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Energy-filtering TEM (EFTEM), high-resolution SEM, and asymmetric double beam cantilever (ADBC) method were employed for investigating the interface and adhesion between styrene-acrylonitrile random copolymer (SAN) and poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). The effect of the composition of SAN on the interfacial structures could be evaluated by EFTEM. High-resolution SEM and ADBC test enabled us to investigate the correlation between fracture mechanism and interfacial thickness. Combining the three techniques is a promising approach for investigation of polymer interfaces including entanglement structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An improved method for analysis of Malachite green (MG) and its metabolite, Leucomalachite green (LMG), in broiled eels without using dichloromethane was developed. This method was evaluated by means of recovery tests according to the guideline for validation of analytical methods by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan. MG and LMG were extracted from spiked samples with acetonitrile and citric acid/disodium hydrogen phosphate buffer solution, and were salted-out with sodium chloride. The acetonitrile layer was dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate and purified on C18 and strongly acidic cation exchange columns. MG and LMG in the purified solution were determined quantitatively using LC-MS/MS by the internal standard method with surrogates, MG and LMG labeled with deuterium (MG-d5, LMG-d6). The recovery rates of MG and LMG were 99.2% and 93.6%, respectively. The relative standard deviations of repeatability were 2.2% for MG and 4.4% for LMG, and the relative standard deviations of within-laboratory reproducibility were 3.5% for MG and 5.1% for LMG.

Fifty-two samples of broiled eels and broiled eel liver were analyzed for total mercury (total Hg) and methyl mercury. The mean concentrations of total Hg in broiled eels and broiled eel liver were 0.21 ppm and 0.10 ppm, respectively. Meanwhile, the mean concentrations of methyl mercury in broiled eels and broiled eel liver were 0.085 ppm and 0.039 ppm, respectively. The rate of methyl mercury to total Hg mainly ranged from 60 to 80% in broiled eels and from 35 to 65% in broiled eel liver. The total Hg concentrations of 2 samples of broiled eels and one sample of broiled eel liver exceeded the provisional regulation limit (0.4 ppm) of total Hg in fish in Japan. In these samples, the rates of methyl mercury to total Hg were lower than 20%. The muscles and the skin of broiled eels were measured separately. The ratios of skin to muscle concentration of total Hg and methyl mercury were mainly in the range from 1/10 to 1/4. The mean intakes of total Hg from broiled eels and broiled eel liver per individual were 24.6 microg and 3.1 microg, respectively. The mean intakes of methyl mercury from broiled eels and broiled eel liver per individual were 10.4 microg and 1.2 microg, respectively.

Thirty patients with bone metastasis were treated with eel calcitonin (CT) to relieve severe pain from metastatic bone lesions. Patients were two males and twenty-eight females with a mean age of 52.8. CT was administered intramuscularly in twenty-seven patients and intravenously in three. CT was effective on 55.6% of patients to reduce severe bone pain but did not decrease the amount of analgesics in most patients. Serum Ca and P were not changed markedly. As side-effects, two patients complained of nausea and vomiting after administration of CT but they weren't severe. These results indicate that CT is quite useful drug for relief of severe bone pain from metastatic lesions in patients with breast or digestive tract carcinomas.

The purpose of this study is to investigate effects of calcitonin (CT) on bone tissues in fracture healing. Rats were fractured at middle of the femur and given [ASU1,7] eel CT. Following biochemical changes in the serum and histological findings of bone tissue were demonstrated. At the early stage of fracture healing process, CT activated the periostal ossification and elevated serum level of alkaline phosphatase activity. At the stage of cartilagenous callus, the number of chondroclasts were decreased and the development of cartilagenous tissue to primary cancellous bone was inhibited. After this, number of osteoclasts was decreased and bone resorption due to osteoclasts was decreased and bone resorption due to osteoclasts were suppressed. By these process, remodelling at the fractured site was suppressed and serum alkaline phosphatase activity was maintained at a low level. But as for each osteocyte in this stage, CT gave rise to periosteocytic osteoplasis. It is clear that CT accelerates the fracture healing by activating the periostal ossification in the early stage, whereas the fracture healing is suppressed after the stage of cartilagenous callus formation.

Synthetic Calcitonin Derivative obtained from eel (eel-calcitonin) was given to 15 patients suffering from pain due to bone metastases of malignant tumors. The analgesic effect of synthetic eel-calcitonin derivative was evaluated through pain and narcotic score with the Ridit method. With regard to pain score, significant analgesic effect was observed in the first week (p less than 0.001), and after a month there was also a decrease in the narcotic score (p less than 0.05). However, changes in serum Ca, P, ALP values, and the findings of bone scintigrams and roentgenography, rarely occurred following the treatment. The toxicities of eel-calcitonin which were observed in this series were as follows; nausea and vomiting (33%), flush (11%), eruption (6%). These findings suggest that synthetic eel-calcitonin derivative is a very useful agent for pain due to bone metastases.

Bone scintigraphy with 99mTc-MDP was performed on 8 patients with Paget's disease of bone. The radionuclide uptake by all the involved lesions was markedly increased, even in subclinical lesions without pain. Bone scintigraphy with 99mTc-phosphorous compounds were thought to be the most simple and sensitive technique to define the precise extent of the lesions, and to detect asymptomatic occult cases with Paget's disease. Possible A-V shunt was estimated in 3 cases by measuring the radioactivity over the lungs after the injection of 99mTc-MAA through a catheter into an artery which supplied the lesion. A-V shunt was calculated as 14.5%, 10.0% and 12.0%, respectively. An uptake study of 99mTc-MDP was attempted to quantify the effect of calcitonin treatment using a gamma camera combined with a computer. An "uptake ratio" was obtained for each lesion by dividing the count rate over the bone lesion by that over the control bone. Three cases of Paget's disease were treated with synthetic eel calcitonin analogue ([Asu1,7] E-CT) in a dose of 40 MRC unit per day. The effectiveness of CT therapy was evaluated by the X-ray film, the serum alkaline phosphatase activity (S-Al-P), the serum phosphate level, the serum calcium level and the "uptake ratio". No remarkable changes were obtained on bone X-ray films at one year after the initiation of the CT treatment in all cases. The S-Al-P levels did not show significant difference in the 2 cases, in which the S-Al-P levels were within the normal range before the treatment. In all cases, however, the "uptake ratio" of the diseased bone fell remarkably within the first three months and the rate of the fall was parallel to the decrease in the bone pain. It was considered that the "uptake ratio" on bone scintigraphy offered the most sensitive and reliable information in evaluating the CT treatment for Paget's disease.

Calcitonin obtained from eels (ell-CT) was given to 14 patients who had developed bony pains due to bone metastases of malignant tumors and who did not respond to 12 various analgesics. The patients consisted of 12 males and 2 females, with a mean age of sixty-five. Eel-CT (Elcitonin) was injected intramuscularly to each patient at a dose of 40 units twice daily. Other analgesics were assessed to be ineffective at the time of CT administration and they were not given consideration in the evaluation. For the assessment of drug effect, a pain score was prepared. Eel-CT was markedly effective in 3 patients, effective in 8 patients, and ineffective in 2 patients. Eel-CT had a better effect on prostatic cancer than any other cancer. The analgesic effect was observed in the first week of drug administration at around a total dose of 1,000 units. Although the pain tended to appear at regions on which the body weight was liable to rest, the analgesic effect was seen irrespective of the side of pain. Since serum calcium, phosphate, parathyroid hormone (PTH), CT levels and bone scintigrams between pre-and post-CT administration did not differ, the analgesic mode of action of CT is not supposed to be related to inhibition of bone absorption nor bone formation. The therapeutic effect hardly suggests any direct action of CT on the tumor.

Forty-seven patients of advanced urogenital carcinoma with bone metastasis were treated with eel calcitonin (CT) to relieve severe pain from metastatic bone lesions. Patients were 45 males and 2 females with a mean age of 72.9. CT was administered intravenously at a daily dose of 160 units for 10 days. The efficacy of CT on relief of pain was estimated using a mark sheets filled by each patient and his or her doctor. And also the amount of analgesics given to patients before and after the administration of CT were checked. CT was effective on 77% of patients to reduce severe bone pain, especially on osteoblastic lesions metastasized from prostatic carcinoma. CT administration decreased the amount of analgesics in 37% of the cases. As toxicity, nausea and vomiting which stopped the CT administration were observed in only one From these results, we conclude that CT is quite useful drug for relief of severe bone pain from metastatic lesions in patients with urogenital carcinoma.