Although an improvement of insulin sensitivity has been shown to be a new therapeutic approach for treating diabetes mellitus, details of effects of this treatment on the cardiovascular system and possible renal complications remain unknown. In the present study, we investigated the effects of a thiazolidine derivative, pioglitazone, and examined the insulin-sensitizing action on blood pressure, nephropathy, and vascular changes in genetically obese diabetic Wistar fatty (WF) rats. Pioglitazone (3 mg.kg-1.day-1) was orally administered for 13 wk starting at the age of 5 wk, and the results were compared with those of vehicle-treated WF rats. At the age of 18 wk, vehicle-treated WF rats were associated with mild hypertension, nephropathy with proteinuria histological glomerular injury, and renal arteriolosclerosis in addition to hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, and hyperlipidemia. Treatment with pioglitazone significantly improved glucose and lipid metabolism. In addition, it lowered blood pressure, decreased proteinuria, and prevented glomerular injury, renal arteriolosclerosis, and aortic medial wall thickening, whereas body weight, food intake, sodium balance, and urinary norepinephrine excretion were significantly increased. These results suggest that the insulin-sensitizing agent pioglitazone is effective in correcting not only glucose and lipid metabolism but also cardiovascular and renal complications in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

Polyethylene (PE) sheets were modified by radiation-induced graft polymerization (RIGP) of an epoxy-group containing monomer glycidyl methacrylate (GMA). The epoxy group of GMA was opened by introducing sodium sulfite (SS) and diethylamine (DEA) as representatives of negatively and positively charged functional groups, respectively. These modified surfaces by RIGP, termed GMA, SS, and DEA sheets, were investigated to elucidate their effects on initial adhesion and subsequent biofilm formation of Escherichia coli. Initial adhesion test revealed that E. coli density and viability were governed by sheet surface electrostatic property: E. coli cell density on the DEA sheet was 23 times higher than that on the SS sheet after 8 h incubation. The viability of E. coli cells dramatically decreased after contact with the DEA sheet, but remained high on the SS sheet. E. coli biofilm structure on the DEA sheet was dense, homogeneous, and uniform, with biomass higher than that of the GMA and SS sheets by factors of 14.0 and 37.5, respectively. On the contrary, biofilm structure on the SS sheet was sparse, heterogeneous, and mushroom-shaped. More than 40% of E. coli biofilm on the DEA sheet was retained under a high liquid shear force condition (5,000 s(-1)), whereas 97% and 100% of biofilms on the GMA and SS sheets were sloughed, indicating that E. coli biofilm robustness depends on surface charge property of the substratum. This suggests that substratum surface fabrication by RIGP may enhance or suppress biofilm formation, a finding with potentially important practical implications.

We have investigated the generation of the pretilt angles for nematic liquid crystal (5CB) aligned in the cells using rubbed polyimide (PI) films containing trifluoromethyl moieties as a function of rubbing strength (RS). In order to characterize the films, we have conducted an analysis of the surface atomic concentration of fluorine (F) relative to that of carbon (C), F/C(%) with an electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA) in the shallow surface region at the depth of 3 and 12 nm. It is shown that the F/C ratio at a depth of 3 nm decreases with RS, and that the observed pretilt angle shows a high value approaching 45° in the weak RS region, and tends to decrease with increasing RS. The existence of the trifluoromethyl moiety in the special PI, and its appearance in the surface region are considered to be responsible for the generation of high pretilt angles at low RS region since a surface covered by fluorine atoms has a low surface energy and the van der Waals dispersion force is thought to be dominant and hence perpendicular LC alignment is expected. With increasing RS the surface concentration of fluorine atoms decreases and repeated triangles will be formed; a combination of the dispersion force and steric interaction between LC molecules and these structures may cause a medium or low pretilted LC conformation.

Unidirectional liquid-crystal ͑LC͒ alignment by a linearly polarized ultraviolet light ͑UV͒ exposure was examined using two types of polyimide ͑PI͒. PI with a fluorene unit incorporated in a side chain showed LC alignment perpendicular to those of conventional PIs, i.e., perpendicular to the rubbing direction and parallel to the exposure polarization of UV. The results of the dichroic ratio measurement of LC cells, UV absorption spectra, birefringence, infrared absorption spectra, and PI conformation calculations using molecular mechanics suggest that the photodecomposition of PI by UV exposure produces anisotropic van der Waals forces, which align LC along its optical axis.

We have studied the effect of the polymer tilt angle for pretilt angle generation in nematic liquid crystal, 4-cyano-4′-n-penthylbiphenyl (5CB) on rubbed polyimide surfaces. The polymer tilt angle was determined by measuring induced optical retardation produced in rubbed polyimide (PI) surfaces by rubbing. We suggest that the polymer tilt angle is not related directly to the pretilt angle on rubbed PI surfaces by rubbing. We proposed a microscopic model of pretilt angle generation on rubbed PI surfaces by rubbing. Finally, we conclude that the pretilt angle generation of 5CB strongly depends on the characterization of polymer materials and the micro-asymmetric triangular structure of the polymer on rubbed polyimide surfaces.