Anesthetic experience in congenital arthrogryposis multiplex

Rat pancreatic juice (RPJ) reduced the mean uptake of 57CoB12 bound to rat intrinsic factor (IF) by perfused rat intestinal segments from 30.1 +/- 2.4 (pg 57CoB12 per cm intestine +/- S.E.M.) to 26.7 +/- 2.4 (p less than 0.05). RPJ activated with enterokinase reduced the uptake from 22.8 +/- 2.8 to 16.1 +/- 1.9 (p less than 0.05). RPJ also reduced the uptake from 15.8 +/- 2.3 to 8.3 +/- 2.0 (p less than 0.01) in segments from partially pancreatectomized rats. Rat bile abolished the inhibitory effect of RPJ. The results indicate that in the absence of bile the exocrine pancreatic secretion is capable of inhibiting the intestinal uptake of vitamin B12.     

Biomimetic autoseparation of leukocytes from whole blood in a microfluidic device

Leukocytes comprise less than 1% of all blood cells. Enrichment of their number, starting from a sample of whole blood, is the required first step of many clinical and basic research assays. We created a microfluidic device that takes advantage of the intrinsic features of blood flow in the microcirculation, such as plasma skimming and leukocyte margination, to separate leukocytes directly from whole blood. It consists of a simple network of rectangular microchannels designed to enhance lateral migration of leukocytes and their subsequent extraction from the erythrocyte-depleted region near the sidewalls. A single pass through the device produces a 34-fold enrichment of the leukocyte-to-erythrocyte ratio. It operates on microliter samples of whole blood, provides positive, continuous flow selection of leukocytes, and requires neither preliminary labeling of cells nor input of energy (except for a small pressure gradient to support the flow of blood). This effortless, efficient, and inexpensive technology can be used as a lab-on-a-chip component for initial whole blood sample preparation. Its integration into microanalytical devices that require leukocyte enrichment will enable accelerated transition of these devices into the field for point-of-care clinical testing.     

Potential estimation of hourly blank storage space and charge loads of EVs using road traffic census and vehicles status

If both EVs (Electric Vehicles, includes plug‐in hybrid electric vehicles) and renewable energies spread in large quantities, it is possible to control the supply fluctuation of renewable energies using the storage battery of EVs. This research sought to show the charge load potential of EVs based on the state of the Japanese passenger car using traffic census results, etc. Furthermore, it tried to show the trend of the storage battery capacity according to time. From the estimated results: (1) the charge electricity of low and middle distance gets a majority of the total charge demand, (2) charge load changes according to time several times, and the minimum load is the number of gigawatt‐hours at early morning, (3) if night charge is assumed, the standby charge demand of noon will reach tens of gigawatt‐hours, it may have sufficient scale for supply fluctuation control of PVs. Although the present EV is not suitable for long‐distance running, these are expected to be 30 or less percent of the total charge demand. The estimated storage capacity potential in this research will not change numbers of times. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 182(3): 30–38, 2013; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.22352     

Effects of sulfated fucan,ascophyllan, from the brown Alga Ascophyllum nodosum on various cell lines: A comparative study on ascophyllan and fucoidan

The effects of fucose-containing sulfated polysaccharides, ascophyllan and fucoidan, isolated from the brown alga Ascophyllum nodosum, on the growth of various cell lines (MDCK, Vero, PtK₁, CHO, HeLa, and XC) were investigated. In a colony formation assay, ascophyllan and fucoidan showed potent cytotoxic effects on Vero and XC cells, while other cell lines were relatively resistant to these polysaccharides. Almost no significant effects of these polysaccharides were observed in the cell lines tested using the Alamar blue cytotoxicity assay over 48 h with varying initial cell densities (2500–20,000 cells/well) in growth medium. Interestingly, a significant growth promoting effect of ascophyllan on MDCK cells was observed, whereas treatment with fucoidan showed growth suppressive effects on this cell line under the same experimental conditions. These results suggest that ascophyllan is distinguishable from fucoidan in terms of their bioactivities. This is the first report of the growth promoting effects of a sulfated fucan on a mammalian cell line under normal growth conditions.     

Increased remineralization of tooth enamel by milk containing added casein phosphopeptide-amorphous calcium phosphate

Casein phosphopeptide amorphous calcium phosphate nano-complexes (CPP-ACP) in chewing gum, lozenges and mouthrinses have been shown to re-mineralize enamel subsurface lesions in human in situ experiments. The aim of this double-blind, randomized clinical study was to investigate the capacity of CPP-ACP added to bovine milk to re-mineralize enamel subsurface lesions in situ. Ten subjects drank milk containing either 2.0 or 5.0 g CPP-ACP/l or a control milk whilst wearing removable appliances with enamel slabs containing subsurface demineralized lesions. Each 200 ml milk sample was consumed once a day for each weekday over three consecutive weeks. After each treatment and one weeks rest the subjects crossed over to the other treatments. At the completion of the treatments the enamel slabs were removed and remineralization determined using microradiography and microdensitometry. The results demonstrated that all three milk samples re-mineralized enamel subsurface lesions. However, the milk samples containing CPP-ACP produced significantly greater remineralization than the control milk. The re-mineralizing effect of CPP-ACP in milk was dose-dependent with 2.0 and 5.0 g CPP-ACP/l producing an increase in mineral content of 70 and 148%, respectively, relative to the control milk. The differences in remineralization following exposure to the three milk samples were all statistically significant (P<0.001). In conclusion, this study shows that the addition of 2.0-5.0 g CPP-ACP/l to milk substantially increases its ability to re-mineralize enamel subsurface lesions.