Thiamine pyrophosphatase activity in the Golgi apparatus of calcitonin-treated osteoclasts.

The thiamine pyrophosphatase (TPPase) activity described by Novikoff and Goldfisher was examined in osteoclasts affected by calcitonin in order to elucidate whether the morphological and functional changes of the osteoclasts have an influence over the secretion function of their Golgi apparatus. The Golgi apparatus of osteoclasts of which the ruffled border had disappeared and bone resorption discontinued as the result of treatment with calcitonin showed a slight TPPase activity. The reaction products of the enzyme in these inactive osteoclasts were distinctly fewer than that of control osteoclasts, which were not affected by calcitonin. From these results, it is suggested that there may be a connection between the morphological and functional changes of osteoclasts and the secretion function of the Golgi apparatus.     

Direct evidence of impaired cardiac sympathetic innervation in essential hypertensive patients with left ventricular hypertrophy

Increased sympathetic nervous activity has been proposed as one of the causes of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) associated with hypertension. However, the precise relationship is not fully understood. METHODS: To elucidate the relationship between myocardial sympathetic nervous activity and LVH in patients with essential hypertension EHT), we performed 123I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) myocardial scintigraphy in 49 patients with EHT and 17 normotensive control subjects. Sympathetic innervation of the left ventricle was evaluated using SPECT, and the whole heart uptake of the tracer was quantitatively assessed as the heart-to-mediastinum uptake ratio on both the early (15-min) and delayed (5-hr) images. Myocardial washout rate (MWR) of the tracer from 15 min to 5 hr after the isotope administration was also calculated. The left ventricular mass index (LVMI) was determined echocardiographically. RESULTS: In 49 hypertensive patients, there was a negative correlation between LVMI and heart-to-mediastinum uptake ratio on both the early and delayed images (r=-0.55, p < 0.0001; r=-0.63, p < 0.0001, respectively). In addition, there was a positive correlation between the LVMI and MWR of 123I-MIBG in these hypertensive patients (r=0.59, p < 0.0001). As for the regional uptake of the tracer, there was no significant difference between control subjects and hypertensive patients without cardiac hypertrophy, but a significant decrease of the uptake in the inferior and lateral regions was observed in hypertensive patients with cardiac hypertrophy. CONCLUSION: Patients with EHT had decreased accumulation and increased MWR of 123I-MIBG in proportion to the degree of LVH. Hypertensive patients with cardiac hypertrophy had impaired sympathetic innervation in the inferior and lateral regions of the left ventricle.     

Tailoring of Surfaces with Ultrathin Layers for Controlled Binding of Biopolymers and Adhesion and Guidance of Cells

Various strategies are described for the bio-functionalization of solid substrates by design of interfacial architectures. The first approach is based on the self-assembly process of long-chain thiol molecules from solution to a (noble) metal surface. If some of these building blocks carry a binding site (ligand) for proteins (receptors, antibodies, etc.) the metal surface can be tailored for maximum specific binding while simultaneously minimizing nonspecific adsorption. The second concept is based on polymers that are covalently attached to (oxide) surfaces. The preparation of these (end-) grafted functional polymers involves either the binding of preformed macromolecules to corresponding sites at the surface of the support or the recently introduced “grafting-from” method, by which an initiator molecule is first covalently bound to the surface and then activated — either by heat or light — in the presence of suitable monomer units such that a polymer chain grows from the solid/solution interface. Finally, the functionalization of patterned surfaces by peptide chains that mimic the binding domains of cell adhesion proteins is summarized. It is demonstrated that not only the selective adhesion of neuronal cells can then be controlled, but also their development with the outgrowth of dendrites and axons.     

Upper and lower critical solution temperatures in poly (ethylene glycol) solutions

Upper and lower critical solution temperatures have been determined for solutions of poly(ethylene glycol) in t-butyl acetate and water over the molecular weight range of M_η = 2.18 × 10³ to ～1020 × 10³. The phase diagram for solutions of poly(ethylene glycol) (M_η = 719 × 10³) in t-butyl acetate was expressed as the ‘hour glass’ type, while the phase diagram for solution of poly(ethylene glycol) (M_η = 2.18 × 10³ to ～2.29 × 10³) in water was expressed as the ‘closed loop’ type. The value of the pressure dependence of the lower critical solution temperature $\text{(}\text{d}\text{T}\text{d}\text{P}\text{)}{}_{\mathrm{c}}$ in the poly(ethylene glycol) (M_η = 1020 × 10³)/water system over the pressure range of 0 to ～50 atm was negligibly small and positive.     

Reviews

MARK FRESKO CONSULTANCY. Sources of digital information. British Library R&D Report 6102. London: British Library Research and Development Department, 1994. No ISBN given. No price indicated. 260 pp.

CHRIS CLARE and GORDON STUTELEY. Information systems — strategy to design. London: Chapman and Hall, 1995. ISBN 0 412 576708. £16.99.

POPE, IVAN. Internet UK. Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall International, 294 pp. ISBN 013 190950, £19.95. SCHOFIELD, SUE. UK Internet book. Wokingham: Addison‐Wesley, 301 pp. ISBN 0201 42766 4, £19.95.

RIMMER, STEVE. Planet Internet. New York: Windcrest, 1995. ISBN 0 8306 24724. £22.95 (pbk).

JILL H. ELLSWORTH and MATTHEW V. ELLSWORTH. The Internet business book. London: John Wiley & Sons, 1994. $22.95, 376pp. ISBN 0 471058092.

JOHN S. QUARTERMAN and SMOOT CARL‐MITCHELL. The e‐mail companion: communicate effectively via the Internet and other global networks. Addison‐Wesley, 1994. 318 pp. ISBN 0 201 40658 6. $19.95.

McCLURE, C.R., MOEN, W.E. and RYAN, J. Libraries and the Internet/NREN: perspectives, issues and challenges. London: Mecklermedia 1994. $35.00. ISBN 0 89736 824 7. McCLURE, C.R., BERTOT, J.C., and ZWEIZIG, D.L. Public libraries and the Internet: study results, policy issues and recommendations. Washington: National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, 1994. No price or ISBN given.

FRANCES BLOMELEY. Networks and network services: a user's guide. Immediate Publishing, 1994. ISBN 1–89831–00–03. 246 pp. £14.95.

NEIL SMITH (ed) ibraries, networks and Europe: a European networking study. British Library Research and Development Department, 1994. (LIR Series 101) 91 pp. ISBN 0 7123 3295 2. £25. (Distributed by Turpin Distribution Services Ltd, Blackhorse Road, Letchworth, Herts. SG6 1HN).

ALAN BRYANT. Creating successful bulletin board systems. Addison‐Wesley, 1994. ISBN 0–201–62668–3. $39.95.

Directory of electronic journals, newsletters and academic discussion lists. 4th ed. Compiled by Lisabeth A. King and Diane Kovacs, edited by Ann Okerson. Washington, DC: Association of Research Libraries, 1994. 575 pp. ISSN 1057–1337. $54 (paperback), $33 (ARL members).

THE BRITISH LIBRARY and ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING SERVICES LTD. Electronic publishing practice in the UK: LIR Report 95. University Press, Cambridge, 1994. 185 pp. ISBN 0 7123 3280 4. £30.00. (Distributed by Turpin Distribution Services, Blackhorse Road, Letchworth S96 1HN).

INTERNET WORLD'S On Internet 94: an international guide to electronic journals, newsletters, texts, discussion lists, and other resources on the Internet. edited by Tony Abbott with a Preface by Daniel P. Dem. Westport, London: Mecklermedia, 1994. £29.50 $45.00. ISBN 0–88736–929–4.

S. BANG. The Internet unleashed. Indianapolis: SAMS Publishing, 1994. $44.95. ISBN 0 672 30466 X.

GAIL K. DICKINSON, Selection and evaluation of electronic resources. Libraries Unlimited, 1994. ISBN 1 56308 098 2. £22.50.     

Effective indices to characterize short sequences of human random generations

Brain impediments such as dementia are a serious problem today. It would be very useful if software for private diagnosis were available. In this paper, we show the effectiveness of the human random generation test (HRG) for such software, and propose a set of four indices to be used for classifying the HRG data. Human-generated random numbers have strong characteristics compared to computer-generated random numbers, and these are known to be correlated to the individual characters of the subjects. However, analysis using the correlation dimension or HMM requires a long data sequence, and thus is not suitable for diagnoses. We therefore focus on short sequences of HRG and search for effective indices to detect signs of brain disability hidden in the HRG data. We studied data from subjects of different age groups, and successfully differentiated the data from the different groups. This work was presented in part at the 12th International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics, Oita, Japan, January 25–27, 2007     

Development of smart composite structures with small-diameter fiber Bragg grating sensors for damage detection: Quantitative evaluation of delamination length in CFRP laminates using Lamb wave sensing

The authors and Hitachi Cable, Ltd. have recently developed small-diameter optical fiber and its fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor for embedment inside a lamina of composite laminates without strength reduction. The outside diameters of the cladding and polyimide coating are 40 and 52 μm, respectively. First, a brief summary is presented for applications of small-diameter FBG sensors to damage monitoring in composite structures. Then, we propose a new damage detection system for quantitative evaluation of delamination length in CFRP laminates using Lamb wave sensing. In this system, a piezo-ceramic actuator generates Lamb waves in a CFRP laminate. After the waves propagate in the laminate, transmitted waves are received by an FBG sensor attached on or embedded in the laminate using a newly developed high-speed optical wavelength interrogation system. This system was applied to detect interlaminar delamination in CFRP cross-ply laminates. When the Lamb waves passed through the delamination, the amplitude decreased and a new wave mode appeared. These phenomena could be well simulated using a finite element analysis. From the changes in the amplitude ratio and the arrival time of the new mode depending on the delamination length, it was found that this system could evaluate the delamination length quantitatively. Furthermore, small-diameter FBG sensors were embedded in a double-lap type coupon specimen, and the debonding progress could be evaluated using the wavelet transform.