Whirling spin order in the quasicrystal approximant Au72_{72}Al14_{14}Tb14_{14}

Neutron powder diffraction experiment has been performed on the quasicrystal approximant Au$_{72}$Al$_{14}$Tb$_{14}$, a body-center-cubic crystal of icosahedral spin clusters. The long-range antiferromagnetic order was confirmed at the transition temperature $T_{\rm N} = 10.4$ K. The magnetic structure consists of noncoplanar whirling spins on the icosahedral clusters, arranging antiferroic-manner. A simple icosahedral spin-cluster model with uniaxial anisotropy accounts well the whirling spin order as well as the in-field metamagnetic transition, indicating that the icosahedral symmetry is essential.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Renoprotective Action of a Matrix Metalloproteinase Inhibitor in Progressive Mesangioproliferative Nephritis

Background/Aim: Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) play pivotal roles in extracellular matrix turnover and are involved in chronic kidney disease. The renoprotective action of a synthetic MMP inhibitor, compound A, was investigated in chronic nephritis. Methods: Nephritis was induced by a single injection of anti-Thy1.1 antibody to unilaterally nephrectomized rats. The effects of compound A on proteinuria, blood urea nitrogen, and matrix-related gene expressions were evaluated. Collagen accumulation, as assessed by periodic acid-Schiff staining and hydroxyproline content, was determined. The integrity of glomerular epithelial cells and glomerular basement membrane was evaluated with desmin immunohistochemistry and electron microscopic detection of anionic charge sites, respectively. Results: Treatment with compound A notably attenuated proteinuria, ameliorated blood urea nitrogen, and prevented glomerulosclerosis. Gene upregulation of collagen and transforming growth factor β1 in the cortex was prevented in the treated animals. Glomerular epithelial cell injury was milder, and glomerular basement membrane anionic sites were protected with the treatment. Conclusion: A novel MMP inhibitor, compound A, exerts protective effects in progressive glomerulonephritis. Compound A ameliorates various aspects of renal injuries and may have therapeutic potential toward kidney diseases

cDNA cloning of rat proteasome subunit RC1, a homologue of RING10 located in the human MHC class II region

AbstractThe nucleotide sequence of a cDNA that encodes a new subunit, named RC1, of rat proteasomes (multicatalytic proteinase complexes) has been determined. The polypeptide predicted from the open reading frame consisted of 208 amino acid residues with a calculated molecular mass of 23,130, which is consistent with the size obtained by electrophoretic analysis of purified RC1. The partial amino acid sequences of several fragments of RC1, obtained by protein chemical analyses, were found to be in excellent accordance with those deduced from the cDNA sequence. Surprisingly, the overall structure of RC1 was found to be almost identical to that of recently isolated RING10, whose gene is located in the class II region of the human MHC gene cluster. This finding suggests that RC1 is a homologue of human RING10, supporting the proposal that proteasomes are involved in the antigen processing pathway

Numerical and Experimental Investigation of the Through-Thickness Strength Properties of Woven Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composite Laminates under Combined Tensile and Shear Loading

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the through-thickness stresses of woven glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) composite laminates under combined tensile and shear loading. Tensile tests were carried out with cross specimens at room temperature under various stacking angles, and the through-thickness strength properties of the woven GFRP laminates were evaluated. The failure characteristics of the woven GFRP laminates were also studied by optical microscopy observations. A three-dimensional finite element analysis (FEA) was carried out to calculate the stress distributions in the cross specimens, and the failure conditions of the specimens were examined. The numerically determined interlaminar tensile and shear stresses at failure location were consistent with Hoffman and Mohr-Coulomb failure criteria when the stacking angle was relatively small. This work is the first attempt to quantify the relation between interlaminar tensile and shear strengths of GFRP composite laminates under tensile and shear loading simultaneously using a combined numerical and experimental approach. A method based on finite element stress analysis was developed for estimating the through-thickness strength of the composite laminates using the experimentally determined fracture load and location. The results suggest that the through-thickness strength under combined tensile and shear loading can be determined effectively by this approach for relatively small stacking angles