CT-maximum intensity projection is a clinically useful modality for the detection of gastric varices.

Aim: To evaluate the efficacy of CT-maximum intensity projection (CT-MIP) in the detection of gastric varices and their inflowing and outflowing vessels in patients with gastric varices scheduled to undergo balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration (B-RTO).

Methods: Sixteen patients with endoscopically confirmed gastric varices were included in this study. All patients were evaluated with CT-MIP using three-dimensional reconstructions, before and after B-RTO.

Cytokines involved in CNS manifestations caused by Mycoplasma pneumoniae.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae sometimes causes central nervous system manifestations, which may involve the host immune response, as the organism does not directly damage neural cells, or release toxins. Therefore we measured the levels of interleukin-6, interleukin-8, interleukin-18, interferon-gamma, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and transforming growth factor-beta1 in serum and cerebrospinal fluid samples from patients who manifested central nervous system manifestations during acute M. pneumoniae infection.

Efficacy of plasma exchange and methylprednisolone pulse therapy on influenza-associated encephalopathy.

Patients with a new type of influenza-associated encephalopathy with high mortality are increasing in Japan and the United States. We present three patients treated with methyprednisolone pulse treatment and plasma exchange to remove cytokines, and all three patients recovered without severe sequela. IL-6 decreased dramatically after the start of the plasma exchange and methyprednisolone.

Balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration of gastric varix draining to the IVC via the circumaortic renal vein.

The authors encountered a patient with gastric varices draining to the IVC not only via the usual route of the left renal vein but also via a circumaortic renal vein. Balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration (B-RTO) of the gastric varix was performed with balloon occlusion of the circumaortic renal vein and retrograde injection of sclerosing agent (5% of ethanolamine oleate) into the varix. Eradication of the gastric varix was confirmed on endoscopic examination 2 months later.

[A case of advanced gastric cancer with bone metastasis and severe DIC responding to hypertensive subselective chemotherapy with pharmacokinetic modulating chemotherapy].

We report a 47-year-old female patient who was suffering from severe DIC due to multiple bone metastases. This patient was treated weekly with an intraarterial 5-FU (500 mg) and MTX (100 mg) including AT-II by a subcutaneously implanted port system placed into her abdominal aorta. Furthermore, she was administered tegafur/uracil (400 mg/day) 5 days weekly for pharmacokinetic modulating chemotherapy (PMC).

[Modified pharmacokinetic modulating chemotherapy for progressive gastric cancer accompanied by peritoneal dissemination].

Peritoneal dissemination is a major event in the development of gastric cancer. However, most patients with it have been excluded from clinical studies because they rarely have measurable lesions. We conducted an analysis to evaluate the efficacy and feasibility of modified pharmacokinetic modulating chemotherapy, for gastric cancer patients with peritoneal dissemination.

Photoemission spectroscopic evidence of gap anisotropy in an f-electron superconductor.

We used low-temperature ultrahigh-resolution (360 microeV) photoemission spectroscopy with a laser as a photon source (Laser-PES) to study the superconducting (SC) gap of an f-electron superconductor CeRu2. The unique combination of the large escape depth expected from the known universal behavior and extremely high-energy resolution has enabled us to directly measure the bulk SC gap of an f-electron superconductor for the first time. The present study provides direct evidence for an anisotropic SC gap in CeRu2, and also demonstrates the potential of Laser-PES in investigating unconventional superconductivity realized in correlated d- and f-electron superconductors.

Formation of embryogenic cell clumps from carrot epidermal cells is suppressed by 5-azacytidine, a DNA methylation inhibitor.

Using a direct somatic embryogenesis system in carrot, we examined the role of DNA methylation in the change of cellular differentiation state, from somatic to embryogenic. 5-Azacytidine (aza-C), an inhibitor of DNA methylation suppressed the formation of embryogenic cell clumps from epidermal carrot cells. Aza-C also downregulated the expression of DcLEC1c, a LEC1-like embryonic gene in carrot, during morphogenesis of embryos.

Extraordinary changes in excitatory amino acid levels in cerebrospinal fluid of influenza-associated encephalopathy of children.

The correlation between the glutamate-glutamine cycle and nitric oxide (NO) production in the central nervous system (CNS) of a new type of influenza-associated encephalopathy in children is discussed. When measurements of several amino acids and NOx (nitrite/nitrate) levels in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) using HPLC-fluorescence and -UV methods, respectively, were made. the CSF glutamate levels of patients with the new type of encephalitis were significantly lower, and both glutamine and NOx levels were significantly higher than those of the control group and the patients of the meningitis group.

Influenza-associated acute encephalopathy in Japanese children in 1994-2002.

We addressed the incidence of influenza-associated acute encephalopathy, which is distinct from Reye syndrome, in children in Japan. Eighty-nine children with a mean age of 3.8 years were reported to have developed this disease during eight influenza seasons (December 1994-April 2002) in Hokkaido, Japan.

High-throughput classification of images of cells transfected with cDNA clones.

The sequence of the human genome has been determined. The next task is to determine the function of the genes. Classifying cellular forms of proteins encoded by human cDNA clones is a primary step toward understanding the biological role of proteins and their coding genes.

Complete sequencing and characterization of 21,243 full-length human cDNAs.

As a base for human transcriptome and functional genomics, we created the "full-length long Japan" (FLJ) collection of sequenced human cDNAs. We determined the entire sequence of 21,243 selected clones and found that 14,490 cDNAs (10,897 clusters) were unique to the FLJ collection. About half of them (5,416) seemed to be protein-coding.

Two distinct methods analyzing chromatin structure using centrifugation and antibodies to modified histone H3: both provide similar chromatin states of the Rit1/Bcl11b gene.

Chromatin state of a 2-Mb region harboring Rit1/Bcl11b on mouse chromosome 12 was examined using two distinct methods. One is ChIP assay examining the degree of enrichment with histone H3 methylated at lysine 9 (H3-mLys9) in chromatin and the other is H/E (heterochromatin/euchromatin) assay that measures a chromatin condensation state by using centrifugation. The ChIP assay showed that a 50-kb interval covering the gene and an upstream region constituted chromatin enriched with unmethylated H3-mLys9 in cells expressing Rit1 compared to cells not expressing Rit1.

Generation of subterawatt sub-10-fs blue pulses at 1-5 kHz by broadband frequency doubling.

Blue pulses with durations of 8.5 fs are generated by broadband frequency doubling of subterawatt Ti:sapphire laser systems at 1-5-kHz repetition rates. The average powers are 1.

NOx (nitrite/nitrate) in cerebral spinal fluids obtained from patients with influenza-associated encephalopathy.

It has become evident that the number of patients with a new type of influenza-associated encephalopathy is increasing in Japan. Nitric oxide (NO), a simple free radical gas, elicits a wide range of physiological and pathophysiological effects. We measured the nitrite/nitrate (NO x ) levels in cerebral spinal fluid obtained from patients with influenza-associated encephalopathy in order to evaluate the correlation between the NO production and the process of influenza-associated encephalopathy.

Clinical assessment of hepatic functional reserve using 99mTc DTPA galactosyl human serum albumin SPECT to prognosticate chronic hepatic diseases--validation of the use of SPECT and a new indicator.

Rationale: It is generally known that scintigraphy of 99mTc diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid-galactosyl human serum albumin (99mTc-GSA) is useful for assessing hepatic functional reserve. For hepatic functional indicators, the index of the calculated planar image has been used in previous studies. However, there have been few reports that suggest that the indicators calculated from static SPECT data would be useful for the assessment of hepatic function.

[Evaluation of a rapid IgM antibody detection kit for diagnosis of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection during childhood].

We evaluated the utility of a rapid detection kit for Mycoplasma pneumoniae (Mp)-specific IgM antibody, ImmunoCard (IC) Mycoplasma Test (Meridian Bioscience, USA), with regard to mycoplasmal infection during childhood. For this purpose, 30 serum samples were obtained from 23 pediatric patients with serologically proved mycoplasmal pneumonia at and younger than 16 years of age. The diagnosis of mycoplasmal infection was made by means of a particle agglutination (PA) method, which was on the basis of 1) a four fold or greater rise with paired sera or 2) at and more than 1:640 with a single, acute phase serum.

Generation of vacuum-ultraviolet light by an optically contacted, prism-coupled KBe2BO3F2 crystal.

We have demonstrated the second harmonic of a frequency-tripled Nd:YVO4 laser with 2.5-mW quasi-cw output by using an optically contacted, prism-coupled KBe2BO3F2 crystal. We also achieved the second harmonic with a frequency-doubled single-mode Ti:sapphire laser at 172.

Apoptosis and microglial activation in influenza encephalopathy.

During influenza epidemics in Japan, the number of children with acute encephalopathies and encephalitis has recently increased. Although the pathophysiologies remain unclear, there is usually brain edema with evidence of damage to the blood-brain-barrier (BBB). We investigated the glial reaction and apoptosis in brains of eight such cases comprising two of acute necrotizing encephalopathy and six of influenza encephalopathy, and compared the results with those in five control brains.

Encephalitis and encephalopathy associated with an influenza epidemic in Japan.

During the winter of 1998-1999, there was an outbreak of encephalitis/encephalopathy in Japan that appeared to be associated with influenza. We conducted a national survey of the prevalence and clinical features of disease and the associated outcomes and prognostic factors related to this outbreak. A total of 202 cases were analyzed, of which 148 were diagnosed as influenza-associated encephalitis/encephalopathy on the basis of virologic analysis.

Identification of two novel primate-specific genes in DSCR.

We recently helped to complete the sequence of human chromosome 21 at a very high level of accuracy. Using this sequence we identified two novel genes, designated DSCR9 and DSCR10, in the so-called Down Syndrome Critical Region (DSCR) by computational gene prediction and subsequent cDNA cloning. Both DSCR9 and DSCR10 are expressed preferentially in testis and encode functionally unknown proteins with 149 and 87 amino acid residues, respectively.

[Field trial of combined measles and rubella live attenuated vaccine].

We investigated the antibody responses and clinical adverse reactions after immunization with live combined measles and rubella vaccine (HF vaccine) in 442 healthy children, aged 12-90 months of age. We obtained 368 paired sera. Among them, 363 were initially sero-negative against measles virus and 343 (94.

Genetic loci controlling susceptibility to gamma-ray-induced thymic lymphoma.

BALB/c is a susceptible strain for the development of gamma-ray induced mouse thymic lymphoma whereas MSM shows resistance. Association analysis of 220 backcross mice between the two strains using 67 markers was carried out to identify loci involved in the control of susceptibility. The genotype of mice with lymphoma showed excess heterozygosity relative to MSM homozygosity at D2Mit15 and D4Mit12 and was skewed toward MSM-derived alleles at D5Mit5.

Elevated KL-6 levels in fatal measles pneumonia.

We measured KL-6 concentrations in serum samples from measles patients with various forms of pneumonia and abnormally elevated levels of KL-6 were found exclusively in four fatal cases of pulmonary insufficiency.