Lyme disease (Lyme borreliosis)

Unlike the peripheral nervous system (PNS), the mammalian central nervous system (CNS) clearly lacks the robust regenerative characteristics and capacity of the former. Despite this fact, two unique regions of the adult mammalian CNS possess such regenerative potential and are capable of active regeneration following injury or structural compromise. These unique areas are the olfactory system and the neurohypophyseal system of the endocrine hypothalamus. Furthermore, it has been clearly demonstrated that primordial neuroblasts regarded as stem cells emerge from the subependymal parenchyma of the walls and floor of the third cerebral ventricle, migrate to the ventricular surface and undergo compensatory synaptogenesis within one week following hypophysectomy. In situ hybridization studies have unequivocally demonstrated that the up-regulation of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) is essential for neural (axonal) regeneration and neuronal (stem cell) migration to occur. Moreover, neuronal migration is reliably inhibited following the administration of the NO antagonist, nitroarginine. The current investigation serves to confirm a remarkable degree of plasticity and regeneration in the adult mammalian neurohypophyseal system coupled with the emergence of primordial neuroblasts that undergo apparent differentiation, migration and compensatory synaptogenesis in response to the up-regulation of NO that occurs following the trauma of hypophysectomy. Evidence from the current investigation appears to confirm that specialized glia of the neurohypophyseal system, the so-called pituicyte, proliferate following hypophysectomy and may serve as a growth matrix or structural template that may target and direct regenerating Supraoptic (SON) and Paraventricular (PVN) axons toward endothelial primordia in the regenerating neural stem and lobe.     

Investigation of CH4 Reforming with CO2 on Meso-Porous Al2O3-Supported Ni Catalyst

Meso-porous Al₂O₃-supported Ni catalysts exhibited the highest activity, stability and excellent coke-resistance ability for CH₄ reforming with CO₂ among several oxide-supported Ni catalysts (meso-porous Al₂O₃ (Yas1-2, Yas3-8), -Al₂O₃, -Al₂O₃, SiO₂, MgO, La₂O₃, CeO₂ and ZrO₂). The properties of deposited carbons depended on the properties of the supports, and on the meso-porous Al₂O₃-supported Ni catalyst, only the intermediate carbon of the reforming reaction formed. XRD and H₂-TPR analysis found that mainly spinel NiAl₂O₄ formed in meso-porous Al₂O₃ and -Al₂O₃-supported catalysts, while only NiO was detected in -Al₂O₃, SiO₂, CeO₂, La₂O₃ and ZrO₂ supports. The strong interaction between Ni and meso-porous Al₂O₃ improved the dispersion of Ni, retarded its sintering and improved the activated adsorption of CO₂. The coking reaction via CH₄ temperature-programed decomposition indicated that meso-porous Al₂O₃-supported Ni catalysts were less active for carbon formation by CH₄ decomposition than Ni/-Al₂O₃ and Ni/-Al₂O₃.     

Adhesion between polymer surface modified by graft polymerization and tissue during surgery using an ultrasonically activated scalpel device

In the field of surgery, achieving adhesion between a polymer implant and tissue poses a challenge considering that suturing is not appropriate for the stability of such implants. An ultrasonically activated scalpel that generates heat by mechanical vibration and promotes adhesion between a polymer implant and native tissue by pressing the two materials together has very good potential for application in the field. To determine the type of polymer that is suitable for the purpose, we investigated polyethylene (PE) and polystyrene (PS) films, the surfaces of which were activated by corona discharge. Graft polymerization was then performed on the corona‐treated surfaces to vary their properties. The corona‐treated PE and PS films grafted with poly(acrylic acid), poly(methacrylic acid), poly(vinyl benzylacrylic acid), and poly(hydroxylethyl acrylate), respectively, adhered to the tissue when the ultrasonically activated scalpel was applied. The heat generated by the mechanical vibration and the applied pressure enabled the carboxyl or hydroxyl groups to bond with the proteins in the extracellular matrix. We therefore concluded that it was possible to integrate this technique in the development of new types of polymer devices that could be stably implanted in a living body. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 40885.     

A chemically amplified molecular glass resist with an ionic photoacid generator and a single protection group

A molecular glass resist with an ionic photoacid generator and a single protection group (MR‐1) has been developed. MR‐1 exhibited good thermal properties, such as a 5% weight loss temperature (T_d5%) of 167°C and a glass transition temperature (T_g) of 80°C. MR‐1 showed the good sensitivity of 80 μC/cm² and high contrast of 4.9 with e‐beam exposure (50 keV). A relatively high resolution of 50 nm and low Line‐Edge‐Roughness of 3.8 nm were obtained by e‐beam exposure (100 keV). © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 39769.     

Droplet-based biochemical assay by magnetic wire manipulation between multiple droplets

Reaction performance of a droplet-based biochemical assay technique that uses magnetic wires as sample carriers is evaluated. Wires 2.0 mm in length, 0.05 mm in width, and 0.02 mm in thickness are fabricated by chemical etching, introduced into a droplet immersed in oil, and manipulated by the magnetic force of a moving magnet. Alkaline-phosphatase as an enzyme is immobilized on the wire surfaces by applying Au and self-assembled monolayer coatings, and the method’s on-chip reaction performance is evaluated. The enzymatic reaction is found to increase linearly as the number of wires and the reaction time increase. Relatively high performance reproducibility for enzymatic reactions is obtained; on average, the reaction absorbance, standard deviation, and coefficient of variance are found to be respectively 1.14, 0.103, and 9.1 %. The conductivity change in a fused droplet is used to evaluate the absolute volume of liquid transferred with the extracted wires and a value of 0.33 μl is obtained.     

Investigation of laser consolidation process for metal powder by two-color pyrometer and high-speed video camera

This paper deals with the measurement of surface temperature on metal powder during the laser consolidation process with two-color pyrometer. Additionally, the aspect of selective laser sintering (SLS) and selective laser melting (SLM) of metal powder is visualized with high speed video camera. As a result, the surface temperature during the laser irradiation was ranged 1520–1810 °C and the consolidation phenomena was classified according to the melting point of metal powder. The metal powder at the heating process cohered intermittently to the melt pool although the laser beam was continuously irradiated to the powder surface.     

Experimental investigation of melt pool behaviour during selective laser melting by high speed imaging

Melt pool behaviour and the characteristics of the surrounding metal powder during selective laser melting (SLM) are captured using high-speed imaging, and the influence of the substrate temperature and the line building sequence on the formation of the built structure and the generation of spatter particles is experimentally investigated. The results indicate that the substrate temperature has a measurable effect on the formation of droplets and the generation of spatter particles, while the volume specific energy density of the process was the principal factor affecting the built structure.     

Gel–water relationships in hydrophilic polymers: Thermodynamics of sorption of water vapor

A thermodynamic study was conducted of water vapor adsorption on four hydrophilic polymers (agar, carboxymethyl cellulose, gelatin, and maize starch) at 12 and 25°C. Monolayer coverage amounted, after correction for crystallinity, respectively, to 0.93, 1.46, 0.51, and 0.77 mol water/mol monomer. Evidence is adduced from the Bradley equation and thermodynamic data to indicate that at least during coverage with the second layer of water, the energy of adsorption is greater than that due to condensation alone. Differences in the amount of sorption and in the trend of values of ΔS?° and ΔH?° with the amount of sorbed water are related with differences in the strength of intermolecular association as affected by steric hindrances.     

RSA-OAEP Is Secure under the RSA Assumption

Recently Victor Shoup noted that there is a gap in the widely believed security result of OAEP against adaptive chosen-ciphertext attacks. Moreover, he showed that, presumably, OAEP cannot be proven secure from the one-wayness of the underlying trapdoor permutation. This paper establishes another result on the security of OAEP. It proves that OAEP offers semantic security against adaptive chosen-ciphertext attacks, in the random oracle model, under the partial-domain one-wayness of the underlying permutation. Therefore, this uses a formally stronger assumption. Nevertheless, since partial-domain one-wayness of the RSA function is equivalent to its (full-domain) onewayness, it follows that the security of RSA-OAEP can actually be proven under the sole RSA assumption, although the reduction is not tight.     

A Novel KCaNi/α-Al2O3 Catalyst for CH4 Reforming with CO2

A potassium and calcium co-promoted nickel catalyst (KCaNi/-Al₂O₃) prepared by a direct impregnation method possessed a high activity, high stability and excellent coke resistance properties in CH₄ reforming with CO₂. XRD, XPS and H₂-TPR characterizations indicated that (i) Ca and K strengthened the interaction between Ni and -Al₂O₃ and promoted the formation of a unique NiAl₂O₄ phase on the surface of the catalyst and (ii) Ca and K increased the dispersion of Ni and retarded its sintering. Coking reactions (CH₄ temperature-programmed decomposition and O₂-TPO) disclosed that K reduced carbon formation via CH₄ decomposition.