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A superconducting azimuthally varying field (AVF) cyclotron, SC230, was developed for proton therapy by Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd. in 2021. This isochronous cyclotron is compact owing to the high magnetic field generated by NbTi superconducting coils. The average magnetic field is 3.9 T at the outer region, and the extraction radius is 0.6 m. Its yoke weight is 65 t. Currently, it is the most compact isochronous cyclotron for this purpose. The coils are cryogen-free and cooled by conduction cooling using four 4 K-GM cryocoolers. The system is highly safe and easy to maintain, which reduces the effects of unstable helium supply. Thus, cryogen-free magnets have various advantages; however, in isochronous cyclotrons, the heat inputs to the coils during beam operation are larger owing to the leakage radio frequency (RF) and beam loss. The magnet is designed to have a sufficient temperature margin for stable operation. The coil temperature during the RF excitation and its dependence on the beam loss were measured to verify the stability of operations. Subsequently, it was confirmed that the coil cools sufficiently at the critical temperature.

It is important to evaluate whether a new treatment for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) provides additive benefit to background foundational treatments. As such, we aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of empagliflozin in patients with HFrEF in addition to baseline treatment with specific doses and combinations of disease-modifying therapies.

In JFT-2M, the applicability of reduced activation ferritic steel to a fusion demonstration reactor has been demonstrated mainly concerning the ferromagnetic effect on plasma production, control, stability and confinement. The compatibility of the close ferritic wall with high-normalized beta plasmas has been investigated mainly because the demonstration reactor will utilize the wall stabilization effect. Due to improvements in the operation scenario and the modification of the guard limiter configuration, the region showing good compatibility was extended to the closer wall position (the wall position was normalized to the plasma minor radius; rwall/a~ 1.25) and the higher normalized beta (?N~ 3.5), compared with the previous works with the relatively far wall position and stronger magnetic field (Tsuzuki K. et al2003 Nucl. Fusion. 431288). A reduction in the growth rate of the instability was also observed in the close wall case, which presumably corresponds to the wall stabilization effect, similar to a resistive wall without ferromagnetism.

Background: The usefulness of Doppler strain rate imaging for assessment of left ventricular regional diastolic function has not been fully determined. Objective: We aimed to clarify the relationships between diastolic strain rates and global diastolic function and find a useful index for regional diastolic function in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Methods: Strain rate curves were obtained using an apical approach at 12 different sites of the left ventricular myocardium in 25 patients with HCM and 20 control subjects, and peak early diastolic strain rate (E"S"R), peak late diastolic strain rate, and the time from QRS to E"S"R were measured. The flow propagation velocity was measured using color M-mode Doppler echocardiography as a global diastolic index. Results: Each of the spatially averaged values of E"S"R and E"S"R/peak late diastolic strain rate and the coefficients of variation of time from QRS to E"S"R was significantly correlated with flow propagation velocity, but the best correlation was observed in E"S"R. Although both E"S"R and peak late diastolic strain rate of each myocardial segment of patients with HCM tended to decrease as the wall thickness increased, only E"S"R significantly decreased even in the segments without apparent hypertrophy. Conclusions: In patients with HCM, the reduction of E"S"R was more closely associated with global diastolic dysfunction than asynchrony, and E"S"R may be a useful and sensitive index for regional diastolic function.

A novel semi-interpenetrating polymer network (semi-IPN) gel consisting of an AAm gel and linear PAAc chains was designed and developed. The semi-IPN gel was simply prepared by infiltrating PAAc chains into AAm gel networks from an outer PAAc solution through immersion of AAm gels in the PAAc solution. The semi-IPN gel swelled at higher temperature and shrunk at lower temperature. Swelling-ratio transition temperatures of the semi-IPN gel shifted to lower values with increasing pH of the surrounding PAAc solution. The swelling-ratio transition of the semi-IPN gel became sharper with higher-molecular-weight PAAc. These swelling-ratio changes were completely reversible. A prototype of a light modulator was fabricated utilizing semi-IPN microgel particles containing 20 wt % of carbon black pigment. The transmittance of the light modulator was altered from 63 to 8% when the light modulator was heated from 10 to 60 °C.

An overview is given of the National Centralized Tokamak (NCT) programme as a research programme for advanced tokamak research to succeed JT-60U. The mission of NCT is to establish high beta steady-state operation for DEMO and to contribute to ITER. The machine flexibility is pursued in aspect ratio and shape controllability for the demonstration of the high-? steady-state, feedback control of resistive wall modes, wide current and pressure profile control capability and also very long pulse steady-state operation. Existing JT-60 infrastructure such as the heating and current drive system, power supplies and cooling systems will be best utilized for this modification.

AbstractCompatibility between plasma and reduced activation ferritic steel, which is the leading candidate for the structural material of a fusion demonstration reactor, has been investigated in the Advanced Material Tokamak EXperiment (AMTEX). Ferritic plates (FPs) were installed progressively in the JFT-2M tokamak. The effect of ferromagnetism on plasma production, control, confinement, and stability has been investigated. Impurity release behavior has also been investigated. Even when the inside vacuum vessel wall was fully covered with the FPs and the tokamak plasma was operated close to the wall, no deleterious effect was observed, and the normalized beta could be increased up to ~3.5. Thus, encouraging results are obtained for application of this material to the demonstration reactor.

Characteristics and underlying mechanisms for plasma current spikes, which have been frequently observed during the thermal quench of JT-60U disruptions, were investigated through tokamak simulation code simulations including the passive shell effects of the vacuum vessel. Positive shear and reversed shear (PS and RS) plasmas were shown to have various current spike features in the experiments, e.g. an impulsive increase in the plasma current (positive spike) in the majority of thermal quenches, and a sudden decrease (negative spike), that has been excluded from past consideration, as an exception. It was first clarified that the shell effects, which become significant especially at a strong pressure drop due to the thermal quench of high ?pplasmas, play an important role in the current spike in accordance with the initial relation of the radial location between the plasma equilibria and the vacuum vessel. As a consequence, a negative current spike may appear at thermal quench when the plasma is positioned further out from the geometric centre of the vacuum vessel. It was also pointed out that a further lowering in the internal inductance, in contradiction to previous interpretation in the past, is a plausible candidate for the mechanism for positive current spikes observed even in RS plasmas. The new interpretation enables us to reason out the whole character of current spikes of JT-60U disruptions.

A novel tokamak design with a new type of toroidal field (TF) coil and a central solenoid (CS) whose stress is reduced greatly to the theoretical limit determined by the virial theorem, has been devised, and plasma production and confinement experiments in a new small tokamak based on this design are presented. According to the virial theorem, the best TF coil for producing the strongest magnetic field under the weakest stress requires equal averaged principal stresses in all directions. Applying this condition to a helical coil, its pitch number is determined as a function of the aspect ratio. The helical winding according to this condition is modulated in such a way that the poloidal field exists only outside of the torus, which reduces the torsional force on the helical coil and makes plasma breakdown possible. Moreover, a helical coil with this modulation and a low aspect ratio is similar to CS and TF coil systems in conventional tokamaks since its helical winding is nearly vertical in the outer part of the torus. With the aspect ratio A = 2, our optimal coil theoretically reduces the working stress in the coil to about one-third less than that of conventional TF coils. On the basis of the design, a small prototype, ‘Todoroki-II’, with a major radius of 0.3 m, a minor radius of 0.08 m, toroidal magnetic field strengths of B_T < 1.5 T and plasma currents of I_P < 40 kA, was made. An external vertical field increased the plasma pulse length and the current to 1 ms and 11 kA, respectively, while they were restricted with no vertical field control. Using a Cauchy-condition surface method, the shape and displacement of the plasma boundary were reconstructed, and position control using the vetical field was confirmed.

Compatibility between the plasma and low activation ferritic steel, which is a candidate material for fusion demonstration reactors, has been investigated step by step in the JFT-2M tokamak. We have entered the third stage of the Advanced Material Tokamak EXperiment (AMTEX), where the inside of the vacuum vessel wall is completely covered with ferritic steel plates ferritic inside wall (FIW). The effects of a FIW on the plasma production, impurity release, the operation region, and H-mode characteristics have been investigated. No negative effect has been observed up to now. A high normalized beta plasma of β_N ~ 3, having both an internal transport barrier and a steady H-mode edge was obtained. A remarkable reduction in ripple trapped loss from 0.26 MW m⁻² (without ferritic steel) to less than 0.01 MW m⁻² was demonstrated by the optimization of the thickness profile of FIW. A code to calculate fast ion losses, taking into account the full three-dimensional magnetic structure was developed, and values obtained using the code showed good agreement with experimental results. Thus, encouraging results are obtained for the use of this material in the demo-reactor.

IL-18 is a pleiotropic cytokine and is produced by various types of cells including activated macrophages, particularly Kupffer cells. IL-18 has potential to activate inflammatory responses through induction of IFN-γ production in collaboration with IL-12. Somewhat paradoxically, IL-18 also has the capacity to induce allergic responses via induction of IL-4 production by T helper cells and to activate mast cells and basophils to release atopic effector molecules such as histamine. Indeed, IL-18 is involved in inflammatory tissue injuries, such as Crohn's disease and atherosclerosis, and also in hyper IgE and atopic dermatitis. IL-18 is particularly important for induction of experimental liver diseases. Endotoxin-induced liver injury or Fas ligand-induced hepatitis is caused by endogenous IL-18 in mice. Moreover, patients with liver diseases such as fulminant hepatitis, liver cirrhosis due to hepatitis virus infection and primary biliary cirrhosis show elevation of serum levels of IL-18, that correlates with the corresponding disease severity. Therefore, endogenous IL-18 plays a major role in induction of some types of liver injuries in mice and human. NKT cells that express both T cell receptor and NK cell marker are abundant in the liver of mice and human. Recent studies have revealed that NKT cells participate in some types of liver injuries, such as concanavalin A-induced T cell-mediated hepatitis and malaria hepatitis. In this review article, we focus on IL-18-involving liver damages and NKT-cell-mediated liver injuries.

Recent reports suggest that the effect of photodynamic therapy (PDT) can be enhanced by fractionating the light dose or reducing the light fluence rate. We assessed these options on two tissues in rats (normal colon and a transplanted fibrosarcoma) using the photosensitiser meta-tetrahydroxyphenylchlorin (mTHPC). Animals were sensitised with 0.3 mg/kg mTHPC, 3 days prior to illumination with red light (652 nm) using a single fibre touching the target tissue and killed 1–3 days later for quantitative measurement of the extent of PDT necrosis. Results were similar for both tissues, although the differences between illumination regimens were less marked in tumour tissue. Using continuous illumination and a fixed low energy in colon, the extent of necrosis was up to almost three times larger with 5 mW than with 100 mW, although the maximum attainable necrosis was independent of power. The long treatment time using 5 mW could be halved without loss of effect by increasing the power during treatment. Dividing the light into two equal fractions at 100 mW increased the lesion size by up to 20% in colon (independent of the timing of the dark interval), but by only 10% in tumour and had no effect at 20 mW. Previous studies using 5-aminolaevulinic acid (ALA) showed a much larger effect of fractionation that was critically dependent on the timing of the dark interval. We postulate that enhancement of PDT by fractionation is due to improved oxygen supply to the treated area which may be due to reversal of temporary vascular occlusion (more likely with ALA) or less rapid photochemical consumption of oxygen (more likely with mTHPC). At lower fluence rates, the oxygen consumption rate is not fast enough to be improved by fractionation. We conclude that fractionated or low power light delivery can enhance PDT with mTHPC. Although the effects are not large, this may be of value for interstitial treatment of solid tumours when multiple sites are treated simultaneously.

A role of achiral oxazolidinones to enhance the enantioselectivity in reactions of N-cinnamoyloxazolidinones with alkyl radicals promoted by a chiral Lewis acid is described. Efficient enantioselective radical-mediated conjugate additions of N-cinnamoyloxazolidinone can be realized by use of a chiral zinc triflate generated from a readily prepared chiral bisoxazoline and an achiral oxazolidinone. The NH moiety of achiral oxazolidinones is found to be necessary to enhance the enantioselectivity.

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Expression of housekeeping genes is essential and necessary for cell proliferation. The products of housekeeping genes have been strongly conserved during evolution, an indication that they are essential for living organisms. Human MAZ (Myc-associated zinc finger protein) and its mouse homolog, Pur-1 (purine binding factor-1), are transcription factors that bind to the GA box (GGGAGGG). We have characterized the gene structures, patterns of expression, and promoters of both the human gene for MAZ andthe mouse gene for Pur-1. We have also shown that the genes for MAZ and Pur-1 are typical housekeeping genes. One unusual feature of the promoter of the MAZ gene is that it is almost composed of G and C (G+C content, 88.4percent). MAZ and Pur-1 regulate a number of target genes, including the c-myc gene, the gene for complement 2, genes for insulin I and II, the gene for serotonin receptor, the gene for CD4, the gene for nitric-oxide synthase, and the gene for adenovirus major late protein. MAZ and Pu r-1 have roles in both the initiation and termination of transcription, and they appear to be involved in the etiology of some diseases, such as insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and chronic myelogenous leukemia. SAF, the rabbit homolog of MAZ, was isolated recently. It is an activator of the gene for serum amyloid A, which is involved in several chronic inflammatory diseases. The multiple functional roles of MAZ and Pur-1 indicate that their housekeeping functions are concerned mainly with the regulation of gene expression.

Abstract: The subendocardial side of myocardium makes a major contribution to left ventricular (LV) contraction and is very susceptible to ischemia. In this study we sought to quantify regional wall motion during low-dose dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) by using the myocardial velocity gradient (MVG) derived from tissue Doppler imaging (TDI). We then compared the usefulness of subendocardial MVG with that of transmural MVG in detecting subtle wall motion abnormalities. Fourteen patients (single vessel disease = 6; normal coronary arteries = 8) underwent low-dose DSE (10 μg/kg per min). M-Mode TDI of the LV posterior wall was recorded using a Toshiba SSA-380A combined with custom computer software, and analyzed for both subendocardial and transmural MVG. Visual estimation and transmural MVG failed to clearly demonstrate the differing responses between the nonischemic (systole: 3.0 � 0.8/s to 4.9 � 1.9/s, not significant; diastole: −4.3 � 1.3/s to −5.7 � 1.4/s, not significant; mean � SD, P versus ischemic segments) and ischemic (systole: 3.3 � 1.2/s to 3.8 � 1.0/s; diastole: −5.4 � 2.0/s to −5.3 � 1.1/s) segments during low-dose DSE. Subendocardial MVG demonstrated a significant change in the nonischemic segments (systole: 4.1 � 1.0/s to 7.7 � 2.2/s, P = 0.012; diastole: −6.5 � 1.8/s to −11.3 � 2.2/s, P = 0.001), whereas the response remained unchanged in the ischemic segments (systole: 4.6 � 2.4/s to 4.8 � 1.2/s; diastole: −7.0 � 1.9/s to −7.3 � 1.1/s). Subendocardial MVG, particularly diastolic subendocardial MVG, may serve as a useful indicator of subtle ischemic changes in wall motion induced by low-dose DSE.

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Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) of the vertebrate brain, which has originally been identified as a peptidergic hypophysiotropic hormone, is now believed to act also as a neuromodulator. It has recently been shown that a vertebrate-like GnRH–gonadotropin system occurs in the urochordates, which are considered to be the presumptive ancestral chordate. In this paper, we examined the morphology of the GnRH neuronal system of ascidian,Ciona intestinalis,by immunocytochemistry and found many GnRH-immunoreactive neuronal cells and fibers in a specific surface area of the cerebral ganglion, along the inner wall of the dorsal blood sinus, as well as on the anterior surface of the ovary.

Abstract: It is unknown whether the transmural heterogeneity of sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+-ATPase gene expression is present within the left ventricular (LV) wall. Moreover, the changes of transmural distribution have not been examined in the failing hearts. We thus quantified steady-state mRNA abundance of SR Ca2+ regulatory proteins by Northern blot analysis in both subendocardial and subepicardial LV layers from normal and rapid pacing-induced heart failure (HF) dog hearts. For normal LV, Ca2+-ATPase mRNA abundance (normalized to glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase [GAPDH] mRNA) was significantly reduced in the subendocardium, whereas calsequestrin mRNA abundance was comparable between the two layers. For HF LV, Ca2+-ATPase mRNA abundance in the subendocardium was also reduced compared to the subepicardium. However, the endocardium to epicardium ratio was comparable between control and HF (0.62 ± 0.08 vs. 0.65 ± 0.07; p = NS). Therefore, the transmural gradient of this gene was constant in both control and HF. Even though the data on the transmural heterogeneity of protein level is not available, the subendocardium contained significantly less Ca2+-ATPase mRNA, which might contribute, at least in part, to the transmural gradients of biochemical and mechanical function.

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IL-18 is an IL-1-related cytokine which shares biological functions with IL-12. These include the activation of NK cells, induction of IFN-gamma production and Th1 cell differentiation. In this study we analyzed the effect of IL-18 deficiency on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced liver injury and endotoxin shock in Propionibacterium acnes-primed mice. P. acnes-primed IL-18-deficient (IL-18KO) mice showed resistance to LPS-induced liver injury. Unexpectedly, P. acnes-primed IL-18KO mice were highly susceptible to LPS-induced endotoxin shock. Serum level of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha were markedly elevated (approximately 10-fold higher) within 1.5 h after LPS challenge in IL-18KO mice as compared with wild-type mice. Anti-TNF-alpha antibody administration to IL-18KO mice was significantly protective against endotoxin-induced lethality. P. acnes-primed IL-18KO macrophages produced approximately 6-fold more TNF-alpha protein than did P. acnes-primed wild-type control macrophages. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that IL-18 is responsible for the progression of endotoxin-induced liver injury as well as down-regulation of endotoxin-induced TNF-alpha production in P. acnes-primed mice.

The nucleotide sequence of the Bacteroides fragilisneuraminidase-encoding gene (nanH) and its flanking regions was determined. The B. fragilis nanHopen reading frame (ORF) of 1632 nucleotides encoded a neuraminidase of 544 amino acid residues with a calculated molecular mass of 59.51 kDa. The amino acid sequence at the N-terminus of the deduced protein exhibited the common features of procaryotic signal sequences. The Asp box sequence, Ser-X-Asp-X-Gly-X-Thr-Trp, which is conserved among bacterial neuraminidases, was found at five positions in the deduced amino acid sequence. A single transcription start point was identified 88 nucleotides upstream of the nanHORF. Northern blot analysis using an internal nanHprobe revealed a single mRNA species with a length of 1.8 kb that could encode just the neuraminidase.

We have cloned and characterized the genomic structure of the human gene for Myc-associated zinc finger protein (MAZ), which is located on chromosome 16p11.2. This gene is transcribed as an mRNA of 2.7 kilobases (kb) that encodes a 60-kDa MAZ protein. A 40-kb cosmid clone was isolated that includes the promoter, five exons, four introns, and one 3'-untranslated region. All exon-intron junction sequences conform to the GT/AG rule. The promoter region has features typical of a housekeeping gene: a high G + C content (88. 4%); a high frequency of CpG dinucleotides, in particular within the region 0.5 kb upstream of the site of initiation of translation; and the absence of canonical TATA and CAAT boxes. An S1 nuclease protection assay demonstrated the presence of multiple sites for initiation of transcription around a site 174 nucleotides (nt) upstream of the ATG codon and such expression was reflected by the promoter activity of a MAZ promoter/CAT (chloramphenicol acetyltransferase) reporter gene. Cis-acting positive and negative elements controlling basal transcription of the human MAZ gene were found from nucleotides (nt) -383 to -248 and nt -2500 to -948. Moreover, positive and negative autoregulatory elements were also identified in the regions from nt -248 to -189 and from nt -383 to -248 after co-transfection of HeLa cells with plasmids that carried the MAZ promoter/CAT construct and the MAZ-expression vector. Our results indicate that the 5'-end flanking sequences are responsible for the promoter activities of the MAZ gene.

A detailed analysis is reported of the binding of the zinc finger protein THZif-1 to the nuclease-hypersensitive element (NHE) in the promoter region of the c-MYC gene using the electrophoretic mobility shift assay and a series of mutants of a fusion protein composed of glutathione S-transferase and THZif-1. The THZif-1 protein bound specifically to the single-stranded (ss) pyrimidine-rich DNA of the NHE (ss c-myc NHE-C) with an apparent dissociation constant (Kd (app)) of 0.077 microM. By contrast, no binding to the single-stranded purine-rich DNA of the NHE (ss c-myc NHE-G) was detected. Moreover, the binding affinity of THZif-1 protein was 2-fold higher for the single-stranded 5-methyl-2'-deoxycytidine derivative of NHE (ss c-myc NHE-me5C) than for the unmethylated NHE. In the case of the binding of THZif-1 to methylated double-stranded (ds) NHE (ds c-myc NHE-me5CG), no significant binding to the DNA was observed. The decrease in binding to DNA of THZif-1 was significant in the case of mutated ds c-myc NHE, in which more than two sites of deoxycytidine residues were methylated. However, the binding affinity of THZif-1 protein for methylated and for unmethylated triple-helical DNA of the NHE was almost identical. Moreover, the domain of the THZif-1 protein that made the major contribution to binding to ss c-myc NHE-C or ss c-myc NHE-me5C corresponded to the amino-terminal second zinc finger motif. Taken together, the results indicate that the THZif-1 protein exhibits preferential DNA-binding activity with ss c-myc NHE-C, ds c-myc NHE-CG, and ts c-myc NHE but not with ss c-myc NHE-G and ds c-myc NHE-me5CG in vitro.

Rationale and objectives:To evaluate the physical and pharmacological profiles of SH U555A, a suspension of magnetic iron oxide particles that is designed to enhance the visualization of liver tumors and metastases.Material and Methods:Chemical and physical methods were used to characterize the size and structure of these magnetic iron oxide particles in aqueous solution. The biodistribution and pharmacokinetics of the particles were studied in mice, rats and dogs. The imaging efficacy of the particles was demonstrated by MR imaging in rat liver tumorsResults:The SH U555A particles consist of low-molecular-weight carboxydextran-coated iron oxides predominantly of the γ-Fe2O3form with a hydrodynamic diameter ranging from 57-59 nm and strong T2 relaxivity of 164 liters mmol−1 S−1(water, 0.47 T). In rats the particles exhibited a dose-dependent half-life of between 2 and 3 days in the liver at a dose of 20 μmol Fekg and a shorter half-life at lower doses. No major side effects were found. In a rat tumor model the tumor-to-liver contrast was markedly improved after i.v. administration of SH U555A. At a dose of 14 μmol Fekg the half-maximal contrast-effect was obtained even in nonoptimized T1-weighted spin-echo images.Conclusion:SH U555A is a superparamagnetic MR contrast agent for i.v. administration and has substantial potential for the demarcation of liver tumors.

The authors have designed and built a multi-channel cadmium telluride detector array to test its suitability as an X-ray imaging sensor for dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. The X-ray imaging sensor was constructed of 64 CdTe detector elements with high frequency current amplifiers, discriminators, and counters. The detector elements were operated in the photon counting mode and output pulses induced by the X-ray photons were separated into two energy levels according to their height. The energy resolution of the detector elements was 18.7% to 59.54 keV gamma-rays. In combination with a K-edge filter to produce dual energy X-rays, the X-ray imaging sensor was able to generate two energy X-ray images simultaneously over a short time. By applying a simple energy subtraction method to these images, bone phantoms were distinguished from the overlying tissue phantoms and their densities could be successfully measured. It was clearly demonstrated that this X-ray imaging sensor using CdTe crystals has good potential for high speed bone densitometry.<>

An intracellular membrane-free, trypsinlike protease was isolated from cells of Bacteroides gingivalis 381. The protease was extracted from the cells by ultrasonic treatment and was purified about 250-fold with a recovery of 2% by sequential procedures. The properties of the protease were as follows: its optimal pH was 8.5; its activity was almost completely lost on incubation at 50 degrees C for 15 min; its activity was inhibited by diisopropylfluorophosphate, p-toluenesulfonyl-L-lysine chloromethyl ketone hydrochloride, leupeptin, Mn2+, Cu2+, and Zn2+; it hydrolyzed casein, azocasein, N-alpha-benzoyl-DL-arginine-p-nitroanilide (BAPNA), bovine serum albumin, azocoll, and gelatin, but not N-alpha-benzoyl-DL-lysine-p-nitroanilide or human serum immunoglobulin A; its molecular weight was estimated as 45,000 by gel filtration and 50,000 by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis; and its Km values for azocasein and BAPNA were 1.11% and 0.19 mM, respectively.

A small CdTe detector capable of high repetition pulse rate with possibilities for applications in radiation monitoring and similar uses was developed. The hole transit time through the crystal was shortened by decreasing the crystal thickness of 0.3 mm (1*1 mm) and by applying fields as high as 10 kV/cm. The electron transit time, although short, was electrically elongated by applying appropriate capacitance to the amplifier, and the output pulse waveform was designed to be similar to that for the holes. High, uniform output pulses with widths of 30 ns were thus obtained. The energy resolution was 9 keV for 59.4-keV photons from /sup 241/Am using a 100-ns-response amplifier.<>

A multichannel X-ray imaging sensor using a CdTe compound semiconductor radiation detector in photon counting mode was developed and tested for digital X-ray imaging and an X-ray energy separation capability. The X-ray imaging sensor was constructed of CdTe detector elements at a pitch of 0.25 mm. High band amplifiers, discriminators, and counters attached to each element formed the pulse counting circuit. Charge pulses generated by absorbed X-ray photons were directly counted and separated into two energy regions. Digitized X-ray images containing energy information were thus obtained. Using this sensor two separate X-ray images of different energy can be obtained simultaneously. A 256-channel X-ray imaging sensor was prepared and used to provide spatial resolution measurement for an X-ray charge. Low and high energy images of a hand phantom were thus obtained and both a soft tissue image and a bone image were produced using an energy subtraction method.<>

In primary rodent cells transformed by the E1A region of the highly oncogenic adenovirus type 12, repression of transcription mediated by the far upstream TATA-like element was observed only in conjunction with either possible juxtaposition of a CAA repeated element in the presence of E1A and was dependent upon the relative arrangement of both the TATA-like and CAA repeated motifs in both homologous and heterologous promoter constructs. A gel shift competition study demonstrated that the TATA-binding protein (TBP) or a TBP-like protein can bind to both the upstream TATA-like sequence and the regular TATA box on the H-2Kb basal promoter. Moreover, employing immunoselection and cyclic amplification and selection of targets (CASTing) methods with nuclear extracts derived from Ad12-E1A transformants, we have identified a high affinity binding site in the H-2Kb class I promoter for E1A-associated DNA-binding proteins. The sequences of the binding sites were identified and were found to contain both the upstream TATA-like motif and the CAA repeated motifs. Our results suggest that the TATA-like sequence in the far upstream region of the H-2Kb gene is one of the elements that is required for Ad12-E1A-mediated negative repression.

A multichannel X-ray imaging sensor using a CdTe compound semiconductor radiation detector was developed. Both the digital X-ray imaging and energy-information-generating analyzing method were studied. The X-ray imaging sensor consisted of 512-channel CdTe detector elements at a pitch of 0.2 mm. X-ray photons were directly detected using a photon-counting method and high- and low-energy images were obtained simultaneously. The specific resolution was obtained over 2.5 line pairs/mm in the channel direction and 1.6 line pairs/mm in the scanning direction with a scanning pitch of 0.2 mm. The energy subtraction method was found to be effective in distinguishing an object's component materials.<>

A thin film of thermoluminescent CaSO4:Dy of 100 x 100 mm2in size and 30 µm in layer thickness was prepared for X ray imaging. After irradiation, an image was produced by heating the TL film with a scanning CO2laser beam of 0.2 mm spot diameter. The image signals, after being filed in a magnetic recorder, were displayed on a CRT. X ray image pictures of various optical-density levels can be displayed from a series of data obtained by an exposure at about 100 mR. Future improvements in the sensitivity and resolution are discussed below.

The plasma concentration of IL-18 (interferon-γ inducing factor) was severely increased in a 3 year old boy with purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) deficiency. The presence and activity of IL-18 were confirmed by immunoblotting and bioassay, respectively. These results suggest that IL-18 may be abundantly produced and secreted into plasma by PNP deficient macrophages in PNP deficiency.