Facile method for the preparation of tri-O-(alkyl)cellulose

A simple way to prepare tri-O-(alkyl)cellulose from cellulose acetate (CA) in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) using the appropriate alkyl iodide and NaOH has been developed. In this procedure, the addition of a small amount of water to the DMSO solution improved the efficiency of etherification. The substitution pattern of (methyl)cellulose (MC) was investigated to determine the effect of added water on the relative reactivities of the glucose ring substituents. This etherification method can be applied to alkylate other polymers with acetate-functional groups that are soluble in DMSO.     

Reactive Synthesis of a Porous Calcium Zirconate/Spinel Composite with Idiomorphic Spinel Grains

Porous CaZrO₃/MgAl₂O₄ composites were synthesized in air by pressureless reactive sintering of an equimolar mixture of dolomite (CaMg(CO₃)₂), monoclinic zirconia ( m -ZrO₂), and α-alumina powders, with a 0.5 wt% lithium fluoride additive. The reaction behavior of the mixed powders (with/without LiF additive) was studied using high-temperature X-ray diffraction. A bulk porous composite resulted from sintering at 1300°C for 2 h (in a nearly closed container, so as to increase the LiF-doping effect), which consisted of fine grains (CaZrO₃ and MgAl₂O₄, ∼0.5–1 μm) and well-grown idiomorphic ones (MgAl₂O₄ octahedra ∼ 2–4 μm). The idiomorphic spinel grains were located around the inner walls of relatively large pores. The composite showed appreciably high bending strength (σ_f= 110 ± 8 MPa for a porosity of 31%). The porous CaZrO₃/MgAl₂O₄ composites can be applied as high-temperature filters and lightweight structural components.     

Altered Pre-mRNA Splicing Caused by a Novel Intronic Mutation c.1443+5G>A in the Dihydropyrimidinase (DPYS) Gene

Dihydropyrimidinase (DHP) deficiency is an autosomal recessive disease caused by mutations in the DPYS gene. Patients present with highly elevated levels of dihydrouracil and dihydrothymine in their urine, blood and cerebrospinal fluid. The analysis of the effect of mutations in DPYS on pre-mRNA splicing is hampered by the fact that DHP is primarily expressed in liver and kidney cells. The minigene approach can detect mRNA splicing aberrations using cells that do not express the endogenous mRNA. We have used a minigene-based approach to analyze the effects of a presumptive pre-mRNA splicing mutation in two newly identified Chinese pediatric patients with DHP deficiency. Mutation analysis of DPYS showed that both patients were compound heterozygous for a novel intronic mutation c.1443+5G>A in intron 8 and a previously described missense mutation c.1001A>G (p.Q334R) in exon 6. Wild-type and the mutated minigene constructs, containing exons 7, 8 and 9 of DPYS, yielded different splicing products after expression in HEK293 cells. The c.1443+5G>A mutation resulted in altered pre-mRNA splicing of the DPYS minigene construct with full skipping of exon 8. Analysis of the DHP crystal structure showed that the deletion of exon 8 severely affects folding, stability and homooligomerization of the enzyme as well as disruption of the catalytic site. Thus, the analysis suggests that the c.1443+5G>A mutation results in aberrant splicing of the pre-mRNA encoding DHP, underlying the DHP deficiency in two unrelated Chinese patients.     

Thermoelectric Properties for a Suspended Microribbon of Quasi-One-Dimensional TiS<Subscript>3</Subscript>

Transition-metal trichalcogenides MX₃ (M = Ti, Zr, Nb, Ta; X = S, Se) are well-known inorganic quasi-one-dimensional conductors. Among them, we have investigated the thermoelectric properties of titanium trisulfide TiS₃ microribbon. The electrical resistivity ρ, thermal conductivity κ, and thermoelectric power S were measured using 3ω method. The weight mean values were found to be ρ = 5 mω m and κ = 10 W K^?1 m^?1 along the one-dimensional direction (b-axis) of the TiS₃ microribbon. Combined with the thermoelectric power S = ?530 μV K^?1, the figure of merit was calculated as ZT = 0.0023. This efficiency is the same as that of randomly oriented bulk TiS₃. We also estimated the anisotropy of σ and κ using the present results and those for randomly oriented bulk material. The obtained weak anisotropy for TiS₃ is attributable to strong coupling between triangular columns consisting of TiS₃ units. These experimental results are consistent with theoretical results obtained using density functional theory (DFT) calculations.     

Rat kidney glomerular basement membrane visualized in situ by embedment-free sectioning and subsequent platinum-carbon replication

Following the removal of polyethylene glycol (PEG) from thin sections, and viewing through the endothelial fenestrae and/or the interpedicel spaces, the rat renal glomerular basement membrane in situ was revealed to consist of meshworks and to be electron-transparent when examined at right angles to the plane of the membrane. By subsequent platinum replication of the embedment-free sections, the lamina densa of the basement membrane appeared as a veil composed of rather closely packed particles. The architecture of the slit diaphragm and the surface morphology of the endothelial cell membrane were also clearly revealed. The present results indicate that the PEG method, with or without replication, can provide valuable information on basement membrane morphology.     

Polyethylene glycol (PEG) embedding and subsequent de-embedding as a method for the correlation of light microscopy,scanning electron microscopy,and transmission electron microscopy

The polyethylene glycol (PEG) embedding and subsequent deembedding method was applied to the observation of general tissues in scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Resulting SEM images were of high quality. It was demonstrated that intermicroscopic correlation of images between light microscopy (LM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is easily and reliably done by means of the PEG method. In particular, the exact correlation of immuno-LM with SEM is shown to be of potential value.     

Morphological abstraction of thyroid tumor cell nuclei using morphometry with factor analysis

Various morphonuclear studies by digital image analysis have successfully been applied to quantify the nuclear morphology, including chromatin distribution pattern, in cytology of various organs; however, the majority of past reports have not shown correlation between the quantitative data by digital image analysis and cytological findings in practical diagnosis. In this report, we present the usefulness of morphological abstraction to combine the objective data and subjective observation in cytological diagnosis. Randomly selected, 100 cells in each Papanicolaou-stained ABC smear samples of 39 benign and malignant thyroid tumor cases were studied. Gray-level image data provided seven parameters for nuclear size, four parameters for nuclear shape, and 16 parameters showing the nuclear chromatin patterns from high-dimensional texture analysis of using co-occurrence and run-length matrices. To statistically abstract nuclear morphology, factor analysis was used. Factor analysis classified morphological nuclear characters as abstraction parameter into five abstract parameters composed of nuclear size, shape, heterogeneity, and contrast and homogeneity of chromatin pattern. The nuclei of papillary carcinoma showed larger size, more irregular shape, and higher contrast of chromatin pattern than those of the benign group. The follicular carcinomas have larger nucleus in each cell and more monotonous chromatin pattern among cells in each case than those of the benign group. Morphological abstraction by morphometry with factor analysis may provide a practical approach to the detection of the underlying characteristics of nuclear morphology in aspiration biopsy cytology.