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Photo-functionalized radical reactions on TiO(2) have been correlated with adsorption of organic impurities and decreasing hydrophilicity of titanium-based biomaterials. Such reactive oxygen species (ROS) spontaneously generated on oxidized titanium surfaces may also have important roles against time-dependent degradation of biological ability and adherent micro-organisms. This study examined in vitro biological ability as a function of time and antimicrobial activity on oxidized titanium surfaces without photo-functionalization. Mechanically polished titanium and thermally oxidized titanium surfaces that had been stored for 4 wks showed adsorbed organic impurities with decreased surface hydrophilicity. Even after the storage period, anodically oxidized titanium surfaces enabled super-hydrophilicity without adsorption of organic impurities, because of the ROS and the hydrophilic functional groups generated on the surfaces. The osteogenic gene expressions of osteoblasts cultured on anodically oxidized titanium surfaces with or without storage were significantly higher than those on thermally oxidized titanium and polished titanium surfaces. Titanium surfaces anodically oxidized in a solution with chloride achieved antimicrobial activity against an oral microorganism due to the amount of ROS generated on the surface. Thus, titanium anodically oxidized in solution with chloride may have potential use for titanium-based internal fixation devices.

We report a case of intractable lymphedema of the left leg following radical prostatectomy. The 69-year-old male patient complained of difficulty walking, caused by severe lymphedema. Intraarterial autologous lymphocyte transfusion therapy was performed because of failure of conventional conservative therapy, and the leg edema resolved almost completely. However, the treatment did not improve the penoscrotal edema necessitating excision of the edema and skin graft in a separate procedure. The post-operative course was excellent and the patient's performance status improved to 1 from 3.

Terazosin (TE) and tamsulosin (TA) were allocated randomly to 38 patients who had urinary disturbance accompanying prostatic hypertrophy, and the efficacy and safety of the drugs were examined. Subjective symptoms due to I-PSS were improved significantly in both TE and TA groups. On the other hand, objective symptoms such as the maximum urinary flow and mean urinary flow were improved more in the TE group. TE showed hypotensive and cholesterol-decreasing effects in patients who also had hypertension and hyperlipemia. No unknown adverse reactions were observed in either groups, and the drugs were shown to be highly safe. TE was considered to be useful as the first choice drug for the patients with hypertension and or hyperlipemia and those with severe objective symptoms. TA was considered to be useful for the patients with impaired drug compliance or those with severe subjective symptoms though objective symptoms were not so severe.

The AutoAnalzer(Basic Model) manufactured on Technicon corporation was a very useful instrument for clinical laboratory automation, but it was necessary to convert the data obtained from the instrument to digital values used the chart reader. This was very troublesome and there was apprehension that there would be errors in A-D conversion. We tried converting data obtained from the AutoAnalzer to a digital value by on-line connection of the instruments with minicomputers(LINC-8 and FACOM-R). The output of the recorder was converted to voltage(0 to 100 V) using a potentiometer, quantitated(0 to 1.000) by the A-D converter attached to LINC-8, and processed by the minicomputer. The control-box was an experimental device mainly designed for the convenience of users. The functions of the control-box were designated analytical items, No. of A-D converters, start and stop of the AutoAnalzer operation to the minicomputer. Employing the control-box, a technician operated this system freely, without direct computer operation. We established a generally satisfactory system for clinical laboratory automation using the minicomputer.

Emphysematous cystitis is a rare lower urinary tract infection. Patients with diabetes mellitus, neurogenic bladder, and recurrent urinary tract infection are generally at higher risk of this disease. A 71-year-old woman with neurogenic bladder was referred from the internal medicine department because of urinary retention. Abdominal radiography and computed tomographic (CT) scanning revealed a characteristic accumulation of air in the wall and lumen of the urinary bladder. Emphysematous cystitis was improved by antibiotic therapy and urinary drainage. CT scan was a sensitive method for detecting early signs and confirming the diagnosis.

A patient with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) on maintenance hemodialysis (HD) experienced spreading back pain with a sudden onset, and was diagnosed with thoracic aortic dissection. Reports of ADPKD with aortic dissection are rare. Hypertension, which is essentially universal both among ADPKD and hemodialysis patients, is a known risk factor for aortic dissection. Additionally, some reports have indicated that patients with ADPKD have aortic fragility. We suspect that aortic dissection may be less rare than presently apparent among HD patients with ADPKD.

A 68-year-old male complaining of hemosputum was admitted to our hospital. Fiberoptic bronchoscopic examinations revealed bronchial polyps and a flat foreign body-like substance in the left main bronchus. A closer inspection of a biopsied bronchial inflammatory polyp showed inflammatory edema with hypervascularization in the submucosal space and inflammatory cell infiltration. Following complete removal of this foreign body-like substance, the polyps disappeared within six weeks. It is therefore feasible to assume that the polyps appeared as a reaction to this extrinsic substance. The origin of the foreign matter is not obvious because the patient had no history of aspiration and because the histological examination did not confirm that it was a foreign body. The substance could have been formed out of the organization and calcification of some secretes in the bronchus.

The clinical effectiveness of a combination treatment using imipenem/cilastatin sodium (IPM/CS) with G-CSF was studied in neutropenic patients (500/mm3) with hematological malignancies and secondary infections. Thirty seven patients were entered in the trial, and 30 patients were eligible. This combination was effective in 20 patients, thus the overall efficacy rate was 66.7 percent. The combination was effective in all 6 cases with septicemia, in 10 case out of 15 cases with fever after chemotherapy (efficacy rate; 66.7%), in 3 out of 8 cases with respiratory infections including 7 cases with pneumonia (efficacy rate; 37.5%), and a case with laryngopharyngitis. According to the order of the administration, the efficacy rates were 60.0% in 5 cases in whom G-CSF treatment was started before IPM/CS, 66.7% in 21 cases given both G-CSF and IPM/CS simultaneously, and 75.0% in 4 cases in whom IPM/CS was started before G-CSF. The difference was statistically not significant on the efficacy rates in the three groups. The efficacy in 18 cases treated with monotherapy on antibiotic was 72.2% and that in 12 cases treated with IPM/CS in combination with other antibiotics was 58.3%, and the difference in the efficacy rates in these two groups was not statistically significant. According to the neutrophil counts before and after the treatment, high response rate (60.0%) was obtained in cases of severe neutropenia (less than 100/mm3). Bacteriological examinations showed that all of bacteria detected as pathogens (10 strains of Gram-positive bacteria and 6 strains of Gram-negative bacteria) were eradicated, though 3 strains were replaced by other pathogens.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

We evaluated ELSA.F-beta HCG kit as an immunoradiometric assay (IRMA) specific for serum beta human chorionic gonadotropin (beta hCG). This IRMA was found to be highly sensitive to serum beta hCG; the minimum detectable concentration of beta hCG was 0.05 ng/ml. No significant effects on the standard curves were observed when first and second incubation time and temperature were varied from 30 min to 240 min and from 4 degrees C to 37 degrees C, respectively. Commercial LH, FSH, and TSH had little effect on the assay system; the cross-reactivity of commercial hCG was 2.5%, and 0.14% after unconjugated beta hCG with alpha-subunit was absorbed with ELSA-tube. Multiple dilutions of sera of pregnancy resulted in curves paralleling that obtained using standard beta hCG; the recovery of beta hCG added to the serum was 98.1 +/- 2.5% (mean +/- SD), and mean coefficient of variation of the interassay reproducibility of serum beta hCG (n = 10) was 6.7 +/- 2.8 (SD)%. Serum beta hCG concentration measured using ELSA.F-beta HCG kit was well correlated with that measured using conventional beta hCG RIA kit (r = +0.961, p less than 0.01), although values were lower than those measured with the latter (y = 0.35x + 0.26). Our results suggest that ELSA.F-beta HCG kit is a useful assay system for serum beta hCG.

So called transcortical motor aphasia (TCMA) is frequently subdivided, because the clinical features and the localization of the lesions are variable. The authors have been attempting to classify TCMA into three types according to the distribution of the lesions, such as Type F 1, Type F 2 and Type F 3. Case 1 N.S. belongs to Type F 1 showing the clinical features of TCMA with bleeding in the territory of the left anterior cerebral artery. Case 2 M.E. belongs to Type F 2 (published case). This case is similar to Luria's dynamic aphasia in its clinical features and results from the lesions including the posterior parts of left middle frontal gyrus. Case 3 N.T. belongs to Type F 3 who recovered from typical Broca aphasia after language training for four years. The case is similar to Goldstein's Type 1 of TCMA in its clinical features. These three cases are compared with regard to the fundamental bases of spontaneous speech disturbance. The items of comparison are as follows; the volume of speech production and the the time taken to start speech, word fluency test, cue effects necessary for the success of sentence constructions grammatical ability. The results are summerized in Table 2. Type F1 shows the most conspicuous defect of spontaneous speech, but no disturbance in grammatical ability. And when the top word of a sentence (a subject word) is given by the examiner, the patient can construct a structurally correct sentence. These findings imply that the spontaneous speech disturbance of Type F 1 is due to a defect of the starting mechanism of speech.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)