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The size advantage model was applied to predict the behavioural gender- role in simultaneous hermaphrodites. The results from our previous study indicated that small snails of the species Physa acuta preferred to act as males and large ones as both male and female; thus, we did not show clear genderrole switching pattern associated with body size. In the present study, we tested whether a trade-off exists between future growth and current reproduction depending on body size and whether small snails allocate more resources to growth rather than reproduction. A multiple regression analysis indicated that small snails show a higher growth rate than large snails, while the large ones produce more eggs than the small ones. Thus, a trade-off was observed between current reproduction and future growth, which indicates that gender adaptation are associated with body size in Physa acuta.

The effects of glucagon on serine: pyruvate/alanine: glyoxylate aminotransferase (SPT/AGT) gene expression were studied in primary cultured rat hepatocytes. When hepatocytes had been precultured for 16-18 h under serum- and hormone-free conditions, the addition of glucagon caused (after a lag period of about 2 h) a remarkable increase in the cellular level of SPT/AGT mRNA by 4 h in a time- and dose-dependent manner. The induced mRNA was that for mitochondrial SPT/AGT, as judged by ribonuclease protection analysis. A nuclear run-on assay revealed that activation of transcription is responsible for the increase in mitochondrial SPT/AGT mRNA and that the maximal rate of transcription occurs 1.5 h after glucagon addition. The effect of glucagon was mimicked by 8-bromo-cAMP and suppressed by N-[2-(p-bromocinnamylamino)ethyl]-5-isoquinolinesulfonamide, an inhibitor of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (protein kinase A), while both 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate and A23187 were without effect in elevating the SPT/AGT mRNA level, suggesting that the cAMP/protein kinase A system is involved in the regulation of SPT/AGT gene expression. In hepatocytes precultured for 16-18 h under serum- and hormone-free conditions, the glucagon-induced transcription was severely inhibited by cycloheximide. When the preculture was for 2 h, on the other hand, the activation of transcription by glucagon was more rapid, and the inhibition by cycloheximide was less than that observed with cells precultured for 16-18 h, suggesting that a short-lived protein factor is involved in the hormonal regulation. The glucagon-induced expression of the SPT/AGT gene was also turned off by dexamethasone.

A consensus does not yet seem to have been reached concerning the scope and the functions menu of "multimedia telecommunication services". We analyze the telecommunication service features and propose a multimedia telecommunication service model. Then the service image of multimedia newspapers and games is described and evaluated.

The combination of docetaxel (TXT), gemcitabine (GEM), and cisplatin (CDDP) produced a regression in a squamous cell carcinoma of the lung that had recurred after radiation therapy plus chemotherapy, and was resistant to the combination of carboplatin (CBDCA) with etoposide (ETP) or paclitaxel (TXL). The patient was a 62-year-old man with squamous cell lung cancer, which was first successfully treated by a combination of radiation therapy and chemotherapy, but showed local recurrence after 8 months. Although the recurrence was treated with CBDCA plus ETP and then TXL, the tumor continued to grow with symptomatic progression of airway stenosis. The tumor began to regress after the regimen of TXT, GEM and CDDP was started. This therapy achieved PR with symptomatic improvement. The combination of TXT, GEM and CDDP may be effective for recurrent non-small-cell lung carcinoma, even in patients that have failed to respond to more than one chemotherapy regimen.

To investigate the role of the cardiac sympathetic nervous system in left ventricular remodelling, 50 patients with first-time acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and patency of the infarct-related artery after reperfusion underwent quantitative iodine-123 metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) imaging at 4 days and 4 weeks (n=42), and quantitative technetium-99m tetrofosmin imaging at 2 days after AMI. They also underwent both ventriculography and coronary angiography on admission and about 4 weeks after AMI. On the basis of left ventricular end-systolic volume (LVESV), patients were divided into two groups. Patients with LVESV dilatation (n=20) had a significantly lower ejection fraction (P0.003) and a significantly higher severity score of 99mTc-tetrofosmin (P0.04), and total severity (P0.01), delta extent (P0.007) and delta severity (P0.0008) scores of MIBG than patients without LVESV dilatation (n=30). delta severity score of MIBG was directly correlated with change in LVESV at 4 weeks (r=0.63, P0.0001). Stepwise linear discriminant function analysis showed that delta severity score of MIBG (P0.0002) was the only discriminator of LVESV dilatation. Patients with LVESV dilatation had higher regional washout rates in both the infarct and the non-infarct zones than patients without such dilatation. Furthermore, no MIBG parameters changed significantly between 4 days and 4 weeks after AMI. In reperfused AMI, delta severity score of MIBG was related to the degree of ventricular dilatation and was the only powerful discriminator of ventricular dilatation. These results suggest that cardiac sympathetic nervous abnormality might contribute to left ventricular remodelling in reperfused AMI. MIBG imaging may allow identification of reperfused AMI patients at high risk for left ventricular remodelling.

The growth cone is considered the precursor of the presynaptic terminal. To elucidate the minimal molecular machinery required for exocytosis, we examined the characteristics of alpha-latrotoxin-induced exocytosis in growth cones. In isolated growth cones (IGC), neurotransmitters were released in a SNARE-dependent manner, but rab3A cycling was blocked. By supplying rabphilin, a rab3A acceptor found in low levels in IGC, the IGC obtained as high an exocytotic efficiency as adult synaptosomes, and the complete GDP-GTP conversion of rab3A occurred on growth cone vesicles (GCV). GCVs bound SNAREs but not NSF or alpha-SNAP; whereas in the rabphilin-supplied IGC, GCVs recruited both NSF and alpha-SNAP, to form the SNARE-NSF-SNAP complex. These results suggest that rab3A cycling is dependent upon the accumulation of rabphilin and is completed later than the SNARE mechanism, and that rabphilin is involved in determining the efficiency of exocytosis by modifying the SNARE mechanism.

The recently developed whole blood rapid assay for cardiac troponin T (TROP T) was evaluated by a cooperative study of general practitioners and office cardiologists in the Tokyo area (Tokyo TROP T Trial). Seventy patients with suspected acute myocardial infarction treated at 14 medical clinics were enrolled in this study. The diagnostic efficacy of troponin T was compared with that of electrocardiographic evaluations and clinical standards for diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction. Twelve of the 70 patients (17.1%) had final diagnoses of acute myocardial infarction or severe unstable angina necessitating emergency coronary intervention. Troponin T was judged as positive when simultaneously measured serum troponin T was more than 0.25 ng/ml. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 100%, 58.6%, 33.3%, and 100% for electrocardiographic evaluation, and 58.3%, 100%, 100%, and 92.1% for troponin T, respectively. Presence of bundle branch block (11/70 cases) or previous myocardial infarction (14/70 cases) caused false positive readings on electrocardiography, and resulted in the lower positive predictive value. In contrast, troponin T was false in patients admitted within 4 hours after the onset, or patients with smaller infarct. The Tokyo TROP T Trial by general practitioners and office cardiologists concluded that the combination of electrocardiographic evaluation and use of troponin T is a rapid and efficient diagnostic method for the evaluation of patients with suspected acute myocardial infarction.

We reported two young adults (a 42-year-old female and a 45-year-old male) with tension type headache who had a patent foramen ovale and atrial septal aneurysm demonstrated by transesophageal echocardiography, associated with asymptomatic cerebral infarctions. There were multiple subcortical infarctions in the frontal and parietal lobes in case 1, and cerebral infarctions in the right corona radiata, head and body of the caudate nucleus, and putamen in case 2. The two cases did not have hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, cardiac diseases detected by electrocardiography and transthoracic echocardiography, and abnormality of intracranial and extracranial arteries by ultrasound sonography and cerebral angiography. Transeosophageal echocardiography revealed atrial septal aneurysm, and showed right-to-left shunt (patent foramen ovale) by Valsalva maneuver. Two cases were diagnosed as paradoxical cerebral embolism associated with a patent foramen ovale. If asymptomatic cerebral infarctions are cryptogenic stroke, a patent foramen ovale and atrial septal aneurysm should be examined by transesophageal echocardiography with Valsalva maneuver.

A 46-year-old woman complained of a back pain and was pointed the abnormal shadow on chest X-ray by the physician, so she consulted our hospital in January 1987. After a few weeks, the size of the shadow decreased with no treatment, then we followed up her with roentgenograms. Since '91, its size had increased again. Needle biopsy did not give us the diagnosis, but we performed the operation because we suspected some malignant disease. We resected the tumor with the enough surgical margin. Its size was 4 x 3 x 3 cm, its surface was white and smooth. Its was elastic hard and had the pedicle which jointed the visceral pleura. Histological diagnosis was the localized fibrous mesothelioma.

A 70-year-old male was admitted because of cough and sputum. Chest X-ray showed bilateral interstitial shadows, and usual interstitial pneumonitis was diagnosed by TBLB and BAL. He was followed without medication. The dyspnea increased and the abnormal shadow spread on chest X-ray. Autoimmune hemolytic anemia was newly diagnosed because the RBC count was 195 x 10(4)/mm3, Hb was 8.6 g/dl, and direct Coombs test and warm antibody were positive. In this case, there appears to be a relationship between deterioration of interstitial pneumonia and the on-set of autoimmune hemolytic anemia.

Total DNA was extracted from leaves of Bupleurum falcatum originating from eight different habitats in Japan and hybridized with digoxigenin-labeled rice ribosomal DNA after digestion with various restriction enzymes. The resulting DNA fingerprints allowed us to distinguish the geographic populations of B. falcatum when the DNA was digested with Dra I, Kpn I or Taq I. A dendrogram based on the RFLP profiles indicated that B. falcatum distributing in northern Kyushu and Yamaguchi Prefecture is classified into a taxon or subtaxon that can be differentiated from the plants grown in other regions.

The photon correlation function G(2)(τ) of scattered light from particles suspended in a solution is composed of three terms. By a suitable normalization it is written as where τ is the time interval and 〈N〉 the number of particles in the scattering volume. The first term on the right hand side is the dc-term, the second is the self-beat term, and the third is the number fluctuation term. Both the second and the third terms carry information of velocities of particles. We have weighted the second term by the factor η, which is η ≤ 1, to take into account the effect of the degree of coherence of scattered light. Laser doppler velocimetry and laser speckle velocimetry use the second self-beat term. For such purposes η is taken to close to unity and the number 〈N〉 is large. On the contrary, by reducing η and 〈N〉, the third number fluctuation term is relatively enhanced and can be used for velocimetry ; i.e. the number fluctuation laser velocimetry.

The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of SPECT imaging of the thorax with 99mTc-DTPA, which accumulates at sites of increased capillary permeability and expanded extracellular space, by comparing it with delayed 123I-IMP lung scintigraphy. We have previously reported that increased uptake on delayed 123I-IMP lung scintigraphy was associated with atelectasis and inflammation. Thirteen patients with lung cancer (4 with atelectasis and 3 with pleurisy), one patient with malignant lymphoma complicated by pneumonia and pleurisy, and one patient with pneumonia were studied. 99mTc-DTPA scintigraphy was performed twice, 20-160 minutes and 2-4 hours after the intravenous administration of 370 MBq of 99mTc-DTPA. 123I-IMP scintigraphy was performed 24 hours after the intravenous injection of 111 MBq of 123I-IMP. SPECT images were obtained with both types of scintigraphy. 99mTc-DTPA scintigraphy was compared with 123I-IMP scintigraphy for its ability to detect atelectasis and pneumonia. All patients showed increased accumulation corresponding to the lesions on both 123I-IMP and 99mTc-DTPA scintigraphy. 123I-IMP scintigraphy showed a defect corresponding to the tumor with increased accumulation around the tumor, whereas 99mTc-DTPA scintigraphy showed accumulation corresponding to the tumor. Ten of 11 tumors showed accumulation of an intensity equal to that of the soft tissue of the chest wall on 20-60 min 99mTc-DTPA images. The 2-4 hr images showed that 99mTc-DTPA leaked from the periphery of the tumor toward its center. All the patients with pleurisy showed increased accumulation in effusion on 2-4 hr 99mTc-DTPA scintigraphy.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

We have previously reported that increased tracer accumulation on delayed 123I-IMP scintigraphy is associated with atelectasis and inflammation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic values of delayed 123I-IMP lung scintigraphy, compared with gallium scintigraphy. Ten patients with atelectasis caused by lung cancer and 7 patients with inflammatory diseases were studied. Inflammatory lung disease included 4 cases of pneumonia, 2 of interstitial pneumonitis, and 1 of diffuse panbronchiolitis. Delayed 123I-IMP scintigraphy was performed 24 hours after intravenous injection of 111 MBq of 123I-IMP. In 14 patients, the SPECT images were obtained. Gallium scintigraphy was done within 7 days of 123I-IMP scintigraphy and the images were obtained 72 hours after the administration of 111 MBq of 67Ga-citrate. 123I-IMP scintigraphy was compared with gallium scintigraphy for its ability to detect atelectasis. The degree of uptake by the collapsed lobes was judged visually on planar images and rated using four grades: negative, slight, moderate and heavy. All the cases showed moderate or intense uptake on the 123I-IMP images, whereas with gallium scintigraphy there was no change corresponding with lobar collapse in 8 out of 10 cases. Of the remaining 2 cases, one had tumor in the collapsed lobe and the other had obstructive pneumonia. In inflammatory lung diseases, the correlation of 123I-IMP and gallium images regarding degree of change shown on chest X-ray film was studied. The degree of correlation was classified using four grade: poor, fair, good and excellent.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

In the Raman spectrum of superfluid 4He under saturated vapour pressure at 1.51K, fine structures have been observed at energy shifts closely corresponding to twice the energies of the extremal points of the phonon-roton dispersion curve. From the observed cusps, twice the energies of the maximum and plateau regions of the dispersion curve have been determined to be 2 Delta 1=27.5+or-0.5K and 2 Delta 2=34.8+or-0.5K respectively. The two-roton bound state has been resolved as a pronounced single peak, and twice the roton energy and the attractive binding energy of the two-roton state have been determined to be 2 Delta 0=17.1+or-0.5K and EB=0.5+or-0.3K respectively. The observed fine structures clearly show the existence of the interactions between two elementary excitations having opposite and equal wavevectors.

Single crystals of Cd(In1-xCrx)2S4 have been made with values of x of 0, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20, 0.26, 0.93, and 1.00. Laser Raman spectra of lattice vibrational modes in those samples have been measured at 92K with three different wavelengths of excitation light; 488.0 nm, 514.5 nm, and 632.8 nm. The changes due to mixing are discussed in four spectral aspects: the relative intensity ratios of different vibrational modes, the mode frequencies, the spectral widths and the depolarisation properties.

Raman spectra of liquid 3He have been measured with vertically and horizontally polarised incident beams, with the direction of the easy axis of the analysing polariser vertical, under a pressure of 2.05 kg cm-2 at 1.21 K. The depolarisation property of the Raman spectrum of liquid 3He has been found to be similar to that of normal liquid 4He.

A method to compensate the laser power fluctuation in the photon correlation spectroscopy has been developed. In the method, as the key TTL IC element, rate multipliers are used to modulate the sequential digital photoelectron pulses by the parallel digital signal which is processed to be proportional to the inverse of the incident laser intensity. Details of the circuit design are given. To show the usefulness of the method, a case is illustrated in which the ac line noise is compensated in the observation of the Brownian motion of polystyrene latex spheres suspended in water. The bandwidth of the method is estimated to be about 180 kHz.

The emission spectrum of the CH3S radical is obtained in the photolysis of CH3SCH3 by using a xenon resonance lamp. The emission is also obtained in the photolysis of CH3SSCH3 at ca. 200 nm irradiation as well as at 147.0 nm irradiation. The excitation threshold to produce CH3S fluorescence in the photolysis of CH3SSCH3 is determined to be 202 ± 3 nm or 6.14 ± 0.09 eV. The ratios of electronic quenching rate to fluorescence rate of CH3S* with N2, H2, D2 and CH4 are determined.

Critical exponents γx and νx obtained from the angular distribution of scattered intensity measured at relatively large temperature distances [t= (T−Tc)/Tc≳5×10−4] from the plait point gave values of 1.40±0.02 and 0.73±0.04 which are in good agreement with the values γx=γ/(1−α) =1.23/(7/8) =1.41 and νx=ν/(1−α) =0.63/(7/8) =0.72 obtained by renormalization of critical exponents for binary fluid mixtures.

Lung studies with N-Isopropyl-I-123-p-Iodoamphetamine (IMP) were performed on patients with lung cancer or inflammatory disease. In the present study, we evaluated the usefulness of the delayed scintigraphy. The subjects consisted of 27 patients with lung cancer (34 lesions), 3 with radiation pneumonitis, 2 with interstitial pneumonitis, 2 with old tuberculous lesion (tuberculomas), 1 with diffuse panbronchiolitis, 1 with pneumonia and 1 with lung abscess. The delayed scintigraphy was performed 24 hr after intravenous injection of 3 mCi IMP, in sitting position. In 10 patients, SPECT images were obtained following the delayed scintigraphy. Delayed scintigraphic appearances of lung cancer were classified into 5 types, high IMP uptake in the area congruent with the lesion of atelectasis and/or obstructive pneumonia (Type I), high IMP uptake in the area surrounded the tumor (Type II), a defect in the area consistent with the tumor and no high IMP uptake in the area surrounded the tumor (Type III), high IMP uptake in the area almost congruent with the tumor (Type IV) and no significant change (Type V). Excluding 10 lesions with Type IV or V, no IMP uptake was seen in the areas congruent with the tumors. Type II was the most frequently observed pattern. Normal scintigrams (Type V) were observed in 8 lesions, whose sizes were fairly small. There was no definite trend caused by difference in histological types of cancers. In 8 patients with viable inflammatory disease of the lung, the delayed scintigrams showed high IMP uptake in the areas congruent with the abnormalities on chest roentgenograms.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

In our recent measurements of Raman scattering from superfluid 4He [1–6], we have found several new results which in one part verify theoretical predictions left untested and in another part demand re-investigation of seemingly well established concept of two-roton bound state. HALLEY discusses theoretical problems in this volume, and we describe experimental results in this report.

Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-0 thin films were prepared by using a rf magnetron sputtering. The films were grown on MgO substrates at 300°C cyclically by sputtering through an off-centered shutter hole while rotating the substrate table. Then the films were annealed at 860°C for 10 hours in the mixture of O2/N2=1/10.

In place of conventional sonic injection gas puff valves, a supersonic gas injection nozzle has been developed to neutralize the pulsed ion beams extracted from Applied‐B magnetically insulated diodes. This valve is driven by the magnetic pressure produced by the diode field coil. The features of this nozzle are its simple geometry, repetition capability, and easy timeable operation. Amounts of gas introduced in the diode section depend on the plenum pressure. Preliminary results of beam neutralization are described briefly.

The temperature effect of anode dielectric materials on ion beam turn‐on time is examined in a magnetically insulated pulsed ion diode. It is observed that the turn‐on time decreased with temperature increase. This effect may be explained by a simple model in which electrons bombard the anode surface to generate desorbed and evaporated gas and trigger surface flashover to produce an anode plasma.