Three experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of dietary glycine (Gly) supplementation on inflammatory responses in broiler chicks fed a basal diet using maize and soyabean meal as the primary ingredients. Inflammation-related processes following lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection were examined by analysing plasma concentrations of nitrate plus nitrite (NOx) and ceruloplasmin (Cer) in experiments 1 and 2, or expression of several genes in the spleen and liver including IL-1β and -6, TNF-like ligand (TL)1A, inducible NO synthase, interferon (IFN)-γ and toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 were examined in experiment 3. Growth performance was also determined following immunological stimulation by both LPS and Sephadex injection in experiment 2. In experiment 1, birds fed a diet supplemented with Gly at 10 or 20 g/kg showed lower responses in plasma NOx and Cer than birds fed the diet supplemented with Gly at 0 or 40 g/kg. In experiment 2, a similar effect of Gly supplementation at 10 g/kg on plasma NOx and Cer was observed when chicks were fed either an isonitrogenous diet with Gly or glutamic acid (Glu). Gly-supplemented diet-fed birds showed better growth performance than Glu-supplemented diet-fed birds. The splenic expression of inflammatory response-related genes in birds fed a diet supplemented with Gly at 10 g/kg diet was lower than that of birds fed the basal diet in experiment 3. These results suggest that dietary Gly supplementation modulates the inflammatory response partly through changes in the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1, IL-6, IFN-γ and TL1A.

Hydrothermal lead zirconate titanate (Pb(Zr,Ti)O3: PZT) films with a thick of about 10 μm on both a Ti foil and a Ti layer sputtered stainless steel (SS) foil were obtained. Both PZT films showed same morphology and crystalinity. After repeating the hydrothermal process, the films were formed to cantilever shape. A tip displacement measurement of the cantilevers was carried out in order to estimate transverse piezoelectric constant (d31 ). The obtained d31 value of the PZT films on Ti sputtered SS foils is -29 pm/V, which is larger than that on Ti foil (-24 pm/V). Amorphous layer consist of Pb and Ti was observed at the interfaces between the both PZT film and the Ti metals. The thickness of the layer for PZT film on Ti foil (350 nm) is thicker than that for PZT film on SS foil (200 nm). The relative permittivity of the layer is estimated to be small compared with that of PZT. Accordingly, the effective electric field for PZT layer is decreased. The deference of d31 values between the obtained PZT films is thought to be attributed to the thickness of amorphous layer.