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The input parameters for the hardening law for the elasto-plastic constitutive model of unsaturated soils are generally fitting parameters that control the degree of hardening response and cannot easily be determined without the results of experimental tests in which the changes in suction, water content, and volume are measured or controlled. However, it is next to impossible to complete such precise experimental tests on all the geomaterials comprising the earth structure to be analysed, such as an embankment. It is important, therefore, to establish a method for determining these parameters from more easily attainable data on the material. This paper presents a practical method for estimating the input parameters related to hardening/softening due to desaturation/saturation in the elasto-plastic constitutive model proposed by Ohno et al. (2007a) from a compaction curve, which is frequently obtained and widely used in engineering practice. In the proposed method, the input parameters are estimated by simultaneously solving three theoretical equations, each of which holds for a different point, indicating the statically compacted state on the dry side of the compaction curve, while the approximately represented compaction curve is used instead of a hand-drawn one. The paper demonstrates that the proposed method enables the estimation of the input parameter values within a range small enough so as not to affect the results of the simulation, irrespective of the way in which the points on the represented compaction curve are selected. The validity of the estimated parameters is verified and then discussed through a series of static compaction test simulations.

A Lagoa do Araçá localizada em Recife, Pernambuco,está situada em uma Unidade de Conservação da Natureza, destinada para uso de atividade de pesca amadora e recreacional, porém sofre constante degradação devido as atividades antropogênicas pela exploração imobiliária.O estudo objetivou avaliar a qualidade microbiológica e físico-química da água e do peixecamurupim (Megalopsatlanticus) na Lagoa. Os resultados revelaram que a água da Lagoa do Araçá está acima dos padrões estabelecidos para Escherichia coli e coliformes totais e os parâmetros físico-químicos também apresentam variações significativas quando comparados com padrões da legislação ambiental. Estas alterações no ecossistema são influenciadas pelo despejo constante de efluentes domésticos e industriais que repercute na ocorrência de bactérias de origem fecal na agua e nos peixes além de compostos tóxicos ao homem e ecossistema. A composição centesimal do camarupim apresenta aporte proteico relevante, entretanto inseguro quanto ao seu consumo, pois apresenta risco biológico e químico passível de surto alimentar. A B S T R A C T The Araçá Lagoon located in Recife, Pernambuco, is in a Nature Conservation Unit, destined to use amateur and recreational fishing activity, but it is constantly degraded due to the anthropogenic activities of real estate exploitation. The objective of this study was to evaluate the microbiological and physicochemical quality of the water and camurupim fish (Megalops atlanticus) in Lagoa. The results revealed that the water of the Araçá Lagoon is above the established standards for Escherichia coli and total coliforms and the physical-chemical parameters also present significant variations when compared to environmental legislation standards. These changes in the ecosystem are influenced by the constant dumping of domestic and industrial effluents, which affects the occurrence of fecal bacteria in water and fish, as well as compounds that are toxic to man and the ecosystem. The centesimal composition of the camarupim presents a significant protein intake, however insecure regarding its consumption since it presents a biological and chemical risk that can be fed. Keywords: fish, estuary, urban anthropogenic contamination.

O sunomono, conhecida técnica culinária na conservação de alimentos no vinagre, é uma prática antiga e bastante empregada na cultura japonesa, agregando características sensoriais apreciáveis e prolongamento da vida útil das hortaliças. O objetivo da pesquisa foi confeccionar sunomono de pepino e do pseudofruto de caju, alimentos muito apreciados no nordeste brasileiro. Foram realizados ensaios químicos para avaliação nutricional e microbiológica para comprovação de alimento seguro, atendendo legislação vigente no Brasil. Não foi detectado a presença de Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus coagulase positiva ou Salmonella spp. A determinação da composição centesimal de ambos os sunomono informam que o consumo deve ser realizado com cautela, porque o valor calórico e o percentual de carboidratos quando comparado com cada hortaliça in natura, apresentaram concentrações superiores, decorrente da incorporação de sacarose na preparação culinária. Entretanto, é importante observar que foram preservados as concentrações de proteínas e cinzas nas preparações finais em relação as in natura. Portanto, o sunomono se mostra como alternativa culinária viável para preservar hortaliças perecíveis e sazonais, importante grupo alimentar na dieta humana.

A Lagoa do Araca localizada em Recife, Pernambuco,esta situada em uma Unidade de Conservacao da Natureza, destinada para uso de atividade de pesca amadora e recreacional, porem sofre constante degradacao devido as atividades antropogenicas pela exploracao imobiliaria.O estudo objetivou avaliar a qualidade microbiologica e fisico-quimica da agua e do peixecamurupim ( Megalopsatlanticus ) na Lagoa. Os resultados revelaram que a agua da Lagoa do Araca esta acima dos padroes estabelecidos para Escherichia coli e coliformes totais e os parâmetros fisico-quimicos tambem apresentam variacoes significativas quando comparados com padroes da legislacao ambiental. Estas alteracoes no ecossistema sao influenciadas pelo despejo constante de efluentes domesticos e industriais que repercute na ocorrencia de bacterias de origem fecal na agua e nos peixes alem de compostos toxicos ao homem e ecossistema. A composicao centesimal do camarupim apresenta aporte proteico relevante, entretanto inseguro quanto ao seu consumo, pois apresenta risco biologico e quimico passivel de surto alimentar. A B S T R A C T The Araca Lagoon located in Recife, Pernambuco, is in a Nature Conservation Unit, destined to use amateur and recreational fishing activity, but it is constantly degraded due to the anthropogenic activities of real estate exploitation. The objective of this study was to evaluate the microbiological and physicochemical quality of the water and camurupim fish ( Megalops atlanticus ) in Lagoa. The results revealed that the water of the Araca Lagoon is above the established standards for Escherichia coli and total coliforms and the physical-chemical parameters also present significant variations when compared to environmental legislation standards. These changes in the ecosystem are influenced by the constant dumping of domestic and industrial effluents, which affects the occurrence of fecal bacteria in water and fish, as well as compounds that are toxic to man and the ecosystem. The centesimal composition of the camarupim presents a significant protein intake, however insecure regarding its consumption since it presents a biological and chemical risk that can be fed. Keywords : fish, estuary, urban anthropogenic contamination.

Background Health inequities are increasing worldwide, with mounting evidence showing that the greatest cause of which are social determinants of health. To reduce inequities, a lot of citizens need to be able to access, understand, appraise, and apply information on the social determinants; that is, they need to improve health literacy on social determinants of health. However, only a limited number of scales focus on these considerations; hence, we developed the Health Literacy on Social Determinants of Health Questionnaire (HL-SDHQ) and examined its psychometric properties. Methods We extracted domains of the social determinants of health from “the solid facts” and related articles, operationalizing the following ten domains: “the social gradient,” “early life,” “social exclusion,” “work,” “unemployment,” “social support,” “social capital,” “addiction,” “food,” and “transport,” Next, we developed the scale items in the ten extracted domains based on the literature and included four aspects of health literacy (ability to access, understand, appraise, and apply social determinants of health-related information) in the items. We also evaluated the ease of response and content validity. The self-administered questionnaire consisted of 33 items. The reliability and construct validity were verified among 831 Japanese adults in an internet survey. Results The scale items had high reliability with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.92, and also adequate results were obtained for the internal consistency of the information-processing dimensions (Cronbach’s alpha values were 0.82, 0.91, 0.84, and 0.92 for accessing, understanding, appraising, and applying, respectively). The goodness of fit by confirmatory factor analysis based on the four dimensions was an acceptable value (comparative fit index = 0.901; root mean square error of approximation = 0.058). Furthermore, the bivariate relationship between HL-SDHQ and the frequency of participation in citizen’s activities was similar to the theoretical results. Conclusions HL-SDHQ clarifies the relationship between the ten domains of the social determinants of health and health in each domain and is able to measure whether it is possible to access, understand, appraise, and apply related information. The reliability and validity of the scale were adequate. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-016-3971-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Ground-based synthetic aperture radar (GB-SAR) is an effective technique for monitoring over a widespread area. Save for the fact that it is installed on the ground, the GB-SAR operates in the same way as air- and satellite-borne microwave SAR remote sensing systems. By repeated acquisition of data and application of the repeat-pass interferometry principle, this technique can detect very small changes over a scene with a typically high temporal resolution of only a few minutes. In the system used in this study, interferometer error is less than 10% and the temporal resolution is approximately five minutes. Some applications require extensive monitoring capability; for instance, in this study, the GB-SAR technique was used to monitor a post-landslide surface in order to assess slope stability and to ensure the safety of the area. Whereas no major events were observed, the technique proved capable of detecting even small changes caused by snowfalls. The technique was also used to monitor the displacement of the ground surface in a tsunami-affected area in which the stability of the ground had come into question. The results of this assessment indicated that the distribution of displacement tended to be larger in waterfront areas and seemed to correlate to tidal effects. Although both of these measurement campaigns represent preliminary research, the advantages of the GB-SAR technique have been well illustrated. In this paper, the results of these measurements are provided, and the capability and potential of the technique are discussed.

The anionic polymerization of 1,4-divinylbenzene (1) and its ortho (2) and meta isomers (3) were studied under a variety of conditions. One of the two vinyl groups of 1 was selectively and exclusively polymerized in a living manner by the addition of a suitable additive under the conditions of −78 °C for 1 min and −95 °C for 30 min. Under such conditions, the unwanted addition reaction of the chain-end anion to the pendant vinyl group was almost suppressed and soluble polymers with predictable molecular weights of up to 60 500 g/mol and narrow molecular weight distributions (Mw/Mn < 1.05) were quantitatively obtained. The amount of dimerized chain produced by the addition reaction was negligible or very small (

A transient in chlorophyll fluorescence after cessation of actinic light illumination, which has been ascribed to electron donation from stromal reductants to plastoquinone (PQ) by the NAD(P)H-dehydrogenase (NDH) complex, was investigated in Arabidopsis thaliana. The transient was absent in air in a mutant lacking the NDH complex (ndhM). However, in ndhM, the transient was detected in CO(2)-free air containing 2% O(2). To investigate the reason, ndhM was crossed with a pgr5 mutant impaired in ferredoxin (Fd)-dependent electron donation from NADPH to PQ, which is known to be redundant for NDH-dependent PQ reduction in the cyclic electron flow around photosystem I (PSI). In ndhM pgr5, the transient was absent even in CO(2)-free air with 2% O(2), demonstrating that the post-illumination transient can also be induced by the Fd- (or PGR5)-dependent PQ reduction. On the other hand, the transient increase in chlorophyll fluorescence was found to be enhanced in normal air in a mutant impaired in plastid fructose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolase (FBA) activity. The mutant, termed fba3-1, offers unique opportunities to examine the relative contribution of the two paths, i.e., the NDH- and Fd- (or PGR5)-dependent paths, on the PSI cyclic electron flow. Crossing fba3-1 with either ndhM or pgr5 and assessing the transient suggested that the main route for the PSI cyclic electron flow shifts from the NDH-dependent path to the Fd-dependent path in response to sink limitation of linear electron flow.

Nanocomposites obtained by mechanical milling of graphite and magnesium with organic additives (benzene, cyclohexene or cyclohexane) have been studied with the aim of preparing novel hydrogen storage materials. The organic additives were very important in the milling processes to determine the characteristics of the resulting carbon nanocomposites. The mechanical milling with high energy resulted in the generation of large amounts of dangling carbon bonds in graphite with simultaneous decomposition of graphite structure. Such dangling bonds of carbon acted as sites to take up hydrogen. It has been proved by temperature programmed desorption (TPD) and neutron diffraction measurements that the hydrogen taken up in the nanocomposites exists in at least two states; in the form of C–H bond formation in the graphite component and in the form of hydride in the magnesium component. The relative amounts of two types of hydrogen strongly depended upon differences in additives used (benzene, cyclohexene or cyclohexane). When C6D6 besides C6H6 was used as additive, the hydrogen taken up was discussed from the standpoint of isotope effects. Upon addition of titanium tetraisopropoxide, the features of hydrogen uptake by the nanocomposites changed completely.

The anionic polymerizations of novel methoxy-substituted divinylbenzenes possessing nonequivalent vinyl groups, such as 2-methoxy-1,4-divinylbenzene (1), 4-methoxy-1,2-divinylbenzene (2), and 4-methoxy-1,3-divinylbenzene (3), are carried out with oligo(α-methylstyryl)lithium (αMSLi) in the presence of potassium tert-butoxide (tBuOK) in tetrahydrofuran at −78 °C. The poly(1)–poly(3) obtained with αMSLi/tBuOK are completely soluble and possess predicted molecular weights and narrow molecular weight distributions (MWD) (M w/M n < 1.1). On the other hand, the corresponding symmetrical divinylbenzenes, 2-methoxy-1,3-divinylbenzene (4) and 5-methoxy-1,3-divinylbenzene (5), undergo anionic polymerization to afford polymers with broad MWDs, indicating the occurrence of a serious intermolecular side reaction. The stability of the propagating carbanion derived from 1–3 is demonstrated by the quantitative efficiency of the sequential copolymerization with tert-butyl methacrylate. The chemical structure of the repeating unit of poly(1)–poly(3) is characterized by the 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance measurements, suggesting that the polymerization of asymmetrical divinylbenzenes, 1–3, proceeds mainly on one of the nonequivalent vinyl groups. The electronic and steric effects of the electron-donating methoxy group play important roles in realizing the living anionic polymerization of these divinylbenzenes. The resulting poly(1)–poly(3) show a thermal cross-linking property over 300 °C, indicating the reactivity of the residual pendant vinyl group in each repeating unit.

The reactions of newly prepared fac(S) -[Cr(aet) 3 ] ( 1 ) with Zn 2+ and Ni 2+ gave the polynuclear complexes [{Cr(aet) 3 } 4 Zn 4 O] 6+ ( 2 ) and [Ni{Cr(aet) 3 } 2 ] 2+ ( 3 ), respectively, where aet denotes 2-aminoethanethiolate (NH 2 CH 2 CH 2 S – ). The structures of complex cations 2 and 3 are determined by the X-ray diffractions. 2 Br 6 ·6H 2 O is spontaneously resolved as single crystals and crystallizes in the cubic space group P 2 1 3, a =19.024(1) A, Z =4, and R =0.044. 3 (NO 3 ) 2 ·2H 2 O crystallizes in the triclinic space group P 1 with a =10.228(2), b =12.265(3), c =13.362(3) A, α =101.08(1), β =108.02(1), γ =102.35(1)°, Z =2, and R =0.031. 2 consists of four fac(S) -[Cr(aet) 3 ] units, four Zn atoms, and one central μ 4 -oxygen atom, forming the T-cage-type octanuclear structure. 3 consists of two fac(S) -[Cr(aet) 3 ] units and one Ni atom, forming linear-type trinuclear structure. The electronic absorption and CD spectral behavior of the isolated complexes are discussed in comparison with those of the corresponding polynuclear complexes. The effective magnetic moments are 3.99 μ B for 1 at 296 K, and 7.58 μ B for 2 , and 5.19 μ B for 3 at 300 K. 3 indicates the presence of intramolecular antiferromagnetic exchange interactions, but 2 does not show the intramolecular magnetic exchange interactions.

A ground-based synthetic aperture radar (GB-SAR) system was installed for the observation and monitoring of post-landslide slope in Kurihara-city, Miyagi, Japan. The system is operated at 17 GHz (Ku-band) with a frequency bandwidth of 150 MHz. Horn antennas scan about 2 m horizontally to cover a large observation area and SAR processing is applied to achieve higher azimuth and range resolutions. In addition, the interferometric technique is used to detect very small changes on the target, resulting in the expected interferometer resolution of 0.1 mm. In 2011, the system operated from November to December to acquire preliminary results and to study the feasibility of the technique for monitoring landslide surface. During the period, major events on the landslide surface did not happen and, thus, no significant changes were detected by the GB-SAR system. However, it detected small movements at some locations approaching to the system that is likely caused by a snowfall. It demonstrates the capability of the GB-SAR technique in detecting very small changes on a target.

A new approach for estimation of the tree root biomass is proposed by using GPR system with high accuracy positioning system. The 3D images of subsurface can be obtained clearly with this system, which we refer as “3DGPR”. We try to estimate the biomass of tree roots quantitatively by measuring the volume of the tree roots. We tested this system for tree roots measurement, and the broadening of the tree root with horizontal direction could be detected with 500 MHz and 800 MHz antenna. We excavated this tree every 10 cm from 0 cm to 50 cm to validate the accuracy of the result. Compared with the measurement result and the excavated one, the tree root whose diameter is more than 5 cm could be detected correctly. Some tree roots whose diameter is 3 cm also could be detected. The diameter in most of the tree roots is more than 2cm. In this result, we expect that the volume is supposed to be estimated within 30 percent error by using the excavated result for calibration data.

We report a case of an aneurysm rupturing into an arachnoid cyst presenting as a confined intracystic hemorrhage. A 37-year-old man with a history of sporadic headaches for several years complained of a headache of several days' duration. Brain computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed a cystic lesion in the left side of the middle cranial fossa that included a 3-cm-diameter hematoma in the Sylvian fissure without extracystic hemorrhage. Left carotid artery angiography showed an internal carotid artery-posterior communicating artery (IC-PC) aneurysm and an anterior choroidal artery aneurysm. The cyst wall was excised, and the aneurysms were clipped. The bleeding point was the spot at which the IC-PC aneurysm entered the arachnoid cyst. Right oculomotor nerve palsy developed after surgery, but resolved after 3 months. To the best of our knowledge, this is the only fourth report to date in the literature of a confined aneurysm rupturing into an arachnoid cyst.

We analyzed simultaneous observation data with ground-based synthetic aperture radar (GB-SAR) and airborne SAR (PiSAR) over a flood test site at which a simple house was constructed in a field. The PiSAR under flood condition was 0.9 to 3.4 dB higher than that under nonflood condition. GB-SAR gives high spatial resolution as we could identify a single scattering component and a double bounce component from the house. GB-SAR showed that the difference between the flooding and nonflooding conditions came from the double bounce scattering. We also confirm that the entropy is a sensitive parameter in the eigenvalue decomposition parameters, if the scattering process is dominated by the double bounce scattering. We conclude that and entropy are a good parameter to be used to detect flooding, not only in agricultural and forest regions, but also in urban areas. We also conclude that GB-SAR is a powerful tool to supplement satellite and airborne observation, which has a relatively low spatial resolution.

We performed a Ground Based SAR (GB-SAR) and PiSAR simultaneous experiment over a flood test site. In this site, one prefab was constructed in a baseball field of a Nihon University in Chiba, Japan. The PiSAR observations were done for three days with different soil moisture condition of ~25%, ~50%, and 100%. Some GB-SAR experiments have been also done in two of three days and the scattering process are examined. Preliminary experiment with GB-SAR showed that L-band sigma0 from a double scattering of ground-wall is increased for a few dB, when a reflectivity of the ground is assumed to be 1. These increase are also confirmed in the test site for both PiSAR and GB-SAR. Furthermore, high resolution GB-SAR images show double and single bounce scattering from a metal bar behind the wooden board of the prefab. We conclude that L-band SAR has a enough ability to detect a flooding area in urban site.

An 80-year-old male visited the hospital as an outpatient with a head injury sustained in a traffic accident. Brain computed tomography incidentally revealed a left frontal lobe tumor measuring 5 cm in a diameter. The patient had a history of taking chlormadinone acetate (a progesterone agonist) prescribed several years previously as treatment for benign prostatic hypertrophy. The tumor was seen as an isointense lesion on T(1)-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) images with enhancement by gadolinium, and as a heterogeneously hyperintense mass on T(2)-weighted MR images. The tentative diagnosis was left frontal meningioma attached to the sphenoid ridge or sphenoid plane. The patient was managed conservatively because of his advanced age and no symptoms or progression were observed during a 9-month follow-up period. The medication for benign prostatic hypertrophy was changed from chlormadinone acetate to naftopidil (an alpha-2-blocker) about 9 months after his first presentation. The patient presented again 2 years later complaining of dizziness. Computed tomography and MR imaging performed at this time revealed remarkable regression of the tumor. The signal intensity change with regression of the tumor on T(2)-weighted images was observed as a hypointense lesion. Thus, we wish to emphasize that treatment of meningiomas, especially those diagnosed incidentally, must be based on a thorough consideration of any history of hormonal therapy with prostate disease.

Since the Calvin cycle is redox regulated by thioredoxins using NADPH and reduced ferredoxin produced by the light reactions, it is subjected to oxidative inhibition when the absorbed light energy exceeds the capacity of photosynthesis and the photoprotective mechanisms are overwhelmed. It is thought that glutathionylation of proteins (the covalent biding of the glutathione moiety to the target protein through the disulfide bridge) contributes to the suppression of irreversible inactivation of redox-regulated enzymes. However, we found that the Calvin cycle enzyme aldolase is activated via glutathionylation and inactivated by thioredoxin. Here we will show that glutathionylation/deglutathionylation of aldolase is regulated in response to illumination and facilitates the Calvin cycle.

Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) is widely used for investigation of concentration, diffusion coefficients and dynamics of single molecules. To introduce spatial resolution in FCS measurement, we develop a novel FCS system, which uses an electron-multiplying charge-coupled device (EM-CCD) to get FCS data at each pixel. We tested 3 samples, which have different concentrations of fluorescent beads, and successfully investigated the difference of correlation coefficients of FCS signal. In addition, we introduce a new illumination method for EM-CCD based FCS measurement, to limit depth of a observation volume. Although a evanescent field has a nature of limited penetration depth, the penetration depth which is 50 to 200nm in typical, is short in comparison with the resolution in the lateral direction. As a result FCS measurement becomes too sensitive in the depth direction, but worse in lateral direction. So we introduce a novel illumination method, in which a laser beam is incident with an angle slightly smaller than the critical angle to illuminate fluorescent molecule (critical-angle illumination). The depth of observation volume can be controlled with the angle of incidence. We expect this method to be applied to a measurement of local diffusion coefficient of molecules in living cells.

We compared neurological symptoms with CT findings and SPECT findings in 38 patients with chronic subdural hematomas (CSH).

The concentration of blood coagulation factor X III (F X HI), fibronectin, and α 2-plasmin inhibitor (α 2-PI) in chronic subdural hematoma was measured, and the localization of fibronectin and fibrin in the outer membrane was immunohistologieally examined. Based on the results, the relationship between these factors and the etiology of the hematoma were investigated. Seventy-five chronic subdural hematoma patients who had had burr hole opening surgery became the subjects of the study, and hematoma fluid retrieved during their operations was analyzed. The hematoma membrane attached to the dura mater was immunohistologieally examined in 20 samples. In most of the typical hematoma cases, concentration of fibronectin in the hematoma fluid was more than the normal plasma range. The value of F X III was extremely low, and the degree of the tissue healing factor in the hematoma fluid was unfavorable, despite a normal healing process. Fibrin and fibronectin were contained in the outer membrane. The authors can assume from the results that the outer membrane was granulation tissue which recovery process was delayed. The guess was that an imbalance in the condition of factors in the healing of the tissue very much related to the etiology and natural history of the chronic subdural hematoma.

We developed a novel illumination method for imaging fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (imaging FCS) with electron-multiplying charge-coupled device (EM-CCD) to regulate the depth of observation volume. In this method, a laser beam for excitation is incident to a glass-water boundary at an angle slightly smaller than critical angle. Transmitted light excites molecules only in the vicinity of the boundary. Through an FCS imaging experiment and a simulation based on a finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method, we have confirmed that field intensity decays exponentially with distance and penetration depth varies with incident angle until 2 µm, which is more than 10 times larger than that of a typical evanescent field.

To clarify the scoring resistance of the gears with the sulphurizing process, which is an anodic sulphurization performed in a molten bath with a temperature of about 463 K, scoring tests were run. From the test results obtained by a power-circulating gear machine, it was found that the sulphurizing process has a significant effect on decreasing gear noise, and the scoring resistance of the gears is increased significantly due to the sulphurated layer formed on the meshing faces of the gears and to the tooth profile modification with the sulphurizing process.

Technique to determine residual polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) has been complicated by the fact that PCBs are not single compound, but complex mixtures of isomers having various degrees of chlorination.A method is described for the determination of PCBs through exhaustive chlorination.The procedure is as follows.1. Approximately 1μg of the ordinarily cleaned-up sample of PCBs is treated with 0.5ml of antimony pentachloride at 220°C for 2 hours in a sealed glass tube.No prior separation of PCBs from DDE is required.2. Decachlorobiphenyl formed is taken up into 20ml of benzene, and the solution is washed successively with 30% hydrochloric acid, 10% tartaric acid solution and water, dried by passing through micro-column packed with 1g of silica gel containing 5% water, and concentrated under stream of dry air.3. Decachlorobiphenyl is analysed by gas-liquid chromatography with electron capture detector by using liquid phases such as DEGS-PA and OV-1.At levels higher than 1μg, the described procedure gives almost quantitative yield of decachlorobiphenyl.By this method total PCBs can be determined unequivocally as decachlorobiphenyl equivalent. Therefore, on assuming that residual PCBs constantly contain 50% chlorine, estimation of the amount of PCBs originally present can also be made with an error of up to 25%, because the chlorine contents of the common commercial PCBs preparations varies exclusivelyb etween 40 and 60%.

1. 1. Two phenolic compounds have been isolated from rapeseed lipids by silicic acid column chromatography and thin-layer chromatography. 2. 2. They have been identified as sinapic acid (4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxycinnamicacid) and methyl sinapate from the results of spectrometric and chromatographic studies compared with the authentic samples.

Baker’s-yeast reduction of 2-formyl-1,1′-binaphthyls gave the corresponding optically active 2-hydroxymethyl-1,1′-binaphthyls with the enantiomeric excess reaching up to 70% at 39% conversion in the case of 2-formyl-2′-methoxy-1,1′-binaphthyl.

Background Health literacy, or the ability to access, understand, appraise and apply health information, is central to individuals’ health and well-being. A comprehensive, concept-based measure of most dimensions of health literacy has been developed for the general population in Europe, which enables comparisons within and between countries. This study seeks to validate this tool for use in Japan, and to use a Japanese translation to compare health literacy levels in Japan and Europe. Methods A total of 1054 Japanese adults recruited through an Internet research service company, completed a Japanese-language version of the 47-item European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q47). The survey was administered via an online questionnaire, and participant demographics were closely matched to those of the most recent Japanese national census. Survey results were compared with those previously reported in an eight-country European study of health literacy. Results Internal consistency for the translated questionnaire was valid across multiple metrics. Construct validity was checked using confirmatory factor analyses. The questionnaire correlated well with existing scales measuring health literacy and mental health status. In general, health literacy in the Japanese population was lower than in Europe, with Japanese respondents rating all test items as more difficult than European respondents. The largest difference (51.5 %) was in the number of respondents finding it difficult to know where to get professional help when they are ill. Conclusions This study translated a comprehensive health literacy questionnaire into Japanese and confirmed its reliability and validity. Comparative results suggest that Japanese health literacy is lower than that of Europeans. This discrepancy may be partly caused by inefficiency in the Japanese primary health care system. It is also difficult to access reliable and understandable health information in Japan, as there is no comprehensive national online platform. Japanese respondents found it more difficult to judge and apply health information, which suggests that there are difficulties in health decision-making in Japan. Numerous issues may be linked to lower levels health literacy in Japan, and further studies are needed to improve this by developing individual competencies and building supportive environments. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-015-1835-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Baker’s-yeast reduction of 2-formyl-1,1′-binaphthyls gave the corresponding optically active 2-hydroxymethyl-1,1′-binaphthyls with the enantiomeric excess reaching up to 70% at 39% conversion in the case of 2-formyl-2′-methoxy-1,1′-binaphthyl.