[A study on DNA content and cell cycle phase analysis in endometrial carcinoma]

OBJECTIVE

To study the prognostic value of DNA content, cell cycle phase in endometrial carcinoma.

METHODS

DNA content and cell cycle phase analysis were performed on 100 paraffin-embedded archival specimens from 103 cases of endometrial carcinoma using flow cytometry.

RESULTS

Aneuploidy was found in 71.0% of specimens. The aneuploidy rate in specimens from grade III, deep myometrial invasion and stage III, IV was significantly higher than that in specimens from grade I, nonmyometrial invasion and stage I (P < 0.05 respectively). 5-year survival rate for patients with aneuploidy was 65.9% and for patients with diploidy was 87.6% (P < 0.01). High S-phase fraction (SPF) was associated with high grade, deep myometrial invasion and advanced stage. The mean SPF was 13.4% in the living group and 17% in the dead group. The 5-year survival rate for patients with SPF > 17% was 50.4% and for patients with SPF < 17% was 79.1% (P < 0.01). SPF and stage were the most important prognostic factors in endometrial carcinoma by Cox's proportional hazards model.

CONCLUSIONS

DNA ploidy and SPF were found to be of important prognostic indicators in endometrial carcinoma.

[Detection of lipoarabinomannan-IgG in serum for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis]

OBJECTIVE

To ascertain the value of lipoarabinomannan-IgG (LAM-IgG) determination in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis.

METHOD

LAM-IgG in sera obtained from 90 patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis, 53 patients with lung cancer and 30 healthy individuals were detected by using rapid enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

RESULTS

The positive rate was 82% in tuberculosis group, and the false positive rates were 8% and 3% in cancer group and healthy controls respectively.

CONCLUSION

The results suggested that rapid ELISA and LAM-IgG detection was a useful supplementary tool for diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis.

Determinants of speech-hearing disability in King-Kopetzky syndrome

King-Kopetzky syndrome is characterized by auditory disability with a clinically normal hearing threshold. The main reported disability is hearing speech in the presence of background noise. The degrees of speech-hearing disability in patients with King-Kopetzky syndrome have been investigated with the use of the Social Hearing Handicap Index (SHHI), and the relationships between the SHHI scores and a number of physiological, psychoacoustical and psychological factors determined in 109 patients. The significantly higher (worse) SHHI scores in patients with King-Kopetzky syndrome indicate that this group suffer a considerable degree of speech-hearing disability. In our study, the main findings are that some psychological factors, performance of the sentence in noise test and auditory thresholds are significantly correlated with the SHHI scores. We were unable to find any relationships between the SHHI and frequency resolution or EOAEs. In a multiple stepwise regression, somatic anxiety and the performance of the sentence in noise test are the significant predictors of SHHI scores. These two variables appear to be the main determinants of speech-hearing disability in King-Kopetzky syndrome.

Hearing impairment: special needs of the elderly

Within this paper we have considered some of the particular disabilities and handicaps commonly experienced by elderly hearing-impaired people as compared with younger individuals. We examined their ratings of their disability and handicap and found that both disability and handicap increased more rapidly with increasing hearing loss in younger than in older patients. We have finally considered the strategies used by older people to cope with hearing loss and found them more likely to withdraw from difficult listening situations or to interrupt the speaker, but less likely to position themselves to hear better.

[A study on expression of tumor suppressor gene p53 in endometrial carcinoma]

OBJECTIVE

To observe the relationship between suppressor gene p53 expression and endometrial carcinoma.

METHODS

Expression of p53 was studied by immunohistochemistry in paraffin sections from 23 normal endometrium, 44 endometrial hyperplasia and 103 endometrial carcinoma.

RESULTS

Immunohistochemical staining of p53 protein was negative in normal and hyperplastic endometrium but positive in 47.6% of endometrial carcinoma. In endometrial carcinoma, p53 over expression was significantly associated with histologic type, tumor grade, presence of vascular invasion and DNA aneuploidy. The survival rate of patients with p53 expression is significantly lower than that of patients without p53 expression (P < 0.001), the 5-year survival rate is 59.9% and 83.4% respectively. Patients with expression of mutant forms of the tumor suppressor gene p53 products had a 6.34-fold increased risk of death as compared with patients without p53 expression by Cox proportional hazards model.

CONCLUSIONS

Aberrant expression of p53 gene is indicative of aggressive biological behavior and poor survival in endometrial carcinoma.

Studies on the relationship between changes in dietary patterns and health status

In order to study the relationship between dietary composition and health and disease, we investigated retrospectively the changes in diet composition, health status and disease specific mortality of the Shanghai population from 1950 to 1985. The results showed that remarkable changes occurred in dietary composition, health status and disease mortality. The energy from grain products decreased from 80-83% in the 1950s to 68-72% in the 1980s, and the energy from animal foods increased from 6.5-8.5% in the 1950s to 17.5-18.0% in the 1980s. With the changes in dietary composition, notable changes also occurred in the nutritional composition of the diet. From the 1950s to the 1980s, energy from fat was increased from 16.3-20.1% to 24.0-28.0%, and the energy from carbohydrates decreased from 72.0-73.5% to 62.2-65.8%. Almost certainly as a result of the changes in diet, health status and disease mortality also changed. For example, the average height in males of 18-20 years old increased from 164.89 cm in 1955 to 167.33 cm in 1974, and the average life span of males and females increased from 42.0 years and 45.6 years in 1950 to 72.1 years and 76.4 years in 1985, respectively. At the same time, the rank order of mortality causes also changed. Before 1950, the first three causes of death were measles, tuberculosis and senility, but in 1985 they were malignant tumours, cerebrovascular disease, and ischaemic heart disease. In particular, the mortality from ischaemic heart disease is now higher than in Japan. The causes of these changes may be the changes of dietary composition and nutritional composition of diet, although there are other factors. Therefore, changes in dietary composition which maintain or improve life expectancy, yet decrease the burden of chronic non-communicable disease is required.

Identification of two alternatively spliced transcripts of STEP: a subfamily of brain-enriched protein tyrosine phosphatases

A brain-enriched protein tyrosine phosphatase termed STEP46 (striatal enriched phosphatase) was previously isolated and characterized. Immunological studies with a STEP monoclonal antibody recognized several STEP-immunoreactive proteins, and suggested that additional STEP-related polypeptides existed. This study reports the isolation of two alternatively spliced transcripts of the STEP gene. One of these, STEP20 (with a predicted molecular mass of 20 kDa) was further characterized and found to lack the conserved tyrosine phosphatase domain. Northern analysis detected a 2.8 kb STEP20 message in mouse brain. The second alternatively spliced transcript, STEP61, has a 5'-extended open reading frame that encodes a protein with a predicted molecular mass of 61 kDa and contains a single tyrosine phosphatase domain. The exon-intron organization responsible for the novel STEP20 and STEP61 sequences was determined in the mouse STEP genomic DNA. We propose that the original STEP46, along with STEP20 and STEP61, are members of a brain-enriched subfamily of protein tyrosine phosphatases, and that STEP isoforms may have distinct functions within the central nervous system.

[Effects of three kinds of decoction on histopathology of gastric mucosa, gastric pH and the content of bile acid in experimental chronic gastritis in rats]

Experimental chronic gastritis (ECG) models were established in rats by inserting a spring into pyloric canal as well as feeding sodium deoxycholate. An experiment was undertaken to observe the therapeutic effects of three formulas of traditional Chinese medicine "Shipitong", "Ganpingyangwei" and "Weile". The experimental results show that all of the three decoctions can reduce gastric pH and bile acid of the ECG rats and make gastric mucosal histomorphology of these rats change markedly.

Developmental toxicity and structure-activity relationships of chlorophenols using human embryonic palatal mesenchymal cells

The chlorophenols (CPs) comprise a major class of widely distributed and frequently occurring environmental contaminants. Previous studies have demonstrated the adverse effects of CPs on embryonic and fetal development. HEPM (human embryonic palatal mesenchymal) and MOT (mouse ovarian tumor) cell lines have been utilized in complementary bioassays for the detection of teratogens, but not the CPs. In this study, our objectives were 2-fold: (1) to determine if the HEPM assay could be used to complement other bioassay systems of nonhuman origin, i.e., Hydra attenuata (HA) and rat whole embryo culture (WEC), in the evaluation of the developmental toxicity of CPs, and (2) to delineate the ability of the HEPM assay to evaluate structure-activity relationships of pentachlorophenol (C5P), 2,3,4,5-tetrachlorophenol (C4P), 2,3,5-trichlorophenol (C3P), 3,5-dichlorophenol (C2P), 4-monochlorophenol (CP), phenol, and CP derivatives (i.e., acetates, sodium phenates and anisoles). HEPM cells were seeded into each well of a 24-well plate and cultivated for 24 h. The medium was replaced with fresh medium containing various concentrations of test chemicals dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO, 0.1%). After culturing for 72 h, the medium was removed, cells were trypsinized, and cell number determined. The HEPM cell growth inhibition assay demonstrated a linear relationship between the IC50 values of the CPs and degree of chlorine substitution. The IC50 values of C5P, C4P, C3P, C2P, CP, and phenol were 18.8, 21.5, 27.5, 63.0, 150.0 and 470.0 microM, respectively. A clear structure-activity relationship was observed between toxicity of CPs and the degree of chlorine substitution. The rank order of CP toxicity from the HEPM assay (i.e., C5P > C4P > C3P > C2P > CP > phenol) is in excellent agreement with previous in vitro and in vivo studies. However, contrary to published reports, the HEPM assay predicted that all CPs were teratogenic (false positives). These findings suggest that the HEPM cell growth inhibition bioassay may be useful to discriminate between subtle differences in structure-activity and, in combination with other bioassays, might facilitate the rapid detection and prioritization of diverse cytotoxins, including various developmental toxicants. Importantly, conclusions about the teratogenicity of a test chemical (via HEPM testing) should be approached with caution and confirmed with other teratogen-sensitive systems.

[Effects of 3 kinds of decoction on serum gastrin, gastrin cell density and the content of PGE2 of gastric antral mucosa in experimental chronic gastritis in rats]

Experimental chronic gastritis (ECG) models were established in rats by inserting a spring into pyloric canal as well as feeding sodium deoxycholate. An experiment was undertaken to observe the therapeutic effects of three formulas of traditional Chinese medicine "Shipitong" (SPT), "Ganpingyangwei" (GPYW) and "Weile" (WL). The experimental results show that all of the three decoctions can make serum gastrin, gastrin cell density and amount of antral mucosal PGE2 of the ECG rats return to normal levels.

Angle-dependent diffraction efficiency in a thick photorefractive hologram

The diffraction from a thick photorefractive hologram is shown to be angular dependent, which originates mainly from the angle-dependent effective electro-optic coefficient of a photorefractive crystal. The angle dependency of the diffraction causes a nonuniform diffraction over the pixel positions or the spatial frequency contents of a hologram image in a page-oriented holographic system, resulting in a deteriorated reconstructed image. In addition, owing to the angular variations in diffraction, the wavelength-multiplexing scheme should be a better choice than angular one.

[Flow cytometry analysis of 67 squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue]

Flowcytometry was used to measure the DNA content in 67 cases with squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue. The relationship of FCM resulte are compared with clinical and pathological parameters. The results show that the recurrences are always appeared within 2 years after operation. Therefore, it is important to follow up patient for the first 2 years after operation. 75% of recurrences are aneuploidy. With multiple statistic analysis, only the clinical stage and aneuploidy are related to lymph node metastasis. The close relative factors to recurrence of SCCT are clinical stage, lymph node metastases, DI value and DNA ploidy.

[Progress report on a World Bank loan to China for a tuberculosis control project]

The progress of the World Bank loaned TB control project implemented from the second quarter of 1991 to the fourth quarter of 1993 was described in this paper. In the past three years, 737 counties of the 12 provinces with the population of 360 million has been covered by the project. Among 95176 new smear positive cases discovered, 93909 patients received free treatment of TB. The treatment coverage is 98.7%, of which 95% were treated under full course supervision. The smear conversion rate at two, three months of new smear positive TB patients are 83.4% and 90.6% respectively. The cohort analysis showed that the cure rate is 89.8%, which has reached the advanced level of the modern national tuberculosis control programme in the world.

Expression of cDNA fragment encoding sperm membrane peptide in E. coli

A secretory high-level expression cloning vector designated as pSBC-20 was constructed by inserting a DNA fragment encoding the signal peptide of ompA protein into pBV 220 vector. Any foreign DNA fragment can be inserted into the polylinker cloning sites located after the secretion signal sequence. The cloned foreign gene is under the control of the PR-PL promoter while the expression of the gene is regulated by the cI-gene product. The products are secreted into the periplasmic space of bacteria or into the medium. A recombinant plasmid (pRSD-220) was constructed by inserting the 210 bp from RSD-2, a cDNA encoding a peptide fragment of human sperm protein, into the EcoRI site of pSBC-20. The E. coli cells transformed with pRSD-220 were propagated at 30 degrees C, then incubated at 42 degrees C for several hrs. The cloned gene product was secreted into the culture medium at a high rate. The yield was about 60 mg of gene product per liter of cultured medium.

[Effect of xiaopiling granules on muscular histochemistry of gastric precancerous changes in rats]

The effect of Xiaopiling Granules on muscular histochemistry of gastric precancerous changes in rats was observed quantitatively. The activity of SDH and M-ATPase as well as the content of muscular glycogen in model groups were found significantly lower than those of the normal groups (p < 0.01), and in this decrease Xiaopiling Granules had markedly played a preventive and therapeutic role.

Diffraction properties of a reflection photorefractive hologram

Diffraction properties of a photorefractive hologram have been described previously in most cases with Kogelnik's uncoupled-recording-wave-theory, which was originally derived for nonphotorefractive holograms. Despite its simplicity and good approximation, the theory has shown its practical limitations and discrepancies when the refractive-index perturbation is large. We study the diffraction properties of a reflection photorefractive hologram using a coupled-recording-wave approach. A closed-form expression for the diffraction efficiency is obtained. The important aspect of the new formula is that it predicts a lower cross-talk noise (or, a higher wavelength sensitivity) than Kogelnik's formula. This offers an explanation for the apodization phenomenon (i.e., lower cross-talk noise from the experiment as compared with the analytical result) as found by Rakuljic et al. [Opt. Lett. 17, 1471-1473 (1992)].

Effects of recording-erasure dynamics of storage capacity of a wavelength-multiplexed reflection-type photorefractive hologram

We investigate the effects of the recording-erasure dynamics on the storage capacity of a wavelengthmultiplexed reflection-type photorefractive hologram by using a coupled-recording-wave approach. A closed-form expression for the diffraction efficiency for on-Bragg incidence is derived. The dependence of the equalized diffraction efficiency on the number of recordable holograms is analyzed. The result shows that the storage capacity of a reflection-type hologram is of the same order of a transmission-type hologram but higher than the previous predictions based on an uncoupled-recording-wave theory.

A new functional classification of stomach cancer and its pathobiological and clinical significance

The functional differentiations of stomach cancer specimens from 121 patients were investigated by enzyme-, mucin-, affinity- and immunohistochemical methods, and the stomach cancers were divided into five functionally differentiated types: 1) Absorptive Function Differentiation Type (AFDT), 19.8%; 2) Mucin Secreting Function Differentiation Type (MSFDT), 24.0%; 3) Absorptive and Mucin-Producing Function Differentiation Type (AMPFDT), 47.1%; 4) Special Function Differentiation Type (SFDT), 0.8%; and 5) Non-Function Differentiation Type (NFDT), 8.3%. The results indicate that stomach cancer tissues of the same histological type often display differing functional differentiation, and these functionally differentiated types have different invasive and metastatic characteristics. In addition, the functionally differentiated types have particular organic affinities of metastasis and different clinical prognoses. This study suggests that this new functional classification may supplement histological classification. The mechanisms of liver and ovary metastases of stomach cancer are also discussed.

Effects of lead on root growth, cell division, and nucleolus of Allium cepa

The effects of different concentrations of lead nitrate on root growth, cell division, chromosome morphology and nucleolus in root tip cells of Allium cepa were studied. The concentrations of lead nitrate (Pb(NO(3))(2)) were 10(-7), 10(-6), 10(-5), 10(-4), 10(-3) and 10(-2) m. It was observed that lead reduces root growth and causes mitotic irregularities, including c-mitosis, anaphase bridges, and chromosome stickiness. Also, interphase cells with micronuclei, irregularly shaped nuclei and nuclei with decomposed nuclear material were noticed. The c-mitotic effect reached its maximum in the meristem at above 10(-4) m Pb, when practically almost all the anomalous dividing cells are of this type. After treatment with Pb, there were many similar silver-stained particulate materials scattered in the nucleus in short, rounded meristem cells and in long, oblong root cap cells.

Iron-thiolate induced oxidation of methionine to methionine sulfoxide in small model peptides. Intramolecular catalysis by histidine

Peptides containing either glycine and methionine, or glycine, methionine and histidine at various locations were oxidized by the dithiothreitol/ferric chloride system in phosphate buffer. The yields of peptide degradation and sulfoxide formation were measured as a function of peptide sequence and pH. In general little change of the final yields of peptide degradation is observed whereas the final yields of sulfoxide formation progressively decrease on going from pH 6.0 to 8.0. The pH profiles vary with the structure of the respective peptide. Efficient sulfoxide formation occurred when histidine and methionine were present within the same peptides sequence, and particularly when methionine was located at the C-terminus of the peptide. Added superoxide dismutase, catalase, and methanol did neither promote nor inhibit both the degradation of peptide and the formation of sulfoxide excluding free superoxide, hydrogen peroxide, and hydroxyl radicals as responsible reactive oxygen species. The observations are rationalized by invoking a pH-dependent conversion of an efficiently sulfoxide yielding oxidant into another oxidant which still degrades peptides but does not form methionine sulfoxide. The first might be a metal-bound peroxide or peroxyl species which converts into a metal-bound or 'complexed' hydroxyl radical.

Cross-talk noise in a wavelength-multiplexed reflection-type photorefractive fiber hologram

We have analyzed the cross-talk noise as affected by the wavelength spread that is due to the spectral width of the light source in a wavelength-multiplexed reflection-type photorefractive fiber hologram. The spectral bandwidth of each multiplexed channel limited by the cross-talk noise is discussed. The signal-to-noise (cross-talk) ratio is analyzed, whereby we have shown that this ratio is sensitive to the separation between adjacent multiplexed channels and to the spectral width of the light source. The cross-talk-limited storage capacity for practical photorefractive fibers is evaluated.

Upconversion-pumped blue laser in Tm:YAG

We have demonstrated an upconversion-pumped blue laser on the (1)G(4)-(3)H(6) band of Tm:YAG at cryogenic temperatures. Measurements were also made to assess the possibility of room-temperature upconversion-pumped lasers in Tm:YAG on both the (1)G(4) -(3)H(6) and the (1)D(2)-(3)F(4) bands.

Evidence from the anti-idiotypic network that the acetylcholine receptor is a rabies virus receptor

We have developed idiotype-anti-idiotype monoclonal antibodies that provide evidence for rabies virus binding to the acetylcholine receptor (AChR). Hybridoma cell lines 7.12 and 7.25 resulted after fusion of NS-1 myeloma cells with spleen cells from a BALB/c mouse immunized with rabies virus strain CVS. Antibody 7.12 reacted with viral glycoprotein and neutralized virus infectivity in vivo. It also neutralized infectivity in vitro when PC12 cells, which express neuronal AChR, but not CER cells or neuroblastoma cells (clone N18), which have no AChR, were used. Antibody 7.25 reacted with nucleocapsid protein. Anti-idiotypic monoclonal antibody B9 was produced from fusion of NS-1 cells with spleen cells from a mouse immunized with 7.12 Fab. In an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and immunoprecipitation, B9 reacted with 7.12, polyclonal rabies virus immune dog serum, and purified AChR. The binding of B9 to 7.12 and immune dog serum was inhibited by AChR. B9 also inhibited the binding of 7.12 to rabies virus both in vitro and in vivo. Indirect immunofluorescence revealed that B9 reacted at neuromuscular junctions of mouse tissue. B9 also reacted in indirect immunofluorescence with distinct neurons in mouse and monkey brain tissue as well as with PC12 cells. B9 staining of neuronal elements in brain tissue of rabies virus-infected mice was greatly reduced. Rabies virus inhibited the binding of B9 to PC12 cells. Mice immunized with B9 developed low-titer rabies virus-neutralizing antibody. These mice were protected from lethal intramuscular rabies virus challenge. In contrast, anti-idiotypic antibody raised against nucleocapsid antibody 7.25 did not react with AChR.