Time course of the tilorone-induced lysosomal accumulation of sulphated glycosaminoglycans in cultured fibroblasts

Dicationic amphiphilic drugs such as the immunomodulator tilorone [2,7-bis-[2-(diethylamino)ethoxy]fluoren-9-one] are accumulated in lysosomes and disturb the degradation of sulphated glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) thus leading to generalized lysosomal GAG storage (mainly dermatan sulphate) in vivo and in cultured cells. In the present study, the time course of the tilorone-induced GAG storage was determined in cultured bovine corneal fibroblasts by a radiochemical approach and by morphological examination. In contrast to the rapid lysosomal accumulation of the drug as reported previously, it took approximately 42 h to reach 50% of the GAG storage obtained after 96 h. This is thought to be due to the fact that the temporal development of storage of undigested GAGs depends on the natural delivery of GAGs towards the lysosomal apparatus.     

Outplacement: Client characteristics and outcomes.

Outplacement firms developed in response to corporate downsizings to assist former upper-level employees in seeking reemployment. An important question for practitioners who assist clients in outplacement is how the personal characteristics that clients bring to the situation influence their success in finding a new job. The present archival study examined demographic variables, previous job history, and personality characteristics as predictors of outplacement outcomes. Outplacement duration was predicted by previous income, and new earnings were predicted by previous earnings, sex, and years with previous employer. The need for prospective, longitudinal research that examines the coping process in outplacement is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluation of different coating systems by electrochemical methods

Corrosion protection of organic coated steel is determined by free corrosion potential measurements and impedance spectroscopy. The results are classified by means of very basic considerations and evaluation figures are developed. These electrochemical data are correlated with the extent of the corrosion for each coating system. The evaluation figures are used for ranking coating systems and this ranking is correlated with the ranking with reference to the results of standardized and exposure tests.     

Concentration-dependent changes in the latency and amplitude of somatosensory-evoked potentials by desflurane, isoflurane and sevoflurane

Despite improvement in early diagnosis, surgical techniques, and general patient care, most deaths of cancer patients result from metastases. Recent studies have revealed that cytokines produced by cancer cells or by stromal cells play an important role into development the cancer metastasis. The formation of a cancer metastasis involves several major steps: 1) extensive vascularization; 2) local invasion; 3) adherence either to capillary endothelial cells or to subendothelial basement membrane; 4) extravasation; and 5) proliferation. In colon cancer, several cytokines such as growth factors, inflammatory cytokines, and angiogenic factors have been confirmed to be involved in each step of metastasis. This paper summarizes the involvement of cytokines in the development of invasion and metastasis in colon cancer.     

An entropy-coded lattice vector quantizer for transform and subbandimage coding

A lattice-based vector quantizer (VQ) and noiseless code are proposed for transform and subband image coding. The quantization is simple to implement, and no vector codebooks need to be stored. The noiseless code enumerates lattice codevectors based on their (weighted) l(1) norm. A software implementation is able to handle lattice codebooks of size 2(256). The image coding performance is shown to be comparable or superior to the best encoding methods reported in the literature.     

Customer entrepreneurship on digital platforms: Challenges and solutions for platform business models

Drawing on the mixed methods of qualitative research and agent‐based simulation, this study examines: (a) how end‐users use digital platforms to become customer–entrepreneurs undertaking commercial activities on platforms; and (b) how platform providers can convert this customer entrepreneurship into a revenue stream. Considering that end‐users have traditionally been defined as passive and uncharged actors in platform business models, an in‐depth understanding of their commercial activities and the viable revenue model to monetize this emerging customer practice is warranted. Our qualitative study reveals that customer–entrepreneurs make substantial use of platform offerings to advertise their products; communicate with end‐consumers; and accept payments. These commercial activities are largely exercised for free on platforms, even though they could otherwise serve as a source of revenue. On this point, our simulation results identify two pricing models achieving the generation of nearly identical revenues over time. First, platform providers may charge both advertising and transaction fees, which maximize the survival of professional customer–entrepreneurs. Second, platform businesses may levy advertising fees only, which maximizes the survival of informal customer–entrepreneurs operating on a micro‐scale and part‐time basis. This study offers theoretical, methodological, and managerial implications for platform studies.     

Fast full‐color reflective display via photoluminescent enhancement

Reflective displays are advantageous in applications requiring low power or daylight readability. However, there are no low‐cost reflective technologies capable of displaying bright colors. By employing photoluminescence to more efficiently use ambient light, we created a prototype display that provides bright, full color in a simple, low‐cost architecture. This prototype includes a novel electrokinetic shutter, a layer that incorporates patterned luminescent red, green, and blue sub‐pixel elements, and a novel optical out‐coupling scheme. The luminescent elements convert otherwise‐wasted portions of the incident spectrum to light in the desired color band, resulting in improved color saturation and lightness. This prototype provides a color gamut that is superior to competing reflective display technologies that utilize color filters in single‐layer side‐by‐side sub‐pixel architectures. The current prototype is capable of switching in <0.5 s; future displays based on an alternative electro‐optic shutter technology should achieve video rate operation. A transflective version of this technology has also been prototyped. The transflective version utilizes its backlight with a power efficiency that is at least three times that of a conventional liquid crystal display. These photoluminescence‐based technologies enable a host of applications ranging from low‐power mobile products and retail pricing signage to daylight readable signage for outdoor advertising segments.     

A Further Comparison of Splitting Rules for Decision-Tree Induction

One approach to learning classification rules from examples is to build decision trees. A review and comparison paper by Mingers (Mingers, 1989) looked at the first stage of tree building, which uses a splitting rule to grow trees with a greedy recursive partitioning algorithm. That paper considered a number of different measures and experimentally examined their behavior on four domains. The main conclusion was that a random splitting rule does not significantly decrease classificational accuracy. This note suggests an alternative experimental method and presents additional results on further domains. Our results indicate that random splitting leads to increased error. These results are at variance with those presented by Mingers.     

A novel microneedle array for the treatment of hydrocephalus

We present a microfabricated 10 by 10 array of microneedles for the treatment of a neurological disease called communicating hydrocephalus. Together with the previously reported microvalve array, the current implantable microneedle array completes the microfabricated arachnoid granulations (MAGs) that mimic the function of normal arachnoid granulations. The microneedle array was designed to enable the fixation of the MAGs through dura mater membrane in the brain and thus provide a conduit for the flow of cerebrospinal fluid. Cone-shaped microneedles with hollow channels were fabricated using a series of microfabrication techniques: SU-8 photolithography for tapered geometry, reactive ion etching for sharpening the microneedles, 248 nm deep UV excimer laser machining for creating through-hole inside the microneedles, and metal sputtering for improved rigidity. Puncture tests were conducted using porcine dura mater and the results showed that the fabricated microneedle array is strong enough to pierce the dura mater. The in vitro biocompatibility test result showed that none of the 100 outlets of the microneedles exposed to the bloodstream were clogged significantly by blood cells. We believe that these test results demonstrate the potential use of the microneedle array as a new treatment of hydrocephalus.