Interleukin-1 beta-converting enzyme mediates cisplatin-induced apoptosis in malignant glioma cells

Increasing the susceptibility of tumor cells to apoptotic cell death following chemotherapy is of importance to the outcome of cancer treatment. Although the tumor suppressor gene p53 is required for efficient induction of apoptosis by chemotherapeutic agents, it is not the only apoptosis mediator gene. The molecular mechanisms mediating apoptosis following chemotherapy via p53-dependent or p53-independent pathways remain unclear. We show here that cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (cisplatin) induces the expression of interleukin-1 beta-converting enzyme (ICE), a mammalian homologue of the Caenorhabditis elegans cell death gene ced-3, in murine and human malignant glioma cells during apoptosis regardless of their p53 status. Furthermore, overexpression of the murine ICE gene induces apoptosis in these tumor cells. The apoptosis induced by cisplatin treatment or murine ICE overexpression can be suppressed by the tetrapeptide ICE inhibitor Ac-YVAD-CMK or the apoptosis inhibitors bcl-2 or bcl-2-related bcl-XL gene. These findings suggest that ICE may mediate apoptosis induced by chemotherapy, and its induction could represent a novel approach for the effective treatment of malignant glioma.     

Microstructures of Annealed TiNiSn-Based Alloy Ribbons

The thermoelectric half-Heusler compounds Ti _x NiSn_0.998Sb_0.002 (x = 1.0 to 1.2) and Ti _y Zr_0.25Hf_0.25NiSn_0.998Sb_0.002 (y = 0.5 to 0.65) with nonstoichiometric nominal compositions were prepared by spin-casting and subsequent annealing at 1073 K for 24 h. The dimensionless figure of merit ZT at room temperature was maximized at x = 1.1 and y = 0.6 in Ti-rich compounds through an increase in absolute Seebeck coefficients despite a decrease in electrical conductivities. ZT reached 0.07 at x = 1.1 and 0.14 at y = 0.6. In powder x-ray diffraction analysis, minor phases of β-Sn, TiNi, Ti₂Sn, and Ti₅Sn₃ were observed in addition to a major phase of half-Heusler. The quantity of the minor phases was minimized at x = 1.1 and y = 0.55, where the absolute Seebeck coefficients are maximized. In transmission electron microscopic (TEM) analysis of Ti_0.55Zr_0.25Hf_0.25NiSn_0.998Sb_0.002, crystal grains of the half-Heusler phase, from several hundred nanometers to several micrometers in size, were observed. TEM energy-dispersive spectroscopy measurements indicated that fluctuations of Ti, Zr, and Hf compositions within the Ti-site in the half-Heusler phase may occur. Thermoelectric properties were improved at x = 1.1 and y = 0.6 rather than at the stoichiometric compositions of x = 1.0 and y = 0.5 due to minimization of the precipitate quantities.     

A step-down boosted-wordline scheme for 1-V battery-operated fastSRAM's

Fast and low-power circuit techniques for battery-operated low-voltage SRAM's are described. To shorten the read access time with low power dissipation, the step-down boosted-wordline scheme, which is combined with current-sense amplifiers, is proposed. Boosting a selected-wordline voltage shortens the bitline delay before the stored data are sensed. The power dissipation while selecting a wordline is suppressed by stepping down the selected-wordline potential. Moreover, to reduce the standby power, a switched-capacitor-type boosted-pulse generator, which is controlled by an address transition detection (ATD) signal, is used. A 61 kword×16-bit organization SRAM test chip was fabricated using the 0.5-μm multithreshold-voltage CMOS (MTCMOS) process. The power dissipation in the memory array is reduced to 57% (1 mW) at 10 kHz operation in comparison with the conventional boosted-wordline scheme     

STORAGE OF PITCHING YEAST FOR PRODUCTION OF WHISKY

The viability of pitching yeast stored at 5°C and at 20°C was compared. The viability of the yeast stored at 5°C was about 80% after 54 d storage and its CO₂ producing activity also remained high. The ethanol production rate of yeast stored for a long period at 5°C was unaffected in a subsequent fermentation test, even though the viability was only about 50%. The ethanol production rate of yeast stored at 20°C decreased in proportion to a rapid decrease in viability during storage. The concentration of intracellular sulphur compounds, important for the production of aromatic components of whisky, of yeast stored at 5°C was higher than that of yeast stored at 20°C. Therefore, the storage of yeast at 5°C seems appropriate for production both of ethanol and aroma.     

Histochemical demonstration of different types of poly-N-acetyllactosamine structures in human thyroid neoplasms using lectins and endo-beta-galactosidase digestion

Blood-group-related antigens expressed in papillary carcinomas and other types of neoplasm of the human thyroid glands have been shown to be carried by poly-N-acetyllactosamines containing a linear domain susceptible to endo-beta-galactosidase digestion. To make clear more precisely the backbone poly-N-acetyllactosamine structures, labelled lectins specific to different types of these structures and specific to core structures with beta 1-6GlcNAc branching of N- and O-linked glycoproteins were employed in conjunction with prior endo-beta-galactosidase digestion on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded neoplasms of the human thyroid glands. In papillary carcinomas, Datura stramonium agglutinin (DSA) and succinyl wheat germ agglutinin (Suc-WGA) reacted most consistently and frequently with papillary carcinomas from all the individuals examined. Pokeweed mitogen (PWM) likewise stained the cells of papillary carcinomas from all the individuals examined, but in some individuals the number of lectin-reactive cells were very small. Lycoperscion esculentum aggultinin (LEA), Solanum tuberosum agglutinin (STA), Phaseolus vulgaris agglutinin L (PHA-L) and Artocarpus integrifolia agglutinin (jacalin) similarly bound to the cancer cells from most of the individuals, and in these cases the number of reactive cells was usually much more restricted than was the case with DSA or PWM. In adenoma and other types of carcinoma, such as follicular carcinomas, these lectins specific to poly-N-acetyllactosamine exhibited slight or no reactivity with the cells, whereas PHA-L and jacalin similarly bound to the cells of adenomas and carcinomas from most of the individuals examined. Prior digestion with endo-beta-galactosidase completely eliminated or markedly reduced the reactivity with PWM and LEA in papillary carcinomas. Reactivity with DSA, Suc-WGA, STA, PHA-L and jacalin was slightly reduced or not at all affected by enzyme digestion. These results confirmed that poly-N-acetyllactosamine species found in papillary carcinomas are quite different from those in other types of thyroid neoplasm, suggesting that at least three different types of poly-N-acetyllactosamine, that is, linear unbranched short and long sequences and highly branched ones are produced in these cells.     

The phase reversal effect of a fiber Bragg grating and its application to optical switches

We propose an interferometer‐type multistate optical switch and an interferometer‐type digital performance switch using a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) and the phase reversal effect. The effect is a reversing phenomenon of optical phase difference between the reflected and transmitted light from an FBG on a reflectivity spectrum dip between the main reflection band and first sideband. By combining this effect and reflectivity change, the multistate switch including only a single FBG can perform as a four‐state switch. In this paper we describe the principle of the phase reversal effect and some novel optical switch structures, and also the results of experimental examination. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 143(3): 38–48, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.10136     

Analysis of the Bacterial Community in Zaopei During Production of Chinese Luzhou‐flavor Liquor

Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and 16S rRNA gene analysis were carried out to analyze the bacterial community in Zaopei during production of Chinese Luzhou‐flavor liquor. Primers PRBA338F and PRUN518R were used for DGGE. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for clone analysis was preformed with primers EU27F and 1490R. The results by DGGE showed that with increasing fermentation time the diversity of bacteria in Zaopei decreased and after one week, only one bacterium phylotype was dominant. Gene clone libraries (16S rRNA) containing 55 clonal sequences were constructed. The bacterial diversity shift observed by DGGE was also shown by the clone library analysis. Bacteria closely related to Lactobacillus acetotolerans appeared to play a key role during Chinese liquor fermentation.     

Rule Construction and Execution for Root Cause Analysis

We developed a root cause analysis (RCA) system for an enterprise IT system environment. In this paper, we propose a rule‐construction method that builds analysis rule data objects from general analysis rules and the topology information of the actual target IT environment. Using this method, the IT administrator can use the RCA system without any manual rule modifications. For the execution of the analysis, we introduce the certainty factor to realize robust analysis when the order and reachability of a fault event cannot be guaranteed.     

ALCHEMI for coexistent Heusler and half-Heusler phases in TiNi1.5Sn

Atomic location by channeling-enhanced microanalysis (ALCHEMI) is an effective technique to clarify the atomic configurations in multicomponent compounds. Recent development of the theory on the characteristic X-ray emission has made ALCHEMI a more reliable and expansive technique. In this revised ALCHEMI, the characteristic X-ray intensities are measured at various electron-incidence directions, and are compared with the X-ray intensities calculated from first principles. In the present work, this technique was applied to coexistent Heusler and half-Heusler phases in a thermoelectric material, TiNi_1.5Sn. The X-ray intensities calculated for both phases were significantly dependent on the fitting parameters of the atomic occupancy on each site and the sample thickness. Using the Levenberg–Marquardt least-squares method, the residual errors between the experimental and the calculated X-ray intensities were minimized to determine the fitting parameters quantitatively. In the Heusler phase, the ordered structure was observed because the atoms of each element almost occupy each site. On the other hand, in the half-Heusler phase, the “Heusler-like” structure was observed because the occupation probabilities of Ni atoms on the Ni-site and on the vacancy-site were measured as 0.49±0.01 and 0.49±0.01, respectively, whereas 1 and 0 is expected for the normal half-Huesler structure.