Search

Filial imprinting in precocial birds is a useful model for studying early learning and cognitive development, as it is characterized by a well-defined sensitive or critical period. We recently showed that the thyroid hormone 3,5,3′-triiodothyronine (T3) determines the onset of the sensitive period. Moreover, exogenous injection of T3 into the intermediate medial mesopallium (IMM) region (analogous to the associative cortex in mammals) enables imprinting even on post-hatch day 4 or 6 when the sensitive period has been terminated. However, the neural mechanisms downstream from T3 action in the IMM region remain elusive. Here, we analyzed the functional involvement of the intermediate hyperpallium apicale (IMHA) in T3 action. Bilateral excitotoxic ablation of the IMHA prevented imprinting in newly hatched chicks, and also suppressed the recovery of the sensitive period by systemic intra-venous or localized intra-IMM injection of T3 in day-4 chicks. In contrast to the effect in the IMM, direct injection of T3 into the IMHA did not enable imprinting in day-4 chicks. Moreover, bilateral ablation of IMHA after imprinting training impaired recall. These results suggest that the IMHA is critical for memory acquisition downstream following T3 action in the IMM and further, that it receives and retains information stored in the IMM for recall. Furthermore, both an avian adeno-associated viral construct containing an anterograde tracer (wheat-germ agglutinin) and a retrograde tracer (cholera toxin subunit B) revealed neural connections from the IMM to the IMHA. Taken together, our findings suggest that hierarchical processes from the primary area (IMM) to the secondary area (IMHA) are required for imprinting.

本論文の目的は、北東アジア地域における包括的平和教育による武力紛争予防メカニズムの構築を探求することである。戦後60年以上たったにもかかわらず、まだ解決されていないさまざまな問題がある。歴史を背景とする紛争に対する解決策を見出すには、市民社会による地域協力の努力によって過去を乗り越えることが必要と考える。北東アジア地域では、過去の日本の植民地化と侵略戦争による様々な問題が今日まで継続している。そのような状況の中で、日本と隣人の国々との間に良い関係と平和を築くには平和教育は不可欠であると考える。北東アジアの国と日本の良好な関係を築くための平和教育を実現するには、周りを慈しみ、定めた目標に向かって他を導くことができ、協調的な解決策を創造できるリーダーシップが必要であると指摘した。また、戦前日本の植民地時代、第二次世界大戦中、中国、韓国、台湾等で起きた戦争犯罪法廷で裁かれなかった事件が未解決であり、その事件によって人権や人間としての尊厳を侵害された被害者たちが癒され、過去を乗り越え、和解という解決策に導くために、本論文では平和教育におけるリーダーシップと許しの役割を探求した。

This investigation aims at developing a compact model for the embedded diode in Super-Junction MOSFETs applicable for more than 500V bias conditions. It is demonstrated that the reverse-recovery effect is different from the conventional stand-alone pin diode. The reason is the extension of the depletion at the additional p/n junction in the Super-Junction MOSFET under reverse bias applications. The depletion region prevents the current flow and thus forcing the rapid charge dissipation from the device. We have developed an embedded diode model on the basis of HiSIM-Diode originally developed for the conventional pin diode.

The mechanical properties of shape-memory polymers depend on stress, strain, temperature, time, and their hysteresis. In order to evaluate the mechanical properties – testing for each property is performed. The tests for the basic mechanical properties, tensile deformation, creep and stress relaxation, shape fixity and shape recovery, shape fixity and shape recovery of foam, recovery stress, and secondary shape forming – are explained. Future trends are also introduced.

The subloop deformation behaviour of a TiNi shape memory alloy (SMA) under various loading conditions was investigated. Creep and stress relaxation were induced for stress-controlled subloop loadings. The results obtained can be summarized as follows: 1. In the case of subloop loading under stress-controlled conditions, strain increases under constant stress in the loading process and decreases in the unloading process. Creep and creep recovery appear owing to martensitic transformation (MT). 2. In the case of subloop loading under stress-controlled conditions, stress decreases under constant strain in the loading process and increases in the unloading process. Stress relaxation and stress recovery appear owing to martensitic transformation. 3. In the case of subloop loading under strain controlled-conditions with a low strain rate, the reloading stress-strain curve passes through the unloading start point. In the case of stress-controlled conditions, return-point memory does not appear. 4. The above behaviour of the return-point memory and pseudoviscoelastic behaviour of creep and stress relaxation appear according to the martensitic transformation and the reverse transformation, based on variations in stress and temperature.

In sweet potato tuber, which is a tropical plant, long-term storage leads to loss of water and carbohydrate, thus water mobility was investigated using 1 H-NMR spectroscopy. Electrolyte leakage indicated that tubers stored at 15 °C for 1 year were partly injured and that frozen-thawed tissues were dead. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spin-lattice relaxation time (T 1 ) and spin-spin relaxation time (T 2 ) clearly increased with the duration of storage, whereas these values decreased in the dead tissues. Furthermore, Arrhenius plots for T 1 and T 2 were determined at temperatures ranging from 20 to 0 °C in 2.5 °C steps. In the fresh tubers, a strong converse temperature dependency was shown in the T 2 measurement. On the contrary, there was no temperature dependency in the T 2 of the dead tissues. Thus, the existence of inverse temperature dependency reflected tissue viability. Additionally, any change in the T 2 of the fresh tubers occurred at about 14 °C, which virtually coincided with the storage temperature of 15 °C. The slope change in T 2 might have responded to a physiological change as a primary event. In conclusion, monitoring water status by NMR could provide early identification of changes in the quality of post-harvest crops; this method shows great promise for use in environmental-stressed crop yield research.

Novel high damping magnesium alloys, named MCM alloys were successfully fabricated by powder metallurgy processing. The damping properties of a number of sintered magnesium-based alloys were determined by means of a torsion pendulum apparatus. The magnesium-based alloys containing 0.5∼0.7 wt.% Cu–0.17∼4 wt.% Mn showed a very high damping capacity (SDC∼60%), combined with adequate mechanical properties, corrosion resistance and good sinterability. The rapture strength of the sintered compound of MCM (CM31: Mg–3 wt.% Cu–1 wt.% Mn) was 290.8 MPa.

従来,外国語学習者の作文能力は,教師が時間と労力を惜しまずに文法や表記などの表面的訂正を続けることで向上すると考えられていたが,近年,表面的訂正はむしろ学習者の情意面に悪影響を与える可能性があると指摘する多くの研究報告が発表されている。本稿では,学習者の作文にいくつかの異なる方法で表面的訂正を試み,その実質的効果を検討した。更に,作文構成の必要性,および最終的作品だけでなく作文の習得過程の重要性に注目し,学生自身の持つ考えや感情を自由に表現できるような指導を実験的に行い,その結果の考察を行った。

Temperature dependence of the elastic modulus E l of the crystalline regions of poly( p -phenylene benzobisthiazole) (PBZT) in the direction parallel to the chain axis was investigated by X-ray diffraction over a temperature range from −180 to 400°C. The E l value of PBZT was 372 GPa at room temperature, which was the highest E l value ever investigated. This value coincided with that reported by Lenhert and Adams (395 GPa) [Lenhert PG, Adams WW, Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 1989; 134: 329] within experimental error. The axial chain thermal expansion coefficient was constant at −2.9×10 −6 K −1 from 20 to 445°C, and correspondingly the E l value remained unchanged up to 400°C. Moreover, the E l value at −185°C also coincided with that at room temperature. It is considered that the deformation mechanism remains unchanged over a wide temperature range and the skeletal conformation of PBZT in the crystalline regions is stable against the heat.

We evaluated the prognostic value of immunostaining proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) by using a monoclonal antibody (PC10) in patients with parotid tumors. Twenty-seven cases were studied. Immunohistochemical studies were carried out on paraffin-embedded tissues from the patients, and the PCNA index was calculated as the percentage of positively staining tumor cells. The PCNA index ranged from 0.1 to 65.3%. We divided the 27 lesions into three groups histologically: group A with benign pleomorphic tumors (11 cases), group B with low-grade malignant tumors (5 cases), and group C with high-grade malignant tumors (11 cases). The mean PCNA index was 0.7% in group A, 2.0% in group B, and 23.1% in group C. The clinical data revealed a significantly higher local tumor recurrence and mortality rate in group C than in groups A and B. We conclude that PCNA may be used as an important indicator for determining clinical prognosis in parotid tumors.

日本の高校英語教育にオーラルコミュニケーションA, B, Cの各コースが導入されて3年になる。今まで英語学習の4技能の中で最も難しいとされているスピーキングのテストの作成,実施,評価の方法が当然問題となる。本論では, Conversational Cloze Test(会話型クローズテスト)とConversational Ability(会話力)が相関関係を持つ,といういくつかの研究報告に注目し,Conversational Cloze TestをSpeaking Abilityを評価するテストとして採用することの有効性を考察した。, In 1994, the Ministry of Education in Japan has introduced conversation classes in the High School English curriculum as a requirement. Thus, recently, much attention has been given to how communicative ability of nonnative speakers can be tested. Among the various methods of measuring oral proficiency there are functional dialogue tests that consists of guidelines for a dialogue and conducted through role-playing, functional written tests that consists of multiple-choice questions on common situations, other forms of oral and written tests that involves work-related situations, interview tests that reguires dialogue between the interviewer and interviewee, and cloze tests that involves students to fill the gaps of a continued discourse. This paper will focus mainly on cloze tests as a means to determine oral proficiency and integrative skills, conducted in a simplified and practical manner. To give a brief background, the definition and history of cloze test will be introduced, followed by discussion of the advantages of the cloze test over existing methods. The goal of our study is to determine if cloze procedure can be used as a measure for communicative skills. Thus, two questions will be pursued : (a) How do the cloze and Michigan test relate to each other in measuring integrative skills ? (b) How do the cloze and oral recording relate to each other in measuring oral proficiency skills ?

The kinetics of depletion of the first-row transition-metal atoms Co and Ni upon interactions with O2, NO, and N2O were studied in a fast-flow reactor at a He pressure of 0.70 Torr. The depletion rate constants were determined for the first and second excited states of both atoms, Co(b4FJ, a2FJ) and Ni(a3DJ, a1D2), as well as their ground states, Co(a4FJ) and Ni(a3FJ). For all oxidants, inefficient or no depletion was observed for the ground states of both atoms. Low-lying Ni(a3DJ) also showed inefficient depletion, though this state has 3d94s1 configuration. The first and second excited states of Co(b4FJ, a2FJ), which have the 3d84s1 configuration, were depleted very efficiently. The depletion of Ni(a1D2), the 3d94s1 configuration, depended on the oxidants; i.e., O2 depleted this state by the gas kinetics rate constant, while the depletion by NO and N2O was about 1 order of magnitude slower. Efficient depletion of the atoms of 3dn-14s1 configuration by O2 was interpreted by an attractive interaction corr...

The kinetics of depletion of the lowest two electronically excited states, Co(b 4FJ) and Co(a 2FJ), upon interactions with O2 and N2 are studied in a fast-flow reactor at a He pressure of 0.70 Torr. The depletion of Co(b 4F) or Co(a 2F) by O2 was efficient. The depletion rate constants were observed to be different among spin-orbit levels within one electronic state. Because reactive channels are not energetically accessible for these two states, the depletion was mostly attributed to electronic energy transfer to vibration or translation of O2. Efficient depletion upon interaction with O2 was interpreted through the occurrence of an intermediate formed by the interaction between singly occupied anti-bonding π ∗ orbital of O2 and 3d orbitals of Co.

Properties of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) emission from laser-produced Sn and SnO2 plasmas were investigated. EUV emission images were taken with a monochromatic imager for 13.5nm with 4% bandwidth. It was found that the EUV emitting plasma is not formed symmetrically with respect to the target surface normal but extends toward laser incident axis. This result is consistent with the angular distribution of EUV emission peaked toward the direction nearly perpendicular to the laser axis. The asymmetric plasma can be attributed to the interaction of a long laser pulse with expanding plasma along the path of laser incidence.

The research presented here belongs to a framework research on distance educational training for teachers, presented in a different panel session. Our goal with this research is to accumulate information for teachers, about established teaching methodologies and techniques, as lesson example videos. We are currently developing an environment for facilitating the usage of these example movies, via a VOD retrieval server. The domain of our classroom examples is "Information Education", a new subject introduced in the Japanese curriculum.

Percutaneous transhepatic catheter drainage (PTCD) is generally performed for the treatment of obstructive jaundice. However, in some cases it is difficult to perform insertion because of lack of dilatation of the intrahepatic bile duct. We report a patient who had been suffering from jaundice as a result of recurrent cholangiocarcinoma near the hilum and whose symptoms were relieved by external radiotherapy. We consider radiotherapy for cholangiocarcinoma effective palliative treatment for decompression of obstructive jaundice.

Observation of line radiation emanating from inner shell transitions in partially ionized high Z material is suggested as a diagnostic method for heating of dense plasma with an ultra-short high-intensity laser pulse. A new atomic-kinetics code specified for the analysis of the ionization-shift Kα lines was developed to derive electron temperature of the bulk plasma heated by hot electrons. Chlorine Kα to Cl15+ Heα lines from a solid planar target were observed with a 1 TW laser system at ILE Osaka. Comparison of the experimental results with the code prediction infers a ∼100 eV temperature plasma on the target surface with a depth of about 0.6 μm at 1.5×1017 W/cm2. Dependence of the temperature on laser intensity was found to be very weak.

Clinical symptoms and MR spectroscopic findings were studied on 4 cases of Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease including 1 autopsy case. Common symptoms were severe mental retardation and spastic tetraplegia. These cases had nystagmus, and one had involuntary athetotic movement. Genetical diagnosis revealed in 2 cases, duplication of proteolipid protein (PLP) and deletion in 1, whereas one case had no abnormality of PLP gene. MRI indicated the reversal of signal intensities on T1- and T2-weighed images, a characteristic finding of PMD MR spectroscopy demonstrated a pattern of NAA in 3 cases. This was specific to PMD because other white matter diseases show a decrease in NAA. In conclusion, MRS was useful to differentiate PMD from other white matter diseases.

In ECG-gated myocardial SPECT, we evaluated the effects of data acquisition and imaging conditions on the parameters of left ventricular cardiac function by a phantom experiments and in patients (n = 50) and normal controls (n = 15). Data acquisition was performed under the following conditions: (1) matrix size, 64 x 64 or 128 x 128; R-R interval, 8 or 6 frames; (3) presence or absence of attenuation and scatter corrections; and (4) changes in the accumulation rate of the radioactive tracer (information content) in the myocardium. When the matrix size was 64 x 64 and an R-R interval was divided into 8 frames, end-diastolic volume (EDV), end-systolic volume (ESV), and ejection fraction (EF) were 98.30 +/- 13.74 ml, 44.20 +/- 7.45 ml, and 54.91 +/- 2.84%, respectively, for normal controls. These values were slightly lower than those under other conditions. When attenuation and scatter corrections were not performed, the values of the above parameters were even lower. In patients with high accumulation of the radioactive tracer in the liver affecting the myocardial area, the cardiac function parameters were markedly decreased. In phantom experiments in which a decreased accumulation of the radioactive tracer was assumed, the left ventricular volume increased.

A 61-year-old male fell from a position 1 m high when building a house. An iron rod, which protruded upward from a solid base in cement, penetrated this patient's neck 15 cm to the head and was successfully extracted by himself. On admission, he complained of headache and vomiting. General examination disclosed nasal bleeding, intraoral bleeding, and L figured skin laceration in the left side of his neck at the level of the thyroid cartilage. Mild disorientation (JCS2) was noted. Otolaryngological examination disclosed hyperemia on the left side of the vocal cord as well as at the dome of the superior pharynx. Plain skull film disclosed pneumocephalus and that a piece of bone fragment of the planum sphenoidale had penetrated the brain. CT demonstrated air in the subarachnoid space, ventricular hemorrhage, intracerebral hematoma in the right frontal lobe, and subarachnoid hemorrhage in the anterior interhemispheric fissure. CAG detected neither cerebral vascular abnormalities nor cerebral aneurysm. While staying in our department, he developed mild fever and CSF rhinorrhea. The diagnosis of bacterial meningitis was made from the CSF finding and was well controlled with conservative therapy. CSF rhinorrhea stopped spontaneously with conservative treatment. Sagittal MRI continuously demonstrated contusional hematoma in the base of the right frontal lobe just above the fractured planum sphenoidale and genu of the corpus callosum following the course of the intracranially invading iron rod. The right CAG on Day 10 demonstrated vasospasm on the A1 and a 1 cm sized saccular cerebral aneurysm at the proximal right fronto-polar artery. CAG on Day 17 again showed the persistent presence of the aneurysm. For the purpose of preventing delayed rupture of the aneurysm, radical surgical treatment was planned. Microsurgical dissection disclosed that the aneurysm was located just behind the elevated fracture of the planum sphenoidale. Severe arachnoid adhesion was noted around the aneurysm. The aneurysm was successfully clipped with preservation of the parent artery without inducing new neurological deficits. From the general, otolaryngological, neuroradiological, and operative findings, this aneurysm was diagnosed as a traumatic cerebral artery aneurysm following the penetration of the skull base by the iron rod. The CAG performed at 8 months postoperatively demonstrated the patency of the parent artery and that there was no recurrence of the aneurysm. An unusual case of a traumatic cerebral artery aneurysm following the penetration of the skull base by an iron rod was thus reported.

201Tl-SPECT was performed to diagnose the malignancy of bone and soft tissue tumors by visual and quantitative assessment in 48 patients (17 malignant lesions and 31 benign lesions). SPECT images were obtained in the early phase (15 min after injection) and the delayed phase (240 min). By visual assessment a tumor was considered malignant if high accumulation was found in the tumor in the early phase and the accumulation was confirmed in the delayed phase. Tumors which did not meet these criteria were considered benign. For quantitative assessment, the ROI (region of interest) accumulation ratios of the tumor to the contralateral normal tissue in the early phase (ER) and in the delayed phase (DR), the ROI accumulation ratio of the delayed phase to the early phase of the tumor (Td/Te), and the ROI accumulation ratio of the delayed phase to the early phase of the contralateral normal tissue (Nd/Ne) were obtained. Sixteen patients with malignant tumors each had a high accumulation each but 12 of 31 benign lesions had no high accumulation on visual assessment. Furthermore, the accuracy was 85.4%, sensitivity 94.1%, and specificity 80.6%. Quantitative assessment was performed for 36 cases of high accumulation. The ER of malignant and benign lesions was 5.51 +/- 3.73 and 2.75 +/- 2.17, respectively, and the ER of malignant lesions was significantly higher than that of benign lesions. The DR did not demonstrate a significant difference. If the tumor having an ER greater than 3.9 was assumed to be malignant, the accuracy for differentiating malignant lesions from benign lesions was 85.4%. The Td/Te of benign lesions (0.97 +/- 0.28) was higher than that of malignant lesions (0.77 +/- 0.09). The Nd/Ne of normal tissue which contained muscles in both lesions were higher than 1.4. In conclusion, 201Tl-SPECT was very useful for the differential diagnosis of benign or malignant bone and soft tissue tumors. The ER was important for quantitative assessment, but a delayed image was necessary for visual assessment.

It is difficult to evaluate renal function with 99mTc-MAG3 renography in both adult and pediatric patients. We examined 109 pediatric patients with various renal diseases using 99mTc-MAG3 renography. Tenal diseases were classified as follows: 9 vesicoureteral reflux, 4 ureteropelvic junctional stenosis, 3 double pelvis, 23 hydronephrosis, 4 glomerulonephritis, 4 nephrotic syndrome, 24 hemolytic uremic syndrome, 10 others; and 24 patients without abnormal findings on other examinations. After hydration and sedation, 100-200 MBq of 99mTe-MAG3 was injected intravenously. All patients were placed in the supine position, and dynamic data acquisition at 12 sec/frame x 100 frames was performed from the back. The renograms were prepared with the ROIs (regions of interest) set to include the entire kidney. Tmax and T1/2 of renograms were measured for 26 kidneys with no abnormal findings. The correlations between Tmax or T1/2 and age (days after birth) were determined by a linear or logarithmic function. The logarithmic function (Y = 7.49 - 0.56 logeX, r2 = 0.134) yielded a higher correlation than did the linear function (Y = 5.16 - 0.00194X, r2 = 0.089) between Tmax and age. For T1/2 and age (days after birth), the linear function (Y = 8.07 - 0.00451X, r2 = 0.222) yielded a higher correlation than the logarithmic function (Y = 11.9 - 0.986 logeX, r2 = 0.192). Our findings suggest that prolonged Tmax is normalized more rapidly than T1/2 after birth in infants. A delayed excretion phase is not suggestive of renal dysfunction, but is characteristic of renograms in pediatric patients. Abnormality was detected in all patients with hydronephrosis using 99mTc-MAG3 renography. On the other hand, a quantitative study was required because renography detected no abnormality for some of patients with disorders of renal parenchyma.

This investigation was undertaken to study clinical usefulness of scatter and attenuation correction (SAC) of brain SPECT in infants to compare the standard reconstruction (STD). The brain SPECT was performed in 31 patients with 19 epilepsy, 5 cerebro-vascular disease, 2 brain tumor, 3 meningitis, 1 hydrocephalus and psychosis (mean age 5.0 +/- 4.9 years old). Many patients was necessary to be injected sedatives for restraining body motion after Technetium-99m hexamethylpropylene amine oxime (99mTc-HMPAO) was injected at the convulsion or rest. Brain SPECT data were acquired with triple detector gamma camera (GCA-9300 Toshiba Japan). These data were reconstructed by filtered backprojection after the raw data were corrected by triple energy windows method of scatter correction and Chang filtered method of attenuation correction. The same data was reconstructed by filtered backprojection without these corrections. Both SAC and STD SPECT images were analyzed by the visual interpretation. The uptake ratio of cerebral basal nuclei was calculated by the counts of the thalamus or lenticular nuclei divided by the cortex. All images of SAC method were excellent than that of STD method. The thalamic uptake ratio in SAC method was higher than that of STD method (1.22 +/- 0.090.87 +/- 0.22 p0.01). The lenticular nuclear uptake ratio in SAC method was higher than that of STD method (1.26 +/- 0.151.02 +/- 0.16 p0.01). Transmission scan is the most suitable method of absorption correction. But the transmission scan is not adequate for examination of children, because this scan needs a lot of time and the infants are exposed by the line source radioisotope. It was concluded that these scatter and absorption corrections were most suitable method for brain SPECT in pediatrics.

n-alkylpolyoxyethylene surfactants (CnH2n+1O(CH2CH2O)mH; CnEm) showed a strong enhancing effect on the inactivation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) by heat treatment over a wide range of temperatures. The effect of CnE8 (n = 10-16) was observed above the critical micelle concentration (CMC) and above the cloud point, and was influenced by the length of the alkyl chains. The efficacy of the surfactants was in the order C10E8C12E8, C16E8C14E8. However, the hydrophilic moiety seemed to have no influence. An 80-95% solution of n-butanol showed a similar effect, indicating that LPS was more effectively inactivated in the oily phase of the surfactants than in water. The effect of surfactant on the hydrodynamic diameter of LPS was the same before and after steam-heat treatment for 20 minutes at 121 degrees C. Each surfactant disaggregated LPS without alteration of the activity of LPS before the heat treatment. We consider that the surfactants interact with LPS in the region of lipid A in a manner that favors loss of the activities of LPS during heating.

Dipyridamole-loading 99mTc-tetrofosmin myocardial scintigraphy was performed for patients with coronary artery disease who underwent percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) in order to examine whether SPECT imaging prior to treatment is useful for the determination of prognosis after coronary intervention. Thirty-six patients including 9 with angina pectoris (AP), 22 with old myocardial infarction (OMI) and 5 OMI with AP were underwent dipyridamole-loading 99mTc-tetrofosmin myocardial SPECT before and after coronary intervention. The length of follow-up was 185 +/- 107 days after PTCA. Improvement of myocardial uptake was observed on myocardial SPECT in all cases with AP. Improvement of the myocardial uptake was observed 50% (4/8) of patients with OMI who had no myocardial viability. It was suggested that the improvement of myocardial uptake after PTCA was due to incomplete fill-in in cases with AP and that the presence of fill-in was important for level of fill-in in patients with AP. The improvement of myocardial uptake in the scar tissue in patients with OMI contributed to the hibernating myocardium. We concluded that correct detection of hibernating myocardium was difficult despite the superior imaging capability of 99mTc-tetrofosmin myocardial SPECT.

Combination chemotherapy consisting of bleomycin, vincristine, mitomycin C and cisplatin (BOMP) was applied to a case (57 years old) with recurrence of squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix. The patient with FIGO stage IIIb cervical carcinoma had been treated with radiotherapy seven years ago. She was affected by malignant pericardial effusion, and was treated with direct intrapericardial administration of cisplatin (20 mg). After instillation, ultrasonography and computed tomography showed the wall thickening of colon and marked ascites. Barium enema showed the circumferential narrowing and serrations of colon, and it was diagnosed to be carcinomatous peritonitis. She was treated with BOMP consisting of BLM (5 mg, i.m., days 1 - 5), VCR (1 mg, i.v., day 5'), MMC (8 mg, i.v., day 5), and CDDP (70 mg, d.i.v., day 5). After three courses of BOMP therapy, she achieved a complete response with few toxic effects and did not require special care. She has been free of disease for six months and her performance status is 0. This encouraging result warrants the use of this combination chemotherapy regimen in other patients with recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix.

Polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan mono-fatty acid esters strongly enhanced the inactivation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) by steam-heat treatment at 121 degrees C, as assayed by using the Limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL) and the pyrogen test. In an aqueous solution containing 0.1% surfactant, the decrease of LPS (1 microgram/ml) from E. coli 055:B5 at 121 degrees C followed first-order kinetics. Based on the LAL assay, 0.1% surfactant was essential to achieve 3-log cycle reduction of LPS with concomitant loss of pyrogenicity by steam-heat treatment for 20 min at 121 degrees C. Steam-heat treatment for 20 min at 121 degrees C in the absence of surfactant was insufficient to achieve depyrogenation. Polyoxyethylene (9) lauryl ether and decaglycerin mono-laurate similarly enhanced depyrogenation by steam-heat treatment. The effects of all the surfactants were concentration-dependent for all of the six kinds of LPS examined.

Breast cancer ranks the second position among the cancer of women in Japan. We report two cases of breast cancer detected by 99mTc-tetrofosmin. First case was 51 years old female with breast cancer (invasive papillotubular carcinoma) and dextrocardia. She received 99mTc-tetrofosmin myocardial scintigraphy to evaluate dextrocardia and suspicious coronary artery disease. A planar image of 99mTc-tetrofosmin myocardial scintigraphy showed myocardium at the right side, gall bladder at the left lower side and abnormal uptake on the left chest wall. Transaxial images of 99mTc-tetrofosmin myocardial SPECT showed myocardium at the right side and abnormal uptake on the left chest wall. Second case was 78 years old female with breast cancer (intracystic papillary carcinoma) and arrhythmia. 99mTc-tetrofosmin myocardial scintigraphy was performed to evaluate arrhythmia and suspicious coronary artery disease. A planar image of 99mTc-tetrofosmin myocardial scintigraphy shows hot nodule at the lateral side of the myocardium. Transaxial images of 99mTc-tetrofosmin myocardial SPECT showed abnormal uptake at the left lateral side on the chest wall. Both cases appeared illed foci as abnormal uptake with 99mTc-tetrofosmin scintigraphy, although histological diagnosis was different. We conclude that 99mTc-tetrofosmin scintigraphy is helpful for evaluating breast cancer.

The inactivation of endotoxin from six species of smooth gram-negative bacteria (S-form) by steam-heat treatment was investigated using the Limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL) assay. Biphasic decreases of endotoxins from four species of bacteria were observed upon steam-heat treatment of 1 microgram/ml endotoxin solution at 121 degrees C in a steam sterilizer. A lag time, however, was observed in the inactivation profiles of V. cholerae and P. aeruginosa. Distinct differences in heat resistance were observed among the bacterial species. The decrease rate was found to be concentration-dependent, and endotoxins at low concentrations (less than 10 ng/ml) were inactivated by the treatment to below the detection limit of the LAL assay. The time-course of the decrease of endotoxin from rough strains (R-form) resembled that of the respective S-form. The inactivation of R-form, especially Rc mutant, endotoxin was markedly affected by divalent cations such as Mg2+ and Ca2+, which appear to promote reaggregation of the endotoxin.

The relationship between serum PG I, PG II levels and extent of atrophic gastritis was examined. On 64 patients (male: 32, female: 32, 51.9 years old on average) with established diagnosis of either atrophic gastritis or normal. In the X-ray gastric examination, Fuji Computed Radiography (FCR) was used to obtain clear-cut images of the gastric area. Concerning the serum PG I level, patients in the group with atrophic gastritis showed lower levels than those of the people in the group with no atrophic change, but the variation was wide, and no definite tendency was seen in the relationship between the atrophic change and the serum PG I levels. Concerning the serum PG II level, as the atrophic change progresses, the serum PG II level tended to increase gradually. A significant reduction in the PG I/II ratio was seen in the group with atrophic changes (p0.01) in comparison with the group with no atrophic changes, and the PG I/II value tended to decrease. In conclusion, as a relationship between the atrophic change and the serum PG levels had a wide variation, we considered to be difficult by to measure the serum PG level to understand the presence and extent of the atrophic gastritis.

This study performed to establish the most suitable method in one-day protocol and to evaluate clinical usefulness of 99mTc-tetrofosmin myocardial scintigraphy after dipyridamole infusion. Image quality and liver overlapping of the myocardial SPECT were evaluated in 107 patients with old myocardial infarction (42 cases), angina pectoris (53 cases) and others (12 cases). Left ventricular wall motion and coronary artery stenosis were compared to myocardial uptake score in 55 patients who received cardiac catheterization. The suitable image quality was acquired in early SPECT images using 259 MBq of 99mTc-tetrofosmin. The overlapping between inferior wall and liver uptake was able to minimize over 45 minutes interval from injection of 99mTc-tetrofosmin to data acquisition. The segments of normal wall motion had no perfusion defect of the myocardial SPECT in all cases (100% (148/148)). The segments of abnormal wall motion had decreased myocardial uptake of the myocardial SPECT (77% (24/31)). The agreement between coronary artery stenosis and decreased myocardial uptake was 96% (24/25) in right coronary artery, 87% (26/30) in left anterior descending coronary artery and 83% (19/23) in left circumflex coronary artery. These data suggests that image quality of dipyridamole loading 99mTc-tetrofosmin myocardial scintigraphy. Myocardial perfusion in the 99mTc-tetrofosmin myocardial scintigraphy is good correlation to both left ventricular wall motion and coronary artery stenosis.

201Tl is useful in the diagnosis of tumor malignancy determined by the grade of washout rate to the normal tissue especially in lung tumors and thyroid tumors. 99mTc-MIBI, a tracer of myocardial blood flow is also a tumor tracer. We determined whether the growth of the tumor cell is related to the uptake and release of the these tracers in cultured cells (HeLa cell). Cultured HeLa cells were incubated for 1 hr with 10 kBq of either tracer for the kinetic study of cellular uptake and additionally incubated for 90 min with cold medium for the kinetic study of cellular release. These cells cultured with various concentrations of actinomycin D (ACD) were used to examine the correlation between cellular growth and kinetics of these tracers. The uptake in the cell reached a plateau at about 60 min and the uptake at 60 min correlated with the number of the cells and was identified for specific accumulation in the cell. The uptake of 201Tl and 99mTc-MIBI at 60 min was 5.17% and 1.32% respectively of the given dose. The release for 90 min showed almost the same tendency for these tracers. The cellular release of 201Tl with the addition of ACD was increased in association with the concentration of ACD. On the other hand, the cellular release of 99mTc-MIBI showed no change by the addition of ACD. In conclusion, 201Tl showed slower washout in high growth cells than in low growth cells, and could act as an indicator of tumor malignancy by assessment of its washout by the tumor.

We administered 1.3 mg ip of indomethacin, a prostaglandin synthetase inhibitor, per 100 g body wt to male rat pups daily on postnatal days 4-13 and examined their lungs on day 14. Indomethacin administration produced abnormal lung structure with diminished alveolar air, increased alveolar duct air, increased mean linear intercept (gas-exchanging wall distance), diminished gas-exchanging surface area and surface-to-volume ratio, increased septal wall thickness, diminished the number of alveolar crests, and increased the number of lamellar bodies in alveolar type II cells. However, this procedure did not alter quantitative lung growth (normal lung weights, volumes, and DNA and protein contents). Tissue prostaglandin content was decreased. The total amount of lung collagen or elastin was unchanged, but when collagen was analyzed into soluble and insoluble components, soluble collagen was increased. Supplementation with 1.0 g of prostaglandin E2 per 100 g body wt to animals treated with indomethacin reduced the abnormalities in pulmonary architecture. We conclude that indomethacin affects lung structure in growing rats and that it is an unusual model in that lung growth is normal, but lung development is abnormal. We also suggest that prostaglandins may play a significant role in alveolar formation in postnatal lung development in rats.

To evaluate the diagnostic capability of superparamagnetic iron oxide enhanced MRI and enhanced helical CT, 17 patients with histologically or clinically diagnosed hepatocellular carcinoma or metastatic liver tumor and a total of 208 nodules were studied. The pulse sequences used were SE 500/20 (T1WI), SE 2000/20 (PDWI) and SE 2000/70 (T2WI). Contrast medium was administrated intravenously for more than 30 minutes at a dose of 10 mumoles Fe/kg. Enhanced MR images were obtained 30-90 minutes after the injection of contrast medium. With helical CT, 133 nodules were detected. With unenhanced MRI, 62 were detected on T1WI, 60 on PDWI and 77 on T2WI. On the other hand, with enhanced MRI, 165 were detected on T1WI, 190 on PDWI and 186 on T2WI. Enhanced MRI revealed the most nodules among these images (P0.05), and was especially effective in detecting small nodules less than 10 mm in diameter (P0.05). In conclusion, it was considered that superparamagnetic iron oxide enhanced MRI was useful for the detection of hepatic nodules and that the most adequate pulse sequence was PDWI.