111In–L–LDL and 153Gd–L–LDL as radiotracers for detection of AR4‐2J rat pancreatic tumors

Pancreatic cancer has an extremely poor prognosis, due, in part, to lack of methods for early diagnosis. The present study was designed to evaluate the potential of labeling low‐density lipoprotein (LDL) with a radionuclide using a lipid chelating agent, bis(stearylamide) of diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (L), to detect pancreatic tumors by gamma‐scintigraphy. Previous studies indicated that the difficulty of visualization of pancreatic tumors was due to their poor vascularization. This study compares the ability of two radiotracers, ¹¹¹In–L–LDL and ¹⁵³Gd–L–LDL to target highly vascularized rat pancreatic tumors (AR4‐2J) implanted in nude mice. Biodistribution studies showed that the tumor uptake of ¹¹¹In–L–LDL and ¹⁵³Gd–L–LDL tracers was twofold and fivefold higher respectively than with the controls (¹¹¹In citrate and ¹⁵³Gd citrate respectively). These tracers would thus be suitable for scintigraphic imaging. We show here that LDL could be employed as a delivery system for tracers such as ¹¹¹In or ¹⁵³Gd when these two radionuclides are complexed by a lipid‐chelating anchor, and that ¹¹¹In–L–LDL and ¹⁵³Gd–L–LDL enabled better visualization of the pancreatic tumor tissues, with a better result with ¹⁵³Gd–L–LDL. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

人原始生殖细胞的分离和体外培养

从4～10周龄药物流产胚胎的生殖嵴和肠系膜组织中分离原始生殖细胞(primordial germ cells,PGCs),培养在添加人重组白血病抑制因子(rh LIF)、人重组碱性成纤维细胞生长因子(rh bFGF)和Forskolin的小鼠饲养层细胞上.经过4～7 d培养,PGCs形成典型的鸟巢状集落.集落在传代过程中保持碱性磷酸酶活性,且胚胎阶段性特异抗原1(SSEA-1)、胚胎阶段性特异抗原3(SSEA-3)免疫荧光染色呈阳性.具有分化潜能的PGCs能在体外连续传代培养12代.结果表明从药物流产胚胎中分离的人类PGCs可以在体外培养成为具有分化潜能的多能性干细胞.     

槲寄生蛋白注射液细胞毒活性测定的MTT方法探讨

采用MTT比色法对体外培养的肿瘤细胞进行细胞毒作用实验，验证槲寄生蛋白注射液体外抗肿瘤效果．并且鉴定这种检测方法的有效性。实验结果表明槲寄生蛋白注射液有一定的体外抗肿瘤效果；MTT比色法是一种可用的体外细胞毒作用检测法，为新药品的开发提供了实验依据。     

The fabrication and characterization of poly(lactic acid) scaffolds for tissue engineering by improved solid–liquid phase separation

In this article a new technique was developed to fabricate scaffolds with a unique microstructure by solid–liquid separation in combination with particulate-leaching. Firstly, the effects of polymer concentration, quenching temperature on the porous morphology and the mechanical property of obtained scaffolds during solid–liquid separation have been investigated. Then, salt granules as porogen were introduced into the solid–liquid phase separation to produce the unique pore structure of the scaffold. The pore diameter of the scaffold could be controlled with the particulate size and the wall of pores possessed special microstructure, which enhanced the pore interconnectivity. The cell culture results confirmed that a good interconnectivity of the scaffold prepared by the improved solid–liquid separation was useful for nutrition transportation and cell proliferation. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synthesis and cell cycle inhibition of the peptide enamide natural products terpeptin and the aspergillamides

Total syntheses of the peptide enamide natural products terpeptin and aspergillamides A and B are reported. An oxidative decarboxylation-elimination protocol is employed to construct the indolic enamide moiety. Unambiguous stereochemical assignment of (−)-terpeptin is accomplished by synthesis of all possible stereochemical analogues. Select compounds have been evaluated in cell cycle inhibitor assays which show that the natural amino acid configuration of terpeptin has the most potent inhibitory activity.     

A new VOF‐based numerical scheme for the simulation of fluid flow with free surface. Part II: application to the cavity filling and sloshing problems

Finite element analysis of fluid flow with moving free surface has been performed in 2‐D and 3‐D. The new VOF‐based numerical algorithm that has been proposed by the present authors (Int. J. Numer. Meth. Fluids, submitted) was applied to several 2‐D and 3‐D free surface flow problems. The proposed free surface tracking scheme is based on two numerical tools; the orientation vector to represent the free surface orientation in each cell and the baby‐cell to determine the fluid volume flux at each cell boundary. The proposed numerical algorithm has been applied to 2‐D and 3‐D cavity filling and sloshing problems in order to demonstrate the versatility and effectiveness of the scheme. The proposed numerical algorithm resolved successfully the free surfaces interacting with each other. The simulated results demonstrated applicability of the proposed numerical algorithm to the practical problems of large free surface motion. It has been also demonstrated that the proposed free surface tracking scheme can be easily implemented in any irregular non‐uniform grid systems and can be extended to 3‐D free surface flow problems without additional efforts. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Experimental analysis of current and deformation of ion-exchange polymer metal composite actuators

In this paper we describe the experimental analysis of a novel ion-exchange polymer metal composite (IPMC) actuator under large external voltage. The experimental analysis is supplemented with a coupled thermodynamic model, which includes mass transport across the thickness of the polymer actuator, chemical reactions at boundaries, and deformation as a function of the solvent (water) distribution. In this paper, the case of large electrode potentials (over 1.2 V) has been analyzed experimentally and theoretically. At these voltage levels, electrochemical reactions take place at both electrodes. These are used in the framework of overpotential theory to develop boundary conditions for the water transport in the bulk of polymer. The model is then simplified to a three-component system comprised of a fixed negatively charged polymeric matrix, protons, and free water molecules within the polymer matrix. Among these species, water molecules are considered to be the dominant species responsible for the deformation of the IPMC actuators. Experiments conducted at different initial water contents are described and discussed in the context of the proposed deformation mechanism. Comparison of numerical simulations with experimental data shows good agreement.     

Full-Wave Analyses for a Multi-Layered Microstrip Patch Antenna

This paper describes numerical modelling of a dual band multi-layered microstrip patch antenna operating at 35GHz on an in-house semi-insulating GaAs substrate. The simulated and measured resonant frequencies at both lower and upper resonant frequencies will be compared to check the accuracy of the different numerical modelling techniques.     

Fluorinated,crosslinkable terpolymers based on vinylidene fluoride and bearing sulfonic acid side groups for fuel‐cell membranes

The radical terpolymerization of 8‐bromo‐1H,1H,2H‐perfluorooct‐1‐ene with vinylidene fluoride (VDF) and perfluoro(4‐methyl‐3,6‐dioxaoct‐7‐ene) sulfonyl fluoride is presented. Changing the feed compositions of these three fluorinated comonomers enabled us to obtain different random‐type poly[vinylidene fluoride‐ter‐perfluoro(4‐methyl‐3,6‐dioxaoct‐7‐ene) sulfonyl fluoride‐ter‐8‐bromo‐1H,1H,2H‐perfluorooct‐1‐ene] terpolymers containing various sulfonyl fluoride and brominated side groups. Yields higher than 70% were reached in all cases. The hydrolysis of the sulfonyl fluoride group into the ? SO₃Li function in the presence of lithium carbonate was quantitatively achieved without the content of VDF being affected, and so dehydrofluorination of the VDF base unit was avoided. These original terpolymers were then crosslinked via dangling bromine atoms in the presence of a peroxide/triallyl isocyanurate system, which produced films insoluble in organic solvents such as acetone and dimethylformamide (which totally dissolved uncured terpolymers). The acidification of ? SO₃Li into the ? SO₃H function enabled protonic membranes to be obtained. The thermal stabilities of the crosslinked materials were higher than those of the uncured terpolymers, and their electrochemical performances were investigated. According to the contents of the sulfonic acid side functions, the ion‐exchange capacities ranged from 0.6 to 1.5 mequiv of H⁺/g, whereas the water uptake and conductivities ranged from 5–26% (±11%) and from 0.5 to 6.0 mS/cm, respectively. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 4566–4578, 2006