Effect of Forming Pressure on the Internal Structure of Alumina Green Bodies Examined with Immersion Liquid Technique

Green bodies prepared by compaction of alumina granules were made transparent by an immersion liquid technique, and the internal structure was characterized with an optical microscope to study the effect of forming pressure on the internal structure. Clear images obtained by the technique provide more detailed information than other existing methods for structures ranging from one to tens of micrometers. Intergranular pores were present between unfractured granules. Their sizes and concentration tended to decrease with increasing forming pressure. However, pores were clearly present even in the green body prepared at 600 MPa. A rod- and needlelike feature was also found and was concluded to correspond to a high-density region. The significance of large pores and high-density regions on processing as well as the details of the technique is discussed.     

GABA and glutamate levels in the substantia nigra reticulata following repetitive cerebral ischemia in gerbils

Repetitive cerebral ischemia produces more severe damage than a similar single duration insult. We have previously shown that, in gerbils, damage in the substantia nigra reticulata (SNr) is seen with repetitive insults rather than a single insult. We have also shown that there is a progressive decrease in the extracellular GABA in the striatum in the days preceding such damage, speculating that a loss of GABA may be in part responsible for this damage. This study evaluates the GABA levels in the SNr in animals exposed to repetitive ischemic insults. Each animal received a total of three ischemic insults of 3-min duration at hourly intervals. In vivo microdialysis was carried out to analyze the GABA and glutamate dialysate levels on Days 1, 3, 5, 7, and 14 following the ischemic insult. In the control and treated (ischemic) animals, there was a significant increase in the GABA levels with the introduction of nipecotic acid on Days 1, 3, 5, and 14. However, on Day 7 there was a significant attenuation in the GABA response to nipecotic acid in the treated animals in comparison to the controls. The glutamate levels in the treated animals were similar to the control animals on Days 1, 3, 5, and 7. However, on Day 14 the glutamate levels were significantly lower than on previous days. Our experiments for the first time measure extracellular glutamate and GABA responses in the SNr in animals exposed to repetitive ischemic insults. Our experiments show that there is a significant decrease in the GABA concentrations at a time when ischemic damage is developing in this region. This confirms our hypothesis that a decrease in GABA may be one factor contributing to neuronal damage during the period following repetitive ischemic insults. Further, the rebound increase in GABA levels on Day 14 with a concomitant fall in glutamate levels would indicate that reparative processes are still active in the 2 weeks following the insult.     

Dependence of thin film transistor characteristics on thedeposition conditions of silicon nitride and amorphous silicon

The systematic relation between thin film transistors' (TFT's) characteristics and the deposition conditions of amorphous silicon nitride (a-SiN) films and hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) films is investigated. It is observed that field effect mobility μ_FE and threshold voltage V_th of the TFT's strongly depend on the deposition conditions of these films. The maximum μ_FE of 0.88 cm²/V·s is obtained for the TFT of which a-SiN film is deposited at a pressure of 85 Pa. This phenomenon is due to the variation of the interface states density between a-Si:H film and a-SiN film     

Low-cycle fatigue behavior of Sn-Ag, Sn-Ag-Cu, and Sn-Ag-Cu-Bi lead-free solders

Low-cycle fatigue (LCF) tests on as-cast Sn-3.5Ag, Sn-3Ag-0.5Cu, Sn-3Ag-0.5Cu-1Bi, and Sn-3Ag-0.5Cu-3Bi solders was carried out using a noncontact strain-controlled system at 20°C with a constant frequency of 0.1 Hz. The addition of Cu does not significantly affect the fatigue life of eutectic Sn-Ag solder. However, the fatigue life was significantly reduced with the addition of Bi. The LCF behavior of all solders followed the Coffin-Manson relationship. The fatigue life of the present solders is dominated by the fracture ductility and can be described by the ductility-modified Coffin-Manson’s relationship. Steps at the boundaries of dendrite phases were the initiation sites for microcracks for Sn-3.5Ag, Sn-3Ag-0.5Cu, and Sn-3Ag-0.5Cu-1Bi solders, while for Sn-3Ag-0.5Cu-3Bi solder, cracks initiated along both the dendrite boundaries and subgrain boundaries in the dendrite phases. The linking of these cracks and the propagation of cracks inside the specimen occurred both transgranularly through eutectic phases and intergranularly along dendrite boundaries or subgrain boundaries.     

Aminopeptidases in cells of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of varying degrees of malignancy and in lymphogranulomatosis

26 cases of lymphoproliferative diseases were studied: 8 cases of reactive follicular hyperplasia (RFH), 11 cases of non-Hodgkin's malignant lymphomas (NML), 7 cases of lymphogranulomatosis (LGM). Only gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) was found in lymphoid cells of B- and T-dependent areas of lymph nodes with reactive changes as well as in tumor cells of NML and LGM. GGT activity was more pronounced in NML of high-grade malignancy (centroblast and immunoblast) as compared to lymphomas of lower grade of malignancy (lymphocytic, centroblast-centrocytic and in Lennert lymphoma). GGT activity in cells of Hodgkin and Berezovsky-Sterberg in some cases of LGM was high, in others low. Significant differences in GGT activity between RFH and follicular centroblast-centrocytic lymphoma were not found. Activity of aminopeptidase M was observed in histiocytes, fibroblasts, vessels and areas of connective tissue growth. Aminopeptidase A activity was observed in vessels only. Activity of dipeptidyl(amino)peptidase IV was observed in some lymphoid cells in RFH, NML and LGM. Thus, GGT activity may be considered as a differential-diagnostic marker in separating NML of high and low degree of malignancy and this may presume a different sensitivity to the therapy.     

Hydrophilic peptides derived from the transframe region of Gag-Pol inhibit the HIV-1 protease

The HIV-1 transframe region (TFR) is between the structural and functional domains of the Gag-Pol polyprotein, flanked by the nucleocapsid and the protease domains at its N and C termini, respectively. Transframe octapeptide (TFP) Phe-Leu-Arg-Glu-Asp-Leu-Ala-Phe, the N terminus of TFR, and its analogues are competitive inhibitors of the action of the mature HIV-1 protease. The smallest, most potent analogues are tripeptides: Glu-Asp-Leu and Glu-Asp-Phe with Ki values of approximately 50 and approximately 20 microM, respectively. Substitution of the acidic amino acids in the TFP by neutral amino acids and d or retro-d configurations of Glu-Asp-Leu results in an >40-fold increase in Ki. Protease inhibition by Glu-Asp-Leu is dependent on a protonated form of a group with a pKa of 3.8; unlike other inhibitors of HIV-1 protease which are highly hydrophobic, Glu-Asp-Leu is extremely soluble in water, and its binding affinity decreases with increasing NaCl concentration. However, Glu-Asp-Leu is a poor inhibitor (Ki approximately 7.5 mM) of the mammalian aspartic acid protease pepsin. X-ray crystallographic studies at pH 4.2 show that the interactions of Glu at P2 and Leu at P1 of Glu-Asp-Leu with residues of the active site of HIV-1 protease are similar to those of other product-enzyme complexes. It was not feasible to understand the interaction of intact TFP with HIV-1 protease under conditions of crystal growth due to its hydrolysis giving rise to two products. The sequence-specific, selective inhibition of the HIV-1 protease by the viral TFP suggests a role for TFP in regulating protease function during HIV-1 replication.     

Activation of extracellular matrix metalloproteinases in equine laminitis

Samples of connective tissue obtained from the hoof of six laminitic and eight non-laminitic adult horses were analysed zymographically to investigate whether connective tissue matrix metalloproteinases are activated or induced during laminitis. The activity or matrix metalloproteinases was substantially greater in the tissues from the laminitic horses than in the tissues from the non-laminitic horses. A comparison of the collagenolytic activity in the laminitic and control tissues showed that collagenolytic activities corresponding to the 92 kDa (P < 0.001), 72 kDa (P < 0.01) and 66 kDa (P < 0.01) bands were induced in the laminitic tissues.     

The stability of duplexes involving AT and/or G4EtC base pairs is not dependent on their AT/G4EtC ratio content. Implication for DNA sequencing by hybridization

Sequencing by the recently reported hybridization technique requires the formation of DNA duplexes with similar stabilities. In this paper we describe a new strategy to obtain DNA duplexes with a thermal stability independent of their AT/GC ratio content. Melting data were acquired on 35 natural and 27 modified duplexes of a given length and of varying base compositions. Duplexes built with AT and/or G4EtC base pairs exhibit a thermal stability restrained to a lower range of temperature than that of the corresponding natural compounds (16 instead of 51 degrees C). The 16 degrees C difference in thermal stability observed between the least stable and the most stable duplex built with AT and/or G4EtC base pairs is mainly due to the sequence effect and not to their AT/G4EtC ratio content. Thus N -4-ethyl-2'-deoxycytidine (d4EtC) hybridizes specifically with natural deoxyguanosine leading to a G4EtC base pair whose stability is very close to that of the natural AT base pair. Oligonucleotide probes involving d4EtC can be easily prepared by chemical synthesis with phosphoramidite chemistry. Modified DNA targets were successfully amplified by random priming or PCR techniques using d4EtCTP, dATP, dGTP and dTTP in the presence of DNA polymerase. This new system might be very useful for DNA sequencing by hybridization.     

Trends in mortality of childhood-onset insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in Leicestershire: 1940-1991

The relative risk of death by calendar date of diagnosis was investigated in a population-based incident cohort of 845 (463 males:382 females) IDDM diagnosed in Leicestershire before the age of 17 years between 1940 and 1989. The mortality status of 844 (99.9%) patients was determined as of the 31 December 1991, representing 14,346 person-years of risk. Trends in relative risk of death were investigated using Cox proportional hazards modelling for within cohort comparisons and age/sex and calendar time adjusted standardized mortality ratios (SMR) using generalized linear modelling for external comparisons. Median age at diagnosis was 10 years (range 3 months to 16 years); median duration of diabetes 15 years (range 1-51 years). Forty-four patients had died (5.2%; median age at death 31 years, range 11-51 years). A further four patients died at presentation (within 24 h) from ketoacidosis and are excluded from all analyses. Calendar date of diagnosis was found to be an important predictor of mortality. Adjusting for attained age there was evidence of a decline in relative risk of death with calendar date of diagnosis of 3.4% (95% CI, 0.005-6.9%) per annum, equivalent to a 32% fall per decade (95% CI, 5-51%), or 84% (95% CI, 21-97) from 1940 to 1989. The data are consistent with a large fall in mortality between the 1940s and 1950s representing over 50% of the total reduction in mortality between 1940 and 1991. Neither sex nor age at diagnosis were significant predictors of mortality. Over the study period 1940-89 the SMR (male and female combined) fell from 981 (541-1556) to 238 (60-953) relative to the general population. This population-based study shows that the prognosis for Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus has improved markedly over the period 1940-1991.     

Stromal CCL5 Promotes Breast Cancer Progression by Interacting with CCR3 in Tumor Cells

Chemokines secreted from stromal cells have important roles for interactions with carcinoma cells and regulating tumor progression. C-C motif chemokine ligand (CCL) 5 is expressed in various types of stromal cells and associated with tumor progression, interacting with C-C chemokine receptor (CCR) 1, 3 and 5 expressed in tumor cells. However, the expression on CCL5 and its receptors have so far not been well-examined in human breast carcinoma tissues. We therefore immunolocalized CCL5, as well as CCR1, 3 and 5, in 111 human breast carcinoma tissues and correlated them with clinicopathological characteristics. Stromal CCL5 immunoreactivity was significantly correlated with the aggressive phenotype of breast carcinomas. Importantly, this tendency was observed especially in the CCR3-positive group. Furthermore, the risk of recurrence was significantly higher in the patients with breast carcinomas positive for CCL5 and CCR3 but negative for CCR1 and CCR5, as compared with other patients. In summary, the CCL5-CCR3 axis might contribute to a worse prognosis in breast cancer patients, and these findings will contribute to a better understanding of the significance of the CCL5/CCRs axis in breast carcinoma microenvironment.