Recently, we described a diffusion chamber for a bioartificial endocrine pancreas (Bio-AEP). Pancreatic islet cells in the Bio-AEP device were isolated from the immune system of the host by an artificial barrier, while nutrients, electrolytes, oxygen, and bioactive secretory products were exchanged across this barrier. This experiment was designed to evaluate whether the diffusion chamber could be useful as a Bio-AEP in the treatment of diabetes. Six streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats each received a diffusion chamber containing 8 x 10(6) MIN6 cells as a xenograft Bio-AEP. In the STZ diabetic rats with Bio-AEPs, a return to normoglycemia was observed up to 30 weeks after implantation, without the use of any immunosuppressant. A gradual increase in the body weight of the rats was also observed. In three STZ diabetic rats, diffusion chambers without MIN6 cells were implanted as a sham operation. The fasting blood glucose levels in these three rats remained higher than 600 mg/dl, after implantation, and they lost weight. Thirty-five weeks after implantation, the pancreata were removed from the rats that underwent xenoimplantation, those that had the sham operation, and the normal control rats. In the sham-operated animals, the exocrine tissues of the pancreata were vacuolated and pancreatic B cells were not seen in the islets. In contrast, in the pancreata from the xenoimplantation, the exocrine tissues were normal, and a few pancreatic B cells were seen in the islets. These results indicated that xenoimplantation using the Bio-AEP might retard the progress of diabetes.

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The hepatic mitochondrial carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT) activity was measured by fluorimetric assay in dairy cows with or without fatty liver. CPT activities in 13 lactating cattle and in 6 non-lactating cows were 304.4+/-86.6 micromol CoA/min per g protein and 169.3+/-84.8 micromol CoA/min per g protein, respectively. This difference was significant (p < 0.05). CPT activities in early lactation (0-110 days after calving), mid-lactation (111-220 days after calving) and late lactation (over 220 days after calving) were 278.9+/-68.0, 312.4+/-124.1 and 320+/-59.3 micromol CoA/min per g protein, respectively. There was no significant difference between the values at different stages of lactation. The CPT activity in 10 lactating cows with fatty liver unrelated to calving was 201.3+/-80.0 micromol CoA/min per g protein. CPT activity in 10 cattle with fatty liver was significantly lower than that in normal lactating cattle. Based on these findings, clinical fatty liver unrelated to calving appears to be associated with a decrease in hepatic CPT activity.

This paper examines the status and identity of teachers of English as a foreign language in South Korea. In many parts of the world, English is taught as a second, foreign, or additional language. The status of native and non-native English-speaking teachers is debated often. However, the dichotomy is not as straightforward as it might appear because the difference between native and non-native speakers does not sufficiently describe the identities, linguistic abilities, and teaching skills that those teachers possess. Cho (2012) described two critical considerations for male Korean-American teachers of English in South Korea: (1) linguistic capital and the ideal of native English speakers in Asian countries and (2) the social status and identity of Asian-Americans as members of minority groups in the United States. In order to transcend the idealisation of the West and to support learners and teachers in South Korea, this paper discusses issues of whiteness and native-speakerness in relation to the two issues that Cho described by examining the backgrounds and characteristics of Korean Americans as well as English-as-a-foreign-language education in South Korea. In addition, the paper discusses the teaching experience and the abilities of English teachers. The analysis identifies the benefits and risks of commodifying linguistic capital. The findings contribute to the developments of English-language education not only in East Asian countries but also in the rapidly globalising world of the modern age, in which English competence is more valuable than ever.