Selective hydrogenation of acetophenone with supported Pd and Rh catalysts in water, organic solvents, and CO2-dissolved expanded liquids

Solvent effects were investigated for selective hydrogenation of acetophenone (AP) with commercial 5% Pd/Al2O3 and 5% Pd/C catalysts using polar and nonpolar solvents. The rate of AP hydrogenation varied with the solvents used in different ways depending on the catalysts used. The highest AP conversion was achieved with water for the two catalysts and the AP conversion was correlated with hydrogen-bond-acceptance (HBA) capability (beta) for Pd/Al2O3 and hydrogen-bond-donation (HBD) capability (alpha) for Pd/C. These trends were the same as the corresponding solvent effects obtained previously with Rh/ Al2O3 and Rh/C catalysts, respectively (Green Chem., 2015, 17, 1877-1883). The influence of solvents on the rate of AP hydrogenation depends on the support materials and not on the metal species. Furthermore, AP hydrogenation was conducted with the four supported noble metal catalysts in different solvents pressurized by CO2 (CO2-dissolved expanded solvents). The influence of CO2 pressurization on the rate of reaction, the product selectivity, and the catalyst life was investigated to know whether or not CO2 molecules could function as a reaction promoter in heterogeneous AP hydrogenation reactions with supported Pd and Rh catalysts in different solvents

High Incubation Investment of Females Paired to Attractive Males in Barn Swallows

Differential parental investment is the sexual selection process in which females that have acquired an attractive male invest relatively more in his offspring than females that are paired to an unattractive male. However, it is often difficult to distinguish between differential parental investment and compensation for a decrease in parental investment by an attractive mate. Using Barn Swallows Hirundo rustica gutturalis, in which males rarely participate in incubation, we investigated differential incubation investment of females. We made the following four observations: (1) Females participate in 94% of total nest attentiveness (time that eggs were incubated). (2) Female nest attentiveness was positively correlated with the ornamentation of their mates, the size of white spots in the tail, which is a measure of male attractiveness in this population. (3) Male nest attentiveness was not related to male ornaments. (4) Total nest attentiveness was positively correlated with the size of white spots in the tail. These results are consistent with differential parental investment, but not with compensation for a decrease in parental investment by a mate. Therefore, we conclude that female Barn Swallows that have acquired an attractive male invest differentially in incubation

A questionnaire-based comparative study of postoperative quality of life between laryngotracheal separation and tracheoesophageal diversion

Purpose: Whether tracheoesophageal diversion (TED) is preferable to laryngotracheal separation (LTS) is unclear. This study examined the need for tracheoesophageal anastomosis by reviewing complications after TED and LTS and administering a questionnaire on postoperative quality of life.Patients and methods: Medical records of TED/LTS cases performed at a single institution from 2003 to 2015 were retrospectively reviewed and a questionnaire was administered to parents of patients at an outpatient visit.Results: A total of 40 TED and 18 LTS cases were included. Complications occurred in six TED cases and one LTS case, with no significant differences between groups (P=0.42). A total of 22 parents of patients (TED 16 cases; LTS six cases) completed the questionnaire. Voice production was reported in three TED cases and two LTS cases. Patients indicated that suctions were ‘decreased’ in 13 and ‘unchanged’ in two TED cases, but ‘decreased’ in one and ‘unchanged’ in five LTS cases (P=0.0055). Readmissions were ‘increased’ in one and ‘decreased’ in 14 TED cases, but ‘decreased’ in three and ‘unchanged’ in three LTS cases (P=0.015).Conclusion: Postoperative complication rate was equivalent between groups, and the numbers of suctions and readmissions were decreased in the TED group. Therefore, tracheoesophageal anastomosis should be performed more commonly.Keywords: complication, laryngotracheal separation, quality of life questionnaire, tracheoesophageal diversio

Intradermal administration of magnesium sulphate and magnesium chloride produces hypesthesia to mechanical but hyperalgesia to heat stimuli in humans

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Although magnesium ions (Mg²⁺) are known to display many similar features to other 2+ charged cations, they seem to have quite an important and unique role in biological settings, such as NMDA blocking effect. However, the role of Mg²⁺in the neural transmission system has not been studied as sufficiently as calcium ions (Ca²⁺). To clarify the sensory effects of Mg²⁺in peripheral nervous systems, sensory changes after intradermal injection of Mg²⁺were studied in humans.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Magnesium sulphate, magnesium chloride and saline were injected into the skin of the anterior region of forearms in healthy volunteers and injection-induced irritating pain ("irritating pain", for short), tactile sensation, tactile pressure thresholds, pinch-pain changes and intolerable heat pain thresholds of the lesion were monitored.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Flare formation was observed immediately after magnesium sulphate or magnesium chloride injection. We found that intradermal injections of magnesium sulphate and magnesium chloride transiently caused irritating pain, hypesthesia to noxious and innocuous mechanical stimulations, whereas secondary hyperalgesia due to mechanical stimuli was not observed. In contrast to mechanical stimuli, intolerable heat pain-evoking temperature was significantly decreased at the injection site. In addition to these results, spontaneous pain was immediately attenuated by local cooling.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Membrane-stabilizing effect and peripheral NMDA-blocking effect possibly produced magnesium-induced mechanical hypesthesia, and extracellular cation-induced sensitization of TRPV1 channels was thought to be the primary mechanism of magnesium-induced heat hyperalgesia.</p

Copy Number Variations Due to Large Genomic Deletion in X-Linked Chronic Granulomatous Disease

Mutations in genes for any of the six subunits of NADPH oxidase cause chronic granulomatous disease (CGD), but almost 2/3 of CGD cases are caused by mutations in the X-linked CYBB gene, also known as NAD (P) H oxidase 2. Approximately 260 patients with CGD have been reported in Japan, of whom 92 were shown to have mutations of the CYBB gene and 16 to have chromosomal deletions. However, there has been very little detailed analysis of the range of the deletion or close understanding of the disease based on this. We therefore analyzed genomic rearrangements in X-linked CGD using array comparative genomic hybridization analysis, revealing the extent and the types of the deletion genes. The subjects were five Japanese X-linked CGD patients estimated to have large base deletions of 1 kb or more in the CYBB gene (four male patients, one female patient) and the mothers of four of those patients. The five Japanese patients were found to range from a patient exhibiting deletions only of the CYBB gene to a female patient exhibiting an extensive DNA deletion and the DMD and CGD phenotype manifested. Of the other three patients, two exhibited CYBB, XK, and DYNLT3 gene deletions. The remaining patient exhibited both a deletion encompassing DNA subsequent to the CYBB region following intron 2 and the DYNLT3 gene and a complex copy number variation involving the insertion of an inverted duplication of a region from the centromere side of DYNLT3 into the deleted region

IL-10 Inhibits Transforming Growth Factor-ß-Induction of Type I Collagen mRNA Expression via Both JNK and p38 Pathways in Human Lung Fibroblasts

Transforming growth factor-ß (TGF-ß) is a key factor for understanding the pathogenesis of fibrotic disorders such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). We have demonstrated that interleukin-10 (IL-10) suppresses TGF-ß-induced expression of type I collagen (COL1) mRNA in a human lung fibroblast cell line (WI-38). However, the inhibitory mechanism has not yet been clearly elucidated. Thus, in the current study, we investigate the effects of IL-10 blockade of TGF-ß signaling which regulates COL1 mRNA expression. In WI-38 cells, IL-10 inhibits TGF-ß-mediated phosphorylation of both, c-Jun HN2-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38, but does not suppress TGF-ß- mediated phosphorylation of Smad2 or affect TGF-ß-upregulation of Smad7 mRNA expression. In addition, SP600125 and SB203580, specific inhibitors of JNK and p38, respectively, attenuate TGF-ß-induced COL1 mRNA expression in WI-38 cells. These results suggest that IL-10 inhibits TGF-ß-induced COL1 mRNA expression via both JNK and p38 pathways but not Smad pathways in WI-38 cells. This inhibitory mechanism may provide a novel insight into therapeutic strategies for fibrotic disorders such as IPF

STING signalling is terminated through ESCRT-dependent microautophagy of vesicles originating from recycling endosomes

STING炎症シグナルの終結分子機構 --新規細胞内分解システムの発見--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2023-03-14.Stimulator of interferon genes (STING) is essential for the type I interferon response against a variety of DNA pathogens. Upon emergence of cytosolic DNA, STING translocates from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi where STING activates the downstream kinase TBK1, then to lysosome through recycling endosomes (REs) for its degradation. Although the molecular machinery of STING activation is extensively studied and defined, the one underlying STING degradation and inactivation has not yet been fully elucidated. Here we show that STING is degraded by the endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRT)-driven microautophagy. Airyscan super-resolution microscopy and correlative light/electron microscopy suggest that STING-positive vesicles of an RE origin are directly encapsulated into Lamp1-positive compartments. Screening of mammalian Vps genes, the yeast homologues of which regulate Golgi-to-vacuole transport, shows that ESCRT proteins are essential for the STING encapsulation into Lamp1-positive compartments. Knockdown of Tsg101 and Vps4, components of ESCRT, results in the accumulation of STING vesicles in the cytosol, leading to the sustained type I interferon response. Knockdown of Tsg101 in human primary T cells leads to an increase the expression of interferon-stimulated genes. STING undergoes K63-linked ubiquitination at lysine 288 during its transit through the Golgi/REs, and this ubiquitination is required for STING degradation. Our results reveal a molecular mechanism that prevents hyperactivation of innate immune signalling, which operates at REs