Induction of necrosis by zinc in prostate carcinoma cells and identification of proteins increased in association with this induction

Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is a cardiovascular peptide that binds to two distinct receptors, ET(A) and ET(B), resulting in systemic and regional vasoconstriction, alteration in sodium excretion, mitogenesis, and release of other vasoactive peptides such as atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP). A role for ET-1 has been proposed in congestive heart failure (CHF) based on the increase in circulating ET-1 in this cardiovascular disease state. The present study determined the cardiorenal and endocrine responses to chronic selective oral ETA antagonism in experimental CHF. Two groups of conscious dogs underwent 21 days of pacing-induced CHF. These groups included a control untreated group (n = 6) and a group that received an orally active ET(A) receptor antagonist (A-127722, Abbott Pharmaceuticals, 5 mg/kg PO bid, n = 6). Each group was studied at baseline before the onset of CHF and after 14 and 21 days of CHF. Compared with the CHF control group, the ET(A) receptor antagonism group at 14 days of CHF showed lower mean arterial pressure and systemic vascular resistance. Similarly, ET(A) receptor antagonism markedly attenuated the increase in circulating ANP despite similar atrial pressures. At 21 days of CHF, ET(A) receptor antagonism lowered pulmonary artery pressure, pulmonary vascular resistance, and systemic vascular resistance in association with a higher cardiac output. Plasma ANP remained suppressed. Despite the lower mean arterial pressure and circulating ANP in the ET(A) receptor antagonist group, the absolute decrease in sodium excretion from baseline was less compared with the untreated CHF control group. The present investigation supports the conclusion that endogenous ET-1 participates in the systemic and pulmonary vasoconstriction, the elevation of ANP, and the sodium retention that characterize this model of experimental CHF, suggesting a potential therapeutic role for ET(A) receptor antagonism in CHF.     

The Gmicro/500 superscalar microprocessor with branch buffers

The Gmicro/500, which features a RISC-like dual-pipeline structure for high-speed execution of basic instructions and represents a significant advance for the TRON architecture, is presented. Upwardly-object-compatible with earlier members of the Gmicro series, this microprocessor uses resident dedicated branch buffers to greatly enhance branch instruction execution speed. Its microprograms simultaneously use dual execution blocks to execute high-level language instructions effectively. Fabricated with a 0.6-μm CMOS technology on a 10.9-mm×16-mm die, the chip operates at 50/66 MHz and achieves a processing rate of 100/132 MIPS     

Fabrication of a new substrate for atomic force microscopic observation of DNA molecules from an ultrasmooth sapphire plate

A new stable substrate applicable to the observation of DNA molecules by atomic force microscopy (AFM) was fabricated from a ultrasmooth sapphire (alpha-Al2O3 single crystal) plate. The atomically ultrasmooth sapphire as obtained by high-temperature annealing has hydrophobic surfaces and could not be used for the AFM observation of DNA. However, sapphire treated with Na3PO4 aqueous solution exhibited a hydrophilic character while maintaining a smooth surface structure. The surface of the wet-treated sapphire was found by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and AFM to be approximately 0.3 nm. The hydrophilic surface character of the ultrasmooth sapphire plate made it easy for DNA molecules to adhere to the plate. Circular molecules of the plasmid DNA could be imaged by AFM on the hydrophilic ultrasmooth sapphire plate.     

Sensitivity of an anadically oxidized aluminium film on a surface acoustic wave sensor to humidity

The sensitivity, transient response and sensitivity mechanism of a surface acoustic wave humidity sensor using porous anodically oxidized aluminium (alumina) films as mechanical interfaces have been studied theoretically and experimentally. It is found that the sensitivity of alumina films of 1.0 μm thickness is -0.034 m/(s %RH) and is the same order as that of polyimide films. The transient response of alumina films to humidity is about one order faster than that of polyimide films. For the sensitivity mechanism, the phase-velocity change is attributed to the mechanical perturbation caused by the absorption of water molecules. The equivalent density change of alumina films between 0 and 100%RH is about 0.7%. In addition, the actual stiffness constants of alumina films are two orders less than those of bulk alumina.     

A lightweight sensing method of tooth-touch sound for disabled person using remote controller

To support disabled people to use remote controllers, several biological signals are used. The tooth-touch is one of desirable biological signals. This is because it is the simple and natural human behavior. However, a sophisticated signal processing to extract only the tooth-touch sound is needed since the tooth-touch sound is mixed with the voice sound. This paper proposes a lightweight sensing method extracting the tooth-touch without a sophisticated signal processing to eliminate only voice sound from the sound wave in which tooth-touch and voice are mixed. Instead of the audible sound wave, proposal uses a shock wave (i.e., ultrasonic wave) which is generated when the upper tooth and the lower tooth hit each other. Using the shock wave generated to detect the tooth-touch, a trivial high-pass filter can eliminate only voice sound in the lower frequency domain than in the ultrasonic domain including the tooth-touch. Through a preliminary experiment that uses a conventional microphone and well-known digital high-pass filter, we show that the used electret microphone can sense the tooth-touch as ultrasonic wave and the high-pass filter can extract only tooth-touch. Then, we show some robustness of our method by using the sound waves including the voice and tooth-touch. In addition, we design the filtering hardware to implement a small and cheap system-on-chip achieving a real-time operation. Through the implementation of Field Programmable Gate Array, and the simulation, we show that our hardware is small and performs well for a real-time operation.     

Preparation and characterization of porous and electrically conducting carbon-clay composites

Porous and electrically conducting carbon-clay composites were prepared by firing mixtures of carbon powder (0 to 20 wt%) and clay minerals. They showed porosity of 50 to 65% and had high mechanical strength (compressive strength = 130 to 400 kg cm^–2) as well as high resistance against thermal oxidation in air. Their electrical conductivity, , increased with increasing carbon content levelling off at about 20 wt% of carbon content to give a value of about 2 S cm^–1. Formation of carbon chains is considered to be responsible for the electrical conduction in the composite, and a model to correlate the electrical conductivity with the carbon content has been proposed by modifying a model previously proposed by Scarisbrick.     

Laser spectroscopic measurement of quenching and doublet mixing rates of the Na(3P(3/2, 1/2)) doublet in a propane-air flame

We have measured the quenching rate of the Na 3P level and the doublet mixing rates of the Na 3P(3/2) and 3P(1/2) levels in a propane-air flame at atmospheric pressure. To obtain these rates, subnanosecond time-resolved fluorescence measurements were made using a mode-locked dye laser and the time-correlated single-photon counting method. Our results are 1.4 x 10(9) s(-1) for the quenching rate and 3.0 x 10(9) s(-1) for the 3P(3/2) --> 3P(1/2) mixing rate.     

Co-crosslinking blend of incompatible polymers VI: Poly(vinyl chloride) toughened with polyethylene via a co-crosslinking technique

A binary blend which consists of two incompatible polymers such as poly(vinyl chloride) and polyethylene has been performed through a partial co-crosslinking reaction with peroxide to give a co-crosslinked blend with a uniform dispersion of small polyethylene particles and with an improved mechanical property. The results are obtained through the formation of a co-crosslinked product which acts as a potential solid phase dispersant as well as a well-bonded reinforcing interlayer on polyethylene particles uniformly dispersed in poly(vinyl chloride) matrix. The resulting blends (PVC/PE=10/90 wt) give carbon spherules of 0.5 to 1m diameter through pressure-carbonization at 650° C for 1 h.