p53 alteration, proliferating cell nuclear antigen, and nucleolar organizer regions in thymic epithelial tumors

We examined p53 protein expression, p53 gene mutation, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), and argyrophilic nuclear organizer regions (AgNOR), in 30 patients with surgically-treated thymic tumors (26 thymoma and 4 thymic carcinoma cases). p53 expression ratio with DO-1 was divided as p53 negative (0% positivity), low expressor (<10% positivity), high expressor (>10% positivity). The incidence of p53 low and high expressor in thymoma were 19% (5/26) and 8% (2/26), respectively. p53 immunopositivity in thymoma was significantly correlated with PCNA labeling index (LI). p53 expression ratio in invasive thymoma (33%) tended to be higher than that in non-invasive thymoma (18%). p53 expression was detected in one of the thymic carcinoma. There were no p53 gene mutations in 15 invasive thymoma, although one of four (25%) thymic carcinomas showed two point mutations. p53 gene alterations seem to be associated with malignant activity of tumor cells, and therefore detection of p53 gene mutations is useful as a diagnostic factor.     

Observation of large diamagnetism in La-Sr-Nb-O films up to room temperature

Large diamagnetic transitions along with sharp resistive transitions were observed in the La-Sr-Nb-O system near room temperature (290 K). The amplitude of the diamagnetism reaches 35% of that of a pure Nb sheet. In addition, a behavior similar to weak magnetic spin ordering was observed for some samples at a temperature of about 290 K, over a temperature range of 30 K. The diamagnetism reappears above this temperature and continues up toT 320 K. It is not clear what composition ratio of La-Sr-Nb-O is responsible for this large diamagnetism and the high critical temperature. The yield probability of these samples is around 50%. The characteristics of the samples having not passed through many thermal cycles remain stable for about 1 month.     

Possibility of superconductivity with highT c in La-Sr-Nb-O system

We prepared La-Sr-Nb-O system samples both in bulk form and as a film, with sharp resistive transitions at temperatures of 228–323 K, depending on the annealing conditions. The sharp resistive transitions might be attributable to superconductivity. Magnetic ordering was observed over a narrow temperature range around 40 K for some of the samples.     

Anodic polarization of aluminium in organic electrolytes

The polarization characteristics of aluminium anodes have been studied in various organic electrolytes containing aluminium chloride. The small amount of oxide present on the metal was dissolved by an anodic pre-treatment. The charge transfer number of the overall reaction was three. The current density supported by the electrolytes decreased in the order nitromethane>acetonitrile >propylene carbonate, formamide>tetrahydrofuran. The rest potential increased in the order formamide     

Effects of plastic strain amplitudes on non-proportional cyclic plasticity

Summary A series of plastic strain controlled cyclic tests was performed to facilitate the modelling of cyclic plasticity under general multiaxial loading conditions. The tests were carried out by applying combined axial force and torque to thin-walled tubular specimens of type 316 stainless steel at room temperature. Torsional and circular cycles of the equivalent plastic strain amplitude (von Mises type) ofe ^p /2=0.1, 0.2 and 0.4% were specified.The results showed that the cyclic hardening under the circular cycles is 1.5–1.8 times as large as that under the torsional cycles of the same value ofe ^p /2 in the saturated state. It was also observed that, in the case of torsional cycles, these saturated values are not affected by the sequence of plastic strain cycles in the past, while in the case of circular cycles, they are affected by the cycles of larger amplitudes. Furthermore, it was elucidated that this memory effect depends only on the cycles of the largest amplitude in the past.With 12 Figures     

Preparation and thermal degradation behaviour of a layer-type complex consisting of TaS2 and α-naphthylamine

A layer-type complex TaS₂ (α-naphthylamine)_0.46 having a basal spacing of 2.2 nm was prepared by soaking a mixture of the components in an ampoule at 433 K for 25 to 35 days. This complex was resealed in an ampoule after purification, followed by γ-radiation and heating to 473 K. The resulting sample was again heated at various temperatures below 1273 K. On heating to 643 K, the insertedα-naphthylamine polymerized, although with some removal from the complex, with a decrease in basal spacing to 1.35 nm. Another complex appeared faintly simultaneously. This second complex with a basal spacing of 0.96 to 0.92nm formed more abundantly on heating to 773 K and then decreased in amount at higher temperature. The complex decomposed at1273 K to result in TaS₂. Such thermal degradation behaviour is discussed from the standpoint of preparation of the layer-type complex consisting of TaS₂ and carbon.     

Detection of Buckminsterfullerene in Usual Soots and Commercial Charcoals

Abstract

It was confirmed that soot produced by free burning of small hydrocarbons like benzene and cyclohexane generally contains less than 0.1 ppm of C₆₀. Small, but measurable amounts of C₆₀ were found in two samples of charcoal, providing the first indication of fullerene formation in the solid state.     

Biosynthesis of Trehangelin in Polymorphospora rubra K07–0510: Identification of Metabolic Pathway to Angelyl‐CoA

Trehangelins are trehalose angelates discovered from endophytic actinomycete Polymorphospora rubra K07‐0510. We identified the trehangelin biosynthetic gene cluster, including genes that encode a glycoside hydrolase‐like protein (thgC), α‐amylase (thgD), 3‐ketoacyl‐ACP synthase III (thgI), 3‐ketoacyl‐ACP reductase (thgK), enoyl‐CoA hydratase (thgH) and acyl transferase (thgJ). Heterologous expression of thgH, thgI, thgJ and thgK confirmed the importance of these genes in the biosynthesis of trehangelin A. Enzymatic activity studies showed that ThgI catalyses the condensation of acetyl‐CoA and methylmalonyl‐CoA to 2‐methylacetoacetyl‐CoA (MAA‐CoA), ThgK catalyses NADPH‐dependent reduction of MAA‐CoA to 3‐hydroxy‐2‐methylbutyryl‐CoA (HMB‐CoA) and ThgH catalyses the dehydration of HMB‐CoA to angelyl‐CoA (AN‐CoA). This is the first report on the elucidation of the enzymatic formation of AN‐CoA.     

Stable identification scheme for linear discrete-time systems

This paper is concerned with the problem of identifying parameters in stochastic systems described by single-input single-output linear discrete-time equations. A stable estimation error system is developed by using the extended Kalman filter technique and the concept of strictly positive real transfer function. The identifier corresponding to the estimation error system is constructed, and the convergence of parameter estimates to the exact values is proved under some bounded conditions. It is shown that the recursive maximum likelihood identifier and the recursive extended least squares identifier are obtained by neglecting the correction terms in the proposed identifier. Numerical examples for a fourth-order system are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.