The significance of colocalization of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 and vitronectin in hepatic fibrosis

BACKGROUND: We examined the relationships among vitronectin (VN), plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), and transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) in liver diseases to evaluate the presence of plasmin cascade in human hepatic fibrosis. METHODS: Blood and liver tissues were obtained from 57 patients with liver disease. Plasma VN, PAI-1 antigen, and PAI-1 activity levels were evaluated. Biopsied liver specimens were observed by light and electron microscopy after immunohistochemical staining. Morphometric analysis was performed on these specimens. RESULTS: Plasma VN and PAI-1 activity levels decreased significantly with the progression of hepatic fibrosis and were particularly marked in the liver cirrhosis group. Plasma PAI-1 antigen level increased significantly. The immunolocalization of the active form of TGF-beta became more intense with the progression of hepatic fibrosis, whereas that of the dual-stained positive areas of PAI-1 and VN (PAI-1.VN) decreased. There was a positive correlation between TGF-beta and PAI-1, whereas there was a negative correlation between TGF-beta and PAI-1.VN. Immunoelectron microscopy showed the localization of PAI-1-VN in the extracellular space around the sinusoidal cells or surface of aggregating platelets, TGF-beta mainly in Ito cells, and VN in hepatocytes near the focal necrotic area or fibrous septa. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that VN and PAI-1 are related to the active form of TGF-beta and that it is possible that the plasmin cascade is present in the human liver.     

Ru-doped nanostructured carbon films

Pure and Ru-doped carbon films are deposited on Si (100) substrates by electron cyclotron resonance chemical vapor deposition. The films are characterized by transmission electron microscopy, electron energy loss spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy. In both the pure and Ru-doped samples, diamond nanocrystallites are formed in amorphous carbon matrices. The Ru-doped film contains much smaller diamond nanocrystallites (approx. 3 nm) than the pure samples (approx. 11 nm). Lower surface roughnesses are observed in both pure and Ru-doped samples as compared to other reported nanocrystalline diamond films. The conductivity of the Ru-doped film is significantly higher than that of the pure film. The results show that Ru-doped nanocrystalline diamond films have unique structures and properties as compared to pure nanocrystalline diamond films or metal doped diamond-like carbon films, which may offer advantages for electrochemical, optical-window, field emission or tribological applications.     

Liquid crystalline side-chain polysiloxanes containing mesogenic groups attached by esterification

Summary Liquid crystalline side-chain polysiloxanes were prepared without metal complex catalyst. Mesogenic groups such as cholesteryl, 4-cyano-4-biphenyl and 4-methoxy-4-biphenyl group were introduced into polysiloxane by esterification and from DSC measurements they were compatible with other liquid crystalline polysiloxanes reported previously.     

Radiation-induced polymerization of ethylene in a pilot plant. I. Bulk process

Radiation-induced bulk polymerization of ethylene was carried out with use of a pilot plant with a 10 liter reactor at pressures of 225–400 kg/cm², temperatures of 30–95°C, ethylene feed rates of 5–28 kg/hr, and dose rate of 3.8 × 10⁵ rad/hr. Characteristics of the process are mild polymerization conditions and capability of producing medium density polyethylene in powder form. The spacetime yield and molecular weight of polymer were in the range of 3.5 to 13.1 g/liter hr and 2.2 × 10⁴ to 14 × 10⁴, respectively. The space-time yield increased with mean residence time and 2.4 powders of pressure, and decreased with temperature. Molecular weight changed similarly with the reaction conditions. These results were consistent with those of the bench plant experiment and the scale effect was small. Polymer deposit to the reactor wall limited a period of continuous operation of the plant. The amount of deposited polymer was increased with the square of reaction time. The rate of polymer deposit was proportional to polymer concentration and to the cube of pressure. The polymer deposit cannot be solved in the bulk process.     

Inorganic Design of Protein Assemblies as Supramolecular Platforms

In the last decade, there has been great deal of progress in the study of self-assembly processes of protein assemblies as biotemplates to create and construct one-dimensional arrays of nanocrystalline metals and semiconductors. Successful attempts in fabricating the protein-based bioelectronics could serve as a promising alternative to synthetic template based nanomaterials. Another perspective of protein assemblies is its use in the field of tissue engineering either as scaffold for cell adhesion and proliferation or as a foreign (bio)nanofunctionality to communicate with the macromolecules present in the extracellular or intracellular milieu and participate in the precise control of vital cell functions. Three-dimensionally arranged protein monomers to form bionanotubes are promising in terms of innate biocompatibility, easy bio-conjugation to incorporate multiple functionalities and well-defined nano-scale lengths. Such unique chemical properties of protein assemblies are described in this review.     

Mercury oxidation by hydrochloric acid over TiO2 supported metal oxide catalysts in coal combustion flue gas

Mercury oxidation by hydrochloric acid over the metal oxides supported by anatase type TiO₂ catalysts, 1 wt.% MO_x/TiO₂ where M = V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, and Mo, was investigated by the Hg⁰ oxidation and the NO reduction measurements both in the presence and absence of NH₃. The catalysts were characterized by BET surface area measurement and Raman spectroscopy. The metal oxides added to the catalyst were observed to disperse well on the TiO₂ surface. For all catalysts studied, the Hg⁰ oxidation by hydrochloric acid was confirmed to proceed. The activity of the catalysts was found to follow the trend MoO₃ ~ V₂O₅ > Cr₂O₃ > Mn₂O₃ > Fe₂O₃ > CuO > NiO. The Hg⁰ oxidation activity of all catalysts was depressed considerably by adding NH₃ to the reactant stream. This suggests that the metal oxide catalysts undergo the inhibition effect by NH₃. The activity trend of the Hg⁰ oxidation in the presence of NH₃ was different from that observed in its absence. A good correlation was found between the NO reduction and the Hg⁰ oxidation activities in the NH₃ present condition. The catalyst having high NO reduction activity such as V₂O₅/TiO₂ showed high Hg⁰ oxidation activity. The result obtained in this study suggests that the oxidation of Hg⁰ proceeds through the reaction mechanism, in which HCl competes for the active catalyst sites against NH₃. NH₃ adsorption may predominate over the adsorption of HCl in the presence of NH₃.     

F2 laser deposition of CdTe microcrystallites-dopedfluoropolymer thin films

Crystalline thin films of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) were deposited by F₂ laser (157 nm) ablation in 200 mTorr Ar gas atmosphere. Combining this PTFE thin-film process with CdTe microcrystallites synthesis in sizes of 3-7 nm via KrF laser (248 nm) ablation, CdTe microcrystallites-doped PTFE thin films were fabricated. The X-ray photoemission spectra show that the main architecture of PTFE and CdTe are maintained in the doped films. CdTe microcrystallites doped in PTFE matrix show an absorption edge shift toward higher energy and a third-order optical nonlinearity, which are induced by the quantum size effect     

4He Impurity Effect on the Positive Ion Mobility in Liquid 3He

The behaviour of ⁴ He impurities has been investigated through positive ion mobility measurements in liquid ³ He at milliKelvin temperatures. In spite of the enormous surface area of the cell, the influence of ⁴ He lasted for hundreds of hours at temperatures of 20 mK. However below 10 mK, the ⁴ He impurities were quickly frozen out on the cell walls and we were free from the impurity problem. Nevertheless the multiple ion signal occasionally appeared even at a few mK, although it disappeared for a number of ionization pulses.     

MOSBY: a molecular structure viewer program with portability and extensibility

A molecular structure viewer program, MOSBY has been developed for studies that use atomic coordinates to understand the structures of protein molecules. The program is designed to be portable with a comprehensive user interface by our high-throughput graphics library. In addition, it cooperates with extension modules customized for individual research topics and analysis. For example, an electron density module loads and displays electron density maps derived in X-ray crystallographic analysis superimposed to an atomic model. A molecular dynamics module reads a trajectory file of the results of molecular dynamics calculations and animates the structure. These plug-in modules are devised to function without modification to the MOSBY program. For variations of analysis and calculations with atomic coordinates, the portability and extensibility illustrated by MOSBY play an important rule in scientific computational tools with active software development.