Activation of alphav beta3 integrin on human osteoclast-like cells stimulates adhesion and migration in response to osteopontin

Integrins mediate cell adhesion and can induce different cellular responses, including changes in intracellular pH, changes and oscillation in intracellular free calcium, and protein phosphorylation on tyrosine. During bone resorption, the integrin alphav beta3 regulates adhesion of osteoclasts to bone extracellular matrix proteins, such us osteopontin (Opn). Adhesion via alphav beta3 is followed by osteoclast polarization onto the bone surface and by the onset of bone resorption. To characterize these events at the molecular level, we investigated the state of activation of alphav beta3 on the human osteoclast-like cell line GCT23 using the monoclonal antibody AP5 which binds to and can induce, under low calcium conditions, activated alphav beta3. By flow cytometry, approximately 50% of alphav beta3 on the surface of the osteoclast-like cell line GCT23 was reactive with AP5 and was therefore in the activated state. Incubation with AP5 in the presence of low calcium concentrations increased activated alphav beta3 to 90-100%. Activation of alphav beta3 increased the efficiency of GCT23 adhesion to Opn by 2-fold. Furthermore, haptotactic migration on Opn was also enhanced about 40% compared to control. We propose that changes in the activation state of alphav beta3 may be a regulation point for osteoclasts during bone resorption.     

Homogeneous Plastic Flow of Fully Amorphous and Partially Crystallized Zr_(41.2)Ti_(13.8)Cu_(12.5)Ni_(10)Be_(22.5) Bulk Metallic Glass

The homogeneous plastic flow of fully amorphous and partially crystallized Zr(41.2)Ti(13.8)Cu(12.5)Ni(10)Be(22.5) bulk metallic glass (Vitl) has been investigated by compression tests at high temperatures in supercooled liquid region. Experimental results show that at sufficiently low strain rates, the supercooled liquid of the fully amorphous alloy reveals Newtonian flow with a linear relationship between the flow stress and strain rate. As the strain rate is increased, a transition from linear Newtonian to nonlinear flow is detected, which can be explained by the transition state theory. Over the entire strain rate interval investigated, however, only nonlinear flow is present in the partially crystallized alloy, and the flow stress for each strain rate is much higher. It is found that the strain rate-stress relationship for the partially crystaltized alloy at the given temperature of 646 K also obeys the sinh law derived from the transition state theory, similar to that of the initial homogeneous amo     

Clinical trial of retrograde warm blood reperfusion versus standard cold topical irrigation of transplanted hearts

BACKGROUND: A prospective, randomized clinical study involving 34 patients undergoing heart transplantation compared myocardial preservation of donor hearts maintained with continuous reperfusion with retrograde warm blood cardioplegia during surgical implantation versus the standard cold topical irrigation. METHODS: Hearts in both groups were arrested with a standard crystalloid solution and maintained in a cold saline solution during transportation. In the retrograde group, cardioplegia was administered through a catheter in the coronary sinus during surgical implantation. An average of 471 +/- 30 mL of hyperkalemic crystalloid solution diluted 1:4 in warm blood from the oxygenator was infused. In the standard group, the heart was kept cold by topical irrigation of cold saline solution and was reperfused only when the ascending aorta was unclamped. RESULTS: Preoperative characteristics of donors and recipients were similar in the two cohorts. Ischemic time average 139 +/- 12 minutes in the retrograde group compared with 130 +/- 11 minutes in the standard group (p = 0.57). Cardiopulmonary bypass time averaged 89 +/- 4 minutes in the retrograde group and 110 +/- 12 minutes in the standard group (p = 0.12). Defibrillation at reperfusion was performed in 4 patients (4/17, 24%) in the retrograde group and 12 patients (12/18, 67%) in the standard group (p = 0.01). There were no deaths in the retrograde group (0/17), whereas in the standard group, 3 patients (3/17) died of early graft failure (p = 0.11). Four early graft failures occurred in the standard group (p = 0.06). Two patients (2/17, 12%) were weaned from bypass with ventricular assist devices in the standard group. The number of subendocardial necrotic cells in the first two weekly endomyocardial biopsy specimens averaged 2.7 +/- 0.8 cells/mm2 in the retrograde group and 5.9 +/- 2.4 cells/mm2 in the standard group (p = 0.12). CONCLUSIONS: Retrograde warm blood reperfusion appears to improve the initial recovery of transplanted hearts. The technique is easy to use and may be a useful approach to graft protection during surgical implantation.     

In situ and air index measurements: influence of the deposition parameters on the shift of TiO2/SiO2 Fabry-Perot filters

We measure the refractive index of thin films of TiO2 and SiO2 for given deposition parameters. Two complementary methods are used. The first is a postdeposition technique which uses the measurements of reflectance and transmittance in air. The second, in contrast, makes use of in situ measurements (under vacuum and during the actual deposition of the layer). The differences between the values deduced from the two methods can be explained by the amount of atmospheric moisture adsorbed by films. One tries to minimize these shifts for the two materials by choosing deposition parameters. The difficulties come from the absorption losses which must be as small as possible. We use the measured refractive indices of individual layers to give good numerical prediction of the wavelength shift (observed during the admittance of air after deposition in the vacuum chamber) of the transmittance peak of multidielectric Fabry-Perot filters.     

Filamentary preforms of Al-13wt % Si alloy reinforced with TiC-coated and pre-treated carbon fibres

Filamentary preforms of aluminium-13 wt % Si alloy reinforced with TiC-coated carbon fibres were obtained by liquid metal infiltration using K₂ZrF₆ as wetting agent. The interfacial structure was investigated using analytical electron microscopy (TEM, SEM) and the fibre strength measured following each step of processing. The reaction between the K₂ZrF₆ deposit and the molten alloy is discussed on the basis of the reaction products formed at the fibre-matrix interface, which mainly consisted of fluoride compounds (K₃AlF₆), different zirconium-rich suicides (Si₂Zr, SiZr (Al), (Al, Si)₂Zr) and crystalline -alumina. Large amounts and/or inhomogeneous distributions of the K₂ZrF₆ deposit should be avoided, because the massive precipitation of colonies of intermetallics around fibres is conducive for the formation of harmful aluminium carbides and favours brittle fracture of the composite. The utilization of TiC-coatings formed by the reactive chemical vapour deposition process gave satisfactory results, both in terms of composite elaboration and fibre protection during liquid infiltration.     

Personality Organizations, Psychiatric Severity, and Self and Object Representations.

This study examined the hypothesis that psychotic, borderline, and neurotic personality organizations (POs) present a progressive differentiation between self and object representations and an increasing integration of their bad and good aspects. Fifty patients participated in the study. Measures included scales of self and object representations (S. J. Blatt, S. A. Bers, & C. E. Schaffer, 1993; S. J. Blatt, H. Wiseman, E. Prince-Gibson, & C. Gatt, 1991), as well as the Personality Organization Diagnostic Form (L. Diguer & L. Normandin, 1997) and estimations of psychiatric severity. Results showed that PO groups differed in terms of the integration of the object and its valence. It was also observed that although object and self representations were closely intertwined, the latter showed more discrimination between POs than the former. Psychiatric severity was shown to correlate more with object representations than self representations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mechanical Relaxation of a Ti_(36.2)Zr_(30.3)Cu_(8.3)Fe_4Be_(21.2) Bulk Metallic Glass: Experiments and Theoretical Analysis

The dynamic mechanical relaxation behavior of Ti_(36.2)Zr_(30.3)Cu_(8.3)Fe_4Be_(21.2) bulk metallic glass with good glass-forming ability was investigated by mechanical spectroscopy. The mechanical relaxation behavior was analyzed in the framework of quasi-point defects model. The experimental results demonstrate that the atomic mobility of the metallic glass is closely associated with the correlation factor χ. The physical aging below the glass transition temperature T g shows a non-Debye relaxation behavior, which could be well described by stretched Kohlrausch exponential equation. The Kohlrausch exponent β_(aging) reflects the dynamic heterogeneities of the metallic glass. Both concentration of "defects" and atomic mobility decrease caused by the in situ successive heating during the mechanical spectroscopy experiments.