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OBJECTIVES The aim of the present study was to report on our early experience with hydrogel spacer (SpaceOAR) placement in combination with iodine-125 low-dose-rate brachytherapy for prostate cancer. METHODS From April 2018, SpaceOAR hydrogel spacer was placed in 100 consecutive patients undergoing iodine-125 low-dose-rate brachytherapy. Complications and the status of the placement were evaluated. Deformation of the prostate by the spacer was examined measuring prostate diameters and evaluating the change from preoperative status. The position of the prostate was similarly examined by evaluating the change in distance between the pubic symphysis and the prostate. Post-plan dosimetric data were compared with 200 patients treated without a spacer. RESULTS No complications were found during either the intraoperative or perioperative periods. The mean displacement distance of 11.64 mm was created, the mean value before spacer placement was 0.28 mm (P

Technological advances in high-throughput next-generation sequencing (NGS) along with advances in computational processes have brought about the dawn of the genomic medicine era. NGS has enabled molecular characterization of malignancies, and facilitated the development and approval of gene- and immune-targeted therapies, both of which impact the mutanome. Clinical implementation of this technology, approval of novel targeted agents, and establishment of molecular tumor boards has enabled precision oncology to become a reality.

Purpose We sought a human blood T2-oximetery calibration curve over the wide range of hematocrits commonly found in anemic patients applicable with T2 relaxation under spin tagging (TRUST). Methods Blood was drawn from five healthy control subjects. Ninety-three in vitro blood transverse relaxation (T2b) measurements were performed at 37°C over a broad range of hematocrits (10–55%) and oxygen saturations (14–100%) at 3 Tesla (T). In vivo TRUST was performed on 35 healthy African American control subjects and 11 patients with chronic anemia syndromes. Results 1/T2 rose linearly with hematocrit (r2 = 0.96), for fully saturated blood. Upon desaturation, 1/T2 rose linearly with the square of the oxygen extraction, (1-Y)2, and the slope was linearly proportional to hematocrit (r2 = 0.88). The resulting bilinear model between 1/T2, (1-Y)2, and hematocrit had a combined r2 of 0.96 and a coefficient of variation of 6.1%. Using the in vivo data, the bilinear model had significantly lower bias and variability than existing calibrations, particularly for low hematocrits. In vivo Bland Altman analysis demonstrated clinically relevant bias that was −6% (absolute saturation) for hematocrits near 30% and rose to + 6% for hematocrits near 45%. Conclusion This work introduces a robust bilinear calibration model that should be used for MRI oximetry. Magn Reson Med 77:2364–2371, 2017. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine

Floral scents are among the key signals used by pollinators to navigate to specific flowers. Thus, evolutionary changes in scents should have strong impacts on plant diversification, although scent-mediated plant speciation through pollinator shifts has rarely been demonstrated, despite being likely. To examine whether and how scent-mediated plant speciation may have occurred, we investigated the Asimitellaria plant lineage using multidisciplinary approaches including pollinator observations, chemical analyses of the floral scents, electroantennographic analyses and behavioural bioassays with the pollinators. We also performed phylogenetically independent contrast analyses of the pollinator/floral scent associations. First, we confirmed that the pairs of the sympatric, cross-fertile Asimitellaria species in three study sites consistently attract different pollinators, namely long-tongued and short-tongued fungus gnats. We also found that a stereoisomeric set of floral volatiles, the lilac aldehydes, could be responsible for the pollinator specificity. This is because the compounds consistently elicited responses in the antennae of the long-tongued fungus gnats and had contrasting effects on the two pollinators, that is triggering the nectaring behaviour of long-tongued fungus gnats while repelling short-tongued fungus gnats in a laboratory experiment. Moreover, we discovered that volatile composition repeatedly switched in Asimitellaria between species adapted to long-tongued and short-tongued fungus gnats. Collectively, our results support the idea that recurrent scent-mediated speciation has taken place in the Asimitellaria–fungus gnat system.

Triple therapy with telaprevir, pegylated interferon and ribavirin has been reported to improve antiviral efficacy but have potentially severe adverse effects in patients with chronic hepatitis C. To avoid the severe effects of telaprevir, lowering the dose has been suggested. However, impact of dosage changes on antiviral and adverse effects remains unclear. One hundred and sixty-six Japanese patients with HCV genotype 1 were treated with triple therapy. The drug exposure of each medication was calculated by averaging the dose actually taken. The overall SVR rate was 82%. The telaprevir discontinuation rate was 26%. The factors associated with discontinuation were an older age (≥65 y.o.) and a higher average dose during treatment. The telaprevir discontinuation rates were 42%, 25% and 14% in patients at ≥35, 25-35 and

Background Bleomycin is associated with pulmonary toxic side effects including pneumonitis and pulmonary fibrosis. We evaluated the prevalence of long-term pulmonary function abnormalities in children receiving bleomycin therapy in the context of current chemotherapeutic regimens. Methods A retrospective review of patients who received bleomycin between January 1999 and December 2011 was conducted. Abnormalities in the most recent pulmonary function test (PFT) at least 1 year after diagnosis were analyzed. Results Two-hundred and seven patients had received bleomycin. The results of PFT performed at least 1 year from diagnosis were available for 80 patients. Median time of follow up was 3.9 years (range 1.1–11.76 years). Median cumulative dose of bleomycin was 65 IU/m2 (range 10–120). The most common diagnoses were Hodgkin lymphoma and germ cell tumor. At least one pulmonary function abnormality was present in 42 (52.5%) patients. When classified in groups, 22.5% patients had obstructive lung disease, 7.5% had restrictive lung disease, 28.8% had hyperinflation and 14% of patients had non-uniform distribution of ventilation. Non-Hispanic patients (OR 2.81) and children younger than 8 years (OR 4.14) had higher odds of having an abnormal PFT parameter. Very few patients had pulmonary symptoms. Conclusions More than half the patients who received bleomycin had subclinical pulmonary dysfunction as evidenced by abnormalities in pulmonary function tests, although the incidence of clinical symptoms was low. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2014;61:1679–1684. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Background Chronic transfusion therapy (CTT) is a mainstay for stroke prophylaxis in sickle cell anemia, but its effects on hemodynamics are poorly characterized. Transfusion improves oxygen-carrying capacity, reducing demands for high cardiac output, while decreasing hemoglobin (Hb)S%, reticulocyte count, and hemolysis. We hypothesized that transfusion would improve oxygen-carrying capacity, but that would be counteracted by a decrease in cardiac output due to increased hematocrit (Hct) and vascular resistance, leaving oxygen delivery unchanged. Study Design and Methods To test this hypothesis, we examined patients on CTT immediately before transfusion and again 12 to 120 hours after transfusion, using echocardiography and near infrared spectroscopy. Results Comparable increases in Hb and Hct and decreases in reticulocyte count and HbS with transfusion were observed in all patients, but males had a larger rebound of HbS%, reticulocyte count, and free Hb levels between transfusions. In males, transfusion decreased heart rate by 12%, stroke volume by 15%, and cardiac index by 24% while estimates for pulmonary and systemic vascular resistance increased, culminating in 6% decrease in oxygen delivery. In contrast, stroke volume and cardiac index and systemic and pulmonary vascular resistance did not change in women after transfusion, such that oxygen delivery improved 17%. Conclusion In our sample population, males exhibit a paradoxical reduction in oxygen delivery in response to transfusion because the increase in vascular resistance is larger than the increase in oxygen capacity. This may result from an inability to adequately suppress their HbS% between transfusion cycles.

Recently, fatty acid esters synthesized from the natural oil obtained from plants have attracted much attention as an insulating oil from the viewpoint of environmental problems, fluidity, and greater resistance to dielectric breakdown than conventional mineral oil. In the present study, to clarify the reason for the superior moisture tolerance of fatty acid esters, the inter- and intramolecular movements of fatty acid esters and the situation of dissolved water in the esters are investigated using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and infrared (IR) spectroscopic measurements and density functional theory (DFT) calculations; it became clear that water molecules in fatty acid esters are trapped by the ester group of fatty acid esters. This is why fatty acid esters have a higher moisture tolerance against electrical breakdown than mineral oil.

This study compared pulmonary function tests (PFTs) with cardiac, pancreatic and liver iron in 76 thalassemia major (TM) patients. Restrictive lung disease was observed in 16%, hyperinflation in 32%, and abnormal diffusing capacity in 3%. While no patients met Global Initiative for Chronic Lung Disease criteria for airways obstruction, there were indicators of small airways disease and air trapping. PFTs did not correlate with somatic iron burden, blood counts or haemolysis. Restrictive lung disease was associated with inflammation. We conclude that TM patients have pulmonary abnormalities consistent with small airways obstruction. Restrictive disease and impaired diffusion are less common.

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we compared the cerebral activity during bilateral light fist-clenching and light-teeth clenching to provide more information on the central processing mechanisms underlying awake bruxism. Fourteen subjects participated in our study. Statistical comparisons were used to identify brain regions with significant activation in the subtraction of light fist clenching and light teeth clenching activity minus baseline. Participants also evaluated the perceived effort of clenching for each task, using a visual analogue scale of 0-100, after fMRI was performed. Bilateral light fist-clenching significantly activated the bilateral sensorimotor cortex, while light teeth-clenching was significantly associated with activation of the bilateral sensorimotor cortex, supplementary motor area, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and posterior parietal cortex. The VAS scores for fist clenching and teeth clenching were not significantly different. As light teeth-clenching activates a more extensive cortical network compared with light fist-clenching, we suggest that the teeth clenching may induce a more complex cerebral activity compared with the performance of a hand motor task. The clinical significance of these findings remains unknown but could perhaps be related to the propensity to trigger awake bruxism.

In Tristichoideae, aquatic angiosperms in the family Podostemaceae, Terniopsis, Tristicha, Indotristicha and Cussetia have creeping roots with flanking (sub)cylindrical shoots, while Dalzellia is rootless and has crustose shoots. Indodalzellia gracilis, sister to a clade of Dalzellia zeylanica and Indotristicha ramosissima, has subcrustose shoots on the side of creeping roots, suggesting that I. gracilis may be a key species to reveal how saltational evolution of the body plan occurred in these three species. We investigated developmental morphology of I. gracilis seedlings grown in culture, using scanning electron microscopy and semi-thin serial sections. As in D. zeylanica, the plumular apical meristem in the seedling gives rise to two shoot apical meristems, which develop into horizontal subcrustose shoots with dorsal and marginal leaves. Neither radicle nor adventitious root is produced from the hypocotyl, but an adventitious root arises endogenously from the juvenile shoot and from some shoots of adult plants. These results, together with the phylogenetic relationships, suggest that the Indodalzellia seedling evolved by loss of the adventitious root derived from the hypocotyl, appearance of shoots in the axil of cotyledons, and appearance of adventitious roots from adventitious shoots. The difference in place of origin of the root between Indodalzellia and I. ramosissima suggests differing evolutionary origin of the root in Tristichoideae.

Summary. Reducing the dose of drug affects treatment efficacy in pegylated interferon (Peg-IFN) and ribavirin combination therapy for patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of drug exposure, as well as the baseline factors and the virological response on the treatment efficacy for genotype 2 patients. Two-hundred and fifty patients with genotype 2 HCV who were to undergo combination therapy for 24 weeks were included in the study, and 213 completed the treatment. Significantly more patients who achieved a rapid virological response (RVR), defined as HCV RNA negativity at week 4, achieved a sustained virological response (SVR) (92%, 122/133) compared with patients who failed to achieve RVR (48%, 38/80) (P

The impact of ribavirin exposure on virologic relapse remains controversial in combination therapy with pegylated interferon (Peg-IFN) and ribavirin for patients with chronic hepatitis C (CH-C) genotype 1. The present study was conducted to investigate this. Nine hundred and eighty-four patients with CH-C genotype 1 were enrolled. The drug exposure of each medication was calculated by averaging the dose actually taken. For the 472 patients who were HCV RNA negative at week 24 and week 48, multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the degree of fibrosis (P = 0.002), the timing of HCV RNA negativiation (P0.001) and the mean doses of ribavirin (P0.001) were significantly associated with relapse, but those of Peg-IFN were not. Stepwise reduction of the ribavirin dose was associated with a stepwise increase in relapse rate from 11% to 60%. For patients with complete early virologic response (c-EVR) defined as HCV RNA negativity at week 12, only 4% relapse was found in patients givenor = 12 mg/kg/day of ribavirin and ribavirin exposure affected the relapse even after treatment week 12, while Peg-IFN could be reduced to 0.6 microg/kg/week after week 12 without the increase of relapse rate. Ribavirin showed dose-dependent correlation with the relapse. Maintaining as high a ribavirin dose as possible (or = 12 mg/kg/day) during the full treatment period can lead to suppression of the relapse in HCV genotype 1 patients responding to Peg-IFN alpha-2b plus ribavirin, especially in c-EVR patients.

A total of 401 isolates of Phytophthora infestans were collected from eight Asian regions (Korea, India, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Nepal, China and Japan) between 1992 and 2000 – 318 from potato and 83 from tomato. The isolates were analysed for mating type, metalaxyl resistance, RG57 fingerprinting, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplotype and the polymorphism of three allozyme loci, i.e. glucose-6-phosphate isomerase (Gpi), peptidase (Pep) and malic enzyme (Me). The isolates were multilocus-genotyped based on RFLP (RG57) fingerprint, dilocus allozyme genotype, mtDNA haplotype and mating type. Twenty multilocus genotypes were identified among 125 isolates. Of these genotypes, 14 had not been previously reported. Some of the multilocus genotypes were common to isolates from several geographical regions, suggesting migration. The metalaxyl-resistant isolates belonged to the multilocus genotypes JP-1, JP-2, and JP-3. Multilocus genotypes coexisting in a single field were found in following regions: Thailand (1994), central China (1996), Nepal (1997) and Japan (1998 and 2000). The possible origins of certain genotypes are discussed, including the possibility of sexual recombination within the P. infestans populations in Nepal and perhaps Thailand.

Entrapped air can greatly affect the hydraulic conductivity at or near saturation. In this study, we measured the hydraulic conductivity and volume of entrapped air in a quasi-saturated soil. Two soils, a Masa sandy loam soil from weathered granite rock and a TUAT light clay andisol from volcanic ash, were used. The soils, with three different dry bulk densities, were packed into a steel cylinder. To attain complete saturation, the packed soil samples were immersed in a 0.02 mol L −1 gypsum solution under vacuum conditions. The soil samples were then left on a sintered porous plate with suction of −17.0 kPa for different periods of time to allow drainage and air intrusion. After this drainage process, the samples were again immersed in water to permit air entrapment. The hydraulic conductivity was measured using the falling head method, and the amount of entrapped air was determined gravimetrically. The quasi-saturated hydraulic conductivity was found to decrease with increasing entrapped air content until the soil had the maximum fraction of entrapped air, approximately 10% of the bulk soil volume. A comparison of the quasi-saturated and unsaturated hydraulic conductivities of the soil samples at or near saturation, when the suction of soil water was greater than the air-entry value, showed that the quasi-saturated hydraulic conductivity was smaller than the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity.

We have investigated the crystal growth of GaN on 4-inch Si substrate with a thin AlGaN/AlN intermediate layer. Both the density of pits and the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) value of the X-ray rocking curve (XRC, ω mode, GaN (0004)) decreased with increasing thickness of the AlGaN/AlN intermediate layer. We have also investigated the quality of GaN and wafer bowing as a function of the GaN layer thickness. With the increase of GaN layer thickness, the FWHM of XRC decreased and the bowing distance of the wafer increases. While the narrowest FWHM value (GaN (0004)) was obtained to be 700 arcsec from 1.5-μm-thick GaN, the bowing distance of the wafer was 100 μm and some cracks were observed at the edge of the wafer. We conclude that the optimum thickness of GaN on 4-inch Si substrate is 1 μm. The FWHM for the near band edge emission of GaN peaking at 364.5 nm was obtained to be 43.9 meV from 1-μm-thick GaN. (© 2003 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

We investigated the micrometer-scale structure of epitaxially laterally overgrown GaN (ELO-GaN) using a 2 x 4 μm 2 micro-beam X-ray of an 8-GeV storage ring. The GaN (0 0 0 12) rocking curve of the wing region had a sharp peak with a FWHM of 46 arcsec, but that of the seed region had several broad peaks. This peak-narrowing corresponds to the reduction of the threading dislocation (TD) density and to the increase of grain size. The grain in the wing region was typically 5 μm x 5 μm and extended along the ELO stripe of GaN . On the other hand, a larger grain with a 10 μm x 10 μm was observed in the wing region of another ELO-GaN sample which did not coalesce during the growth. We conclude that the homogeneity of the GaN c-surface tilting can be declined by coalescence of the wing regions. We believe that this inhomogeneity of the GaN c-surface tilting and the grain size strongly affect the performance of GaN-based laser diodes grown on ELO-GaN. Moreover, GaN c-surface tilting of 81.5 arcsec was observed in the wing region of ELO-GaN although no SiO 2 mask was used.

OBJECTIVE: The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of titanium (Ti) particles with no endotoxin on osteoclast differentiation and osteoclast activity in in vitro experiments. METHODS: Osteoclast formation as well as osteoclastic bone resorbing activity were examined using the mouse bone marrow culture system and purified rabbit osteoclasts treated with Ti particles (2.5–20 μg cm−2). RESULTS: Ti particles, with no adherent endotoxin, inhibited osteoclastogenesis and receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL) expression in bone marrow cells treated with prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) (100 nM). The inhibitory effect of Ti particles was concentration-dependent (5–20 μg cm−2), and was observed only on the generation of osteoclasts by PGE2, but not by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 or soluble RANKL. This suggests that Ti particles did not act uniformly on a common process in the generation of osteoclasts, but specifically on signal transduction for PGE2 in generating osteoclasts. In highly purified osteoclasts, Ti particles showed no effect on survival and bone resorbing activity. CONCLUSION: Ti particles inhibited osteoclast differentiation and RANKL expression in mouse bone marrow cells treated with PGE2, without affecting mature osteoclast survival or activity. Thus, Ti particles may alter the osteoclastogenetic action of PGE2, which is one of the regulatory factors of bone remodeling.

The aim of this study was to clarify the influence of working side contacts for masticatory function for a distal extension removable partial denture. Five subjects who had edentulous arches from second premolar to second molar opposing natural teeth participated. Working side contacts were altered by using three types of artificial teeth attached to the denture base. A-form teeth made contact with opposite teeth while acting as the working side in a lateral excursion. The cusp angles of B- and C-form teeth were decreased by 10 degrees and 20 degrees, respectively compared with A-form teeth. B-and C-form teeth discluded with opposite teeth on the working side. Subjects were asked to perform two kinds of masticatory performance test. Obtained data were evaluated by the repeated-measures anova and the Tukey test for multiple comparisons. Results revealed that there was a significant difference (P=0.001) in the three types of teeth in the mixing ability test and the value of A-form teeth was statistically less value than those of the other teeth. However, there was no significant difference in the comminuting ability test. These results suggested that working side contacts between artificial teeth and opposite natural teeth influenced mixing ability, but not comminuting ability.

The objective of the study was to assess validity and reliability of a newly developed method for evaluating mixing ability of masticatory function. A two-coloured paraffin wax cube was used as a test food in the mixing ability test. Eleven full dentate and 33 denture wearers participated in the validity assessment. They were divided into three groups according to their dental state. Validity was assessed by the Spearman's coefficient of correlations between the mixing ability test and the sieving method used as a 'gold standard' test of the masticatory performance. The subjects were asked to masticate the test foods for 5, 7, 10, 15, 20 and 30 strokes in each test. Significant correlations (P < 0.001) were obtained in natural dentition group (r(s) = 0.66), in denture-natural dentition group (r(s) = 0.72) and in denture-denture group (r(s) = 0.56). In the reliability assessment, three full dentate subjects were asked to repeat the mixing ability test a number of times. The intraclass correlation coefficients were 0.94 in interexaminer consistency, 0.98 in intra-examiner consistency, 0.89 in test-retest consistency and 0.99 in measuring consistency. These results indicated that the mixing ability test had the validity and the reliability for evaluation of the masticatory performance.

The aim of this study was to develop an objective evaluation system for the masticatory function. This system used paraffin wax cubes as a test food, which had six red- and green-coloured layers so that each of the six surfaces showed a pseudo-checkered pattern. A total of 100 paraffin cubes were chewed by 37 subjects and the images of these samples were captured and analysed using a digital image analyzer. With regard to the colour and the shape of each sample, five parameters were obtained. Furthermore, an independent examiner graded the degree of colour mixing in the chewed samples into three groups (poor, medium and good) by visual inspection. A discriminant analysis was performed using the five variables as predictors of two groups (good and poor). Mixing Ability Index (MAI) was calculated from the discriminant function and using this index, 97% of the samples from these two groups were classified correctly. This system needed only a few minutes to complete and is easy to use. Therefore, it has high potentials for clinical use.

With a goal of the total synthesis of polymaxenolide, the first hybrid marine natural product, the model studies for constructing the dihydropyran portion based on the originally proposed biosynthesis (C–C bond formation followed by dehydrative cyclization) and the synthesis of the lower portion (the C1–C3, C7–C17 portion) based on an iodide-induced Morita–Baylis–Hillman type reaction (a three-component assembly) followed by Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling are described.

Mutations in Bruton's tyrosine kinase (Btk) result in X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA) in humans and X-linked immunodeficiency (xid) in mice. While targeted disruption of the protein kinase C-beta (PKCbeta) gene in mice results in an immunodeficiency similar to xid, the overall tyrosine phosphorylation of Btk is significantly enhanced in PKCbeta-deficient B cells. We provide direct evidence that PKCbeta acts as a feedback loop inhibitor of Btk activation. Inhibition of PKCbeta results in a dramatic increase in B-cell receptor (BCR)-mediated Ca2+ signaling. We identified a highly conserved PKCbeta serine phosphorylation site in a short linker within the Tec homology domain of Btk. Mutation of this phosphorylation site led to enhanced tyrosine phosphorylation and membrane association of Btk, and augmented BCR and FcepsilonRI-mediated signaling in B and mast cells, respectively. These findings provide a novel mechanism whereby reversible translocation of Btk/Tec kinases regulates the threshold for immunoreceptor signaling and thereby modulates lymphocyte activation.

The infrafamilial relationships of Podostemaceae were deduced from nucleotide sequences of the chloroplast matK gene. The matK phylogenetic analyses show that Podostemaceae are composed of two major clades that correspond to the subfamily Tristichoideae sensu stricto and Weddellina and the subfamily Podostemoideae. Weddellina, which has long been recognized as a member of the Tristichoideae, is sister to the Podostemoideae, supporting the classification that recognized a third subfamily Weddellinoideae. Malaccotristicha malayana and Terniopsis sessilis form a basal clade in Tristichoideae sensu stricto. Tristichoideae show a high morphological diversity and, surprisingly, a close relationship exists between Dalzellia zeylanica and Indotristicha ramosissima, which remarkably differ in their body plans. A few genera defined by particular characters, such as Synstylis and Torrenticola, merge into clades of other larger genera. The Podostemoideae taxa studied are composed of two American clades, an Asian-Australian clade and a Madagascan clade, and may suggest that the subfamily perhaps originated in America and migrated to the Old World.

Insect haemolymph contains growth promotor(s) for cultured insect cells and is frequently used as an additive to the culture media. Insect haemolymph serves as a pool of a protein product produced by a virus vector-insect host system. Haemolymph collection is an essential step in the above process, which should limit the scale and cost of their performance. In the present study, a simple procedure for bleeding from lepidopteran larvae, Bombyx mori, has been developed which utilized a spontaneous contraction of the insect body after a freezing-thawing treatment. In the case of fifth-instar B. mori, 60 to 80% of the total haemolymph was collected by this method. The authors applied the method to a haemolymph collection from frozen larvae stored at -80°C for longer than 1 month. Preservability of the frozen larvae enabled the development of a system dealing with a huge bulk of insects. The bleeding method was effective under cooled condition at 0°C or 4°C, which was desired for protein handling. Development of a large system would result in a cost reduction for the insect haemolymph products such as insect cell-culture additive. Furthermore, the above bleeding method was applied to the nuclear polyhedrosis virus-infected B. mori larvae and up to 80% of the total haemolymph was collected from the virus-infected larvae. It suggests the bleeding method as an effective means of haemolymph collection in the protein productive system using a virus vector and its insect host.

In order to clarify the characteristics of folie à deux in Japan, we examined a total of 97 cases of folie à deux in the Japanese literature covering a period of 90 years, and compared them with the cases reported in Western countries. About 75% of the Japanese cases occur in two individuals, and of these are family cases. The most common combinations are mother-child and married couple. Mother-child combinations are much more common than father-child combinations. Female subjects are more often involved than males. The most common diagnosis for the dominant partner is schizophrenia, and the most common diagnosis for the submissive partner is paranoid reaction. Delusion is the most common symptom shared by both partners in Japan. Comparing these Japanese cases to Western ones, sister-sister combinations are less frequent, younger subjects influence the older ones more, and acute religious delusion is more common in Japan than in Western countries.

The analyser transmission function T of a concentric hemispherical analyser (CHA) with an input lens system has been studied, and the behaviour of T under suitable operation conditions for a point source has been determined by means of numerical calculations. One of the significant factors controlling T was found to be the aberrations of the input lens, which have a strong dependence on the retardation ration γ and the angular magnification Mα of the lens. The Mα also determines the entering angles of electrons to the CHA, and thus this should be kept sufficiently small as far as the aberrations in the CHA are concerned. The calculated results showed, however, that for each γ there exists an optimum Mα, which corresponds to a compromise point between the aberrations of the input lens and those of the CHA. If Mα is kept constant, T varies according to the increase or decrease in the lens aberrations as functions of γ. Lineshapes calculated for a monochromatic point source were also shown. These were found to be asymmetrical and have tailings on the low-energy side due to the aberrations of the CHA.

This immunohistochemical study compares the expression of stress-response (heat-shock) protein (srp) 72, srp 27, alpha B-crystallin and ubiquitin in 86 primary human brain tumours and 21 carcinoma metastases to the central nervous system. Normal brain tissues were included for control purposes. Serial sections of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues were used. Most meningiomas (17/23), glioblastomas (11/12) and breast carcinoma metastases (9/10) and some astrocytomas (7/13), pituitary tumours (4/9) and lung cancer metastases (5/11) had tumour cells that reacted with one or more of the antibodies used. Around 43% of the meningiomas and 25% of the glioblastomas expressed srp 72 only. Sole expression of srp 27, alpha B-crystallin or ubiquitin was seen in several tumours. Some meningiomas (3/23) and breast cancer metastases (4/10) co-expressed srp 72 and srp 27, and 1/3 of the glioblastomas co-expressed srp 27 and alpha B-crystallin. We conclude that primary and metastatic tumours of the brain produce stress-related proteins and that certain tumours concurrently express two or more srp's.

Sensory function was prospectively examined in 201 Type 2 diabetic patients over a 2-year period. Quantitative sensory testing for vibration, cool, warm, and pressure perception at the hallux was performed at baseline, 1-month, 1-year, and 2-year visits. There were statistically significant increments of thresholds for all sensory modalities from the baseline visit to the 1-year visit (p < 0.001) and from the 1-year visit to the 2-year visit (p < 0.001). Thirty percent of 77 subjects considered to be at low risk for foot ulceration at baseline progressed to a higher risk category at the 2-year visit. There were no significant differences in mean glycosylated haemoglobin, height, sex distribution, age, or diabetes duration when patients who had a faster progression of insensitivity were compared with patients who had a slower progression. There was a high degree of autocorrelation between baseline and 2-year visits for all sensory modalities (r = 0.83 to r = 0.88, p < 0.001 for all). Also, changes in sensory thresholds from the baseline to 2-year visits for one modality tended to correlate with other modalities (r = 0.36 to r = 0.70, p < 0.001 for all). These data indicate that an appreciable proportion of Type 2 diabetic patients are at risk for a marked rate of decline of sensory function, and suggest a need for at least yearly quantitative sensory testing.

Isoenzyme variation of 198 isolates of Phytophthora infestans collected from many locations in Japan during 1987–90, and of four pre-1987 isolates, was examined using starch gel electrophoresis. A previously unreported allele at malic isoenzyme locus/ME (90) was observed. An association between mating types and isoenzyme genotypes at three isoenzyme loci, glucosephosphate isomerase (GPI-1), peptidase (PEP-1) and ME, was found. At PEP-1, the A2 isolates from Japan had a previously unreported genotype (96/96). Normal segregation at the malic isoenzyme locus occurred in a cross of Japanese and Mexican parents. The results provide evidence of a change in the population genetic structure of P. infestans in Japan.

For dimeric copper(II) carboxylates, the most important factor determining the strength of the spin superexchange interactions is the electronic structure of the carboxylato bridge. It also has been revealed that the trigonal bipyramidal deformation of the coordination geometry around the copper atoms, and the bending of the carboxylato bridge decrease the antiferromag-netic interactions.

Blood flow in the left gastric artery was measured with an electromagnetic flowmeter in nine conscious beagle dogs. In the fasting state gastric motility and secretion exhibited periodical changes with an average cycle interval of 115.4 +/- 9.7 min. During a quiescent period, when gastric motility and secretion were minimal, the mean blood flow was stable at 33.9 +/- 3.8 ml/min. During the contracting phase each peristaltic contraction was coupled with a rapid fall and rise in blood flow (from 10.5 +/- 1.9 ml/min below to 21.2 +/- 3.8 ml/min above the precontraction levels) in 20-30 s. In addition there was a sustained elevation in blood flow (58.6 +/- 6.4 ml/min at the peak) lasting for 29.1 +/- 2.8 min. The onset of sustained blood flow elevation was preceded by that of motility in 63% of the cycles. In 23% of the cycles blood flow started to rise before the contracting phase began. Pepsin peaks coincided with blood flow peaks in two dogs and preceded the latter in the others. Feeding abolished periodic increases in motility and blood flow. It is concluded that left gastric arterial blood flow is not steady but exhibits dynamic changes in phase with periodic motor and secretory activities of the stomach in fasting conscious dogs.

This report deals with a comparative study on the expression of alpha B crystallin, ubiquitin, stress-response protein 27 (srp 27), srp 72 and phosphorylated neurofilament protein (pNFP) by ballooned neurons in Pick's disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), leptomeningeal carcinomatosis, anterior spinal artery syndrome and pellagra. Immunohistochemical techniques were used. alpha B Crystallin was expressed by the majority of ballooned neurons of Pick's disease and CJD, but not by those of the other disorders. Ubiquitin and srp 27 expression was also restricted to abnormal neurons of Pick's disease and CJD, but the proportion of stained cells was less than that expressing alpha B-crystallin. There was no evidence of ballooned neurons expressing srp 72. Except for those of pellagra patients, phosphorylated neurofilament protein (pNFP) was detected in most abnormal neurons. Our results suggest that the mechanisms involved in formation and maintenance of swollen neurons in Pick's disease and CJD may be different than those of ballooned neurons in the other entities studied.

Cyclic flow-stress measurements at room temperature are performed on Ni3Ge single crystals as a function of stress and strain amplitude. The cyclic flow-stress is found to be higher in compression than in tension for stress orientations [345] and [245]. This flow-stress asymmetry became greater with increasing plastic-strain amplitude when {111} slips are operative. However, in a higher strain regime (>1 × 10−4) where {001} slip systems are also activated, the stress asymmetry for orientation [345] became smaller with increasing plastic-strain amplitude. For orientation [2 3 16], the cyclic flow-stress is higher in tension than in compression. The cyclic-stress asymmetry properties can be attributed to the thermally activated cross-slip of screw dislocations from {111} to {010}. The decrease in the stress asymmetry observed in orientation [345] at the higher strain regime (>1 × 10−4) is probably caused by the change in the dominant slip systems from the octahedral to cube slips. Zyklische Flusspannungsmessungen werden bei Zimmertemperatur an Ni3Ge-Einkristalle als Funktion der Spannungsorientierung und Dehnungsamplitude durchgefuhrt. Es wird gefunden, das die zyklische Flusspannung bei Kompression hoher ist als bei Dehnung fur [345]- und [245]-Spannungsrichtung. Die Flusspannungsasymmetrie wird groser mit wachsender plastischer Dehnungsamplitude, wenn {111}-Gleitungen einsetzen. Jedoch in einem hoheren Dehnungsbereich (>1 × 10−4), wo auch {001}-Gleitsysteme aktiviert werden, wird die Spannungsasymmetrie fur [345]-Orientierung mit wachsender Amplitude der plastischen Dehnung geringer. Fur die Orientierung [2 3 16] ist die zyklische Flusspannung in Dehnung groser als in Kompression. Die Asymmetrieeigenschaften des Spannungszyklus lassen sich dem thermisch aktivierten Kreuzgleiten von Schraubenversetzungen von {111} nach {010} zuordnen. Der in der Spannungsasymmetrie beobachtete Abfall in der [345]-Orientierung im Bereich hoherer Dehnung (>1 × 10−4) wird wahrscheinlich durch die anderung in den dominierenden Gleitsystemen, von oktaedrischen zu kubischen Gleitungen, verursacht.

Nonlinear optical susceptibility χ(3) of polydiacetylenes has been evaluated by third harmonic generation. First, in order to obtain the χ(3) tensor component along the polymer main chain, thin single crystals of two representative polydiacetylenes, poly-PTS and poly-DCHD were made by utilization of sampling technique in microscopy, i.e., the microtome cutting of single crystal embedded in plastic resin. The THG intensity observed was proportional to cos8θ, where θ was the angle between the polymer main chain and the polarization of laser light. The χ(3) value of poly-DCHD was found to be rather higher than that of poly-PTS. At resonant wavelength of 1.97 μm, the χ(3) of poly-DCHD attained 8 x 10−10 esu. Furthermore, it was confirmed that when geometrical correction were properly made, the χ(3) obtained from polycrystalline thin film of poly-PTS agreed well with that from thin single crystals. Secondary, regarding poly-diphenyldiacetylene derivatives, it was found that the π-conjugation between the polymer main chain and aromatic substituents was effective on the improvement of χ(3) values. The χ(3) magnitudes of poly-BTFP and poly-DFMP reflect well the dihedral angles between polymer main chain and the phenyl substituents (58° for poly-BTFP and 67° for poly-DFMP) as a measure of π-conjugation. Especially, at nonresonant region of 2.1 μm the χ(3) of poly-BTFP is about 5 times greater than that of poly-PTS.

Hen egg white lysozyme was genetically modified to have extreme heat stability and strong antimicrobial activity against Gram negative bacteria and the modified lysozymes were secreted in yeast and tobacco. Complementary DNA encoding lysozyme was subjected to site-directed mutagenesis to have the Asn-X-Thr(Ser) sequence that is the signal for asparagine-linked glycosylation at the positions 49. The glycosyl lysozyme enhanced heat stability was expressed in the yeast carrying the modified lysozyme cDNA. The expression amount of glycosyl lysozyme was about 10 mg/l of yeast culture medium. Using the same yeast expression system, the lysozyme enhanced antimicrobial action by inserting hydrophobic penta-peptide at the C-terminus were secreted in a small amount (less than 100 μg/l in the yeast culture medium). These cDNA constructs of modified lysozymes were engineered into tabacco through Agrobacterium-mediated transformation in order to construct antimicrobial plant. The expression of lysozymes was confirmed by the reverse transcriptional PCR, SDS-PAGE analysis and lytic activity of transformants of tobacco. The transformant having the highest lytic activity expressed about 40 μg of lysozyme per g of leaf tissue.