Extracellular Environment-Controlled Angiogenesis,and Potential Application for Peripheral Nerve Regeneration

Endothelial cells acquire different phenotypes to establish functional vascular networks. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling induces endothelial proliferation, migration, and survival to regulate vascular development, which leads to the construction of a vascular plexuses with a regular morphology. The spatiotemporal localization of angiogenic factors and the extracellular matrix play fundamental roles in ensuring the proper regulation of angiogenesis. This review article highlights how and what kinds of extracellular environmental molecules regulate angiogenesis. Close interactions between the vascular and neural systems involve shared molecular mechanisms to coordinate developmental and regenerative processes. This review article focuses on current knowledge about the roles of angiogenesis in peripheral nerve regeneration and the latest therapeutic strategies for the treatment of peripheral nerve injury.     

Immunomagnetic flow cytometric detection of staphylococcal enterotoxin B in raw and dry milk

A rapid and sensitive method for detection of staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) in raw and dry milk samples with the use of antibody-based immunomagnetic separation (IMS) in conjunction with flow cytometry (FCM) was developed. Sheep anti-SEB immunoglobulin G (IgG) was immobilized on Dynabeads M-280. The SEB initially binds to the capturing antibody, which is bound on the magnetic beads. The rabbit anti-SEB IgG binds to the captured toxin and is further labeled with a Cy5-labeled goat anti-rabbit IgG antibody. The percentage of the beads that were fluorescent was measured by FCM. FCM was carried out for 1 min, and the data obtained were expressed as histograms for particle size (forward light scatter) and histograms for fluorescence intensity. A peak corresponding to the magnetic beads was clearly distinguished from a peak derived from contaminating particles in the sample solution. In the absence of SEB, about 10% of the beads emitted fluorescence. The percentage of fluorescent beads and the fluorescence intensity increased with increasing SEB concentrations. For this IMS-FCM assay, the lower limits of detection for SEB were estimated to be 0.01 and 0.25 ng/ml for buffer and milk samples, respectively.     

Effect of static magnetic field on a thermal conductivity measurement of a molten droplet using an electromagnetic levitation technique

Recently, a novel method of measuring the thermophysical properties, particularly thermal conductivity, of high-temperature molten materials using the electromagnetic levitation technique has been developed by Kobatake et al. [H. Kobatake, H. Fukuyama, I. Minato, T. Tsukada, S. Awaji, Noncontact measurement of thermal conductivity of liquid silicon in a static magnetic field, Appl. Phys. Lett. 90 (2007) 094102]; this method is based on a periodic laser-heating method, and entails the superimposing of a static magnetic field to suppress convection in an electromagnetically levitated droplet. In this work, to confirm the fact that a static magnetic field really suppresses convection in a molten silicon droplet in an electromagnetic levitator, numerical simulations of convection in the droplet and periodic laser heating in the presence of convection have been carried out. Here, the convections driven by buoyancy force, thermocapillary force due to the temperature dependence of the surface tension on the melt surface, and electromagnetic force in the droplet were considered. As a result, it was found that applying a static magnetic field of 4 T can suppress convection in a molten silicon droplet enough to measure the real thermal conductivity of molten silicon.     

Introduction to olfactory neuroepithelium

Among the five senses, the sense of smell (olfaction) is the most sensitive and emotional window on the outside world (Stern and Marx, 1999). The olfactory system recognizes and discriminates myriad odorants of diverse molecular structures. What makes the olfactory system so specific and sensitive? OE harboring the olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) also has an another unusual characteristic ability that fascinates scientists. Neurogenesis in this tissue continues throughout lifetime. This unique character provides an elegant model to study neurogenesis and neuronal plasticity, since neuronal birth, differentiation, survival, axon pathfinding, target recognition, synapse formation, and cell death can be examined in the mature OE. This special issue of Microscopic Research and Technique presents the recent developments in this exciting field of neuroscience, “structure and function of olfactory neuroepithelium.” Microsc. Res. Tech. 58:133–134, 2002. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Impedancemetric gas sensor based on Pt and WO3 co-loaded TiO2 and ZrO2 as total NOx sensing materials

Pt-loaded metal oxides [WO₃/ZrO₂, MO_x/TiO₂ (MO_x = WO₃, MoO₃, V₂O₅), WO₃ and TiO₂] equipped with interdigital Au electrodes have been tested as a NO_x (NO and NO₂) gas sensor at 500 °C. The impedance value at 4 Hz was used as a sensing signal. Among the samples tested, Pt-WO₃/TiO₂ showed the highest sensor response magnitude to NO. The sensor was found to respond consistently and rapidly to change in concentration of NO and NO₂ in the oxygen rich and moist gas mixture at 500 °C. The 90% response and 90% recovery times were as short as less than 5–10 s. The impedance at 4 Hz of the present device was found to vary almost linearly with the logarithm of NO_x (NO or NO₂) concentration from 10 to 570 ppm. Pt-WO₃/TiO₂ showed responses to NO and NO₂ of the same algebraic sign and nearly the same magnitude, while Pt/WO₃ and WO₃/TiO₂ showed higher response to NO than NO₂. The impedance at 4 Hz in the presence of NO for Pt-WO₃/TiO₂ was almost equal at any O₂ concentration examined (1–99%), while in the case of Pt/WO₃ and WO₃/TiO₂ the impedance increased with the oxygen concentration. The features of Pt-WO₃/TiO₂ are favorable as a NO_x sensor that can monitor and control the NO_x concentration in automotive exhaust. The effect of WO₃ loading of Pt-WO₃/ZrO₂-based sensor is studied to discuss the role of surface W-OH sites on the NO_x sensing.     

Fundamental Limits of Organic Packages and Boards and the Need for Novel Ceramic Boards for Next Generation Electronic Packaging

The system-on-a-package (SOP) paradigm proposes a package level integration of digital, RF/analog and opto-electronic functions to address future convergent microsystems. Two major components of SOP fabrication are sequential build-up of multiple layers (4–8) of conducting copper patterns with interlayer dielectrics on a board and multiple ICs flip-chip bonded on the top layer. A wide range of passives, wave-guides and other RF and opto-electronic components buried within the dielectric layers provide the multiple functions on a single microminiaturized platform.The routing of future nanoscale ICs with 10,000+ I/Os require multiple build-up layers of ultra fine board feature sizes of 10 m lines/space widths and 40 m pad diameters. Current FR4 boards cannot achieve this build-up technology because of dimensional instability during processing. These boards also undergo high warpage during the sequential build-up process which limits the fine-line lithography and also causes misalignment between the vias and their corresponding landing pads. In addition, the CTE mismatch between the silicon die and the board leads to IC-package interconnect reliability concerns, particularly in future fine-pitch assemblies where underfilling becomes complicated and expensive.This work reports experimental and analytical work comparing the performance of organic and novel ceramic boards for SOP requirements. The property requirements as deduced from these results indicate that a high stiffness and tailorable CTE from 2–4 ppm/C is required to enable SOP microminiaturized board fabrication and assembly without underfill. A novel ceramic board technology is proposed to address these requirements.     

Microprocessors in electric power systems

The present status of microprocessor applications in various fields of electric power systems is summarized. Special attention is directed towards development trends in the protection field where microprocessor applications are expected to cope with the increasingly stringent requirements for electric power supply reliability. Also discussed are the history, roles, design philosophy and basic schemes of microprocessor-based protective relaying systems. Only recently has their application reached a practical stage after long-term study and repeated field tests.     

Semi-globalization of stochastic spectral synthesis

This paper describes a new approach to stochastic modeling for natural objects that provides a unified model for describing terrains, clouds, sea waves and many other shapes. The geometrical data of the model can be created or modified without undue computational time, simply by specifying several parameters. In addition, these parameters have intuitive meanings, which make it easy to control the model's geometry. Then the models for different natural objects can be effectively combined through some functional operations, which makes the method more flexible for acquiring realistic images of complex three-dimensional scenes.     

Noninvasive Measurement of the Volume Elastic Modulus in Finger Arteries Using Photoelectric Plethysmography

A method for the nonivasive measurement of the volume elastic modulus (Ev) in human finger arteries was developed. The volume change ratio and pulse pressure in the arteries were simultaneously determined by a transmittance type infrared photoelectric plethysmograph and a volume oscillometric sphygmomanometer using an occlusive cuff. The Ev values could be obtained at a desired transmural pressure level of the arteries which was controlled by the cuff. A clear difference was revealed between the Ev values obtained in the fingers of two male subjects of 33 and 65 years old. The values determined by this method were compared to those calculated from pulse wave propagation velocity (Evp) obtained simultaneously in the fingers of 11 subjects. The linear regression equation was Ev = 1.31 Evp ?0.117 with a correlation coefficient r = 0.893 (n = 39). These results suggest that this should be a useful and noninvasive method of evaluating changes in arterial elasticity accompanying aging and perhaps influenced by accompanying hypertension or arteriosclerosis.     

Relation between material configuration and radiation shielding capability - application of radiation shielding characteristic functions

For the purpose of finding a principle for material configuration which an ideal radiation shielding in slab geometry should obey, radiation energy dependence of material configuration is studied. In the course of study, radiation shielding capability for each system of different material configuration is evaluated by using radiation shielding characteristic functions defined as dose rates of transmitted radiations in response to isotropic incidence of radiations to the slab shield with pulse-like narrow energy distributions.In shielding neutrons by steel and water layers, recommendable material configuration depends on energy distribution of incident neutrons; all steel layers should be located in the source side of all water layers, if incident neutron energies are above 5 MeV: either homogeneous array of steel and water layers or above mentioned material configuration is recommendable, if incident neutron energies are between 2 MeV and 5 MeV: all water layers should be located in the source side of all steel layers, if incident neutron energies are below 2 MeV or incident neutrons have energy spectrum of fission neutrons.Above recommendation can be understood well by considering both energy dependence of neutron cross sections of each material and the maximum amount of energy degradation at elastic scattering in each material.In designing a neutron shield, shielding of secondary gamma rays is important as well as neutron shielding. This importance is demonstrated for several types of actual cask walls which are composed of many material layers by using the characteristic functions of neutrons and gamma rays for cask walls.