Prevention of neutrophil apoptosis by monosodium urate crystals

The effects of monosodium urate (MSU) crystals on apoptosis of cultured peripheral blood neutrophils were investigated. MSU crystals at low concentrations decreased the rate of spontaneous apoptosis of neutrophils in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The culture supernatant of MSU crystal stimulated neutrophils also promoted a delay in neutrophil apoptosis. MSU crystals at higher concentrations rapidly caused cell lysis. These findings indicated that MSU crystals are capable of amplifying the inflammatory responses of gouty arthritis by decreasing the rates of neutrophil apoptosis at lower concentrations and inducing cell lysis at higher concentrations.     

Gene Expression over Time during Cell Transformation Due to Non-Genotoxic Carcinogen Treatment of Bhas 42 Cells

The Bhas 42 cell transformation assay (Bhas 42 CTA) is the first Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)-certificated method used as a specific tool for the detection of the cell-transformation potential of tumor-promoting compounds, including non-genotoxic carcinogens (NGTxCs), as separate from genotoxic carcinogens. This assay offers the great advantage of enabling the phenotypic detection of oncotransformation. A key benefit of using the Bhas 42 CTA in the study of the cell-transformation mechanisms of tumor-promoting compounds, including non-genotoxic carcinogens, is that the cell-transformation potential of the chemical can be detected directly without treatment with a tumor-initiating compound since Bhas 42 cell line was established by transfecting the v-Ha-ras gene into a mouse fibroblast cloned cell line. Here, we analyzed the gene expression over time, using DNA microarrays, in Bhas 42 cells treated with the tumor-promoting compound 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), and NGTxC, with a total of three repeat experiments. This is the first paper to report on gene expression over time during the process of cell transformation with only a tumor-promoting compound. Pathways that were activated or inactivated during the process of cell transformation in the Bhas 42 cells treated with TPA were related not only directly to RAS but also to various pathways in the hallmarks of cancer.     

Shear-induced pre-crystallization structures of long chain branched polypropylene under steady shear flow near the melting temperature

Shear-induced crystallization of a long chain hyper-branched polypropylene (LCB-PP, denoted PP-3) was carried out at a relatively high temperature of 170 °C, close to its melting temperature of 158 °C. Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) showed that the intensity ratio of the normal to the perpendicular to the shear (V/H) was always larger than 1 for PP-3, indicating that shish-like structures were predominately formed and further growth to kebab was suppressed in PP-3. The crystallization behavior of PP-3 can be explained by the nature of PP-3 that there were a large amount of crystallization nuclei due to their branching points, and the point-like precursors formed from these nuclei were arrayed linearly along the shear direction and transformed into thread-like precursors or premature shishs; however, owing to the large amount of branching, further progress in crystallization was suppressed.     

Automatic Train Operation Using Autonomic Prediction of Train Runs

In this paper, we present an automatic train control method adaptable to disturbed train traffic conditions. The proposed method presumes transmission of detected time of a home track clearance to trains approaching the station by employing equipment of Digital ATC (Automatic Train Control). Using the information, each train controls its acceleration by a method that consists of two approaches. First, by setting a designated restricted speed, the train controls its running time to arrive at the next station in accordance with predicted delay. Second, the train predicts the time at which it will reach the current braking profile generated by Digital ATC, along with the time when the braking profile transits ahead. By comparing them, the train correctly chooses the coasting drive mode in advance to avoid deceleration due to the current braking profile. We evaluated the effectiveness of the proposed method regarding driving conditions, energy consumption, and reduction of delays by simulation. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 175(3): 65–73, 2011; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ). DOI 10.10020/eej.21080     

The effect of the addition of silica particles on linear spherulite growth rate of isotactic polypropylene and its explanation by lamellar cluster model

The effect of the addition of silica particles on spherulite growth rates of isotactic polypropylene has been investigated using an optical microscope. The spherulite growth rate remained constant with time and the growth rates decreased with increasing the silica content. The addition of silica particles generally causes a reduction of the average distance between adjacent silica particles and the linear growth rates become zero when the inter-particle distance reached to the end-to-end distance of the matrix chains. The reduction in the linear growth rate can be explained by assuming the lamellar clustering process that the precursor or solidified units with the single chain space, which spontaneously are built up from the melt, act as the crystallizing units and the diffusive mobility of the units was restricted by spatial confinement between adjacent silica particles.