Absorption and urinary excretion of (-)-epicatechin after administration of different levels of cocoa powder or (-)-epicatechin in rats.

(-)-Epicatechin is a major polyphenol component of cocoa powder. The absorption and urinary excretion of (-)-epicatechin following administration of different levels of either cocoa powder (150, 750, and 1500 mg/kg) or (-)-epicatechin (1, 5, and 10 mg/kg) were evaluated in rats. Both the sum of plasma (-)-epicatechin metabolites at 1 h postadministration and peak plasma concentrations increased in a dose-dependent fashion. The sum of (-)-epicatechin metabolites in urine, excreted within 18 h postadministration, also increased with dose. Moreover, the sum of (-)-epicatechin metabolites excreted in urine reached the same level in both (-)-epicatechin and cocoa powder administration groups for equivalent amounts of (-)-epicatechin. These results suggest that, in the dose range examined in this study, bioavailability of (-)-epicatechin following administration of either (-)-epicatechin or cocoa powder shows dose dependence and that the various compounds present in cocoa powder have little effect on the bioavailability of (-)-epicatechin in cocoa powder.     

Theoretical analysis of bandsaw roll-tensioning

Bandsaw roll-tensioning was theoretically analyzed by amplifying Aoyama's fundamental equations. In the analysis the accumulated amount of tension after several roll-stretching passes was expressed as the linear accumulation of the amount of tension at each roll-stretching pass. The same condition was applied for the expression of the accumulated amount of crown back. The relations between the distance from the gullet in the transverse direction of the bandsaw blade to the roll-stretching point and the distance from the gullet in the transverse direction of the bandsaw blade at which the amount of tension becomes maximum, minimum, or zero were clarified. To meet the requisites to adjust the amount of tension at an arbitrary distance in the transverse direction of the bandsaw blade or the amount of crown back, an adjusting procedure was developed. The process of bandsaw roll-tensioning can theoretically be controlled by this procedure.