It has been reported that oil heated with vegetable protein under reduced pressure, followed by filtration (soy oil), decreased body, liver and retroperitoneal fat tissue weights and serum triacylglycerol levels in Wistar rats. In order to clarify the mechanism of these weight-loss promoting effects, gastrointestinal tract content transfer was traced. Fasted 10-week-old rats were fed a slurry containing AIN93G without fat, Cr2O₃ (marker), and 7 wt% soy oil or fresh oil (control) and sacrificed at 20, 60, 120, or 360 min; then, blood, stomach, small intestine, cecum, colon and feces were collected. The results indicated that the content transferred faster from stomach to small intestine in the soy oil group than in the control group. At 60 min after the ingestion of diet, an increased serum triacylglycerol level was found in the soy oil group. In addition, fecal excretion in the soy oil group was significantly higher 120 min after the administration than in the control group, suggesting that soy oil stimulated peristalsis of the colon and that colon contents (food ingested before administration) were actively excreted.

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The present investigation aimed at finding out the effect of different degumming processes and on the use of some nontraditional alkaline material for refining of rice bran oil. Attempt was made to treat crude rice bran oil with H₂O, and H₃PO₄ for degumming followed by with alum or H₂O for dewaxing. After removal of the gums and waxes the oil was neutralized with commonly used NaOH, and some nontraditional neutralizing agents like Na₂CO₃ and NaHCO₃. Finally the oil was bleached traditionally using earth and charcoal and deodorized. The RBD oil was characterized by determining their color, peroxide value, content of unsaponifiable matter, and free fatty acids. Among the different processes tried degumming with 0.2 %, w/w, H₃PO₄ followed by dewaxing with 2.0 %, w/w, H₂O; bleaching with tonsil earth (1.5 %, w/w) and charcoal (0.5 %, w/w) and finally deodorization at 220°C temperature and 2-4 mm Hg pressure resulted best quality oil in terms of the measured parameters. The characteristics of refined rice bran oil could be as content of FFA and UM 0.2 (%, w/w), 2.6 (%, w/w) respectively; color 10.9Y, 2.0R (in 2.54 cm Lovibond Tintometer cell); PV 3.3 (meq/kg). The oil yield is 78-85 % (by weight).

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The kinetics of wax ester synthesis from oleic acid and oleyl alcohol using immobilized lipase from Candida antartica as catalyst was studied with different types of impeller (Rushton turbine and AL-hydrofoil) to create different mixing conditions in 2l stirred tank reactor. The effects of catalyst concentration, reaction temperature, and impeller tip speed on the synthesis were also evaluated. Rushton turbine impeller exhibited highest conversion rate at lower impeller tip speed as compared to AL-hydrofoil impeller. A second-order reversible kinetic model from single progress curve for the prediction of fractional conversion at given reaction time was proposed and the corresponding kinetic parameter values were calculated by non-linear regression method. The results from the simulation using the proposed model showed satisfactory agreement with the experimental data. Activation energy shows a value of 21.77 Kcal/mol. The thermodynamic parameters of the process, enthalpy and entropy, were 21.15 Kcal/mol and 52.07 cal/mol.K, respectively.

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We compared the corneal toxicity of two commercially available anti-glaucoma ophthalmic solutions, travoprost eye drops with sofzia consist of boric acid (H₃BO₃) and zinc chloride (ZnCl₂) and latanoprost eye drops with benzalkonium chloride (BAC), using rat debrided corneal epithelium. Rat corneal epithelium was removed with a BD Micro-Sharp™, and the wounded corneas were dyed with a 1% fluorescein solution. The corneal wounds were monitored using a fundus camera TRC-50X equipped with a digital camera. Eye drops were instilled into the rat eyes five times a day after corneal epithelial abrasion. The corneal wound of a rat eye instilled with saline showed 50.9% and 83.4% healing 12 and 24 h after corneal epithelial abrasion, respectively. The healing rate of the corneal wound of a rat eye instilled with travoprost eye drops with sofzia was similar to that of the eye instilled with saline, and this rate was higher than in an eye instilled with latanoprost eye drops with BAC. The rates of corneal wound healing were also lower in eyes instilled with BAC and H3BO3 eye drops than in eyes instilled with saline. In contrast to the results with BAC and H₃BO₃, the instillation of ZnCl₂ enhanced corneal wound healing in comparison with the instillation of saline The present study demonstrates that the classic preservative system using BAC may be more toxic to rat corneal epithelium than the new preservative system using H₃BO₃/ZnCl₂. Travoprost eye drops with sofzia may provide effective therapy for glaucoma patients using long-term ophthalmic agents.

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The contractile and extensile effects of red and white wine on rat and Mongolian gerbil (gerbil) gastrointestinal smooth muscle were investigated. Both wines elicited contractile responses on rat and gerbil duodenum and ileum but had no such effects on the colon or rectum. Dichloromethane extracts derived from either wine showed extensile responses only on rat duodenum and ileum, and did not elicit extensile effects on the colon or rectum. In contrast, wine dichloromethane extracts did not elicit any extensile effects on either gerbil duodenum or ileum. Moreover, dichloromethane extracts had suppressive effects on acetylcholine-induced contractile responses. Red and white wine has been documented to contain a number of organic acids such as tartaric, malic, lactic, and citric acid. Individually, such compounds evoked contractile response on rat duodenum with an order of contractile potency; citric ⟩ tartaric ≥ malic ⟩ lactic acid. The abundance of such compounds in either wine implicates them as the active component responsible for gastrointestinal smooth muscle responses.

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The azobenzene derivative 4,4’-bis{1-[2-(N,N-dimethylamino)]ethoxy}azobenzene has been found to form gold-colored plate-like crystals. The thin film obtained by accumulating the crystals has a maximum specular reflectance of ca. 15% for visible light. To investigate the structure of the gold-colored crystals, UV-vis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and IR analyses were performed. UV-vis measurements show that the molecules in the crystal produce J-aggregates. Furthermore, XRD measurements estimated the long-range d-spacing for the crystal as 1.51 nm. These results indicate that the azobenzene moieties are oriented diagonally against the crystal surfaces. When the crystals are placed in a desiccator (humidity 40%) for 1 d, their color changes from gold to yellow. IR measurements show that the gold-colored crystals contain crystallized water, while there are no water molecules in the yellow crystals, in which the structure of the J-aggregates is disrupted. These results show that the crystallized water molecules are essential for the formation of the J-aggregates and the resultant gold luster.

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In this study, difatty acyl urea has been successfully synthesized from corn oil using sodium ethoxide as a catalyst. Ethyl fatty ester and glycerol were produced as by-products. In this reaction, corn oil was refluxed with urea in ethanol. The highest conversion percentage (78%) was obtained when the process was carried out for 8 hours using urea to corn oil ratio of 5.6: 1.0 at 78°C. Both difatty acyl urea and ethyl fatty ester have been characterized using elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique

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