Takaaki Amano

Influence of ionic liquid and ionic salt on protein against the reactive species generated using dielectric barrier discharge plasma

The presence of salts in biological solution can affect the activity of the reactive species (RS) generated by plasma, and so they can also have an influence on the plasma-induced sterilization. In this work, we assess the influence that diethylammonium dihydrogen phosphate (DEAP), an ionic liquid (IL), and sodium chloride (NaCl), an ionic salt (IS), have on the structural changes in hemoglobin (Hb) in the presence of RS generated using dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma in the presence of various gases [O2, N2, Ar, He, NO (10%) + N2 and Air]. We carry out fluorescence spectroscopy to verify the generation of •OH with or without the presence of DEAP IL and IS, and we use electron spin resonance (ESR) to check the generation of H• and •OH. In addition, we verified the structural changes in the Hb structure after treatment with DBD in presence and absence of IL and IS. We then assessed the structural stability of the Hb in the presence of IL and IS by using molecular dynamic (MD) simulations. Our results indicate that the IL has a strong effect on the conservation of the Hb structure relative to that of IS against RS generated by plasma.

Simple method of improving harvest by nonthermal air plasma irradiation of seeds of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.)

We have studied the effects of air nonthermal plasma irradiation of seeds of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) on their growth from the beginning of cultivation to their harvest. Three minute plasma irradiation of dry seeds resulted in growth acceleration in all the growth stages. Compared with the control, the plasma irradiation led to an 11% shorter harvest period, a 56% increase in total seed weight, a 12% increase in each seed weight, and a 39% increase in seed number.

Effects of gas flow on oxidation reaction in liquid induced by He/O2 plasma-jet irradiation

We present here analysis of oxidation reaction in liquid by a plasma-jet irradiation under various gas flow patterns such as laminar and turbulence flows. To estimate the total amount of oxidation reaction induced by reactive oxygen species (ROS) in liquid, we employ a KI-starch solution system, where the absorbance of the KI-starch solution near 600 nm behaves linear to the total amount of oxidation reaction in liquid. The laminar flow with higher gas velocity induces an increase in the ROS distribution area on the liquid surface, which results in a large amount of oxidation reaction in liquid. However, a much faster gas flow conversely results in a reduction in the total amount of oxidation reaction in liquid under the following two conditions: first condition is that the turbulence flow is triggered in a gas flow channel at a high Reynolds number of gas flow, which leads to a marked change of the spatial distribution of the ROS concentration in gas phase. Second condition is that the dimpled liquid surface is formed by strong gas flow, which prevents the ROS from being transported in radial direction along the liquid surface.

Growth enhancement effects of radish sprouts: atmospheric pressure plasma irradiation vs. heat shock

We compare growth enhancement effects due to atmospheric air dielectric barrier discharge plasma irradiation and heat shock to seeds of radish sprouts (Raphanus sativus L.). Interactions between radicals and seeds in a short duration of 3 min. lead to the growth enhancement of radish sprouts in a long term of 7 days and the maximum average length is 3.7 times as long as that of control. The growth enhancement effects become gradually weak with time, and hence the ratio of the average length for plasma irradiation to that for control decreases from 3.7 for the first day to 1.3 for 7 day. The average length for heat shock of 60°C for 10 min. and 100°C for 3 min. is longer than that for control, and the maximum average length is 1.3 times as long as that of control. Heat shock has little contribution to the growth enhancement due to plasma irradiation, because the maximum temperature due to plasma irradiation is less than 60°C.