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Quercetin, luteolin and chrysoeriol were identified from rooibos tea as degranulation inhibitors in rat basophilic leukaemia cells. The degranulation inhibitory activity of chrysoeriol was first discovered in the present study. When quercetin, luteolin and chrysoeriol were mixed in the ratio that occurs in rooibos tea extract, the mixture inhibited antigen- and calcium ionophore-stimulated degranulation to the same degree as that by the whole rooibos tea extract. These findings indicate that these three flavonoids are the key factors underlying the degranulation inhibitory activity of rooibos tea.

In this paper we study the resolution of the singular loci of the generalized Toda lattice on the flag manifold by using blow-up. We define the gauge symmetry of the Weyl group on the fiber of this blow-up. This gauge transformation transforms the singular locus of the Toda lattice on the flag manifold into the face of Weyl chamber. Thus we show that if the orbit of the Toda lattice crosses the singular locus on the flag manifold, then the leap over the face of the Weyl chamber occurs on the fiber.

Quercetin, luteolin and chrysoeriol were identified from rooibos tea as degranulation inhibitors in rat basophilic leukaemia cells. The degranulation inhibitory activity of chrysoeriol was first discovered in the present study. When quercetin, luteolin and chrysoeriol were mixed in the ratio that occurs in rooibos tea extract, the mixture inhibited antigen- and calcium ionophore-stimulated degranulation to the same degree as that by the whole rooibos tea extract. These findings indicate that these three flavonoids are the key factors underlying the degranulation inhibitory activity of rooibos tea.

The incidence of type I allergies, which are associated with mast cell degranulation and local inflammation, is increasing, and new treatments are needed. To date, structure–activity relationships of flavonoids in their degranulation-inhibiting activity have not been systematically characterized. In the current study, the degranulation-inhibiting activity of a series of flavonoids was evaluated. The following three observations were made: (1) the activity disappears when a sugar moiety is introduced into the A ring of the flavanone; (2) the activity depends on the number of hydroxyl groups on the B ring; (3) the activity is markedly enhanced when a double bond is introduced into the C ring. The information obtained in the current study may guide the development of a therapy for type I allergies.

A series of 7-O-substituted hesperetins was evaluated for degranulation-inhibiting activity in rat basophil leukaemia cells. 7-O-Methyl and 7-O-ethyl hesperetin exhibited potent anti-degranulation activity compared with the original hesperetin.

In this Note we study stable solutions of the finite non-periodic ( A n -type) Toda lattice. Solutions of the A n -type Toda lattice are obtained by Gauss decomposition. Such solutions are unstable because the Gauss decomposition brings singularities. We obtain stable solutions which are entire functions on R as the soliton solutions by modified Gauss decomposition.

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) gel beads crosslinked with sodium phosphate or boric acid have been widely utilized for microorganism immobilization. We previously utilized sodium sulfate to induce crosslinking of PVA for preparing immobilized yeast cells in PVA beads. In this study, we compared the toxicities of sodium sulfate and conventional crosslinkers (sodium phosphate and boric acid) toward Pseudomonas putida F1 (PpF1) and the performance of the corresponding immobilized PpF1 in PVA beads. The toxicity of sodium sulfate to PpF1 was lower than those of the conventional crosslinkers. PVA–sodium sulfate beads showed a higher gel fraction of PVA and a lower swelling ratio in water than PVA–sodium phosphate beads, which indicates that the former had higher stability. PpF1 immobilized in the PVA–sodium sulfate beads completely degraded the pollutant trichloroethylene (TCE) with an initial concentration (0.42 mg/l) within the most common range of TCE concentration found in contaminated field sites.

Hybrid artificial liver (HAL) is an extracorporeal circulation system comprised of a bioreactor containing immobilized functional liver cells. It is expected to not only serve as a temporary liver function support system, but also to accelerate liver regeneration in recovery from hepatic failure. One of the most difficult problems in developing a hybrid artificial liver is obtaining an adequate cell source. In this study, we attempt to differentiate embryonic stem (ES) cells by hepatic lineage using a polyurethane foam (PUF)/spheroid culture in which the cultured cells spontaneously form spherical multicellular aggregates (spheroids) in the pores of the PUF. We also demonstrate the feasibility of the PUF-HAL system by comparing ES cells to primary hepatocytes in in vitro and ex vivo experiments. Mouse ES cells formed multicellular spheroids in the pores of PUF. ES cells expressed liver-specific functions (ammonia removal and albumin secretion) after treatment with the differentiation-promoting agent, sodium butyrate (SB). We designed a PUF-HAL module comprised of a cylindrical PUF block with many medium-flow capillaries for hepatic differentiation of ES cells. The PUF-HAL module cells expressed ammonia removal and albumin secretion functions after 2 weeks of SB culture. Because of high proliferative activity of ES cells and high cell density, the maximum expression level of albumin secretion function per unit volume of module was comparable to that seen in primary mouse hepatocyte culture. In the animal experiments with rats, the PUF-HAL differentiating ES cells appeared to partially contribute to recovery from liver failure. This outcome indicates that the PUF module containing differentiating ES cells may be a useful biocomponent of a hybrid artificial liver support system.

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogel beads crosslinked with boric acid have been widely utilized for microorganism immobilization. However, a drawback of the method for preparing conventional PVA–boric acid beads is that microorganisms enclosed in the PVA matrix are drastically damaged by boric acid during the bead preparation process. In the present study, we utilized sodium sulfate as an inducer for crosslinkage of PVA for fabricating microorganism-enclosing PVA hydrogel beads to avoid the drastic decrease in cell viability caused by saturated boric acid solution. First, PVA was crosslinked by boric acid for a short time. Subsequently, the molecules were further crosslinked using sodium sulfate. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that sodium sulfate promoted crystallization of PVA, which contributed to gelation of PVA solution. Moreover, the toxicity of sodium sulfate to Saccharomyces cerevisiae was lower than that of boric acid. The stability in water of the PVA–sodium sulfate beads was superior to the stability of PVA–boric acid beads. The ethanol fermentation rate of the PVA–sodium sulfate hydrogel beads enclosing the yeast cells was 2–3 times as fast as that of PVA–boric acid beads. The PVA–sodium sulfate beads could be reused 10 times in repeated ethanol fermentation tests.

Novel concepts for effective utilization of molybdenum (Mo) from nuclear waste and magnesium silicates from hazardous asbestos wastes are proposed. A fast reactor cycle scheme that incorporates each material is described in the present paper. Results of basic studies on several fundamental technologies for the present cycle are given. Basic separation features of Mo by using the LIX63 microcapsule and tertiary pyridine resin were investigated. A simple chemical synthesis route for Mo precursor powder from Mo-containing HNO3 solution was demonstrated. Effects of impurities in recovered Mo on sintering behavior of Mo-pellets were experimentally investigated.

Polymeric microcapsules enclosing Saccharomyces cerevisiae were prepared by radical suspension polymerization via water-in-oil-in-water emulsion. Trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate and 2,2′-azobis(4-methoxy-2,4-dimethylvaleronitrile) were used as monomer and radical initiator, respectively. A culture medium with suspended yeast cells, monomer solution with the dissolved radical initiator, and poly(vinyl alcohol) aqueous solution were used as inner aqueous phase, oil phase, and outer aqueous phase, respectively. The influence of microcapsule preparation parameters on the viability of encapsulated cells and encapsulation efficiency was investigated. The radical polymerization process did not cause significant damage to encapsulated yeast cells. Decreased weight ratio of aqueous phase to oil phase resulted in increased encapsulation efficiency of the cells. The diameter of the microcapsules could be controlled by varying the agitation rate.

Peripheral keratocystic odontogenic tumour is a rare disease occurring in the gingiva and displaying histopathological characteristics similar to keratocystic odontogenic tumour. The patient was a 63-year-old man complaining of gingival swelling in the mandibular premolar region. A raised mass lesion 15 mm in diameter covered with normal epithelium was observed on the buccal gingiva of the left mandibular premolar region. Panoramic radiography and computed tomography excluded intraosseous cyst or tumour. Needle aspiration examination revealed paste-like, pale yellow contents. The raised lesion was surgically resected. Histopathologically, the cyst wall comprised squamous epithelium with parakeratosis. Peripheral keratocystic odontogenic tumour was diagnosed.

We study the maximal commutative ring of partial differential operators which includes the quantum completely integrable system defined by the quantum Toda lattice. Kostant shows that the image of the generalized Harish-Chandra homomorphism of the center of the enveloping algebra is commutative (Kostant in Invent. Math. 48:101–184, 1978). We demonstrate the commutativity of the ring of partial differential operators whose principal symbols are \({\bar{N}}\) -invariant. Our commutative ring includes the commutative system of Kostant (Invent. Math. 48:101–184, 1978). The main tools in this paper are Fourier integral operators and Radon transforms.

There exist many works on full Kostant–Toda flows whose initial points belong to a grand cell of the flag variety. In this paper we study the full Kostant–Toda flows whose initial points belong to small cells other than the grand cell and preserving small cells. To obtain such flows, we consider the cell decomposition of the grand cell induced by Bruhat decomposition of the flag variety. We show that such full Kostant–Toda flow can be reduced to the ordinary tridiagonal Toda flow by using sheaf theoretical methods.

The synthesis of compounds with the structures proposed for the oxyneolignan apteniols B, C, and G is described. The diphenyl ether skeletons of the proposed apteniols were formed via Ullmann ether synthesis. In particular, the spectral data for the synthesized apteniols B, C, and G did not agree with those previously reported for the isolated compounds. Furthermore, the synthesized proposed apteniol B did not show degranulation-inhibiting activity, while the prepared proposed apteniols C and G exhibited activities considerably weaker than that of the methyl ester of proposed apteniol A.

This report is of a 65-year-old man with a granulocytic sarcoma presenting as a gingival swelling. The patient was diagnosed as having natural killer cell acute leukaemia by bone marrow biopsy. The gingival swelling resolved after chemotherapy.

The effects of three serotonin-3 (5-HT(3)) receptor antagonists, azasetron, ondansetron, and ramosetron, on cytochrome P450 (CYP) 1A2-mediated 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylation, CYP2C9-mediated tolbutamide hydroxylation, CYP2C19-mediated S-mephenytoin 4'-hydroxylation, CYP2D6-mediated debrisoquine 4-hydroxylation, CYP2E1-mediated chlorzoxazone 6-hydroxylation, CYP3A4-mediated nifedipine oxidation, and CYP3A4-mediated testosterone 6beta-hydroxylation activities in human liver microsomes were compared. Azasetron and ramosetron at a concentration of 1 or 10 muM neither inhibited nor stimulated any of the metabolic activities. On the other hand, ondansetron competitively inhibited CYP1A2 and CYP2D6 activities, and the inhibition constants (K(i)) were 3.2 and 21.0 muM, respectively, which are much higher than the reported plasma concentrations after clinical intravenous or oral dosing. The free fractions of the three 5-HT(3) receptor antagonists in the incubation mixture estimated by ultracentrifugation were more than 68.6%. These results suggest that azasetron, ondansetron, and ramosetron do not cause clinically significant interactions with other drugs that are metabolized by CYPs via the inhibition of metabolism.

This study analyzed the conflict structure generated between the administration and residents who appeal for opposite in the transfer point improvement project, and considered the ideal way of workshop. The Conflict Analysis based on a Game theory analyzes the conflict between the administration and residents around thispoint and the WS participants. The equilibrium solution and the questionnaire survey result are compared, and the validity of the balance solution is evaluated. Inthis case, it has been understood that it was a big cause that there was misidentification to the outline of the WS holding to be generated the conflict.

Public involvement in planning of seacoast affairs is executed in Ohshinden area, Nakatsu Portin Oita Prefecture. Large well-reserved mud flat spreads around the port. People enjoy its scenery andcreatures, and coastal fishery utilizes the ecosystem. The local government and people organize the meeting to discuss utilization and conservation of the seacoast in this area. Comparative consideration on civil engineering works and medical care in terms of informed consent, and the role of local governmentsand function of these meeting are discussed.

Objective: To study the interaction between salicylate and class 1 antiarrhythmic agents. Methods: The effects of salicylate on class 1 antiarrhythmic agent-induced tonic and phasic block of the Na+ current (INa) of ventricular myocytes and the upstroke velocity of the action potential (Vmax) of papillary muscles were examined by both the patch clamp technique and conventional microelectrode techniques. Results: Salicylate enhanced quinidine-induced tonic and phasic block of INa at a holding potential of −100 mV but not at a holding potential of −140 mV; this enhancement was accompanied by a shift of the h∞ curve in the presence of quinidine in a further hyperpolarized direction, although salicylate alone did not affect INa. Salicylate enhanced the tonic and phasic block of Vmax induced by quinidine, aprindine and disopyramide but had little effect on that induced by procainamide or mexiletine; the enhancing effects were related to the liposolubility of the drugs. Conclusions: Salicylate enhanced tonic and phasic block of Na+ channels induced by class 1 highly liposoluble antiarrhythmic agents. Based on the modulated receptor hypothesis, it is probable that this enhancement was mediated by an increase in the affinity of Na+ channel blockers with high lipid solubility to the inactivated state channels.

We report a case of oral ulceration that occurred during the course of rheumatoid arthritis treated with methotrexate. The patient was a 71-year-old man with oral ulceration of the floor of the mouth. The ulcer showed no induration, with a flat, clean surface and no bleeding. Biopsy revealed ulcer formation with marked inflammatory cell infiltration in the submucosa and dysplasia-like changes in epithelium. Topical steroids were ineffective. After reducing the dose of methotrexate, we observed that the lesion had epithelialized. The oral toxicity of low-dose methotrexate therapy is discussed.

We consider constructing the higher order Hamiltonian structures on the dual of the Lie algebra from the first Hamiltonian structure of the coadjoint orbit method. For this purpose we show that the structure of the Lie algebrag is inherited to the algebra of vector fields ong* through the solution of the Modified Classical Yang-Baxter equation (Classicalr matrix). We study the algebra that generates the compatible Poisson brackets.

The key point of the Hamiltonian formalism of Toda molecules is the commutativity of the Hamiltonians (tr yk, tr yl)=0, where y in GL(n) and (,) is a Poisson bracket associated with the classical r-matrix. To quantize the Toda molecule, we have to consider the q-analogue of the above formula. In this paper, we show the commutativity of the quantized first- and higher-order Hamiltonians (trq Xm, trq X)=0, where X is a matrix of quantum group GLq(n).

Methane oxidation at landfill surfaces was characterized using both physiological and genetically -based assessments of bacterial community. Two different types of methane oxidation were observed, depended on one of which involved separate methane-oxidizing reaction that were dependent on the initial methane concentration, and the other one involved normal Michaelis-Menten type kinetics. The MOB community structure was assayed by culture-independent molecular microbiological methods. The gene amplified by pmoA primer, as a measure of the total MOB population, was detected in levels of 104 to 105 MPN-copies•g-1, and accounted for 2.9 % - 49 % of the eubacterial 16S rDNA. In soils exposed to high methane flux, the type II MOB was predominated showing the value of 104 MPN-copies•g-1 of the mmoX gene and amounted to 30-90 % of the corresponding pmoA gene copies detected. In contrast, type I MOB existed in relatively high population at soils under the negative/negligible methane flux.

Tetrakis(1,2-benzodithio)tetramethyleneethane dication salt was obtained by two-electron oxidation of a head-to-head dimer of bis(1,2-benzodithio)allene. The dication was two-electron reduced at a comparatively low voltage into the corresponding diradical, whose ESR spectrum seemingly showed a fine structure. The characteristics of the diradical could not be obtained, since the signal intensity did not increase as a result of the preferential intramolecular radical coupling of the diradical into the original allene dimer.

Trimethylenemethanes substituted with three ethylenedithio or 1,2-benzodithio groups were generated by electrochemical reduction of the corresponding dication salts, and investigated by ESR. For the latter diradical the triplet ESR spectrum was observed and the temperature dependence of the signal intensity established the ground triplet state. The ESR spectrum of the former diradical could not be detected because of its high reactivity so as to allow ring-closure to the methylenecyclopropane.

The Poisson structure of Lax operator of B and C type and super Lax operator which has odd parity are studied. The algebraic structure of Poisson structure as a background of Lax equation is thrown light on.

We consider the Hamiltonian systems on the Poisson structure of GL(∞) which is introduced from the quantum group GL q (∞) by the so-called quasi-classical limit of GL q (∞). Furthermore, we show that the Toda lattice hierarchy is a Hamiltonian system of this structure.

Tetrakis(1,2-benzodithio)tetramethyleneethane dication salt was obtained by two-electron oxidation of a head-to-head dimer of bis(1,2-benzodithio)allene. The dication was two-electron reduced at a comparatively low voltage into the corresponding diradical, whose ESR spectrum seemingly showed a fine structure. The characteristics of the diradical could not be obtained, since the signal intensity did not increase as a result of the preferential intramolecular radical coupling of the diradical into the original allene dimer.

Trimethylenemethanes substituted with three ethylenedithio or 1,2-benzodithio groups were generated by electrochemical reduction of the corresponding dication salts, and investigated by ESR. For the latter diradical the triplet ESR spectrum was observed and the temperature dependence of the signal intensity established the ground triplet state. The ESR spectrum of the former diradical could not be detected because of its high reactivity so as to allow ring-closure to the methylenecyclopropane.

The Fock representation of the Lie superalgebra osp(∞‖∞), from which is derived the super boson–fermion correspondence of osp(∞‖∞) is discussed. Solutions of the OSp–SKP hierarchy in terms of the neutral super free fermions are constructed.

Tn3 and related transposons have terminal inverted repeats (IR) of about 38 bp that are needed as sites for transposition. We made mini-Tn3 derivatives which had a wild-type IR of Tn3 at one end and either the divergent IR of the Tn3-related transposon, gamma delta or IS101, or a mutant IR of Tn3 at the other end. We then examined both in vivo transposition (cointegration between transposition donor and target molecules) of these mini-Tn3 elements and in vitro binding of Tn3-encoded transposase to their IRs. None of the elements with an IR of gamma delta or IS101 mediated cointegration efficiently. This was due to inefficient binding of transposase to these IR. Most mutant IR also interfered with cointegration, even though transposase bound to some mutant IR as efficiently as it did to wild type. This permitted the Tn3 IR sequence to be divided into two domains, named A and B, with respect to transposase binding. Domain B, at positions 13-38, was involved in transposase binding, whereas domain A, at positions 1-10, was not. The A domain may contain the sequence recognized by some other (e.g., host) factor(s) to precede the actual cointegration event.

We consider the problem of the compactification of the iso level sets of the Hessenberg matrices which is propounded by Ercolani et al. We determine the structure of the cohomology ring of the compact iso level set and obtain a new expression of the flag variety $G/B$.

Tris(l, 2-benzodithio)- and tris(l, 2-ethylenedithio)-trimethylenemethane dication salts were synthesized for the purpose of using as an acceptor in the formation of charge-transfer (CT) complexes with some dianionic donors. In the CT complexes of these dications with hexacyanotrimethylenecyclopropane and tetrafluorotetracyanoquinodimethane dianions, in which the CT degree is albeit small, the spin-spin interaction between the cation radical and the anion radical was antiferro magnetic in the temperature range of 60–293 K, but changed to a ferromagnetic one in the lower temperature range till 15 K, the lowest temperature used in this experiment. This provides the first demonstration of ferromagnetic spin-spin interaction in purely organic/molecular CT complexes. It is conceivable that the ferromagnetic spin-spin interaction is caused by a“spin polarization”mechanism rather than a“CT configurational mixing”mechanism.