Search

Aiming at the development of Si solidification refining process with Si-Al melt, investigations on separation method of Si grains solidified from Si-Al melt and the laboratory scale refining test were carried out. By the use of electromagnetic force under the fixed alternating magnetic field, solidified Si grains were successfully agglomerated in the Si-Al alloy and the high Si density part was obtained, although the use of gravity force was not effective. Furthermore, the refining test with induction heating revealed the high purification ability of this refining.

Measurement of electrical properties of fiber-reinforced plastics (FRPs) is an attractive method for predicting fatigue life and recording strain in FRPs. In this study, we prepared ferroelectric specimens laminated with woven carbon fabric and BaTiO 3 particulate epoxy. We measured those specimens' electrical properties during tensile testing. Electrical resistance increased slightly and the electrical capacitance decreased as the tensile stress increased up to 500 MPa. As the tensile stress increased above 500 MPa. the electrical resistance and electrical capacitance increased. The electrical resistance and capacitance may be dependent on the applied tensile stress because of delamination between an epoxy layer and a carbon fabric layer, and fiber breakage in carbon fabric layers. Capacitance degradation from the beginning of tensile testing indicates that the addition of BaTiO 3 particles into epoxy layers induced the delamination. Subsequently, piezoelectric specimens laminated with woven carbon fabric and poled lead zirconate titanate (PZT) particulate epoxy were prepared for repeated loading tests. Thereby, we investigated the relationship between loading and piezoelectric signals. Variation in the capacitance of epoxy layers rather than that in the polarization of PZT particles may be the generation mechanism of measured signals in the piezoelectric specimens. The peak interval in the piezoelectric signal waveforms was deeply related to the applied tensile stress. The peak intensity tended to increase with loading cycles.

In order to establish genetic signatures for intraspecific identification, parts of the genes rbcL, rbcS and psbA and their intergenic spacer (IGS) regions were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from the chloroplast genomes of Heterosigma akashiwo strains isolated from Japan. A transfer RNA-Leu gene trnL and a hypothetical gene cfxQ, which is related to ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase expression, were found in the upstream region of the rbcL gene and in the rbcS-psbA IGS region, respectively. All the gene-coding regions and the IGS regions between rbcL and rbcS showed the same sequences among the strains tested. In contrast, the rbcL upstream regions and the rbcS-cfxQ IGS regions showed some differences such as nucleotide substitutions, duplications and inversions between NIES-5 and the other strains. Based on these sequence data, five genetic signatures were established and their simple and rapid detection by means of strain-specific PCR primers and PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism techniques was examined. The results suggested the usefulness of these genetic signatures and techniques for the discrimination of H. akashiwo populations.

Fourteen bacterial strains isolated from marine environments exhibited antagonistic action against a wide range of bacteria including Vibrio spp. A double layer agar method was used for preliminary screening to determine the relative degree of growth inhibition or bacteriolysis exhibited by the isolates. Most of the antagonistic isolates were found to be Gram-negative, motile rods and were oxidase positive, and oxidative in the oxidation and fermentation test, suggesting that they are belong to the genera Pseudomonas. The antagonistic isolates lyzed the dead cells of marine Gram-negative bacteria in both plate and liquid methods. Bacteriolytic and casein hydrolytic activities were observed in the culture supernatant of the isolates. Anion exchange column chromatography (Toyopearl DEAE-650 M) was used to purify the extracellular protease produced by an antagonistic strain A1-J25a. The active fractions of protease collected from the eluted solution also exhibited bacteriolytic activity.

The aim of our study was to determine the utility of time-resolved contrast-enhanced MR angiography combined with sensitivity encoding (SENSE) for patients with pulmonary embolism. SUBJECTS AND METHODS. Forty-eight consecutive patients (26 men and 22 women; age range, 27-73 years; mean age, 55 years) with suspected pulmonary embolism underwent chest radiography, contrast-enhanced MDCT, MR angiography with SENSE, ventilation-perfusion scintigraphy, and pulmonary angiography. MR angiography with SENSE was performed using IV administration of gadolinium contrast medium with a 3D turbo field-echo pulse sequence (TR/TE, 4.0/1.2; flip angle, 30 degrees ) on a 1.5-T scanner. Capabilities of diagnosing pulmonary embolism using MR angiography (data set A), contrast-enhanced MDCT (data set B), contrast-enhanced MDCT with MR angiography (data set C), ventilation-perfusion scintigraphy (data set D), and contrast-enhanced MDCT with ventilation-perfusion scintigraphy (data set E) were determined by receiver operating characteristic analysis, using the results of pulmonary angiography as the reference standard. The diagnostic capability of each data set was analyzed on a per-vascular zone and a per-patient basis with the McNemar test.Sensitivity and specificity of data set A were 83% and 97%, respectively, on a per-vascular zone basis and 92% and 94%, respectively, on a per-patient basis. Specificity and accuracy of data set A were significantly higher than those of data set D on a per-patient basis (p0.05).Time-resolved MR angiography with SENSE is effective for the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism.

The interaction between calcium and phosphorus in molten silicon was investigated for predicting the removal of phosphorus from silicon by an acid leaching treatment with calcium addition. In the present study, two immiscible liquids of silicon and lead were equilibrated, and the interaction parameter between calcium and phosphorus and the self-interaction parameter of phosphorus in molten silicon at 1723 K were determined. $$\varepsilon _{Ca in Si}^P = - 14.6( \pm 1.7) \varepsilon _{Ca in Si}^P = - 13.8( \pm 3.2)$$ In the derivation process, the following activity coefficients and the interaction parameters of metallic impurities in molten silicon and lead at 1723 K were also obtained: $$\begin{gathered} \ln \gamma _{Pb in Si}^0 = 3.73( \pm 0.010) \ln \gamma _{Si in Pb}^0 = 3.39( \pm 0.040) \hfill \\ \varepsilon _{Pb in Si}^P = - 4.08( \pm 0.80) \varepsilon _{Pb in Si}^P = - 23.8( \pm 18) \hfill \\ \varepsilon _{Pb in Si}^{Ca} = - 8.36( \pm 1.6) \varepsilon _{Si in Pb}^{Ca} = - 14.3( \pm 7.0) \hfill \\ \end{gathered} $$ The effect of the calcium addition to silicon improves the subsequent removal of phosphorus in the acid leaching treatment, and the increase in removal fraction of phosphorus was observed remarkably with the addition of calcium in silicon.

Solubilities of Al3Ti at 1273-1623 K and TiB2 at 1373-1573 K in molten Al were measured, and the excess partial molar Gibbs energies of titanium and boron in molten Al of liquid standard state at infinite dilution were determined as follows.GeTxi*(l) = RT ln γ°Ti(l) = 95800(±790)+24.5(±0.70)T (J/mol) [943∼1623 K]GeBx*(l) = RT ln γ°B(l) = 18600(±1100) (J/mol) [1373∼1573 K]Also, solubility of AlB12 at 1273-1573 K in molten aluminum was measured, and the standard formation energy of AlB12 was evaluated as a following equation with the determined thermodynamic property of boron in molten aluminum.Al(l) + 12B(s) = AlB12(s)ΔG°fAlB12 = −379000(±23000) + 177(±15)T (J/mol) [1273∼1573 K]

Objectives: Injury causes the disruption of homeostatic cell-cell interactions and epithelial regeneration is part of the threshold response. Due to the lack of a good animal model for the investigation of these mechanisms, the kinetics of cell proliferation after injury to the human respiratory tract are poorly understood. Methods: To create a better model of human bronchioloalveolar epithelial regeneration, we engrafted adult human lung tissue into nonobese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficient (NOD/SCID) mice. Then the lung tissue was studied at various times up to 20 weeks after implantation. Results: The xenografts of bronchiolar epithelium showed characteristic features, including positivity for specific human antigens, and extensive regeneration was observed within 8 weeks after implantation. In addition, a few alveolar type II epithelial cells expressing prosurfactant protein C were detected in some areas. The distal alveolar spaces were filled with protein-rich material and were markedly dilated. Abundantly ciliated secretory epithelium, which was similar to normal adult bronchiolar epithelium, was observed within 16 weeks after implantation in the mice. All of the human lung tissue specimens that were implanted subcutaneously into the backs of the mice developed well and remained viable for 20 weeks. Each type of adult human lung epithelial cell showed a different mode of proliferation. Bronchiolar epithelial cells proliferated earlier, with MIB-1 labeling of up to 20% of the cells in the grafts at 8 weeks, while alveolar type II cells proliferated later, with labeling of up to 5% of graft cells at 12 weeks. Conclusion: This model seems to allow adult human lung epithelial regeneration to be investigated in vivo over the long term.

Thermodynamic properties of the SiO 2 -GeO 2 melt were investigated from the measurement of the GeO 2 activity in the SiO 2 -GeO 2 melt by equilibrating it with solid platinum under controlled oxygen partial pressure. The excess Gibbs energy for the SiO 2 -GeO 2 melt was evaluated as the following equation in the quasi-regular solution formalism. ΔG M , e x = (-47600 + 18.2T)X G e O 2 X S i O 2 Also, by equilibrating solid platinum with the GeO 2 melt under controlled oxygen partial pressure and investigating the phase equilibrium between solid platinum and the liquid Pt-Ge alloy, thermodynamic properties of Pt-rich Pt-Ge system above the eutectic temperature of Pt 3 Ge was clarified.

A marine bacterium, Saprospira sp. SS98-5, which was isolated from Kagoshima Bay, Japan, was able to kill and lyse the cells of the diatom Chaetoceros ceratosporum. The multicellular filamentous cells of this bacterium captured the diatom cells, formed cell aggregates, and lysed them in an enriched sea water (ESS) liquid medium. Strain SS98-5 also formed plaques on double layer agar plates incorporating diatom cells. The diatom cell walls were partially degraded at the contact sites with the bacteria, the bacteria invaded from there into the diatom cells, and then the diatom cells were completely lysed. The strain possessed gliding motility and grew as spreading colonies on ESS agar plates containing lower concentrations of polypeptone (below 0.1%) while forming nonspreading colonies on ESS agar plates containing 0.5% polypeptone. Electron micrographs of ultrathin sections demonstrated that microtubule-like structures were observable only in gliding motile cells. Both the gliding motility and the microtubule-like structures were diminished by the addition of podophyllotoxin, an inhibitor of microtubule assembly, suggesting that the microtubule-like structures observed in these bacterial cells are related to their gliding motility.Key words: Saprospira sp., Chaetoceros ceratosporum, gliding motility, algicidal activity, microtubule-like structure.

To discuss the possibility of phosphorus removal from silicon by the solidification refining with Si–Al melts, the distribution of phosphorus between solid silicon and the liquid Si–Al alloy at 1173–1373 K was investigated. In the present study, the distribution of phosphorus was examined by the temperature gradient zone melting method, where a phosphorus containing molten Si–Al zone was passed through a single crystalline silicon phase. The segregation ratio of phosphorus at its infinite dilution was obtained as 0.12 (1373 K), 0.085 (1273 K) and 0.061 (1173 K), respectively, and the solidification refining with the Si–Al melts was found to be effective for the removal of phosphorus at lower temperature.

A new method has been developed to produce magnesium vapor for deoxidation or desulfurization of molten iron. Microwave heating of magnesium oxide and graphite powder mixtures was carried in air or argon flowing atmosphere, utilizing a commercial microwave oven operated at 2.45 GHz. Progress of carbothermic reduction of MgO was observed, and the influences of morphology and carbon content of the samples on the heating behavior and the fractional reduction of MgO were investigated. Particularly, the initial graphite particle size was found as an important factor for heating and reduction behavior. Also, MgO-C brick was subjected to the microwave treatment and was found to be a candidate as Mg sources.

To understand the ecological role of cyanophage and its effect on nutrients cycling in the coastal marine environment, it is critical to understand cyanophage infectivity and the interactions that occur between the phage and its host, marine cyanobacterial picoplankton (Synechococcus sp.). We previously isolated a new virulent cyanophage (strain S-KM1), and here have investigated its seasonal infectivity of cyanophage, phycoerythrin-rich Synechococcus sp. (strain KFM001) in Kagoshima Bay. We found that the phage titers ranged from undetectable to 7.5×103/ml in autumn, and began to increase about one week after the onset of the Synechococcus autumn bloom. During the autumn months, the phage numbers oscillated in a fashion that mirrored levels of host abundance, showing a lag of about one week. We calculated that from 0.0055% to 2.1% of the host population per day was lysed by the phage during a Synechococcus bloom in autumn. This suggests that lytic phages have a noticeable effect on regulating the densities of marine Synechococcus populations.

The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of salvage chemotherapy with, P-IMVP-16/CBDCA, consisting of carboplatin (CBDCA), etoposide (VP-16), ifosfamide (IFM), and methotrexate (MTX), for patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) who had previously received CHOP [a regimen of cyclophosphamide, hydroxydaunomycin, Oncovin (vincristine), and prednisolone], as first-line chemotherapy. The 45 consecutively enrolled patients received methylprednisolone (mPSL) 1000 mg per body for 3 d (from day 1 to day 3), IFM 1000 mg/m(2) for 5 d (from day 1 to day 5), MTX 30 mg/m(2) on day 3 and day 10, VP-16 80 mg/m(2) for 3 d (from day 1 to day 3), and CBDCA 300 mg/m(2) on day 1, with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor every 21 d. Patients 70 yr of age or older were given 75% of the standard dose. The response rate [complete response (CR) plus partial response (PR)] was 55.6% (25/45), including 12 (26.7%) CR and 13 (28.9%) PR. The overall survival rate for the 45 patients was 31.1% at 1 yr and 17.3% at 2 yr. The failure-free survival rate for the 45 patients was 6.7% at 1 yr and 4.4% at 2 yr. The survival rate for the 25 responders was 48.0% at 1 yr and 24.0% at 2 yr, and the survival rate for the 20 non-responders was 10.0% at 1 yr (P 1) were significant unfavorable factors for overall survival. Although the major toxicity was neutropenia, no patient died of infection related to neutropenia. Non-hematological adverse effects were predominantly mild and tolerable. Unfortunately, the clinical outcome with P-IMVP-16/CBDCA was unfavorable, possibly because the study comprised consecutive patients who had received identified intensive chemotherapy, such as biweekly CHOP. Salvage chemotherapy with P-IMVP-16/CBDCA is not sufficient to cure relapsed or refractory aggressive NHL. Aggressive NHL should be cured by first-line chemotherapy with or without hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

A new cyanophage, strain S-KM1, infecting a phycoerythrin-rich Synechococcus sp., strain KFM001, was isolated from seawater of Kagoshima Bay. Transmission electron micrography of negative-stained specimens revealed that the phage isolate has an isometric head with a diameter of 83 nm and a contractile tail 166 nm in length and that it belongs to the family Cyanomyoviridae. The cyanophage was apparently virulent to the host strain KFM001 with a burst size of less than 70-80. The cyanophage may affect the population structure of the dominant picoplankton species in Kagoshima Bay.

Recently riparian trees (Robinia pseudo-acacia) in the course of gravel bed-river have extremely increased and enlarged their covered-area over bars and flood plain. Such a situation brings about problems of river management for the environmental aspects as well as the safety of rivers against flood.In this paper, the fall down process and the damage conditions of the riparian trees caused by the 1999, 2001 floods were examined in the segment-1 reach of Watarase River. Especially, from the field surveies after floods, it was clear that the damage, which the floods gave to the trees, could be classified by the scale of the flood external force. Based on the field study and numerical calculation with 2D-flow model, the critical tractive force to be a key index of the scale of flood disturbance was evaluated and results showed that the fall down process of riparian trees is based on the degradation of movable river-bed

To prospectively compare the capabilities of dynamic perfusion area-detector computed tomography (CT), dynamic magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, and positron emission tomography (PET) combined with CT (PET/CT) with use of fluorine 18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) for the diagnosis of solitary pulmonary nodules.The institutional review board approved this study, and written informed consent was obtained from each subject. A total of 198 consecutive patients with 218 nodules prospectively underwent dynamic perfusion area-detector CT, dynamic MR imaging, FDG PET/CT, and microbacterial and/or pathologic examinations. Nodules were classified into three groups: malignant nodules (n = 133) and benign nodules with low (n = 53) or high (n = 32) biologic activity. Total perfusion was determined with dual-input maximum slope models at area-detector CT, maximum and slope of enhancement ratio at MR imaging, and maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) at PET/CT. Next, all indexes for malignant and benign nodules were compared with the Tukey honest significant difference test. Then, receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed for each index. Finally, sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were compared with the McNemar test.All indexes showed significant differences between malignant nodules and benign nodules with low biologic activity (P.0001). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for total perfusion was significantly larger than that for other indexes (.0006 ≤ P ≤ .04). The specificity and accuracy of total perfusion were significantly higher than those of maximum relative enhancement ratio (specificity, P.0001; accuracy, P.0001), slope of enhancement ratio (specificity, P.0001; accuracy, P.0001), and SUVmax (specificity, P.0001; accuracy, P.0001).Dynamic perfusion area-detector CT is more specific and accurate than dynamic MR imaging and FDG PET/CT in the diagnosis of solitary pulmonary nodules in routine clinical practice.

Objectives To determine the appropriate parameters and evaluation method for characterizing solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs) using quantitative parameters of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI). Methods Thirty-two subjects with 36 SPNs underwent DWI with seven different b values (0, 50, 100, 150, 300, 500, and 1000 s/mm 2 ). Five quantitative parameters were obtained from the region of interest drawn over each SPN: apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs), true diffusion coefficients (DCs), and perfusion fractions (PFs), and signal–intensity ratios between lesion and spinal cord from DWI ( b values: 1000 [LSR 1000 ] and 500 [LSR 500 )]). All quantitative parameters and the diagnostic capabilities were statistically compared. Results SPNs were diagnosed as follow: malignant ( n = 27) and benign ( n = 9). Parameter comparisons for malignant and benign showed both LSRs differed significantly ( p 500 specificity (88.9% [8/9]) and accuracy (77.8% [28/36]) were significantly higher than ADC, DC, and PF specificity and accuracy ( p 1000 accuracy (72.2% [26/36]) was significantly higher than DC accuracy, and its specificity (88.9% [8/9]) was significantly higher than ADC, DC, and PF specificities ( p Conclusions For quantitative differentiation of SPNs, LSR evaluation was more useful and practical than ADC, DC, and PF, and choice of b values showed little impact for the differentiation.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, noncoding RNA molecules that regulate gene expression posttranscriptionally, targeting thousands of messenger RNAs. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), another class of noncoding RNAs, have been determined to be also involved in transcription regulation and translation of target genes. Since deregulated expression levels or functions of miRNAs and lncRNAs in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are frequently observed, clinical use of noncoding RNAs for novel diagnostic and therapeutic applications in the management of HCCs is highly and emergently expected. Here, we summarize recent findings regarding deregulated miRNAs and lncRNAs for their potential clinical use as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of HCC. Specifically, we emphasize the deregulated expression levels of such noncoding RNAs in patients’ sera as noninvasive biomarkers, a field that requires urgent improvement in the clinical surveillance of HCC. Since nucleotide-based strategies are being applied to clinical therapeutics, we further summarize clinical and preclinical trials using oligonucleotides involving the use of miRNAs and small interfering RNAs against HCC as novel therapeutics. Finally, we discuss current open questions, which must be clarified in the near future for realistic clinical applications of these new strategies.

EP4 is one of the prostaglandin E2 receptors, which is the most common prostanoid and is associated with inflammatory disease and cancer. We previously reported that over-expression of EP4 was one of the mechanisms responsible for progression to castration-resistant prostate cancer, and an EP4 antagonist ONO-AE3-208 in vivo suppressed the castration-resistant progression regulating the activation of androgen receptor. The aim of this study was to analyze the association of EP4 with prostate cancer metastasis and the efficacy of ONO-AE3-208 for suppressing the metastasis. The expression levels of EP4 mRNA were evaluated in prostate cancer cell lines, LNCaP, and PC3. EP4 over-expressing LNCaP was established, and their cell invasiveness was compared with the control LNCaP (LNCaP/mock). The in vitro cell proliferation, invasion, and migration of these cells were examined under different concentrations of ONO-AE3-208. An in vivo bone metastatic mouse model was constructed by inoculating luciferase expressing PC3 cells into left ventricle of nude mice. Their bone metastasis was observed by bioluminescent imaging with or without ONO-AE3-208 administration. The EP4 mRNA expression levels were higher in PC3 than in LNCaP, and EP4 over-expression of LNCaP cells enhanced their cell invasiveness. The in vitro cell invasion and migration were suppressed by ONO-AE3-208 in a dose-dependent manner without affecting cell proliferation. The in vivo bone metastasis of PC3 was also suppressed by ONO-AE3-208 treatment. EP4 expression levels were correlated with prostate cancer cell invasiveness and EP4 specific antagonist ONO-AE3-208 suppressed cell invasion, migration, and bone metastasis, indicating that it is a potential novel therapeutic modality for the treatment of metastatic prostate cancer.

The purpose of this article is to prospectively and directly compare the capabilities of non-contrast-enhanced MR angiography (MRA), 4D contrast-enhanced MRA, and contrast-enhanced MDCT for assessing pulmonary vasculature in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) before surgical treatment.A total of 77 consecutive patients (41 men and 36 women; mean age, 71 years) with pathologically proven and clinically assessed stage I NSCLC underwent thin-section contrast-enhanced MDCT, non-contrast-enhanced and contrast-enhanced MRA, and surgical treatment. The capability for anomaly assessment of the three methods was independently evaluated by two reviewers using a 5-point visual scoring system, and final assessment for each patient was made by consensus of the two readers. Interobserver agreement for pulmonary arterial and venous assessment was evaluated with the kappa statistic. Then, sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for the detection of anomalies were directly compared among the three methods by use of the McNemar test.Interobserver agreement for pulmonary artery and vein assessment was substantial or almost perfect (κ=0.72-0.86). For pulmonary arterial and venous variation assessment, there were no significant differences in sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy among non-contrast-enhanced MRA (pulmonary arteries: sensitivity, 77.1%; specificity, 97.4%; accuracy, 87.7%; pulmonary veins: sensitivity, 50%; specificity, 98.5%; accuracy, 93.2%), 4D contrast-enhanced MRA (pulmonary arteries: sensitivity, 77.1%; specificity, 97.4%; accuracy, 87.7%; pulmonary veins: sensitivity, 62.5%; specificity, 100.0%; accuracy, 95.9%), and thin-section contrast-enhanced MDCT (pulmonary arteries: sensitivity, 91.4%; specificity, 89.5%; accuracy, 90.4%; pulmonary veins: sensitivity, 50%; specificity, 100.0%; accuracy, 95.9%) (p0.05).Pulmonary vascular assessment of patients with NSCLC before surgical resection by non-contrast-enhanced MRA can be considered equivalent to that by 4D contrast-enhanced MRA and contrast-enhanced MDCT.

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this article is to review advanced imaging of pulmonary nodules, including pathologic and pharmacokinetic background, conventional contrast-enhanced CT and MRI assessment, dynamic contrast-enhanced CT and MRI techniques, and dual-source and area-detector CT systems for pulmonary nodule evaluation. CONCLUSION. Clinicians need to understand the underlying principles and pathologic and pharmacokinetic backgrounds of contrast-enhanced CT and MRI to further improve diagnostic performance. With adjustments in image acquisition and postprocessing, contrast-enhanced CT and MRI, especially the dynamic versions, can have enhanced clinical application for pulmonary nodules and expanded clinical relevance for other thoracic diseases.

High-resolution matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization imaging mass spectrometry (HR-MALDI-IMS) is an emerging application for the comprehensive and detailed analysis of the spatial distribution of ionized molecules in situ on tissue slides. HR-MALDI-IMS in negative mode in a mass range of m/z 500-1000 was performed on optimal cutting temperature (OCT) compound-embedded human prostate tissue samples obtained from patients with prostate cancer at the time of radical prostatectomy. HR-MALDI-IMS analysis of the 14 samples in the discovery set identified 26 molecules as highly expressed in the prostate. Tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) showed that these molecules included 14 phosphatidylinositols (PIs), 3 phosphatidylethanolamines (PEs) and 3 phosphatidic acids (PAs). Among the PIs, the expression of PI(18:0/18:1), PI(18:0/20:3) and PI(18:0/20:2) were significantly higher in cancer tissue than in benign epithelium. A biomarker algorithm for prostate cancer was formulated by analyzing the expression profiles of PIs in cancer tissue and benign epithelium of the discovery set using orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA). The sensitivity and specificity of this algorithm for prostate cancer diagnosis in the 24 validation set samples were 87.5 and 91.7%, respectively. In conclusion, HR-MALDI-IMS identified several PIs as being more highly expressed in prostate cancer than benign prostate epithelium. These differences in PI expression profiles may serve as a novel diagnostic tool for prostate cancer.

Convective heat and mass transports are important in the high-temperature metallurgical processing in order to optimize the reaction process as well as to ensure the material quality during solidification and during the crystal growth process. Besides of forced and natural convection, the interfacial convection in the vicinity of the interfaces plays an important role in total transport process. In this chapter, the basic explanations on interfacial convection are provided at first and the effect of interfacial flow in the reaction technique (liquid–liquid, gas–solid, liquid–solid) and in solidification process are then presented. After the basic explanations, the effect of interfacial flow in the reaction technique (liquid–liquid, gas–liquid, liquid–solid) and in solidification process will be presented.

The sequences of small subunit ribosomal RNA gene (SSU rDNA) and pigment composition were examined for the five filamentous bacteria isolated from the unialgal cultures of marine microalgae Chattonella marina, Heterosigma akashiwo, or Tetraselmis sp. The SSU rDNA data suggested that the filamentous bacteria were clustered into the same species, which belonged to the Roseobacter group in α-proteobacteria. Sequence similarities of SSU rDNA to each of the other strains were more than 99%. The strains possessed bacteriochlorophyll a, but were different in carotenoid composition: four of the strains contained a carotenoid that was similar to spheroidenone but the other one did not.

Inhaled nitric oxide, a selective pulmonary vasodilator, decreases mean pulmonary artery pressure and pulmonary vascular resistance and improves oxygenation in previously unobtainable ways without significant changes in systemic hemodynamics. We report successful treatment of a patient with acute graft dysfunction after living-donor lobar lung transplantation using nitric oxide inhalation.

SUMMARY: Marine labyrinthulid isolates produced algal lytic zones on the double-layer agar with living cells of diatom, whereas they formed thin film-like colonies on agar media containing bacterial cell extracts or dead cell debris. Phospholipid fraction extracted from bacterial cells such as Vibrio parahaemolyticus stimulated the colony formation of labyrinthulid isolates. The molecular phylogenetic analysis using SSU rDNA sequences indicated that labyrinthulid isolates made a clade with some representatives belonging to the Labyrinthulida. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) was found to be the fatty acid with the highest content in cellular lipids of a representative strain L95-2 increasing up to 80% of total fatty acids dependent on culture conditions.

A case of malignant epithelioid hemangioendothelioma of the liver in a 48-year-old woman with severe portal hypertension and marked deformity of the liver is presented. This woman had a history of mild liver dysfunction since the age of 30 years, and abdominal distention, esophageal varices, splenomegaly and ascites since October 1996. Imaging examinations revealed liver deformity with severe atrophy of the left lobe and the anterior segment of the right lobe. Celiac arteriography showed narrowing and upward deviation of the proper hepatic artery, and occlusion of the left and right anterior hepatic arteries. Since March 1997, hepatic venography showed stenosis in the right hepatic vein truncus. Budd-Chiari syndrome was clinically diagnosed. She died in June 1997. The autopsy disclosed massive tumor embolism in the left and right anterior portal branches, few in the hepatic artery, and occlusion of the left and right anterior hepatic arteries. The extensive tumor embolism resulted in portal hypertension, and atrophy of the left lobe. The anterior segment of the right lobe was probably caused by the occlusion of both the hepatic arteries and the portal veins. The posterior segment of the right lobe, without massive tumor embolism in its portal branch, appeared hypertrophic.

To clarify the limitations of transcatheter treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with parasitic feeders from the cystic artery.Three male patients had a solitary HCC (average diameter 3 cm) fed by the cystic artery among 221 patients with HCC from 1994 to 1997. One tumor was nourished entirely from the cystic artery arising from the medial branch of the left hepatic artery, and two tumors were fed partially by the cystic arteries arising from the anterior inferior branch of the right hepatic artery. We analyzed the indications for transcatheter treatment for these three patients.We chose not to embolize the cystic artery for fear of necrosis of the gallbladder. Although embolization of the anterior branch of the right hepatic artery was performed in one patient with a tumor fed partially by the cystic artery, only half the tumor was embolized. Two patients underwent hepatic resection, and one received percutaneous ethanol injection therapy. At follow-up of 28-40 months (average 33 months) all patients are alive.Feeding by the cystic artery represents a limitation of TAE for HCC.

Our aim is concerned with clustering or grouping of quasi-streamwise vortices. A fact that quasi-streamwise vortices are not distributed homogeneously but intermittently populated in space in a wall layer, is shown at first by referring to a Direct Numerical Simulation(DNS)data for a channel flow. Then, Regeneration property of quasi-streamwise vortices is one of the crucially important possible mechanisms for this clustering is shown by a simplified non-dynamical simulation. Next, a wavelet decomposition of quasi-streamwise vortices in two scale-based groups is shown. The interaction between vortices of two groups indicates that individual quasi-streamwise vortices can not survive long without assistance of surrounding large scale structure which is adapted for them. Thus, it is pointed out that large scale structure around a cluster of vortices is an important coherent ctructure to be investigated more in detail.

Unusual wetting behavior of liquid Cu was found on a surface-oxidized iron substrate in reducing atmosphere. Liquid Cu wetted and spread very widely on the iron substrate when a droplet was attached with the substrate in Ar-10%H2 after the surface oxidation of the substrate. The oxidationreduction process fabricates a porous layer at the surface of the iron substrate. The pores in the porous iron layer are 3-dimensionally interconnected. Thus, liquid metals, which are contacted with the reduced iron samples, penetrate into these pores by capillary force to cause the unusual wetting behavior. It has been already confirmed that liquid Ag, Sn, In and Bi show this phenomenon onto surface-porous iron samples as well as liquid Cu. This unusual wetting behavior of a liquid metal has been correlated to the normal contact angle of the liquid metal on a flat iron substrate.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the utility of the iterative reconstruction (IR) technique for quantitative bronchial assessment during low-dose computed tomography (CT) as a substitute for standard-dose CT in patients with/without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Fifty patients (mean age, 69.2; mean % predicted FEV1, 79.4) underwent standard-dose CT (150mAs) and low-dose CT (25mAs). Except for tube current, the imaging parameters were identical for both protocols. Standard-dose CT was reconstructed using filtered back-projection (FBP), and low-dose CT was reconstructed using IR and FBP. For quantitative bronchial assessment, the wall area percentage (WA%) of the sub-segmental bronchi and the airway luminal volume percentage (LV%) from the main bronchus to the peripheral bronchi were acquired in each dataset. The correlation and agreement of WA% and LV% between standard-dose CT and both low-dose CTs were statistically evaluated. WA% and LV% between standard-dose CT and both low-dose CTs were significant correlated (r > 0.77, p

This article proposes an application using a reinforcement learning (RL) approach to the card game Wizard. The aim is to create a computer player that is able to learn a winning strategy for the game by himself. Wizard is a partially observable competitive multiplayer game that consists of two game phases, forecasting and trick playing. The biggest challenges in creating a strong player are dealing with multiple rounds which have a different grade of imperfection and the decision on the forecast at the beginning of every game round. We introduce an RL approach to the problem by adopting an existing RL algorithm to the playing phase of the game and by implementing an evaluator of the player's hand card using a Multi-Player-Perceptron to conduct the forecast. The results of our experiments show that the player is able to improve his playing strategy through learning. At the beginning the performance of the learning agent is very bad due to the bad forecasting behavior, but he is able to improve his performance over a few training episodes from 0% won games to approximately 25.68% won games in an experiment with 4 players. Therefore he plays equally strong as his opponents and even outperforms one of them.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a threat to public health worldwide. We previously identified the association of a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) at the promoter region of the MHC class I polypeptide-related sequence A (MICA) gene with the risk of hepatitis-virus-related HCC. Because this SNP affects MICA expression levels, regulating MICA expression levels may be important in the prevention of HCC. We herein show that the microRNA (miR) 25-93-106b cluster can modulate MICA levels in HCC cells. Overexpression of the miR 25-93-106b cluster significantly suppressed MICA expression. Conversely, silencing of this miR cluster enhanced MICA expression in cells that express substantial amounts of MICA. The changes in MICA expression levels by the miR25-93-106b cluster were biologically significant in an NKG2D-binding assay and an in vivo cell-killing model. These data suggest that the modulation of MICA expression levels by miRNAs may be a useful method to regulate HCCs during hepatitis viral infection.

A widespread downregulated expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) is commonly observed in human cancers. Similarly, deregulated expression of miRNA-processing pathway components, which results in the reduction of global miRNA expression, may also be associated with tumorigenesis. Here, we show that specific ablation of Dicer1 in intestinal epithelial cells accelerates intestinal inflammation-associated tumorigenesis. This effect was apparent only when a single copy of Dicer1 was deleted, but not with complete Dicer1 ablation. DICER expression and subsequent mature miRNA levels were inversely correlated with the number of intact Dicer1 alleles. Because the expression levels of DICER were retained in tumors and its surrounding tissues even after induction of colitis-associated tumors, the effects of Dicer1 deletion were cell-autonomous. Although the expression levels of representative oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes were in most cases inversely correlated with the expression levels of DICER, some genes were not affected by Dicer1 deletion. Thus, deregulating the delicate balance between the expression levels of tumor-promoting and -suppressive genes may be crucial for tumorigenesis in this unique haploinsufficient case.

Polyphenols are representative bioactive substances with diverse biological effects. Here, we show that apigenin, a flavonoid, has suppressive effects on microRNA (miRNA) function. The effects were mediated by impaired maturation of a subset of miRNAs, probably through inhibition of the phosphorylation of TRBP, a component of miRNA-generating complexes via impaired mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) Erk activation. While glucose intolerance was observed in miRNA103 (miR103)-overexpressing transgenic mice, administration of apigenin improved this pathogenic status likely through suppression of matured miR103 expression levels. These results suggest that apigenin may have favorable effects on the pathogenic status induced by overexpression of miRNA103, whose maturation is mediated by phosphorylated TRBP.

Two patients underwent resection of renal malignant tumors involving vena cava. Such tumors occasionally extend to the inferior vena cava with tumor thrombus and invasion to the lymph nodes and adjacent organs. Perioperative management of patients with these tumors is difficult because of the risk of pulmonary embolism and massive bleeding, and requires appropriate cooperation among the surgical team. In case 1, a 56-year-old man, renal cell carcinoma with tumor thrombus had extended into the intrahepatic vena cava. It was resected after isolating the liver from vena cava and incising the cross-clamped inferior vena cava without extracorporeal circulation or blood transfusion. A prosthetic graft replaced the inferior vena cava. In case 2, a 64-year-old woman, renal pelvis cancer adhered to the inferior vena cava and the mesentery with enlarged lymph nodes. It was separated from the inferior vena cava and removed with the ascending colon. The patient received a blood transfusion of approximately 2,000ml. Cardiomyopathy associated with a left ventricular outflow tract pressure gradient of 100mmHg required perioperative management. After surgery, both patients underwent controlled ventilation in the intensive care unit. After recovery, they were discharged without complications. We discuss perioperative management, with regard to the level of the tumor extension and perioperative complications.

The effect of an oxygen-releasing compound (ORC) magnesium peroxide (MgO(2)) on the changes in the bacterial community in organically polluted sediment of aquaculture farms was tested in a microcosm experiment. The sediment, to which fish feed was added, was treated with 1% or 5% MgO(2). The addition of fish feed induced a highly reduced environment with low redox potential, high total sulfides, and abundance of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) . Although the sediment remained highly reduced at 1% MgO(2), there was a significant reduction of total sulfides, increase of redox potential, and resultant reduction of SRB. The bacterial community clearly changed with the treatments according to denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis of 16S ribosomal RNA gene (16S rDNA) . Aerobes disappeared in the fish feed-added sediment, and some SRB emerged in place of these aerobes. On the other hand, the SRB disappeared in the ORC-amended sediment due to its highly oxic condition. This study revealed the bacterial community in the sediments was affected mainly by the redox potential and resultant sulfides produced by SRB, but total organic carbon and nitrogen were not determinants of the microbial population.