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4078 Background: STI 571, (Gleevec), is a specific inhibitor of BCR-ABL, c-kit, and PDGFR tyrosine kinases. After demonstration of efficacy against KIT- positive GISTs, STI571 was approved for the treatment of GISTs in the US and the EU. This Phase II open-labelled, multicenter trial investigated the efficacy, tolerability, and PK of STI571 in Japanese pts with unresectable and/or metastatic malignant GISTs. Methods:The inclusion criteria were KIT-positive and unresectable and/or metastatic GISTs with measurable lesions, adequate organ function, PS (ECOG)of 0–2, and a life expectancy >2 months. Pts were randomized to either 400 or 600 mg/day of STI571. For PD, the dose was increased. Efficacy was assessed by SWOG criteria, and toxicity was reported by NCI-CTC v2.0. PK was examined in 21 patients. Results: 74 pts were enrolled (400 mg /600 mg = 28/46, M/F = 48/26, PS 0/1/2=57/14/3, median age=56 years (range 24–74)). C-kit mutations in exon 11 was the most common mutational abnormality (79.7 %) and mutatio...

Chlamydomonas lytic enzyme of the cell wall (gamete wall-autolysin) is responsible for shedding of cell walls during mating of opposite mating-type gametes. This paper reports some topographic aspects of lytic enzyme in cells. Both vegetative and gametic cells contain the same wall lytic enzyme. The purified enzyme is a glycoprotein with an apparent molecular mass of 67 kD by gel filtration and 62 kD by SDS PAGE, and is sensitive to metal ion chelators and SH-blocking agents. These properties are the same as those of the gamete wall-autolysin released into the medium by mating gametes. However, the storage form of the enzyme proves to be quite different between the two cell types. In vegetative cells, the lytic enzyme is found in an insoluble form in cell homogenates and activity is released into the soluble fraction only by sonicating the homogenates or freeze-thawing the cells, whereas gametes always yield lytic activity in the soluble fractions of cell homogenates. When vegetative cells are starved for nitrogen, the storage form of enzyme shifts from its vegetative state to gametic state in parallel with the acquisition of mating ability. Adding nitrogen to gametes converts it to the vegetative state concurrently with the loss of mating ability. We also show that protoplasts obtained by treatment of vegetative cells or gametes with exogenously added enzyme have little activity of enzyme in the cell homogenates, suggesting that lytic enzyme is stored outside the plasmalemma. When the de-walled gametes or gametes of the wall-deficient mutant, cw-15, of opposite mating types are mixed together, they mate normally but the release of lytic enzyme into the medium is practically negligible. When the de-walled vegetative cells are incubated, the lytic enzyme is again accumulated in the cells after the wall regeneration is almost complete.

The radiation patterns from optical waveguides prepared by sputtered 7059 glass thin film onto pyrex glass substrates are measured in order to clarify the loss mechanisms producing the scattering. The angular distributions of the scattered light can be explained by the presence of its surface roughness at film-substrate and film-air inter-faces and/or of bulk inhomogeneities of the waveguide core. For waveguides with a relatively high loss of several dB/cm, for example, the patterns are consistent with the theory based on a cross-correlated model of these imperfections, assuming correlation lengths of the order of 0.1Lambda in the normal direction and of the same order as the wavelength Lambda in the parallel direction to the waveguide. The rms value of surface roughness to that of bulk inhomogeneities divided by alpha is also determined by comparing the measured scattering curves with the theoretically calculated curves.

Charge-discharge characteristics of Li∥Al half cells and LiAl ∥polyaniline(PAn) cells were investigated in LiBF 4 /PC+DME electrolyte. Some Al alloys were tested as substrates of the negative electrode, and it was found that AlMg alloy substrate had better cyclability than pure Al. Reversibility of doping in PAn was investigated using LiAlMg alloy as a counter electrode. After 140 times cycling, discharge capacity of the cell decreased by 1 4 , which corresponded to 9mol% of dopants per an aniline unit. The cell was disassembled at discharged state, and the PAn electrode was set up with Li metal again. Coulombs corresponded to 56mol% of dopants could be discharged from the PAn electrode on the first discharge step. Accumulation of dopants in PAn was proved by FTIR spectroscopy and elemental analysis. It was confirmed that the accumulation of dopants was caused by the higher coulombic efficiency on PAn than LiAlMg alloy.

Donnees fondees sur des mesures de capacite differentielle, dans le cas de l'adsorption d'alcool benzylique, de phenyl-2 ethanol et de phenyl-3 propanol-1

Measurements were made of the light scattered out of the Corning 7059 glass thin‐film optical waveguide sputtered onto substrates of pyrex glass. The angular distributions of the scattered light can be explained by the waveguide imperfections not only of surface roughness of air‐film‐substrate interfaces but of refractive‐index inhomogeneities. The measured scattering patterns are consistent with the theory taking account of both imperfections, assuming a correlation length of bx/λ ∼ 0.05 and bz/λ ∼1.0, where bx and bz are the correlation lengths in the directions perpendicular and parallel to the waveguide surface.

Biochemical markers of ischemic injury of rat liver were studied in an extracorporeal perfusion system. During anoxic perfusion, purine compounds appeared in the perfusate as soon as they were formed in the liver and their recovery in the perfusate balanced the loss of adenine nucleotides from the liver. In contrast, cytosolic aspartate aminotransferase did not appear in the perfusate at slow rates of liver perfusion or during hypothermic perfusion. The production of purine compounds was further investigated in hypothermically preserved liver in connection with the restoration of some metabolic functions of liver. The amount of purine compounds released into the perfusate was found to be closely related to the degrees of damage of the hepatic functions of gluconeogenesis, ureogenesis, and mitochondrial respiration on reperfusion. These results indicate that release of purine compounds into the perfusate is a good marker of ischemic damage.