Experimental Studies on the Sugar Puncture. Part 1. On the Mechanism of Hyperglycaemia in Case of Sugar Puncture.

1. The sugar puncture causes hyperglycaemia, but in the cases when the splanchnic nerves of both sides are previously cut off, the hyperglycaemia is always subdued. 2. The hyperglycaemia appears not only after the puncture of the bottom of the fourth ventricle, but also after the electric stimulation of any spot in the basis of the brain.</p

Experimental Studies on the Sugar Puncture. : Part 2. On the Origin of the Hyperglycaemia occuring after the Sugar Puncture

1. In the normal rabbits the intravenous application of adrenaline cause hyperglycaemie, but in rabbits which have been previously splanchniectomized on both sides, the adrenaline application always betrayed hyperglycaemia. 2. In the normal rabbits ergotoxine had no influence on the blood sugar content. Contrary to the normal animals, a rabbit which received previously an intravenous injection of ergotoxine by which the vasoconstriction of the blood vessels was made impossible, sugar puncture was not effected in the blood sugar content. 3. Contrary to the normal animals, in the rabbits which were treated previously with intravenous application of ergotoxine, the electrical stimulation of the basis of the brain did not cause hyperglycaemia. 4. By the perfusion of the liver of toad with Ringer solution, on adding of adrenaline in the perfusing liquid, discharge of the sugar in the perfusate was increased in percentage, but the absolute quantity was reduced on account of the reduction of the amount of perfusate. 5. The discharge of sugar from the perfusing liver of the toad, which was previously perfused sufficiently with ergotoxine-Ringer solution, on adding of adrenaline in the perfusing liquid showed no change compared with these without ergotoxine and adrenaline application. 6. The piqure-hyperglycaemia may be assumed as adrenaline-hyperglycaemia. The origin of adrenaline-hyperglycaemia is rather mechanical, since the torrent of blood stream is increased by the strong contraction of blood vessels of skin and muscles than those of liver, washing out the reserved sugar in liver.</p

Green Synthesis of Gold Nanoparticles Using Aqueous Extract of Garcinia mangostana

The synthesis of gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) is performed by the reduction of aqueous gold metal ions in contact with the aqueous peel extract of plant, Garcinia mangostana (G. mangostana). An absorption peak of the gold nanoparticles is observed at the range of 540–550 nm using UV-visible spectroscopy. All the diffraction peaks at 2θ = 38.48°, 44.85°, 66.05°, and 78.00° that index to (111), (200), (220), and (311) planes confirm the successful synthesis of Au-NPs. Mostly spherical shape particles with size range of 32.96 ± 5.25 nm are measured using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). From the FTIR results, the peaks obtained are closely related to phenols, flavonoids, benzophenones, and anthocyanins which suggest that they may act as the reducing agent. This method is environmentally safe without the usage of synthetic materials which is highly potential in biomedical applications

Membrane surface-enhanced raman spectroscopy for cholesterol-modified lipid systems: Effect of gold nanoparticle size

A gold nanoparticle (AuNP) has a localized surface plasmon resonance peak depending on its size, which is often utilized for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). To obtain information on the cholesterol (Chol)-incorporated lipid membranes by SERS, AuNPs (5, 100 nm) were first functionalized by 1-octanethiol and then modified by lipids (AuNP@lipid). In membrane surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (MSERS), both signals from 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC) and Chol molecules were enhanced, depending on preparation conditions (size of AuNPs and lipid/AuNP ratio). The enhancement factors (EFs) were calculated to estimate the efficiency of AuNPs on Raman enhancement. The size of AuNP100nm@lipid was 152.0 ± 12.8 nm, which showed an surface enhancement Raman spectrum with an EF2850 value of 111 ± 9. The size of AuNP5nm@lipid prepared with a lipid/AuNP ratio of 1.38 × 104 (lipid molecule/particle) was 275.3 ± 20.2 nm, which showed the highest enhancement with an EF2850 value of 131 ± 21. On the basis of fluorescent probe analyses, the membrane fluidity and polarity of AuNP@lipid were almost similar to DOPC/Chol liposome, indicating an intact membrane of DOPC/Chol after modification with AuNPs. Finally, the membrane properties of AuNP@lipid systems were also discussed on the basis of the obtained MSERS signals

Synthesis and characterization of Sn/Ag nanoparticle composite as electro-catalyst for fuel cell

In this research, Sn/Ag nanoparticle composite was produced by using chemical reduction method with the aids of sodium borohydride as reducing agent and sodium succinate as protective agent. The XRD, EDX, and TEM analyses showed that the Sn/Ag nanoparticle composite was formed with an average particle size of 4.37 + 0.44 nm. For the application, LSV analysis was done on Sn nanoparticle and Sn/Ag nanoparticle composite samples, and the analysis showed current produced from Sn/Ag nanoparticle composite (4.10 × 10-6 A) is higher than Sn nanoparticle (3.47 × 10-6 A) at the potential of -0.83V

Reconciling biodiversity conservation and flood risk reduction : The new strategy for freshwater protected areas

Aim: Natural disaster risk reduction (DRR) is becoming a more important function of protected area (PAs) for current and future global warming. However, biodiversity conservation and DRR have been handled separately and their interrelationship has not been explicitly addressed. This is mainly because, due of prevailing strategies and criteria for PA placement, a large proportion of PAs are currently located far from human-occupied areas, and habitats in human-occupied areas have been largely ignored as potential sites for conservation despite their high biodiversity. If intensely developed lowland areas with high flooding risk overlap with important sites for biodiversity conservation, it would be reasonable to try to harmonize biodiversity conservation and human development in human-inhabited lowland areas. Here, we examined whether extant PAs can conserve macroinvertebrate and freshwater fish biodiversity and whether human-inhabited lowland flood risk management sites might be suitable to designate as freshwater protected areas (FPAs). Location: Across Japan. Methods: We examined whether extant PAs can conserve macroinvertebrate and freshwater fish biodiversity and analysed the relationship between candidate sites for new FPAs and flood disaster risk and land use intensity at a national scale across Japan based on distribution data for 131 freshwater fish species and 1395 macroinvertebrate species. Results: We found that extant PAs overlapped with approximately 30% of conservation-priority grid cells (1 km2) for both taxa. Particularly for red-listed species, only one species of freshwater fish and three species of macroinvertebrate achieved the representation target within extant PAs. Moreover, more than 40% of candidate conservation-priority grid cells were located in flood risk and human-occupied areas for both taxa. Main conclusions: Floodplain conservation provides suitable habitat for many freshwater organisms and helps control floodwaters, so establishing new FPAs in areas with high flood risk could be a win-win strategy for conserving freshwater biodiversity and enhancing ecosystem-based DRR (eco-DRR)

Factors affecting prognosis of idiopathic interstitial pneumonia.

&#60;P&#62;Idiopathic interstitial pneumonia (IIP) is a progressive and often fatal pulmonary disorder, and evaluating the prognosis of patients with IIP has never been sufficient. Accordingly, factors including clinical features, laboratory data, cellular components in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid and response to corticosteroid therapy were analyzed in 35 patients with IIP whose median age of respiratory onset was 60 years (range; 37-77 years). Nineteen patients (54.3%) were in the active stage of IIP and 16 of them were treated with corticosteroids. Significant prognostic factors were the neutrophil percentage in BAL fluid, interstitial shadows on chest radiograph, pulmonary function, blood oxygen level, grade of dyspnea, and disease activity at the initial examination. Patients in the active stage showed higher proportions of neutrophils and eosinophils in BAL fluid than those in the non-active stage. Despite corticosteroid therapy, the survival of patients in the active stage was significantly shorter than those in the non-active stage. Fifty percent of the patients treated with corticosteroids were regarded as responders at 1 month after the initiation of therapy; however, there was no significant difference between responders and non-responders in terms of survival time. In conclusion, disease activity and neutrophils in BAL fluid may be important predictors of the prognosis of IIP.&#60;/P&#62;</p