Attenuation of allergic contact dermatitis through the endocannabinoid system

Allergic contact dermatitis affects about 5% of men and 11% of women in industrialized countries and is one of the leading causes for occupational diseases. In an animal model for cutaneous contact hypersensitivity, we show that mice lacking both known cannabinoid receptors display exacerbated allergic inflammation. In contrast, fatty acid amide hydrolase-deficient mice, which have increased levels of the endocannabinoid anandamide, displayed reduced allergic responses in the skin. Cannabinoid receptor antagonists exacerbated allergic inflammation, whereas receptor agonists attenuated inflammation. These results demonstrate a protective role of the endocannabinoid system in contact allergy in the skin and suggest a target for therapeutic intervention.     

The Seismic Structure of the Sun

Global Oscillation Network Group data reveal that the internal structure of the sun can be well represented by a calibrated standard model. However, immediately beneath the convection zone and at the edge of the energy-generating core, the sound-speed variation is somewhat smoother in the sun than it is in the model. This could be a consequence of chemical inhomogeneity that is too severe in the model, perhaps owing to inaccurate modeling of gravitational settling or to neglected macroscopic motion that may be present in the sun. Accurate knowledge of the sun's structure enables inferences to be made about the physics that controls the sun; for example, through the opacity, the equation of state, or wave motion. Those inferences can then be used elsewhere in astrophysics.     

Pythium rot of chingensai ( Brassica campestris L. chinensis group) caused by Pythium ultimum var. ultimum and Pythium aphanidermatum

Severe rot was found at the base of leaves and stems of chingensai (Brassica campestris L. chinensis group) in Okayama Prefecture in 2000. The causal fungi were morphologically identified as Pythium ultimum Trow var. ultimum and P. aphanidermatum (Edson) Fitzpatrick. This is the first report of rot caused by Pythium species on chingensai. We named this disease Pythium rot of chingensai.     

Ostertagiasis in calves. II. infection parameters and body weight gains following housing

The performance of six groups of six calves each from a previous field experiment was followed from the beginning of housing until turning out seven months later. When housed the groups harboured different levels of infection with Ostertagia ostertagi and had corresponding weight and gain reductions. The most heavily infected groups improved rapidly following housing. Elevated serum pepsinogen levels decreased markedly, and approached normal values at eight weeks. Differences in serum pepsinogen levels between groups diminished considerably, but remained significant over the entire stabling period. The serum albumin level was low in the most seriously affected animals at the time of housing, but normal levels were restored within the first twelve weeks. In general, the number of parasite eggs in the faeces of the animals decreased, but there was considerable fluctuation. Apart from a single sampling date, no significant difference in egg per gram (EPG) could be demonstrated between the experimental groups during the stabling period.The calves were fed according to their age. The live weight differences between most and least affected groups diminished from 64 kg at the time of housing to 37 kg at the end of the stabling period. The reduction took place particularly during the first four weeks of housing.Considering both the grazing and stabling periods, it appeared that anthelmintic treatment twice during the period had no effect on the final live weight, whereas remeated treatments at three-week intervals resulted in an increase of 24 kg. Similarly, moving the animals to a clean pasture in mid-July resulted in an increase of 39 kg at the end of the stabling period when compared to calves which were not moved. Treatment of moved animals did not result in further body weight gain after seven months of housing.No significant correlation was found between parasite EPG of faeces and growth rate during the stabling period. However, a positive correlation was found between serum pepsinogen during the first eight weeks of housing and the weight gain over the entire stabling period. This was in contrast to the correlation experienced during the grazing period.     

Piezoelectric effect of cyanoethylated hydroxyethylcellulose

The piezoelectricity of cyanoethylated hydroxyethylcellulose was investigated. Elastic, piezoelectric, and dielectric relaxations were observed at –80° to –60°C and 0° to 20°C at a frequency of 10Hz. The activation energy is about 9–15 kcal/mol in the low temperature region and about 30–45 kcal/mol at room temperature. These relaxations in the low temperature region may be caused by the motion of the cyanoethyl group and those at room temperature mostly by the motions of the main chain. Cyanoethylated hydroxyethylcellulose has a high piezoelectric strain constant (d ₂₅), which is the largest value among the cellulose derivatives and is almost the same as the value for polyvinylidene fluoride. The electromechanical coupling factor for cyanoethylated hydroxyethylcellulose was small.     

New piezoelectric moduli of wood: <Emphasis Type="Italic">d</Emphasis><Subscript>31</Subscript> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">d</Emphasis><Subscript>32</Subscript>

This article reports the piezoelectric moduli of wood d ₃₁, d ₃₂, and d ₃₆. The piezoelectric moduli of wood d ₃₁ and d ₃₂ have not been previously reported, although there has been much research on the d ₁₄ and d ₂₅ moduli of wood. The moduli d ₃₁, d ₃₂, and d ₃₆ were measured carefully because their absolute values were considerably smaller than those of d ₁₄ and d ₂₅. For Softwoods, d ₃₆ values were mostly negative, whereas the values for hardwoods had either positive or negative values. The other moduli, d ₃₁ and d ₃₂, were a mixture of positive and negative values in softwoods and hardwoods. The existence of d ₃₁ and d ₃₂ suggests the presence of an electrical polarity of the cellulose crystal in the fiber direction of the wood. The polarities of d ₃₁ and d ₃₂ became clear from wood in the outer part of the trunk, where the crystallinity of cellulose is large and the alignment of the crystals becomes parallel to the fiber direction.     

Identification, determination, and biological evaluation of a novel styrene trimer contained in polystyrene food containers. 2

An unidentified styrene trimer (ST) isolated from the acetonitrile extract of polystyrene (PS) food containers was characterized as (1S*,6R*,7S*,8S*,11R*)-6,11-diphenyltricyclo[6,2,2,0(2,7)]dodeca-2,9-diene. The content and migration of this compound in PS food containers were determined by GC-MS (SIM). Furthermore, an endocrine-disrupting effect was tested using in vitro and in vivo assays of the compound. In conclusion, it seems that the compound does not present the effect.     

Strong enhancement of nonlinear optical properties through supramolecular chirality

A new approach to second-order nonlinear optical (NLO) materials is reported, in which chirality and supramolecular organization play key roles. Langmuir-Blodgett films of a chiral helicene are composed of supramolecular arrays of the molecules. The chiral supramolecular organization makes the second-order NLO susceptibility about 30 times larger for the nonracemic material than for the racemic material with the same chemical structure. The susceptibility of the nonracemic films is a respectable 50 picometers per volt, even though the helicene structure lacks features commonly associated with high nonlinearity. Susceptibility components that are allowed only by chirality dominate the second-order NLO response.     

Effects of pulsing electromagnetic fields on the ligament healing in rabbits.

Effects of pulsing electromagnetic fields (PEMFs) on ligament healing were investigated using 80 rabbits. All animals received square resection (4 mm x 4 mm) of both patellar ligaments in full thickness at their center. They were divided into 4 groups of 20 rabbits each and stimulated with different electromagnetic intensity of 0 (control), 2, 10, and 50 gauss (G) for 6 hr daily. Pulse frequency and pulse width were 10 Hz and 25 microseconds, respectively. After PEMFs stimulations for 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks, 5 animals of each group were euthanized and the regenerated tissue at the defective portion was investigated histologically and biomechanically. Histologically, the tissue stimulated by PEMFs showed an earlier increase in capillaries and fibroblasts and more matured, prominent longitudinal orientation of collagen fibers than those of control groups. Among the rabbits stimulated electromagnetically, those stimulated at 50 G revealed the earliest ligament healing. Tensile strength of regenerated ligament tissues of any PEMFs groups increased significantly at 1 and 2 weeks after operation, however, at 3 and 4 weeks after operation, there were no significant differences between groups. Among these values, those of 50 G group were the highest consistently during most of the experimental period. From the above results, PEMFs enhanced the earlier stage of ligament healings and 50 G gauss seemed to be the most effective among the 3 field intensities used. This promoting effect may potentiate the earlier recovery of the function after the ligament injury.