnancy who experienced a spontaneous uterine rupture at 30 weeks' gestation.

Transparent polymer nanohybrid prepared by in situ synthesis of aluminosilicate nanofibers in poly(vinyl alcohol) solution.

Polymer nanohybrid materials that consist of poly(vinyl alcohol)(PVA) and aluminosilicate nanofiber imogolite were prepared by effective dispersion of aluminosilicate nanofiber in a polymer matrix by an synthetic method. The as-synthesized imogolite-PVA hybrid was characterized by infrared spectroscopy, wide angle X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopic observations. The imogolite-PVA hybrid film was highly transparent compared with imogolite-PVA blend film, which was prepared by a solution blend of the freeze-dried imogolite powder with PVA.

Activity of an enzyme converting single-chain tissue-type plasminogen activator to the two-chain form in preovulatory human follicular fluid.

The biological role of the tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA)/plasmin system has long been implicated in ovarian function. We have recently shown that the follicular fluid of human ovaries contains an alpha(2)-macroglobulin/protease complex capable of converting single-chain (sc) tPA to the two-chain (tc) enzyme tPA, suggesting the occurrence of its corresponding enzyme in a free form in the fluid. The aim of the current study is therefore to gain further information about the putative sctPA-converting enzyme present in follicular fluid.

Genetic and functional analyses of polymorphisms in the human FSH receptor gene.

To determine the influence of FSH receptor variants Thr307-Asn680 (TN) and Ala307-Ser680 (AS) on ovarian function, we investigated the frequency of these gene polymorphisms by using restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis and observed their effects on clinical manifestations. In a population of 522 Japanese women, the overall frequency of TN/TN (NN), TN/AS (NS), and AS/AS (SS) was 41.0, 46.