Ultrastructural Characteristics of the Fetal and Neonatal Rat Urinary Bladder

The embryologic and neonatal development of the normal rat urinary bladder was investigated in Sprague-Dawley rats by light, transmission, and scanning electron microscopy from day 11 of gestation through 21 days of age. The epithelium at day 11 of gestation is composed of small, loosely-connected, rounded cells with occasional short microvilli on their surfaces. The large polygonal cells characteristic of the adult bladder begin to appear by day 15, but the microridges are not apparent until day 17. By day 20, the epithelium appears morphologically similar to the adult bladder. Several morphological features are observed at different times of gestation which are not seen in the normal adult bladder, but they have been found in bladder tumors. During days 12-15 of gestation, most of the luminal lining cells of the bladder epithelium have a single central cilium. Cilia are also occasionally seen at days 11, 16, and 17 of gestation. Occasional cells with long tentacles are present from days 13-16 of gestation. Cells that appear to form bridges between cells are also seen from day 14 of gestation and continue to be observed through day 11 after birth. No cells with distinctive pleomorphic microvilli, a feature of rapidly proliferating bladder epithelial cells in the hyperplastic or tumorous epithelium of the adult, were seen at any time during gestation or after birth. Small foci of superficial layer sloughing occurred at the time of birth, but were rapidly replaced by one day after birth. It is apparent from this study that the bladder epithelium is a rapidly changing, proliferating tissue in utero and continuing for a brief period after birth

Circadian Rhythms of Atrioventricular Conduction Properties in Chronic Atrial Fibrillation With and Without Heart Failure

AbstractObjectives. We examined the circadian variations in atrioventricular (AV) conduction properties during atrial fibrillation (AF) by a technique based on the Lorenz plot of successive ventricular response (VR) intervals and analyzed their relations with clinical features.Background. The VR interval in chronic AF shows circadian variation, which is attenuated in patients with an increased risk of death. Although the VR interval is determined by the dynamic processes in the AV node randomly stimulated by rapid atrial activity, the circadian variations of the AV conduction properties related to this mechanism are unknown.Methods. In 48 patients with chronic AF, Lorenz plots were generated on overlapping sequential segments of 512 VR intervals in 24-h ambulatory electrocardiograms. For each scatter plot, the 1.0-s intercept of the lower envelope (LE1.0) of the plot and the degree of scatter above the envelope (root mean square difference from the envelope [scattering index]) were measured for estimating AV node refractoriness and concealed AV conduction, respectively.Results. In all patients, a significant circadian rhythm was observed for the average VR interval, LE1.0and scattering index, with an acrophase occurring at night. The mesor, amplitude and acrophase of LE1.0and the scattering index closely and independently correlated with the corresponding rhythm variables of the average VR interval (partial r20.98, 0.86 and 0.68 for LE1.0and 0.98, 0.92 and 0.92 for scattering index). The amplitudes of these measures were lower in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) even after adjustment for the effects of age, duration of AF, medications, left atrial diameter and blood pressure (p < 0.01 for all).Conclusions. These results suggest that 1) both AV node refractoriness and the degree of concealed AV conduction during AF may show a circadian rhythm; 2) the circadian rhythms of these properties may independently contribute to the circadian variation of the VR interval; and 3) these circadian rhythms may be attenuated in patients with CHF

Simultaneous Improvements in Performance and Durability of an Octahedral PtNix/C Electrocatalyst for Next-Generation Fuel Cells by Continuous, Compressive, and Concave Pt Skin Layers

Simultaneous improvements in oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity and long-term durability of Pt-based cathode catalysts are indispensable for the development of next-generation polymer electrolyte fuel cells but are still a major dilemma. We present a robust octahedral core–shell PtNix/C electrocatalyst with high ORR performance (mass activity and surface specific activity 6.8–16.9 and 20.3–24.0 times larger than those of Pt/C, respectively) and durability (negligible loss after 10000 accelerated durability test (ADT) cycles). The key factors of the robust octahedral nanostructure (core–shell Pt73Ni27/C) responsible for the remarkable activity and durability were found to be three continuous Pt skin layers with 2.0–3.6% compressive strain, concave facet arrangements (concave defects and high coordination), a symmetric Pt/Ni distribution, and a Pt67Ni33 intermetallic core, as found by STEM-EDS, in situ XAFS, XPS, etc. The robust core–shell Pt73Ni27/C was produced by the partial release of the stress, Pt/Ni rearrangement, and dimension reduction of an as-synthesized octahedral Pt50Ni50/C with 3.6–6.7% compressive Pt skin layers by Ni leaching during the activation process. The present results on the tailored synthesis of the PtNix structure and composition and the better control of the robust catalytic architecture renew the current knowledge and viewpoint for instability of octahedral PtNix/C samples to provide a new insight into the development of next-generation PEFC cathode catalysts

Key Structural Transformations and Kinetics of Pt Nanoparticles in PEFC Pt/C Electrocatalysts by a Simultaneous Operando Time-Resolved QXAFS–XRD Technique

This account article treats with the key structural transformations and kinetics of Pt nanoparticles in Pt/C cathode catalysts under transient voltage operations (0.4 VRHE→1.4 VRHE→0.4 VRHE) by simultaneous operando time-resolved QXAFS–XRD measurements, summarizing and analyzing our previous kinetic data in more detail and discussing on the key reaction steps and rate constants for the performance and durability of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFC). The time-resolved QXAFS–XRD measurements were conducted at each acquisition time of 20 ms, while measuring the current/charge of the PEFC. The rate constants for the transient responses of Pt valence, CN(Pt–O) (CN: coordination number), CN(Pt–Pt), and Pt metallic-phase core size under the transient voltage operations were determined by the combined time-resolved QXAFS‒XRD technique. The relationship of the structural kinetics with the performance and durability of the PEFC Pt/C was also documented as key issues for the development of next-generation PEFCs. The present account emphasizes the time-resolved QXAFS and XRD techniques to be a powerful technique to analyze directly the structural and electronic change of metal nanoparticles inside PEFC under the operating conditions

Observation of Degradation of Pt and Carbon Support in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Using Combined Nano-X-ray Absorption Fine Structure and Transmission Electron Microscopy Techniques

It is hard to directly visualize spectroscopic and atomic–nanoscopic information on the degraded Pt/C cathode layer inside polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC). However, it is mandatory to understand the preferential area, sequence, and relationship of the degradations of Pt nanoparticles and carbon support in the Pt/C cathode layer by directly observing the Pt/C cathode catalyst for the development of next-generation PEFC cathode catalysts. Here, the spectroscopic, chemical, and morphological visualization of the degradation of Pt/C cathode electrocatalysts in PEFC was performed successfully by a same-view combination technique of nano-X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM)/scanning TEM–energy-dispersive spectrometry (EDS) under a humid N2 atmosphere. The same-view nano-XAFS and TEM/STEM–EDS imaging of the Pt/C cathode of PEFC after triangular-wave 1.0–1.5 VRHE (startup/shutdown) accelerated durability test (tri-ADT) cycles elucidated the site-selective area, sequence, and relationship of the degradations of Pt nanoparticles and carbon support in the Pt/C cathode layer. The 10 tri-ADT cycles caused a carbon corrosion to reduce the carbon size preferentially in the boundary regions of the cathode layer with both electrolyte and holes/cracks, accompanied with detachment of Pt nanoparticles from the degraded carbon. After the decrease in the carbon size to less than 8 nm by the 20 tri-ADT cycles, Pt nanoparticles around the extremely corroded carbon areas were found to transform and dissolve into oxidized Pt2+–O4 species

ナノ スケール ドウセキソウ マク ノ ネツショリ ニヨル ヒョウメン ケイジョウ ト ナイブ オウリョク ノ ヘンカ キョドウ

The specimen prepared in this study was multi-layer aluminum nitride and copper films deposited on thermal oxidation silicon by dc sputtering. Thermal stresses in the copper layers were investigated by ultra high X-rays of synchrotron radiation in the heating and cooling process. It found from the sin2Ψ diagrams of the multi-layered film that the copper layers consisted of crystal grains which had two different orientations. One was randomly orientation, and the other was {111} orientation. The FWHM of the diffraction from the {111}-oriented crystal grains was constant regardless of heating temperature. On the other hand, the FWHM of the diffraction from the randomly-oriented crystal grains was decreased with increasing heating temperature at 1st heating cycle and it became constant regardless of heating temperature after 1st heating cycle. The 2θ-sin2θ diagrams of the multi-layered film for the stress measurement showed non-linear. We could obtain thermal stresses in two different orientation crystal grains from the non-linear 2θ-sin2θ diagram at same time. For both crystal grains, the thermal stress differences between the 1st heating and the 1st cooling cycles were shown as a hysteresis loop. In the case of the 2nd thermal cycles, the thermal stresses changed linearly for both crystal grains. For the 1st heating cycle, the compressive thermal stress in the {111}-oriented crystal grains was larger than that in the randomly-oriented one

Intake of Radionuclides in the Trees of Fukushima Forests 5. Earthquake Could Have Caused an Increase in Xyloglucan in Trees

A megathrust earthquake caused the Fukushima–Daiichi nuclear power plant accident, which dispersed abundant radioiodines, causing them to be bound to xyloglucan into forest trees. Nevertheless, targeted xyloglucan was found in increased quantities in the annual rings of forest trees affected by the earthquake. We propose that trees could acclimate rapidly to shaking stress through an increase in xyloglucan deposition as a plant response under natural phenomena