Search

The effects of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and indomethacin on the vascular reactivity to norepinephrine were tested in three different isolated rat vascular beds (mesenteric artery, hind limb and splenic artery) perfused with the Krebs bicarbonate solution. In these vascular beds PGE2 (0.1-64 ng/ml) or indomethacin (09.1-96 microgram/ml) in the perfusate did not change the basal pressure. In the mesenteric vascular bed and the hind limb, PGE2 dose-dependently potentiated the vascular response to norephinephrine, whereas PGE2 dose-dependently inhibited the vascular response to norepinephrine in the splenic artery. In these three vascular beds indomethacin in the perfusate dose-dependently attenuated the vascular response to norepinephrine. In the mesenteric artery and the hind limb PGE2 restored the effect of indomethacin, but in the splenic artery PGE2 did not restore the inhibitory effect of indomethacin. These results indicate that the modulating effect of exogenously administrated PGE2 on the vascular action to norepinephrine varies in different vascular beds. It is also suggested that the contribution of endogenous PGE2 synthesized in the vascular wall to the vascular reactivity to norepinephrine is, as well as the effect of exogenous PGE2, different in different vascular beds.

Liquid polychlorinated biphenyls(PCB) waste was burned at 1400°C for 2 seconds, and activated carbon for post gas treatment system were analyzed for determining combustion products. The main products were chlorophenols(CP) and trace amount of polychlorinated dioxins(PCDD) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans(PCDF) were detected.

Summary The modes of multiplication of brome mosaic virus (BMV) were compared in protoplasts isolated from host and non-host plants. BMV actively multiplied in the leaves and isolated mesophyll protoplasts of barley, a host of BMV. BMV multiplication in barley protoplasts was inhibited by addition of actinomycin D immediately after inoculation or by u.v. irradiation of the protoplasts before inoculation. In contrast, although BMV could not multiply in leaves of radish and turnip (non-hosts for BMV) it multiplied at a low level in protoplasts isolated from these two plant species. Moreover, u.v. irradiation, or the addition of actinomycin D, enhanced multiplication of BMV in radish and turnip protoplasts. These results suggest that (i) in the host cells replication of BMV is dependent on cellular metabolism of nucleic acid and protein, and (ii) in the non-host cells a substance(s) inhibitory to replication of BMV is synthesized.

The anticoagulant activity of heparin dissolved in intravenous solutions was measured by two different methods of heparin assay. Both procedures showed markedly reduced anticoagulant activity within four hours after the addition of heparin to the solutions. When measured according to the procedure of Yin, heparin in the intravenous solutions fully regained its lost anticoagulant activity after 24 hours at room temperature. When measured by the thrombin time, however, the heparin anticoagulant activity reamained reduced. The source of heparin, from either the lung or intestine, does not explain the reduction in anticoagulant activity. Although its cause is unknown, the erratic behaviour of heparin in intravenous solutions stresses the importance of a laboratory monitor of heparin therapy.

A newly introduced sulphydryl compound, dithiothreitol (DTT), is evaluated for its optimal conditions of inactivation of IgM antibodies. The maximal effects of DTT reagent are observed when its final concentrations are between 0.0025 M and 0.005 M, pH between 7.0 and 8.0, and incubation at 37 degrees C. Concentrations over 0.01 M, pH values greater than 8.0, and an incubation temperature over 40 degrees C resulted in a gel formation of the specimen. Examination of both 'cold' and 'warm' type antibodies demonstrated that the results obtained by the DTT reagent are in close agreement with those obtained by 2-mercaptoethanol reagents and DEAE Sephadex treatment. Since the procedure is simple and rapid and lacks offensive odour, DTT is recommended for routine use in blood banking for the inactivation of IgM antibodies.

The correlation between iron content of the liver and ABO incompatiblity was evaluated by histological examinations of stillborn and neonatal infants. ABO- incompatible infants had significantly higher iron content than ABO compatible infants. This study offered histological evidence of increased hemolysis in ABO-incompatible infants even though clinically no such symptoms existed.

Two physiologically active diterpenoids, grayanotoxin IV and V, were isolated from Leucothoe grayana Max. The structures including the absolute configurations 4 and 5 respectively are supplied by spectral and chemical evidence.

A 70-year-old woman with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) was treated with plasmapheresis using fresh frozen plasma as a fluid replacement. Complete recovery and lasting remission were observed. It apprears that plasmapheresis combined with massive fresh frozen plasma can be an effective mode of treatment for patients who were, otherwise, refractory to conventional therapy.

Electroreflectance (ER) measurements have been performed on an (AlxGa1−x)1−zInzPyAs1−y pentanary alloy grown on (100) GaAs in the energy range 1.3–3.8 eV at 300 K. Accurate band‐gap energy has been determined from ER measurements. Photoluminescence (PL) spectra have been measured in the energy range 1.3–2.0 eV at 300 and 77 K. From the broadening parameters in ER spectra and the full width of half‐maxima in PL spectra, the quality of AlGaInPAs has been discussed. The other optical features, E0+Δ0, E1, E1+Δ1, and the spin‐orbit splitting parameters Δ0 and Δ1 have been determined.

Summary Mesophyll protoplasts isolated from plants of wheat, oat, maize (a local lesion host) and Japanese radish (normally a non-host) were efficiently infected with brome mosaic virus (BMV) without using poly-l-ornithine, and the optimum conditions for infection were very similar to those found using barley protoplasts. These results suggest that the host ranges of viruses can be extended by using protoplasts and that the conditions optimal for infection of protoplasts with BMV are determined mainly by the virus.

Herein we report a 26-year-old patient in whom seminoma developed in the testicle which had been fixed 9 years earlier. Thirty five of such cases in the Japanese literature are reviewed.

Computed tomographic (CT) brain scanning was performed on fifty-eight infants and children with microcephaly. CT scans were useful for detecting unsuspected brain lesions and for diagnosing underlying diseases. The head size did not correlate with the CT findings, the degree of mental retardation, or the existence of motor disturbance or epilepsy. On the other hand, the CT findings were correlated with the degree of mental retardation, and the existence of motor disturbance or epilepsy. CT scans were useful for determining the prognosis of the microcephaly.

A balanced reciprocal translocation, 46,XY, t(2;12), was detected in a male infant who had the characteristic features of Sotos syndrome. His father's karyotype was normal, but his mother and an older brother had the same chromosomal abnormality without a history or clinical features of Sotos syndrome.

A rare case of a variant type of the persistent primitive trigeminal artery associated with bilateral hypoplasia of the internal carotid artery was reported. Left common carotid arteriography revealed a thin left internal carotid artery terminated at the ophthalmic artery. Right common carotid arteriography showed that a narrow internal carotid artery gave off several fine vessels to the cavernous portion, and terminated at the right superior cerebellar artery via the prominent persistent primitive trigeminal artery (PTA). Supraclinoid portions of the bilateral internal carotid arteries were not able to be found. Eventually the entire cerebral hemisphere was supplied by the vertebrobasilar system via the posterior communicating artery. The narrowed supraclinoid portion of the left internal carotid artery was confirmed by surgery of the left posterior cerebellar artery-posterior communicating artery aneurysm. This case may provide an important suggestion about the mechanism of the persistence of the primitive trigeminal artery. In an embryo, at the stage of 5-6mm embryo in size, the posterior communicating artery begins to develop and then PTAs begin to dwindle. If the C1- or C2- portion of the internal carotid artery is gradually occluded, the forebrain, which has to be supplied by the internal carotid system, must be supplied retrogradely by the basilar system via the posterior communicating artery. At this stage, however, the vertebral artery has not developed enough to supply the entire central nervous system. Therefore, the PTA can not regress and this results in the postnatal persistence of the primitive trigeminal artery.

The effects of prostaglandins E2 (PGE2) and I2 (PGI2), arachidonic acid, and indomethacin on the vascular reactivity to norepinephrine were tested in three different isolated rat vascular beds (mesenteric artery, hind limb and splenic artery) perfused with the Krebs bicarbonate solution. In these vascular beds PGE2 (0.25--16 ng/ml), PGI2 (0.1--100 ng/ml), arachidonic acid (0.1--10 micrograms/ml) or indomethacin (5--25 micrograms/ml) in the perfusate did not change the basal pressure. In the splenic artery, both PGE2 and PGI2 attenuated the vascular response to norepinephrine in a dose-related manner. In the mesenteric vascular bed and the hind limb, however, PGE2 potentiated the vascular response to norepinephrine, while PGI2 attenuated this response. Acahidonic acid, a prostaglandin precursor, potentiated the vasoconstrictor response to norepinephrine in the mesenteric artery and the hind limb, whereas in the splenic artery, attenuation of the response to norepinephrine occurred. In these three vascular beds, indomethacin, a prostaglandin synthetase inhibitor, attenutated the vascular response to norepinephrine. In the mesenteric artery and the hind limb, PGE2 and not PGI2 reversed the effect of indomethacin, while in the splenic artery, neither PGE2 nor PGI2 reversed the inhibitory effect of indomethacin. These results suggest that, at least in the rat mesenteric artery and the hind limb where the modulating effect of arachidonic acid is similar to that of PGE2, PGE2 and not PGI2 is a primary endogenous prostaglandin in determining the vascular reactivity to norepinephrine.

Cochlear hydrops was produced either by injecting artificial perilymph into the subarachnoid space or by sucking perilymph through the round window membrane. The animals were either vitally fixed immediately or kept alive for 1 to 3 months before fixation. Conventional celloidin embedding method was used for serial sectioning. Animals with cochlear hydrops were selected from among 56 guinea pigs; 13 animals were used for the present observation. The cochleas of these animals showed slight to moderate hydrops, while the vestibule and semicircular canals demonstrated either a normal or collapsed endolymphatic space. The pars superior does not develop hydrops. Changes in the saccular wall were not pronounced. One animal developed marked cochlear hydrops with atrophy of both Corti's organ and stria vascularis. The vestibule and semicircular canals showed marked collapse. The ductus reuniens and the saccule were completely obstructed. Marked cochlear hydrops was produced by blocking the longitudinal flow of endolymph. It is assumed that there may be cochlear hydrops in clinical cases of perilymphatic fistula, with various pathologies of the endolymphatic space of the vestibule and semicircular canals.

Twelve patients with Moyamoya syndrome were examined by computerized tomography (CT); nine children and three adults. In one patient, CT was normal. Significant abnormalities on the precontrast CT in the remaining 11 patients were: cortical atrophy with or without varying degree of ventricular dilatation, and irregularly shaped, various sized, often multiple or bilateral lucent foci in the cortex, subcortical white matter and the central gray matter. After contrast enhancement, no significant increase in the attenuation number was observed in and around the lucent foci except in one patient. In three patients, there was a slight increase in density in the central gray matter, however the increase in density was slight when the dense angiographic vascular networks in the basal ganglia were considered.

The intrahepatic distribution of HBcAg and evaluation of the histological outcome using a numerical scoring system of Histological Activity Index (HAI) by Knodell et al, were studied in paired liver biopsy specimens from 14 HBeAg-positive patients with chronic active hepatitis B before and after interferon (IFN) treatment. Intrahepatic HBcAg was detected by immunoperoxidase technique and the pattern of HBcAg expression were present in the hepatocyte nucleus (nHBcAg) or cytoplasm (cHBcAg) or in both. Before treatment, intrahepatic HBcAg was distributed both in the nucleus and cytoplasm without significant differences. After treatment, nHBcAg expression however, decreased significantly (p less than 0.001), while cHBcAg remained unchanged or rather increased. These changes of nHBcAg and cHBcAg before and after IFN treatment were observed irrespective of disappearance or presence of DNA-P and/or HBeAg in serum after IFN treatment. The HIA scores decreased significantly (0.05 less than P less than 0.001) after treatment. These findings above suggest that the intrahepatic HBcAg may shift from nucleus to cytoplasm in chronic active hepatitis B during IFN treatment.

A boy with a peculiar face and slight psychomotor retardation was found to have a tandem duplication of segment 14q13-22. The karyotype was described as 46,XY, dir dup (14)(pter-q22::q13-q22::q22-qter), being trisomic for the segment. His parents were normal both phenotypically and cytogenetically. The clinical features of the propositus were compared with those of previously reported cases of trisomy 14q involving segment 14q13-22.

Twenty-five years ago, Japanese encephalitis (JE) was known as an endemic, mosquito-borne disease in East Asia. Today, the causative virus is known to be distributed from maritime Siberia to the north, eastern India to the west, the Archipelago of Japan presumably the Philippines to the east, and from Indonesia to the south. Since the late-1960s, the geopathological status of JE epidemics has undergone considerable changes. The sizes of JE epidemics in Japan and China (Province of Taiwan) have steadily declined. In fact the JE virus itself appears to be disappearing from Japan. Long-term prediction of JE epidemics is more difficult for Korean Peninsula, nevertheless, reported JE morbidity rate in the Republic of Korea has remained at a relatively low level since 1969. In contrast to the trend in East Asia, new epidemic foci of JE have been emerging in the northern part of Tropical Eastern South Asia starting in 1969. Of particular importance are the continued high incidence (annual morbidity rate: 8.67-22.04/100 000) of reported JE in the northern part of Viet Nam between 1969 and 1974, and the high incidence (14.7/100 000) recorded in Chiang Mai Valley, Thailand, between 1969 and 1970. Apparently, the epidemic in Chiang Mai Valley spread to the neighbouring Shan State of Burma in 1974. Another JE epidemic broke out in West Bengal State, India in 1973. The occurrence of JE in the endemic zone south of these areas has remained sporadic. An increasing number of pathogens have been shown to cause signs and symptoms clinically indistinguishable from JE. In this review, the quality and international comparability of available JE statistics are also examined. Only a few countries and areas with reasonably developed statistical and laboratory services are able to provide national JE statistics in a form ready for epidemiological analysis. A practical surveillance system for JE needs to be organized in those countries where JE is a newly emerging health problem.

Cefmetazole sodium, a cephamycin antibiotic, was shown to pass through the round window membrane into the inner ear of the guinea pig. The concentration of the drug in the inner ear fluid indicated that a larger amount of the drug reached the inner ear through the round window membrane than when administered intraperitoneally.

The metabolic pathway of radioactive 62Zn-EDDA (ethylenediamine-N,N'-diacetic acid), in the exocrine pancreas was studied with respect to that of endogenous Zn. In pancreatic duct cannulated dog, the secretion of intravenously injected exogenous 62Zn into pancreatic juice increased under the stimulation of CCK-PZ (pancreatic protein secretion stimulating hormone), which closely correlated to endogenous Zn. Moreover, in pancreatic juice, 62Zn as well as endogenous Zn was selectively bound to Zn-metalloenzymes, carboxypeptidase A and B. These results demonstrated the close correlation between the endogenous and the exogenously-administered Zn (62Zn-EDDA), as well as the high availability of 62Zn-EDDA as a marker of pancreatic function for the follow up of carboxypeptidase metabolism.

A computer animation system was developed to show the inside of a human ear as if the viewer were walking through it. A surface model of the human temporal bone was graphically reconstructed from serially sectioned celloidin specimens. In order to input the outline curves of ear structures, several reference marks were drilled into a celloidin block prior to sectioning. A sliding microtome was put on a worktable with a specially designed motor-driven drill. The machine made it possible to drill holes perpendicular to the plane to be used for serial sectioning. Superimposed outline curves and the reference marks were fed into a computer, and their shapes were altered by scaling, rotation, and translation before triangulation for surface coating. Parts of the structures of the ear were painted in different colours.

We present an autopsy report on a 14-year-old girl with mitochondrial myopathy, encephalopathy, lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes (MELAS), placing emphasis on the mitochondrial enzymatic histochemistry of the 3 types skeletal muscle and cardiomyocytes. Generalized muscular atrophy, cardiac hypertrophy, cerebral cortical laminar necrosis, basal ganglia calcification and liver steatosis were observed. In the skeletal muscles, modified Gomori's trichrome staining demonstrated scattered ragged red fibers, and histochemical staining for mitochondrial enzymes showed intense positivity in the subsarcolemmal zones of some muscle fibers. Some of the hypertrophic cardiomyocytes also showed a ragged red appearance with the modified Gomori's trichrome stain. Histochemical staining for mitochondrial enzymes showed patchy loss of enzymatic activity in the myocardium. Electron microscopically, extreme accumulation of enlarged mitochondria and severe loss of myofibrils was observed in both skeletal muscle fibers and cardiomyocytes. The arteriolar smooth muscle cells also showed a mild increase in mitochondria.

We have retrospectively studied the clinical and histological features of 55 cases of acute post-transfusion non-A, non-B hepatitis. Histological findings in the liver biopsies taken in the acute stage covered the whole spectrum of acute and chronic hepatitis, the incidence of acute hepatitis or non-specific reactive hepatitis was 12.7% and 16/4%, respectively, while that of chronic active hepatitis was 56.4%. There was no correlation between histological features in acute stage and the mean peak levels in serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT). Post-transfusion hepatitis, non-A, non-B with histological signs of chronic hepatitis in acute stage frequently results in biochemical evidence of chronic liver disease during long-term follow-up periods. Therefore, our results suggest that the histological features of chronic hepatitis in the acute stage are indicative of long-term elevation in serum ALT level.

Regional classification or regionalization is the most basic and important problem in geography and has three fundamental functions of providing a common language, transmitting some knowledge or information of regions, and permitting us to generalize inductively the areal system. This paper presents a quantitative method of homogeneous regionalization, which is one method of satisfying some requirements and ideas pursued by D. B. Grigg. As a result of applying this method to the socio-economic regionalization problem of the Nagoya metropolitan area, the clear difference in socio-economic regionality between the ward district of Nagoya city and the Iga district in Mie Prefecture and the existence of seven homogeneous regions can be recognized. The spatial configuration of these regions reveals a concentric pattern, in which the region named as a central commercial region comprises the central core and the other six regions spread themselves toward the outskirts of the Nagoya area.