Human erythrocyte polyamine levels after partial hepatectomy

BACKGROUND/AIM: There are various indices of liver regeneration, but no clinically useful index that reflects the current status of liver regeneration. We assayed human erythrocyte polyamine levels after partial hepatectomy to define the relationship between erythrocyte polyamine levels and liver regeneration. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Levels of human erythrocyte polyamines (putrescine, spermidine, and spermine) were assayed by high-pressure liquid chromatography in 91 patients after partial hepatectomy and in 13 patients after surgery other than partial hepatectomy (controls). Of the patients after partial hepatectomy, 37 underwent hepatectomy of 20% or more of the liver (group A), 27 underwent segmentectomy or subsegmentectomy of the liver amounting to less than 20% of the liver (group B), and 27 underwent an operation smaller in scale than sub-segmentectomy (group C). RESULTS: The greater the proportion of the liver resected, the greater was the percent increase. In groups A, B, and C, erythrocyte levels of spermidine and spermine increased after surgery compared with the base line, and were significantly higher at 7 or 14 days, decreasing later. The differences in spermidine among the three groups were significant. CONCLUSIONS: After partial hepatectomy, the erythrocyte polyamine levels, especially the level of spermidine, were related to the proportion of liver resected. They seemed to reflect the degree of liver regeneration.     

Effects of Particle Strength of Feedstock Powders on Properties of Warm-Sprayed WC-Co Coatings

Warm spray (WS) process, which can control the temperature of a combustion gas jet used to propel powder, has been successfully applied to deposit WC-Co coatings. Detrimental reactions resulting from dissolution of WC into Co binder and decarburization were suppressed effectively by keeping the WC-Co particles’ temperature below the m.p. of the binder phase. In this study, three nano-structured WC-12Co powders with different particle strengths were prepared by changing the sintering conditions of spray-dried powder and were deposited by WS. The deposition efficiency and porosity of the coatings decreased with increasing the particle strength. The coating deposited from the powder with very low particle strength showed significant phase changes, while those deposited from the higher particle strengths showed almost no change. Particle Image Velocimetry revealed significant disintegration of the weakest powder, which explains the changes observed. The hardness and wear properties of the former coating, therefore, were inferior to the other two.     

Modulation of nanotube formation in apatite single crystal via organic molecule incorporation

Hydroxyapatite materials are potentially useful for biomedical application, especially as vehicles for functional molecules. Structural control of bulk apatite materials, such as in the fabrication of hollow microspheres or porous structures, has been studied for this purpose. However, control of the internal structure of the source apatite crystal itself is still a challenge. Here, we show that small organic molecules incorporated in apatite crystals act as porogens which control the porous structure of apatite single crystal. The presence of amino acid under apatite synthesis conditions leads to firm bindings and encapsulation of the amino acid in apatite single crystals. Amino acid elimination by heating or electron beam irradiation enhances the pore formation in apatite single crystal. Moreover, incorporation of an acidic amino acid in apatite induces peapod like nanotubes in apatite single crystals. This study suggests the potential of using small organics for nano-structural control of apatite single crystals which would be valuable for enhancing drug loadings or modulating material digestion in vivo.     

An evaluation method of the fluctuation characteristics of photovoltaic systems by using frequency analysis

Short-time fluctuations in solar irradiance will become an important issue with regard to future embedded photovoltaic (PV) systems. However, when PV systems are intensively installed, fluctuation of total output in clustered PV systems is not remarkable because there is the smoothing effect of irradiance in certain areas. In this paper, a new estimation method of irradiance fluctuation, which is based on the combination of the Fourier transform and the wavelet transform methods, is described.     

Thin reduced graphene oxide interlayer with a conjugated block copolymer for high performance non-volatile ferroelectric polymer memory

Polymer ferroelectric-gate field effect transistors (Fe-FETs) employing ferroelectric polymer thin films as gate insulators are highly attractive as a next-generation non-volatile memory. For minimizing gate leakage current of a device which arises from electrically defective ferroelectric polymer layer in particular at low operation voltage, the materials design of interlayers between the ferroelectric insulator and gate electrode is essential. Here, we introduce a new solution-processed interlayer of conductive reduced graphene oxides (rGOs) modified with a conjugated block copolymer, poly(styrene-block-paraphenylene) (PS-b-PPP). A FeFET with a solution-processed p-type oligomeric semiconducting channel and ferroelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) (PVDF-TrFE) insulator exhibited characteristic source–drain current hysteresis arising from ferroelectric polarization switching of a PVDF-TrFE insulator. Our PS-b-PPP modified rGOs (PMrGOs) with conductive moieties embedded in insulating polymer matrix not only significantly reduced the gate leakage current but also efficiently lowered operation voltage of the device. In consequence, the device showed large memory gate voltage window and high ON/OFF source–drain current ratio with excellent data retention and read/write cycle endurance. Furthermore, our PMrGOs interlayers were successfully employed to FeFETs fabricated on mechanically flexible substrates with promising non-volatile memory performance under repetitive bending deformation.     

Suppression of interleukin-2 receptor expression on mouse CD4+ T cells by bovine kappa-caseinoglycopeptide

Bovine kappa-caseinoglycopeptide (residues 106-169, CGP) completely inhibited the PHA-induced proliferation of mouse splenocytes when CGP was added simultaneously with PHA. The inhibitory effect, however, was reduced to about one-half when CGP was added after 24 h of cultivating the splenocytes with PHA or when anti-IL-1ra antibody was added simultaneously with PHA and CGP. On the other hand, CGP bound to mouse CD4+ T cells but not to CD8+ T cells. CGP suppressed IL-2 receptor expression of the PHA-stimulated mouse CD4+ T cells.     

Vertical seismic response of overhead crane

Vertical seismic response behavior is an important issue for the seismic design of equipments. The equipment, which is comparatively soft and unrestrained vertically, may resonate and its response is significantly magnified under vertical seismic excitation. Overhead crane is an example of equipment that is unrestrained vertically. The dynamic behavior of an 150-ton-capacity overhead crane under vertical seismic excitation was investigated by scale model excitation test and nonlinear time history analysis. The excitation tests were performed with several input levels and the vertical response with each input level was obtained. The simulation analysis approximately corresponded to the results of the excitation test.     

Release of ciliary neurotrophic factor from cultured astrocytes and its modulation by cytokines

CNTF rescues various types of lesioned neurons in vivo, and it needs to be released from astrocytes into the extracellular space to have the effect. However, direct evidence for CNTF release has not been unequivocally demonstrated. We hypothesized that the rapid sequestration by CNTF receptor present on cultured astrocytes might be the cause of the inability to detect CNTF released into astrocyte-conditioned medium (ACM). Therefore, we measured CNTF immunoreactivity in medium conditioned by astrocytes treated with phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (PI-PLC) which was used to prevent released CNTF from binding to the CNTF receptor, since PI-PLC cleaves glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol anchor of CNTFR alpha, the unique component involved in CNTF binding. CNTF was not detectable in untreated ACM, but was detectable in PI-PLC-treated ACM. These results together with the evidence that PI-PLC treatment did not have a toxic effect on astrocytes prove the fact that CNTF can be released from astrocytes without cell lysis. Subsequently, the effect of cytokines such as IL-1 beta, TNF-alpha, and EGF on CNTF release was examined. These cytokines increased CNTF protein levels in ACMs without increasing CNTF protein levels in astrocyte-extracts, indicating that they enhanced CNTF release from astrocytes.