Role of nitric oxide in rat nephrotoxic nephritis: comparison between inducible and constitutive nitric oxide synthase

Nitric oxide (NO), generated by inducible NO synthase (iNOS) in migrating macrophages, is increased in glomerulonephritis. This study investigates the effect of NO inhibition on rat nephrotoxic nephritis (NTN) to clarify the role of NO production in glomerular damage. NTN was induced in Sprague Dawley rats by an injection of an anti-glomerular basement membrane (GBM) antibody. Urinary nitrite excretion and nitrite release from kidney slices (5.47 +/- 1.19 versus 2.15 +/- 0.73 nmol/mg protein, NTN versus Control, P < 0.05) were increased in NTN on day 2. Glomerular macrophage infiltration and intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 expression increased from day 2. iNOS expression was increased in interstitial macrophages. Glomerular endothelial cell NOS (ecNOS) expression evaluated by counting immunogold particles along GBM was suppressed (0.06 +/- 0.02 versus 0.35 +/- 0.04 gold/micron GBM, P < 0.0001). Glomerular damage developed progressively. NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), which inhibits both iNOS and ecNOS and aminoguanidine (AG), a relatively selective inhibitor for iNOS, equally suppressed nitrite in urine and renal tissue. Glomerular ICAM-1 expression and macrophage infiltration were reduced by L-NAME, but not by AG. Expression of ecNOS was significantly increased by L-NAME (0.91 +/- 0.08, P < 0.0001 versus NTN), but slightly by AG (0.18 +/- 0.04). AG significantly and L-NAME slightly attenuated the glomerular damage at day 4. In conclusion, suppression of iNOS prevents glomerular damage in the early stage of NTN. Treatment by L-NAME reduces macrophage infiltration by suppression of ICAM-1 expression, which may be explained by an increase in ecNOS expression.     

540kN力基准机砝码摆动的研究

日本国家计量研究院(National Research Laboratory of Metrology)540kN静重式力基准机中的振荡分量主要是由于砝码的摆动引起的。本文对砝码的动态特性做了详细的分析，给出了其摆动的轨迹图，并对由于砝码摆动引起的相对不确定度进行了评估。提出了一类采用传感器并联的叠加系统(以下称叠加系统)输出的力值信号来评估砝码动态特性的信号处理方法。它对研究静重式测力机砝码摆动提供了有效的分析方法。     

Correlated random walk in continuous space

Hyaluronic acid (HA), which is known to play an important role in wound healing, was incorporated in an artificial skin material and studied for its potential to create a wound bed which would support a skin graft. Collagen sponge based artificial skin was soaked in 0.3% HA in phosphate buffered saline and grafted onto skin defects in rats. Control grafts were soaked in normal saline solution. HA incorporated implants and control implants were simultaneously grafted onto wounds made on either side of the spine. To examine the effect of HA incorporation, the percentage area of cellular tuft infiltration and the number of capillaries present in the graft matrix were evaluated at 7 and 14 days after the operation. At postoperative day 7, there was a statistically significant difference in the number of capillaries in the matrix of the experimental versus the control implants. There was no difference in the percentage area of cellular tuft infiltration. At postoperative day 14, all implants exhibited better ingrowth of granulation tissue than at day 7. The differences between the experimental and control implants were statistically significant with respect to both the percentage area of cellular tuft infiltration and the number of capillaries. It is therefore concluded that in artificial skin HA incorporation accelerates the ingrowth of granulation tissue, making a more suitable graft bed.     

Evaluation of thermal spike due to exothermic reaction in curing process of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic pressure accumulators for hydrogen stations

In the curing process of fiber-reinforced plastic accumulators, a thermal spike appears due to the exothermic reaction of the resin. It is necessary to accurately evaluate this thermal spike to guarantee quality and avoid using a trial and error approach to control the temperature. Thus, we developed a curing process simulator that is able to accurately evaluate the thermal spike of the thermosetting resin. A simplified mesoscale finite element model with the definite separation of fiber and resin is used in the simulation. In this study, the newly developed simulation system was examined by comparing its results with the experimental results from the curing process of fiber-reinforced plastic accumulators.     

First measurement of electron temperature from signal ratios in a double-pass Thomson scattering system

This paper presents an experimental demonstration to determine electron temperature (T(e)) with unknown spectral sensitivity (transmissivity) in a Thomson scattering system. In this method, a double-pass scattering configuration is used and the scattered lights from each pass (with different scattering angles) are measured separately. T(e) can be determined from the ratio of the signal intensities without knowing a real chromatic dependence in the sensitivity. Note that the wavelength range for each spectral channel must be known. This method was applied to the TST-2 Thomson scattering system. As a result, T(e) measured from the ratio (T(e,r)) and T(e) measured from a standard method (T(e,s)) showed a good agreement with <∣T(e,r) - T(e,s)∣∕T(e,s)> = 7.3%.     

Growth hormone, prolactin and chorionic somatomammotropin in normal and molar pregnancy

Twenty patients with molar pregnancy, ten normal pregnant women and ten healthy non-pregnant women were given 30 g of arginine intravenously. The serum concentration of growth hormone, prolactin and chorionic somatomammotropin (CS) was determined by radioimmunoassay. In addition, serum 17beta-estradiol, estriol and progesterone were also measured. Arginine infusion induced a sharp rise of GH in patients with molar pregnancy and in nonpregnant subjects, but the response in normal pregnancy was blunted. The response of PRL was high in patients with molar pregnancy, blunted in normal pregnancy and very small in nonpregnant subjects. CS did not respond at all to arginine infusion both in normal pregnancy and molar pregnancy. The high response to argine of PRL, normal response of GH and low baseline secretion and no response of CS may be characteristic of molar pregnancy.     

Studies on anti-inflammatory agents. V. Synthesis and pharmacological properties of 3-(difluoromethyl)-1-(4-methoxyphenyl)-5- [4-(methylsulfinyl)phenyl]pyrazole and related compounds

A series of novel 1,5-diphenylpyrazole derivatives bearing hydrophilic substituents was prepared. The anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities of these compounds were evaluated by using the adjuvant arthritis and Randall-Selitto assays in rats, and the structure-activity relationships were studied. The optimal compound was 3-(difluoromethyl)-1-(4-methoxyphenyl)-5-[4-(methylsulfinyl)phenyl]pyraz ole (10) with oral ED50 values of 0.31 and 2.6 mg/kg on adjuvant-induced arthritis and carrageenin-induced foot edema, respectively. Compound 10 showed analgesic activities not only toward inflamed paw but also toward normal paw (ED30 = 0.55 and 1.8 mg/kg, respectively) in the Randall-Selitto assay, and moreover, 10 was effective in the tail-pinch assay (ED50 = 21 mg/kg) similarly to morphine. The asymmetric synthesis and pharmacological properties of the enantiomers of 10 are also reported.     

Performances of metal fluoride added carbon anodes with pre-electrolysis for electrolytic synthesis of NF3

Metal fluoride added carbon anodes treated by pre-electrolysis were investigated for electrolytic production of nitrogen trifluoride (NF₃) in molten NH₄F·KF·4HF at 100 °C. The conditions for pre-electrolysis were first optimized using a graphite sheet anode as a model anode. The formation of fluorine-graphite intercalation compounds (fluorine-GICs) with semi-covalent C–F bonds, (C_xF)_n, on the MgF₂ and CaF₂ added carbon anode surface was accelerated by pre-electrolysis at potentials less than 4.0 V. Critical current densities (CCD) on the MgF₂ added carbon anodes pre-electrolyzed under various conditions were determined, and the highest CCD was 290 mA cm⁻² obtained for that pre-electrolyzed at 3.5 V for 500 C cm⁻². This anode was successfully used in the electrolysis at 100 mA cm⁻² for 290 h and the maximum NF₃ current efficiency was 55%. From these results, it was concluded that the metal fluoride added carbon anode treated by pre-electrolysis has a high potential for electrolytic production of NF₃ at higher current density.     

A New Approach to Humanitarian Demining

Humanitarian demining is an application in which the use of tele-operated machines and mechanisms has been gaining acceptance recently. Actually, demining is just one among many other field applications that require a high degree of mobility, manipulation of loads, robustness and, above all, high efficiency in terms of energy consumption. This paper will present the development and analysis of Field Arm, a pantographic manipulator especially designed for field works, focusing on its kinematic, static and dynamic properties. The novel features of Field Arm will be presented and discussed with results of simulations and experiments.