The Wiedemann Effect of the Magnetostriction Alloy "Alfer" at High Temperatures

The Wiedemann effect of "Alfer" (12.91 per cent Al-Fe alloy) was measured with the annealed specimen at high temperatures. As the temperature rises, the effect gradually decreases at the constant current through the specimen, and also the higher the temperature is, the weaker the field is for the maximum effect. When the current through the specimen as well as the longitudinal field is constant, the effect gradually decreases with the rise of temperature, and bcecomes extremely small at the magnetic transformation point of the Fe_3Al superlattice, and vanishes at the magnetic transformation point of α phase. The effect of Ni and Fe was measured to compare with that of Alfer. The temperature dependence of the effect of Ni is similar to that of Alfer, but that of Fe is different from both, that is, it gradually increases as the temperature rises, and after reaching a maximum at about 600℃, rapidly decreases, becoming zero at the magnetic transformation point

On the Magnetic Shunt Characteristics of Fe-Ni-Cr Alloys and M. S. Alloy

For the purpose of improving the magnetic shunt alloys hitherto used, the magnetic properties of Fe-Ni-Cr alloys, containing 30～60% of Ni, 1～18% of Cr and having no allotropic transformation, were measured at various temperatures ranging from -50° to 100° It has been found that those alloys with the magnetic transformation point of about 100° show excellent characteristics of magnetic shunt as follows : The permeability in 400 Oe at 0° are 5～20 and their temperature coefficient, 0.003～0.040, the permeability varying almost linearly with the temperature. And the authors have named them "M. S Alloy"

Epitope characterization of an anti-PIVKA-II antibody and evaluation of a fully automated chemiluminescent immunoassay for PIVKA-II

AbstractObjectivesProtein induced by vitamin K absence or antagonist-II (PIVKA-II) has been used as a tumor marker to aid in the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We developed an anti-PIVKA-II monoclonal antibody, 3C10, and a fully automated quantitative immunoassay for PIVKA-II on the ARCHITECT® i-systems. The aim of this study was to characterize the epitope of 3C10 and to evaluate the reactivity to PIVKA-II of this assay.MethodsThe epitope characterization was examined by using prothrombin γ-carboxyglutamic acid residues (Gla) domain polypeptides which are amino acid residues 17–27 that include four Gla residues at positions 19, 20, 25 and 26. The correlation with Picolumi PIVKA-II MONO (Eidia, Tokyo, Japan) and tube type equivalency was evaluated by using the developed fully automated quantitative immunoassay.ResultsPeptides having glutamic acid residues (Glu) at Gla domains strongly reacted to 3C10 but lost reactivity when the Glu at positions 19 or 20 was changed to Gla. The results were equivalent with an existing in vitro diagnostics product for PIVKA-II using the MU-3 antibody. A correlation study with the Picolumi PIVKA-II MONO gave a correlation coefficient of 0.99 and a regression slope of 0.92. No difference between a plain serum tube and a rapid serum tube including thrombin (RST) was observed on ARCHITECT PIVKA-II.ConclusionsThe results demonstrate that this anti-PIVKA-II antibody detects equivalent epitopes with MU-3 and has equivalent reactivity to PIVKA-II as MU-3. Moreover, the ARCHITECT PIVKA-II assay has good correlation with the existing PIVKA-II product, and is applicable for use with RST

The Effect of Carbon Addition on the Magnetic Shunt Properties of M.S.O. Alloy

The magnetic shunt properties of a kind of M.S.O. Alloy (31%Ni, 8.5%Cr and rest Fe) containing C from 0.019 to 0.150% were studied. The magnetization curves at 0°to 40℃ were measured by the ballistic method. The dimension of specimen was 0.4 cm in diameter, 3.1 cm in length, and so the demagnetization factor N was 0.30. The experimental results on magnetic shunt properties are summarised as follows : (1) With increasing C addition, the permeability decreases at first and then increases slightly through a feeble minimum. It is assumed that the former decreasing is due to the impurity of C and the latter increasing due to the formation of Fe_6Cr_C_6 which is speculated by the microscopic. texture and the calculation. (2) The temperature coefficient of permeability becomes larger with increasing C addition, and its linearity becomes worse

The Wiedemann Effect of the Binary System of Iron Aluminium Alloys at High Temperatures

The Wiedemann effect was measured at high temperatures with annealed specimens of 13 Fe-Al alloys. With the addition of Al to Fe, the torsion increased at first gradually, but after reaching a maximum at the concentration of about 13 per cent Al it decreased rapidly. In alloy containing less than about 6 per cent Al it was similar to that of iron, while in the alloy containing more than about 6 per cent Al it was similar to that of "Alfer"

The Wiedemann Effect of the Magnetostriction Alloy "Alfer"

The Wiedemann effect of "Alfer" (12.91 per cent Al-Fe alloy) was measured at room temperature up to 820 Oe in longitudinal magnetic field and to 8 A in current through the specimens, 3 mm, in diameter and 150 mm in length (the circular magnetic field at the surface of the cylindrical specimen was about 10.7 Oe). It was found that the Wiedemann effect, that is, the angle of twist increased with increasing longitudinal field and after attaining a maximum value decreased gradually at the constant current through the specimen, and that the maximum value as well as the corresponding field increased with increasing current through the specimen. In a weak field, the effect increased at first at a constant rate, and then reaches a saturation value with increasing current, and in higher fields, the effect became proportional to the current. The effect of "Alfer" had the opposite sign to that of Ni, though the absolute magnitudes were nearly equal to each other

Long-term results of the open stent-grafting technique for extended aortic arch disease

ObjectiveThis report elucidates the long-term safety and effectiveness of extended aortic arch replacement with an open stent-grafting technique from our 12 years of experience.MethodsFrom 1994 to 2004, 126 patients (mean age 67.8 years) with different pathologic conditions of the aortic arch with extension to the descending aorta (57 dissections [acute/chronic = 31/26] and 69 aneurysms) were operated on with an open stent-grafting technique. During deep hypothermic circulatory arrest with selective cerebral perfusion, the stent graft was delivered through the transected proximal aortic arch, and arch replacement with a 4-branched prosthesis was performed.ResultsOperative mortality within 30 days was 3.2%. Perioperative morbidity included 7 (5.6%) strokes and 8 (6.3%) spinal injuries (paraplegia in 3, transient paraparesis in 5). Sixty-three percent of the patients were extubated within 24 hours. In long-term follow-up (mean 60.4 ± 36.5 months, maximum 153 months), survival was 81.1%, 63.3%, and 53.7% at 1, 5, and 8 years. Five (3.9%) late endoleaks were observed but treated with successful additional endovascular repair. Freedom from endoleaks was 98.0%, 91.1%, and 91.1% for 1, 5, and 8 years, respectively.ConclusionLong-term observation showed safety and good durability of the open stent-grafting technique for aortic arch disease. This technique could be an attractive treatment option for aortic arch aneurysm with distal extension and aortic dissection requiring aortic arch replacement

Alcohol consumption and mortality from aortic disease among Japanese men: The Japan Collaborative Cohort study

Background and aimsOnly a few population-based prospective studies have examined the association between alcohol consumption and abdominal aortic aneurysm, and the results are inconsistent. Moreover, no evidence exists for aortic dissection. We examined the effect of alcohol consumption on risk of mortality from aortic diseases.MethodsA total of 34,720 men from the Japan Collaborative Cohort study, aged 40–79 years, without history of cardiovascular disease and cancer at baseline 1988 and 1990 were followed up until the end of 2009 for their mortality and its underlying cause. Hazard ratios of mortality from aortic diseases were estimated according to alcohol consumption categories of never-drinkers, ex-drinkers, regular drinkers of ≤30 g, and >30 g ethanol per day.ResultsDuring the median 17.9-year follow-up period, 45 men died of aortic dissection and 41 men died of abdominal aortic aneurysm. Light to moderate drinkers of ≤30 g ethanol per day had lower risk of mortality from total aortic disease and aortic dissection compared to never-drinkers. The respective multivariable hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) were 0.46 (0.28–0.76) for total aortic disease and 0.16 (0.05–0.50) for aortic dissection. Heavy drinkers of >30 g ethanol per day did not have reduced risk of mortality from total aortic disease, albeit had risk variation between aortic dissection and abdominal aortic aneurysm.ConclusionsLight to moderate alcohol consumption was associated with reduced mortality from aortic disease among Japanese men.Available online 21 September 2017, In Pres

Dual-FRET imaging of IP3 and Ca2+ revealed Ca2+-induced IP3 production maintains long lasting Ca2+ oscillations in fertilized mouse eggs

In most species, fertilization induces Ca(2+) transients in the egg. In mammals, the Ca(2+) rises are triggered by phospholipase Czeta (PLCzeta) released from the sperm; IP3 generated by PLCzeta induces Ca(2+) release from the intracellular Ca(2+) store through IP3 receptor, termed IP3-induced Ca(2+) release. Here, we developed new fluorescent IP3 sensors (IRIS-2s) with the wider dynamic range and higher sensitivity (Kd = 0.047-1.7 muM) than that we developed previously. IRIS-2s employed green fluorescent protein and Halo-protein conjugated with the tetramethylrhodamine ligand as fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) donor and acceptor, respectively. For simultaneous imaging of Ca(2+) and IP3, using IRIS-2s as the IP3 sensor, we developed a new single fluorophore Ca(2+) sensor protein, DYC3.60. With IRIS-2s and DYC3.60, we found that, right after fertilization, IP3 concentration ([IP3]) starts to increase before the onset of the first Ca(2+) wave. [IP3] stayed at the elevated level with small peaks followed after Ca(2+) spikes through Ca(2+) oscillations. We detected delays in the peak of [IP3] compared to the peak of each Ca(2+) spike, suggesting that Ca(2+)-induced regenerative IP3 production through PLC produces small [IP3] rises to maintain [IP3] over the basal level, which results in long lasting Ca(2+) oscillations in fertilized eggs

A Novel Combination Cancer Therapy with Iron Chelator Targeting Cancer Stem Cells via Suppressing Stemness

Excess iron causes cancer and is thought to be related to carcinogenesis and cancer progression including stemness, but the details remain unclear. Here, we hypothesized that stemness in cancer is related to iron metabolism and that regulating iron metabolism in cancer stem cells (CSCs) may be a novel therapy. In this study, we used murine induced pluripotent stem cells that expressed specific stem cell genes such as Nanog, Oct3/4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc, and two human cancer cell lines with similar stem cell gene expression. Deferasirox, an orally available iron chelator, suppressed expression of stemness markers and spherogenesis of cells with high stemness status in vitro. Combination therapy had a marked antitumor effect compared with deferasirox or cisplatin alone. Iron metabolism appears important for maintenance of stemness in CSCs. An iron chelator combined with chemotherapy may be a novel approach via suppressing stemness for CSC targeted therapy