β-Delayed One and Two Neutron Emission Probabilities Southeast of ^{132}Sn and the Odd-Even Systematics in r-Process Nuclide Abundances

The β-delayed one- and two-neutron emission probabilities (P_{1n} and P_{2n}) of 20 neutron-rich nuclei with N≥82 have been measured at the RIBF facility of the RIKEN Nishina Center. P_{1n} of ^{130,131}Ag, ^{133,134}Cd, ^{135,136}In, and ^{138,139}Sn were determined for the first time, and stringent upper limits were placed on P_{2n} for nearly all cases. β-delayed two-neutron emission (β2n) was unambiguously identified in ^{133}Cd and ^{135,136}In, and their P_{2n} were measured. Weak β2n was also detected from ^{137,138}Sn. Our results highlight the effect of the N=82 and Z=50 shell closures on β-delayed neutron emission probability and provide stringent benchmarks for newly developed macroscopic-microscopic and self-consistent global models with the inclusion of a statistical treatment of neutron and γ emission. The impact of our measurements on r-process nucleosynthesis was studied in a neutron star merger scenario. Our P_{1n} and P_{2n} have a direct impact on the odd-even staggering of the final abundance, improving the agreement between calculated and observed Solar System abundances. The odd isotope fraction of Ba in r-process-enhanced (r-II) stars is also better reproduced using our new data.

Key ^{19}Ne States Identified Affecting γ-Ray Emission from ^{18}F in Novae

Detection of nuclear-decay γ rays provides a sensitive thermometer of nova nucleosynthesis. The most intense γ-ray flux is thought to be annihilation radiation from the β^{+} decay of ^{18}F, which is destroyed prior to decay by the ^{18}F(p,α)^{15}O reaction. Estimates of ^{18}F production had been uncertain, however, because key near-threshold levels in the compound nucleus, ^{19}Ne, had yet to be identified. We report the first measurement of the ^{19}F(^{3}He,tγ)^{19}Ne reaction, in which the placement of two long-sought 3/2^{+} levels is suggested via triton-γ-γ coincidences. The precise determination of their resonance energies reduces the upper limit of the rate by a factor of 1.5-17 at nova temperatures and reduces the average uncertainty on the nova detection probability by a factor of 2.1.

P5-12-04: Genetic Linkage between Acquired and Primary Lymphedema Evaluated through Whole Exome Sequencing and NIR Fluorescence Lymphatic Imaging

Acquired lymphedema is thought to arise from the damage of the lymphatic vasculature that transports excess fluid and macromolecules away from tissues for return to the blood vasculature. The onset of the cancer acquired disease can occur months to years after lymph node dissection and manifests itself as an accumulation of fluid and macromolecules in tissues that leads to edema and irresolvable swelling. The rare disease of primary lymphedema is identical to cancer acquired lymphedema, with the exception that there is no trauma or cancer treatment that can be attributed as its cause. Primary lymphedema has been attributed to genetic causes since the late nineteenth century. Although there are five known genetic causes of hereditary or primary lymphedema, the majority of patients with lymphedema do not possess mutations in these genes. More recently, it has been proposed that a genetic link between cancer acquired and primary lymphedema exists. If a genetic susceptibility for cancer acquired lymphedema could be found, then we could predict which survivors will encounter the disease and could develop new therapies which are more effective than the current treatments that have remained unchanged for the past 80 years.

In an FDA approved investigational study, we used near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging to phenotype the lymphatic architecture of subjects with both acquired and primary lymphedema, as well as their unaffected family members. We collected blood for DNA analyses. NIR fluorescence provided the phenotype of abnormal lymphatic function while whole exome sequencing provided the genotype. Bioinformatics analyses were then used to identify causative genes using cosegregation of familial genotypes using the phentotypes found through NIR fluorescence imaging.

The first family analyzed had members with primary and acquired lymphedema in which mutations encoding for proteins that participate in the HGF/c-MET and PI3K pathways could potentially explain the inheritance of lymphedema in this family. The father and affected daughters were heterozygous for a de novo SNP HGF in the kringle binding domain that interacts with tyrosine kinase receptor c-MET. The father had a normal lymphatic phenotype. On the other hand, the mother and daughters were heterozygous for the de novo mutation of INPPL1 (SHIP-2), adjacent to the SH2 domain of the protein that is known to bind to the multifunctional docking site of c-MET and associates with proteins in the Rho pathway for cytoskeletal reorganization. The daughters possessed both HGF and INPPL1 mutations and were diagnosed with primary lymphedema while the mother, who possessed the INPPL1 mutation, was diagnosed at the time of NIR imaging with acquired lymphedema. Analyses of remaining families as well as breast cancer related lymphedema patients are underway to confirm whether INPPL1 may be a candidate susceptibility gene for acquired lymphedema. Supported in parts by R01 HL092923 and CA128919, The Texas Star Award, and the Cullen Foundation.

Citation Information: Cancer Res 2011;71(24 Suppl):Abstract nr P5-12-04.

Prolongation of survival by parabiosis in strain 129 dystrophic mice

Dystrophic mice were joined in parabiosis with normal partners of the same sex and strain. Their survival and the progress of the characteristic signs was compared with single controls, both normal and dystrophic. Comparisons between the size of certain organs were made. The usual brief survival of dystrophic mice was much prolonged by parabiosis, and the characteristic signs were often much reduced in severity. Adrenals were proportionately larger and kidneys smaller in single dystrophic mice as compared with normal controls. In contrast with normals the kidneys were also smaller in male dystrophic mice than in females. However parabiotic dystrophic mice had kidneys which were proportionately larger than in normal animals. The survival was often limited by the induction of cardiovascular disease, apparently as a consequence of parabiosis.

The value of histoquantitative measurements in prognostic assessment of renal adenocarcinoma

In a series of 135 patients with renal-cell carcinomas (followed up for a mean of 9.5 years), a variety of clinical and histological factors were analyzed in relation to morphometric measurements of the nuclear parameters in the primary tumours to establish their value as prognostic factors. Clinical, histological and morphometric factors were significantly interrelated in that the metastatic high-grade tumours had larger nuclei, larger variation in nuclear size and shape, and were also rapidly proliferating. In a univariate analysis, the most important clinical predictor of recurrence-free survival (RFS) was T category, followed by combined nuclear grade, N category, nuclear grade, tumour size, sex and M category. The most important quantitative predictor of RFS was the mean area of the 10 largest nuclei (NA10), the mean of the longest nuclear axis (Dmax), SD of nuclear area (SDNA), the volume-corrected mitotic index (M/V index), inflammatory-cell reaction, SD of nuclear perimetry (SDPE), and the mean of nuclear area (NA). M category, T category, combined nuclear grade, nuclear grade and N category were significantly related to patient survival. Of the quantitative variables, M/V index, Dmax and NA were significant predictors of survival in a univariate analysis. Females had longer RFS than men, and density of tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) referred to an increased risk of recurrent tumour in both sexes. In a multivariate analysis, the RFS was independently predicted by the clinical stage, female sex and mitotic frequency/mm2, while nuclear parameters or nuclear grading had no independent prognostic value. The extent of the primary tumour was the single most important determinant of survival, followed by the proliferation rate of the tumour. In local T1-2NOMO tumours, mitotic frequency/mm2 was the only independent prognostic factor for RFS. The clinical stage, mitotic frequency/mm2, nuclear grade and density of TIL were independent predictors in Cox's analysis. In these local tumours, mitotic frequency/mm2 of neoplastic epithelium was the only independent prognostic factor. The results indicate that although an accurate prognostic evaluation of renal-cell carcinomas can be based on subjective nuclear grading and histoquantitative measurements of nuclear parameters, the simple assessment of mitotic frequency alone supplies most of the prognostic data, particularly in local tumours.

Using social indicators to locate mental health facilities

The following article reports the results of a process designed to improve the accessibility of psychiatric inpatient services by identifying sites which are closest to the greater number of people in need. Facility locations and catchment areas for a test region are noted along with facility sites arrived at by a more conventional approach. The estimated travel time was 11 percent lower in the test methodology. This finding indicates that major improvements in the reduction of travel time are possible when quantitative techniques are applied by mental health planners.

Adrenal-regeneration hypertension in Wistar-Furth rats

The susceptibility of young virgin female Wistar-Furth (W/Fu) rats to adrenal-regeneration hypertension (ARH) was evaluated by comparing the blood pressure of adrenal-enucleated, mononephroadrenalectomized, salt-loaded rats with that of similarly treated rats having one intact adrenal over a period of 5 weeks. Hypertension began to appear in animals of the first group by the 3rd week, affected all of them by the 4th week, and increased in severity during the 5th week. Control rats remained normotensive during the study. Hypertensive rats developed marked enlargement of the heart and kidney, which frequently displaced myocardial scarring and nephrosclerosis, respectively. These studies do not support the contention that W/Fu rats display heightened resistance to ARH to which, in fact, they appear to be just as susceptible as are most other strains.

Experimental hypertension and other responses to 18-hydroxy-deoxycorticosterone treatment in the rat

Young female unilaterally nephrectomized, salt-loaded, Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with 200 microgram or 1 mg 18-hydroxy-deoxycorticosterone-21-acetate (18-OH-DOCA) in oil daily, and a group of kidney-intact animals on a normal salt intake was given 2 mg/day. The hormone was not found to increase saline consumption, increase urinary potassium or kallikrein excretion, or depress serum renin activity or potassium concentration. Slight hypertension did develop at 3 weeks in salt-loaded rats on the lowest dose, but this was neither increased by higher dosage or longer treatment, nor reflected by increased heart or kidney weight. The effect of 40-mg pellet implantation of DOCA and 18-OH-DOCA was then compared in unilaterally nephrectomized, salt-loaded, female Fischer 344 rats. The former caused increased saline consumption, hypertension, hypokalemia, and heart and kidney enlargement, whereas 18-OH-DOCA did not. Thus, the hypertensogenic potency of 18-OH-DOCA is, at best, a reflection of its known, very weak, mineralocorticoid activity.

Delayed onset and reduced severity of adrenal-compression hypertension in rats treated with digitoxin

1. Bilateral compression of adrenal glands combined with unilateral nephrectomy and followed by imposition of a high sodium chloride intake caused severe hypertension in all rats, accompanied by enlargement of the heart, kidneys and adrenal glands, atrophy of the thymus and severe nephrosclerosis. 2. Digitoxin treatment delayed the onset, reduced the incidence and ameliorated the magnitude of the hypertensive response in such rats; it also reduced the degree of cardiac hypertrophy, the severity of nephrosclerosis and completely prevented enlargement of the adrenals and kidneys or atrophy of the thymus.

Excretion of Na and H2 O and hypertension after adrenal enucleation or compression

An attempt was made to analyze the participation of the several independent variables that must contribute to the reproted inability of large male adrenal-enucleate rats withintact kidneys to normally excrete sodium following a light oral sodium load. This was prompted by a desire to understand whether the phenomenon was improtant to development of adrenal-regeneration hypertension (ARH). The results indicated that sdoium retention required the presence of both kidneys as it was not evident in unilaterally nephrectomized rats. The failure of ARH to develop in rats having both kidneys argues against a cause-and-effect relationship between the two phenomena. Sex does not appear to be important to sodium retention. Various fasting periods were employed, but with none of them did rats with a single kidney exhibit sodium retention. Since the conditions necessary to elicit imparied sodium excretion are incompatible with the induction of ARH and those essential to development of ARH prevent significant sodium retention, the two must be considered as independent manifestations of distrubed glandular function.

Evolution of adrenal-regeneration hypertension in blinded rats

The influence of blinding upon the blood pressure and adrenal regeneration of monoephrectomized but otherwise normal and mononephrectomized adrenal-enucleate rats on a high Na intake was evaluated. Blinding had no effect on control blood pressure, or upon the incidence, course and severity of adrenal-regeneration hypertension. Similarly there was no discernible effect on the regeneration of enucleate adrenal glands. The adrenal glandsands of otherwise normal blinded rats showed some enlargement in proportion to body weight, a finding which is probably attributable to loss of body weight in several animals.

Methylandrostenediol hypertension induced without salt excess: observations on organ changes and serum composition

Images

Interaction between desoxycorticosterone treatment, fluid intake, sodium consumption, blood pressure, and organ changes in rats drinking water, saline, or surcose solution

Intact control and DOCA-treated rats were allowed to drink distilled water, a 1% NaCl solution, or a 5% sucrose solution. Fluid intake, blood pressure changes, and organoleptic responses were evaluated. Control rats drank more sucrose solution than saline and more saline than water. Hormone treatment slightly increased water intake and greatly augmented saline consumption, but invariably depressed that of sucrose solution even though a considerable polydipsia remained in effect. Hypertension and cardiorenal enlargement characterized all groups given DOCA. Both were substantially more severe in those also given excess salt, and only in that group were cardiovascular–renal lesions grossly visible.

Restoration of adrenal-regeneration hypertension in corticosterone-blocked rats by ACTH

Adrenal-regeneration hypertension developed uniformly in uninephroadrenalectomized, contralaterally adrenal-enucleated rats, but not in uninephroadrenalectomized controls, maintained on a high salt intake. Adrenal regeneration and the accompanying hypertension were both blocked by daily administration of 1 mg of corticosterone. One unit of ACTH gel given daily had no effect on either the blood pressure or the adrenal weight of rats with uncomplicated adrenal-regeneration hypertension or those in which blood pressure elevation was blocked with corticosterone. There were no significant differences in thymus weight between any of the foregoing groups. The daily administration of 4 units of ACTH permitted only slight enlargement of the adrenals of corticosterone-blocked, adrenal-enucleated rats, or of the hypertrophying adrenals of unilaterally adrenalectomized rats. Hypertension was fully restored to the former, but was not developed in the latter. Both groups displayed a degree of thymus involution. It would appear that full morphologic regeneration is not a prerequisite of adrenal-regeneration hypertension, but that adequate steroidogenesis to support the change can be elicited from an atrophied adrenal gland by adequate ACTH stimulation. The thymolytic effect of ACTH is analyzed for its possible relevance in respect to the secretory profile of adrenosteroids.

Hormonally maintained high blood pressure following adrenalectomy in rats with adrenal-regeneration hypertension and its possible significance in the etiology of that disorder

Rats were caused to develop adrenal-regeneration hypertension, and attempts were made to reproduce in them after adrenalectomy the same rate of blood pressure rise as occurred in animals allowed to retain enucleated adrenals, by using aldosterone, corticosterone, or a mixture of the two. Corticosterone at 2.5 mg/day caused a somewhat greater rate of blood pressure increase than occurred in rats retaining regenerating glands, but whereas the latter did not manifest thymus involution, hormone-treated animals did. At 1 mg/day there was a drop in blood pressure following adrenalectomy in rats with adrenal-regeneration hypertension, although not always to normotensive levels, and the characteristic hypotension of adrenalectomized rats was prevented. Rats given 100 μg/day of aldosterone following adrenalectomy maintained a continued rise of blood pressure, the rate not differing significantly from that seen in rats with continuing adrenal-regeneration hypertension. Such rats did not display thymus involution, and the blood pressure response was no greater when 1 mg/day of corticosterone was added to the regimen. It is concluded that if the profile of hypertension and failure to cause thymus involution are valid criteria for establishing the identity of the hormone(s) which cause adrenal-regeneration hypertension, aldosterone appears to qualify. Some reasons for doubting the reliability of these criteria and some of the difficulties encountered in attempting to compare quantitatively the effects of endogenously secreted hormone with exogenously administered hormone are given.

Benign and malignant hypertension after adrenal enucleation in the rat. Relationship to salt intake, response to hydrochlorothiazide, and similarity to essential hypertension

Adrenal-enucleated, mononephrectomized rats given a high salt diet rapidly develop malignant hypertension, characterized by the presence of necrotizing vascular lesions in a number of organs and tissues. If a normal salt intake is provided, or if hydrochlorothiazide is given together with a high salt diet, there is, instead, the delayed onset of benign hypertension which either stabilizes or increases in intensity extremely slowly; Such animals display few, if any, pathologic vascular changes other than occasional focal glomerular hyalinization, show insignificant cardiac enlargement, and do not exhibit alterations in the serum sodium or potassium. Occasional animals behave atypically and develop malignant hypertension despite normal salt consumption, demonstrating that in susceptible rats excess salt is not essential to this disorder. Hydrochlorothiazide given to rats that imbibed distilled water postoperatively prevented hypertension entirely for 97 days, when one of eight rats developed mild hypertension and some others reached what is regarded as a prehypertensive range. It is concluded that adrenal regeneration provides a physiological milieu favorable to the development of benign hypertension, which is not, as a rule, manifest until regeneration is complete. Salt excess converts the response into one in which malignant hypertension begins during regeneration and worsens rapidly thereafter until death. The course and findings are compared with those of the benign and malignant phases of clinical essential hypertension, and the implications of the similarities are discussed.

Acute and chronic influence of diazoxide on adrenal-regeneration hypertension

The antihypertensive activity of diazoxide was evaluated in rats with regenerating adrenal glands. The drug was given chronically in the drinking fluid, and also by subcutaneous injection at two intervals during the experiment. For a brief period diazoxide in the drinking fluid was replaced by hydrochlorothiazide. Diazoxide caused detectable sodium retention, despite which it reduced the intensity of hypertension and reduced the incidence, severity, and extent of the accompanying vascular lesions. The substitution of hydrochlorothiazide for diazoxide, or the subcutaneous administration of diazoxide to rats that were then consuming it in the drinking fluid, usually further depressed the blood pressure. It may thus be concluded that maximal blood pressure lowering effects of diazoxide were not achieved by oral ingestion, and that while the drug does afford a significant degree of protection against adrenal-regeneration hypertension it is less effective in this respect than hydrochlorothiazide, possibly because diazoxide causes sodium retention whereas hydrochlorothiazide promotes saluresis.

The comparative hypertensive activities of the acetates of D-aldosterone and deoxycorticosterone

The hypertensive effect of the acetates of d-aldosterone and deoxycorticosterone was compared by injecting 0.125 mg of each twice daily in oil subcutaneously into unilaterally nephrectomized rats given 1% saline solution to drink. The two hormones had entirely comparable activity in respect to the enhancement of saline consumption, the development of hypertension and the magnitude of cardiac enlargement induced. Aldosterone treatment caused a much greater degree of renal hypertrophy and far more severe vascular lesions in the heart and kidney. It is suggested that both of these effects may reflect the superior ability of aldosterone to cause potassium excretion and therefore a more severe hypokaliaemia. Only aldosterone caused thymic involution, believed to be an indirect response, and impairment of body growth.

Under the circumstances of this experiment the hypertensive potency of aldosterone was at least as great as that of deoxycorticosterone, and the ability to bring about vascular damage far greater. Although it is recognized that this relationship might not obtain at all dose levels of the two steroids, it is suggested that the lesser activity usually ascribed to aldosterone as compared with DCA when the two are given in dosages calculated to cause an equivalent degree of sodium retention, may reflect the operation of variables such as absorption rate, enzymatic inactivation rate and hence the respective quantities in the circulation at any given time, rather than differences in the inherent potency.

Hypertension following subcutaneous and intraperitoneal injections of polyvinyl alcohol and the effect of aldosterone

Rats given subcutaneous or intraperitoneal injections of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) for a month developed hypertension after discontinuance of injections. Aldosterone given for a week terminally to severely hypertensive animals neither exacerbated hypertension nor induced the eclamptic manifestations previously noted to occur after more prolonged subcutaneous PVA administration. It is concluded that eclamptic manifestations are not due to increased levels of endogenous salt-retaining steroids. Possible reasons are considered for the customary inability of rats given PVA intraperitoneally to develop hypertension during the course of injections although they readily do so thereafter.Intraperitoneal PVA administration caused the formation of medial and intimal foam cells in cardiac arteries, and an abundant display of giant cells in various organs and tissues. In contradistinction to the earlier findings in animals killed immediately after a course of injections, there was in this study, in which the rats were killed only when a considerable time had elapsed after PVA treatment, no substantial difference in the severity of hepatosplenomegaly between intraperitoneally and subcutaneously injected rats.

Categories of parabiotic intoxication: further evidence that the condition results from unequal cross transfusion

Hematologic studies of parabiotic rats indicate that in addition to pairs in which one twin exhibits anemia and the partner hyperemia (parabiosis intoxication), there are pairs in which an anemic or a hyperemic rat has a normal co-twin. The hematologic status of parabionts cannot accurately be deduced from their coloration, and hence visual categorization of pairs as normal or ‘intoxicated’ is unreliable. Death of one of the partners always causes a fatal anemia to develop in the previously normal twin in healthy pairs, and usually produces the same condition in the previously erythremic partner in intoxicated pairs. The findings are interpreted to mean that the hematologic inequalities of intoxicated pairs represents the effect of unequal transfusion, with one partner gaining blood at the expense of the other; and are thought to be inconsistent with the contention that the anemia of parabiosis intoxication is hemolytic in nature and the erythremia a sludging of erythrocytes resulting in interference with their negotiation of the capillary anastomosis.