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This study aimed to assess whether preoperative oxidative stress levels can predict postoperative complications in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Ninety-five cardiac surgery patients received an assessment of preoperative oxidative stress by measurement of hydroperoxide values in blood via the d-Rom test. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve and also multivariate logistic regression were used to evaluate the prognostic significance of preoperative hydroperoxide concentrations in predicting the occurrence of major organ morbidity and mortality (MOMM). MOMM included death, deep sternal infection, reoperation, stroke, renal failure requiring haemodialysis and prolonged ventilation (>48 hours). The ability of preoperative hydroperoxide concentrations to predict MOMM was not significantly different from that of the European system for cardiac operative risk evaluation (EuroSCORE) (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.822 versus 0.821 respectively, P=0.983). The optimal threshold value of hydroperoxide concentration to differentiate between patients with and without MOMM was 450 UCarr (sensitivity, 87.0%; specificity, 81.9%). Duration of intensive care unit stay, mechanical ventilation time and hospital stay were significantly longer in patients with preoperative hydroperoxide concentrations ≥450 UCarr (H group) compared to those patients with preoperative hydroperoxide concentrations <450 UCarr (L group). An increase in preoperative hydroperoxide concentrations remained associated with an increased risk of MOMM (odds ratios: 1.01, 95% confidence interval: 1.00 to 1.03) and prolonged intensive care unit stay (odds ratio 1.01, 95% confidence interval: 1.00 to 1.02), after adjusting for age, gender and EuroSCORE. In conclusion, an increased hydroper-oxide concentration before cardiac surgery is an independent risk factor for severe postoperative complications.

We investigated the effectiveness of stroke volume variation (SVV) shown by the Vigileo-FloTrac™ system (Edwards Lifesciences, Irvine, CA) to predict fluid responsiveness in patients undergoing airway pressure release ventilation (APRV).All 80 patients mechanically ventilated in the intensive care unit of our hospital from April to November 2010 were included in this study. After starting APRV, Ringer's lactate solution was administered for 30 minutes. Haemodynamic variables including heart rate, mean arterial pressure, cardiac index (CI), stroke volume index (SVI) and SVV were measured before and after volume loading.SVV before volume loading was significantly correlated with absolute change in SVV (ΔSVV) and percentage change in stroke volume index (ΔSVI) after volume loading (ΔSVV: P 2=0.534; ΔSVI: P &0.05, r2=0.217). Of the 80 patients, 38 (47.5%) were responders to intravascular volume expansion (increase in CI ≥15%) and 42 (52.5%) were non-responders (increase in CI P <0.05). The optimal threshold value of SVV to discriminate between responders and nonresponders was 14% (sensitivity: 78.9%; specificity: 64.3%).We found that SVV was able to predict fluid responsiveness in patients undergoing APRV with acceptable levels of sensitivity and specificity.

We have synthesized novel heptaalkyl amphiphiles, Heptopus(12,12), Heptopus(12,14), and Heptopus(12,14), that have six identical outer alkyl chains (C12, C14, or C16) and a single inner alkyl chain (C12). Their monolayer properties were investigated by π−A isotherm measurement and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Limiting areas in their isotherms are 1.54, 1.38, and 1.40 nm² for Heptopus(12,12), Heptopus(12,14), and Heptopus(12,16), respectively, suggesting formation of close-packed condensed phases. An AFM observation of a monolayer of Heptopus(12,12) transferred onto a mica showed hexagonal packing of its alkyl chains. However, the outer and inner chains were not distinguishable. These results indicate that further elaboration on the molecular design of Heptopus is required to create novel two-dimensional molecular organization.

We have developed a compilation system which extends High Performance Fortran (HPF) in various aspects. We support the parallelization of well-structured problems with loop distribution and alignment directives similar to HPF's data distribution directives. Such directives give both additional control to the user and simplify the compilation process. For the support of unstructured problems, we provide directives for dynamic data distribution through user-defined mappings. The compiler also allows integration of message-passing interface (MPI) primitives. The system is part of a complete programming environment which also comprises a parallel debugger and a performance monitor and analyzer. After an overview of the compiler, we describe the language extensions and related compilation mechanisms in detail. Performance measurements demonstrate the compiler's applicability to a variety of application classes.

The effects of draw ratio and drawing temperature on the lattice distortion and size of mosaic block crystals during the deformation process of lamellar crystals were investigated by X-rays for bulk crystallized polyethylene samples with different thermal histories: a sample slowly cooled from the melt, a quenched sample, and an annealed sample. With a small draw ratio, the mosaic block sizes were reflected in the thermal histories of the starting samples, but they decreased rapidly on further drawing and became almost constant in the highly drawn state, being independent of the original values. However, during the drawing process, the distortion parameters did not undergo such a large change as the crystallite size. Increase in the drawing temperature resulted in an increase in crystallite size. Based on the remarkable decrease in crystallite size upon drawing, a hypothesis to explain the formation of fibre structure was proposed.

Factor IX BMNagoya (IX Nagoya) is a natural mutant of factor IX responsible for severe hemophilia B. A patient with this mutant is characterized by a markedly prolonged ox brain prothrombin time. IX Nagoya was purified from the patient's plasma by immunoaffinity chromatography with an anti-factor IX monoclonal antibody column. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed that treatment of IX Nagoya with factor XIa/Ca2+resulted in cleavage only at the Arg145-Ala146bond. Reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography of a trypsin digest of IX Nagoya showed an aberrant peptide, which was further digested with proteinase Asp-N. Primary structure analysis of one of the Asp-N peptides revealed that Arg180is replaced by Trp. An essentially complete (99%) amino acid sequence of IX Nagoya was obtained by sequencing fragments derived from a lysyl endopeptidase digest in which no other substitutions in the catalytic triad or substrate binding site were found. We also found that IX Nagoya is activated by α-chymotrypsin or rat mast cell chymase by monitoring the rate of factor X activation using a fluorogenic peptide substrate in the presence of factor VIII, phospholipids, and Ca2+. These results indicate that the substitution of Arg180by Trp impairs the cleavage by factor XIa required for activation of this zymogen and that the substitution causes hemophilia BM.

The structure-activity relationships of monomeric and dimeric macrocyclic polyamines were studied in an attempt to find potent inhibitors of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) types 1 and 2. In general, dimeric polyamines are superior as HIV inhibitors to their monomeric counterparts, and the activity of a dimer is proportional to that of its constituent monomers. For the monomeric compounds, the amount of positive charge on the monomer rings under physiological conditions was more important for anti-HIV activity than the ring size. On the basis of these findings, the 14-membered tetraamine cyclam was selected as the component of dimeric compounds with potentially high activity. Of the series of newly synthesized bicyclams, in which the monomeric cyclams were linked at each C-6 position, a compound with an aIkyI chain bridge three carbons in length was found to exhibit the maximum anti-HIV activity. For one particular strain (HIV-2GH-1), syncytium formation was inhibited by the bicyclams at a similar concentration to that required to inhibit the viral cytopathic effect.

AlphaIIbbeta3 (platelet membrane glycoprotein IIb-IIIa) and alphavbeta3 are members of the beta3 subfamily of integrin adhesion receptors. A cyclic peptide, KYGC(s-s)HarGDWPC(s-s) (cHarGD), originally described by Scarborough et al. (Scarborough, R. M., Naughton, M. A., Teng, W., Rose, J. W., Phillips, D. R., Nannizzi, L., Arsten, A., Campbell, A. M., and Charo, I. F.(1993) J. Biol. Chem. 268, 1066-1073) has been employed as a high affinity ligand for alphaIIbbeta3 to examine the specificity of the beta3 integrins. cHarGD interacted with high affinity with purified alphaIIbbeta3 (Kd = 10 nM) or with platelets (Kd = 120 nM). While cHarGD was specific for alphaIIbbeta3 in the presence of Ca2+, it bound to both beta3 integrins in the presence of Mn2+. Barbourin, a snake venom disintegrin containing a reactive KGD sequence, remained alphaIIbbeta3-specific, even in the presence of Mn2+. cHarGD became cross-linked to a site in beta3 of alphaIIb beta3, which is distinct from that of RGD peptides. These results allow identification of at least four classes of beta3 ligands: Class I, represented by RGD peptides and vitronectin, react similarly with alphaIIbbeta3 and alphavbeta3; Class II, represented by cHarGD, gamma-chain peptides and fibrinogen, react with both receptors in the presence of Mn2+ but only with alphaIIbbeta3 in the presence of Ca2+; Class III, represented by barbourin, are alphaIIbbeta3-specific under all cation conditions; Class IV, represented by osteopontin, bind primarily to alphavbeta3.

The effect of ionic repulsion among hydrophilic groups of arachidic acid molecules on the aggregation structure of the arachidic acid monolayer on the water surface was investigated on the basis of surface pressure−surface area (π−A) isotherm measurements, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic (FT-IR) measurements, and transmission electron microscopic (TEM) observations. π−A isotherm and FT-IR measurements revealed that the degree of ionic dissociation of hydrophilic groups in the monolayer drastically changed in a pH range of 10−12. The arachidic acid monolayer in a slightly dissociated state of hydrophilic groups (pH = 5.8) did not exhibit the phase transition from an amorphous state to a crystalline one during compression. On the other hand, the monolayer in a highly dissociated state (pH = 12.6) showed the phase transition from an amorphous state to a crystalline one by surface compression at the subphase temperature, Tsp, below the melting temperature, Tm, of the monolayer, and also, the monolayer was still in an amorphous state without the phase transition to a crystalline state at Tsp above Tm. The aggregation structure of the monolayers on the water surface was systematically classified into “the crystalline monolayer”, “the amorphous monolayer”, and “the compressing crystallized monolayer” with respect to the thermal and chemical (intermolecular repulsive) factors.

Flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) undergoes multisite molecular recognition at the air-water interface with mixed monolayers that are capable of complementary hydrogen bonding. Molecular images were obtained with an atomic force microscope (AFM) for mixed monolayers of guanidinium (G) and orotate (O) amphiphiles transferred from pure water and from aqueous FAD. The AFM image of the G/O mixed monolayer on FAD showed a periodic oblique pattern composed of two kinds of methyl peaks with different heights, whereas that on pure water showed a periodic hexagonal pattern of only one kind of methyl peak. The two-dimensional molecular patterning as height difference is conceivably caused by rearrangement of monolayer components based on specific recognition by the FAD template molecule.

Complexation behavior of deoxycholic acid was studied for poly(oxy-ethylene), poly(propylene oxide), poly(tetrahydrofuran), and several poly(oxyethylene) derivatives with various chain lengths. The complexes were obtained for poly(oxyethylene) with an average molecular weight greater than 200 (average degree of polymerization n = 4). In spite of very short ethylene oxide chains, poly(oxyethylene) monostearate and poly(oxyethylene) mono-p-nonylphenyl ether with n = 2 formed the complexes. The unit cells of all complexes corresponded to the orthorhombic crystal which is most commonly observed for the complexes with low molecular weight compounds. Dimension a in the complexes of poly(propylene oxide) and poly(oxyethylene) mono-p-nonylphenyl ether with n = 2 and 5 was larger than those in other complexes, while b and c did not differ much. Most of the complexes exhibited an increase in the melting points with increasing length of the polymer chains, while the melting points of poly(oxyethylene) monostearate complexes decreased with n and those of poly(oxyethylene) mono-p-nonylphenyl ether showed a minimum between n = 5 and n = 10.

Previous studies have shown that fibrinogen can associate with endothelial cells via an Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) recognition specificity. In the present study, we have characterized the specificity of fibrinogen binding to endothelial cells under different cation conditions. Fibrinogen binding to suspended endothelial cells was selectively supported by Mn2+ and was suppressed by Ca2+. The Mn2+-supported interaction was completely inhibited by RGD peptides but not by alphavbeta3 blocking monoclonal antibodies. In contrast, the interaction was completely blocked by two alpha5beta1 monoclonal antibodies. This interaction was not mediated by fibronectin bound to the integrin; could be demonstrated with purified alpha5beta1; and also was observed with a second alpha5beta1-bearing cell type, platelets. The binding of fibrinogen to alpha5beta1 on endothelial cells in the presence of Mn2+ was time-dependent, specific, saturable, and of high affinity (Kd = 65 nM). By employing anti-peptide monoclonal antibodies, the carboxyl-terminal RGD sequence at Aalpha 572-574 was implicated in fibrinogen recognition by alpha5beta1. Two circumstances were identified in which alpha5beta1 interacted with fibrinogen in the presence of Ca2+: when the receptor was activated with monoclonal antibody (8A2) or when the fibrinogen was presented as an immobilized substratum. These results identify fibrinogen as a ligand for alpha5beta1 on endothelial and other cells, an interaction which may have broad biological implications.

Complexes of deoxycholic acid with polyethers, [-(CH2)m-1CHR-O-]n (R=H,m=2–4, 6 andR=CH3,m=2), were prepared. The crystals are orthorhombic and similar to those most commonly observed for complexes with low molecular weight molecules. Dimensiona in the poly(propylene oxide) complex is about 1 Å longer than those in other polyether complexes, whileb andc do not differ much in these DCA-polyether complexes.

Recently five conventional batch processes after the cold rolling process have been replaced by the continuous annealing and processing line (C.A.P.L.) for cold rolled sheets of mild steel and high strength steel in order to obtain higher productivity, labor savings, energy savings and the manufacture of new products. In this remarkable process, the strip heat cycle must be mainteined at a target strip temperature from the metallurgical point of view. This paper covers the process computer control system of the C.A.P.L., the strip temperature control system which utilizes a Kalman-Bucy filter, and the adaptive control method for improving the control performance of the strip temperature control system.

A novel preparation method to obtain a defect-diminished fatty acid crystalline monolayer, that is, a multistep creep method, was proposed on the basis of area-creep mechanisms of the monolayer on the water surface. The fatty acid monolayer prepared by the multistep creep method was morphologically homogeneous and mechanically stable even at a high surface pressure, while the monolayer prepared by a conventional continuous compression method without an area-creep process was easily collapsed. The crystallographical regularity of the crystalline monolayer prepared by the multistep creep method was remarkably progressed compared with that of the monolayer prepared by the continuous compression method. Therefore, the multistep creep method is applicable for the construction of the defect-diminished monolayer.

Attenuated total reflection (ATR)/Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra were measured for one-monolayer Langmuir−Blodgett (LB) films of chlorophyll a (Chl-a) fabricated in an argon (Ar) atmosphere. The frequencies of C&dbd;O stretching bands and marker bands for the coordination number of the central Mg atom suggest that Chl-a takes a five-coordinated dimer in the films prepared in the Ar atmosphere. Ultraviolet−visible (UV−vis) as well as IR spectra were obtained for multilayer LB films of Chl-a prepared in air, Ar, nitrogen (N2), and oxygen (O2) atmospheres. In the cases of the multilayer LB films, spectral features in the C&dbd;O stretching band region suggest that Chl-a exists as a monomer in the film prepared in air while it assumes a dimer in the films prepared in the Ar, N2, and O2 atmospheres. The marker bands for the coordination number of the Mg atom in the IR spectra indicate that Chl-a is in a five-coordinated state. These results imply that one can control the molecular arrangement in the LB films of Chl-a by changing the atmosphere in which they are prepared. Both the UV−vis and IR spectra of the LB films fabricated in the Ar, N2, and O2 atmospheres are almost identical to each other. This means that O2 does not affect the stability and structure of Chl-a in the monolayer on the aqueous subphase. On the basis of the postulate that CO2, which exists only in air, caused a change in pH of the aqueous subphase, we investigated pH-dependent IR spectral changes for the LB films. The results indicate that the dimer of Chl-a changes into pheophytine a (Phe-a) below pH 6.0 and that the monomer species do not exist through pH 6.0−4.0; therefore, it is unlikely that CO2 changes the pH. Probably CO2 coordinates to the central Mg atom as a fifth ligand in the LB films prepared in air, preventing the keto carbonyl group of another Chl-a molecule from coordinating to it.

We report the first case of 68-year-old Japanese woman with metastatic HER2-positive extramammary Paget’s disease that showed the validity of trastuzumab monotherapy. We administered trastuzumab at a loading dose of 8?mg/kg i.v., followed by a 6?mg/kg maintenance dose every three weeks according to a protocol for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancers and a near-complete response was achieved after the tenth infusion. The patient experienced a moderate headache and flushing during the first infusion, but had no advanced effects during subsequent infusions with ibuprofen and d-chlorpheniramine maleate. Given the dramatic response, the patient has had 17 infusions of trastuzumab with no disease progression. Thus, trastuzumab has few side effects and is well tolerated for elderly patients. It may become a new choice of the adjubant therapy of this disease.