Effects of N-methacryloyl amino acid applications on hybrid layer formation at the interface of intertubular dentin

To understand the role of NMAA in the bonding of composite resin to a dentin surface, we investigated the effects of N-methacryloyl amino acid (NMAA) application on the expansion of aggregated collagen fibers, formation of a hybrid layer, and the tensile bond strength between composite resin and dentin. Four NMAA derivatives--N-methacryloyl-alpha-glycine (NMGly), N-methacryloyl-gamma-amino n-butyric acid (NMBu), N-methacryloyl-alpha-hydroxyproline (NMHPro), and N-methacryloyl-alpha-glutamic acid (NMGlu)--were prepared and applied to dentin surfaces which had been etched with 40% by mass H3PO4 and air-blown. The shrunken collagenous layer expanded by approximately 50% to 70% by volume of the original collagenous layer thickness after application of the NMAA primers. Application of the bonding agent and composite resin after NMAA treatment resulted in the formation of a hybrid layer. The thickness of the hybrid layer was somewhat smaller than the collagenous layer formed by the NMAA treatment only, regardless of the type of NMAA used. The thickness of the hybrid layer was approximately ten times larger than that formed without NMAA treatment. Although all NMAA primers formed hybrid layers of similar thickness, higher tensile bond strengths, from 13 to 15 MPa, were obtained when etched and air-blown dentin was treated with NMBu, NMGly, or NMGlu. NMHPro gave only 6.6 MPa, a value similar to that obtained when no NMAA was used. We concluded, therefore, that formation of the hybrid layer is a necessary but insufficient condition for high bond strength.     

Neurotrophic activity of organosulfur compounds having a thioallyl group on cultured rat hippocampal neurons

Several organosulfur compounds found in garlic extract promoted the survival of rat hippocampal neurons in vitro. From the analysis of structure-activity relationship, thioallyl group in these compounds is essential for the manifestation of neurotrophic activity. S-Allyl-L-cysteine (SAC), one of the organosulfur compounds having thioallyl group in garlic extract, also promoted the axonal branching of cultured neurons. These results suggest that thioallyl compounds make a unique group of neurotrophic factors.     

Theory of Three-Dimensional Discontinuous Deformation Analysis and Its Application to a Slope Toppling at Amatoribashi, Japan

A three-dimensional (3D) rock slope toppling occurred in a discontinuous rock mass. To simulate the failure process and study the mechanism of this rock failure with contact and large displacement in 3D, a new discrete numerical method has been developed called the 3D discontinuous deformation analysis (DDA). This article first introduces the basic principles and then derives the formulas in detail. Finally, the slope failure simulation is applied as an example to investigate the applicability of this new method to rock slope failure research. The simulation results indicate the advantages of using this new method to study the mechanism of a rock slope failure with 3D behavior.     

Distal sensory axonopathy after sarin intoxication

A 51-year-old man inhaled sarin during a terrorist attack on the Tokyo subway system and died 15 months later. Neuropathologic examination revealed marked nerve fiber decrease in the sural nerve, moderate nerve fiber loss in the sciatic nerve, and unremarkable dorsal root ganglia, dorsal roots, and posterior column of the spinal cord. This pathology is consistent with dying-back degeneration of the peripheral nervous system and could represent a late sequela of sarin intoxication.     

Application of extremely low viscosity methylcellulose (MC) for pellet film coating

OBJECTIVE: The American Diabetes Association has recommended that pregnant women with low-risk factors need not be tested for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of GDM in women with low-risk factors and to see if the pregnancy outcomes of women with GDM from a low-risk group were different from the outcomes of other women with GDM. RESEARCH DESION AND METHODS: Over an 18-month period, all pregnant women were offered a test for GDM using a 75-g glucose tolerance test at the beginning of the 3rd trimester. GDM was diagnosed if the 2-h glucose level was > or =8.0 mmol/l. The prevalence of GDM was determined in women with defined low-risk factors (Caucasian ethnic origin, age <25 years, and BMI <25 kg/m2). The pregnancy outcomes of women with GDM from a low-risk group were compared with those of other women with GDM. RESULTS: From a tested population of 2,907 women, 573 were identified as coming from a low-risk group. The prevalence of GDM in this low-risk group was 2.8%. The pregnancy outcomes of women with GDM from a low-risk group were no different from the pregnancy outcomes of other women with GDM, with respect to frequency of insulin use, units of insulin per day, morbidity, emergency caesarian section, and the percentage of both large- and small-for-gestational-age babies. In our population, if low-risk women were excluded, 80% of women would still require testing and nearly 10% of all cases of GDM would be missed. CONCLUSIONS: Women from a low-risk group have a 2.8% prevalence rate of GDM. The pregnancy outcomes of women with GDM from a low-risk group are similar to the outcomes of other women with GDM. Concerning the use of the 75-g glucose tolerance test in pregnancy, the recommendation not to test women from a low-risk group requires further evaluation in different populations before it can be endorsed.     

Room temperature continuous-wave operation of GaInNAs/GaAs VCSELsgrown by chemical beam epitaxy with output power exceeding 1 mW

The authors present a near 1200 nm wavelength vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) the active region of which is formed by GaInNAs/GaAs quantum wells grown by chemical beam epitaxy. Room temperature continuous-wave operation has been demonstrated with a high slope efficiency of 0.23 W/A, a high output power of over 1.0 mW, and a singlemode output power of 0.34 mW. The fabricated devices with different aperture sizes show low threshold currents of 1.2-2.1 mA and a record low threshold current density of 2.6 kA/cm² in GaInNAs VCSELs     

A Novel Gateway Selection Technique for Throughput Optimization in Configurable Wireless Mesh Networks

Wireless mesh networks (WMNs) have attracted much attention due to their low up-front cost, easy network deployment, stable topology, robustness, reliable coverage, and so forth. These advantages are suitable for the disaster recovery applications in disaster areas, where WMNs can be advantageously utilized to restore network collapse after the disaster. In this paper, based on a new network infrastructure for WMNs, to guarantee high network performance, we focus on the issue of throughput optimization to improve the performance for WMNs. Owing to selecting different mesh router (MR) as the gateway will lead to different network throughput capacity, we propose a novel gateway selection technique to rapidly select the optimal MR as the gateway, in order to maximize the network throughput. In addition, we take into account the traffic distribution for the MR to eliminate traffic congestion in our method. The performance of our proposed method is evaluated by both numerical and simulated analysis. The simulation results demonstrate that the gateway selection method is effective and efficient to optimize the throughput for WMNs.     

Iodine induced thyroid disease

Although iodine prevents goiter, enlarged thyroid glands continue to be detected in subjects, especially children, in spite of adequate iodine ingestion. Iodine may cause goiter in susceptible individuals by inhibiting the organic binding of iodine as is seen in adult asthmatics, neonates born of iodine ingesting mothers and in subjects residing along the littoral of Japan. Myxedema, especially in treated Graves' disease and Hashimoto's disease, may also be precipitated by iodine. On the other hand, iodine given to euthyroid subjects in areas of endemic goiter and to subjects with nontoxic nodular goiter may induce thyrotoxicosis by disclosing diffuse autonomously functioning thyroid tissue. An indirect adverse effect of iodine upon the thyroid gland may be manifested by lymphocyte glandular infiltrates and chronic thyroiditis which were sparse or absent in thyroid glands removed from subjects living in iodine deficient areas before iodine prophylaxis and therapy. Not only has the incidence of thyroiditis increased, but the histologic and clinical distinctions between treated Graves' disease and chronic thyroiditis have become indistinct. Experimentally, chronic thyroiditis has been produced in animals following large doses of iodine. Accumulated evidence supports the concept that iodine contributes to the genesis of chronic thyroiditis.     

Analysis of the IgE-epitope of Der f 2, a major mite allergen, by in vitro mutagenesis

Der f 2 is a major mite allergen composed of 129 amino acid residues. To determine the major epitopes on Der f 2 recognized by human IgE antibodies, artificial mutations were introduced to Der f 2 protein. The IgE-binding activity of Der f 2 was significantly decreased by deletion of 10 amino acids at the N-terminus or nine amino acids at the C-terminus. Site-directed mutagenesis with a single amino acid replacement by Ala or Leu in both N- and C-terminal regions as well as a central portion was performed to generate 42 single-site mutations. Amino acid replacement around a disulfide bond of Cys8-Cys119 caused a marked decrease in IgE-binding activity. Furthermore, a distinct decrease in IgE-binding was also caused by Ala-substitution close to a disulfide bond of Cys73-Cys78 and by mutations of a few charged residues. From these results, it was concluded that the two disulfide-forming regions of Der f 2 and several charged residues are important for forming major epitope structures recognized by human IgE antibodies.