A Possible Inhibitory Role of Sialic Acid on MUC1 in Peritoneal Dissemination of Clear Cell-Type Ovarian Cancer Cells

The role of sialic acids on MUC1 in peritoneal dissemination of ovarian cancer cells was investigated. A human ovarian carcinoma cell line, ES-2, was transfected with full-length MUC1 containing 22 or 42 tandem repeats. These transfectants were less adherent to monolayers of patient-derived mesothelial cells than ES-2/mock transfectants. When these cells were inoculated into the abdominal cavity of female nude mice, mice that had received the transfectants showed better survival. When the transfectants were mixed with sialidase and injected, the survival was poorer, whereas when they were mixed with N-acetyl-2,3-dehydro-2-deoxyneuraminic acid, a sialidase inhibitor, the survival was significantly prolonged. These behaviors, concerned with peritoneal implantation and dissemination observed in vitro and in vivo, were dependent on the expression of MUC1. Therefore, sialic acid linked to MUC1 in the form, at least in part, of sialyl-T, as shown to be recognized by monoclonal antibody MY.1E12, is responsible for the suppression of adhesion of these cells to mesothelial cells and the suppression of peritoneal implantation and dissemination.     

Search for Higgs bosons decaying to tau pairs in pp over collisions with the D0 detector

We present a search for the production of neutral Higgs bosons varphi decaying into tau+tau - final states in pp over collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV. The data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 1 fb(-1), were collected by the D0 experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. Limits on the production cross section times branching ratio are set. The results are interpreted in the minimal supersymmetric standard model yielding limits that are the most stringent to date at hadron colliders.     

Search for large extra dimensions in the production of jets and missing transverse energy in pp collisions at square root of s = 1.96 TeV

We present the results of a search for new physics in the jets plus missing transverse energy data sample collected from 368 pb(-1) of pp collisions at square root of s = 1.96 TeV recorded by the Collider Detector at Fermilab. We compare the number of events observed in the data with a data-based estimate of the standard model backgrounds contributing to this signature. We observe no significant excess of events, and we interpret this null result in terms of lower limits on the fundamental Planck scale for a large extra dimensions scenario.     

Initial growth behavior of GaAs on ZnSe in MOVPE

We have used atomic force microscopy to investigate the initial stages of the growth of GaAs on ZnSe by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. Underlying ZnSe with an atomically flat surface is achieved by growth at 450°C and post-growth annealing at the same temperature. The growth modes of GaAs on the ZnSe surface strongly depend on growth temperatures. The growth carried out at 450°C is 2-dimensional, while that at 550°C is highly 3-dimensional (3D), where the 3D islands are elongated in the [110] direction. The growth behavior, unlike homoepitaxy, is well interpreted in terms of low sticking coefficient and anisotropic lateral growth rate in the heterovalent heteroepitaxy.     

Cellulose acetate/poly(methyl methacrylate) interpenetrating networks: synthesis and estimation of thermal and mechanical properties

IPN-type composites consisting of cellulose acetate (CA) and poly(methyl methacrylate; PMMA) were successfully synthesized in film form. In this synthesis, a mercapto group (SH)-containing CA, CA-MA, was prepared in advance by esterification of CA with mercaptoacetic acid, and then intercomponent cross-linking between CA-MA and PMMA was attained by thiol–ene polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) onto the CA-MA substrate. For comparison, polymer synthesis was also attempted to produce a semi-IPN type of composites comprising CA and cross-linked PMMA, via copolymerization of MMA and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as cross-linker in a homogeneous system containing CA solute. Thermal and mechanical properties of thus obtained polymer composites were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry, dynamic mechanical analysis, and a tensile test, in correlation with the mixing state of the essentially immiscible cellulosic and methacrylate polymer components. It was shown that the specific IPN technique using thiol–ene reactions usually resulted in a much better compatibility-enhanced polymer composite, which exhibited a higher tensile strength and even an outstanding ductility without parallel in any film sample of CA, PMMA, and their physical blends.     

Hydrogen-Release Reaction of a Complex Transition Metal Hydride with Covalently Bound Hydrogen and Hydride Ions

The hydrogen-release reaction of a complex transition metal hydride, LaMg₂NiH₇, composed of La³⁺, 2×Mg²⁺, [NiH₄]⁴⁻ and 3×H⁻, was studied by thermal analyses, powder X-ray, and neutron diffraction and inelastic neutron scattering. Upon heating, LaMg₂NiH₇ released hydrogen at approximately 567 K and decomposed into LaH₂₋₃ and Mg₂Ni. Before the reaction, covalently bound hydrogen (H^c°^v.) in [NiH₄]⁴⁻ exhibited a larger atomic displacement than H⁻, although a weakening of the chemical bonds around [NiH₄]⁴⁻ and H⁻ was observed. These results indicate the precursor phenomenon of a hydrogen-release reaction, wherein there is a large atomic displacement of H^c°^v. that induces the hydrogen-release reaction rather than H⁻. As an isothermal reaction, LaMg₂NiH₇ formed LaMg₂NiH_2.4 at 503 K in vacuum for 48 h, and LaMg₂NiH_2.4 reacted with hydrogen to reform LaMg₂NiH₇ at 473 K under 1 MPa of H₂ gas pressure for 10 h. These results revealed that LaMg₂NiH₇ exhibited partially reversible hydrogen-release and uptake reactions.     

Synthesis of N,N′-bridged azacalixarenes

The one-pot reaction between bis(hydroxymethyl)phenol derivatives and diamines or triamines afforded novel azacalixarenes with bridged structures. Basket-type macrocycles of cone conformations, molecules that contained two aza[3.1.1.1]calixarene skeletons connected by a chain, or novel saucer-type azacalixarenes were obtained from the reaction. Structures of some of them were determined by crystallographic analyses.