A simple method for purification of adult pig pancreatic endocrine cells

Adult pig pancreatic endocrine cells were harvested by autodigestion without added enzymes. The isolated, crude cells were purified by mono-poly resolving medium (MPRM). The purity of the harvested cells was determined by dithizone staining and the number of pancreatic endocrine cells was counted. A large number of the cells were stained red with dithizone and showed a high viability and a good insulin secretory response to glucose stimulation. The average number of cells purified by MPRM was 3.40 +/- 1.32 x 10(5) cells/g pancreas and the number of dithizone-stained cells was 2.81 +/- 1.09 x 10(5) cells/g pancreas. The insulin secretion from the pancreatic endocrine cells was maintained throughout a 40-day observation period and high glucose stimulation induced an increase in insulin secretion from the cultured cells. In the cells purified by MPRM, light and electron microscopic studies showed the cells to be typical pancreatic endocrine cells. The present purification method using MPRM allowed us quickly to obtain a large amount of adult pig pancreatic endocrine cells from the unpurified preparations. It is thought to be useful for transplantation and biochemical or biological studies of adult pig pancreatic endocrine cells.     

Phase equilibria and phase transformation of Co−Ni−Ga ferromagnetic shape memory alloy system

Phase equilibria and martensitic and magnetic phase transformations of the β phase in the Co−Ni−Ga system have been investigated. It has been shown that the β phase is in equilibrium with the α-phase over a wide range compositions at 600–1100°C. The β phase exhibits both a paramagnetic-ferromagnetic transition and a thermoelastic martensitic transition from B2 to L1₀ structure. The Curie temperature T _C increases with decreases with decreasing Ni content and with increasing Ga content. The composition region of the β phase exhibiting the thermoelatstic martensitic transformation from ferromagnetic austenite is located near the α+β two-phase region. T _C and M _s of α+β two-phase alloys increase with increasing annealing temperature. This paper was presented at the International Symposium on User Aspects of Phase Diagrams, Materials Solutions Conference and Exposition. Columbus, Ohio, 18–20 October, 2004.     

A memory‐in‐pixel reflective‐type LCD using newly designed system and pixel structure

A 7.03‐in. extended graphics array reflective LCD prototype has been developed by using memory‐in‐pixel (MIP) technologies with a newly designed system and pixel structure. The MIP system comprising a MIP backplane and a display driver has been optimized to reduce power consumption. The MIP backplane has specific circuits that allow accessing row drivers randomly, and the display driver manages which row should be accessed. Thus, the system is capable of showing a mixture of still and moving images, resulting in low power consumption. A dithering block embedded in the display driver enables to select an appropriate dithering algorithm according to the types of images and the position on the screen. In addition, the novel pixel structure, “three divided patterns”, has been designed to improve image quality and to provide visibility in dark environments. The latter is based on a novel approach; interpixel area is used for an aperture to transmit light from the backlight, and the fringe field from adjacent pixel electrodes is used to control LC directions. The feature of the pixel structure is also effective for obtaining equivalent gamma between reflective and transmissive images.     

Effects of aging on stress-induced martensitic transformation in ductile Cu–Al–Mn-based shape memory alloys

Effects of aging at 473–573 K on stress-induced martensitic transformation for textured Cu_71.9Al_16.6Mn_9.3Ni₂B_0.2 and random-textured Cu_72.1Al_16.9Mn_10.5Co_0.5 shape memory alloy (SMA) wires with a large relative grain size d/D = 6 were investigated by cyclic tensile testing at room temperature, where d and D indicate mean grain size and wire diameter, respectively. The random-textured Cu_72.1Al_16.9Mn_10.5Co_0.5 wire cannot be uniformly deformed and the ductility is drastically reduced by aging treatment. On the other hand, in the textured Cu_71.9Al_16.6Mn_9.3Ni₂B_0.2 SMA wire, the critical stress for martensitic transformation σ_t and the tensile strength σ_f are increased by aging without the associated loss of superelasticity (SE). Even in textured wire with a high σ_t of over 750 MPa, an excellent SE strain of about 6% can be obtained due to the formation of a fine bainite phase. Moreover, it was confirmed by in situ observation that stress-induced martensite plates grow, accompanying distortion of the bainite plates.     

Radiocarbon dating of charred human bone remains preserved in urns excavated from medieval Buddhist cemetery in Japan

For a preliminary test of ¹⁴C dating of cremated human remains, we have collected charred bone and wood–charcoal fragments from cremated remains contained in cinerary urns that had been excavated from medieval Buddhist cemetery at the Hoenji temple in Aichi prefecture, central Japan. More than 230 urn vessels were discovered from the excavated area of ca. 14 m wide and 14 m long. The identification of charred bone or charcoal fragments among the remains was performed by observation of surface appearance, inspection of fine structures by a microscope, bubble formation during the HCl treatments in preparing target material for AMS ¹⁴C dating, carbon and nitrogen contents, δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values of the fragments. All ¹⁴C ages obtained for the samples that were identified as charred bone remains were almost consistent with the archeological age estimated based on typological analysis of respective urns. On the other hand, some ¹⁴C ages for the remains identified as wood charcoal, which had been produced from firewood or a wooden coffin during the cremation, were not consistent with archeological estimation, shifting toward older ¹⁴C ages, most probably as the result of old wood effect.     

Ammonia accumulation in culture broth by the novel nitrogen-fixing bacterium, Lysobacter sp. E4

This is the first report that Lysobacter fixes nitrogen under free-living conditions, as shown by its ability to grow on nitrogen-free medium and accumulate relatively high amounts of ammonia in the culture broth. Growth of the E4 Lysobacter strain, isolated in a screen for nitrogen-fixing and ammonia-producing bacteria, resulted in higher ammonia accumulation (0.53 mM ammonium ion concentration) in media containing glucose rather than other tested carbon sources. The optimum glucose concentration was 0.30% at an initial medium pH of 7.0 and incubation temperature of 30 °C. From time-course experiments, when the glucose in the culture was exhausted, ammonia began to be accumulated, and maximum ammonia accumulation (∼ 1.60 mM) was reached after 8 days of incubation. Ammonia accumulation by this strain required molybdenum, manganese, and iron.     

Development of fast-scanning laser probe system based on knife-edge method for diagnosis of RF surface acoustic wave devices

This paper describes the development of a high-speed laser probe system for surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices. A fast scanning rate of 2.5 kS/s is realized by continuous stage translation and successive acquisition of the detector output by a high-speed data-logger. Trigger pulses are generated from the output of a high-precision linear-scale installed in the translation stage and fed to the data-logger for the synchronization with the stage movement. The phase-sensitive, knife-edge method is used for the optical detection. This makes the system very unsusceptible to low-frequency mechanical vibration caused by the fast stage translation. The system is applied for the characterization of spurious resonance modes in SAW devices. In conjunction with skillful use of image processing in wavenumber domain, it is shown how the present system is effective in the diagnosis and development of SAW devices.     

Efficient estimation and particle filter for max‐stable processes

Extreme values are often correlated over time, for example, in a financial time series, and these values carry various risks. Max‐stable processes such as maxima of moving maxima (M3) processes have been recently considered in the literature to describe time‐dependent dynamics, which have been difficult to estimate. This article first proposes a feasible and efficient Bayesian estimation method for nonlinear and non‐Gaussian state space models based on these processes and describes a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm where the sampling efficiency is improved by the normal mixture sampler. Furthermore, a unique particle filter that adapts to extreme observations is proposed and shown to be highly accurate in comparison with other well‐known filters. Our proposed algorithms were applied to daily minima of high‐frequency stock return data, and a model comparison was conducted using marginal likelihoods to investigate the time‐dependent dynamics in extreme stock returns for financial risk management.     

Role of repetitive nine-residue sequence motifs in secretion, enzymatic activity, and protein conformation of a family I.3 lipase

A family I.3 lipase from Pseudomonas sp. MIS38 (PML) contains 12 repeats of a nine-residue sequence motif in the C-terminal region. To elucidate the role of these repetitive sequences, mutant proteins PML5, PML4, PML1, and PML0, in which 7, 8, 11, and all 12 of the repetitive sequences are deleted, and PMLdelta19, in which 19 C-terminal residues are truncated, were constructed. Escherichia coli DH5 cells carrying the Serratia marcescens Lip system permitted the secretion of the wild-type and all of the mutant proteins except for PMLdelta19, although they were partially accumulated in the cells in an insoluble form as well. Both the secretion level and cellular content of the proteins decreased in the order PML > PML5 > PML4 > PML1 > PML0, indicating that repetitive sequences are not required for secretion of PML but are important for its stability in the cells. All the mutant proteins were purified in a refolded form and their biochemical properties were characterized. CD spectra, the Ca2+ contents, and susceptibility to chymotryptic digestion strongly suggested that the five repetitive sequences remaining in PML5 are sufficient to form a beta-roll structure, whereas the four in PML4 are not. PML5 and PMLdelta19 showed both lipase and esterase activities, whereas PML4, PML1, and PML0 were inactive. These results suggest that the enzymatic activity of PML is not seriously affected by a deletion or truncation at the C-terminal region as long as a succession of repetitive sequences can build a beta-roll structure.