Janus Nanosheets Derived from K₄Nb₆O₁₇·3H₂O <em>via</em> Regioselective Interlayer Surface Modification

Inorganic Janus nanosheets were successfully prepared using the difference in reactivity between interlayers I and II of layered hexaniobate K4Nb6O17·3H2O. Janus nanosheets exhibit the highest anisotropy among Janus compounds due to their morphology. It is therefore important to prepare Janus nanosheets with stable shapes in various solvents, robust chemical bonds between nanosheets and fuctional groups and high versatility due to surface functional groups. K4Nb6O17·3H2O, which possesses two types of interlayers and two types of organophosphonic acids that react with metal oxides to form robust covalent bonds, was employed to prepare Janus nanosheets for this study. Interlayer I was modified by octadecylphosphonic acid, followed by modification by carboxypropylphosphonic acid mainly at interlayer II. Preparation of Janus nanosheets with two organophosphonate moieties was confirmed by 31P MAS NMR. After these regioselective and sequential modifications, the products were exfoliated into single-layered nanosheets in THF. Two types of derivatives with different repeating distances were recovered from a dispersion containing nanosheets exfoliated by different processes, centrifugation, and solvent evaporation. AFM analysis of the exfoliated nanosheets revealed that the products were Janus compounds. There are high expectations for application of these types of Janus nanosheets in various fields and for design of various Janus nanosheets using this preparation method

Coix Seed Consumption Affects the Gut Microbiota and the Peripheral Lymphocyte Subset Profiles of Healthy Male Adults

A systematic examination of the effects of traditional herbal medicines including their mechanisms could allow for their effective use and provide opportunities to develop new medicines. Coix seed has been suggested to promote spontaneous regression of viral skin infection. Purified oil from coix seed has also been suggested to increase the peripheral CD4+ lymphocytes. We, herein, attempt to shed more light on the way through which coix seed affects the human systemic immune function by hypothesizing that a central role to these changes could be played through changes in the gut microbiota. To that end, healthy adult males (n = 19) were divided into two groups; 11 of them consumed cooked coix seed (160 g per day) for 7 days (intervention), while the other eight were given no intervention. One week of coix seed consumption lead to an increase of the intestinal Faecalibacterium abundance and of the abundance (as % presence of overall peripheral lymphocytes) of CD3+CD8+ cells, CD4+ cells, CD4+CD25+ cells, and naïve/memory T cell ratio. As the relationship of microbiota and skin infection has not been clarified, our findings could provide a clue to a mechanism through which coix seed could promote the spontaneous regression of viral skin infections

A Comprehensive Analysis of Plasma Cytokines and Metabolites Shows an Association between Galectin-9 and Changes in Peripheral Lymphocyte Subset Percentages Following Coix Seed Consumption

We previously reported that healthy adult males who consumed coix seeds for 1 week demonstrated an increased intestinal abundance of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and altered peripheral lymphocyte subset percentages. However, the mechanism underlining these effects has not been elucidated. Therefore, cytokines and metabolites in plasma obtained in this study are comprehensively analyzed. A total of 56 cytokines and 52 metabolites in the plasma are quantified. Among them, 14 cytokines and 9 metabolites show significant changes in their levels following coix seed consumption. We examine the relationship between these changes and those in peripheral lymphocyte subset percentages and intestinal abundance of F. prausnitzii, which is also considerably altered following coix seed consumption. The galectin-9 concentration considerably decreased after coix seed consumption, and these changes correlate with those in cytotoxic T cells and pan T cells. Therefore, galectin-9 is possibly involved in the changes in peripheral lymphocyte subset percentages induced by coix seed consumption

Importance of Intracellular Energy Status on High-Hydrostatic-Pressure Inactivation of <i>sake</i> Yeast <i>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</i>

The HHP inactivation behaviors of Niigata sake yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain S9arg and its aerobic respiratory-deficient mutant strains were investigated after cultivating them in a YPD media containing 2% to 15% glucose, as well as in moromi mash, in a laboratory-scale sake brewing process. The piezotolerance of strain S9arg, shown after cultivation in a YPD medium containing 2% glucose, decreased to become piezosensitive with increasing glucose concentrations in YPD media. In contrast, the piezosensitivity of a mutant strain UV1, shown after cultivation in the YPD medium containing 2% glucose, decreased to become piezotolerant with increasing glucose concentrations in the YPD medium. The intracellular ATP concentrations were analyzed for an S. cerevisiae strain with intact aerobic respiratory ability, as well as for strain UV1. The higher concentration of ATP after cultivation suggested a higher energy status and may be closely related to higher piezotolerance for the yeast strains. The decreased piezotolerance of strain S9arg observed after a laboratory-scale sake brewing test may be due to a lower energy status resulting from a high glucose concentration in moromi mash during the early period of brewing, as well as a lower aeration efficiency during the brewing process, compared with cultivation in a YPD medium containing 2% glucose

Detection of Heartbeat Components Through Doppler Radar Systems Using Semantic Segmentation and Non-Harmonic Analysis

The spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has led to an increased focus on the routine analysis of vital signs such as breathing and pulse rates. Radar technology has proven effective for non-contact, long-term monitoring of these vital signs, with frequency analysis being the default method for processing signals from Doppler radar owing to their inherent noise. However, conventional analysis approaches often struggle to detect weak signals buried within the sidelobes of other signals. Some data analysis techniques for Doppler radar rely on machine learning, but they struggle to generate clear time-frequency diagrams, complicating heartbeat detection. In this study, we employed non-harmonic analysis (NHA) as a frequency analysis method to mitigate sidelobe interference and implemented semantic segmentation for precise heartbeat detection. To validate the proposed approach, we conducted heartbeat detection tests both in stationary, low-noise conditions and in a noisy driving simulation environment. The results indicated that the NHA method successfully analyzed heartbeat harmonics, suggesting its potential for detecting heartbeat components through machine learning. To validate these findings, we determined the detection accuracy by comparing true and false positive rates, allowing us to quantify the detectability of heartbeats under both resting and driving simulation conditions