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The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of chronic exercise training and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition on peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR gamma) expression in fat and skeletal muscle in fructose-fed spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). SHR were fed a fructose-rich diet over 16 weeks of either exercise training (Ex group: 20 m/min, 0% grade, 60 min/day, 5 days/week), ACE inhibitor administration (TM group: temocapril, 10 mg/kg/day), or a combination of both treatments (TM+Ex group). The systolic blood pressure was reduced exclusively in the temocapril-treated groups. Serum leptin level was positively correlated with the ratio of epididymal fat weight to body weight (p

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of moderate-intensity regular exercise and/or an angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition on tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and glucose and lipid metabolism parameters. Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) were fed a fructose-rich diet during 16 weeks of either exercise training (Ex group: 20 m/min, 0% grade, 60 min/day, 5 days/week), administration of an ACE inhibitor (TM group: temocapril, 10 mg/kg/day), or a combination of both (TM+Ex group). The systolic blood pressure was reduced exclusively in the TM and TM+Ex group. Epididymal fat pads (EPI) weighed less in the TM+Ex group than in the single-treatment (TM) group. The serum leptin level was significantly and directly correlated with the EPI weight (p < 0.001). The TNF-alpha content per gram of EPI was the highest in the TM+Ex group. In addition, the EPI TNF-alpha level was negatively correlated with both the EPI weight and the serum leptin level (p < 0.001, respectively). In contrast, the TNF-alpha level of skeletal muscles was identical among the groups. The extensor digitorum longus had a significantly higher abundance of TNF-alpha protein than the soleus muscle. These data indicate that the local TNF-alpha expression is tissue-specific, and that upregulation of TNF-alpha in EPI by exercise training and/or ACE inhibition may have contributed to the reduction in fat cell volume via the induction of apoptosis and/or the regulation of metabolic homeostasis.

Objectives Patients with chronic renal failure are restricted to mild physical activity and tend to a lack of exercise. However, there have been few reports regarding the influence of chronic exercise on the progression of renal disease. Similarly, there are few animal models concerned with the effect of exercise training on improving renal function. Therefore, we assessed the renal effects of moderate chronic treadmill exercise in a remnant kidney model of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) with chronic renal failure. We also assessed the effects of exercise and antihypertensive therapy on renal function. Design and methods Eight-week-old SHR were subjected to 5/6 nephrectomy by removal of the left kidney and excision of two-thirds of the right kidney. The rats were divided into four groups: (i) no exercise (Non-EX); (ii) moderate exercise with treadmill running (20 m/min, 0 grade incline for 60 min) (EX); (iii) EX with an angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, enalapril (2 mg/kg per day, i.p.); and (iv) EX with an angiotensin receptor antagonist, losartan (5 mg/kg per day, i.p.), for 4 weeks. Results Chronic EX significantly attenuated the increase in proteinuria (P< 0.01) and significantly protected against increases in the index of glomerular sclerosis (IGS). Both enalapril and losartan with EX significantly decreased blood pressure (P< 0.001), and further decreased the IGS. In the stepwise multiple regression analysis, only antihypertensive drug remained in the model as a significant predictor of IGS (P < 0.0001). In contrast, exercise, antihypertensive drug and mean systolic blood pressure (weeks 1-4) remained in the model as a significant predictors of mean proteinuria (weeks 1-4) (all P< 0.0001). Conclusions These results suggest that exercise does not worsen renal function and has renal-protective effects in this model of rats. Moreover, the antihypertensive therapy has additional renal-protective effects in this model of rats. Wilkins.

— Efficient and compact green lasers are keystone components for micro-projector applications in mobile devices. An architecture that consists of an infrared-producing DBR (distributed Bragg reflector) laser with a frequency-doubling crystal is used to synthesize a green laser that has high electrical-to-optical conversion efficiency and can be modulated at speeds required for scanner-based projectors. The design and performance of a green-laser package that uses adaptive optics to overcome the challenge of maintaining alignment between the waveguides of the DBR laser and the frequency-doubling crystal over temperature and lifetime is described. The adaptive optics technology that is employed uses the piezo-based smooth impact drive mechanism (SIDM) actuators that offer a very small step size and a range of travel adequate for the alignment operation. The laser is shown to be compact (0.7 cm3 in volume) and capable of a wall-plug efficiency approaching 10% (at 100-mW green power). It was demonstrated that the adaptive optics enables operation over a wide temperature range (10–60°C) and provides the capability for low-cost assembly of the device.

When structures are constructed by welding, structural members are usually accompanied by welding distortions. In this paper, the ultimate strength of transverse girders in ship structures with initial deflections under bending are investigated.First, the entire behavior, elastic-plastic large deflection, of these girders are theoretically analysed by the strip element method. A series of experiments are carried out on model girders subjected to bending moment with respect to their strong axes. Comparison is made between the test results and theoretical one and good agreement is observed between them. By these studies, a great deal of valuable information is obtained on the ultimate strength of the girders.An approximate model is also proposed to exhibit the influence of initial deflection on the ultimate strength of girders. It is found that the proposed approximate method of analysis is very useful for prediction of the ultimate strength.

Although the wear characteristics and mechanism of boronized steels have been reported, there is no report in which the X-ray method was applied to study the wear process of boronized steels. The authors have reported in the previous paper that the surface compressive residual stress and half-value breadth changed during the fatigue process.In the present study, the Amsler type wear tests of boronized steels was carried out. The X-ray method was successfully applied to measure the changes in surface residual stress and half-value breadth during the wear process, and the relationship between the changes of X-ray parameter and the structures was investigated.The results obtained are summarized as follows;(1) Boronized steels had higher wear resistance than non-boronized steels. Wear loss was unaffected by the surface compressive residual stress value that was dependent on the thickness and the type of boronized layer.(2) As the wear distance became more, the half-value breadth of X-ray parameter increased. The X-ray method was applied effectively as a nondestructive detecting method of wear damage accumulation. The half-value breath increased corresponding to the extent of work hardening at the area near the wear surface.(3) In these experimental conditions, plastic flow was difficult to occur in the boronized layer. It is considered that when the depth of residual boronized layer becomes less than 20-30μm, plastic flow occurs in the matrix under boronized layer.

Mechanical and thermal properties of several kinds of plywoods, which were trially manufactured for the thermal barrier of the LNG carrier, were experimentally proved.Material tests were carried out at room temperature, -78°C (dry-ice) and -196°C (liquid nitrogen).The results are as follows : (1) The obtained coefficients of variation are for the most part distributed within 20 percent and those of Young's modulus around 10 percent.(2) Breaking strength and Young's modulus are proportional to the specific gravity.(3) Breaking strength, proportional limit and Young's modulus have tendency to increase in cryogenic temperature region.(4) Regarding size effect of test specimen, the mean values do not show evident difference, but the standard deviations decrease evidently according to the increase of size.

It is the final purpose of the study to establish a method of analysis on general nonlinear behaviors of plates……material and geometrical nonlinearitis….In this paper, these nonlinear behaviors are separately investigated. For the behaviors of plates under incremental loading, the fundamental equilibrium equations are developed for each step of load increment which is sill of nonlinear form with respect to the resulting deformations. To eliminate difficulties in solving the above equations, higher order terms in the equations are neglected and linear fundamental equations are obtained, since the increment of loads at each step is to be kept so small that the effect of the higher order terms is estimated negligibly small on the results. Based on these linear equations, analytical methods are proposed for each nonlinear behavior, and several examples are solved by the methods with the aid of Galarkin's method.The examples for material nonlinearlity are on elastic-plastic behavior of simply supported rectangular plates under uniform pressure and for geometrical nonlineality large deformation of simply supported rectangular plates subjected to compression, and shear at the edges with consideration of the effect of initial imperfection.The results of the analysis verified the usefulness of the methods and assured the possibility of analysis on general nonlinear behaviors of plates.

s / Biol Blood Marrow Transplant 20 (2014) S211eS256 S219 regimen, immunosuppressive regimen, stem cell source, time to engraftment, and underlying disease) predicted for HHV-6 reactivation. Comparing HSCTs with HHV-6 reactivation and those without, survival at 100 days (77% v. 73%, p1⁄40.706) and development of aGVHD (57% v. 32%, p1⁄40.062) were not significantly different. HHV-6 reactivation with > 1000 copies/mL trended towards increased development of aGVHD (63% v. 36%, p1⁄40.051). Notably, aGVHD developed significantly less often in Haplo-Cord HSCTs compared to HSCTs only using UCB (31% v. 61%, p1⁄40.022). Based on preliminary analysis, early HHV-6 reactivation after UCB HSCT occurs indiscriminately and does not influence survival or incidence of aGVHD at 100 days post-transplantation.