Life Estimation for IC Plastic Packages Under Temperature Cycling Based on Fracture Mechanics

Abstract---: The strength of plastic encapsuiaiIts is analyzed from the viewpoint of crack propagation. With a preexisting crack length a and a specific number of applied load cycles N, fatigue crack propagation rates da/dN of the encapsulants were measured with laboratory test specimens. It was found that the da/dN of encapsulants can tie expressed as functions of the stress intensity factor range 11K. The crack propagation behavior in the package was estimated from the data of da/dN and 11K at the lowest temperature of the test cycles. Reasonabie correlation is found between the estimated crack propagation behavior and the observed one; The applicability of fracture mechanics to the package cracking problem is demonstrated

Phase I clinical trial of autologous NK cell therapy using novel expansion method in patients with advanced digestive cancer

Table S2. Change in NK population in PBL

Lactic Acid Bacteria from Kefir Increase Cytotoxicity of Natural Killer Cells to Tumor Cells

The Japanese fermented beverage, homemade kefir, contains six lactic acid bacteria: Lactococcus. lactis subsp. Lactis, Lactococcus. lactis subsp. Cremoris, Lactococcus. Lactis subsp. Lactis biovar diacetylactis, Lactobacillus plantarum, Leuconostoc meseuteroides subsp. Cremoris and Lactobacillus casei. In this study, we found that a mixture of the six lactic acid bacteria from kefir increased the cytotoxicity of human natural killer KHYG-1 cells to human chronic myelogenous leukemia K562 cells and colorectal tumor HCT116 cells. Furthermore, levels of mRNA expression and secretion of IFN-γ (interferon gamma) increased in KHYG-1 cells that had been treated with the six lactic acid bacteria mixture from kefir. The results suggest that the six lactic acid bacteria mixture from kefir has strong effects on natural immunity and tumor cell cytotoxicity

Characterization of Fusarium oxysporum β-1,6-Galactanase, an Enzyme That Hydrolyzes Larch Wood Arabinogalactan▿

A type II arabinogalactan-degrading enzyme (FoGal1) was purified from Fusarium oxysporum 12S, and the corresponding cDNA was isolated. FoGal1 had high similarity to enzymes of glycoside hydrolase family 5. Treatment of larch wood arabinogalactan with the recombinant enzyme indicated that FoGal1 is a β-1,6-galactanase that preferentially debranches β-1,6-galactobiose from the substrate

A single mutation Asp43Arg was increased 2.5-fold the catalytic activity and maintained the stability of cold-adapted endo-1,4-beta glucanase (Ef-EG2) from Eisenia fetida

To improve the specific activity at low temperatures of Ef-EG2 and to maintain thermostability, five mutant enzymes (K273R, N372D, Q387E, N402D, D43R) were produced. The two mutant enzymes (K273R, N402D) lost the cellulase activity. The specific activities of mutant N372D, Q387E, and D43R enzymes were 2.5-fold higher than that of WT enzyme over various temperatures. The denaturation temperatures (Tm) of WT and N372D, Q387E, and D43R enzymes were 55.1 °C, 51.5 °C, 51.2 °C, and 55.6 °C. D43R showed almost the same thermostability as the WT enzyme. The three-dimensional structure of D43R was not significantly different from that of the WT enzyme, but the D43R enzyme lost the ability to bind sodium ions. D43R was introduced the additional electrostatic interaction with Asp55

Sensitive Enzyme Immunoassay for Hepatitis B Virus Core-Related Antigens and Their Correlation to Virus Load

A sensitive enzyme immunoassay (EIA) specific for hepatitis B virus core antigen (HBcAg) and hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) was developed. We designated the precore/core gene products as hepatitis B virus (HBV) core-related antigens (HBcrAg). In order to detect HBcrAg even in anti-HBc/e antibody-positive specimens, the specimens were pretreated in detergents. The antibodies are inactivated by this pretreatment and, simultaneously, the antigens are released and the epitopes are exposed. The assay demonstrated 71 to 112% recovery using HBcrAg-positive sera. We observed no interference from the tested anticoagulants or blood components. When the cutoff value was tentatively set at 10(3) U/ml, all healthy control (HBsAg/HBV-DNA negative; n = 108) and anti-HCV antibody-positive (n = 59) sera were identified as negative. The assay showed a detection limit of 4 × 10(2) U/ml using recombinant antigen. Detection limits were compared in four serially diluted HBV high-titer sera. The HBcrAg assay demonstrated higher sensitivity than HBV-DNA transcription-mediated amplification (TMA) or HBeAg radio immunoassay (RIA) in the dilution test. HBcrAg concentrations correlated well with HBV-DNA TMA (r = 0.91, n = 29) and in-house real-time detection-PCR (r = 0.93, n = 47) in hepatitis B patients. On HBeAg/anti-HBe antibody seroconversion panels, the HBcrAg concentration changed in accordance with HBV-DNA levels. HBcrAg concentration provides a reflection of HBV virus load equivalent to HBV-DNA level, and the assay therefore offers a simple method for monitoring hepatitis B patients