Suppression of heat-induced HSF activation by CDDP in human glioblastoma cells

To confirm whether or not the alar cartilage of the unilateral cleft lip nose is primarily hypoplastic as compared with the noncleft side, 35 unilateral cleft lip nasal patients who had no previous nasal surgery underwent direct measurement of the lateral crus of alar cartilage on both sides during their nasal tip plasties. Both lower lateral cartilages were dissected freely, and the thickness was measured at the intercrural, middle, and distal portions. The width was measured at the widest portion, and the length was measured from the intercrural point to the distal end. Two-mm-punch biopsies were obtained from each cartilage for histologic study. The lateral crus of the cleft side was no smaller than that of the noncleft side. Histologically, no difference was ascertained. In conclusion, we think the lateral crus of the alar cartilage of the cleft side is not hypoplastic. Therefore, external factors such as soft-tissue defect or external abnormal vector force are more attributable than intrinsic factors to the development of cleft lip nasal deformity.     

Suppression of heat-induced p53 accumulation and activation by CDDP or x-rays in human glioblastoma cells

We showed that the prominent suppressions of heat-induced accumulation and activation of p53 by CDDP or X-rays were observed in A-172 cells, but not in T98G cells. In addition, the interactive hyperthermic enhancement of CDDP or X-ray cytotoxicity was observed in A-172 cells, but not in T98G cells. Our findings indicate that suppressions of heat-induced accumulation and activation of p53 by CDDP or X-rays contribute positively to an interactive hyperthermic enhancement of CDDP- or X-ray cytotoxicity.     

A Fast, Accurate, and Simple Method for Pricing European-Asian and Saving-Asian Options

We propose an efficient and accurate randomized approximation algorithm for computing the price of European-Asian options. Our algorithm can be seen as a modification of the approximation algorithm developed by Aingworth et al. (2000) into a randomized algorithm, which improves the accuracy theoretically as well as practically. We also propose a new option named the Saving-Asian option which enjoys advantages of both the European-Asian and American-Asian options. It is shown that our approximation algorithm also works for pricing Saving-Asian options.     

Fabrication of New Porous Metal-Bonded Grinding Wheels by Hip Method and Machining Electronic Ceramics

Grinding wheels with different abrasive grains and different bonding materials were fabricated using hot isostatic press (HIP) sintering. Poly-crystal diamond powder of #1000 mesh size, single-crystal diamond powder of #1000 mesh size, and synthetic single-crystal diamond abrasive grains of #325 mesh size were used as abrasive grains. Cast-iron, and two different particle sizes of iron powders were used for the bonding material. The grinding capacity of these grinding wheels as well as conventional grinding wheels was evaluated by constant-pressure-grinding method to grind Al₂O₃-TiC component ceramics, which are typical electronic ceramics used for magnetic memory devices. The hardness of the bonding materials, the adhesion strength between abrasive diamond grains and the bonding materials, and the porosity of sintered body strongly relate to the grinding capacity. The porous bonded grinding wheels showed higher grinding capacity than the conventional wheels. The HIP method enables to fabricate excellent porous metal-bonded grinding wheels.