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Shrinkage and relaxation motions of flexible FePd nanohelices of FePd nanorobots are simulated by a molecular dynamics (MD) model where FePd is a paramagnetic shape memory alloy that can exhibit phase transformation accompanied by softening of the nanohelix under an applied magnetic field (H-field). Two designs of FePd nanorobots are used: (i) a FePd cylindrical head connected to a FePd nanohelix tail and (ii) a FePd nanohelix alone. The geometry and dimensions of the FePd robots are taken after the as-processed FePd nanorobots. In the MD simulation, the FePd head and nanohelix are divided into a number of segmented FePd spheres, each having its magnetic moment. The results of the MD model reveal that upon the applied constant magnetic field, the initial gaps (g = 3 nm) between the adjacent turns of the FePd nanohelix are closed, resulting in the total shrinkage (Stot) of 47 nm of the FePd nanorobot. The effects of the applied H-field on Stot are examined by using the MD model and the M-H curve of FePd fi...

A 65-year-old man was admitted to our department due to severe dysphagia, dysarthria, and aspiration pneumonia. Dysphagia and dysarthria were caused by lateral medullary infarction (Wallenberg' s syndrome). After the patient recovered from pneumonia, the abnormality of swallowing was assessed by a swallowing provocation test and videofluorography. Two months after the start of swallowing training, a swallowing provocation test showed that the swallowing reflex had improved and videofluorography showed that the magnitude of aspiration to the trachea had decreased. The patient began taking food by mouth. These tests are useful for quantitative assessment of dysphagia and for deciding when to start oral intake in elderly patients.

The cross section, energy distribution and angular distribution of complex fragments emitted in the reaction 84 Kr + 27 Al at the incident energy of 10.6 MeV/nucleon were measured to study the decay mechanism of a highly excited nucleus. Through coincidence measurements between the light charged particles and the binary decay fragments it is found that the pre-scission charge multiplicity is about 80% of the total one. The experimental distributions are well reproduced by the Extended Hauser-Feshbach Method (EHFM), introducing a cut-off energy of the excitation energy of fragments E cut-off . The fission delay time is determined to be 2 × 10 −20 seconds. The role and the physical meaning of E cut-off is discussed.

In order to study entrance channel and angular momentum effects on the pre-ecission time, light charged particle multiplicities were measured in coincidence with binary decay fragments in the reactions 58 Ni(580 MeV) + 56 Fe and 86 Kr(890 MeV) + 27 Al , which lead to similar composite systems with almost the same excitation energy. It is observed that the lifetime of the composite system decreases as the entrace channel spin increases.

The distributions of atomic number Z and isotopic mass and the missing atomic number ΔZ in binary decay, which were obtained from the experiment for 84 Kr+ 27 Al at the incident energy of 10.6 MeV/u at the RIKEN Ring Cyclotron Facility, are analyzed in terms of the extended Hauser-Feshbach method (EHFM) and several features of the sequential decay mechanisms have been revealed.

In order to study the reaction mechanisms of Intermediate Mass Fragments (IMF) as well as Fission Products (FP) from hot nuclei, we have performed the experiment using the RIKEN Ring Cyclotron for 84Kr + 27Al at 10.6 MeV/u in which the complete fusion is still dominant. The experimental nuclear element Z distributions of IMF and FP are analyzed extensively by using the Extended Hanser Feshbach Method (EHFM) and it is concluded the sequential decayis playing an important role and the fully equilibrated compound states of 111In at 200 MeV do exist with the angular momentum state of 86 ℏ above the limit of rotating liquid drop model of 68 ℏ. A large apparent difference observed in the previous experimental Z-distributions for 84Kr + 27Al at 5.9 MeV/u and 3He + Ag at 30 MeV/u, which form nearly the same compound nucleus In at ≅ 100 MeV, is interpreted consistently in terms of the EHFM, showing that IMF and FP decay from the different angular momentum windows and a first chance decay is just enough for reproducing the data.

We studied the influences of inhaled tobacco smoke on lung structure, biochemical changes in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid, and glutathione (GSH) content of the lung in the senescence accelerated mouse (SAM), using 30 female SAM-P/8 as the "senescence-prone series", compared with SAM-R/1 as the "senescence-resistant series". At 18 wks of age, half of each series were housed in Hamburg II machines and exposed to an atmosphere of tobacco smoke for 5 wks, 10 min a day, 5 days a wk. At 24 wks of age, all of the animals were sacrificed. Blood, lung, liver, kidney and eyes were removed and the contents of GSH and thiol group (-SH) were measured (n = 5). We also performed BAL, to determine its total protein, albumin, and fibronectin contents, and elastase-like activity, elastase inhibitory capacity (EIC), and trypsin inhibitory capacity (TIC) (n = 5). Histological changes of the lungs from non-lavaged animals were also examined by light microscopy (n = 5). In SAM-P/8 not exposed to tobacco smoke, the mean linear intercept was longer than that in SAM-R/1. The exposure of SAM-P/8 to tobacco smoke caused increases in its lung weight and the ratio of albumin to total protein in BAL fluid, a decrease in the EIC/TIC ratio in BAL fluid, and a decrease in the GSH content and the GSH/-SH ratio of the lung, compared with those not exposed. We also observed focal infiltration of macrophages into alveoli with hyaline membrane and thickened alveolar wall in SAM-P/8 with tobacco exposure.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is an inducible heat shock protein that regulates heme metabolism to form bilirubin, ferritin and carbon monoxide. Based on recent evidence that HO-1 is involved in the resolution of inflammation by modulating apoptotic cell death or cytokine expression, the present study examined whether overexpression of exogenous HO-1 gene transfer provides a therapeutic effect on a murine model of acute lung injury caused by the type A influenza virus. We demonstrate herein that the transfer of HO-1 cDNA resulted in (1) suppression of both pathological changes and intrapulmonary hemorrhage; (2) enhanced survival of animals; and (3) a decrease of inflammatory cells in the lung. TUNEL analysis revealed that HO-1 gene transfer reduced the number of respiratory epithelial cells with DNA damage, and caspase assay suggested that HO-1 suppressed lung injury via a caspase-8-mediated pathway. These findings suggest the feasibility of HO-1 gene transfer to treat lung injury induced by a pathogen commonly seen in the clinical setting. Since oxidative stress and lung injury are involved in many lung disorders, such as pneumonia induced by a variety of microorganisms and pulmonary fibrosis, HO-1 may be useful for wider clinical applications in gene therapy targeting lung disorders including acute pneumonia and pulmonary fibrosis.

The antiproteases, including alpha-1-antitrypsin, are supposed to prevent lungs from becoming emphysematous. Genetic susceptibility to smoking injury may confer a risk for the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).We have investigated the association between the polymorphism of alpha-1-antichymotrypsin (AACT), one of the antiproteases, and susceptibility to the development of COPD among heavy smokers. Blood samples obtained from both patients with COPD (n = 53) and control subjects (n = 65) at the Tokyo University Hospital, the Juntendo University Hospital and the Tokyo Kenbikyoin Clinic were used for this genotyping assay. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) were performed to genotype the AACT biallelic polymorphism in the signal peptide (-15 alanine to threonine), and the two polymorphisms of the exon (Pro229Ala and Leu55Pro).The proportion of AACT/Ala-15 homozygotes was significantly higher in the COPD patients than in the control subjects (COPD 37.7% vs. control 18.5%). The odds ratio for AACT/Ala-15 homozygotes vs. all other genotypes was 2.7 (95% CI 1.2-6.2) for the COPD group. We could not find any association between the other two polymorphisms and COPD.Genetic polymorphism in the signal peptide of AACT may be associated with individual susceptibility to the development of COPD, because the AACT/Ala-15 genotype is predominantly found in patients with COPD. It is suggested that AACT/Ala-15 genotype may be less protective against smoking injury.

We examined the effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and age on oxygen radical formation by bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cells. Lung-free cells, including pulmonary alveolar macrophages, were harvested from young (4-month-old) and aged (28-month-old) male guinea pigs using BAL. The oxygen radicals produced by BAL cells were measured by a lucigenin-dependent chemiluminescence method using a photon counter. Although spontaneous oxygen radical production by BAL cells from young and aged guinea pigs did not differ, the oxygen radical generation after maximal stimulation with phorbol-myristate acetate (PMA) was greater than that produced without PMA stimulation in both young and aged animals. ACE inhibitors with and without an SH-group (alacepril and lisinopril, respectively) were tested for their effect on oxygen radical formation by BAL cells; both ACE inhibitors inhibited oxygen radical production and generation by BAL cells from both young and aged guinea pigs in a dose-dependent manner. However, the alacepril concentration giving 50% inhibition (IC50) of oxygen radical generation by BAL cells was smaller than the IC50 of lisinopril in both young and aged guinea pigs. These results indicate that ACE inhibitors, in particular those with an SH-group, effectively reduce oxygen radical production by BAL cells from young and aged guinea pigs, and suggest that treatment with ACE inhibitors may be useful for ameliorating oxidant-associated pulmonary disorders in young and aged patients.

Recently, a step-by-step pharmacologic therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has been recommended by several principal organizations. The characteristic of this therapy is that it is a stepwise approach organized according to the severity of disease and is mainly composed of bronchodilators including beta 2-agonists and anticholinergic agents, theophylline, and oral corticosteroids, and the goal of this therapy is to induce bronchodilation, decrease the inflammatory reaction, and facilitate expectoration. Since the effectiveness of one of the inhaled corticosteroids has been also indicated by the multicentre randomised trial in a few years, they may have an important role in the long-term treatment of COPD.

The sensitivity and specificity of the simple swallowing provocation test (S-SPT) were evaluated in a group of patients who were being examined for aspiration pneumonia (ASP) (ASP group: 72.5 +/- 3.9 years old) and in a group of age-matched control subjects (CTRL group: 69.5 +/- 2.9 years old). The S-SPT was evaluated in terms of the swallowing response and latent time (LT) for swallowing after a bolus injection of 0.4 ml of distilled water at the suprapharynx. Responses to the S-SPT were classified as normal or abnormal, dependent on induction of the swallowing reflex within 3 seconds after bolus injection. The sensitivity and specificity of the S-SPT in detecting ASP were calculated. Of the 40 patients in the ASP group, 18 were given a diagnosis of ASP on the basis of clinical findings and laboratory examinations. The sensitivity and specificity of the S-SPT were 94.4% and 86.4%, respectively, compared to 77.8% and 68.1%, respectively, for the water swallowing test. Because the S-SPT can be performed without any need for special patient effort or cooperation, it should be effective in diagnosing ASP in a wide variety of patients, including those who are bedridden.

The mechanism of Adenovirus (Ad) and Adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector-mediated gene transduction in murine tracheae has not been fully understood. Excised tracheae from mice were exposed to either Ad vector (Ad-CMV-LacZ) or AAV vector (AAV-CMV-LacZ) for 1 hour. LacZ gene expression in tracheal epithelial cells was detected by X-gal staining. Only patch distributions of LacZ expressing cells were observed. The percentage of LacZ expressing cells to total cells was less than 1% with either vector. Ad-mediated LacZ transduction was increased by mechanical damage using forceps. AAV-mediated gene transduction in tracheal epithelial cells was also increased by mechanical damage. Furthermore, this increased expression of vector LacZ by damaged epithelial cells was not affected by pretreatment with anti-ICAM-1 mAb or platelet-activating factor receptor antagonist. Although the Ad and AAV vectors were inefficient in transferring genetic material to murine trachea ex vivo, our results suggest that mechanical damage can enhance their transduction efficiency.

Aqueous and methanolic extracts of 39 Panamanian medicinal plants were tested for anti-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) effects. The extracts were tested for the inhibition of HIV-induced cytopathic effects in cultured cells, HIV-reverse transcriptase (RT) and HIV-protease (PR) enzymes. The water extract of the branches of Jatropha curcas (Euphorbiaceae) inhibited strongly the HIV-induced cytopathic effects with low cytotoxicity. On the other hand, the water extracts of the whole plant of Chamaesyce hyssopifolia (Euphorbiaceae), the leaves of Cordia spinescens (Boraginaceae) and the aerial parts of Hyptis lantanifolia (Labiatae), and the methanol extract of the aerial parts of Tetrapteris macrocarpa (Malpighiaceae) were potent inhibitors of HIV-RT (IC50: 6-8 microg/ml). Seven out of 39 plants were found to be moderate inhibitors of HIV-PR (IC50: 43-100 microg/ml). Furthermore, we report on the respective inhibitory substances of J. curcas, C. hyssopifolia and C. spinescens, and their possible mechanism of action.

Growth factors are known not only to cause a mitogenic response and alter differentiated characteristics of the target cells, but also to play important roles in intercellular signaling. Many growth factors are expressed in the embryonic and regulate embryogenesis. Pulmonary fibrosis is characterized by a complex process involving chronic inflammatory reaction, fibroblast proliferation, and abnormal deposition of interstitial collagen as a result of excess healing reaction. In the early phases, TNF-alpha, IL-beta and GM-CSF secreted by alveolar macrophages regulate and enhance pulmonary inflammation. On the contrary, TGF-alpha, KGF and HGF have been reported to enhance repair of alveolar epithelium and vascular endothelium in the injured lung. Furthermore, growth factors produced by alveolar macrophages and epithelium, such as PDGF, TGF-beta and activin A and belongs to the TGF-beta supergene family are known to play cardinal roles in fibroblast proliferation and pulmonary fibrosis. Further works concerning this complex growth factors (cytokines) network are required to provide a basis of the pathophysiology of pulmonary fibrosis.

We evaluated 240 consecutive subjects (aged 20-91) without cardiopulmonary, endocrine or, neuromuscular disease consecutively regarding pulmonary function (TLC, VC, FEV1, RV) and static maximal inspiratory (PImax) and expiratory (PEmax) pressures. PImax and PEmax declined with advancing age. PImax correlated with grip strength, VC, FEV1, height, weight, and RV/TLC. PEmax also correlated with grip strength, TLC, VC, FEV1, height, and weight. Age, height, weight, and grip strength were entered stepwise into multiple linear regression models with PImax or PEmax as the dependent variable. Stepwise regression analysis revealed that grip strength was an independent predictor for both PImax and PEmax. However, age itself was not an independent predictor for PImax or PEmax. These results suggest that static maximal respiratory pressures decrease with aging, and that age-dependent changes in respiratory muscle function may depend on other factors, including lung volume, skeletal muscle status, and body composition.

We tested the effects of a DNA topoisomerase inhibitor (camptothecin; CPT) on the transduction efficiency of AAV vectors in cultured human airway epithelial cells. The cells were treated with CPT for 24 hours, then exposed to AAV-CMV-LacZ for 1 hour at different multiplicities of infection (moi). Transduction efficiency of AAV vectors was assessed using X-gal staining as the percentage of LacZ-expressing cells. The transduction efficiency was approximately 1.5 to 10 fold increased by treatment with CPT prior to AAV vector exposure. However, treatment with CPT after AAV vector infection did not enhance the transduction efficiency of the vectors. These results suggest that pre-treatment with CPT increases the transduction efficiency of AAV vectors, probably by nodulating cellular function.

The mechanism underlying the relief of the sensation of dyspnea during exercise following the inhalation of anticholinergic drug in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has not been fully elucidated. We examined pulmonary function, static respiratory pressure, and dyspneic sensations during exercise before and after the inhalation of oxitropium bromide (OTB) in 14 male patients with COPD. FEV1 and FVC were increased after the inhalation of OTB, whereas RV and the ratio of RV to TLC were decreased after inhalation. Maximum inspiratory pressure (PImax) was significantly increased after the administration of OTB. Dyspneic sensation during exercise, measured as a Borg scale slope (BSS, delta BS/ delta Vo2) were reduced after the inhalation of OTB. There were significant correlations among BSS, PImax and RV/TLC. These results suggest that a reduction in air trapping after the inhalation of OTB may enhance the ability of the to diaphragm generate pressure at a given neural input, resulting in a reduced sensation of dyspnea during exercise in patients with COPD.

It has been suggested that pulmonary rehabilitation compined with inspiratory muscle training (IMT) might improve pulmonary function and respiratory muscle strength in elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). To test this hypothesis, inspiratory muscle strength (PImax), expiratory muscle strength (PEmax) and resting pulmonary function were measured in 13 elderly patients with COPD (aged 70.3 +/- 2.7 years). Inspiratory muscle training (IMT) was performed for 15 min twice a day, using a pressure threshold device, for a total of 12 weeks. The inspiratory threshold was set at 15% of maximal inspiratory pressure (PImax) for each individual. Pulmonary rehabilitation was performed for 12-h sessions over a 12-week period. Patients with COPD were assigned randomly to two groups: pulmonary rehabilitation combined with IMT (group A) (n = 7), and conventional pulmonary rehabilitation only (group B) (n = 6). Functional residual capacity (FRC) decreased significantly from 4.3 +/- 0.4 L at baseline to 3.9 +/- 0.4 L after rehabilitation (p0.01), Vp significantly increased from 4.6 +/- 0.8 L/sec at baseline to 5.1 +/- 0.7 L/sec after rehabilitation (p0.05) and the PImax increased significantly from 51.5 +/- 5.4 cmH2O at baseline to 80.9 +/- 7.0 cmH2O after rehabilitation (p0.02) in group A. However, these variables did not change in group B. There was no improvement in the 10-minutes walking distance of group A, but there was a significant increase in that of group B. It can be concluded that pulmonary rehabilitation combined with IMT improves pulmonary function and inspiratory muscle strength in elderly patients with COPD.

Fusion-fission and fully energy-damped binary processes of the $^{35}$Cl+$^{24}$Mg reaction were investigated using particle-particle coincidence techniques at a $^{35}$Cl bombarding energy of E$_{lab}$ $\approx$ 8 MeV/nucleon. Inclusive data were also taken in order to determine the partial wave distribution of the fusion process. The fragment-fragment correlation data show that the majority of events arises from a binary-decay process with a relatively large multiplicity of secondary light-charged particles emitted by the two primary excited fragments in the exit channel. No evidence is observed for ternary-breakup processes, as expected from the systematics recently established for incident energies below 15 MeV/nucleon and for a large number of reactions. The binary-process results are compared with predictions of statistical-model calculations. The calculations were performed using the Extended Hauser-Feshbach method, based on the available phase space at the scission point of the compound nucleus. This new method uses temperature-dependent level densities and its predictions are in good agreement with the presented experimental data, thus consistent with the fusion-fission origin of the binary fully-damped yields., Comment: 30 pages standard REVTeX file, 10 eps Figures; to be published at the European Physical Journal A - Hadrons and Nuclei

Transfer of genes via DNA virus vectors to human airway epithelial cells is not fully understood. We tested the effects of multiplicities of infection (moi) and incubation time on the efficiency of gene transfer by adenovirus vectors and AAV vectors in cultures of human airway epithelial cells. The cells were exposed to Ad-CMV-lacZ or AAV-CMV-LacZ for 1 to 48 hours at different moi from 0.1 to 100. Efficiency of transduction was assessed as the percentage of cells that expressed LacZ, and was measured by using X-gal staining. A dose-dependent relationship was found between vector moi and the percentage of cells that expressed LacZ. For both vectors, gene expression was greater when incubation time was longer (up to 12 hours), which suggests that the uptake of vectors into the cells is not selective. Efficiency of transduction did not differ between adenovirus and AAV vectors at the same moi. These results suggest that (1) gene transfer via DNA virus vectors increases in a moi-dependent fashion, and that (2) gene expression of the DNA virus vector may be increased by prolonged exposure of the vector to human airway epithelial cells.

An Extended Hauser-Feshbach Method (EHFM) is developed for light heavy-ion fusion reactions in order to provide a detailed analysis of all the possible decay channels by including explicitly the fusion-fission phase-space in the description of the cascade chain. The mass-asymmetric fission component is considered as a complex-fragment binary-decay which can be treated in the same way as the light-particle evaporation from the compound nucleus in statistical-model calculations. The method of the phase-space integrations for the binary-decay is an extension of the usual Hauser-Feshbach formalism to be applied to the mass-symmetric fission part. The EHFM calculations include ground-state binding energies and discrete levels in the low excitation-energy regions which are essential for an accurate evaluation of the phase-space integrations of the complex-fragment emission (fission). In the present calculations, EHFM is applied to the first-chance binary-decay by assuming that the second-chance fission decay is negligible. In a similar manner to the description of the fusion-evaporation process, the usual cascade calculation of light-particle emission from the highly excited complex fragments is applied. This complete calculation is then defined as EHFM+CASCADE. Calculated quantities such as charge-, mass- and kinetic-energy distributions are compared with inclusive and/or exclusive data for the $^{32}$S+$^{24}$Mg and $^{35}$Cl+$^{12}$C reactions which have been selected as typical examples. Finally, the missing charge distributions extracted from exclusive measurements are also successfully compared with the EHFM+CASCADE predictions., 34 pages, 6 Figures available upon request, Phys. Rev. C (to be published)

The properties of the two-body channels in the $^{35}$Cl + $^{24}$Mg reaction at a bombarding energy of 275 MeV have been investigated by using fragment-fragment coincident techniques. The exclusive data show that the majority of events arises from a binary-decay process. The rather large number of secondary light charged-particles emitted from the two excited exit fragments are cnsistent with the expectations of the Extended Hauser-Feshbach Method. No evidence for the occurence of ternary break-up events is observed., Comment: 8 pages, 3 Figures available upon request To be published at Z. Phys. A

Multifragment emission processes from highly excited nuclei produced in Ar-40+Au-197 reactions at incident energies of 30 and 60 MeV/u are compared. At the lowest bombarding energy and 3.3 MeV/u excitation energy, the composite system decay process supports the hypothesis of long-lived equilibrated nuclei decaying by successive binary splittings. For excited nuclei around 5 MeV/u, the depletion observed at small relative angles in the correlation functions is interpreted as the result of a strong reduction in the fragment emission time scale.

Coincidences between at least three fragments emitted at large angle have been used to study central collisions in the Ar+Au reactions at 30 and 60 MeV/u incident energies. For both energies, the formation of equilibrated very hot nuclei is evidenced. Average excitation energy as high as 1.2 GeV is reached in the reaction at 60 MeV/u. The increase of the excitation energy deposited for the upper bombarding energy is confirmed by the correlated increases of the nuclear temperature and of the evaporated light-particle multiplicity.

To study the decay mechanisms of intermediate mass fragments and fission products from a hot compound nucleus, we made an experiment for 84Kr+27Al at the energy of 10.6 MeV/u using Riken Ring Cyclotron Facility. The distributions of nuclear element Z and its isotope mass are extensively analyzed in terms of Extended Hauser‐Feshbach Method (EHFM) and it is concluded that the sequential decay plays an important role in the decay process from the highly excited compound nucleus. The dependence of element distributions on angular momentum is intensively discussed by comparing the two systems 84Kr+27Al and 3He+Ag, which form the same compound nucleus with different angular momentum window at the same excitation energy.

A new method is proposed to identify the sequential decay of hot nuclei into large fragments. This method is based on a minimization procedure. It is illustrated for the Ar + Au reaction at 30 MeV/u. In this case, corresponding to about 3 MeV/u excitation energy, it is shown that the three fragment production can be explained by sequential binary splittings.

In order to study the mechanism of complex fragments production from highly excited light and medium compound nucleus induced by relatively low energy heavy ion reactions, the full statistical analysis have been performed in terms of Extended Hauser Feshbach (EHF) method. At first the charge‐ and kinetic energy‐distributions of 35Cl+12C reaction at (ELab=180,200 MeV) and 23Na+24Mg reaction at (ELab=89 MeV) which form the 47V compound nucleus of almost same excitation energy are extensively investigated as a prototype of the light mass system. The variations in observed cross section from fragment to fragment are understood by the variations of binding energy of the lighter fragments of binary decay from the compound nucleus. The difference of the yield in the measured cross sections between the reactions is interpreted as the entrance channel effect that 23Na+24Mg channel has the larger critical angular momentum for fusion cross section than 35Cl+12C channel. The measured kinetic energy distributions in t...

International audience; Coïncidences between at least 3 fragments emitted at large angle have been used to study central collisions in the Ar+Au reactions at 30 and 60 MeV/u incident energies. For both energies, the formation of equilibrated very hot nuclei is evidenced. Excitation energy as high as 1 GeV are reached in the reaction at 60 MeV/u.

Incremental exercise test with a bicycle ergometer was performed on thirty eight patients (11 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, 6 patients with interstitial lung disease, 21 patients with preoperative check up for respiratory disease). In 34 patients except four patients with interstitial lung disease, there was a close correlation between dyspnea expressed on the Borg scale (BS) and oxygen consumption (VO2) (r = 0.778-0.998). To evaluate dyspnea in more quantitative manner, we introduced three parameters by the BS-VO2 regression line. The Borg scale slope (BSS) represents the slope of the regression line, threshold load of dyspnea (TLD) represents the onset of dyspnea on the regression line, and the breakpoint load of dyspnea (BLD) represents the maximum oxygen consumption before the subject interrupted exercise. BSS had significant negative correlations with VC, %VC, FEV1.0, TLC, DLco, and %DLco. TLD and BLD had significant positive correlations with VC, FEV1.0, DLco, and %DLco. No correlation was found between dyspnea evaluated by the Hugh-Jones classification and the parameters of pulmonary functions (VC, FEV1.0, DLco) at rest. From these findings, we conclude that the degree of dyspnea sensation on exercise correlated with parameters of pulmonary function at rest, and that these newly introduced parameters using the Borg scale were useful for a quantitative assessment of dyspnea in health and disease.

Fusion cross sections measured at high energies are parametrized in terms of a "statistical yrast line." This line lies parallel to the usual yrast line (given by the rigid-body moment of inertia, $\frac{2}{5}M{{\mathcal{r}}_{0}}^{2}{A}^{\frac{5}{3}}$) but is shifted upward by an additional energy $\ensuremath{\Delta}Q$. Most experimental fusion cross sections for systems with $A\ensuremath{\lesssim}80$ are well reproduced with values of ${\mathcal{r}}_{0}=1.20\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.05$ fm and $\ensuremath{\Delta}Q=10\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}2.5$ MeV.

In measurements of the fusion cross sections of the systems 16 O + 27 Al and 19 F + 24 Mg in the energy range of 43Sc∗, 40 MeV ≲ E ∗ ≲ 80 MeV , it has been observed that the Z-distributions of the evaporation residues and the extracted critical angular momenta are the same for the two entrance channels. These features confirm that the fusion cross sections at relatively high energies are rather determined by the properties of the compound nucleus like the “statistical yrast line”.

In order to investigate the clinico-pathological profile of the inflammatory disease of the intermediate zone of broncho-pulmonary system, a retrospective study was conducted in consecutively autopsied cases at Tokyo University Hospital (n = 495) and Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatrics Center Hospital (n = 1178). We analyzed clinical findings, laboratory tests, pulmonary function tests and chest roentgenograms. In addition, morphologic changes were assessed semiquantitatively as to the grade as well as the localization of inflammation in the lungs. Aspiration pulmonary diseases were found in 7% of all autopsied cases and diffuse aspiration bronchiolitis (DAB) was observed in 16% (1% of all cases). Macroscopic findings of DAB in an autopsied lung were similar to those found in diffuse panbronchiolitis (DPB). The clinical symptoms and tests were, however, a complex mixture of DPB and aspiration pneumonia. As a result, differential diagnosis of bronchial asthma in the elderly among aspiration pulmonary diseases seemed crucial for the proper management of DAB. Histologic findings of DAB were characterized by more predominant localization of inflammation in bronchioli and the invariable presence of foreign body or related giant cells in this region of the lungs. In view of these findings, the occurrence of DAB might be related to recurrent aspiration of small amounts with superimposed infection of the airways.

We investigated the effects of cigarette smoking on metabolism of two eicosanoids, 15-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (15-HETE) and 11-dehydrothromboxane B2 (11-dehydro-TXB2) in the lung. Twelve female Wistar rats aged between 5 and 6 weeks were chosen and the smoking group (SG, n = 6) was compared to the control group (CG, n = 6). Cigarette smoke exposure was performed using a Hamburg-II inhalation apparatus and the dose was 10 cigarettes in 30 min. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) was conducted 30 min after smoking exposure and the recovered BAL fluid was centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 10 min. The levels of 15-HETE and 11-dehydro-TXB2 of the supernatant were measured by radioimmunoassay in each sample. Recovered 15-HETE significantly increased in SG (SG: 490 +/- 109 pg, CG: 191 +/- 63 pg, p less than 0.05), while there was no significant difference in recovered protein (SG: 2.64 +/- 0.50 mg, CG: 2.23 +/- 0.10 mg), 11-dehydro-TXB2 (SG: 128 +/- 13 pg, CG: 156 +/- 7 pg). We conclude that acute cigarette smoke exposure increases recovered BAL fluid 15-HETE, a potent inflammatory mediator and that 15-HETE in BAL fluid may indicate lung injury induced by smoking.