Hokkaido University

About: Hokkaido University is a education organization based out in Sapporo, Hokkaidô, Japan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Catalysis. The organization has 53925 authors who have published 115403 publications receiving 2651647 citations. The organization is also known as: Hokudai & Hokkaidō daigaku.

In vitro toxicity of silver nanoparticles at noncytotoxic doses to HepG2 human hepatoma cells.

Abstract: Although it has been reported that silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) have strong acute toxic effects to various cultured cells, the toxic effects at noncytotoxic doses are still unknown. We, therefore, evaluated in vitro toxicity of Ag-NPs at noncytotoxic doses in human hepatoma cell line, HepG2, based on cell viability assay, micronucleus test, and DNA microarray analysis. We also used polystyrene nanoparticles (PS-NPs) and silver carbonate (Ag2CO3) as test materials to compare the toxic effects with respect to different raw chemical composition and form of silver. The cell viability assay demonstrated that Ag-NPs accelerated cell proliferation at low doses ( 1.0 mg/L) and induced abnormal cellular morphology, displaying cellular shrinkage and acquisition of an irregular shape. In addit...

Photocatalysis A to Z—What we know and what we do not know in a scientific sense

Abstract: Topics, in alphabetical order from “Activity”, “Band structure” and “Crystallinity” to “X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy”, “Yield” and “Z-scheme photocatalysis”, related to photocatalysis and photoelectrochemical reaction are discussed with interpretation of what we know and what we do not know in a scientific sense.

High Mechanical Strength Double‐Network Hydrogel with Bacterial Cellulose

Abstract: Double-network (DN) hydrogels with high mechanical strength have been synthesized using the natural polymers bacterial cellulose (BC) and gelatin. As-prepared BC contains 90 % water that can easily be squeezed out, with no more recovery in its swelling property. Gelatin gel is brittle and is easily broken into fragments under a modest compression. In contrast, the fracture strength and elastic modulus of a BC–gelatin DN gel under compressive stress are on the order of megapascals, which are several orders of magnitude higher than those of gelatin gel, and almost equivalent to those of articular cartilage. A similar enhancement in the mechanical strength was also observed for the combination of BC with polysaccharides, such as sodium alginate, gellan gum, and ι-carrageenan.