Hemodynamic characterization of YM435, a novel dopamine DA1 receptor agonist, in anesthetized dogs

In previous studies on experimental renal failure, hypertrophy of cardiomyocytes, diminished capillarization, and increased intercapillary distances had been observed, abnormalities that will expose the heart to reduced ischemia tolerance. It has not been established, however, whether such structural alterations are unique for the heart (eg, as a consequence of left ventricular hypertrophy) or are demonstrable in other tissues as well. Clarification of this point is important to test hypotheses on some potential mechanisms for cardiac undercapillarization. To address this issue further, we compared capillary length density (by stereologic techniques) in perfusion-fixed skeletal muscle (m. psoas) and hearts of subtotally nephrectomized (SNX) rats with moderate renal failure to those in sham-operated pair-fed controls. The duration of renal failure was 8 weeks. SNX rats had significantly higher mean systolic blood pressure (128 mm Hg v 109 mm Hg), serum creatinine, and urea levels. Despite pair feeding, the mean body weight was significantly lower in the SNX rats (409 g v 471 g), but the left ventricular weight to body weight ratio tended to be higher than in the sham-operated controls (2.39 mg/g v 2.13 mg/g). In the heart, myocyte mean cross-sectional area (675 +/- 112 microm2 v 545 +/- 111 microm2) and volume density of nonvascular interstitial tissue (3.47 +/- 1.04 v 1.33 +/- 0.22) were significantly higher in the SNX rats than in the controls. In parallel, myocardial capillary length density was significantly reduced after subtotal nephrectomy (3,036 +/- 535 mm/mm3 v 3,916 +/- 615 mm/mm3). In contrast, in skeletal muscle, myocyte cross-sectional area (3,109 +/- 783 microm2 v 3,042 +/- 639 microm2), capillary length density (718 +/- 248 mm/mm3 v 717 +/- 184 mm/mm3), and three-dimensional capillary fiber ratio (2.10 +/- 0.26 v 2.13 +/- 0.4) were similar in SNX and control rats. These data document a selective defect of capillarization in the heart of animals with moderate renal failure, pointing to tissue-specific abnormalities of cardiac capillarogenesis.     

Deposition rate dependence of coercivity in vaccum evaporated CoCr films

Deposition rate dependence of perpendicular coercivity Hcl in Cocr evaporated films at the deposition rate ranging from 0.4nm/s to 400nm/s is studied. Hcl increases with decreasing deposition rate as well as with increasing substrate temperature. A High Hcl over 500 Oe, which has ever been obtained only at a substrate temperature over 250°C when deposition rate is high(400nm/s), is obtained at a substrate temperature of 150°C under deposition rate of 2nm/s. "Shoulder" in the hysteresis loop disappears as Hcl exceeds 400 Oe. Therefore to decrease the deposition rate and to increase the substrate temperature have the same effect on Hcl. Saturation magnetization of the films with the same Cr concentration increases with decreasing deposition rate, and it is suggested that the degree of Cr segregation increases with decreasing deposition rate. Hcl is independent of the background pressure when the relative pressure, the quotient of (background pressure/deposition rate), is between 2×10^-8and 5×10^-6torr/(nm/s). From the results above, it is clarified that the difference of deposition rate between vacuum evaporation and sputtering is one of the major reasons for the difference of Hcl between the two.     

Release of embryogenic carrot cells with high regeneration potency from immobilized alginate beads

For the mass-production of regenerated carrot plantlets, embryogenic carrot callus immobilized in calcium alginate gel beads was cultivated in a growth medium and the regeneration frequency of cells released from alginate gel beads was compared with that in a suspension culture. Cells released in the immobilized culture were regenerated at a frequency which was about 1.5 times higher than that obtained in the suspension culture. When CaCl2 was added to the growth medium at 5 mM, repeated batch culture for plantlet production continued for 245 d with no significant decrease in the productivity (1.6 x 10(5) plantlets/l-medium/d).     

Technical evolution of permanent magnet synchronous motors for home appliances

This paper reports on the highly efficient motor technologies used in home appliances in Japan. The permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) is especially suitable because the use of permanent magnets does not require any extra current to produce magnetic power in the rotor, or any other kind of energy. In Japan, there has been a rapid shift from induction motors to PMSMs, and in this paper we will show several examples of PMSMs as applied to the home appliance field. It can be seen that great improvements have been made in high‐efficiency motor technologies. Copyright © 2007 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Characterization of anisotropic gas permeability and thermomechanical properties of highly textured porous alumina

Porous alumina with a highly textured microstructure was fabricated by pulse electric current sintering (PECS) using alumina platelets. Highly oriented porous alumina with a porosity of 3%–50% was obtained by a pressure-controlled method of PECS. The properties of the highly textured porous alumina were measured in two directions. The nitrogen gas permeance and thermal conductivity at room temperature were higher in the direction along the platelet length due to the higher continuity of pores and the connectivity of alumina platelets, respectively. The anisotropy of the thermal conductivity at room temperature was investigated and explained by the effect of grain size of platelets as well as morphology and orientation of pores. The bending strength was higher with the loading direction along the platelet thickness. The thermal shock strength was clearly different in the two directions. The difference in the thermal shock strength was investigated by the measurement of properties and thermal stress analysis.     

Kinetic analysis of crystallization of zeolite beta synthesized by direct heating

To quantitatively investigate the initial crystallization of zeolite beta synthesized by direct heating, the extent of the reaction was precisely evaluated by X-ray diffraction measurements and Rietveld structural refinement, and a kinetic analysis of crystallization was performed using the Avrami-Erofe'ev equation. The activation energy for crystallization was lower than that for hydrothermal synthesis. Reaction and synthesis time curves revealed that the initial zeolite beta crystallization consisted of three stages. The first was an induction period with nucleation by the generation of building units and the formation of an initial coordinated structure. The second stage was crystal growth by a diffusion-controlled reaction, and the third stage involved slowing down of crystallization by the limitation of dehydrocondensation. These stages could be analyzed by calculation of the rate constant and Avrami exponent for each stage.     

Development of Selective TGR5 Ligands Based on the 5,6,7,8-Tetrahydro-5,5,8,8-tetramethylnaphthalene Skeleton

TGR5, a G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR), plays an important role in several physiological functions. TGR5 activation through bile acids induces an increase in energy expenditure. Therefore, synthetic TGR5 ligands could be useful for the treatment of obesity or dyslipidemia. In this study, we designed and synthesized a set of TGR5 ligands with a 5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-5,5,8,8-tetramethylnaphthalene (TMN) skeleton, and evaluated their TGR5 agonistic activity. We also investigated the selectivity of the synthesized compounds for TGR5 relative to the farnesoid X receptor (FXR) and retinoic acid receptor (RAR). Our results show that compound 4 b [N-(2-chlorophenyl)-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-5,5,8,8-tetramethyl-2-naphthalenecarboxamide] exhibited potent TGR5 agonist activity with an IC₅₀ value of 8.4 nM without significant cytotoxicity. In addition, compound 4 b showed only slight agonistic activity toward FXR and RAR at 1 μM treatment. These data indicate that compound 4 b is a selective TGR5 agonist, and could be a promising therapeutic agent for dyslipidemia.     

Feeder components and instrumentation for the JT-60SA magnet system

The modifying of the JT-60U magnet system to the superconducting coils is progressing as a satellite facility for ITER by both parties of Japanese government and European commission in the Broader Approach agreement. The magnet system requires current supplies of 25.7 kA for 18 TF coils and of 20 kA for 4 CS modules and 6 EF coils. The magnet system generates an average heat load of 3.2 kW at 4 K to the cryogenic system. The feeder components connected to the power supply provide current supply. The cooling pipes connected to the cryogenic system provide coolant supply. The instrumentation of the JT-60SA magnet system is used for its operation.     

Radiation-inducible TNF-alpha gene expression under stress-inducible promoter gadd 153 for cancer therapy

We demonstrated the effectiveness of radiation-inducible expression of the TNF-alpha gene for cancer therapy in vitro. The TNF-alpha gene under the control of the stress-inducible promoter, gadd 153, was introduced into the human glioma cell line, U251-SP. Without cobalt-60 gamma irradiation, no cytotoxicity against the transfected cells was observed. When the transfected cells were irradiated with 10 or 20 gray (Gy), the gadd 153 promoter was highly induced and the expression level of TNF-alpha increased. Five days after the irradiation, the TNF-alpha productions of each cell irradiated with 10 and 20 Gy were 30 and 100 times higher than the basal level, respectively. The cytotoxicities against the transfected cells 5 d after irradiation with 10 and 20 Gy were 79% or 91%, respectively, which are much higher than those against the nontransfected cells that were irradiated at the same dose (43% and 78%, respectively). These results demonstrate that the gadd 153-TNF-alpha system may be an effective tool for radiosurgery of malignant brain tumors.     

Study of melting and crystallization behavior of polyacrylonitrile using ultrafast differential scanning calorimetry

The thermal behavior of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) has been investigated using X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and ultrafast DSC. In conventional DSC, it is difficult to prevent the concurrent occurrence of the exothermic reactions of PAN with melting. However, in the ultrafast DSC curve, the exothermic peak due to these reactions disappears over the temperature range 0–400 °C at heating rates above 250 °C s⁻¹. Alternatively, the glass transition and the melting of PAN are observed over the temperature range 109–129 °C and 335–362 °C, respectively. Moreover, upon cooling from the molten state at a rate of −7500 °C s⁻¹, PAN crystallization is observed at 204 °C. These findings were observed repeatedly during heating and cooling measurements. From the extrapolation analysis, the zero-entropy-production melting temperature of PAN is found to lie in the temperature range 320–350 °C. Finally, the equilibrium melting temperature of PAN is estimated to be ca. 465 °C.