We have demonstrated previously that a diet containing skimmed milk (SM) fermented by Lactobacillus gasseri SBT2055 (LGSP) reduces adipocyte size in Sprague -Dawley rats. Two experiments were conducted to extend these observations in order to elucidate the mechanism involved. In experiment 1, lean and obese Zucker rats were fed a diet containing SM or LGSP for 4 weeks. The LGSP diet, compared with the SM diet, resulted in lowering of the mesenteric adipose tissue weight (23 %; P,0·05), adipocyte sizes (28 %; P,0·001) and serum leptin concentration (36 %; P,0·05) in lean rats. Obese Zucker rats did not display such dietary effects. Only the number of smaller adipocytes was increased (P, 0·05) by the LGSP diet in the subcutaneous adipose tissue of obese rats. The LGSP diet significantly reduced the serum and hepatic cholesterol in rats. In addition, the LGSP diet led to an increased excretion of faecal fatty acids and total neutral faecal sterols in both rat strains. In experiment 2, Sprague -Dawley rats with permanent cannulation of the thoracic duct were fed either the SM or LGSP diets and their lymph was collected. The LGSP diet lowered the maximum transport rate of TAG and phospholipids. These results indicate that fermented milk regulates adipose tissue growth through inhibition at the stage of dietary fat absorption in lean Zucker rats.
We fabricated nanometer-scale Ni dots and NiSi dots on an ultrathin SiO 2 layer using remote H 2 plasma and demonstrated the feasibility of remote H 2 plasma treatment for controlling the areal density of the dots. 1.8-nm-thick-Ni/SiO 2 and Ni/Siquantum dots (QDs)/SiO 2 layer were treated with remote H 2 plasma generated by the inductive coupling between an external single-turn antenna and a 60 MHz generator. When a Ni/SiO 2 was treated with remote H 2 plasma at room temperature, Ni nanodot density could be controlled in the range of 10 9 to 10 12 cm À2 by adjusting the plasma conditions. After the remote H 2 plasma treatment of the Ni/Si-QDs, the formation of electrically isolated NiSi dots with an areal density of $10 11 cm À2 was confirmed. These results imply that hydrogen radicals generated in H 2 plasma play an important role in improving surface diffusion caused by energy reduction at the Ni/SiO 2 interface. The surface potential of the Ni nanodots changes stepwise with the tip bias. This is due to the multistep electron injection into and extraction of Ni nanodots. The minimum tip biases for electron injection into Ni nanodots, NiSi dots and Si-QDs were À0:2, À0:7, and À1:0 V, respectively. This reflected the difference in electron affinity among Ni, NiSi and Si.
Lateral grain with a maximum grain size of ∼60 µm was grown by high speed scanning of a molten region in amorphous Si (a-Si) films formed by micro-thermal-plasma-jet irradiation. The a-Si transformed into crystalline through solid phase crystallization, followed by melting and recrystallization induced by the movement of molten region. The laterally crystallized Si films show a high crystalline volume fraction of ∼100%. Thin film transistors were fabricated using Si films formed by high-speed (4000 mm/s) lateral crystallization, and a very high field effect mobility of 350 cm2 V-1 s-1 was successfully obtained.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.