A case of fibrillary glomerulonephritis associated with thrombotic microangiopathy and anti-glomerular basement membrane antibody.

We present the first report of a case of fibrillary glomerulonephritis (FGN) associated with thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) and anti-glomerular basement membrane antibody (anti-GBM antibody). A 54-year-old man was admitted to our hospital for high fever and anuria. On the first hospital day, we initiated hemodialysis for renal dysfunction.

RCNP polarized (3)He ion source.

We have developed a polarized (3)He ion source named "SEPIS" (spin-exchange polarized ion source) at RCNP, and Department of Physics, Osaka Univeristy. The SEPIS uses a large spin-exchange cross section, sigma(se), and a small electron capture cross section,sigma(ec), for the (3)He(+)+Rb system theoretically expected at low (3)He(+) incident energies. The validity of SEPIS was experimentally proven by observing the (3)He(+) nuclear polarization as a function of the incident (3)He(+) energy.

The prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus and impaired fasting glucose in semi-urban population of Nepal.

The increase in life expectancy in developing countries and as a result of increasing obesity and other life style changes, the global incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is increasing. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of T2DM and impaired fasting glucose (IFG) in semi-urban population of Nepal and to compare the prevalence between men and women and among different age groups. A total 740 adults (286 men and 454 women) aged 21 to 94 years (men +/- SD; 45.

Conversion of cultured monocytes/macrophages into endothelial-like cells through direct contact with endothelial cells.

When culturing human umbilical vein endothelial cells in a culture medium containing 4% human serum albumin, it was possible to maintain the epithelioid morphology and function for several months without subculturing. When coculturing endothelial cells and labeled monocytes/macrophages (Mo/Phi) that were collected from peripheral blood and allowed to engulf fluorescent latex beads, some Mo/Phi changed their shapes and became epithelioid cells that were indistinguishable from vascular endothelial cells. This transformation started within several hours of coculturing.

PKC pathway and ERK/MAPK pathway are required for induction of cyclin D1 and p21Waf1 during 12-o-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate-induced differentiation of myeloleukemia cells.

Treatment of human promyelocytic leukemia cell HL60 with 12-o-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA) induces growth arrest, differentiation towards the monocyte/macrophage lineage, and expression of cell cycle-regulating genes cyclin D1 and p21Waf1. First, we demonstrated that p21Waf1 expression was increased by TPA in other leukemia cell lines also, including THP-1, U937, and KG-1, which differentiate into monocytes/macrophages by TPA. Secondly, we demonstrated the signal transduction pathways of cyclin D1 and p21Waf1 expressions in TPA-treated HL60 cells.

Small-scale study on intestinal parasitosis in a remote hilly village in Nepal.

A small-scale cross sectional study on intestinal parasitosis was conducted in a remote hilly village in western Nepal in January 2001. Stool samples collected from 115 inhabitants (M: 41 and F: 74; Aged: 1 to 89 years) were examined by direct smear method in duplicate. Overall positive rate was 27.

Medium pH-dependent redistribution of the urease of Helicobacter pylori.

Helicobacter pylori is an aetiological agent of gastric disease. Although the role of urease in gastric colonization of H. pylori has been shown, it remains unclear as to where urease is located in this bacterial cell.

A comparison of 28kHz- and 160kHz- ultrasonic aerosolization of interferon-alpha.

The efficacy and utility of interferon (IFN) in prophylaxis and treatment of nasal infections have been evaluated in recent investigation. In our basic studies on aerosolization of IFN, we examined the effect of aerosolization on IFN-alpha activity utilizing an ultrasonic inhaler (NE-U05). The effect of ultrasonic treatment (28kHz) on IFN activity was also studied.