Design of artificial extracellular matrices for tissue engineering

The design of artificial extracellular matrix (ECM) is important in tissue engineering because artificial ECM regulates cellular behaviors, including proliferation, survival, migration, and differentiation. Artificial ECMs have several functions in tissue engineering, including provision of cell-adhesive substrate, control of three-dimensional tissue structure, and presentation of growth factors, cell-adhesion signals, and mechanical signals. Design criteria for artificial ECMs vary considerably depending on the type of the engineered tissue. This article reviews the materials and methods that have been used in fabrication of artificial ECMs for engineering of specific tissues, including liver, cartilage, bone, and skin. This article also reviews artificial ECMs used for modulation of stem cell behaviors for tissue engineering applications.     

Other oleochemical uses: Palm oil products

Production and consumption of palm oil and its products are discussed as they relate to industrial products. The large volumes of palm oil being produced and projected for future production should increase the use of its byproducts in oleochemicals. Tallow is the most competitive fat to palm oil in these applications, but its market share (at least in Japan) seems to be declining. An enzymatic process for hydrolyzing fats and oils by a solid phase process is described.     

High Performance Control of Matrix Converter Fed Induction Motor Drive System

I Introduction Matrix converter(MC)is a modern energyconversion device that has been developed over the lastthree decades[1~5].Matrix converter fed motor drive issuperiorto pulse width modulation(PWM)inverter drivessince it provides bi-directional power f…     

Calcium channels in the GABAergic presynaptic nerve terminals projecting to meynert neurons of the rat

Effects of selective Ca2+ channel blockers on GABAergic inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) were studied in the acutely dissociated rat nucleus basalis of Meynert (nBM) neurons attached with nerve endings, namely, the "synaptic bouton" preparation, and in the thin slices of nBM, using nystatin perforated and conventional whole-cell patch recording modes, respectively. In the synaptic bouton preparation, nicardipine (3 x 10(-6) M) and omega-conotoxin-MVIIC (3 x 10(-6) M) reduced the frequency of spontaneous postsynaptic currents by 37 and 22%, respectively, whereas omega-conotoxin-GVIA had no effect. After blockade of L- and P/Q-type Ca2+ channels, successive removal of Ca2+ from external solution had no significant effect on the residual spontaneous activities, indicating that N-, R-, and T-type Ca2+ channels are not involved in the spontaneous GABA release. Thapsigargin, but not ryanodine, increased the frequency of spontaneous IPSCs in both the synaptic bouton and slice preparations, suggesting the partial contribution of the intracellular Ca2+ storage site to the spontaneous GABA release. In contrast, omega-conotoxin-GVIA (3 x 10(-6) M) and omega-conotoxin-MVIIC (3 x 10(-6) M) suppressed the evoked IPSCs by 31 and 37%, respectively, but nicardipine produced no significant effect. The residual evoked currents were abolished in Ca2+-free external solution but not in the external solution containing 10(-5) M Ni2+, suggesting the involvement of N-, P/Q-, and R-type Ca2+ channels but not L- and T-type ones in the evoked IPSCs. Neither thapsigargin nor ryanodine had any significant effects on the evoked IPSCs. It was concluded that Ca2+ channel subtypes responsible for spontaneous transmitter release are different from those mediating the transmitter release evoked by nerve stimulation.     

Quadruped virtual robot simulation in a virtual environment obeying physical laws

In the development of a robot, the validation of that robot with the use of real machinery takes a considerable amount of time and money. In particular, it is difficult to validate a robot’s behavior in an unsafe place. The developers also have to pay attention to virtual debugging. Using a program validated in VR space makes the verification of a real machine’s behavior more efficient. In this research, we make a virtual robot walk on a road autonomously by using a program where the virtual robot tracks a line in a virtual environment.     

Biopharmaceutics classification by high throughput solubility assay and PAMPA

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relevancy of the high throughput solubility assay and permeability assay to the biopharmaceutics classification system (BCS). Solubility and permeability were measured by high throughput solubility assay (HTSA) and parallel artificial membrane permeation assay (PAMPA), respectively. High throughput solubility assay was performed using simulated gastric fluid (SGF, pH 1.2) and simulated intestinal fluid without bile acid (SIF, pH 6.8). We categorize 18 drugs based on the BCS using HTSA and PAMPA. Fourteen out of 18 drugs were correctly classified (78% success rate). The result of the present study showed that HTSA could predict BCS class with a high success rate, and PAMPA could also be useful to predict the permeation of drugs.