The canalicular structure of compact bone in the rat at different ages.

Osteocytes communicate through a canalicular system that maintains the vitality and mineral metabolism of bone. Casting the vascular canals and canaliculi of compact bone with methacrylate and viewing them with scanning electron microscopy shows their extent and relationships. Confocal laser scanning microscopy of the same specimen before corrosion establishes the degree of calcification of the different tissue components. These methods were used to compare basal with alveolar compact bone in the rat mandible at different ages. Sections of the mandibular molar region were placed in a methacrylate resin. After polymerization and study with confocal microscopy, the organic matrix was removed. Juvenile rats had large irregular central vascular canals and lacunae that were more concentric in the basal than the alveolar bone. Cast lacunae were round, and the canaliculi from these lacunae were short and thick in both bones. Adult rats had regular concentrically arranged lacunae in the basal bone. Cast lacunae were ellipsoid and flatter in the basal bone than in the alveolar bone. The intercommunicating canaliculi were increased and canaliculi had more branching than the juvenile rats. The aged rats had fewer vascular canals, lacunae, and canaliculi and had osteoporotic changes. The cast lacunae were slender and flat especially in the basal bone. The porosity of the mandible became more pronounced in the alveolar than in the basal bone with aging. The canaliculi of mandibular compact bone thinned and developed extensive branching with adulthood but decreased in size and number with advanced age. Lacunae proceed from the large circular structures of youth to the flat forms of the aged. These studies show that the internal structure of compact bone changes with age and mirrors its functional state.     

Serial magnetic resonance imaging in patients following acute myocardial infarction.

The detection of serial changes in magnetic resonance (MR) signal intensity of the heart following acute myocardial infarction may provide a useful method of characterizing tissue healing. Fourteen patients with acute Q-wave infarction underwent T2-weighted, spin-echo cardiac imaging during hospitalization, followed by one or more additional MR studies (total 31) over a 6- to 27-wk period (mean: 3 mo). Visual assessment of the images demonstrated a gradual reduction in signal intensity and localization of the bright signal to the subendocardium of the infarction region over the three-mo study period. A quantitative measurement of signal intensity (infarction/normal myocardium) fell from 1.81 +/- 0.42 on the initial study to 1.34 +/- 0.37 (p less than 0.05) at a mean of 14 wk. Two patients had an increase in signal intensity on the follow-up study and both patients had been readmitted with acute coronary syndromes. In summary, characterization of changes in signal intensity may provide a useful method of assessing myocardial healing following acute myocardial infarction. Further studies are indicated to determine the prognostic significance of these parameters.     

A Relationship Among Gentzen's Proof-Reduction,Kirby-Paris' Hydra Game and Buchholz's Hydra Game

We first note that Gentzen's proof-reduction for his consistency proof of PA can be directly interpreted as moves of Kirby-Paris' Hydra Game, which implies a direct independence proof of the game (Section 1 and Appendix). Buchholz's Hydra Game for labeled hydras is known to be much stronger than PA. However, we show that the one-dimensional version of Buchholz's Game can be exactly identified to Kirby-Paris' Game (which is two-dimensional but without labels), by a simple and natural interpretation (Section 2). Jervell proposed another type of a combinatorial game, by abstracting Gentzen's proof-reductions and showed that his game is independent of PA. We show (Section 3) that this Jervell's game is actually much stronger than PA, by showing that the critical ordinal of Jervell's game is φ_ω (0) (while that of PA or of Kirby-Paris' Game is φ₁ (0) = ?₀) in the Veblen hierarchy of ordinals.     

Complexation of a hydrophobic thiazorylazophenol with Ni2+ at sodium dodecylsulfate micellar surface

Complexation of thiazorylazododecylphenol (TADP) with Ni2+ at the surface of sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) micelles has been spectrophotometrically studied. Complicated spectral changes are analyzed by a factor and multivariate analysis, which implies the formation of [TDAP(OH-)Ni]0 as well as a simple 1:1 complex of Ni2+ with TDAP at the micellar interface. All of the equilibrium constants required to describe this system are substantially affected by electrolyte concentrations. Coexistent electrolytes vary the surface potential of the micelle, and in turn influence the equilibria taking place on the micellar surface. The electrostatic potential estimated based on the equilibrium shifts is more negative than that calculated according to Poisson-Boltzmann theory, which simply involves electrostatic effects. This disagreement is possibly caused by different aqueous environments around the micelle from bulk solution, which also facilitate the formation of unusual complex such as [TDAP(OH-)Ni]0.     

AC calorimetric study of phase transitions in phosphatidylcholine-cholesterol systems

Using an ac calorimetric method, detailed behaviour of the heat capacity in dipalmitoyl-phosphatidylcholine-cholesterol system was studied in the cholesterol concentration less than 5 mol%. It was revealed that the heat capacity near the main transition was composed of at least four anomalies, i.e., multipeak took place in the heat capacity. This fact indicates that a simple theory explaining coexistence of two phases in two component systems does not work in the multipeak region. Then, relation between the multipeak heat capacity and the change of the ripple structure with the cholesterol concentration should be taken into account, when we consider thermodynamical behaviour of the systems.

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Zusammenfassung Mittels AC-Kalorimetrie wurde bei Cholesterol-Konzentrationen von weniger als 5 mol% das Verhalten der Wärmekapazität im System Dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholin-Cholesterol untersucht. Es wurde gezeigt, daß sich die Wärmekapazität in der Nähe der Hauptumwandlung aus mindestens vier Anomalien zusammensetzt, d.h. bei der Wärmekapazität kann ein Multipeak beobachtet werden. Diese Tatsache zeigt, daß eine einfache Theorie, welche die Koexistenz zweier Phasen in einem Zweikomponenten-System erklärt, für die Multipeakregion nicht geeignet ist. Weiterhin sollte bei Überlegungen zum thermodynamischen Verhalten von Systemen eine Beziehung zwischen der Multipeak-Wärmekapazität bzw. der Welligkeitsstruktur und der Cholesterol-Konzentration berücksichtigt werden.

     

Influence of the reaction temperature and ph on the coordination modes of the 1,4-benzenedicarboxylate (BDC) ligand: a case study of the Ni(II)(BDC)/2,2'-bipyridine system

Three new Ni(BDC)/2,2'-bipy compounds, Ni2(BDC)(HBDC)2(2,2'-bipy)2 (2), Ni3(BDC)3(2,2'-bipy)2 (3), and Ni(BDC)(2,2-bipy)2.2H2O (5), in addition to the previously reported Ni(BDC)(2,2'-bipy).0.75H2BDC (1) and Ni(BDC)(2,2'-bipy)(H2O) (4) [BDC = 1,4-benzenedicarboxylate; 2,2'-bipy = 2,2'-bipyridine], have been synthesized by hydrothermal reactions. A systematic investigation of the effect of the reaction temperature and pH resulted in a series of compounds with different compositions and dimensionality. The diverse product slate illustrates the marked sensitivity of the structural chemistry of polycarboxylate aromatic ligands to synthesis conditions. Compound 1, which has a channel structure containing guest H2BDC molecules, is formed at the lowest pH. The guest H2BDC molecules are connected by hydrogen bonds and form extended chains. At a slightly higher pH, a dimeric molecular compound 2 is formed with a lower number of protonated carboxylate groups per nickel atom and per BDC ligand. Reactions at higher temperature and the same pH lead to the transformation of 1 and 2 into the two-dimensional, layered trinuclear compound 3. As the pH is increased, a one-dimensional polymer 4 is formed with a water molecule coordinated to Ni2+. Bis-monodentate and bischelating BDC ligands alternate along the chain to give a crankshaft rather than a regular zigzag arrangement. A further increase of the pH leads to the one-dimensional chain compound 5, which has two chelating 2,2'-bipy ligands. Crystal data: 2, triclinic, space group P, a = 7.4896(9) angstroms, b = 9.912(1) angstroms, c = 13.508(2) angstroms, alpha = 86.390(2) degrees , beta = 75.825(2) degrees, gamma = 79.612(2) degrees, Z = 2; 3, orthorhombic, space group Pbca, a = 9.626(2) angstroms, b = 17.980(3) angstroms, c = 25.131(5) angstroms, Z = 4; 5, orthorhombic, space group Pbcn, a = 14.266(2) angstroms, b = 10.692(2) angstroms, c = 17.171(2) angstroms, Z = 8.     

Approximate empirical formula for X-ray intensity in radioactive nuclides

Known intensities of X-rays emitted from radioactive nuclides have been plotted against atomic number, and a distinct correlation has been found only for EC-decay type nuclides, as follows: 2.75 Z^1.06>X>0.507 Z^1.06, and X_{most probable}=1.18 Z^1.06, where X is the absolute percentage and Z is the atomic number of the decay product.