Effects of heparin and its 6-O-and 2-O-desulfated derivatives with low anticoagulant activity on proliferation of human neural stem/progenitor cells

Heparin binds various growth factors and activates them to interact with high-affinity cell surface receptors; a specific array of sulfate groups in the heparin backbone structure is very important for this interaction. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of two novel heparin derivatives, 6-O-desulfated heparin (6-DSH) and 2-O-desulfated heparin (2-DSH), on blood coagulation and the proliferation of human neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs). 6-DSH showed lower anticoagulant activity than intact heparin or 2-DSH, as measured by the activated partial thromboplastin time and thrombin time. In the presence of FGF-2, 6-DSH and 2-DSH promoted approximately the same rate of proliferation of human NSPCs, without noticeably changing the expression of nestin. The mitotic effects of 6-DSH and 2-DSH on human NSPCs were different from their effects on mouse hematopoietic stem cells and fibroblasts. These findings indicate that 6-DSH and 2-DSH have the same ability to promote the growth of human NSPCs as intact heparin. Our results suggest that these two novel heparin derivates, especially 6-DSH, could be used in clinical applications for ex vivo human NSPC culture, as a lower-risk growth co-adjuvant than intact heparin.     

The influence of hydrochloric acid on the effect of caproic acid in preventing aerobic deterioration of silages

In five experiments of the same design using silages made from wilted Italian ryegrass (dry matter 22.7–40.9%), the effects of caproic acid (C₆) (10 mmol kg^?1) with and without 6_N-HCl (20 ml kg^?1), applied at ensiling or at opening, in preventing aerobic deterioration of silages after opening silos were investigated. Application of C₆ either at ensiling or at opening was partially effective in preventing temperature increase, pH rise and breakdown of organic acids during the 7-day aerobic exposure period after opening the silos. Addition of HCl reduced the pH of silages irrespective of the time of application. However, no improvement of the effect of C₆ due to HCl supplementation was observed as far as the prevention of the aerobic deterioration was concerned. Treatment with C₆+ HCl at ensiling inhibited silage fermentation more extensively than C₆ alone. Viable counts of yeasts and moulds in the silages treated with C₆ or C₆+ HCl at ensiling tended to be lower than those in the control silages. Considerable increases in the counts of moulds were found in the control silages during the aerobic exposure period.     

A survey on communication and data management issues in mobile sensor networks

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) which is proposed in the late 1990s have received unprecedented attention, because of their exciting potential applications in military, industrial, and civilian areas (e.g., environmental and habitat monitoring). Although WSNs have become more and more prospective in human life with the development of hardware and communication technologies, there are some natural limitations of WSNs (e.g., network connectivity, network lifetime) due to the static network style in WSNs. Moreover, more and more application scenarios require the sensors in WSNs to be mobile rather than static so as to make traditional applications in WSNs become smarter and enable some new applications. All this induce the mobile wireless sensor networks (MWSNs) which can greatly promote the development and application of WSNs. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is not a comprehensive survey about the communication and data management issues in MWSNs. In this paper,focusing on researching the communication issues and data management issues in MWSNs, we discuss different research methods regarding communication and data management in MWSNs and propose some further open research areas in MWSNs.Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

C57BL/KsJ-db/db-Apc Mice Exhibit an Increased Incidence of Intestinal Neoplasms

The numbers of obese people and diabetic patients are ever increasing. Obesity and diabetes are high-risk conditions for chronic diseases, including certain types of cancer, such as colorectal cancer (CRC). The aim of this study was to develop a novel animal model in order to clarify the pathobiology of CRC development in obese and diabetic patients. We developed an animal model of obesity and colorectal cancer by breeding the C57BL/KsJ-db/db (db/db) mouse, an animal model of obesity and type II diabetes, and the C57BL/6J-Apc(Min/+) (Min/+) mouse, a model of familial adenomatous polyposis. At 15 weeks of age, the N9 backcross generation of C57BL/KsJ-db/db-Apc(Min/+) (db/db-Min/+) mice developed an increased incidence and multiplicity of adenomas in the intestinal tract when compared to the db/m-Min/+ and m/m-Min/+ mice. Blood biochemical profile showed significant increases in insulin (8.3-fold to 11.7-fold), cholesterol (1.2-fold to 1.7-fold), and triglyceride (1.2-fold to 1.3-fold) in the db/db-Min/+ mice, when compared to those of the db/m-Min/+ and m/m-Min/+ mice. Increases (1.4-fold to 2.6-fold) in RNA levels of insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1, IRF-1R, and IGF-2 were also observed in the db/db- Min/+ mice. These results suggested that the IGFs, as well as hyperlipidemia and hyperinsulinemia, promoted adenoma formation in the db/db-Min/+ mice. Our results thus suggested that the db/db-Min/+ mice should be invaluable for studies on the pathogenesis of CRC in obese and diabetes patients and the therapy and prevention of CRC in these patients.     

Remarkable effect of ordered mesoporous carbon support in tantalum oxide-catalyzed selective epoxidation of cyclooctene

The olefin epoxidation is one of the most important reactions in chemical industry. Metal oxide supports often cause drawbacks in catalytic activity and selectivity, which has been overcome by introducing hydrophobic organic groups onto the oxide supports. The present study utilizes ordered mesoporous carbon (CMK-3 and CMK-1) as structurally defined hydrophobic catalyst support. Well-dispersed tantalum oxides supported on the ordered mesoporous carbon were prepared. Their application in catalytic epoxidation of cyclooctene demonstrates that the tantalum oxide catalysts on the ordered mesoporous carbon supports show higher performances than those of the catalysts supported on activated carbon and ordered mesoporous silica SBA-15.     

Surface modification of contact lenses using adsorption of ethylene oxide branched copolymers

To examine methods for reducing the amount of adsorbed protein on the surface of contact lenses during use, cationic copolymers containing poly(ethylene oxide) units were synthesized and evaluated as surface modifiers. Poly(ethylene oxide) graft‐branched copolymers of composition 70 mol % dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DM) and 30 mol % methoxy polyethylene glycol methacrylate (Mp0G; p = 2, 4, 9; the average number of the ethylene oxide units) were obtained using nonionic monomers containing poly(ethylene oxide) units. The copolymers very efficiently prevented protein adsorption on a contact lens. Contact angle measurements showed that immersion in tear fluid made the lens surface hydrophobic because of adsorption of proteins with hydrophobic residues. The copolymer pretreatment made the lens surface hydrophilic, even after dipping in artificial tear fluid. These results suggest that adsorption of the poly(ethylene oxide) branched copolymer on the contact lens would make the lens surface hydrophilic and prevent protein adsorption. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013     

A novel mechanism for the promotion of quercetin glycoside absorption by megalo α-1,6-glucosaccharide in the rat small intestine

The presence of an α-1,6-glucosaccharide enhances absorption of water-soluble quercetin glycosides, a mixture of quercetin-3-O-β-d-glucoside (Q3G, 31.8%), mono (23.3%), di (20.3%) and more d-glucose adducts with α-1,4-linkage to a d-glucose moiety of Q3G, in a ligated small intestinal loop of anesthetized rats. We prepared α-1,6-glucosaccharides with different degrees of polymerization (DP) enzymatically and separated them into a megalo-isomaltosaccharide-containing fraction (M-IM, average DP = 11.0) and an oligo-isomaltosaccharide-containing fraction (O-IM, average DP = 3.6). Luminal injection of either saccharide fraction promoted the absorption of total quercetin-derivatives from the small intestinal segment and this effect was greater for M-IM than O-IM addition. M-IM also increased Q3G, but not the quercetin aglycone, concentration in the water-phase of the luminal contents more strongly than O-IM. The enhancement of Q3G solubilization in the luminal contents may be responsible for the increases in the quercetin glucoside absorption promoted by α-1,6-glucosaccharides, especially that by M-IM. These results suggest that the ingestion of α-1,6-glucosaccharides promotes Q3G bioavailability.     

Path planning using a mobile anchor node based on trilateration in wireless sensor networks

In wireless sensor networks (WSNs), many applications require sensor nodes to obtain their locations. Now, the main idea in most existing localization algorithms has been that a mobile anchor node (e.g., global positioning system‐equipped nodes) broadcasts its coordinates to help other unknown nodes to localize themselves while moving according to a specified trajectory. This method not only reduces the cost of WSNs but also gets high localization accuracy. In this case, a basic problem is that the path planning of the mobile anchor node should move along the trajectory to minimize the localization error and to localize the unknown nodes. In this paper, we propose a Localization algorithm with a Mobile Anchor node based on Trilateration (LMAT) in WSNs. LMAT algorithm uses a mobile anchor node to move according to trilateration trajectory in deployment area and broadcasts its current position periodically. Simulation results show that the performance of our LMAT algorithm is better than that of other similar algorithms. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Abrasive wear resistance of spheroidal vanadium carbide cast irons

The effect of the chemical composition and heat treatment on the microstructure and abrasive wear resistance of V-Mn, V-Ni-Cr, and V-Mo spheroidal vanadium carbide cast irons (18–23 vol %) has been studied. The wear resistance has been determined under conditions of wear by abrasives with various hardnesses, i.e., corundum and quartz and compared to that of high-chromium cast iron with 13% Cr. It has been found that the advisability of using high-vanadium cast irons is governed by the hardness of the abrasive. When a hard abrasive, i.e., corundum was used, V-Mo cast iron with the maximum concentration of spheroidal VC carbides, which were uniformly distributed in the martensitic matrix, had the highest wear resistance. When a soft abrasive, i.e., quartz, was applied, high-chromium cast iron with a hardness of 68 HRC, which contained the largest amount of M₇C₃ carbides, was more wear-resistant. In the course of isothermal exposure at 300–1000°C, V-Ni-Cr and V-Mo cast irons with an austenitic structure had high resistance to phase and structural transformations. However, the properties and microstructure of V-Mo cast irons with a martensitic matrix depended strongly on the temperature of exposure during heat treatment.     

Testing the technologies

THE PENETRATION OF PHOTOv oltaic (PV) systems in Japan has been on the rise. Two factors have been promoting the increase: improved generation effi ciency of PV modules and governmental subsidies for the initial cost of residential PV generation systems. As a result, the cumulative installed PV capacity has increased exponentially, as shown in Figure 1; however, the cumulative installed PV capacity by 2007 was only about 40% of the target for 2010 (4,820 MW). Reaching the target and promoting larger installation capacities in the future will require further installation in the residential sector and the construction of large-scale PV systems.