Analysis of specific IgE antibodies to staphylococcal enterotoxins,total serum IgE and hemogramme in carriers of Staphylococcus aureus

In order to evaluate the relationship between nasal carriers of S. aureus and their history of allergic diseases, the total serum IgE titer, the hemogramme pattern, and the titers of specific IgE antibody to Staphylococcal enterotoxins A and B (SEA and SEB) and of specific IgG antibody to SEB were investigated in 98 trade school students. Fifteen (15.3%) of the 98 students were sensitized to SEA and/or SEB (40.0% to SEA and 93.3% to SEB). In this group, 11 subjects were S. aureus carriers (73.0%) and 12 had a history of allergic diseases (80.0%). Low levels of specific IgG antibody to SEB were identified from both S. aureus carriers and non-carriers. The S. aureus carriers had significantly higher levels of total IgE titer than the non-carriers and the individuals with a history of allergic diseases had significantly higher total IgE titer levels than those having no history of allergic diseases (p < 0.01). In the hemogramme patterns of S. aureus carriers, a significant positive correlation was observed between the total IgE antibodies and the eosinophil rate (p < 0.05), and a negative correlation (p < 0.001) was recognized between the neutrophil and the lymphocyte rates.     

Behavior of Buried Flexible Pipe under High Fills and Design Implications

The existing design guidelines for buried flexible pipes are limited to depth up to 10?m. The increasing use of difficult terrains for infrastructure, landfills, and residential and industrial developments has prompted installation of drainage pipelines under 20–30?m high fills. This paper presents the behavior of an instrumented flexible pipe buried under a 47.1?m deep fill. For filling above 20?m, the measured vertical stress above the pipe exhibited a concave distribution, corresponding to 90 and 110% of the average vertical pressure at the center and edges of the pipe, respectively. The measured results suggest that a triangular lateral pressure distribution can lead to overly conservative and uneconomical results for high fills while Spangler’s analysis is unconservative. Based on the measured results, a revised vertical and lateral earth pressure diagram was proposed for the design of flexible pipe under high fills >20?m. This paper proposes closed-form analyses for estimating the moments and displacements of the pipe subjected to high fill earth pressures. These closed-form solutions agree well with the measured pipe displacements and strains.     

The relationship between ductility and grain-boundary precipitates in an Al-6.0% Zn-2.6% Mg alloy

The relationship between ductility and material parameters such as grain-boundary (GB) precipitate size and dimple size in an Al-6.0% Zn-2.6% Mg alloy has been studied. Under the condition of a given GB precipitate size, the ductility increases with decreasing number of GB precipitates and dimples per unit area. The critical GB precipitate sizes acting as the nuclei for void formation are deduced.     

Retardation‐controlling color filter with two directly stacked retardation layers

Abstract— A polymerizable liquid crystal (PLC), the orientation of which can be frozen, is useful for making retardation layers. In this paper, a new color filter (CF) with retardation‐controlling layers made of PLC is reported. It has a positive A‐plate and a negative C‐plate, both directly stacked on a color‐filter layer. These two retardation layers exhibit good orientation ability, and function well as retarders, even when they are only 1/10 or less as thick as ordinary retardation films. The new CF also has excellent thermal stability. The change in retardation after heat treatment at 200°C for 30 min is around 5%, and there is no observable peeling. A prototype VA‐LCD made with our new CF provides good optical compensation, with the light leakage being extremely low in all azimuthal directions. This technology is very useful for making thin, highly reliable color filters for LCDs, even with other modes.     

Modal and coupling-field analysis of optical fibers with linearlydistributed multiple cores

The point-matching technique on boundary conditions is applied to the modal analysis by extending the method in a previous paper by the authors (ibid., vol.LT-4, p.991-6, 1986). The coupling-field characteristics of the optical fibers are then analyzed on the basis of the superposition of eigenmode fields thus obtained. Numerical results in the case of four, five, and six cores indicate that coupling strength is not always a periodic function of propagation length unlike the case of dual-core structures     

Evaluation of proteinase-activated receptor-1 (PAR1) agonists and antagonists using a cultured cell receptor desensitization assay: activation of PAR2 by PAR1-targeted ligands

We developed a calcium signaling-based assay, using cultured human embryonic kidney cells (HEK), that evaluates simultaneously, the activation/desensitization or blockade of the proteinase-activated receptors, PAR1 and PAR2. Using this assay, we analyzed the actions of a number of previously described putative PAR1-targeted peptide agonists and antagonists. We found that most of the previously described PAR1-targeted agents can also activate/desensitize PAR2, and most of these peptides can also activate a calcium signaling pathway in a target cell that possesses PAR2 along with PAR1. Furthermore, we used this assay to develop a PAR1 receptor-activating probe [Ala-parafluoroPhe-Arg-Cha-Cit-Tyr-NH2 (Cit-NH2)], which displays a high degree of specificity for PAR1 over PAR2, and we used the assay to quantitate the ability of trypsin to disarm the activation of PAR1 by thrombin. The abilities of the PAR1-targeted agents to desensitize or block PAR1 in the HEK cell assay were compared with their activities in a human platelet aggregation assay. Our data illustrate the usefulness of the HEK cell assay for evaluating the PAR1/PAR2 selectivity of PAR-activating agonists. The PAR1-selective agonist that we developed using the assay should prove useful for studying the effects of selectively activating PAR1 in vivo.     

In Situ Observation of Deformation in Semi-solid Fe-C Alloys at High Shear Rate

Synchrotron X-ray radiography at 125 frames per second was used to study deformation mechanisms in semi-solid Fe-C alloys at high solid fraction and shear strain rates of 10^?1/s. An image correlation approach was also used to quantify the shear strain fields and study shear-induced dilation and the origin of shear cracking. It was shown that, at high solid fraction (90 to 93 pct solid), rearrangement including rotation and translation of solid particles became restricted and shear strain localized into narrow liquid-filled channels/fissures. Shear cracking was shown to originate from inadequate liquid flow into the expanding spaces between solid particles caused by shear-induced dilation. At lower solid fraction (~85 pct solid), solid particles rearranged with a significantly higher component of rotation leading to more shear-induced dilation and a wider shear band.     

Assessment of Swallowing Ability Scale for oral and oropharyngeal cancer patients

The Swallowing Ability Scale (SAS) has been recently reported by us. This scale is a new method to assess dysphagia after therapy for oral and oropharyngeal cancer. The preliminary results on 23 patients showed that the scale was reliable and sensitive to functional differences across a broad spectrum of oropharyngeal dysphagia after therapy. This paper confirmed the above facts in 73 oral and oropharyngeal cancer patients who were treated in two hospitals between 1995 and 1996. As stated in the previous paper, SAS consists of a 2-step questionnaire: the MTF score and the Dysphagia score. The MTF score is a simple and practical assessment tool consisting of three subscales: 1) Method of intake, 2) Time of intake, and 3) Food. The Dysphagia score is a relevant assessment tool for defining patients' anatomic or physiologic swallowing disorders. In 40 patients with wide resection of the tongue, the Dysphagia score (p < 0.05) and the MTF score (p < 0.01) were significantly decreased. And we found a correlation between the MTF score and the Dysphagia score (r = 0.78, p < 0.001) in 73 patients. The usefulness of the SAS will be further studied for the assessment of rehabilitation to improve postoperative dysphagia.     

Type IIa RPTPs and Glycans: Roles in Axon Regeneration and Synaptogenesis

Type IIa receptor tyrosine phosphatases (RPTPs) play pivotal roles in neuronal network formation. It is emerging that the interactions of RPTPs with glycans, i.e., chondroitin sulfate (CS) and heparan sulfate (HS), are critical for their functions. We highlight here the significance of these interactions in axon regeneration and synaptogenesis. For example, PTPσ, a member of type IIa RPTPs, on axon terminals is monomerized and activated by the extracellular CS deposited in neural injuries, dephosphorylates cortactin, disrupts autophagy flux, and consequently inhibits axon regeneration. In contrast, HS induces PTPσ oligomerization, suppresses PTPσ phosphatase activity, and promotes axon regeneration. PTPσ also serves as an organizer of excitatory synapses. PTPσ and neurexin bind one another on presynapses and further bind to postsynaptic leucine-rich repeat transmembrane protein 4 (LRRTM4). Neurexin is now known as a heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG), and its HS is essential for the binding between these three molecules. Another HSPG, glypican 4, binds to presynaptic PTPσ and postsynaptic LRRTM4 in an HS-dependent manner. Type IIa RPTPs are also involved in the formation of excitatory and inhibitory synapses by heterophilic binding to a variety of postsynaptic partners. We also discuss the important issue of possible mechanisms coordinating axon extension and synapse formation.