Relationships between Skin Carotenoid Levels and Metabolic Syndrome

Carotenoids have potential antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects; their protective roles are of particular interest in the pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome (MetS). The reflection spectroscopy method has been recently developed to noninvasively measure skin carotenoid (SC) levels, which highly correlates with serum concentration of carotenoids. The relationship between SC levels and metabolic syndrome has been investigated. We aimed to identify the differences in patient characteristics and SC levels between participants with and without MetS in a large health examination population. In addition, the relationships between SC levels and various clinical parameters related to MetS were investigated. SC levels were measured using a reflection spectroscopy. A total of 1812 Japanese participants (859 male, 953 female; mean age ± standard deviation (SD), 57.8 ± 11.0 years) comprised the study population, i.e., participants with MetS (n = 151) and those without MetS (n = 1661). Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify variables associated with MetS. Compared to controls (377.3 ± 122.8), SC indices were significantly lower in patients with MetS (340.7 ± 112.5, p = 0.0004). Multivariate models also suggested that lower SC was significantly associated with MetS after adjustment for age, sex, smoking habit, and other potential risk factors for MetS. Furthermore, male gender (p < 0.0001), smoking habit (p < 0.0001) and worse lipid profiles (i.e., serum triglyceride (r = −0.1039, p < 0.0001), high-density lipoprotein (r = 0.1259, p < 0.0001), and usage of hypolipidemic agents (p = 0.0340)) were significantly associated with lower SC levels. The current study indicated that lower SC levels were significantly associated with MetS. This study highlights the antioxidant capacity of carotenoids in patients with MetS and the clinical utility of non-invasive and cost-effective SC measurement to detect participants who are at risk of developing MetS in a large population.

Rational Design and Synthesis of ZnWO4 Nanorods Decorated with SnS Nanodots with Enhanced Visible-Light Photocatalytic Performance

Aiming to construct a direct Z-scheme binary heterostructure for efficient degradation of the organic dye Rhodamine B (RhB), ZnWO4 nanorods decorated with SnS nanodots were rationally designed and prepared via a facile two-step route. Morphological observation and structural study showed that ultra-fine SnS nanodots were anchored on the surface of ZnWO4 nanorods to form an intimate contact between the two components. Such a special structure provided SnS/ZnWO4 nanocomposites with significantly enhanced light harvesting capacity, revealed by the results of UV-vis diffuse reflection spectroscopy (DRS). Photoluminescence (PL) analysis in combination with electrochemical measurements demonstrated that the recombination of photoactivated charge carriers was efficiently inhibited and the transfer of photoactivated charge carriers was successfully achieved due to the introduction of SnS. The degradation rate over SnS/ZnWO4 nanocomposites reached a maximum value at SnS content of 9 wt%. The significantly enhanced photoactivity of SnS/ZnWO4 nanocomposites was imputed to the synergistic effect of the promoted light absorption ability and effective photogenerated charge carriers’ transfer and separation.

The Effect of Oxidation Temperature on the (1000–1300) Cm−1 Band in FT-IR Spectra of Silicon Oxide Synthesized by Thermal Oxidation of Silicon Wafers

In this work, silicon wafers were thermal treated in air at temperatures varied in the range 800–1200°C. The annealed samples were investigated using FTIR, X-ray diffraction, FTIR and optical reflection spectroscopy. The effect of annealing temperature on the (1000–1300) cm− 1 band in FT-IR spectra of the prepared samples was investigated. The results showed that thermal oxidation at temperatures less than 1200°C leads to enhance the phenomenon of the splitting of longitudinal optical and transverse optical stretching motions. This phenomenon was verified by observing the appearance of two overlapping peaks in the region (1000–1300) cm− 1 in FT-IR spectra. The results also showed that the splitting process leads to the formation of defects in the crystal structure of silicon, which in turn leads to the formation of silicon nanoparticles.

Structural and UV-Vis Diffuse Reflection Spectroscopy Studies of Nanosized Sr0.5Ba0.5Nb2O6 synthesized by Co-Precipitation method

The Sr0.5Ba0.5Nb2O6 (SBN-50) is Synthesis by coprecipitation method in nanoscale. TG/DTA shows the reaction and tetragonal phase formation occur at low temperatures, due to which the good homogeneity and morphology of the particles is observed. The average size of the particles was found to be ~ 45 nm. The lattice parameters is found very close to the reported values of single crystals despite method of synthesis and size of the particles. A reflectance spectrum in UV and visible regions shows less reflectance for 337nm and 519nm respectively.