Hydrogen Embrittlement Detection Technology Using Nondestructive Testing for Realizing a Hydrogen Society.

Crack detection in high-pressure hydrogen gas components, such as pipes, is crucial for ensuring the safety and reliability of hydrogen infrastructure. This study conducts the nondestructive testing of crack propagation in steel piping under cyclic compressive loads in the presence of hydrogen in the material. The specimens were hydrogen-precharged through immersion in a 20 mass% ammonium thiocyanate solution at 40 °C for 72 h.

Relationship of equol production between children aged 5-7 years and their mothers.

Purpose: The factors responsible for the production of isoflavone metabolites have not yet been identified. We aimed to examine the relationships of equol production between mother and child in a birth cohort in Japan.

Methods: Subjects were a part of the participants in a longitudinal study on pregnant women and their offspring.

Isolation and characterization of novel S-equol-producing bacteria from brines of stinky tofu, a traditional fermented soy food in Taiwan.

Six strains capable of transforming daidzein to S-equol were isolated from the fermented brines of stinky tofu purchased in Taiwan. Daidzein was completely converted into S-equol within 24h of incubation in five strains. All the strains were gram-positive, rod-shaped, obligately anaerobic, non-motile, and non-spore-forming.

Discovery of an S-equol rich food stinky tofu, a traditional fermented soy product in Taiwan.

A recent epidemiological study showed that daily intake of mg quantities of S-equol is required for health-promoting effects in menopausal women. However, the maximum equol content in food was reported to be approximately 130 μg/100 g in egg yolk. The objective of this study was to find a high equol-containing food.

Identification of a novel dihydrodaidzein racemase essential for biosynthesis of equol from daidzein in Lactococcus sp. strain 20-92.

Equol is metabolized from daidzein, a soy isoflavone, by the gut microflora. In this study, we identified a novel dihydrodaidzein racemase (L-DDRC) that is involved in equol biosynthesis in a lactic acid bacterium, Lactococcus sp. strain 20-92, and confirmed that histidine-tagged recombinant L-DDRC (L-DDRC-His) was able to convert both the (R)- and (S)-enantiomers of dihydrodaidzein to the racemate.