No abstract

We have previously demonstrated that ileal administration of the dietary protein hydrolysate prepared from corn zein (ZeinH) stimulated glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) secretion and attenuated hyperglycemia in rats. In this study, to examine whether oral administration of ZeinH improves glucose tolerance by stimulating GLP-1 and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) secretion, glucose tolerance tests were performed in normal Sprague-Dawley male rats and diabetic Goto-Kakizaki (GK) male rats. The test solution was gavaged before ip glucose injection in normal rats or gavaged together with glucose in GK rats. Blood samples were collected from the tail vein or by using the jugular catheter to measure glucose, insulin, GLP-1, and GIP levels. In the ip glucose tolerance test, oral administration of ZeinH (2 g/kg) significantly suppressed the glycemic response accompanied by an immediate increase in plasma GLP-1 and GIP levels in normal rats. In contrast, oral administration of another dietary peptide, meat hydrolysate, did not elicit a similar effect. The glucose-lowering effect of ZeinH was attenuated by a GLP-1 receptor antagonist or by a GIP receptor antagonist. Furthermore, oral ZeinH induced GLP-1 secretion and reduced glycemic response in GK rats under the oral glucose tolerance test. These results indicate that the oral administration of the dietary peptide ZeinH improves glucose tolerance in normal and diabetic rats by its incretin-releasing activity, namely, the incretinotropic effect.

This paper describes the synthesis of hexakis(4-pyridyl)[3]radialene and the crystal structures of its complexes. Due to their structural diversity and fascinating properties, coordination polymers have attracted considerable attention. From the standpoint of crystal engineering, the title compound will be regarded as a useful tecton since the pyridyl groups are attached to the [3]radialene core. The title compound formed a complex with two molecules of resorcinol. In this complex, the double hydrogen bonding between the title compound and resorcinol is observed. Deformation of the title compound is observed because of the binding of resorcinol molecules. A silver(I) complex of the title compound was also obtained as reddish crystals. Notably, the crystal structure of the silver(I) complex features a three-dimensional coordination polymer. The composition of the crystal is 1:1 with respect to the title compound and silver(I) atoms including the solvent molecules of one DMSO and one methanol. Four of the six nitrogen atoms are coordinated to the silver(I) atom and the other two pyridyl groups are free from coordination. The coordination geometry of the silver(I) atom is distorted tetrahedral. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first example of a three-dimensional coordination polymer of a [3]radialene-based bridging ligand.

a) Electronic addresses: r-nouchi@21c.osakafu-u.ac.jp and yama@m.tohoku.ac.jp 2 ABSTRACT: Metal/semiconductor interfaces govern the operation of semiconductor devices through the formation of charge injection barriers that can be controlled by tuning the metal work function. However, the controlling ability is typically limited to being static. We show that a dynamic nature can be imparted to the interfaces using electrode surface modification with a structurally disordered molecular monolayer. The barrier height at the interfaces is altered significantly in a reversible way by an external electric field. As a result, a dramatic change in the carrier transport properties through the interfaces is observed, such as a reversible polarity reversion of metal/organic-semiconductor/metal diodes.A self-assembled monolayer (SAM) is a monolayer-thick ordered film formed by the selfassembly of SAM constituents, such as organic molecules, through interconstituent interactions. 1 Due to the simple formation process (generally only immersion in a SAM-constituent solution), an extremely thin body (one monolayer that preserves the effective charge injection through the SAMs) and molecular diversity of the constituents (molecular synthesis techniques that introduce various substituent groups), SAMs are known to be efficient tuners of metal work functions (WFs) 2-5 and have been widely used to modify metallic electrodes of electronic devices, such as diodes 6-8 and field-effect transistors (FETs). 9,10 Figure 1 depicts two main mechanisms for the change of the WF by the modification of metal surfaces with self-assembled molecular monolayers. As a starting point, a bare metal surface is first illustrated in Fig. 1a. Electrons are known to spill out from the metal surface and the electron density becomes finite, even outside of the metal. 11 The resultant electric double layer at the metal surface forms an energy barrier for electrons inside the metal, which contributes to the metal WF. From a simple analogy, the introduction of additional electric double layers to the metal surface can alter the WF. Thus, if permanent electric dipole of the DM molecules. The structural change can be regulated by the direction of an external electric field. (b) Energy diagrams expected for the dipole mechanism, which are opposite to those deduced experimentally (Fig. 2c). The change in the WF is determined by the magnitude of the dipole moment perpendicular to the surface. (c) Energy diagrams expected for the push-back mechanism, which are identical to those deduced experimentally (Fig. 2c). The change in the WF is determined from the distance between the molecular skeletons of the DMs and the metal surface. 16 a) Electronic addresses: r-nouchi@21c.osakafu-u.ac.jp and yama@m.tohoku.ac.jp 1. Methods 2. Choice of solvent for the formation of the helicene derivative monolayer 3. Stability against low-voltage application 4. Effect of an enantiomeric excess of the helicene derivative on rectification ratios 5. Control experiments without the molecular m...

Aims  Risk assessment of developing cardiac involvement in systemic sarcoidosis can be challenging because of limited data. Recently, attention has been given to left ventricular and right ventricular (LV and RV) involvement in cardiac sarcoidosis (CS) and its prevalence, relevance, and prognostic value. The aim of this study was to assess the role of biventricular strain to predict prognosis in confirmed sarcoidosis patients. Methods and results  LV and RV longitudinal strains (LSs) were evaluated by 2D speckle tracking in 139 consecutive confirmed sarcoidosis patients without other pre-existing structural heart diseases, and 52 age- and gender-matched control subjects. The primary endpoint was CS-related events (cardiac death or development of cardiac involvement). Sarcoidosis without cardiac involvement had significantly lower LV and RV free wall LS compared with control subjects. Basal LS had a higher area under the curve for differentiation of sarcoidosis in patients without cardiac involvement compared to control (cut-off value: −18% with 89% sensitivity and 69% specificity). During a median period of 50 months, the occurrence of CS-related events was observed in 20 patients. In a multivariate analysis, basal LV LS and RV free wall LS were associated with the events [hazard ratio (HR) 0.72, P < 0.001 and HR: 0.83, P = 0.006, respectively]. Patients with impaired biventricular function had significantly shorter event-free survival than those with preserved biventricular function (P < 0.001). Conclusion  Deterioration of biventricular strain was associated with CS-related events. This information might be useful for clinical evaluation and follow-up in sarcoidosis.

Drug-induced Liver Injury (DILI) is becoming a significant public health issue because of its potential impact, not only on patients but also on the development of new drugs. DILI events are also the main cause of regulatory action pertaining to drugs, including denial of marketing approval, restrictions with respect to clinical indications and withdrawal from the marketplace (Lee, 2003;Smith and Schmid, 2006). Acetaminophen (APAP) is a commonly used and effective analgesic and antipyretic agent for relief of mild and moderate pain and is available as an over-the-counter medication. Overdoses of APAP, however, cause severe acute hepatotoxicity both in animals (Lauterburg et al., 1983) and humans (Black, 1984;Davidson and Eastham, 1966;Thomson and Prescott, 1966;Schiødt et al., 1997). APAP at therapeutic doses is rapidly metabolized in the liver principally through glucuronidation and sulfation, and only a small portion is oxidized by cytochrome P-450 2E1 to generate a highly reactive and cytotoxic intermediate, N-acetyl-p-benzoquinoneimine (NAPQI), which is quickly conjugated by hepatic glutathione to yield a harmless water-soluble product, mercapturic acid (Lee et ABSTRACT -Acetaminophen (APAP) is a commonly used and effective analgesic and antipyretic agent. However, some patients encounter hepatotoxicity after repeated APAP dosing at therapeutic doses. In the present study, we focused on the nutritional state as one of the risk factors of APAP-induced chronic hepatotoxicity in humans and investigated the contribution of undernourishment to susceptibility to APAP-induced chronic hepatotoxicity using an animal model mimicking undernourished patients. Rats were divided into 2 groups: the ad libitum fed (ALF) and the restricted fed (RF) rats and were assigned to 3 groups (n = 8/group) for each feeding condition. The animals were given APAP at 0, 300 and 500 mg/kg for 99 days under each feeding condition. Plasma and urinary glutathione-related metabolites and liver function parameters were measured during the dosing period and hepatic glutathione levels were measured at the end of the dosing period. In the APAP-treated ALF rats hepatic glutathione levels were increased and hepatic function parameters were not changed, but in the APAP-treated RF rats hepatic glutathione levels were decreased at 500 mg/kg and hepatic function parameters were increased at 300 and 500 mg/kg. Moreover the urinary endogenous metabolite profile after long-term treatment with APAP in the ALF and RF rats was similar to that in human non-responders and responders to APAP-induced chronic hepatotoxicity, respectively. In conclusion, the RF rats were more sensitive to APAP-induced chronic hepatotoxicity than the ALF rats and were considered to be a useful model to estimate the contribution of the nutritional state of patients to APAP-induced chronic hepatotoxicity.

17On the southeastern Bering Sea shelf, mesozooplankton play an important role in 18 material transfer between primary producers and fisheries resources. The biomass of 19 mesozooplankton in this region is known to vary annually, but little is known about 20 annual changes in community structure and species composition. In the present study, 21 regional and long-term changes in abundance, biomass and community structure of

A simple anodizing technique has been employed to develop highly active electrocatalysts that can be applied to the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline media. NiFe alloys were electrodeposited and anodized to form a porous electrocatalytic layer. This approach produces highly active electrodes without the need for noble metals, binders, or conductive carbon additives.The as-anodized electrode initially exhibits poor OER activity in 1.0 mol dm -3 KOH; however, the effects of potential cycling improve the OER activity to the extent that an overpotential as low as 0.26 V at 10 mA cm -2 is observed for the anodized Ni-11.8 at% Fe electrode. Although significant in-situ activation is achieved with anodized NiFe electrodes, this activation is less significant for as-deposited NiFe or anodized Ni electrodes. Furthermore, OER activity is observed to be composition dependent, with the Ni-11.8 at% Fe electrode exhibiting the greatest activity. A porous fluoride-rich, Fe-doped Ni oxyfluoride layer produced by anodizing is converted via potential cycling to an amorphous or poorly crystalline Fe-doped Ni(OH)2 layer with a nanoflakelike morphology. The high activity is maintained even after almost removal of fluoride. Thus, the F-rich, Fe-doped Ni oxyfluoride is a promising precursor to develop a highly active OER electrode.