The surveillance of prevalent Leishmania and sand fly species in endemic areas is important for prediction of the risk and expansion of leishmaniasis. In this study, we developed a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based method for detection of Leishmania minicircle DNA within individual sand flies. Using this method, we detected minicircle DNA in 6 (3.3%) of 183 sand flies, while 5 (3.5%) of 143 were positive for Leishmania promastigotes in the same areas by microscopic examination. The species were identified as Leishmania (Leishmania) mexicana by nucleotide sequencing of the cytochrome b gene. Additionally, all the Leishmania-positive sand flies were identified as Lutzomyia ayacuchensis by the restriction enzyme digestion of the PCR-amplified 18S ribosomal RNA gene fragments. Since this combined method is relatively easy and can process a large number of samples, it will be a powerful tool for the rapid identification of prevalent sand fly and Leishmania species as well as monitoring the infection rate in sand fly populations in endemic areas.

The soy protein-galactomannan conjugate prepared by the Maillard reaction removed the allergenicity of the 34 kDa protein which is frequently recognized by the IgE antibody in the sera of soybean-sensitive patients as a major allergen. Monitoring of polyclonal antibody titers by an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and immunoblotting of rabbit sera, monoclonal antibody, and human allergic sera showed that soy protein-galactomannan conjugation was more effective in reducing the allergenicity of the soy protein than transglutaminase treatments and/or chymotrypsin. The soy protein-galactomannan conjugate was highly soluble at all pHs, while untreated soy protein was sparingly soluble at pH 4-6. Heat stability and emulsifying properties were greatly improved by conjugation with galactomannan.

Anatase (TiO2)/silica (SiO2) composite nanoparticles that were directly synthesized from solutions of TiOSO4 and tetraethyl orthosilicate by hydrolysis under hydrothermal conditions at 200 °C showed far more enhanced phase stability than pure anatase-type TiO2. By the presence of 48.2 mol % SiO2 as mostly amorphous phase, the crystallite growth of anatase was completely suppressed to maintain the crystallite size (14−16 nm) of the as-prepared condition after heating at 1000 °C, and the anatase-to-rutile phase transformation was retarded to maintain the anatase-type structure up to 1300 °C with no trace of rutile phase. The critical crystallite size of anatase in the composite samples for the anatase-to-rutile phase transformation was suggested to be around 70−100 nm. The silica, which contained -OTi groups around tetrahedrally coordinated Si and was regarded to exist mostly as amorphous phase, was considered to play an important role in suppressing diffusion between anatase crystallites, which led to the retardation of the crystallite growth of anatase and consequently resulted in the suppression of the phase transformation.

An asymmetric polymer capacitor was prepared from pyrene (PY), aniline (ANI), and commercially available activated carbon (AC) through a solvent-free preparation. PY and ANI were adsorbed into the AC host material in the gas phase and electrochemically polymerized exclusively inside the AC pores in an aqueous H2SO4 electrolyte (1 M). No volumetric expansion of the AC particles occurred upon the adsorption of monomers and their subsequent polymerizations; thus, the volumetric capacitance was enhanced by the inclusion of pseudocapacitive polypyrene (PPY) and polyaniline (PANI). The PPY and PANI structures formed inside the AC pores are very thin and have a large contact area with the conductive carbon surfaces. Therefore, the charge transfer distance between the polymers and the carbon surfaces was drastically shortened, significantly reducing the charge transfer resistance; i.e., high power density. The maximum volumetric capacitances for the PPY- and PANI-hybridized AC reached 314 and 299 F cm-3, respectively. Moreover, the strong adhesion derived from their large contact areas and adsorption capability of AC endow these materials with long cycle lifetimes. The PPY- and PANI-hybridized AC have different redox potentials and can be assembled into an asymmetric capacitor. The volumetric capacitance obtained for the asymmetric capacitor further surpassed that of the symmetric capacitor consisting of pristine AC, with high power density and long cycle lifetimes.