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We report a case of secondary amyloidosis with pleural involvement in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis. A 77-year-old man had received a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis 10 years previously. Bilateral pleural effusion of unknown etiology was noted 2 years prior to admission. A biopsy of the left pleura by video-assisted thoracic surgery did not reveal any evidence of the cause of his pleural effusion. The histological findings revealed chronic inflammation of the pleura on a hematoxylin-eosin (HE) stain, but treatment with an increased dose of corticosteroid did not improve his effusion. Right pneumothorax then developed. Based on the histological findings of a Congo red stain, the diagnosis was changed to pleural amyloidosis. An initial attempt at pleurodesis with OK-432 and a pleural patch with the patient's own blood was attempted but was not successful. Subsequently, pleurodesis with OK-432 and the patient's own blood improved his pleural effusion and pneumothorax. Pleural involvement in amyloidosis is extremely rare and is difficult to treat.

New carbon-based superconductors are synthesized by intercalating metal atoms into the solid-phase hydrocarbons picene and coronene. The highest reported superconducting transition temperature, T(c), of a hydrocarbon superconductor is 18 K for K(3)picene. The physics and chemistry of the hydrocarbon superconductors are extensively described for A(x)picene (A: alkali and alkali earth-metal atoms) for x = 0-5. The theoretical picture of their electronic structure is also reviewed. Future prospects for hydrocarbon superconductors are discussed from the viewpoint of combining electronics with condensed-matter physics: modification of the physical properties of hydrocarbon solids is explored by building them into a field-effect transistor. The features of other carbon-based superconductors are compared to clarify the nature of hydrocarbon superconductors.

A 38-year-old woman with a 10-year history of migraine without aura was treated with topiramate (TPM) for increasing frequency of headache. Initially, TPM was prescribed at a dose of 25 mg per day for 7 days, and then the dose was increased to 50 mg per day. Three days later, the patient complained of blurry vision, redness, and pain in both eyes. On ophthalmological examination, the pupils were found to be mid-dilated, and her visual acuity with correction was 1.2 in both eyes. Slitlamp examination revealed conjunctival hyperemia, chemosis, and shallow anterior chambers. Intraocular pressure in the right eye was 35 mmHg, while that in the left eye was 36 mmHg. Gonioscopy showed angle closure in both eyes, and therefore, a diagnosis of bilateral angle-closure glaucoma was made. TPM was discontinued immediately, and antiglaucoma medications were started. Four days after the initiation of antiglaucoma treatment, conjunctival hyperemia and chemosis disappeared and intraocular pressure in the right and left eyes decreased to 8 mmHg and 7 mmHg, respectively. The treatment was discontinued on the 11th day. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of TPM-induced angle-closure glaucoma in Japan.

A 49-year-old man was admitted to our hospital for an expanding tumor in the pulmonary artery. He had visited a previous hospital complaining of dyspnea on effort and had syncope 4 months before admission, and pulmonary embolism was diagnosed because enhanced chest CT showed filling defects, with calcification in the pulmonary trunk and left pulmonary artery. Despite thrombolytic and anticoagulant therapy, the filling defects grew and expanded into the extravascular portion. Additionally, CT showed multiple pulmonary nodules and a small calcified nodule in a right-sided back muscle also appeared. At our hospital, FDG-PET showed abnormal uptake in each lesion shown on CT. We then performed a CT-guided needle biopsy of the nodule of the back muscle, which was pathologically diagnosed as osteosarcoma. He was finally given a diagnosis of osteosarcoma of the pulmonary artery. We administered cisplatin and doxorubicin with partial inhibitory effect on tumor growth. Osteosarcoma of the pulmonary artery is extremely rare, and its diagnosis is difficult before surgery or autopsy. To the best of our knowledge there have been no reports of chemotherapy for osteosarcoma of the pulmonary artery.

We report a 75-year-old man with pneumoconiosis, interstitial pneumonia and diabetes mellitus, who had carcinoma of the buccal mucosa. After resection of the carcinoma, he was given corticosteroids for the deterioration of interstitial pneumonia, but 38 days after initiating steroid therapy, he was admitted to our hospital with severe hypoxemia and multiple cavitary lesions superimposed on ground-glass attenuation in both lung fields. The Aspergillus antigen was positive in his serum and examination of his bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid revealed mixed infections with filamentous fungus and Pneumocystis jirovecii. Pulmonary aspergillosis and pneumocystis pneumonia with an immunocompromised state was diagnosed, and voriconazole, sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim and high-dose corticosteroids were given. At 20 days after these treatments he developed bloody sputum, and Cunninghamella bertholletiae was isolated from the BAL fluid obtained at admission. A diagnosis of pulmonary zygomycosis was finally established. Amphotericin B therapy was started, and the dose was increased thereafter. Despite intensive treatment he died 18 days later. Histological examination of lung tissue obtained at autopsy showed invasive growth of zygomycetes in the necrotic tissue and the cavity wall. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of concurrent Cunninghamella bertholletiae and Pneumocystis jirovecii infection during steroid therapy for interstitial pneumonia.

Seizure susceptibility and neurodegeneration induced by microinjection of kainic acid (KA) into the left amygdala (LA) in C57BL/6 and FVB/N mouse strains were compared. Mice were administered 0.5 microg of KA into the LA. Electroencephalograms (EEGs) and behavior were monitored for 48 h after KA microinjection. Neuronal cell damages in the CA1 and CA3 regions of hippocampus were assessed at 2 and 48 h after KA microinjection. We demonstrated that the FVB/N mice showed longer duration of seizure activity than the C57BL/6 mice in EEGs and behavioral observation. The C57BL/6 mice were resistant to neurodegeneration while the FVB/N mice were vulnerable as measured 2 and 48 h after KA microinjection. These differences might be associated with genetic background.

To elucidate the role of the perirhinal cortex (PRC) in experimental epilepsy, the effects of the lesion of the PRC on kainic acid (KA)-induced limbic seizure were investigated. The PRC lesion was made by means of ibotenic acid (IBO) microinjection. The electroencephalogram in the PRC-lesioned rats demonstrated suppression of the propagation of epileptic discharges from the limbic structures to the sensorimotor cortex. Behaviorally, motor manifestations such as mastication, facial twitching and forelimb clonus were attenuated. These results indicate that the PRC seems to be a potent relay station of the secondary generalization from the limbic structures to the sensorimotor cortex.

Background: Zonisamide (ZNS) is an antiepileptic drug developed in Japan. Various experimental studies have investigated the effects of ZNS. However, the mechanism of action of ZNS against limbic seizures and secondary generalization is not well-known. We studied ictal regional accumulation of ZNS in the rat brain during kainic acid (KA)-induced limbic status epilepticus., Methods: Fourteen male Wistar rats underwent a stereotactic operation. For recording the electroencephalogram (EEG), electrodes were placed in the left amygdala (LA), left dorsal hippocampus, and over the left sensorimotor cortex. For microinjection, a stainless steel cannula was also inserted into the LA. Seven days after surgery, rats were anesthetized and a catheter was inserted into the femoral vein. The animals were immobilized and allowed to recover from anesthesia for at least two hours. In eight rats, 1.0 microL (1.0 microg) of KA was injected into the LA, and 1.0 microL of phosphate buffer solution was injected into the LA in six control rats. Sixty minutes after injection, 14C-ZNS was administered intravenously, and an autoradiographic study was done., Results: During limbic status epilepticus, only seizures in the sensorimotor cortex were markedly attenuated a few minutes after 14C-ZNS administration. Additionally, high uptake of 14C-ZNS was noted ipsilaterally in the sensorimotor cortex, parietal cortex and thalamus (lateral portion). In control rats, no EEG change was seen, and distribution of 14C-ZNS was rather homogeneous., Conclusions: These results suggested that ZNS suppresses secondary generalization of limbic seizures by a direct effect on the cerebral cortex.

We have designed a device for stereotactic transection of fiber bundles in experiments using rats. Here, we present our assessment of its features relative to those of conventional methods. The instrument consists of a stainless steel cannula and a thin inner wire with a hook at one end and a hilt at the other. The hook can be extended or withdrawn freely by pushing or pulling the hilt. Lesions were evaluated in 12 male Wistar rats, after two targets, the anterior commissure (n=6) and the caudate-putamen (n=6), were transected. After the cannula was introduced into the target, the inner hook was extended in an anterior direction orthogonally to the transverse plane. Next, the entire device was pulled back along the insertion path to transect the neuronal fibers. Then the inner hook was withdrawn into the cannula and the entire device was removed. Seven days later, brains were removed for histologic processing. Microscopic examination demonstrated a slit like gap produced by transection at the target; the lesions were infiltrated by microglia and surrounded by gliosis. Adjacent regions were minimally damaged. The path of the cannula demonstrated only minimal gliosis. Unlike conventional methods, this device permits precise transection of deep fiber bundles with minimal damage to surrounding brain tissue.

Rat dendritic cells selectively bind to Kupffer cells in vitro. The present study aimed to reveal adhesion molecules on dendritic cells and their roles in the host defense system. The in situ binding assay to examine the effects of pretreatment of dendritic cells with various kinds of monosaccharides suggested that N-acetylgalactosamine was necessary for the binding of dendritic cells to Kupffer cells. This binding was also attenuated when dendritic cells were injected into an ex vivo liver perfusion circuit together with N-acetyl-galactosamine. It was further shown that the majority of rat lymph dendritic cells and some interdigitating dendritic cells in the lymph nodes possessed asialoglycoprotein receptors specific for N-acetylgalactosamine/galactose as detected by immunostaining. Lymph dendritic cells could ingest virus particles in vitro, even though these cells showed no phagocytic activity for latex particles. The results indicate that rat dendritic cells possess asialoglycoprotein receptors which are probably utilized to recognize Kupffer cells for their recruitment to the liver and possibly to recognize virus particles prior to phagocytosis.

A new rotary-shadowing process to obtain freeze-drying replicas is described for the analysis of virus ultrastructure, using the inner capsid of human rotavirus as a model. The findings corroborate the icosahedral symmetry with an arrangement pattern of capsomers of T = 13L.

Fragments of disrupted capsids were frequently seen in purified preparations of human rotavirus inner capsids by negative staining method in electron microscopy. The ultrastructures of these fragments were analyzed in comparison with the T = 13L model. Well-resolved pentamers were rarely seen in the fragments on observation at the standard electron doses, but were frequently seen at low electron doses, which meant a better preservation of the steric structure of capsid fragments in the latter case. Thus advantages of low dose electron microscopy have been shown in observation of capsid fragments.