Osteoclastic features of multinucleated giant cells responding to synthetic hydroxyapatite implanted in rat jaw bone.

Multinucleated giant cells (MGCs) that responded to synthetic hydroxyapatite (HAP) implanted in rat mandibles were studied with electron microscopy. HAP used in this study sintered at 200 degrees C (HAP200) and at 125 degrees C (HAP1250) after the synthesis by a wet method. One to three weeks after the intraosseous implantation of HAP, MGCs responding to HAP200 had not only well-developed ruffled border and the clear zone but well-developed perinuclear Golgi complex, many mitochondria and vesicles in their cytoplasms. MGCs responding to HAP1250 had the clear zone, but not the ruffled border although they showed similar cytoplasmic features to those of MGCs responding to HAP200. They merely extended short slender cytoplasmic processes to HAP1250. These results suggest that although osteoclast-like MGCs respond to HAP implanted in the bone, the development of the ruffled border-clear zone system depends on physicochemical properties of HAP.     

Studies on catalysis by molten metals. 14. Catalytic cracking of asphalts at low temperature

The catalytic effects of liquid metals for low-temperature (336 °C) asphalt-cracking have been examined using a semi-batch reactor. All the liquid metals examined (Bi, Cd, Ga, In, Pb and Sn) effectively catalysed the reduction of molecular weight with minimal gasification (<1 wt%). Gasification had a positive correlation with the reduction in molecular weight in the processed asphalts. The catalytic activities of liquid metals tor these two reactions were proportional to a parameter which represents the interaction between the atoms of the catalyst metal and the radicals formed in the course of the reaction. Mass flow among four fractions (saturates, aromatics, resins and asphaltenes) had two independent paths: conversion of resins to saturates and of aromatics to asphaltenes. The former path dominated when catalytic dehydrogenation activity was relatively low, whereas the latter dominated when the catalytic activity was high.     

Antitumor activity of synthetic alkylphospholipids with or without PAF activity

1-O-Octadecyl-2-O-methyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (ET-18-OMe) has been reported to possess definite antitumor activity in vivo. Twenty-two alkyl lysophospholipid analogs were chemically synthesized, and their antitumor activity against mouse experimental tumors (Sarcoma 180, MM46, P388) was examined. Among them, 1-O-octadecyl-2-O-acetoacetyl-rac-glycerol-3-phosphocholine was found to show antitumor activity similar to ET-18-OMe with less acute toxicity. Intravenous injection of the ET-18-OMe withsn-3 configuration retarded the subcutaneous growth of Sarcoma 180 cells effectively, while the growth inhibition by thesn-1 isomer was much less effective. This stereospecificity was similar to that observed in their activities as platelet-activating factor (PAF) agonists. The acetoacetyl compound, another PAF agonist, showed similar stereospecific antitumor action in vivo. These findings suggest that some alkyl lysophospholipids may activate host cells to a cytostatic stage against tumor cells in vivo through binding to a PAF receptor. Our preliminary results indicated that the responsible cells under these conditions might be primarily immature macrophages present in the bone marrow. No appreciable or even adverse stereospecificity was observed in the different sets of experiments where the activity of ET-18-OMe against MM46 tumor cells in vivo or the direct cytotoxicity against human promyelocytic leukemia HL-60 cells in vitro was examined. Under, some conditions, the antitumor activity of ET-18-OMe in vivo may be revealed through direct cytotoxicity and/or modulation of the host defense system by “nonspecific” mechanisms. Some alkylphospholipids without PAF activity may also show antitumor activity through similar, “nonspecific” mechanisms.     

Preconditioned iterative solver on the coarsest level of a multi-grid method for high frequency time harmonic electromagnetic field analyses

A multi-grid method is one of the most powerful linear solvers for finite element electromagnetic field analysis. However, as the discretized model has recently been enlarged, a solution process for a linear system arising on the coarsest level tends to be problematic in a complete multi-grid solution process. Whereas a linear system on the coarsest level is generally solved by a direct solver, we solve it here by means of an iterative solver to reduce the memory requirements. Since a conventional preconditioning technique is not effective for such a linear system, we introduce preconditioning techniques based on Arnold, Falk, and Winther’s and on Hiptmair’s smoothers. Numerical tests show that the newly installed preconditioning technique greatly improves the convergence rate.     

Multiple fuzzy state-value functions for human evaluation through interactive trajectory planning of a partner robot

The purpose of this study is to develop partner robots that can obtain and accumulate human-friendly behaviors. To achieve this purpose, the entire architecture of the robot is designed, based on a concept of structured learning which emphasizes the importance of interactive learning of several modules through interaction with its environment. This paper deals with a trajectory planning method for generating hand-to-hand behaviors of a partner robot by using multiple fuzzy state-value functions, a self-organizing map, and an interactive genetic algorithm. A trajectory for the behavior is generated by an interactive genetic algorithm using human evaluation. In order to reduce human load, human evaluation is estimated by using the fuzzy state-value function. Furthermore, to cope with various situations, a self-organizing map is used for clustering a given task dependent on a human hand position. And then, a fuzzy state-value function is assigned to each output unit of the self-organizing map. The robot can easily obtain and accumulate human-friendly trajectories using a fuzzy state-value function and a knowledge database corresponding to the unit selected in the self-organizing map. Finally, multiple fuzzy state-value functions can estimate a human evaluation model for the hand-to-hand behaviors. Several experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Photo-Induced Effect of the Electron-Spin Resonance on the Charge-Ordered State in Pr0.65Ca0.35MnO3

Electron-spin resonance (ESR) for the charge-ordered state in well-characterized Pr_0.65Ca_0.35MnO₃ exhibited significant change of both the absorption profile and the effective spin susceptibility upon injection of laser light with photon energy of 1.17 eV provided by Nd-YAG laser. The increase of the effective spin susceptibility was clearly found out thanks to the injection of photons in the temperature range 90 K–80 K, which is below the transition temperature from the antiferromagnetic charge ordered state to the canted antiferromagnetic spin alternation state, T _CAF125 K. The temperature dependence of the change of the ESR profile excludes the possibility of heating by laser light. The present result suggests that a kind of photo-induced insulator–metal transition may occur due to propagation of the delocalized carriers via probable double exchange interaction in the charge-ordering collapsed state created by the injection of photons.     

Electron Spin Resonance in Pr0.65Ca0.35MnO3

The magnetic behavior of the distorted perovskite manganese, Pr_0.65Ca_0.35MnO₃ was studied by X-band electron spin resonance for powder samples. We observed the onset of the charge-ordered state at T _CO215 K, the antiferromagnetic transition with the peak of the ESR linewidth, H _p–p at T _AF180 K and the canted antiferromagnetic transition at T _CAF125 K associated with the abrupt increase of both the effective magnetization and H _p–p . Below 90 K, the absorption intensity profile becomes weakened with decreasing temperature suggesting the existence of some kind of magnetic disorder below 90 K, which is responsible for a part of evidence of the existence of the spin-glass state as has been proposed by Yoshizawa et al., Phys. Rev. B 52, 1689 (1996).     

Disappearance of Bose-Glass Behavior in Transport Properties of YBa2Cu3O y Films with Columnar Defects

The glass transitions of the vortex system in Au-ion irradiated YBa₂Cu₃O _y films have been studied by the measurements of transport properties as a function of magnetic field B and angle of B to the direction of columnar defects. At =0°, we find an anomalous upturn behavior of the glass transition line B _g(T) at BB /3, where B is the matching field. In B>B /3, the dependence of glass transition temperature T _g reveals cusplike behavior with a peak at =0°, which is consistent with the Bose glass theory. In B<B /3, on the other hand, T _g is almost independent of , suggesting the system undergoes the vortex glass transition induced by the inherent point-like defects.