Search

Ξ− atomic X-ray spectroscopy is one of the most useful methods for investigation of the Ξ–nucleus strong interaction. Since the X-ray energy is shifted and/or broadened due to the Ξ–nucleus strong interaction compared to those calculated from electromagnetic interaction alone, the measurement of the energy shift, ΔE, and the width, Γ, give us information on the Ξ–nucleus potential. A serious problem in the measurement is the significant background derived from in-flight Ξ− decay. A novel method of identifying stopped Ξ− events using the nuclear emulsion was developed to realize the first Ξ− atomic X-ray spectroscopy experiment as the J-PARC E07 experiment, which also aimed at searching for ΛΛ and Ξ− hypernuclei in the emulsion. The X-rays emitted from Ξ− Br and Ξ− Ag atoms were measured using germanium detectors. No clear peaks were observed in the obtained spectra. However, we succeeded in reducing the background to 1/170 by this method employing coincidence measurements using nuclear emulsion and X-ray detectors.

Introduction/Background* Since advanced endometrial cancer (EC) remains a disease with a poor prognosis, the development of novel therapeutic agents are warranted. Previously, we identified lipolysis-stimulated lipoprotein receptor (LSR) as a highly expressed molecule in ovarian cancer (OC) cells and developed an anti-LSR monoclonal antibody. The antibody significantly suppressed tumor growth in EC as well as OC, however the mechanism is largely unclear, and the function of LSR in cancer cells needs to be elucidated. In this study, we focused on apoptosis and ferroptosis in programmed cell deaths and investigated the function of LSR using in vitro and bioinformatic analysis. Methodology We evaluated LSR expression by immunohistochemistry and analyzed overall survival (OS) and clinicopathological features in 228 EC patients. To investigate the mechanism by which LSR affects the prognosis of EC patients, the pathway enrichment analysis was conducted using published proteomic data of EC. In vitro analyses were performed using two human EC cell lines (HEC1 and HEC116) and the activity of signaling pathways were examined by western blotting. Result(s)* Patients were divided into two groups based on LSR expression; High (strongly stained in ≥25% of the lesion, n=153) and Low (strongly stained in Conclusion* LSR contributes to tumor progression and poor prognosis by regulating apoptotic and ferroptotic signaling pathways in endometrial cancer. LSR may be a novel therapeutic target molecule in EC.

In an emulsion-counter hybrid experiment performed at J-PARC, a Ξ^{-} absorption event was observed which decayed into twin single-Λ hypernuclei. Kinematic calculations enabled a unique identification of the reaction process as Ξ^{-}+^{14}N→_{Λ}^{10}Be+_{Λ}^{5}He. For the binding energy of the Ξ^{-} hyperon in the Ξ^{-}-^{14}N system a value of 1.27±0.21 MeV was deduced. The energy level of Ξ^{-} is likely a nuclear 1p state which indicates a weak ΞN-ΛΛ coupling.

In an emulsion-counter hybrid experiment performed at J-PARC, a Ξ^{-} absorption event was observed which decayed into twin single-Λ hypernuclei. Kinematic calculations enabled a unique identification of the reaction process as Ξ^{-}+^{14}N→_{Λ}^{10}Be+_{Λ}^{5}He. For the binding energy of the Ξ^{-} hyperon in the Ξ^{-}-^{14}N system a value of 1.27±0.21 MeV was deduced. The energy level of Ξ^{-} is likely a nuclear 1p state which indicates a weak ΞN-ΛΛ coupling.

A double-$\Lambda$ hypernucleus, ${}_{\Lambda\Lambda}\mathrm{Be}$, was observed by the J-PARC E07 collaboration in nuclear emulsions tagged by the $(K^{-},K^{+})$ reaction. This event was interpreted as a production and decay of $ {}_{\Lambda\Lambda}^{\;10}\mathrm{Be}$, ${}_{\Lambda\Lambda}^{\;11}\mathrm{Be}$, or ${}_{\Lambda\Lambda}^{\;12}\mathrm{Be}^{*}$ via $\Xi^{-}$ capture in ${}^{16}\mathrm{O}$. By assuming the capture in the atomic 3D state, the binding energy of two $\Lambda$ hyperons$\,$($B_{\Lambda\Lambda}$) of these double-$\Lambda$ hypernuclei are obtained to be $15.05 \pm 0.11\,\mathrm{MeV}$, $19.07 \pm 0.11\,\mathrm{MeV}$, and $13.68 \pm 0.11\,\mathrm{MeV}$, respectively. Based on the kinematic fitting, ${}_{\Lambda\Lambda}^{\;11}\mathrm{Be}$ is the most likely explanation for the observed event., Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures

An emulsion-counter hybrid experiment (KEK E176) was carried out to search for double strangeness systems such as double- Λ hypernuclei and H -dibaryons. More than 10% of Ξ − hyperons produced in the (K − , K + ) reaction were brought to rest in the nuclear emulsion. We have obtained 98 candidate events of nuclear capture at rest of Ξ − hyperons which are described in this report. Among those, four events were identified as sequential weak decay of double- Λ hypernuclei. The binding energies of Ξ − -( 12 C, 14 N and 16 O) states have been estimated for two events which emit twin single- Λ hypernuclei back to back from the capture point. The Σ − p decay vertex of an H -dibaryon was searched for near the capture point and no evidence was observed. Upper limits for the branching ratio of H emission are 5–10% for a lifetime less than 0.1 ns at the 90% confidence level. The trapping probabilities of single and double strangeness to a nuclear fragment following Ξ − capture at rest have been studied.

An event emitting a Σ- -hyperon from a Ξ- -hyperon nuclear capture at rest has been observed in a hybrid-emulsion experiment. The event has been analyzed as the first observation of the weak decay of the S = - 2 system.

The influence of tooth loss on the viability of cholinergic neurons was examined in rats. At 25th postnatal week, rats were divided into the three groups; a control group fed a solid diet, a soft diet group fed a powder diet and a molar crown-less group in which all molar crowns were removed and the powder diet was given. At 15 and 35 weeks post-treatment, the number of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT)-positive neurons in the nucleus of the diagonal band/medial septal nucleus (NDB/MS) was significantly smaller in the molar crown-less group than in the control group (P < 0.01). This was not the case in the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus or (PPT) or in the trigeminal motor nucleus. Biochemical assay showed no statistically significant differences in choline concentrations in the hippocampus between the control and the molar crown-less group both at 15 and at 35 weeks post-treatment. Nevertheless, acetylcholine (ACh) concentration in the hippocampus of the molar crown-less group was significantly lower than that of the control group at 15 weeks post-treatment (P < 0.05). Taken together, a decrease of oral sensory information may have caused a reduction in the number of ChAT-positive neurons selectively in NDB/MS, which in turn caused a decline of ACh concentrations in the hippocampus.

An experiment to search for double-strangeness nuclei in nuclear emulsion is now being carried on as KEK-PS E373. Preliminary results of the data analysis for the K + spectrometer and the scintillating fiber detectors are presented. Status of the automatic track finding method for the emulsion is reported.

The present authors pointed out in the previous paper [1] that the implicit SMAC scheme is quite efficient and non-staggered grid arrangement can decrease the computational effort and save the storage memory which is very important to the direct numerical simulation (DNS) of complicated 3-D flow fields. But using non-staggered grid arrangement, the pressure field oscillation (PFO) ordinarily occurs and also, the pressure on the solid walls including sharp corners need to be prescribed directly as the pressure boundary conditions. In this paper, a new interpolation method, which is a modification to Cheng and Armfield's interpolation formulation, is presented in order to completely prevent PFO from occurring, Moreover, a more accurate specification method of wall pressures and special treatment of pressures at sharp corners are proposed. To test the new methods proposed, the DNS of flow past a square cylinder and flows over backward-facing steps, which are typical of the flow fields with shar...

A hybrid experiment with nuclear emulsion and scintillating-fiber detectors (KEK-E373) has been performed to search for double-strangeness systems. Among about 10${}^{3}$ events of ${\ensuremath{\Xi}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ hyperons captured at rest by emulsion nuclei, we have observed four events which clearly show the topology of cascade weak decays of double-$\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ hypernuclei including the ``Nagara'' event. Regarding the Nagara event, values of the two-$\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ binding energy (${B}_{\ensuremath{\Lambda}\ensuremath{\Lambda}}$) and the $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$-$\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ interaction energy ($\ensuremath{\Delta}{B}_{\ensuremath{\Lambda}\ensuremath{\Lambda}}$) of ${}_{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}^{}{}_{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}^{6}\mathrm{He}$ have been revised to 6.91 $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}$ 0.16 and 0.67 $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}$ 0.17 MeV, respectively, due to the recent change of the ${\ensuremath{\Xi}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ mass value (Particle Data Group). For another three events, we have determined possible species of double-$\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ hypernuclei together with their binding energies.

A proto-type silicon drift chamber has been tested mainly by using an LED. The characteristic behavior of the detector is discussed through the measurement of electron drift time. Under a special situation the anode signal showed the increasing rise time and the decreasing amplitude with the drift distance. The former is understood at least by the electro-static repulsion of the electron cloud, while the latter is suggestive of the trapping of electron to some impurity levels.

The surface roughening phenomenon of an aluminum foil is utilized as the measure of stress measurements under variable amplitude stressing and fundamental characteristics of the evolution of the roughness are investigated. The effect of load history on the surface roughening does not appear when the stress amplitude varies many times. Under such a loading condition, the average stress amplitude is measured from the surface roughness of the foil, and this is defined by (∑σiαNi/∑Ni)1/α, where σi, Ni and α are the stress amplitude, the number of stress cycles of σi, and the material factor, respectively.

In this paper, the surface roughening phenomenon of an aluminum foil during fatigue process is utilized for monitoring of a variable amplitude stress. It is found that constant mean stress does not affect surface roughness. When the mean stress varies, however, it causes surface roughening. In such a case, the equivalent stress defined by (Σσ α N i /ΣN i )1/α dominates surface roughness of an aluminum foil, where σ i andN i are stress amplitude and the number of cycles counted by the rangepair method, respectively, and α is a gage factor which is peculiar to the foil used. It is concluded that the aluminum foil can be used as the range-pair counting fatigue gage with high accuracy.

In this paper, the fundamental characteristics of fatigue slip bands formed in an aluminium foil are investigated under both constant and variable stresses, and this phenomenon is utilized to monitor the stress amplitude with the use of the foil. It is found that variation of stress amplitude hardly affects the increase of slip bands, and the fraction of slip bands under variable stress is correlated with the equivalent stress defined by (Σσ i α N i /Σ N i ) 1 α , where σ i , and α are stress amplitude, the number of cycles and the material factor which is peculiar to the foil used, respectively. It is concluded that the fraction of slip bands can be a measure of stress evaluation for both constant and variable stresses.

Fundamental experiments are carried out to examine the parameter that dominates the slip-band initiation in electroplated copper foil under the condition where the mean stress as well as the stress amplitude varies. In the case of constant-amplitude stressing, the relation between the critical stress for the slip-band initiation σ p and the number of cyclesN is well represented by σ p α N=C. In other words, the slip bands appear when the total hysteresis energy applied to the copper foil attains a critical value. In the case of variable stresses, the range-pair mainly dominates the occurrence of the slip bands, and Miner's linear cumulative damage rule holds for the accumulation of the fatigue damage for the slip-band initiation. Accordingly, the parameter (Σσ i α ni/Σni)1/α is equivalent to the critical stress σ p under constant amplitude stressing, where σ i andni are the stress amplitude and the number of cycles counted by the range-pair method, respectively, and α is the exponent of the σ p -N relation. Based on these results, the applicability of the copper foil to the fatigue gage that accumulates and indicates a load experience is discussed.

The process of separating ethanol from aqueous solutions using supercritical carbon dioxide is in the development stage and was investigated experimentally using a bench scale test plant. It was operated under conditions based on previous data (Furuta et al. 1990). The results showed that more than 99 mol% of ethanol could be concentrated without any entrainer. A reflux ratio grater than 2 was required for good extraction efficiency. For recycling use, carbon dioxide was easily separated from ethanol using a high pressure distillation column.

SUMMARY We have established an ELISA for determination of membrane cofactor protein (MCP, CD46) both solubilized from cell membranes and released in body fluids. In this assay, mouse MoAbs against MCP, M177 and M160 whose epitopes were different, were used as capture and detection antibodies, respectively. The NP-40 concentration in samples for MCP to be measured must be less than 0·05%. The detection limit of this MCP assay was 0·5 ng. The assay was used to quantify solubilized membrane MCP, and soluble MCP in normal human plasma, serum, urine, saliva, tears, and seminal fluid, and culture media of tumour cell lines. Soluble MCP was barely detected in the conditioned media of the cell lines. The levels of sMCP in plasma and serum were 10–60 ng/ml and that in tears, 0–50 ng/ml. Seminal fluid contained about 10-fold more soluble MCP than serum. Soluble MCP was not detectable by this assay in the other body fluids, suggesting that their MCP levels were less than the detection limit, if any.

Fatigue behavior of plain specimens of low carbon steel subjected to small tensile prestrain is investigated through rotating bending tests and the mechanism of the decrease of fatigue limit due to the prestrain is discussed. It is found that 3 percent prestraining causes the acceleration of both slip and crack initiations, and increases the growth rate of a small surface crack of less than 0.3 mm. It also decreases the fatigue limit. If prestrained material is aged, the fatigue limit increases. These effects of the small prestrain are explained based on the unpinning of locked dislocations due to the prestrain.

A report is presented of the results of an investigation of device parameters and collector-to-emitter breakdown voltages of double polysilicon self-aligned transistors with highly doped collectors using a two-dimensional process/device simulation system. Favourable phosphorous-ion implanting condition for a highly doped pedestal collector was found to achieve a high cutoff frequency as well as low AC base resistance and small base-collector capacitance, thereby keeping the minimum collector-to-emitter breakdown voltage of 3 V. The authors also report ECL circuit performance improvements achieved in experiments that realized a minimum ECL gate delay time of 26.3 ps/gate at switching current of 1.64 mA as a result of process optimization. Moreover, a 1/8 static frequency divider T-F/F has been observed to operate up to a maximum frequency of 15.8 GHz. >

Background The incidence of ocular injury associated with facial fractures has been reported to be between 0.8% and 30%. Objective Because of this wide range of incidences, a system to stratify the risk of ocular injury by type of facial fracture was sought. Methods The present study reviewed 266 patients with facial fractures to determine the risk factors for ocular injury. The anatomy of each facial fracture was classified using an orbit-centred approach according to the number of orbital walls fractured. Patients were then grouped using this classification system. Charts documenting follow-up for each patient over a minimum of one year were examined and initial emergency room presentations of patients with subsequent visual impairment were recorded. Results The incidence of severe visual impairment and blindness was 4.5% overall. Although all facial fractures (including isolated fractures of the mandible) had a notable incidence of ocular injury, an increased number of orbital wall fractures were correlated with an increased incidence of permanent visual disability. One of 147 (0.68%) patients without an orbital wall fracture sustained permanent severe ocular injury or blindness, while 13.5% (five of 37) of three-wall orbital fracture patients and 25% (four of 16) of four-wall orbital fracture patients sustained the same injury. Conclusions The risk of ocular injury in complex facial fractures can be stratified by the degree of orbital wall involvement. However, because all patients with persistent visual impairment had ocular findings on initial examination, it is proposed that oculovisual testing is a more sensitive indicator of lasting ocular injuries than the type of facial fracture.

Various complications can result from titanium plate internal fixation, including infection, exposure, pain, cold intolerance, and palpability. The incidence of such complications has become a topic of recent interest with the advent of resorbable plating. We undertook a retrospective review to determine complication rates of titanium fixation in a facial fracture population. Out of 266 patients with operative management of traumatic facial fracture between 1991 and 2004, 135 patients had titanium plate fixation. We evaluated 16 panfacial fractures, 22 zygomatic-orbital complex fractures, 49 midface fractures, and 48 fractures of the mandible. Overall, 33.3% (45/135) of patients had plates removed; 64.4% (29/45) of plate removals were for complications, ie, discomfort, exposure, and infection; 35.6% (16/45) were removed during secondary reconstruction. The most common complication was discomfort related to palpability, cold intolerance, and pain. This constituted 72.4% (21/29) of all plate removals for complications. Higher rates of plate discomfort were noted near the supraorbital, infraorbital, and mental foramina.

A panoramic camera with a speaker oriented face extraction function is proposed. For the face extraction, a genetic algorithm (GA) is implemented in a field programmable gate array (FPGA) chip. A panoramic video signal generator circuit is also implemented in the FPGA for teleconferencing. Experimental results are included.

Pneumatic motors have many advantages over electric motors, conventionally used for robotics and automation applications. However, the control performance of pneumatic motors is quite unsatisfactory, mainly due to the compressibility of air. We have recently proposed the development of hybrid pneumatic/electric motors where a small electric motor is used in conjunction with vane-type pneumatic motors, so that the hybrid actuator has better damping and ease of control than the pneumatic motor. In the present work, we consider the switching control of the hybrid actuator system, and, propose control algorithms for position, and trajectory control of the system. The performance improvement of the new actuator is illustrated by results of experimental implementation.

pregnancy is defined by ultrasonographic demonstration of fetal cardiac activity. Implantation rate is defined as total gestational sacs divided by total embryos transferred in each category. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that extended embryo culture to day 5 does not adversely affect embryo efficiency in a select group of women with only 6 zygotes and does not pose a detrimental effect on cumulative live birth rate. Additionally, a significant decrease in cumulative twin delivery rate is achieved by this strategy if single embryo transfer is used frequently for day 5 ETs. This may translate to a safer IVF practice strategy in prevention of multiple pregnancies, including twins.

Background Treatment for rheumatoid arthritis has become to obtain remission as biologics are widely used. Nonetheless, the main target of the treatment is synovitis and evaluation and treatment for osteoporosis with RA are not enough even though these patients have got remission. Objectives Our purpose is to investigate effects on bone metabolism of anti-TNF-α Biologics and bisphosphonates (BPs) among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods We selected 18 cases of patients with RA who received BPs for the first time and investigated effects on bone metabolism of BPs after 6 months. Moreover, 40 cases of patients with RA who already took BPs more than 6 months (BPs group) and 40 cases of those who received BPs and anti-TNF-α Biologics (BPs+anti-TNF-α group) were subjected to this study as well. We investigated bone resorption markers (N-telopeptide of type 1 collage (NTX), tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRACP) 5b), bone formation markers (bone specific alkaline phosphatase (BAP), osteocalcin), cartilage metabolic markers (matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-3, cartilage oligometric matrix protein (COMP)), bone mineral density (BMD) and inflammatory situation with ESR, CRP, DAS28 (ESR) and DAS28 (CRP). Results BPs significantly decreased bone resorption marker such as NTX (22% decrease change, P Conclusions We confirmed administration of BPs led to low turnover in patients with RA. Several papers showed anti-TNF-α Biologics decrease bone resorption markers such as NTX and CTX and that do not change or decrease bone formation markers and BMD1,2. Nevertheless, there is no report to investigate BPs group and BPs+anti-TNF-α group while lots of patients with RA take BPs due to osteoporosis. There was no further suppression of osteoclast activity when we administered both BPs and anti-TNF-α Biologics compared to BPs alone. In addition, our data suggested that anti-TNF-α Biologics treatment for patients with RA has a posibility of indirect suppression of cartilage destruction. References Chopin F et al. Long-term effects of infliximab on bone and cartilage turnover markers in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Ann Rheum Dis 67:353–. 2008. Yasunori K et al. Reduction of urinary levels of pyridinoline and deoxypyridinoline and serum levels of soluble receptor activator of NF-kappa B ligand by etanercept in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Clin Rheumatol. 27(9):1093-101. 2008 Disclosure of Interest None declared DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.4902

A double-hyperfragment event has been found in a hybrid-emulsion experiment. It is identified uniquely as the sequential decay of ${}_{\ensuremath{\Lambda}\ensuremath{\Lambda}}^{6}\mathrm{He}$ emitted from a ${\ensuremath{\Xi}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ hyperon nuclear capture at rest. The mass of ${}_{\ensuremath{\Lambda}\ensuremath{\Lambda}}^{6}\mathrm{He}$ and the $\ensuremath{\Lambda}\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ interaction energy $\ensuremath{\Delta}{B}_{\ensuremath{\Lambda}\ensuremath{\Lambda}}$ have been measured for the first time devoid of the ambiguities due to the possibilities of excited states. The value of $\ensuremath{\Delta}{B}_{\ensuremath{\Lambda}\ensuremath{\Lambda}}$ is $1.01\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}{0.20}_{\ensuremath{-}0.11}^{+0.18}\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}\mathrm{MeV}$. This demonstrates that the $\ensuremath{\Lambda}\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ interaction is weakly attractive.

Oligodimethylsiloxanes (ODMSs) containing a beta-D-glucopyranosyl group at one chain end (Glc-ODMSs) with various molecular weights were prepared to develop a silicone-based polymeric transdermal penetration enhancer with a non-ionic polar end group. Glc-ODMSs were prepared by hydrosilylation of hydrosilyl-terminated ODMS with 1-allyl-beta-D-glucose tetraacetate in the presence of bis(benzonitrile)platinum dichloride as the catalyst, followed by hydrolysis of the acetyl groups with sodium methoxide. The enhancing effect in the drug penetration was evaluated by in vitro experiments using a two-chamber diffusion cell. Antipyrine was used as a model drug, and the amount of drug permeating through the rat abdominal skin with or without Glc-ODMS was determined by HPLC. These enhancers were effective for the penetration of antipyrine. On the other hand, the enhancing effects were influenced by the concentration of Glc-ODMS coexisted regardless of its ODMS chain length. The enhancing effect was also observed by the pretreatment of the skin with Glc-ODMS before the drug permeation, the results of which suggested that the induction periods to appear the enhancing effects were different between Glc-ODMSs with the short and the long ODMS chain lengths. Furthermore, according to the Draize test, Glc-ODMSs exhibited no irritation to the skin regardless of the ODMS chain length.

A double-hyperfragment event has been found in a hybrid-emulsion experiment. It is identified uniquely as the sequential decay of ( 6)(LambdaLambda)He emitted from a Xi(-) hyperon nuclear capture at rest. The mass of ( 6)(LambdaLambda)He and the Lambda-Lambda interaction energy DeltaB(LambdaLambda) have been measured for the first time devoid of the ambiguities due to the possibilities of excited states. The value of DeltaB(LambdaLambda) is 1.01+/-0.20(+0.18)(-0.11) MeV. This demonstrates that the Lambda-Lambda interaction is weakly attractive.

A hybrid emulsion experiment E373 at KEK has been carried out to study doubly strange nuclear system. By the 8% data analysis of all, one twin single-Λ hypernuclei event and two events of double-Λ hypernucleus have been successfully detected. The twin single-Λ event is uniquely interpreted as Ⅺ−+14N→Λ5He+Λ5He+4He+n for the first time. In the first double-Λ hypernucleus event, “Demachi-Yanagi,” it is interpreted as Ⅺ−+12C→ΛΛ10Be* (or ΛΛ10Be*)+t. The second double-Λ hypernucleus event, “NAGARA,” shows a clearly recognized topology and the interpretation is unique as Ⅺ−+12C→ΛΛ6He+4He+t, ΛΛ6He→Λ5He+π−+p, Λ5He→p+d+2n etc. By the preliminary result of the ΛΛ6He, the attractive ΛΛ interaction has been confirmed with the ΔBΛΛ∼1 MeV.

Anterior (anterolateral and anteromedial) thigh flaps based on the descending branch of the lateral circumflex femoral vessels provide a long vascular pedicle and a large flap without sacrificing main vessels and muscles. Twenty-eight de-epithelialised anterior thigh flaps were transferred for reconstruction of head and neck defects following tumour ablation. Two flaps were lost in patients that had previously undergone high-dose radiotherapy following free tissue transfer. Vascularised fibula, vascularised iliac bone and other tissues were combined with anterior thigh flaps in 13 cases utilising the distal end or derivative branches of the vascular pedicle. Salivary fistula was seen in only one case, although there were many minor and major complications. In five cases, double skin flaps were harvested from the ipsilateral thigh. One of these flaps was used for coverage of intraoral defects, while the other was placed in the submandibular area to fill dead space. Compared with other methods, this multi-flap method is considered to be most suitable for dead space filling and contour correction.

Polyoxyethylene(PEO)/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) block copolymers bearing ammonium group at the one side chain end was prepared and the enhancing activity on the drug permeation through the skin was investigated in vitro. The enhancing mechanism was discussed by simulating the permeation profile with a Fickian diffusion equation. These copolymers efficiently promoted the transdermal drug permeation and the activity considerably depended on the degree of polymerization of PEO and PDMS. Concerning the role of each part in the molecule, the compound consisting of all moeities, namely PEG, PDMS and cationic group showed highest enhancing activity. From the result of calculation of partition and diffusion parameters, it was revealed that these compound increased only drug partition from vehicle to the skin. Moreover, this materials scarcely showed the skin irritation.

The localization of 2 isoforms of glucose transporters (GLUT1 and GLUT4) in 75 patients with renal cell carcinoma was examined immunohistochemically. Paraffin sections were immunostained with either anti-GLUT1 or GLUT4 antibody by the avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex method. In 55 of 75 patients, GLUT1 staining was demonstrated at the plasma membrane of the cancer cells. In the clear cell subtype, 44 of 52 (84.6%) patients were positive for GLUT1. We did not detect positive staining for GLUT1 in the spindle cell type. In the mixed cell subtype, positive staining was recognized in only the areas of clear cell carcinomas (10 of 13; 76.9%). Positive staining for GLUT1 did not show any significant correlation with tumor grade or extent. Heterogeneous expression of GLUT1 was observed in tumor cell mass: some tumor cells were positive for GLUT1, while other cells were not. In adjacent normal tissue, GLUT1 staining was only recognized at the plasma membrane of some renal tubules. GLUT4 staining was not recognized in either tumor or normal tissues.

The preparation of novel transdermal penetration enhancers derived from 2-pyrrolidone were carried out, and the enhancing activities of drug permeation through the skin were evaluated by means of in vitro experiment. All the enhancers contain a short alkyl group, such as methyl, ethyl, propyl or butyl group, at 1-position and a dodecyl group at 3-position of 2-pyrrolidone ring. The enhancing activities were considerably influenced by the length of the short alkyl group at 1-position. 1-Propyl and 1-butyl-3-dodecyl-2-pyrrolidone showed the effective enhancement of penetration of indomethacin through the skin in 60 wt% ethanolic aqueous solution. Moreover, the similar enhancing activities of these compounds were also observed even in ethanolic vehicle.

Phosphonate, phosphoramidate and phosphate derivatives containing long alkyl groups were prepared, and their activities enhancing drug penetration through the skin were evaluated by means of in vitro experiments. The effect of chemical structure of these compounds on enhancing activity was investigated. Among the phosphonate and phosphoramidate derivatives, compounds having a hexadecyl group showed the most effective enhancement of transdermal penetration of indomethacin. For the phosphate derivatives, the enhancing activities were almost equal in the compounds containing dodecyl, tetradecyl and hexadecyl group. All the compounds having an octyl group were not effective in penetration enhancement. Diethyl hexadecylphosphonate and diethyl hexadecylphosphoramidate brought about the highest enhancing activities among these compounds, and the permeability coefficient of indomethacin was about 10-fold as much as that without enhancer. The relationship between the enhancing activities and the lipophilicities of these compounds was discussed.