No abstract

No abstract

Wire rope and lashing belt are conveniently used in many places without knowing their tension. From the view point of safety, it is important to know the magnitude of their tension to avoid accident. We developed a tension meter for wire rope and lashing belt of a post-mountable type by which the magnitude of their tension in use can be evaluated. The tension meter twists a small part of the target and evaluates the torque required for a twist. So far, it has been unclear where to set a reference point for twist angle due to an internal friction of the wire rope. In this study, the reference point can be determined automatically by an electric control system so as to charge the same twist angle onto the wire rope. Regarding the lashing belt, there is no need to control the reference point as it has little internal friction. It was confirmed in the experiments that there was a linear relation between the tension and twisting torque in both wire rope and lashing belt. In addition, the internal friction of wire rope is discussed using a simple model.

Lymphoid enhancer-binding factor 1 (LEF1) is a transcription factor in the Wnt/-catenin signaling pathway. LEF1 may control odontoblast differentiation. Specificity Protein 6/Epiprofin (SP6) is a transcription factor that mediates the signaling pathway between bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) and the Wnt/-catenin. LEF1 is decreased by the overexpression of SP6. In contrast, lef1 gene expression is increased in the dental epithelium and mesenchyme of SP6-deficient mice. Thus, LEF1 and SP6 act in an antagonistic manner, being involved in tooth formation. However, this has not been investigated in detail in vivo. In the present study, the expressions of Dickkopf-related protein-1 (DKK-1) (an antagonist to the Wnt signaling pathway), SP6, and phospho-Smad1/5/8 (p-Smad1/5/8) (activated R-Smad in the BMP signaling pathway) were immunohistochemically investigated using serial sections prepared from rat first molar tooth germs in the bell stage on embryonic day 19 and days 10 and 15 after birth, in order to investigate the roles of these factors in differentiation into ameloblasts and odontoblasts. As a result, p-Smad1/5/8 was strongly expressed in preodontoblasts and odontoblasts and also in the inner enamel epithelium and ameloblasts in the secretory stage, suggesting activation of the BMP signaling pathway through p-Smad1/5/8 and involvement of the BMP signaling pathway in differentiation into odontoblasts and ameloblasts and their secretory functions. LEF1 appears in preodontoblasts and preameloblasts and disappears with differentiation, suggesting that it suppresses the differentiation into these cells. In contrast, SP6 and DKK1 expressions are enhanced with odontoblast differentiation. Therefore, the downregulation of the Wnt signaling pathway through SP6 and DKK1 is involved in the disappearance of LEF1 in odontoblasts. SP6 expression was enhanced with ameloblast differentiation, suggesting that the activated BMP signaling pathway suppressed the expression of LEF1 through SP6, thus being involved in ameloblast differentiation.

No abstract