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Aims In this study, volatile compounds released from mycelia of some aromatic mushrooms were investigated for their inhibitory activity against plant-pathogenic bacteria and fungi. Methods and results A screening revealed that volatile compounds from mycelia of Porostereum spadiceum remarkably inhibited the colony formation of plant-pathogenic bacteria, including Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis and Ralstonia solanacearum while also inhibiting the conidial germination of plant-pathogenic fungi including Alternaria brassicicola and Colletotrichum orbiculare. The volatile compounds were isolated from the culture filtrate of P. spadiceum, and 3,4-dichloro-4-methoxybenzaldehyde (DCMB) was identified as a major compound. DCMB significantly inhibited bacterial colonization at 10 μg ml-1 and fungal conidial germination at 0·1-1 μg ml-1 as a vapour. Conclusions This is the first report on the production of the volatile compound DCMB by P. spadiceum and on the antimicrobial activity of DCMB against plant-pathogenic bacteria and fungi at low concentrations. It may be possible to use the compound as an agent for protecting crops from bacterial and fungal diseases during cultivation and storage. Significance and impact of the study This study provides an understanding of antimicrobial activity of the mushroom volatile compound that may be useful as a novel biological control agent for protecting various plant diseases.

Laser-assisted magnetic recording technology enables narrower track recording and reproducing than the track width of a magnetic head. The size of the assisting beam is a critical issue for high track density in this technology. In this study, the possibility of the 100 kTPI recording was demonstrated with laser-assisted magnetic recording using a blue laser.

The solubility of hydrogen in Pd – Ti and Pd – Zr solid solution alloys containing up to 6.0 at.% Ti and Zr has been measured at temperatures between 273 K and 433 K and hydrogen pressures up to 1000 Torr. The relative partial molar enthalpy, ΔH0H, at infinite dilution for Pd – Ti alloys shows a minor minimum around 4 at.% Ti, in spite of the Pd lattice contraction on Ti substitution. For Pd – Zr alloys the ΔH0H values increase in exothermicity regularly with Zr content. The relative partial molar entropy, ΔS0H, at infinite dilution in both alloy series decreases with the solute contents. The apparent H-H attractive interactions, g1, in Pd – Ti(Zr) alloys decrease with alloying metal content, and the trend of the g1 value with Ti content is dissimilar to those found for other lattice contracted alloys. The stability of the β-phase hydride in Pd – Ti alloys decreases with Ti content and the β-phase hydride in Pd – Zr alloys also becomes less stable with Zr content, albeit by a small amount, despite being a lattice expanded alloy system. Solvus compositions at the αmax phase boundary in both Pd – Ti and Pd – Zr alloys are almost equal at the same alloying compositions of each alloy series, although increasing with alloying metal content in both cases.

Epidemiologic studies indicate that alcohol consumption is associated with improved insulin sensitivity; however, scant experimental evidence confirms this observation. To determine the effects of regular moderate wine consumption on insulin sensitivity, 20 overweight women (body mass index [BMI], 29.8 +/- 2.2 kg/m2) participated in a 20-week free-living randomized crossover trial. The subjects, serving as their own controls, consumed wine (190 mL red wine, 13% vol/vol ethanol, 5 days per week) for 10 weeks and abstained for 10 weeks or vice versa. The dependent variables (body weight, BMI, percent body fat, blood pressure, fasting blood glucose and insulin, blood lipids, dietary intake, and insulin sensitivity by intravenous glucose tolerance test [IVGTT]) were measured at the pretest, at the 10-week crossover, and at the 20-week completion of the study. Data were analyzed at the pretest and at completion of the wine drinking and abstention periods of the study using ANOVA by order of treatment. Fasting glucose remained unchanged (mean +/- SD; P > .05) throughout the experiment (pretest, drinking, and abstention, 91.1 +/- 9.2, 91.6 +/- 9.1, and 88.5 +/- 11.2 mg/dL), as did the measures of insulin sensitivity, fasting insulin (pretest, drinking, and abstention, 8.6 +/- 3.3, 8.6 +/- 4.1, and 9.1 +/- 4.7 microU/mg) and the insulin sensitivity index (3.60 +/- 2.96, 3.25 +/- 2.17, and 3.30 +/- 1.84). Body composition and blood lipids also remained unchanged (P > .05) during treatment. Moderate wine consumption at this dose in overweight women did not improve or impair insulin sensitivity, nor did it change any of the known correlates of insulin sensitivity, including body weight and composition, blood lipids, and blood pressure.

Almost all the umbilical lymphocytes showed more extensive blast cell formation than that of their mother's lymphocytes with PHA. Pathological conditions of mother in pregnancy and labor such as anemia, gestational toxicosis, difficult labor and asphyxia of babies, inhibited the normal response of both maternal and umbilical lymphocytes to PHA.