Anisotropic Pair-breaking by Impurity Doping in High-Tc Cuprates: Modification of Interlayer Coupling

Impurity (Zn/Ni) doping effects on the superconducting coherence length and the penetration depth have been studied for the in-plane and the out-of-plane directions of YBa ₂ Cu ₃ O _y single crystals. We determined from diamagnetic susceptibility in the reversible region and from optical conductivity spectra. It was found that both in and the ac-anisotropy ratio is reduced with impurity doping. Both changes can be explained by assuming an increase in Josephson coupling strength due to impurity doping.     

Fucoxanthin Prevents Pancreatic Tumorigenesis in C57BL/6J Mice That Received Allogenic and Orthotopic Transplants of Cancer Cells

Fucoxanthin (Fx) is a marine carotenoid with anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties in various animal models of carcinogenesis. However, there is currently no information on the effects of Fx in animal models of pancreatic cancer. We investigated the chemopreventive effects of Fx in C57BL/6J mice that received allogenic and orthotopic transplantations of cancer cells (KMPC44) derived from a pancreatic cancer murine model (Ptf1a^Cre/+; LSL-kras^G12D/+). Using microarray, immunofluorescence, western blot, and siRNA analyses, alterations in cancer-related genes and protein expression were evaluated in pancreatic tumors of Fx-administered mice. Fx administration prevented the adenocarcinoma (ADC) development of pancreatic and parietal peritoneum tissues in a pancreatic cancer murine model, but not the incidence of ADC. Gene and protein expressions showed that the suppression of chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 21 (CCL21)/chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7) axis, its downstream of Rho A, B- and T-lymphocyte attenuator (BTLA), N-cadherin, αSMA, pFAK(Tyr³⁹⁷), and pPaxillin(Tyr³¹) were significantly suppressed in the pancreatic tumors of mice treated with Fx. In addition, Ccr7 knockdown significantly attenuated the growth of KMPC44 cells. These results suggest that Fx is a promising candidate for pancreatic cancer chemoprevention that mediates the suppression of the CCL21/CCR7 axis, BTLA, tumor microenvironment, epithelial mesenchymal transition, and adhesion.     

Estrogenic activity of impurities in industrial grade bisphenol A

The estrogenicities of 10 compounds found as impurities in industrial grade bisphenol A (BPA) were measured by yeasttwo-hybrid assays incorporating the human estrogen receptor alpha(hERalpha) orthe medaka fish (Oryziaslatipes) estrogen receptor alpha (medERalpha). Five impurities showed greater activity than BPA itself in an agonist assay for hERalpha. p-Cumylphenol, the most active of the impurities in the hERalpha assay, was 12 times as active as BPA. The REC10 (10% relative effective concentration: 10% of the activity of 10(-8)M 17,B-estradiol) was 710 nM. Five impurities showed greater activity than BPA in an agonist assay for medERa: 4,4'-(1,3-dimethylbutylidene) bisphenol and 2-(4'-hydroxy-phenyl)-2,4,4-trimethylchroman were nearly equipotent and 9 times as active as BPA, and the REC10 values of these compounds in the medERalpha assay were 280 and 320 nM, respectively. Comparison of the experimentally determined estrogenicities of mixtures of BPA and 4,4'-(1,3-dimeth-ylbutylidene) bisphenol and those calculated by the concentrations addition (CA) method confirmed the suitability of the method for the prediction of the estrogenicities of the mixtures of BPA and its phenolic analogues. The measured estrogenicities of four samples of industrial grade BPA and laboratory grade (pure) BPA were not significantly different in either the hERalpha assay or the medERalpha assay (p > 0.05 in each case). We conclude that the impurities in industrial grade BPA, although some are of much higher estrogenic activity than BPA itself, do not significantly increase the estrogenicity of the industrial compound and therefore do not increase possible adverse health effects from such activity.     

Distribution of Inherent Strains and Residual Stresses in Medium Thickness Plate Weldment

A fundamental theory for the analysis of residual welding stresses and deformation based on the inherent strain distribution along the welded joint is introduced. Distribution of inherent strains and longitudinal residual stresses in medium thickness plate weldment is calculated and analyzed. A new method of calculating inherent strains and longitudinal residual stresses is proposed.     

Distribution of Longitudinal Inherent Strains in Multiple-passes Welding

A fundamental theory for the analysis of residual welding stresses and deformation based on the inherent strain distribution along the welded joint is introduced. The computing method of distribution of longitudinal inherent strains in multiple-passes welding in heavy plate weldment is proposed. Distribution of longitudinal inherent strains in one-pass welding and two-passes welding are compared and analyzed. The effect of cutting on inherent strain is discussed.     

Twenty-year follow-up on the effect of HLA matching on kidney transplant survival and prediction of future twenty-year survival

The difficulty in achieving long-term survival is demonstrated by the fact that an improvement of 30 percentage points in 1-year cadaver donor survival resulted in only a 10-percentage point improvement over 20 years. In early transplants from 1965 to 1974, the 20-year survival rate of HLA identical siblings was 46%, of parental donors 27%, and of cadaver donors 12%. More recent grafts, performed since 1987, had a projected survival of 57% for identical donors, 30% for parental donors, and 18% for cadaver donors. With respect to HLA matching for cadaver donor kidney transplants, a 0 AB-antigen mismatch produced higher graft survival than did mismatched transplants during the 20-year period from 1965 to 1984. After the introduction of HLA Class II typing in 1980 and general improvements in typing for transplants performed after 1987, the 0 ABDR-mismatched grafts have a projected 20-year survival of 40%. The projected survival rates for transplants with one or more mismatches fall progressively to 13% for transplants that have 6 ABDR mismatches. Thus, the success due to HLA matching has improved ever since the introduction of cyclosporine because of the concurrent improvements in tissue typing for Class I and Class II specificities.     

Carrier-mediated transport of H1-antagonist at the blood-brain barrier: mepyramine uptake into bovine brain capillary endothelial cells in primary monolayer cultures

The transport mechanism of the H1-antagonist mepyramine at the blood-brain barrier (BBB) was studied by using primary cultured monolayers of bovine brain capillary endothelial cells (BCEC). The initial uptake of [3H]mepyramine into the BCEC showed strong temperature and concentration dependency, indicating that it involves both saturable and nonsaturable processes. Transport at the luminal membrane may be the rate-limiting process in the transcellular transport, since the values of the uptake coefficient of [3H]mepyramine at the luminal membrane (609 microliters/mg protein/min) and the transcellular permeability coefficient (488 microliters/mg protein/min) are very similar. The initial uptake of [3H]mepyramine was not affected by metabolic inhibitors, but was stimulated by preloading with the drug. Mepyramine appears to be transported into the BCEC by a carrier-mediated transport system which does not require metabolic energy, probably via a facilitated diffusion mechanism.