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ABSTRACT:An attempt was made to disclose super-molecular structure and mechanical properties of new cellulose filament prepared from cellulose-aqueous alkali solution system. X-Ray crystallinity index Xc(X) of the new cellulose filament was far higher than those of other commercial rayons, such as viscose including polynosic and cupro and was slightly lower than the organic spun rayon. The new cellulose filament showed the lowest degree of crystal orientation among these three kinds of cellulose fibers, because of its lowest draft and stretching ratio during the spinning process. In the new filament degree of the intramolecular hydrogen bondings (I -Xam(C 3)) estimated by 13 C NMR method was highly developed. The mechanical loss tangent (tan '5) vs. temperature T curves of the new filament exhibited C( relaxation (from higher temperature side; 0( 2 , C(,h) attributed to micro-Brownian motion of the cellulose chains, two {3 ({3.1, {3. 2 ), local mode of the chains, and y, rotational mode of primary alcohol group at C6 position of pyranose rings, in the regions of T=250--100°C and -30--100°C, and near -I 00°C, respectively. Judging from the co relationships of these relaxation peak temperature T max to Xc(X) and I -Xam(C3), we concluded that there exist two amorphous regions with well-developed intramolecular hydrogen bonds but less advanced intermolecular hydrogen bonds and vice-versa in the new filament. The results of thermally stimulated currency (TSC) measurements suggested that the hydrophobic interaction among cellulose chains is tightly formed in the region with the well-developed intramolecular hydrogen bonds. In this regard, XTSc peak named here was found to correspond to mechanical relaxation C(sh· The tensile strength and elongation of the new filament were comparable to those of the regular viscose rayon. The new filament showed less swelling ratio and low fibrillation nature in water. Woven fabrics made from the filament gave some softness and high abrasion, compared with other commercial ones and were hard to wrinkle.KEY WORDS Alkali Soluble Cellulose / Filament / Supermolecular Structure / X-Ray Crystallinity / Intramolecular Hydrogen Bonds/ Viscoelastic Properties/ Mechanical Properties/ Woven Fabrics/ Authors have already established an improved cellulose dissolving technology (two step slurry method) using so-called steam-exploded pulp with average particle size of ca. 10 µm and aqueous (aq) sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution with total concentration of ca. 7.6 wt¾, 1 based on the discovery that exploded pulp could be dissolved into aq NaOH with a specific concentration. 2 -4 In addition, all sulfite pulp, of which the degree of intramolecular hydrogen bond is always lowered by steam-explosion, has been proved to be useful as industrial resource for the above usage. 5 On the basis of the above technology authors have succeeded in manufacturing a new cellulose filament by establishing the industrially meaningful wet-spinning method (that is, the net-process where no spinning tension generates theo...

Malignant melanoma is one of the lethal malignant tumors worldwide. Previously we reported that adenylate cyclaseassociated protein 2 (CAP2), which is a well-conserved actin regulator, was overexpressed in hepatocellular carcinoma; however, CAP2 expression in other clinical cancers remains unclear. The aim of the current study was to clarify the clinicopathological significance of CAP2 overexpression in malignant melanoma. Immunohistochemical analyses revealed that many melanoma cells exhibited diffuse cytoplasmic expression of CAP2, whereas no normal melanocytes showed detectable immunostaining for CAP2. A high level of CAP2 expression was seen in 14 of 50 melanomas and was significantly correlated with greater tumor thickness and nodular melanoma subtypes. In addition, a high level of CAP2 expression was associated with poor overall survival in univariate and multivariate analyses. For 13 patients, samples of primary and metastatic melanoma tissue were available: four patients exhibited higher levels of CAP2 expression in metastatic tumor compared to the primary site, whereas no patient showed lower levels of CAP2 expression in metastatic melanomas. Our findings show that CAP2 overexpression is a novel prognostic marker in malignant melanoma and that CAP2 expression seems to increase stepwise during tumor progression, suggesting the involvement of CAP2 in the aggressive behavior of malignant melanoma.

A premature female Dirofilaria species, subsequently identified as Dirofilaria repens by its morphological features and mitochondrial 12S ribosomal RNA (12S rRNA) gene sequence, was removed from a subcutaneous nodule of the right temporal region of the head in a Japanese woman 2 years after she noticed swelling of her left calf following an insect sting during a tour to Europe; headache symptoms were noticed a few months later. The sequences of the mitochondrial 12S rRNA and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I genes from the organism were almost identical to those of sequences AM779772 (100% homology, 337/337) and AM749233 (99.8% homology, 536/537) of D. repens isolated from humans in Italy. However, the phylogenetic position of the 18S rRNA-internal transcribed spacer 1-5.8S rRNA region was in the same cluster as that of sequence JX290195 of Dirofilaria sp. “hongkongensis” (96.7% homology, 348/360), which was recently reported from Hong Kong as a novel Dirofilaria species. Information on regional genetic variation in D. repens isolated from animals and humans remains scarce. We report the detailed genetic features of this filaria as a reference isolate from a specific endemic area, to enrich the genetic database of D. repens.