The lipid matrix in the stratum corneum (SC) plays an important role in the barrier function of the skin. The main lipid classes in this lipid matrix are ceramides (CERs), cholesterol (CHOL) and... Show moreThe lipid matrix in the stratum corneum (SC) plays an important role in the barrier function of the skin. The main lipid classes in this lipid matrix are ceramides (CERs), cholesterol (CHOL) and free fatty acids (FFAs). The aim of this study was to determine whether a variation in CER subclass composition and chain length distribution of FFAs affect the permeability of this matrix. To examine this, we make use of lipid model membranes, referred to as stratum corneum substitute (SCS). We prepared SCS containing i) single CER subclass with either a single FFA or a mixture of FFAs and CHOL, or ii) a mixture of various CER subclasses with either a single FFA or a mixture of FFAs and CHOL. In vitro permeation studies were performed using ethyl-p-aminobenzoic acid (E-PABA) as a model drug. The flux of E-PABA across the SCS containing the mixture of FFAs was higher than that across the SCS containing a single FA with a chain length of 24 C atoms (FA C24), while the E-PABA flux was not effected by the CER composition. To select the underlying factors for the changes in permeability, the SCSs were examined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). All lipid models demonstrated a similar phase behavior. However, when focusing on the conformational ordering of the individual FFA chains, the shorter chain FFA (with a chain length of 16, 18 or 20 C atoms forming only 11m/m% of the total FFA level) had a higher conformational disordering, while the conformational ordering of the chains of the CER and FA C24 and FA C22 hardly did not change irrespective of the composition of the SCS. In conclusion, the conformational mobility of the short chain FFAs present only at low levels in the model SC lipid membranes has a great impact on the permeability of E-PABA. Show less
We present a Subaru weak lensing measurement of ACT-CL J0022.2-0036, one of the most luminous, high-redshift (z = 0.81) Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) clusters discovered in the 268 deg$^{2}$ equatorial... Show moreWe present a Subaru weak lensing measurement of ACT-CL J0022.2-0036, one of the most luminous, high-redshift (z = 0.81) Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) clusters discovered in the 268 deg$^{2}$ equatorial region survey of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope that overlaps with Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Stripe 82 field. Ours is the first weak lensing study with Subaru at such high redshifts. For the weak lensing analysis using i$^{'}$-band images, we use a model-fitting (Gauss-Laguerre shapelet) method to measure shapes of galaxy images, where we fit galaxy images in different exposures simultaneously to obtain best-fitting ellipticities taking into account the different point spread functions (PSFs) in each exposure. We also take into account the astrometric distortion effect on galaxy images by performing the model fitting in the world coordinate system. To select background galaxies behind the cluster at z = 0.81, we use photometric redshift estimates for every galaxy derived from the co-added images of multi-passband Br$^{'}$i$^{'}$z$^{'}$Y, with PSF matching/homogenization. After a photometric redshift cut for background galaxy selection, we detect the tangential weak lensing distortion signal with a total signal-to-noise ratio of about 3.7. By fitting a Navarro-Frenk-White model to the measured shear profile, we find the cluster mass to be M\_$\{$200bar$\{${$ρ$} $\}$\_m$\}$ = [7.5\^{}$\{$+3.2$\}$\_$\{$-2.8$\}$(stat.)\^{}$\{$+1.3$\}$\_$\{$-0.6$\}$(sys.)]{\times} 10\^{}$\{$14$\}$ M\_$\{$odot $\}$ h\^{}$\{$-1$\}$. The weak lensing-derived mass is consistent with previous mass estimates based on the SZ observation, with assumptions of hydrostatic equilibrium and virial theorem, as well as with scaling relations between SZ signal and mass derived from weak lensing, X-ray and velocity dispersion, within the measurement errors. We also show that the existence of ACT-CL J0022.2-0036 at z = 0.81 is consistent with the cluster abundance prediction of the {$\Lambda$}-dominated cold dark matter structure formation model. We thus demonstrate the capability of Subaru-type ground-based images for studying weak lensing of high-redshift clusters. Show less
