Synthesis of thermoresponsive copolymer/silica-coated magnetite nanoparticle composite and its application for heavy metal ion recovery

To enhance chemical stability and suppress of aggregation of magnetite nanoparticles (MNPs), which are used as a support for thermoresponsive copolymer immobilization, silica coating of the MNPs is applied via the electrooxidation method. Although the resulting silica coated-MNPs also formed aggregates, the size distribution of the aggregate shifted to smaller size range. Because of that, the surface area available for copolymer immobilization increased approximately 6.7 times at maximum as compared with that of the uncoated MNPs. It contributed to the increase of the amount of the immobilized copolymer on the silica-coated MNPs, which is approximately four times larger than that on the uncoated MNPs. Fe₃O₄ dissolution test confirmed enhancement of chemical stability of MNPs. The thermoresponsive copolymer immobilized on the silica-coated MNPs shows the ability to recycle Cu(II) ion from Cu(II) containing solution by changing temperature with significantly shorter time than those in other thermoresponsive adsorbents in gel form.     

Role of Metabolism in Bone Development and Homeostasis

Carbohydrates, fats, and proteins are the underlying energy sources for animals and are catabolized through specific biochemical cascades involving numerous enzymes. The catabolites and metabolites in these metabolic pathways are crucial for many cellular functions; therefore, an imbalance and/or dysregulation of these pathways causes cellular dysfunction, resulting in various metabolic diseases. Bone, a highly mineralized organ that serves as a skeleton of the body, undergoes continuous active turnover, which is required for the maintenance of healthy bony components through the deposition and resorption of bone matrix and minerals. This highly coordinated event is regulated throughout life by bone cells such as osteoblasts, osteoclasts, and osteocytes, and requires synchronized activities from different metabolic pathways. Here, we aim to provide a comprehensive review of the cellular metabolism involved in bone development and homeostasis, as revealed by mouse genetic studies.     

Analysis of class D inverter with irregular driving patterns

This paper presents an analysis of Class D inverter when irregular driving patterns are given to the gate drive of the switch devices. The analysis has been carried out with focusing on the waveforms, harmonics, low-frequency components, output power, and equivalent dc resistance, which are numerically analyzed and discussed. Class D inverters with six different Q factors from 0.1 to 20 are analyzed about 2/sup 16/ driving patterns for each Q. Superior four models of the six inverters are built and tested in circuit experiments. The calculated waveforms are compared to the experimental results. Both of them are agreed well in time domain and frequency domain. Analytical results show a possibility of a novel control method with irregular driving patterns. In spite of discontinuous control, the output power or voltage can be strictly changed as if continuous using the selected driving patterns in some ranges.     

Monte Carlo simulation of hydrogen absorption in palladium and palladium–silver alloys

A modified Monte Carlo (MC) simulation was performed to investigate the hydrogen absorption behavior in Pd and Pd–Ag alloys of the composition Pd_xAg_1−x (x=0.7–0.8) under H₂ pressure (0.1 MPa) at different temperatures. The present method employed can consider the dissociative adsorption of hydrogen molecule and the subsequent absorption of hydrogen atom by formalizing the relationship between the pressure of hydrogen molecule and hydrogen atom. The potential parameters were determined to reproduce the solution enthalpy of hydrogen in pure metals. The results are in good agreement with experimental findings as well as previous theoretical studies. We confirmed that our method is useful to simulate the absorption of hydrogen in metals and alloys.     

Halo congenital nevus undergoing spontaneous regression. Involvement of T-cell immunity in involution and presence of circulating anti-nevus cell IgM antibodies

BACKGROUND: Halo congenital nevus is a condition in which halo formation is associated with congenital nevocellular nevi. Although several theories have been proposed, the immunologic mechanisms of halo formation and concomitant nevus regression still remain unclear. We presented immunologic findings in a case of halo congenital nevus with unique histologic location of inflammatory cells. OBSERVATIONS: Histologically, the present case of halo congenital nevus undergoing spontaneous regression showed a marked inflammatory infiltrate with remnants of original nevus cell nests. In the infiltrating T cells, CD8+ cells outnumbered CD4+ cells and the infiltrate of natural killer cells was not substantial. Direct and indirect immunofluorescence studies demonstrated the presence of IgM antibodies against nevus cells as well as melanoma cells and cultured melanocytes in the patient's serum. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that both T-cell-mediated immunity and IgM antibodies may be involved in the regression of halo congenital nevus. However, it is important to point out that our results may simply be epiphenomena and not directly responsible for the destruction of nevus cells.     

Two cases of cancer with bone metastases treated with local therapy

Two cases with osteolytic bone metastases from cervical cancer and esophageal cancer treated by local therapy were reported. The first case is a 53-year-old female with bone metastases of left ischium developed 1 year after hysterectomy. She was treated by intratumor injection of sizofiran (SPG) 20 mg/w and radiation therapy. After 4 weeks, ischias pain decreased and bone lesion showed remarkable calcification (PR) 8th months later. The second case is a 58-year-old male with bone metastases of the left tibia and fibula developed 1 year after surgery. He was treated by intratumor injection of SPG 20 mg/w x 4 and OK-432 1.0 KE/w x 8 after radiation therapy. After 4 weeks, pain and swelling of left leg decreased and bone lesions showed remarkable calcification (PR) three months later. We suggest that intratumor injection of SPG and OK-432 with radiation therapy was effective for osteolytic bone metastases.     

Enhanced production of rat interleukin-8 by in vitro and in vivo infections with influenza A NWS virus

We investigated the interleukin-8 (IL-8)-producing activity of influenza A NWS virus in cultured rat kidney NRK-52E cells and a rat influenza model. The production of rat IL-8 increased significantly in the virus-infected cells but not in UV-inactivated virus- or split-product-treated cells. The increase in IL-8 production could be detected in the bronchoalveolar lavage of infected rats. These data suggest that infectious virus has the potential to accelerate the production of IL-8 in cultured cells and in vivo in airway-lining cells.     

High performance liquid chromatographic separation of stereoisomeric bile acids as their UV-sensitive esters

High performance liquid chromatographic separation of a series of mono-, di- and trihydroxylated 5β-cholanic acids which differ only in position and configuration of hydroxyl groups at positions C-3, C-7 and/or C-12, is reported. The C-24 free acids were derivatized to four different classes of UV-sensitive esters, i.e.,p-bromophenacyl (BP),m-methoxyphenacyl (MP), 4-nitrophthalimidemethyl (NPM) and 9-anthrylmethyl (AM) esters, and chromatographed on two, variants of C₁₈ reversed-phase columns (Nova-Pak C₁₈ and Zorbax ODS) with methanol-water systems as mobile phase. Separation efficiency and elution order of some isomeric pairs were influenced by both the structure of the C-24 ester groups and the nature of the columns used. Excellent chromatographic properties were found for those derivatives, particularly for the NPM esters.