Blood compatibility of surface modified poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) by plasma polymerized acetobromo-alpha-D-glucose.

Poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET) was surface modified by plasma polymerization of acetobromo-alpha-D-glucose (ABG) at different radio frequency (RF) powers. Plasma polymerization was carried out by vaporizing ABG in the powder form by heating at 135 degrees C. Surface modification resulted in improved hydrophilicity and smoothness of the surface especially at low RF powers (30-50 W), but at high RF powers, the surface was found to be etched and the hydrophilicity decreased as evidenced by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and contact angle measurements. The plasma polymerized ABG film was found to be extensively cross-linked as evidenced by its insolubility in water. Infra red (IR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were employed to characterize the plasma polymerized ABG films. IR studies revealed that at lower RF powers, polymerization was taking place mainly by breaking up of acetoxy group while retaining the ring structures to a major extent during the polymerization process whereas at high RF powers, the rupture of ring structures was indicated. XPS indicated a reduction in the percentage of oxygen in the polymers going from low to high RF powers suggestive of complete destruction of the acetoxy group at high RF powers. Cross-cut tests showed excellent adhesive properties of the plasma polymerized ABG films onto PET. Static platelet adhesion tests using platelet rich human plasma showed significantly reduced adhesion of platelets onto modified PET surface as evidenced by scanning electron microscopy. Polymerization of glucose and its derivatives using RF plasma has not been reported so far and the preliminary results reported in this study shows that this could be an interesting approach in the surface modification of biomaterials.

Management of chemical substances in a water environment communicating among stakeholders.

With the implementation of Pollutant Discharge and Transfer Register (PRTR) in fiscal 2003, information on the quantity of chemical substances discharged annually from each business is released in Japan. Such information is expected to lead to heightened public concern about the presence of chemical substances in environment. This paper showed the effects of using PRTR data for managing chemical risk in a water environment communicating among stakeholders based on the results of the case study held in Japan. First, it was possible to identify the discharge sources using PRTR and related data for the chemicals such as Zn and NPs which were shown that they had relatively high risks based on the survey in a model area. Second, it was suggested that the chemical risk communication among the stakeholders including people using PRTR and related data would be a good way to encourage environmental activities of businesses, and to build a good relationship among stakeholders including people who have anxiety about chemical risk.

Comprehensive management of chemical substances in a water environment using PRTR data.

The annual quantity of discharge of 354 chemical substances from each business has been released based on PRTR law in Japan since 2003. MLIT and municipalities should be responsible for managing chemical risk in public water bodies through communication with stakeholders, such as the public and businesses. However, it is economically difficult to measure the discharge loads and behaviour of all chemical substances and reveal which substances should be particularly managed in each basin. NILIM has begun studies on survey methods to understand the discharge and behaviour of chemical substances in each basin based on PRTR information, and to conduct risk management of chemical substances in cooperation with stakeholders such as the public and businesses. We selected 30 chemical substances, such as those listed or nominated in environmental criteria and endocrine disrupters, collected the volume of discharge of chemical substances from public and industrial wastewater treatment plants using PRTR information, and surveyed their behaviour in the river in the model area. As a result, the discharge of 12 chemical substances were reported in PRTR, and 17 substances were detected in the river. Some inorganic compounds were detected intensively near discharge sites reported in the PRTR. But some organic compounds and endocrine disrupters, such as oestrone, were detected although their discharge was not reported in the model area in the PRTR. It suggested that PRTR information is useful to identify hot spots, but further study is needed to understand the discharge of chemical substances from small businesses, farmland and houses.

Evidence for an extensive collagen type III/VI proximal domain in the rat femur. I. Diminution with ovariectomy.

Collagenous proteins other than Type I have received little attention in hypogonadal bone loss. Using femora from 25 young (2.5 months) and older (11 months) control and ovariectomized adult rats killed 1-4 months postoperation, cancellous atrophy was histologically confirmed, and the immunolocalization of collagen Type III was examined. This occurred as numerous immunofluorescent Sharpey-like fibers, 5-25 microm thick, regularly associated with collagen Type VI, which ramified the femoral cortex. Sequential transverse cryosections enabled the mapping of the fibers in three-dimensions, demonstrating that they constituted an extensive subperiosteal domain which may be a lasting legacy of early skeletal development. Fiber density was greatest in the trochanters and femoral neck. The domain tapered distally and was apparently anchored into the mid-shaft by intracortical cartilaginous islands, staining for collagen Type VI (as well as Type II and fibronectin). Ovariectomy caused disconnection of the fibers and reduced the proximal domain of both young and older animals, previously positive areas of the cortex becoming negative. It is concluded that collagen Type III/VI occupies a substantial, discrete domain in the rat proximal femur as a complex extension of the periosteum. Diminution of this cortical domain with trabecular atrophy suggests that it has a proactive or reactive role in determining bone mass and strength by facilitating musculoskeletal exchange in a form that is disengaged by ovariectomy.

Evidence for an extensive collagen type III proximal domain in the rat femur. II. Expansion with exercise.

Exercise in youth may affect bone "quality" as well as quantity. Using the rat model, 1.5-month-old females were divided into four weight-matched groups, exercised short-term (6 weeks, E(s), n = 20) and long-term (14 weeks, E(L), n = 10) by access to monitored running wheels, and corresponding "sedentary" controls (S(S) short-term, n = 20; S(L) long-term, n = 10). Femora were either plastic-embedded or fresh-frozen. Transverse histological slices, 100 microm thick, were cut midshaft, while similar cryosections, 8 microm thick, were prepared from the same site and also coronal to the femoral neck region. An image analyser measured femoral neck and midshaft microarchitecture, while immunostaining localized collagen type III-rich fibres (CIII, an index of Sharpey fibre insertions) and osteopontin-rich osteons (OPN, an index of remodelling). Exercise increased cortical bone (proximal width +18%, midshaft area +7%). It also raised cancellous bone volume (+25%) by trabecular thickening (+30%) with more intraosseous vascularity and new trabecular interconnections (node-terminus ratio, +57%; trabecular pattern factor, -147%; marrow star volume. -48%). In the cortex a prominent discrete subperiosteal domain became wider (+50% midshaft) with exercise and contained more numerous (+15%) CIII-stained fibres. In contrast the encircled inner bone developed more numerous (+14%) OPN-rich osteons. It is concluded that short-term voluntary exercise augments both cortical and cancellous microarchitecture. It also alters protein composition, such that expanding arrays of Sharpey's fibres within a circumferential proximal domain (Part I) interconnect more powerfully with the musculature and interface more robustly with the core bone that in response becomes more vascular and biodynamic, providing further insight into how muscle mass may be skeletally translated.

[Delivery of macromolecular drugs to the vitreous and its peripheral tissues].

We evaluated the release behavior of FITC-dextran with an average molecular weight of 4,400(FD4), as a model peptide drug, from poly(DL-lactic acid) (PLA) implant. The drug level in the vitreous and its peripheral tissues were measured following the implantation in the rabbit vitreous. The release profile of FD4 from the PLA implant was biphasic; a fraction of the drug molecules incorporated in the polymer implant was swiftly released; then slowly or even negligibly for a certain period of time and finally complete bursting release probably due to bulk erosion of the polymer. The time-course of drug concentration in the vitreous and aqueous humor after implantation showed a constant level for 14 days and then parabola, where the highest concentration appeared around 28 days. The drug concentrations in the retina/ choroid was maintained a constant level for 28 days. After an injection of FD4 in the rabbit vitreous, the drug concentration in those tissues approximately decreased mono-exponentially. These findings suggest that the present implant could be a useful carrier for delivery of macromolecular drugs to the vitreous and its peripheral tissues.

Polymer blend implant for ocular delivery of fluorometholone.

Ocular implants containing fluorometholone (FLM) were prepared using blends of poly (DL-lactic acid) (PLA) and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP). The effect of the fraction of PVP content on the release of FLM from the implant was investigated in vitro. The drug was released from the device by approximately following first order kinetics within the period of 40 d. The release rate gradually increased with an increase in the PVP content. The in vivo study after implantation in the anterior chamber of rabbit eyes indicated that the PLA-PVP implant showed a good correlation between the in vitro and in vivo release of FLM. The present polymer blend implant demonstrated a constant level of FLM in the aqueous humor for one month.

[Dystonic movement of the left upper limb in a case of the right pontine hemorrhage].

We report a 69-year-old woman who presented with dystonic movement in the left upper limb. She also had left hemiparesis and sensory disturbance in the right face and the left half of the body, pseudoathetosis in the left hand, and hotness, swelling, and lead-pipe rigidity in the left upper limb. The dystonic movement was presented mainly in the proximal part of the left upper limb, and was induced by voluntary movements; for example, when she was ordered to shake hands, the left shoulder always abducted with the flexion of the left elbow. Brain MRI showed a fresh hemorrhage in the dorsal part of the right middle pons including the base and the tegmentum, old infarctions in the right postero-lateral thalamus, putamen, and right parietal lobe. The dystonic movement persisted for 2 weeks, and hotness and swelling in the left upper limb lasted for 2 months, while the rigidity and pseudoathetosis persisted for 7 months or more despite medication.

Long-term treatment of indomethacin reduces vertebral bone mass and strength in ovariectomized rats.

We investigated the effect of the long-term treatment of indomethacin, on lumbar spinal bone mineral density (LSBMD), cancellous bone mass, structure, and strength of vertebral body in old ovariectomized (OVX) rats. Ten-month-old female Wistar rats were divided into five groups: the sham operated + vehicle (sham + VEH) group, the OVX + vehicle (OVX + VEH) group, the OVX + indomethacin (IN) 1.5 mg/kg/week (OVX + IN1.5) group, the OVX + IN 6.0 mg/kg/week (OVX + IN6.0) group, and the OVX + IN 15.0 mg/kg/week (OVX + IN15.0) group. IN or vehicle were given by subcutaneous injection (s.c.) three times per week. The treatments were started at 1 week after operation and continued for 24 weeks. LSBMD (L2-L5) was measured at 0, 12, and 24 weeks after the beginning of treatment. At the end of the experimental period, the animals were sacrificed, and bone histomorphometrical and biomechanical analysis of lumbar vertebral body were done. LSBMD, trabecular bone volume (BV/TV), and trabecular thickness (Tb.Th) decreased significantly in a dose-related manner with IN. In the OVX + IN15.0 group, LSBMD decreased by 12.7%, BV/TV decreased by 65.5%, and Tb.Th decreased by 32.8%, compared with the OVX + VEH group. In addition, the maximum stress in a compressive mechanical test of L4 vertebral body in OVX groups was also decreased in a dose-related manner with IN, and this value in the OVX + IN15.0 group was 31.3% lower than in the OVX + VEH group. We conclude that long-term treatment with IN accentuated the OVX-related decrease in trabecular bone mass and the compressive strength of lumbar vertebrae.

Immunoperoxidase procedures for rapid detection of bovine viral diarrhea-mucosal disease virus antigen.

Bovine viral diarrhea-mucosal disease (BVD-MD) virus antigen was detected in bovine fetal muscular cells from sera of 42 cattle persistently infected with noncytopathic BVD-MD virus by the indirect immunoperoxidase procedure (IIP) but not from sera of 100 apparently healthy cattle. These findings agreed with the results obtained by the interference method. Furthermore, BVD-MD virus antigens were detectable in the smears of buffy coats by the IIP procedure and in the formalin-fixed tissue sections by the avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex procedure. These procedures are therefore expected to be useful for rapid detection of BVD-MD virus antigen.