Exclusion zone and heterogeneous water structure at ambient temperature.

Earlier studies have reported the formation of an exclusion zone devoid of microspheres at the interface of water with a hydrophilic surface such as Nafion® or the hydrophilic ceramic powder. We now report the formation of a 'three-dimensional cell-like structured exclusion zone' in water prepared by two different methods. In the first, the hydrophilic powder was agitated with deionized water and allowed to rest (contact method). Subsequently, the 'powder-supernatant water' was collected and termed 'contact water'. In the second method, deionized water in a closed container was kept in the close vicinity of the hydrophilic powder for an extended time-period and it was termed 'non-contact water'. The two kinds of waters were tested by standard methods for various physical properties. In addition, we carried out cryogenic scanning-electron microscopy of frozen samples of the two kinds of water. The powder-supernatant water showed a cell-like heterogeneous ice structure with the high-density exclusion-zone water forming the walls of a cell-like structure. A similar cell-like ice structure was formed for water treated with the hydrophilic powder in a non-contact manner; the unit cell size depended on the 'degree of structure' in the water. When highly structured, the unit cell size was smaller with a concurrently enhanced dielectric constant and reduced redox potential. It was found that the electrical properties are more sensitive to the change in water structure compared to other physical properties such as surface tension, density, and specific heat. Based on our findings of an electric potential difference between the heterogeneous structured water and the ordinary water, we propose a new model to explain the relationship between heterogeneous, structured water and its electrical properties.

Serum markers for necroinflammatory activity in patients with chronic viral hepatitis and normal or mildly elevated aminotransferase levels.

BACKGROUND: Reports on the usefulness of serum markers for predicting liver necroinflammation are limited. The aim of this study was to determine the serum markers that predict significant inflammation in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and C (CHC) and normal or mildly elevated serum aminotransferase levels. METHODS: Two hundred twenty-seven patients with CHB or CHC with normal or mildly elevated serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels (≤60 IU/L) were enrolled in this study. Significant inflammation was defined as inflammatory grade ≥3 activities using the Batt-Ludwig scoring system. The correlation between liver histology and serum markers of liver inflammation was analysed. RESULTS: Forty-eight (21.1%) and eight patients (3.5%) had grade 3 and 4 inflammation respectively. Univariate analysis revealed that age, platelet coun, and AST, ALT, γ-glutamyl transpeptidase, alkaline phosphatase, hyaluronic acid, haptoglobin, apolipoprotein A1 and procollagen III N-terminal peptide levels were significantly different between the patients with and without significant inflammation. There were no significant differences in the cytokeratin-18 fragment levels between the two groups. On the basis of multivariate analysis, the AST and apolipoprotein A1 levels and stage of fibrosis were highly predictive of significant inflammation. Using AST and apolipoprotein cut-off values ≥44 IU/L and ≤100 ng/ml, respectively, the presence of significant inflammation was predicted with high specificity (96.5%) and with a negative predictive value of 76.3%. CONCLUSION: The AST and apolipoprotein A1 levels were shown to be independent predictors of significant inflammatory activities in patients with CHB and CHC and normal or mildly elevated aminotransferase levels.