Solidification of Municipal Solid Waste Incineration Fly Ash with Cement and Its Leaching Behaviors of Heavy Metals

The solidifying qffect of cement addition on municipal solid waste incineration fly ash ( MSWFA for short, collected from the gas exhaust system of MSW incinerator), the interaction of MSWFA with cement and water and the leaching of heavy metals from cement-solidified MSWFA are investigated. The main results show that : ( 1 ) when MSWFA is mixed with cement and water, 112 evolution, the formation and volume expansion of AFt will take place, the volume expansion can be reduced by ground rice husk ash addition ; (2) heavy metals do leach from cement-solidified MSWFA and at lower pH more leaching will occur; (3) compared with cement - so-lidified fly ash, the leachate of solidified MSWFA is with higher heavy metal contents ; (4) with the increment of cement addition leached heavy metals are decreased ; and (5) concentrations of Zn , Mn , Cu and Cd in all the leachates can meet the relevant Standards of Japan, but as the regulations for soil and groundwater protection of Japan are concerned, precautions against the leaching of Pb , Cl^- and Cr^6 and so on are needed.     

A no-trimming SLIC two-chip set with coin telephone signalingfacilities

A subscriber line interface circuit (SLIC) two-chip set that eliminates off-chip functional trimming and integrates coin telephone set facilities as well as BORSCHT functions is described. The LSI chip set consists of (a) a subscriber interface IC fabricated using a 320-V dielectrically isolated bipolar process with on-chip thin-film resistors and double-layer metal, and (b) a subscriber processor IC with oversampling A-D/D-A converters and a microprogrammable digital signal processor (DSP), using a 1.6-μm CMOS process. Chip sizes are 5.5 mm×6.06 mm and 6.0 mm×5.7 mm, respectively. Using the two-chip set, an SLIC for a coin telephone set can be designed without using high-precision filter components or hybrid ICs with functional trimming     

Increase in adhesion molecules on CD4+ cells and CD4+ cell subsets in synovial fluid from patients with rheumatoid arthritis

OBJECTIVE: To elucidate the role of adhesion molecules in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS: We evaluated their expression and that of an activation marker on CD4+ cell populations and CD4+ cell subsets in specimens of peripheral blood (PB) and synovial fluid (SF) obtained from 10 patients with RA and 7 with osteoarthritis (OA). A 2 or 3-color immunofluorescent method was used for analysis. RESULTS: The SF from both groups of patients showed a greater density of adhesion molecules including LFA-1 alpha, LFA-1 beta, CD2, VLA-4 alpha and VLA-5 alpha on CD4+ cells, and a higher percentage of CD4+HLA-DR+ cells compared with their PB. IN PB-CD4+ cell subsets from the arthritic and healthy subjects, the CD4+CD45RO+ cell population showed an increased expression of adhesion molecules compared with CD4+CD45RA+ cell population. The expression of adhesion molecules on circulating CD4+ cell population and CD4+ cell subsets from the patients with RA and OA was comparable to that from healthy subjects. SF from both groups of patients showed a higher percentage of CD4+CD45RO+ cells and a lower percentage of CD4+CD45RA+ cells. In SF-CD4+ cell subsets from patients with RA, the CD4+CD45RO+ cell population had an increased expression of VLA-4 alpha compared to the CD4+CD45RA+ cell population; however, there was no significant difference in other adhesion molecule expression and the percentage of HLA-DR+ cells between the 2 cell subsets. Furthermore, the expression of VLA-4 alpha on the CD4+CD45RO+ cell population in SF from patients with RA was significantly higher than that in matched PB. In CD4+CD45RA+ cell population from both groups of patients, SF showed an enhanced expression of adhesion molecules and an increased percentage of HLA-DR+ cells compared with matched PB. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that increased expression of adhesion molecules and increased percentage of HLA-DR+ cells on CD4+ cells in SF may be responsible for cellular interactions between these cells and synovial cells or extracellular matrix.     

Inhibition of Fas antigen-mediated apoptosis of rheumatoid synovial cells in vitro by transforming growth factor beta 1

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the mitogenic and anti-apoptotic effects of transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF beta 1) on rheumatoid synovial cells in vitro. METHODS: Synovial cells were cultured with or without TGF beta 1. After incubation, the proliferative response of synovial cells and the expression of Fas antigen and bcl-2 on synovial cells were examined. Finally, Fas antigen-mediated apoptosis of synovial cells was investigated by the addition of anti-Fas antibody. RESULTS: TGF beta 1 enhanced the proliferation of synovial cells in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, Fas antigen expression on synovial cells was inhibited by the addition of TGF beta 1 with up-regulation of bcl-2 expression. The addition of anti-Fas antibody induced synovial cell apoptosis. However, stimulation of synovial cells with TGF beta 1 became markedly resistant to Fas antigen-mediated apoptosis. The results were not affected by the addition of a neutralizing antibody to platelet-derived growth factor type AA (PDGF-AA), which suggests that the effect of TGF beta 1 on synovial cells was promoted via PDGF-AA-independent mechanisms. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that TGF beta 1 promotes synovial cell proliferation through its mitogenic effect on synovial cells and interference with the apoptotic process mediated by the Fas antigen, resulting in the perpetuation of the synovial hyperplasia in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.     

Evaluation of mineral admixtures on the viewpoint of chloride ion migration through mortar

Recently, it has been said that deterioration of concrete structures occurs due to migration of ions, such as Cl⁻ or Na⁺, through concrete. In addition, some electrochemical methods which control migration properties through concrete, like desalination or re-alkalization, are becoming more important. However, the mechanisms of ion migration, in electric fields, through concrete are not well understood. Moreover, the effects of mineral admixtures, such as fly ash, silica fume and ground-granulated blast furnace slag on ion migration through concrete have not been closely investigated. From this viewpoint, for the evaluation of mineral admixtures, the properties of chloride ion migration through mortar containing fly ash, silica fume and ground-granulated blast furnace slag have been investigated.     

Cytokines and immune regulation in thyroid autoimmunity

We studied the role of cytokines and immune regulation in thyroid tissue from patients with Graves' disease. Immunohistochemistry showed that the thyroid glands are characterized by an aberrant expression of HLA class II antigens on thyrocytes, generation of new blood vessels and infiltration of mononuclear cells. We demonstrated that CD4+ memory cells were more frequent in thyroid glands from Graves' patients than were CD4+ naive cells. The intrathyroidal T cells demonstrated an enhanced expression of the adhesion molecules LFA-1, CD2, VLA-4 and VLA-5, and vascular endothelial cells of capillaries and thyrocytes in thyroid glands reacted with anti-ICAM-1 monoclonal antibody. The adhesion molecules and HLA antigens on both vascular endothelial cells and thyrocytes were regulated by inflammatory cytokines. These results suggest that circulating lymphocytes migrate into thyroid tissues and that memory T cells are retained in the thyroid tissues by cellular interactions with thyrocytes or with extracellular matrix.     

Fas and Fas ligand interaction is necessary for human osteoblast apoptosis

We investigated the cellular and humoral interactions between peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and human osteoblasts, leading to apoptosis of osteoblasts. Human osteoblastic cell line MG63 and human primary osteoblast-like cells obtained from biopsy specimens were used in this study. PBMCs were isolated from healthy donors and cultured with or without stimulation by recombinant interleukin-2 followed by 12-o-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate with ionomycin. Fas was functionally expressed on MG63 and primary osteoblast-like cells. Activated PBMCs expressed Fas ligand (FasL) strongly on their surface and killed MG63 and primary osteoblast-like cells. Cultured supernatants of activated PBMCs also induced apoptotic cell death of MG63 and primary osteoblast-like cells. In contrast, both unstimulated PBMCs and cultured supernatants of unstimulated PBMCs did not induce apoptosis of these cells. Furthermore, the cytotoxic effect and induction of apoptosis against MG63 and primary osteoblast-like cells by activated PBMCs and cultured supernatants were inhibited significantly by human Fas chimeric protein. Our data showed that human osteoblasts expressed Fas fuctionally and both membrane-type and soluble form FasL from activated PBMCs induced apoptosis of these cells, providing the one possible mechanism of bone loss in inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.