Protection against adoptive transfer of autoimmune diabetes mediated through very late antigen-4 integrin

The very late antigen-4 (VLA-4) integrin expressed on the surface of lymphocytes and macrophages can regulate their migration to inflammatory sites as well as control cellular activation. The role of VLA-4 in the establishment of autoimmune diabetes is not easily predicted given the multiplicity of adhesion pathways and their differential use by various cell types. The contribution of VLA-4 to insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus was investigated by administration of VLA-4-specific monoclonal antibodies (MoAb) in an adoptive transfer model of disease in NOD mice. This study shows that VLA-4-specific MoAbs profoundly inhibit the development of diabetes with protection sustained by repeated MoAb exposure. Insulitis was completely inhibited during treatment and progressed to a severe degree once MoAb treatment was suspended, yet approximately 40% of treated recipients failed to become diabetic during 1-2 months post-treatment. Although we cannot rule out depletion of a relatively minor subpopulation of cells by prolonged anti-VLA-4 MoAb exposure, this inhibition of diabetes onset by treatment with MoAbs to VLA-4 supports a dependence on VLA-4 for cellular functions leading to diabetes and demonstrates that a significant disease modifying effect can be mediated by targeting the VLA-4 integrin.     

Intercalation of n-alkylamines into α-tin(IV) bis(hydrogenphosphate)

The intercalation reaction of n-alkylamines from methyl- to hexadecylamine into -tin(IV) bis(hydrogenphosphate) has been investigated. The reaction was conducted by mixing the phosphate and solutions of the amines dissolved in water or benzene. The amine/ phosphate molar ratios in the reaction mixtures were 0.43, 0.85, 1.71 and 3.41. The nitrogen/phosphorus atomic ratio in the intercalation compound was not changed by the amine/phosphate molar ratio. The interlayer distances of the intercalates obtained in the reaction mixtures with molar ratios of 3.41 and 1.71 increased with an increase in the number of carbon atoms in the alkyl chain of the amine. The slope of the straight line obtained in plot of interlayer distance versus number of carbon atoms in the alkyl chain of the amine indicates that the amine molecules form a double layer in the interlayer space of the phosphate and are inclined at an approximate angle of 67.7° to the phosphate layer. The interlayer distances of the intercalates of butyl- to nonylamines obtained at the molar ratio of 0.85 are smaller than those of the corresponding compounds from the molar ratios of 3.41 and 1.71, while those of decyl- to hexadecylamine intercalates lie on the previously discussed line. This behaviour is interpreted by assuming kink formation in the short alkyl chains between the phosphate layers.     

Reliability of AllnAs/lnGaAs/lnP HEMT with WSi ohmic contacts

We have investigated the degradation mechanism of Al_0.48In_0.52As/In_0.53Ga_0.47As/ InP high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) using WSi ohmic electrodes. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation and en-ergy dispersive x-ray (EDX) analysis reveal impurities diffusion of gate electrode (titanium: Ti) and fluorine (F) in the AlInAs layer after a high temperature (T_a = 170°C operating life test for 500 h. The decrease of drain current (I_ds) during life test shows linear dependence on square root of aging time. It suggests that the degradation is controlled by a diffusion mechanism. Hence, the estimated degradation mechanism of this device is related with decrease of carrier concentration in the epitaxial layer by these diffused impurities. On the other hand, TEM and EDX show no degradation of WSi/InGaAs interface after aging. Therefore, the WSi electrode for this type of HEMT demonstrates excellent high stability under the accelerated operating life test.     

Experimental study for high effective mobility with directly deposited HfO2/La2O3 MOSFET

We experimentally examine the effective mobility in nMOSFETs with La₂O₃ gate dielectrics without SiO_x-based interfacial layer. The reduced mobility is mainly caused by fixed charges in High-k gate dielectrics and the contribution of the interface state density is approximately 30% at N_s = 5 × 10¹¹ cm^?2 in the low 10¹¹ cm^?2 eV^?1 order. It is considered that one of the effective methods for improving mobility is to utilize La-silicate layer formed by high temperature annealing. However, there essentially exists trade-off relationship between high temperature annealing and small EOT.     

Modeling of the pharyngeal muscle in Caenorhabditis elegans based on FitzHugh-Nagumo equations

The pharyngeal pumping motion to send food to the bowel is a rhythmic movement in Caenorhabditis elegans. This paper proposes a simulation-based approach to investigate the mechanisms of rhythm phenomena in the pharyngeal pumping motion. To conduct the simulations, first, we developed a pharyngeal muscle model including 29 cell models which simulate the activity of each cell as a membrane potential based on FitzHugh-Nagumo equations. Then, to compare the response of the model with that of C. elegans, we calculated the electropharyngeogram (EPG), which represents the electrophysiological responses of the pharyngeal cells, using the simulated membrane potentials. The results confirmed that our model could generate the EPG similar to that measured from C. elegans. We proposed a computer simulation of the pumping motion to investigate the mechanisms of rhythm phenomena in living organisms.     

Investigation of hydrogen storage capacity of various carbon materials

Hydrogen storage capacity of various carbon materials, including activated carbon (AC), single-walled carbon nanohorn, single-walled carbon nanotubes, and graphitic carbon nanofibers, was investigated at 303 and 77 K, respectively. The results showed that hydrogen storage capacity of carbon materials was less than 1 wt% at 303 K, and a super activated carbon, Maxsorb, had the highest capacity (0.67 wt%). By lowering adsorption temperature to 77 K, hydrogen storage capacity of carbon materials increased significantly and Maxsorb could store a large amount of hydrogen (5.7 wt%) at a relatively low pressure of 3 MPa. Hydrogen storage capacity of carbon materials was proportional to their specific surface area and the volume of micropores, and the narrow micropores was preferred to adsorption of hydrogen, indicating that all carbon materials adsorbed hydrogen gas through physical adsorption on the surface.     

Electrospun three‐dimensional silk fibroin nanofibrous scaffold

Practical application to three‐dimensional (3‐D) tissue culture has been limited by the structural restriction of two‐dimensional (2‐D) nature of electrospun nanofiber mat. In this study, for constructing 3‐D nanofibrous structure as real 3‐D tissue engineering scaffold, we developed new fabrication process with silk fibroin (SF) by electrospinning and evaluated the features of this SF nanofiber scaffold (SFNS) through morphological and cell‐culture analyses. Foam type of the SFNS exhibited high porosity as well as large pores and its cell proliferation well occurred inside (inner spaces of pores), which makes this suitable for 3‐D cell‐culture scaffold. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007     

Effects of species and moisture content on penetration of liquid in laser incised lumber by the passive impregnation method

Penetration of liquid by passive impregnation method for Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii Franco), sugi (Cryptomeria japonica D. Don) and Japanese larch (Larix leptolepis Gordon) was studied. Effects of initial moisture content of sugi (16, 43 and 70% moisture content) on liquid penetration were also studied. Dried Douglas-fir (mc=14%) and sugi (mc=16%), and green Japanese larch (mc=45%) and sugi (mc=70%) were treated by passive impregnation method for penetration analysis. It was observed that dried sugi had the highest level of liquid penetration both in length (170 mm) and width (8 mm) for all measured sections followed by green sugi, green Japanese larch and dried Douglas-fir. In case of different initial moisture content, the highest absorption (624 kg/m³) and penetration (maximum 87 and 96% at cross and longitudinal surfaces, respectively) was observed for sugi having the lowest initial moisture content under the same passive impregnation conditions. Absorption and penetration decreased with the increase of initial moisture content for sugi. These results could help in designing incising pattern and density, as well as solving the problems related to high initial moisture content of wood for passive impregnation.     

Shrunk multiline addressing method in a passive‐matrix‐driven liquid powder display

Abstract— A shrunk multiline addressing method (SMLA) in a passive‐matrix‐driven liquid powder display will be discussed. An algorithm to generate SMLA data that effectively reduces the number of scanning lines has been devised. The update time is reduced by 44.5% on average, and this reduction is maintained despite increased sizes of the images. The SMLA data generated by this algorithm is applied to e‐paper panels, thereby confirming the reduction in update time and that the image quality of the panels driven by SMLA is equal to that of conventionally driven ones.