Characterization of elevated neutrophil-associated IgG in various autoimmune disorders: not anti-neutrophil autoantibodies, but possibly immune complexes, bind to neutrophils

Resistance to toxicants is a convenient model for investigating whether adaptive changes are associated with pleiotropic fitness costs. Despite the voluminous literature devoted to this subject, intraspecific comparisons among toxicant resistance genes are rare. We report here results on the pleiotropic effect on adult survival of Culex pipiens mutants involved in the same adaptation: the resistance to organophosphorus insecticides. This field study was performed in southern France where four resistance genes sequentially appeared and increased in frequency in response to intense insecticide control. By repeated sampling of overwintering females through winter, we analysed the impact of each of three resistance genes on adult survival. We showed that (i) the most recent gene seems to be of no disadvantage during winter, (ii) the oldest affects survival in some environmental conditions, and (iii) the third induces a constant, severe and dominant survival cost. Such variability is discussed in relation to the physiological changes involved in resistance.     

A novel regulatory epitope defined by a murine monoclonal antibody to the platelet GPIIb-IIIa complex (alpha IIb beta 3 integrin)

We characterized a murine monoclonal antibody, PT25-2 (IgG1), raised against washed human platelets. The antibody and its Fab fragments were both capable of inducing platelet aggregation in a fibrinogen-dependent manner and induced 125I-fibrinogen binding to unstimulated platelets (120,000 molecules/platelet at a 100 nM IgG concentration). The antibody immunoprecipitated the alpha IIb beta 3 complex from lysates of iodinated platelets but did not react with the respective subunits when complex formation was disrupted by treatment with 5 mM EDTA at 37 degrees C for 30 min. However, simply removing the extracellular divalent cation with EDTA had no effect on antibody binding indicating that the antibody's epitope depends upon a conformational structure maintained by alpha beta subunit association. Antibody binding to unstimulated, washed platelets yielded binding parameters (Kd = 40 nM, Bmax = 100,000 molecules/platelet), which were found to be virtually unchanged when binding was performed using thrombin or RGDS-peptide-stimulated platelets. Thus, the PT25-2 antibody defines a novel regulatory epitope expressed by the alpha IIb beta 3 integrin on unstimulated, quiescent platelets.     

Assessment of right hepatic artery involvement in patients with biliary tract cancer using color Doppler ultrasonography

Monoclonal antibody (MAb) CC49 binds to human tumour-associated glycoprotein termed TAG-72. CC49 is a second-generation MAb with higher affinity to TAG-72 than the original MAb B72.3. CC49 was applied to 42 samples from different canine mammary tumours, belonging to seven different histopathological types. Immunoreactivity was detected by the use of an avidin-biotin complex immunoperoxidase method. Most sections from all types of mammary neoplasm reacted with this MAb. Normal tissue did not stain or stained only weakly. The results of this study suggest CC49 has selective immunoreactivity for a variety of canine mammary tumours, which seems superior to that reported with MAb 72.3. These results support the proposal for further study of diagnostic and therapeutic uses of CC49 in the management of canine mammary tumours.     

Tocopherol distribution and molecular species of triacylglycerols in soybean embryonic axes

Soybean embryonic axes were separated from other tissues, i.e., the cotyledons and seed coat. The molecular species and FA distribution of TAG isolated from total lipids in the embryonic axes were analyzed by a combination of argentation-TLC and GC, and were investigated in relation to their tocopherol distribution, which was determined by HPLC. The dominant components were γ-tocopherols, with much smaller amounts of α-, β-, and δ-tocopherols. A modified argentation-TLC procedure, developed to optimize the separation of the complex mixture of total TAG, provided 16 different groups of TAG, based on both the degree of unsaturation and the total acyl-chain length of FA groups. With a few exceptions, the major TAG components were S₂D (6.8–10.3%), SMD (6.9–11.2%), SD₂ (7.2–9.8%), SMT (3.2–7.4%), SDT (11.5–19.5%), D3 (3.5–8.3%), MDT (4.5–7.7%), D₂T (11.1–20.6%), and DT₂ (8.2–15.7%) (where S denotes saturated FA, M denotes monoenes, D denotes dienes, and T denotes trienes). These results indicate that there were significant differences (P<0.05) not only in tocopherol distribution but also in the molecular species of TAG among the four cultivars. Therefore, these tissues should be made available as raw materials for soybean-germ oil or soy milk, based on the differences in the distributions of tocopherol homologs and the molecular species of TAG within the embryonic axes.     

Colloidal Processing of a Very Fine BaTiO3 Powder—Effect of Particle Interactions on the Suspension Properties, Consolidation, and Sintering Behavior

The relation between the suspension state and the rheological properties, the consolidation, and packing of a very fine (nanosized) BaTiO₃ powder has been investigated. The BaTiO₃ powder was suspended in a nonaqueous medium by adsorbing fatty acids and a polymeric dispersant, poly(12-hydroxy stearic acid), (PHS), at the BaTiO₃/decane interface. Calculated interparticle energies imply that the suspension with PHS adsorbed is colloidally stable, while the suspensions with oleic and octanoic acid can be characterized as weakly and strongly flocculated, respectively. Analysis of settling experiments and rheological measurements at high concentrations confirmed these characteristics. Pressure filtration resulted in nearly identical green body densities in spite of the differences in colloidal properties, but the preliminary sintering experiments and microstructural characterization showed that the strongly flocculated suspension displays a significantly retarded sinterability compared to the colloidally stable and the weakly flocculated suspensions. The absence of a correlation between green density and sintering behavior was explained by considering both the volume taken by the adsorbed fatty acids and the PHS polymer—which can be substantial for nanosized powders—and the state of the suspension. While a decrease in the thickness of adsorbed surfactant or polymer layer will enable a higher particle packing density, such a thin adsorbed layer results in a more strongly flocculated suspension which will resist dense packing. Hence, it is suggested that the green bodies of the colloidally stable and the weakly flocculated suspensions correspond to a relatively homogeneous, but loosely packed, green body microstructure. The strongly flocculated suspension results in a green body with a more inhomogeneous microstructure.     

Characterization of electrode/electrolyte interface using in situ X-ray reflectometry and LiNi0.8Co0.2O2 epitaxial film electrode synthesized by pulsed laser deposition method

An in situ experimental technique was developed for detecting structure changes at the electrode/electrolyte interface of lithium cell using synchrotron X-ray reflectometry and two-dimensional model electrodes with a restricted lattice plane. The electrode was constructed with an epitaxial film of LiNi_0.8Co_0.2O₂ synthesized by the pulsed laser deposition method. The orientation of the epitaxial film depends on the substrate plane; the 2D layer of LiNi_0.8Co_0.2O₂ is parallel to the SrTiO₃ (1 1 1) substrate ((0 0 3)_{LiCo0.2Ni0.8O2}//(1 1 1)SrTiO₃), while the 2D layer is perpendicular to the SrTiO₃ (1 1 0) substrate ((1 1 0)_{LiCo0.2Ni0.8O2}//(1 1 0)SrTiO₃). These films provided an ideal reaction field suitable for detecting structure changes at the electrode/electrolyte interface during the electrochemical reaction. The X-ray reflectometry indicated a formation of a thin-film layer at the LiNi_0.8Co_0.2O₂ (1 1 0)/electrolyte interface during the first charge-discharge cycle, while the LiNi_0.8Co_0.2O₂ (0 0 3) surface showed an increase in the surface roughness without forming the surface thin-film layer. The reaction mechanism at the electrode/electrolyte interface is discussed based on our new experimental technique for lithium batteries.     

Co-existing handednesses of lamella twisting in one spherulite observed with scanning microbeam wide-angle X-ray scattering

In poly(ε caprolacton) (PCL)/poly(vinyl butyral) (PVB) blend which forms band spherulite, some straight lines along the radial direction of the spherulites are observed under polarized optical microscope (POM). By using microbeam scanning WAXS, we have investigated the handedness of lamella twisting on the left and right sides of the straight line. As a result, we have observed that the manner of periodic change of 110 reflection in WAXS is reversed between left and right sides of the straight line with respect to the direction of the X-ray beam scanning. This result clearly shows that the straight line observed under POM is the boundary line of handedness in band spherulite, and further, that both handednesses co-exist within one spherulite. It also implies that the lamellae growing from one nucleus are twisted cooperatively only with neighboring lamellae but not with all lamellae in the spherulite of PCL/PVB.     

In-Situ Coating of Zeolite Na-A on Al2O3-SiO2 Glass Fibers

In-situ coating of zeolite Na-A crystals on Al₂O₃-SiO₂ glass fibers was investigated by a low temperature chemical process. The glass fibers were reacted with various concentrations of NaOH solutions at 60–110°C for various times. The surface of glass fibers was first leached by the solution but crystals of zeolite Na-A precipitated on the glass fibers after a certain reaction time because the concentrations of Si and Al components in the solution increased by dissolution of the glass fibers. The precipitated zeolite was identified to be Na-A type but nosean-cancrinite-type phase and/or hydroxysodalite coexisted with zeolite Na-A at longer reaction times. With higher concentration of NaOH solution, the formation rate of zeolite Na-A was faster, the formation temperature was lower and the grain size was smaller ca. 2–3 m. Dense zeolite Na-A coatings were produced when the glass fibers were reacted in 4 M NaOH solution at 60°C for 18 h. The amount of zeolite Na-A formed on the fibers was about 20 mass%.     

A Methodology for the Performance Evaluation of Inertial Measurement Units

This paper presents a methodology for a reliable comparison among Inertial Measurement Units or attitude estimation devices in a Vicon environment. The misalignment among the reference systems and the lack of synchronization among the devices are the main problems for the correct performance evaluation using Vicon as reference measurement system. We propose a genetic algorithm coupled with Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) to solve these issues. To validate the efficacy of the methodology, a performance comparison is implemented between the WB-3 ultra-miniaturized Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), developed by our group, with the commercial IMU InertiaCube3? by InterSense.