Application of electrolyte using novel ionic liquid to Si thick film anode of Li-ion battery

An applicability of a novel ionic liquid, consisting of 1-methoxyethoxymethyl(tri-n-butyl)phosphonium cation and bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)amide anion, was investigated as an electrolyte of Li-ion battery using a thick film electrode of Si prepared by a gas-deposition method. The electrochemical properties in the novel ionic liquid were compared to those in a commercial ionic liquid and a typical organic solvent of propylene carbonate. The initial discharge capacity of 3450 mA h g-1 and excellent cycling performance were achieved in the novel ionic liquid. The novel ionic liquid was confirmed to effectively suppress a collapse and an electrical isolation of the Si thick film induced by pulverization during charge-discharge cycling. The excellent performance is possibly attributed to more effective desolvation of Li ions from the anions due to its lower dielectric constant compared with the propylene carbonate solvent

Different Patterns of Vascular Response Between Patients With or Without Diabetes Mellitus After Drug-Eluting Stent Implantation Optical Coherence Tomographic Analysis

ObjectivesWe performed this study to investigate with optical coherence tomography (OCT) the vascular response after sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) implantation between patients with and those without diabetes mellitus (DM).BackgroundThe difference in vascular response after SES implantation between patients with and those without DM has not been fully evaluated with OCT.MethodsOptical coherence tomography was performed to examine 74 nonrestenotic SES implanted in 63 patients (32 with DM and 31 without DM) at 9 months after SES implantation. For struts showing neointimal coverage, the neointimal thickness on the luminal side of each strut section was measured, and neointimal characteristics were classified into high, low, and layered signal pattern.ResultsBaseline patient characteristics and lesion and procedural characteristics data were similar between the 2 groups. In total, 11,422 struts were analyzed. High signal neointima was observed in 90.2 ± 13.9%, low signal neointima in 7.3 ± 10.0%, and layered neointima in 2.7 ± 5.8%/stents. There was higher incidence of low signal neointima (10.5 ± 10.3% vs. 4.5 ± 5.6%, p = 0.003), neointimal thickness was larger (median: 106.8 μm, interquartile range: 79.3 to 130.4 μm vs. median: 83.5 μm, interquartile range: 62.3 to 89.3 μm; p < 0.0001), and neointimal coverage of stent struts was higher (92.1 ± 6.2% vs. 87.2 ± 11.9%; p = 0.03) in DM patients.ConclusionsHigh signal neointimal pattern was predominantly observed, and low or layered signal pattern was observed in some cases. In DM patients, low signal neointima was observed with high frequency. Neointimal coverage and neointimal thickness was also higher in DM patients as compared with non-DM patients

Potentiometric Responses of Polymeric Liquid Membranes Based on Hydrophobic Chelating Agents to Metal lons

液膜イオンセンサーの感応物質として用いる各種キレート試薬の疎水性が、金属イオンに対する電位応答に及ぼす効果について調べた。キレート試薬として、オキシン、ジチゾン、ビリジルアゾナフトール及びそれらの長鎖アルキル誘導体、ならびに一連のN-アルキルカルボニル-N-フェニルヒドロキシルアミン類を用いた。疎水性の高いキレート試薬を含む膜でZn2+,Ni2+などに対し大きな電位応答が得られた。一方、疎水性が低い試薬では、有意な電位応答は得られなかった。電位応答挙動、界面張力測定などの結果から、膜電位発生モデルを提案した。キレート試薬の高い疎水性は、試薬陰イオンが膜/溶液界面にとどまることを可能とする。試薬陰イオンによる金属イオンの選択的取り込みによって界面での電荷分離が達成され、結果として電位応答が生起する

Preparation and Characterization of Human Recombinant Protein 1/Clara Cell Mr 10 000 Protein

Peer Reviewe

Effect of horizontal strong static magnetic field on swimming behaviour of Paramecium caudatum

Effect of horizontal strong static magnetic field on swimming behavior of Paramecium caudatum was studied by using a superconducting magnet. Around a center of a round vessel, random swimming at 0 T and aligned swimming parallel to the magnetic field (MF) of 8 T were observed. Near a wall of the vessel, however, swimming round and round along the wall at 0 T and aligned swimming of turning at right angles upon collision with the wall, which was remarkable around 1~4 T, were detected. It was experimentally revealed that the former MF-induced parallel swimming at the vessel center was caused physicochemically by the parallel magnetic orientation of the cell itself. From magnetic field dependence of the extent of the orientation, the magnetic susceptibility anisotropy (χ‖-χ⊥) was first obtained to be 3.4×10-23 emu cell-1 at 298 K for Paramecium caudatum. The orientation of the cell was considered to result from the magnetic orientation of the cell membrane. On the other hand, although mechanisms of the latter swimming near the vessel wall regardless of the absence and presence of the magnetic field are unclear at present, these experimental results indicate that whether the cell exists near the wall alters magnetic field effect on the swimming in the horizontal magnetic field

E3 Ubiquitin Ligase Synoviolin Is Involved in Liver Fibrogenesis

Chronic hepatic damage leads to liver fibrosis, which is characterized by the accumulation of collagen-rich extracellular matrix. However, the mechanism by which E3 ubiquitin ligase is involved in collagen synthesis in liver fibrosis is incompletely understood. This study aimed to explore the involvement of the E3 ubiquitin ligase synoviolin (Syno) in liver fibrosis.The expression and localization of synoviolin in the liver were analyzed in CCl(4)-induced hepatic injury models and human cirrhosis tissues. The degree of liver fibrosis and the number of activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) was compared between wild type (wt) and Syno(+/-) mice in the chronic hepatic injury model. We compared the ratio of apoptosis in activated HSCs between wt and Syno(+/-) mice. We also analyzed the effect of synoviolin on collagen synthesis in the cell line from HSCs (LX-2) using siRNA-synoviolin and a mutant synoviolin in which E3 ligase activity was abolished. Furthermore, we compared collagen synthesis between wt and Syno(-/-) mice embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) using quantitative RT-PCR, western blotting, and collagen assay; then, we immunohistochemically analyzed the localization of collagen in Syno(-/-) MEF cells.In the hepatic injury model as well as in cirrhosis, synoviolin was upregulated in the activated HSCs, while Syno(+/-) mice developed significantly less liver fibrosis than in wt mice. The number of activated HSCs was decreased in Syno(+/-) mice, and some of these cells showed apoptosis. Furthermore, collagen expression in LX-2 cells was upregulated by synoviolin overexpression, while synoviolin knockdown led to reduced collagen expression. Moreover, in Syno(-/-) MEF cells, the amounts of intracellular and secreted mature collagen were significantly decreased, and procollagen was abnormally accumulated in the endoplasmic reticulum.Our findings demonstrate the importance of the E3 ubiquitin ligase synoviolin in liver fibrosis