Induction of callus from a metal hypertolerant fern, Athyrium yokoscense, and evaluation of its cadmium tolerance and accumulation capacity

The callus of a metal hypertolerant fern, Athyrium yokoscense, was induced from the spores generated on a small sectioned frond in vitro. The callus grew vigorously with the periodical medium change, especially in a liquid culture. When the callus and regenerated tissues were exposed to Cd, every tissue tolerated at least 1 mM Cd for >1 month. These tissues accumulated high levels of Cd (maximum 3.3 mg g(-1) dry weight in roots) in accordance with the Cd concentration of the medium, and the Cd concentrations of all parts, except roots, were at a similar level. The data suggest that the Cd tolerance of this fern is basically independent of the plant parts and the developmental stages, although the accumulation ability is higher in roots than in the other plant parts.

Effect of volatile anesthetics on steroidogenesis in isolated bovine adrenocortical fasciculata cells

To examine effects of volatile anesthetics (VAs) on steroidogenesis, cell suspensions of isolated bovine adrenocortical cells were incubated with several steroidogenic agents in the presence or absence of halothane and sevoflurane. The adrenocortical cells were dispersed by trypsin digestion of bovine adrenal cortex. The cortisol level was measured fluorometrically. VAs inhibited adrenocorticotropic hormone-, acetylcholine-, angiotensin-II-, and KCl-stimulated steroidogenesis in a concentration-dependent manner with extracellular Ca(2+). However, dibutyryl cyclic adenosine monophosphate-stimulated steroidogenesis was not inhibited by VAs. These results suggest that VAs inhibit steroidogenesis by blocking Ca(2+)-influx from the extracellular space without influencing the action of intracellular cyclic nucleotides.

[One-lung anesthesia was successfully maintained by means of Fogarty Catheter in infants]

We experienced one-lung anesthesia using Fogarty catheter as a selective bronchial blocker in two infants. First case was a one-year and ten month-old female who underwent partial resection of the right middle lobe for her giant lung cyst under general anesthesia. Second case was an eight-month-old male who underwent thoracoscopic resection of his left mediastinal tumor under general anesthesia. One-lung anesthesia was successfully established with Fogarty catheters for both cases. Size of the catheter and its balloon was decided beforehand by measuring the diameter and length of the trachea and both bronchi based on the image obtained from computerized tomography (CT) in both cases. Therefore, surgical field was well visible during operation. There was no accidental episode in perioperative period. Bronchoscopy with ultra-thin fiberscope and X-ray fluoroscopy is useful to decide the position of Fogarty catheter and its balloon. Our means is recommendable for maintenance of one-lung anesthesia in infant.

Clinical efficacy of brachytherapy combined with external-beam radiotherapy and repeated arterial infusion chemotherapy in patients with unresectable extrahepatic bile duct cancer

The objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical efficacy of brachytherapy combined with external-beam radiotherapy and repeated arterial infusion chemotherapy in improving stent patency and prognosis in patients with unresectable bile duct cancer as compared with brachytherapy alone. Seventeen patients were treated. Five patients received brachytherapy alone before stent placement. Twelve patients received brachytherapy combined with external-beam radiotherapy (n=5), repeated hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy using an implanted catheter and port (n=1), or both (n=6). Mean survival was significantly improved in the group that received combined therapy as compared with the group that received brachytherapy alone (16.2 months vs. 4.6 months, p<0.01). Although stent occlusion rates were similar in the two groups (42% vs. 40%), there was a trend towards longer stent patency in the combined therapy group than in the brachytherapy group (22 months vs. 3.6 months, p<0.2). Radiation gastritis necessitating gastrectomy developed in 1 patient who received external-beam radiotherapy at more than 50 Gy. Brachytherapy combined with external-beam radiotherapy and repeated hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy increases survival compared with brachytherapy alone in patients with unresectable bile duct cancer.

Nonlinear digital hearing aid with near-instantaneous amplitude compression

We designed a new type of nonlinear digital hearing aid (TD-1) with near-instantaneous amplitude compression for sensorineural hearing-impaired people. The amplification method utilized by the TD-1 normalizes the signal waveforms within a time window bounded by two adjacent positive going zero-crossing points. The signals within this window are amplified so that the maximum amplitude reaches a preset value, thus allowing a consistent peak amplitude to be maintained. To test this, we examined the efficacy of the TD-1 device in 31 patients with sensorineural hearing loss. When tested for recognition of Japanese sentences in a quiet environment, 7 of 25 (28.0%) subjects wearing the TD-1 showed a 20% or greater increase in the maximum intelligibility score than that obtained when wearing their own linear hearing aids. In addition, 7 of 31 (22.6%) subjects showed the same increase with the TD-1 relative to that obtained when they wore HA70 or HA73 devices (Rion Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan), which are conventional analogue hearing aids. These results indicate that TD-1 can be effective for patients with sensorineural hearing loss.

[Advanced hepatocellular carcinoma--feasibility and clinical impact of high-dose-rate brachytherapy on the treatment of lesions growing into biliary trees, portal veins and the vena cava]

This study was performed to evaluate the feasibility and clinical impact of intraluminal and endovascular high-dose-rate iridium-192 brachytherapy on the treatment of HCC lesions growing into biliary trees, portal veins and the inferior vena cava. HCCs involving biliary trees in 2 patients, the main and/or first-order portal veins in 3 patients, and the inferior vena cava in 2 patients. Brachytherapy was percutaneously performed with a 5F applicator, which was placed adjacent to the lesions. A mean total dose of 23 Gy (range, 5-7 Gy/fr) was irradiated (at a 5 mm radius) to the biliary or the portal venous tumors. A total dose of 10 Gy (5 Gy/fr) was given to the caval tumors. External-beam radiotherapy was combined in 2 patients with caval lesions, stent placement in 2 patients with biliary lesions and hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy in 5 patients. There was no major complication except hemobilia, which ceased after placing a PTCD tube in the bile duct in one patient. All tumors were significantly reduced in size and remained controlled during the period of patients' survival. Complete tumor necrosis was histologically proved in 2 autopsy cases having biliary lesions. The median survival was 13 months. Intraluminal and endovascular high-dose-rate brachytherapy appears to be a feasible, and effective procedure to treat advanced HCCs invading biliary trees, portal veins and the vena cava.

The costing of carbon credits from ocean nourishment plants

Ocean nourishment is a process for stimulating the sequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide in the deep ocean by providing the nutrients needed to enhance the production of phytoplankton. The carbon dioxide sink thus created, can be used to generate tradeable carbon credits. The costs of sequestering carbon by the process of ocean nourishment have been estimated using as a basis, the previous experience in nitrogen fixing of Toyo Engineering Corporation. While there are uncertainties about the biological uptake efficiency, these introduce only a moderate uncertainty in our overall estimates of costs. The major determinants of the costs are the interest that must be paid on capital and the cost of the feedstock, natural gas. We have used for discussion purposes, an interest rate of 4-8% per annum and natural gas costs of US$0.5-$2 per GJ. The costs of carbon credits lie in the range US$6.70-$12.40 per tonne of carbon dioxide emissions sequestered. It should be noted that we have adopted the measure of carbon avoided by non-emission, because of the complex partitioning of anthropogenic carbon between the atmosphere, land and ocean.

[Female carrier of Duchenne muscular dystrophy presenting with secondary dilated cardiomyopathy: a case report]

A 48-year-old female carrier of Duchenne muscular dystrophy had developed congestive heart failure but had no skeletal muscle symptoms. She was admitted to our hospital complaining of palpitation in December 1998. Her three sons had Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Neurological examination was unremarkable with no evidence of muscle weakness. Serum creatine kinase level was slightly increased. Echocardiography showed severe left ventricular dysfunction. Coronary angiography showed no abnormalities. Left ventriculography showed generalized hypokinesis and left ventricular ejection fraction was 28%. Dystrophin immunostaining of the skeletal muscle biopsy specimen showed a mosaic pattern. The dystrophin negative fibers were scattered among positive fibers. Cardiomyopathy is the only clinical manifestation of dystrophin gene mutation in carriers. Beta-blocker therapy(carvedilol 5 mg/day) was effective in this patient.

Cortical dysfunction of the supplementary motor area in a spasmodic dysphonia patient

The etiology of spasmodic dysphonia (SD) is still unknown. In the present study, cortical function of a 59-year-old male patient with adductor type SD was examined during phonation with positron emission tomography (PET). Magnetic resonance imaging showed no organic abnormality in the brain. However, PET showed remarkable activities during phonation in the left motor cortex, Broca's area, the cerebellum, and the auditory cortices, whereas the supplementary motor area (SMA) was not activated. The SMA is known to function for motor planning and programming and is usually activated in normal phonation. Several previous reports have shown that the damage of the SMA caused a severe disturbance of voluntary vocalization. In the present case, it was suggested that the functional deficit of the SMA might be related to SD.

Molecular cloning of a novel importin alpha homologue from rice, by which constitutive photomorphogenic 1 (COP1) nuclear localization signal (NLS)-protein is preferentially nuclear imported

Nuclear import of proteins that contain classical nuclear localization signals (NLS) is initiated by importin alpha, a protein that recognizes and binds to the NLS in the cytoplasm. In this paper, we have cloned a cDNA for a novel importin alpha homologue from rice which is in addition to our previously isolated rice importin alpha1a and alpha2, and we have named it rice importin alpha1b. In vitro binding and nuclear import assays using recombinant importin alpha1b protein demonstrate that rice importin alpha1b functions as a component of the NLS-receptor in plant cells. Analysis of the transcript levels for all three rice importin alpha genes revealed that the genes were not only differentially expressed but that they also responded to dark-adaptation in green leaves. Furthermore, we also show that the COP1 protein bears a bipartite-type NLS and its nuclear import is mediated preferentially by the rice importin alpha1b. These data suggest that each of the different rice importin alpha proteins carry distinct groups of nuclear proteins, such that multiple isoforms of importin alpha contribute to the regulation of plant nuclear protein transport.

Concurrent chemoradiotherapy for oropharyngeal carcinoma

The clinical results of definitive chemoradiotherapy for oropharyngeal carcinoma were retrospectively analyzed. Thirty-one patients with oropharyngeal carcinoma who received definitive radiation therapy between January 1986 and June 1998 were analyzed. The median age was 61 years. All patients had squamous cell carcinoma. According to the Union International Contre le Cancer 1997 classification system, stage I, II, III, IVA, and IVB were 1,0, 9, 14, and 7, respectively. Regarding the primary site, 23 tumors were in the lateral wall, whereas 2 were in the superior wall, and 3 each were in the anterior and posterior walls. The median total dose was 66 Gy, with a range of 60 Gy to 74.4 Gy. The overall treatment time ranged from 39 days to 113 days, with a median of 50 days. Seven patients underwent hemilateral radical neck dissection. Fourteen patients received concurrent chemotherapy using weekly cisplatin (50 mg/d) at least three times. The 5-year overall and cause-specific survival (CSS) rates were 55% and 62%, respectively. All local recurrences occurred within 2 years. The CSS rate in patients with lateral or superior wall origin was significantly superior to that of patients with anterior or posterior wall origin (p < 0.05). The 3-year CSS rate was 83% for patients treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy using weekly cisplatin at least 3 times, whereas that was 53% for the remaining patients (p < 0.05). No serious adverse effects were observed. It is concluded that definitive concurrent chemoradiotherapy using weekly cisplatin for oropharyngeal carcinoma appear promising.

Osteoblastoma-like osteosarcoma

We report an osteoblastoma-like osteosarcoma in the right proximal fibula in a 22-year-old woman. Radiographs showed an irregular osteolytic lesion from the metaphysis to the epiphysis in the proximal fibula with partial destruction of cortical bone. Tissue from a biopsy indicated a typical osteoblastoma. Curettage and bone graft was performed. One year after the surgery, local recurrence occurred, and a wide excision was performed. Histological examination of the en-bloc surgical specimen revealed the tumor had permeated through the host bony trabeculae, although the nuclear atypia was not marked. Immunohistochemical expression of MIB-1 was detected in 9.0% of cells.

Functional differentiation of the auditory association area in prelingually deaf subjects

BACKGROUND

it is believed that the number of neurons of the human cortex increases rapidly in the first postnatal year, and then decreases gradually towards adult level as their functions are revised up to 11 years of age ('synaptic revision'). It is also confirmed that regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) at rest represents the density of the neurons and decreases in accordance with the synaptic revision in process. If synaptic revision does not occur, rCBF remains at high level. Thus, we can evaluate whether functional differentiation has occurred in the human cortex by measuring rCBF at resting state.

OBJECTIVE

to examine functional differentiation of the auditory association area (A2) in prelingually deaf subjects.

METHODS

six postlingually and six prelingually deaf subjects who had undergone cochlear implant (CI) were involved in the current study. All prelingually deaf subjects underwent CI over 8 years old. The rCBF in A2 was examined during resting and listening to speech sounds using positron emission tomography (PET) and H2(15)O intravenous injection. Twelve normal subjects' rCBFs were also measured as control. Furthermore, three prelingually deaf subjects underwent follow up PET studies in which cortical activities in A2 for listening and lipreading were examined.

RESULTS

in the examination of rCBF at rest, rCBFs of prelingually deaf subjects in A2 showed significantly higher than those of either the postlingually deaf subjects or normal subjects. During listening, rCBFs in A2 increased in postlingually deaf subjects and normal subjects, while there was no significant rCBF increase in the prelingually deaf. High rCBF level in A2 at rest observed in prelingually deaf subjects implied a lack of synaptic revision, and it was suggested that the functional differentiation for auditory processing was little in the A2 of prelingually deaf subjects. In the follow up study for three prelingually deaf subjects, activation of A2 was observed during lipreading but not during listening in two cases, who had developed the skill of lipreading while speech recognition was not improved by CI. In contrast, the other case had not used any visual clues in daily communication prior to CI, and the hearing acuity was well improved by CI. This case demonstrated an activity in A2 during listening, while lipreading induced no activation.

CONCLUSION

it is suggested that functional differentiation of A2 should differ according to which of visual and auditory clue is chiefly used during critical periods for speech acquisition. The findings are thought to be important for us to schedule the education and treatment for prelingually deaf children.

The ratio between the fast and slow forms of bovine cytochrome c oxidase is changed by cholate or nucleotides bound to the cholate-binding site close to the cytochrome a3/CuB binuclear centre

We determined the fraction of 'slow' and 'fast' conformations of bovine cytochrome c oxidase, following the kinetics of cyanide binding to the oxidized enzyme. We investigated whether treatment of heart mitochondrial particles with different commercially available types of cholate (standard and ultrapure) can affect the fraction of cytochrome c oxidase in the two states. Compared to standard cholate, the use of ultra-pure cholate for solubilization of heart mitochondrial particles significantly increased the fraction of the fast enzyme. Complete homogeneity (approximately 100% fast) was observed when cytochrome c oxidase was solubilized with ultra-pure cholate from heart mitochondrial particles pre-equilibrated with AMP; equilibration with ADP yielded a much smaller fraction of fast enzyme (approximately 35%). These observations are discussed on the basis of the structural relationships between the known cholate-binding site and the binuclear cytochrome a3-CuB site: variation in the occupancy of this binding site with cholate or nucleotides may modify reactivity of the oxidized binuclear centre towards cyanide.

Bone mineral density of alveolar bone in rats during pregnancy and lactation

BACKGROUND

The present study was designed to investigate the effect of pregnancy and lactation on the bone mineral density (BMD) of alveolar bone in rats fed diets containing different amounts of calcium (Ca). The effects of different levels of Ca intake by the mothers on the BMD of alveolar bone in their pups were also examined.

METHODS

Ten-week-old female Wistar rats were housed with male rats for breeding and were divided into 3 groups fed diets containing 0.9, 0.3, and 0.02% Ca, respectively. They were further divided into 2 groups according to pregnancy or non-pregnancy. Animals in the pregnant group were raised with their own pups for lactation. After the experiment, all animals were sacrificed, their mandibles were dissected, and soft x-ray microradiographs were taken to determine BMD in the interdental area with an image analyzer.

RESULTS

In both groups, BMD in alveolar bone decreased based on the amount of Ca in the diet, but the magnitude of this decrease was much greater in the pregnant group than in the non-pregnant group. There was no significant difference in BMD between 2 groups fed a 0.9% Ca diet. The BMD of alveolar bone in the pups also decreased depending on the amount of Ca in the diet.

CONCLUSIONS

The above results suggest that pregnancy and subsequent lactation could be risk factors for alveolar bone loss, especially under conditions of Ca insufficiency or deficiency and that Ca insufficiency or deficiency in the mother caused decreases in the BMD of alveolar bone in the pups.

Inhibition by dietary tea polyphenols of chemical mediator release from rat peritoneal exudate cells

Male Wistar rats were given purified diets containing safflower (SAF), perilla (PER), or palm (PAL) oils with or without 1% tea polyphenols (TP) for 3 weeks, and chemical mediator releasing activity from rat peritoneal exudate cells (PEC) was measured. Histamine releasing activity was not influenced by TP, while histamine release and intracellular histamine content were significantly increased in the PAL-fed group. On the contrary, leukotriene B4 (LTB4) release was significantly lower in rats fed PER than in those fed SAF and PAL, and TP significantly decreased the release in all fat groups. TP also significantly inhibited the release of LTB5, which was generated only in rats fed PER. TP significantly decreased the proportion of arachidonic acid (AA) in PEC in the SAF-fed group and that of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), the precursor of LTB5 in the PER-fed group, but did not influence that of AA in the PAL- and PER-fed group. These results suggest that ingestion of TP improves type I allergic symptom through the inhibition of LT release though the inhibition by TP could not be totally explained by the reduction of substrate fatty acid.

Odorant inhalation affects skin barrier homeostasis in mice and humans

Previous studies have suggested that psychological stress delays cutaneous barrier recovery following acute barrier disruption, and that sedative drugs block this delay. A sedative effect of some odorants has been reported. In the present study, we demonstrate that odorant inhalation affects cutaneous barrier homeostasis in both mice and humans. Odorants with a sedative effect prevented the delay of skin barrier recovery induced by stress after acute barrier disruption. Other odorants did not show this effect.

Electrocochleographic documentation of temporal findings of speech perception in normal and hearing-impaired individuals

Compound action potentials (CAPs) evoked by the short Japanese syllables /a/ and /ka/ were recorded by extratympanic electrocochleography in 17 subjects with normal hearing (17 ears) and 34 patients with sensorineural hearing losses (35 ears) to investigate the temporal aspects of speech coding for perception. In normal ears, three characteristics were found common to the temporal patterns of all CAPs: (1) a prominent CAP at the beginning of both stimuli; (2) periodic CAPs with the same interval as the pitch period through the vowel part of both stimuli; (3) absence of a prominent CAP at the onset of voice. These characteristics may help to produce consonant recognition. Among the subjects with sensorineural hearing loss, some ears showed the following two characteristics different from those with normal hearing: (1) a significantly lower CAP at the onset of both stimuli than in those with normal hearing; (2) decay of CAPs during the voiced part. These findings may result in abnormal loudness perception in sensorineural hearing loss as produced by loudness recruitment and pathological adaptation. Such different temporal patterns of CAPs may have an adverse influence on the speech discrimination of patients with sensorineural hearing impairments.

Comparison of short inversion time inversion recovery (STIR) and fat-saturated (chemsat) techniques for background fat intensity suppression in cervical and thoracic MR imaging

The purpose of this study was to compare short inversion time inversion recovery (STIR) fast spin-echo (FSE), and fat-saturated T2-weighted FSE sequences in terms of uniformity of fat suppression and lesion conspicuity for magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of the neck and thorax. STIR FSE and fat-saturated T2-weighted FSE images were scored for uniformity of fat suppression (n = 40) and lesion conspicuity (n = 35). Five-point rank score analyses were utilized by three experienced radiologists. The mean scores of STIR and fat-saturated FSE techniques for uniformity of fat suppression were 4.3 and 2.3, respectively (P < 0.0001). The mean scores of STIR and fat-saturated FSE techniques for lesion conspicuity were 4.2 and 3.5, respectively (P < 0.0001). Insufficient fat suppression was prominent in the mandible, supraclavicular region, anterior mediastinum, epipericardial fat, and subdiaphragmatic fat. In addition, fat-saturated T2-weighted FSE showed inadvertent water suppression in 25%. The STIR FSE technique was superior to the fat-saturated FSE technique for cervical and thoracic MR imaging.