Expression of E and P-cadherin by melanoma cells decreases in progressive melanomas and following ultraviolet radiation

The purpose of our study was to determine whether the degree of E- and P-cadherin expression in melanomas correlates with the invasive behavior of the clinical lesions from which the cell lines were derived. Cadherins comprise a family of calcium-dependent cellular adhesion molecules expressed on most cell types that form solid tissues. In the human epidermis, melanocyte cadherin expression may function to maintain the integrity of the epidermal-melanin unit. Employing both immunofluorescence microscopy and fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis, we localized and quantitated E- and P-cadherin expression on melanoma cell lines derived from primary or metastatic lesions using the monoclonal antibodies HECD-1 and NNC-CAD-299, respectively. Human epidermal melanocytes isolated from neonatal foreskin were evaluated by similar techniques and served as a biologic control. Melanoma cell lines were isolated from primary or metastatic lesions of patients described as having "early," "intermediate," or "advanced disease." Melanoma E- and P-cadherin immunofluorescence, as quantified by fluorescence-activated cell sorter, varied inversely with disease progression. Selected log mean ratios of E-cadherin fluorescence, as compared to human epidermal melanocytes (arbitrarily = 1), ranged from 1.04 in the WM 35 melanoma cell line (low invasive potential) to 0.1 and 0.02 in the WM 983A and 1361A melanoma cell lines (derived from primary lesions with metastases), respectively. Although values for P-cadherin fluorescence were less, the trend of decreasing cadherin amounts with more advanced disease was observed. Melanoma cells appear to express E- and P-cadherin levels inversely related to disease progression. Ultraviolet radiation significantly decreased E- and P-cadherin expression in the human epidermal melanocytes and P-cadherin expression in the WM 35 melanoma cell line (p < 0.05). Although not statistically significant, E-cadherin expression in the WM 35 melanoma cell line decreased substantially. Thus, ultraviolet radiation may have a direct effect on human epidermal melanocytes and melanoma cell attachment through cadherins within the epidermis or tumor nodules.     

Melt‐processed biodegradable polyester blends of poly(L‐lactic acid) and poly(ε‐caprolactone): Effects of processing conditions on biodegradation

Biodegradable polyester blends were prepared from poly(L ‐lactic acid) (PLLA) and poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PCL) (50/50) by melt‐blending, and the effects of processing conditions (shear rate, time, and strain) of melt‐blending on proteinase‐K‐ and lipase‐catalyzed enzymatic degradability were investigated using gravimetry, differential scanning calorimetry, and scanning electron microscopy. The proteinase‐K‐catalyzed degradation rate of the blend films increased and leveled off with increasing the shear rate, time, or strain for melt‐blending, except for the shortest shear time of 60 s. The optimal processing conditions of melt‐blending giving the maximum rate of lipase‐catalyzed degradation were 9.6 × 10² s^?1 and 180 s, whereas a deviation from these conditions caused a reduction in lipase‐catalyzed enzymatic degradation rate. At the highest shear rate of 2.2 × 10³ s^?1, PCL‐rich phase was continuous in the blend films, irrespective of the shear time (or shear strain), whereas PLLA‐rich phase changed from dispersed to continuous by increasing the shear time (or shear strain). This study revealed that the biodegradability of PLLA/PCL blend materials can be manipulated by altering the processing conditions of melt‐blending (shear rate, time, or strain) or the sizes and morphology of PLLA‐rich and PCL‐rich domains. The method reported in the present study can be utilized for controlling the biodegradability of other biodegradable polyester blends. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 104: 831–841, 2007     

Synthesis and luminescent properties of low oxygen contained Eu2+-doped Ca-α-SiAlON phosphor from calcium cyanamide reduction

A new convenient calcium cyanamide (CaCN2) reduction route was developed to synthesize the Eu2 activated Ca-α-SiAlON phosphors containing low oxygen content. The luminescence properties of the obtained products were investigated for white LEDs application. The critical Eu2 concentration in various hosts and its effect on the photoluminescence properties were studied. The optimized sample (10at.% Eu2 vs. Ca2 ) could be efficiently excited by the current GaN/InGaN blue LED chips and provided emission intensity competitive with that of YAG:Ce3 (P46-Y3) standard, revealing that this phosphor was a potential candidate for phosphor-converted white LEDs.     

Carrier separation analysis for clarifying carrier conduction and degradation mechanisms in high-k stack gate dielectrics

The carrier conduction and the degradation mechanism in n⁺gate p-channel metal-insulator-semiconductor field-effect-transistors with HfAlO_X (Hf: 60 at.%, Al: 40 at.%)/SiO₂ dielectric layers have been investigated using carrier separation method. Since gate current depends on substrate bias and both electron and hole currents are independent of temperature over the range of 25–150 °C, the conduction mechanism for both currents is controlled by a tunneling process. As the interfacial SiO₂ layer (IL) thickness increases in a fixed high-k layer thickness (T_high-k), a dominant carrier in the leakage current changes from hole to electron around 2.2-nm-thick IL. This is due to an asymmetric barrier height for electrons and holes at the SiO₂/Si interface. On the contrary, in the case of a fixed IL thickness of 1.3 nm, the hole current is dominant in the leakage current, regardless of T_high-k. It is shown that the dominant carrier in the leakage current depends on the structure of the high-k stack. Both electron and hole currents for the stress-induced-leakage-current (SILC) state increase slightly relative to the initial currents, which means that the trap generation in the high-k stack occurs near both the conduction band edge of n⁺poly-Si gate and the valence band edge of Si substrate. The electron current at soft breakdown (SBD) state dramatically increases over that for the SILC state, while the hole currents for both the SILC state and SBD are almost the same. This indicates that the defect sites generated in the high-k stack after SBD are located at energies near the conduction band edge of n⁺poly-Si gate. Both the defect generation rate and the defect size in the HfAlO_X/SiO₂ stacks are large compared with those in SiO₂. It is inferred that, in high-k dielectric stack, the defect generation mainly occurs in the high-k side rather than the IL side, and the defect size larger than the case of SiO₂ could be related to a larger dielectric constant of the high-k layer.     

Fatigue characteristics of patch plate joints by fillet welding assisted with bonding

A series of fatigue experiments and elastic analysis were carried out for investigating fatigue characteristics of patch plate joints assembled by fillet welding assisted with bonding. In the case that fatigue cracks occurred at the weld toe by the four-point bending fatigue experiment, the fatigue life of joints assembled by welding and bonding (WB) specimens were almost the same as those by only welding (W) specimens. The elastic analysis simulating the four-point bending loaded situation on W and WB specimens was performed for elucidating its reason. The stress concentration at the weld toe was even high in the WB specimens. Therefore, the fatigue life of WB specimens was not longer than that of W specimens. On the other hand, the stress around the weld root of WB specimen was around 30% of that of W specimen. The possibility of stress reduction effect by bonding was indicated around the weld root rather than around the weld toe. In order to verify this possibility, the four-point bending fatigue experiment was performed by setting the specimens so that the tensile stress was applied on the weld root. It was confirmed that the fatigue cracks occurred from the weld root in both W and WB specimens. The fatigue life defined in this study of WB specimens was from 4 to 8 times longer than that of W specimens when the applied nominal stress range was under 175 MPa. The fatigue life defined in this study of WB specimens was from 2 to 3 times longer than that of W specimens when the applied nominal stress range was over 200 MPa. The results indicated the fatigue life improvement of patch plate joints by fillet welding assisted with bonding when the fatigue cracks occurred at the weld root.     

Introducing/reproducing of welding distortion and residual stress in analysis for elastic-plastic behaviors of steel plates under compressive loads

A series of analyses was carried out to elucidate treatment of welding imperfection for simulating elastic-plastic behaviors of steel plates under compressive loads. A thermal elastic-plastic analysis based on infinitesimal deformation theory was carried out on a single-pass butt-welding of thin steel plates to predict welding distortion and welding residual stress. The obtained welding distortion and welding residual stress were introduced into an elastic-plastic large deformation analysis as initial imperfection. However, it was elucidated that welding distortion and welding residual stress could not be reproduced precisely due to unbalanced force caused by the difference between both analysis theories. Therefore, it should be confirmed whether the introduced welding distortion and welding residual stress were reproduced with high accuracy. Consequently, if welding distortion and welding residual stress cannot be reproduced, the treatment such as the convergence calculation method applied in this study should be done for precise elucidation of the elastic-plastic behavior of plates under compressive loads.     

Effects of shear flow on a semidilute polymer solution under phase-separating condition

We studied the effects of a step-up shear flow from zero shear rate to the given shear rate, , on formation of shear-induced structures for a semidilute polystyrene (PS)/diethyl malonate (DEM) solution below its cloud point temperature where the solution undergoes phase separation via spinodal decomposition (SD) in quiescent state. We elucidated that the effects of step-up shear can be divided into two regions: below and above a critical shear rate, . At , growing phase-separated domains via SD are found to be deformed under the flow, so that FFT spectra of the shear-microscopy images become elliptical with the wave number q_mx at the maximum intensity parallel to the flow being smaller than the corresponding wave number q_mz parallel to the neutral axis. However, strikingly enough, the aspect ratio q_mz/q_mx of the elliptic spinodal ring observed for this system was much smaller than that observed for binary fluids. The unique feature was proposed to be the elastic effect inherent in this system. When is larger than , however, initially phase-separating structures via SD are strongly deformed and distorted. Interestingly enough, the light scattering pattern was transformed from the isotropic ring pattern into the butterfly pattern. This is interpreted as follows: when , there may not be enough time for the domains composed of elastically deformed swollen-network chains to relax, and consequently the domains are cooperatively disrupted. The disrupted domains tend to squeeze solvent in order to release the elastic free energy stored in the deformed swollen-network chains, resulting in anisotropic domain more extended to neutral axis than flow direction and hence giving rise to the butterfly pattern.     

Absolute calibration of imaging plate for GeV electrons

An imaging plate has been used as a useful detector of energetic electrons in laser electron acceleration and laser fusion studies. The absolute sensitivity of an imaging plate was calibrated at 1 GeV electron energy using the injector Linac of SPring-8. The sensitivity curve obtained up to 100 MeV in a previous study was extended successfully to GeV range.     

Ultrahigh resolution soft x-ray emission spectrometer at BL07LSU in SPring-8

An extremely high resolution flat field type slit less soft x-ray emission spectrometer has been designed and constructed for the long undulator beamline BL07LSU in SPring-8. By optimizing the ruling parameters of two cylindrical gratings, a high energy resolution ΔE < 100 meV and/or an E∕ΔE ~ 10 000 are expected for the energy range of 350 eV - 750 eV taking into account the broadening by the spatial resolution (25 μm) of a CCD detector. A coma-free operation mode proposed by Strocov et al., is also applied to eliminate both defocus and coma aberrations. The spectrometer demonstrated experimentally that E/ΔE = 10 050 and 8046 for N 1s (402.1 eV) and Mn 2p (641.8 eV) edges, respectively.