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Irinotecan hydrochloride (CPT-11) is a useful drug for cancer chemotherapy but sometimes induces severe diarrhea clinically. CPT-11 is mainly activated to SN-38 by carboxylesterase (CES) and then detoxified to SN-38 glucuronide (SN-38G) by UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) in the liver. SN-38G is excreted via bile and de-conjugated to SN-38 by β-glucuronidase (β-GLU) in the intestinal content. In order to clarify the alleviative effect of antibiotics on CPT-11-induced diarrhea, we examined whether penicillin G and streptomycin (SM) alleviate CPT-11-induced delayed-onset diarrhea using three diarrheal models, i.e., Wistar rats with repeated dosing of CPT-11 (60 mg/kg/day i.v. for 4 consecutive days) and Wistar and Gunn rats with a single dosing of CPT-11 (200 and 20 mg/kg i.v., respectively). Gunn rats have an inherited deficiency of UGT1A and cannot conjugate SN-38 to SN-38G. Therefore, onset of CPT-11-induced diarrhea in Gunn rats is not affected by β-GLU activity. SM alleviated diarrhea in all three diarrheal models. The alleviation of diarrhea by SM in Gunn rats indicated that the effect of SM occurred by a mechanism other than the inhibition of β-GLU activity. SM decreased CPT-11 and/or SN-38 concentrations in intestinal tissues and alleviated epithelial damage from the ileum to colon. SM did not inhibit β-GLU activity in the cecal content. SM also inhibited the intestinal absorption of CPT-11 and decreased CES activity and increased UGT activity in the intestinal epithelium. These findings indicated that SM decreased the exposure of CPT-11 and SN-38 to the intestinal epithelium by inhibiting the absorption of CPT-11 from the intestinal lumen and the change of CES and UGT activities in the intestinal epithelium and alleviated delayed-onset diarrhea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A diagnostic technique for the local measurement of emissions from the molecular hydrogen has been developed. In the presence of an external magnetic field, the emission position can be deduced from the Zeeman patterns in the spectral line shape, and with the aid of the coronal model the rovibronic emission intensity provides the local rovibrational temperatures. In order to evaluate the Zeeman effect on the hydrogen molecule, a quantum-mechanical calculation is performed. The experimentally observed Fulcher-α rovibronic band spectra under a magnetic field strength of about 7 T are well represented by the calculation. The temporal evolution of the emission position as well as the rovibrational temperatures are measured in the 8.2 GHz lower hybrid current drive discharges of the TRIAM-1M tokamak [H. Zushi et al., Nucl. Fusion 45, S142 (2005)]. The measured emission is found to originate from the region where the plasma comes in contact with the limiter, and the observed increase in the rotational temperature suggests a rise in the limiter surface temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, a coherent density fluctuation similar to the edge harmonic oscillation (EHO) in tokamaks was observed in the edge transport barrier discharge in the Compact Helical System (CHS) [K. Matsuoka et al., Plasma Physics and Controlled Nuclear Fusion Research, 1988 (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1989), Vol. 2, pp. 441] using beam emission spectroscopy (BES). The fluctuation had both fundamental (f=4.5 kHz) and second-harmonic (2f=9 kHz) frequencies. EHO in CHS had a peak amplitude at approximately ρ=0.95. The mode has a continuous phase shift in the radial direction. If this is interpreted as the radial propagation, the mode propagates in the outer radial direction at an apparent phase velocity of several hundreds of meters per second, which is a characteristic similar to the radial phase shift of EHO in tokamaks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The negative hydrogen ion density profile is measured in hydrogen molecular assisted recombination (MAR) plasmas in the steady-state linear divertor/edge plasma simulator material and plasma (MAP)-II device. Fulcher band spectroscopy is also performed for the measurement of the ro-vibrational distribution of hydrogen molecules and the degree of dissociation. We have developed negative ion diagnostics using a combined scheme of an ‘eclipse’ laser photo-detachment system and a double probe. The former is to avoid probe surface ablation phenomena while the latter is to avoid the anomaly in the Langmuir probe characteristics in recombining plasmas, which leads to an overestimation of T e. Negative hydrogen ions are detected in the peripheral regions of the hot plasma column while vibrationally excited molecules exist in the plasma core. Based on the rate equation, the measured negative ion density is compared with the results of model calculations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The positions of emission of berylliumlike oxygen ions in the core region as well as the hydrogen atoms in the boundary region of the limiter shadow have been measured by means of the difference of the Zeeman patterns in the spectral shape in the poloidal section of the TRIAM-1M super conducting tokamak [H. Zushi et al., Nucl. Fusion 43, 1600 (2003)]. For determining magnetic field strength, the σ components of the Zeeman spectra are resolved by a linear polarizer. In addition to the emission region, the local hydrogen neutral temperature and the recycling flow velocity are measured in the boundary region, and the bulk ion temperature is measured in the core region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new type of fast neutral particle analyzer using Si diode cooled by Peltier module has been designed and developed. It is known that leak current in a solid-state detector is reduced by its use in low temperature. It is shown in this article that Peltier effect provides a very handy way of cooling the detector as long as a temperature around 0 °C is aimed at. The detector was easily cooled down to -1.6 °C and the performance of the detector was studied by the use of x/γ rays from [sup 241]Am. The leak current was remarkably reduced as the detector is cooled improving energy resolution from 9.2 keV at room temperature to 4.3 keV at -1.6 °C. In addition, the lower detectable energy limit was expanded from 25 keV to 14 keV. A Si detector is also sensitive to visible light and x ray. Therefore, the detector of our “reference design” is furnished with an evaporated 1000-Å-thick aluminum layer to reduce the visible light and with a lead collimator to reduce the x ray. The detector was finally installed on the Compact Helical System device for a test of overall performance and an energy spectrum from a diagnostic neutral beam was successfully measured. This test was conducted without an Al layer and this result suggests a possibility of eliminating it. © 2001 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new x-ray imaging technique to measure magnetic axis and two-dimensional soft x-ray energy spectra for a long-pulse discharge has been developed by utilizing a soft x-ray photon-counting charge-coupled-device (CCD) camera. This system consists of pinholes, Be filters, and a 1024×1024 frame-transfer back-illumination CCD detector (the imaging area has 1024×512 pixels). By choosing appropriate combinations of pinholes and Be filters, the x-ray flux is adjusted to the level suited for photon-counting mode and imaging mode, respectively. The Shafranov shift is derived from a two-dimensional soft x-ray intensity map measured in the imaging mode in the compact helical system (CHS) and large helical device. Two-dimensional profiles of electron temperature and two-dimensional profiles of high-Z impurity Kα radiation intensity are derived from two-dimensional energy spectra of x rays measured in photon-counting mode for the CHS hot-electron-mode plasma. © 2001 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Clinically, diarrhea is the major dose-limiting toxicity of irinotecan hydrochloride (CPT-11). Using a rat model, we attempted to decrease the incidence of delayed-onset diarrhea by modifying the administration schedule of CPT-11, and studied the pharmacokinetics in this model in relation to the incidence of diarrhea.Methods: CPT-11 (total dose, 240 mg/kg) was administered intravenously (i.v.) to rats according to various schedules, and the incidence of delayed-onset diarrhea was monitored.Results: Administration of CPT-11 at a dose of 60 mg/kg once daily for four consecutive days induced severe diarrhea, while at 30 mg/kg twice daily at an interval of 9 h (daily dose 60 mg/kg) for four consecutive days alleviated the diarrheal symptoms, and at 30 or 40 mg/kg once daily for eight or six consecutive days, respectively. diarrhea was hardly induced. With the first schedule, mucosal impairment of the cecal epithelium was observed, including wall thickening, edema, decrease in crypt number and size, and formation of pseudomembrane-like substance, whereas these changes were less severe with the second schedule and were hardly observed with the other two schedules. The areas under the plasma and cecal tissue concentration-time curves (AUCpla and AUCcec), the maximum plasma concentrations (Cmax) and the biliary excretions of CPT-11 and its metabolites, 7-ethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin (SN-38) and SN-38 glucuronide (SN-38G) in rats depended on the daily dose of CPT-11. Exceptionally, CPT-11 Cmax was significantly lower and SN-38 AUCcec was larger in the animals treated at 30 mg/kg twice daily than in those treated at 60 mg/kg once daily.Conclusion: These results suggested that the duration of exposure to both CPT-11 and SN-38 of the intestinal epithelium and CPT-11 plasma Cmax are closely related to the incidence and severity of CPT-11-induced delayed-onset diarrhea in rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Excitation–emission models for the H2 and transitions have been developed based on the coronal approximation. The ground state ro-vibrational temperatures evaluated from the I–B transition are significantly higher than those from the d–a transition. The results may suggest the violation of the coronal approximation for the I–B transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A system of beam emission spectroscopy (BES) for density fluctuation measurements having the sightlines passing through the plasma in the poloidal direction was developed in the Large Helical Device (LHD). Even though the angle between the beam and the sightline is slightly larger than a right angle, Doppler-shifted beam emission can be distinguished from background emission because of the high energy (120-170 keV) of the neutral beam for heating with negative ion sources. Spatial resolution is about 0.1-0.2 in the normalized radius. Compared with the prototype BES system with toroidal sightlines, the BES system with poloidal sightlines showed improved spatial resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]