Prevention of hypoxic liver cell necrosis by in vivo human bcl-2 gene transfection

Acute unilateral monosymptomatic optic neuritis (ON) is a common first manifestation of MS if associated with multiple MS-like lesions on brain MRI and oligoclonal IgG bands (OB) in the CSF, whereas ON patients lacking these laboratory abnormalities are considered to have a good prognosis regarding future MS development. Several cytokines involved in immune regulation are upregulated in blood and even more noticeable in CSF in MS. To study a possible relation between cytokine profiles and presence versus absence of MS-like brain MRI lesions and CSF OB, we used in situ hybridization to examine mRNA expression of the proinflammatory interleukin-12 (IL-12), interferon-gamma, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha and the immune response downregulating IL-10, transforming growth factor-beta, and IL-4 in blood and CSF mononuclear cells (MNC) from 59 patients with untreated ON. There were no differences in numbers of MNC in blood or CSF expressing any of the cytokines under study, upon subgrouping the ON patients regarding presence (n = 31) versus absence (n = 28) of MRI lesions, presence (n = 45) versus absence (n = 14) of OB, or duration after onset of ON (<1 month, n = 30, versus >1 month, n = 29). Similarly, no differences were observed for numbers of myelin basic protein-reactive blood MNC expressing any of these cytokines after subgrouping according to these variables. Our findings suggest that the cytokine profile, as examined in this study, is less useful to determine the risk of future development of clinically definite MS in ON patients or as indicator for therapeutic interventions in ON. An upregulation of both pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in ON patients seems to be more related to the CNS disease per se, whether limited to the optic nerve or not, than to the inflammatory process characteristic for MS.     

Development of water re-use treatment system for municipal wastewater

The move for environmental protection and preservation of clean water sources has given rise to the latest tendency in Japan toward reuse of waste water after advanced treatment. As a means of saving water and securing water sources, water reuse systems are beginning to be installed to treat waste water for reuse as flushing water and cooling water for air conditioners.This study was conducted with the aim of developing a compact high-performance water treatment system that may meet the stated requirement.Most water reuse systems in practical use today are based on biological treatment. With this process, treatment is slow and equipment takes up much space. In addition, it involves a large amount of sludge.In an attempt to overcome these disadvantages, we developed a physico- chemical treatment technique that combines the three elementary techniques of dissolved air flotation, foaming separation, and activated carbon packed electrolyzer, and that permits multifunctional treatment with compact equipment. The activated carbon packed electrolyzer, which forms the core of the new system, is a newly developed technique. The purification mechanism was established, and conditions of application to actual waste water were determined. The electrolyzer was combined with the dissolved air flotation and foaming separation methods, to make up an optimum system.With a 10 m³/d trially manufactured apparatus, a demonstration test on reuse of sewage was performed to study the performance and economics of the system. The desired target was achieved and prospects were gained for commercialization.     

Effect of the cholesterol content of a formula on the lipid compositions of plasma lipoproteins and red blood cell membranes in early infancy

We investigated whether or not a regular formula for full-term infants supplemented with cholesterol (cholesterol-fortified) would increase the plasma cholesterol concentration and alter the red blood cell (RBC) membrane lipid composition in healthy full-term infants compared with their breast-fed counterparts. At 1 mo of age, total plasma cholesterol and low-density-lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol were significantly higher in the breast-fed infants than in the cholesterol-unfortified, formula-fed infants. At 3 mo of age, total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol were significantly higher in the breast-fed infants than in the two formula-fed infant groups. These significant differences had disappeared by 6 mo of age. Although the cholesterol-unfortified, formula-fed infants had lower proportions of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n-3) in the RBC membranes compared with the breast-fed group at 6 mo, DHA and EPA concentrations in the cholesterol-fortified, formula-fed infants were not significantly different. The results of the present study suggest that the plasma cholesterol concentration and fatty acid pattern of the RBC membranes in infants fed a cholesterol-fortified formula may be much closer to those in breast-fed infants than in infants fed a cholesterol-unfortified formula.     

Carbon tax for subsidizing photovoltaic power generation systems and its effect on carbon dioxide emissions

This paper proposes a new framework for evaluating quantitatively the effect of carbon taxation. In this study, the tax revenues are supposed to be used only as a subsidy for installing Photovoltaic Power Generation (PV) Systems on houses. The evaluation model developed in this study comprises three sequential modules. The first module is for estimating the demand for the PV system under the subsidy and the carbon taxation policy, the second is the module for life-cycle inventory analysis based on the modified Input–Output table, and the third is the module for calculating the amount of carbon-dioxide emissions from the final-demand vector of the Input–Output table. Major findings of this study are as follows: (1) The amount of CO₂-emission reduction increases by advertising the PV system with subsidy policy even under the same tax-rate. (2) The CO₂-payback time of the PV system reduces by half if the GDP is assumed not to change after the introduction of carbon taxation.     

Study on the generation process of the discharge for color plasmadisplays based on observation by using an ultra-high-speed electroniccamera

Instead of the direct observation of ultraviolet rays of 147 nm emitted from Xe, light emission of 828 nm was observed first by using ultra-high-speed electronic camera system. The experimental results show that the ultraviolet rays of 147 nm emit above both cathodes and anodes simultaneously. The striation phenomena observed on anodes were analyzed     

THREE-DIMENSIONAL FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF STRESS RESPONSE IN ADHESIVE BUTT JOINTS SUBJECTED TO IMPACT BENDING MOMENTS

The stress wave propagation and the stress distribution in adhesive butt joints of T-shaped similar adherends subjected to impact bending moments are calculated using a three-dimensional finite-element method (FEM). An impact bending moment is applied to a joint by dropping a weight. The FEM code employed is DYNA3D. The effects of the Young's modulus of adherends, the adhesive thickness, and the web length of T-shaped adherends on the stress wave propagation at the interfaces are examined. It is found that the highest stress occurs at the interfaces. In the case of T-shaped adherends, it is seen that the maximum principal stress at the interfaces increases as Young's modulus of the adherends increases. In the special case where the web length of T-shaped adherends equals the flange length, the maximum principal stress at the interfaces increases as Young's modulus of the adherends decreases. The maximum principal stress at the interfaces increases as the adherend thickness decreases. The characteristics of the T-shaped adhesive joints subjected to static bending moments are also examined by FEM and compared with those under impact bending moments. Furthermore, strain response of adhesive butt joints was measured using strain gauges. A fairly good agreement is observed between the numerical and the experimental results.     

Interface Stress Response of Laminated Plates Subjected to Static and Impact Loads

This paper deals with the stress analysis of laminated sandwich beams subjected to static loads and impact loads. When the laminated sandwich beams are subjected to static loads, stress distribution at the interfaces is analyzed, by using two-dimensional theory of elasticity, as a contact problem. When the laminated sandwich beams are subjected to impact loads, the interface stress response is analyzed using FEM (DYNA3D). Experiments were conducted. A fairly good agreement is seen between the analytical and the experimental results. The effects of the ratios of Young's moduli for each beam on the interface stress response are clarified.     

hiPSC-Derived Cardiac Tissue for Disease Modeling and Drug Discovery

Relevant, predictive normal, or disease model systems are of vital importance for drug development. The difference between nonhuman models and humans could contribute to clinical trial failures despite ideal nonhuman results. As a potential substitute for animal models, human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived cardiomyocytes (CMs) provide a powerful tool for drug toxicity screening, modeling cardiovascular diseases, and drug discovery. Here, we review recent hiPSC-CM disease models and discuss the features of hiPSC-CMs, including subtype and maturation and the tissue engineering technologies for drug assessment. Updates from the international multisite collaborators/administrations for development of novel drug discovery paradigms are also summarized.     

Gas Release of SiC Implanted with Deuterium or Helium

Helium (He⁺) or Deuterium (D₂⁺) (20 keV) was implanted into polycrystalline β-SiC with an ion dose of 7.2 × 10²¹ (D or He)/m². The implanted specimens were heated at a heating rate of 10 or 20 K/min from room temperature to 1373 K, and the thermal release spectroscopic data were obtained. A sharp peak appeared at approximately 1270 K in the case of He release, and here the activation energy was estimated to be approximately 4.4 eV. Two overlapped peaks appeared at approximately 900 and 1200 K in the case of D₂ release. The shapes of spectra showed strong dependence on the heating rate.