Clinical analysis of anti-cardiolipin.beta 2 glycoprotein 1 antibody positive patients in anti-phospholipid syndrome.

Clinical analysis was performed on anti-cardiolipin x beta2 glycoprotein 1 (ACL x beta2 GP1) antibody positive patients with collagen vascular diseases. Nine patients out of 89 showed positive aCL x beta2 GP1 antibody which was a relatively lower percentage compared to that of othoffanti-phospholipid antibodies, such as anti-cardiolipin antibody (23 out of 58), lupus anti-coagulant (15 out of 51) or biological false positive (BFP) test for syphilis (10 out of 50). However, 8 patients out of 9 with positive aCL x beta2 GP1 antibody showed thrombotic lesions, a relatively higher frequency compared to that seen in aCL x beta2 GP1 negative patients.

Synergistic effect of methionine-depleting total parenteral nutrition with 5-fluorouracil on human gastric cancer: a randomized, prospective clinical trial.

Methionine-depleting total parenteral nutrition (Met-depleting TPN), infusing AO-90 amino acid solution (lacking both L-methionine and L-cysteine) as a sole nitrogen source, showed synergistic effects with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in tumor-bearing rats and in clinical trials with gastrointestinal tract cancers. In this study, the effect of Met-depleting TPN with 5-FU upon thymidylate synthase (TS) activity was examined, and the histological effect of this treatment on human gastric cancer was evaluated. Fourteen preoperative advanced gastric cancer patients were divided randomly into two groups.

Expression of bFGF and TGF-beta 2 in experimental myopia in chicks.

Purpose: To determine factors that control ocular enlargement in experimental form-deprivation myopia and to clarify the mechanism of form-deprivation myopia.

Methods: After the left eyes of 20 chicks were monocularly occluded for 2 weeks, protein, basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta 2 contents in samples of constant area (circular button, diameter = 8.5 mm) in the retina-retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)-choroid and the sclera in the posterior region of control and myopic eyes were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Developmental studies of dystrophin and other cytoskeletal proteins in cultured muscle cells.

We studied the developmental changes of localization of dystrophin and other cytoskeletal proteins, especially actin, spectrin and dystrophin related protein (DRP) using immunocytochemistry and quick-freezing and deep-etching (QF-DE) method. In developmental studies of mouse and human muscle cultures, some myoblasts had positive-reactions to spectrin, DRP, and F-actin, but not dystrophin. In aneurally cultured myotubes, dystrophin, DRP, and spectrin were localized diffusely in the cytoplasm and later in discontinuous patterns on the plasma membrane, when myotubes became mature.

[Measurement of temporal summation of visual acuity with the use of a trial tachistoscope].

Visual acuity was measured in eighteen normal eyes of 10 subjects ranging from 20 to 30 years of age, using a modified tachistoscope. We changed the exposure time of the target (1-1,000 msec) or background luminance (0.1-200 cd/m2).

Behavioral and neuroimaging studies on schizophrenia in Japan.

Chronic methamphetamine psychotics became a major problem in Japan after World War II. On one hand, the clinical symptoms of chronic methamphetamine psychotics were noted to resemble those of schizophrenics quite closely but, on the other hand, their respective personality profiles appeared to differ. Recent research on exploratory eye movements has also shown such similarities and differences.

Responses to glossopharyngeal stimulus in the early embryonic chick brainstem: spatiotemporal patterns in three dimensions from repeated multiple-site optical recording of electrical activity.

In an effort to assess the spatial patterning of glossopharyngeal responses in the early embryonic chick brainstem, we used a multiple-site optical recording system with a 12 x 12 element photodiode array and a voltage-sensitive merocyanine-rhodanine dye (NK2761) to monitor neural transmembrane voltage activities. Seven and 8 d old embryonic chick brainstems were sliced into 1400-1600 microns thick sections with the glossopharyngeal and vagal nerves attached, and then stained with the dye. Neural voltage-related optical signals were evoked by a positive brief (depolarizing) square current pulse applied to the glossopharyngeal nerve with a microsuction electrode, and then recorded simultaneously from many loci in the objective two-dimensional image plane of a compound microscope.

A mouse erythroleukemia cell line possessing friend spleen focus-forming virus gp55 transgene and temperature-sensitive mutant p53 gene.

Two different erythroleukemia cell lines have been established from the splenic lesions of transgenic mice possessing the Friend spleen focus-forming virus (F-SFFV) gp55 gene. One showed a near-diploid karyotype and a temperature-sensitive (ts) p53 mutation, and the other, a hyper-triploid karyotype with double p53 mutations found by single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis. The cell lines both retained No.

Evaluation of optimal voltage-sensitive dyes for optical monitoring of embryonic neural activity.

To evaluate the suitability of a variety of fast voltage-sensitive dyes for optical recording of rapid transmembrane potential activity in the embryonic nervous system, we screened over twenty dyes, including several newly synthesized probes, in three different embryonic neural preparations: cervical vagus nerve bundle, nodose ganglion, and brainstem from 7-day old chick embryos. Measurements of voltage-related optical signals were made using a multiple-site optical recording system. Signal size, signal-to-noise ratio, photobleaching, and phototoxicity were examined.

A new simultaneous 1020-site optical recording system for monitoring neural activity using voltage-sensitive dyes.

We have constructed a new 1020-site optical system for simultaneous recording of transmembrane electrical activity, using a 34 x 34-element photodiode array. This new apparatus permits analyses of the spatio-temporal pattern of neural activity, such as action potentials and postsynaptic potentials, in the central nervous system, at higher spatial and temporal resolutions.

Photometric determination of phenomenological correlation between osmotic behavior and hemolysis of red blood cells.

The osmotic behavior of red blood cells from a human and from several other mammalian species was studied by photometric measurements. When red blood cells were suspended in sodium chloride solutions with various osmotic concentrations, the optical density at 620 nm was reciprocally related to the relative volume of the red cells. Thus, we evaluated the osmotic volume changes in the red cells from optical density measurements.

Involvement of basic fibroblast growth factor in fibroblast-stimulatory serum activity of a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus and multiple dermatofibromas.

Background: Multiple dermatofibromas (DFs) are often associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). An increased number of mast cells is observed in the upper portion or over the lesion of DF.

Objective: To investigate the role of the serum of a patient with multiple DFs, we examined its growth effects on fibroblasts.

Influence of bFGF as a potent growth stimulator and TGF-beta as a growth regulator on scleral chondrocytes and scleral fibroblasts in vitro.

We investigated the proliferation of scleral cells in response to several growth factors in vitro to elucidate the mechanism of scleral growth in visual deprivation myopia. Scleral chondrocytes and scleral fibroblasts were cultured separately in 24-well culture dishes. The number of plated cells was counted after the addition of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), transforming growth factor alpha (TGF-alpha), TGF-beta, insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), IGF-II, platelet-derived growth factor AA (PDGF-AA), PDGF-AB and PDGF-BB.

Effect of kanji and kana reading on cerebral blood flow patterns measured by PET.

To investigate the respective functions of pathways in processing visual information from different types of symbols, by positron emission tomography (PET) we examined the effect on cerebral blood flow (CBF) of reading the Japanese morphogram (kanji) versus the syllabogram (kana). Nine Japanese men were presented with three visual conditions in random order 2 minutes before the scan: eyes open controls, kanji morphogram reading, and kana syllabogram reading. Three words written in kanji or kana were shown, and subjects were instructed to read them silently and to identify the word unrelated logically to the other two.

The role of cytokines in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

HIV replication in vitro is regulated by many factors, including various exogeneous stimuli and proteins encoded by either virus or cellular genomes. During the asymptomatic period, cells latently or chronically infected with HIV gradually express virus, leading to immunosuppression and opportunistic infection. These conditions would result in the increased secretion of cytokines, especially TNF, from infected and uninfected cells, which can induce HIV and killing of infected cells.

A clinical study of the development of posterior vitreous detachment in high myopia.

Purpose: The correlation of age, axial length, and myopic chorioretinal atrophy with vitreous changes in high myopia were analyzed to investigate the development of posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) in high myopia.

Methods: The vitreous condition of 329 consecutive eyes with high myopia (more than -8.25 diopters (D) and more than 26.

Intralesional steroid-therapy-induced reduction of plasma interleukin-6 and improvement of cutaneous plasmacytosis.

We describe a case of primary multiple cutaneous plasmacytosis successfully treated by intralesional steroid therapy. Plasma interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels reduced in parallel with the disease activity. Intralesional steroid reduced IL-6 production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells, while neither PUVA therapy nor intralesional recombinant interferon-gamma resulted in a benefit and plasma IL-6 levels did not decrease.

Retinoic acid upregulates c-kit ligand production by murine keratinocyte in vitro and increases cutaneous mast cell in vivo.

Mouse-transformed epidermal cell line (Pam 212) generated the soluble mediators for promoting the growth of a mast cell line (MC9) in the presence of retinoic acid at a concentration of 10(-6)-10(-7) M. The effective molecule of MC9 cell growth promoting factor (MC9-GF) was non-dialyzable and eluted between the molecular weight of 45 K and 68 K on a TSK 2000 G column. Chromatofocusing analysis revealed that this factor had a pI range between 7.

Optical mapping of early embryonic expressions of Mg(2+)-/APV-sensitive components of vagal glutaminergic EPSPs in the chick brainstem.

Multiple-site optical recording of transmembrane voltage activity, using a voltage-sensitive dye (NK2761) and a 12 x 12 element photodiode array, was employed to monitor neural responses in the slice preparations that were dissected from 6-9-d-old embryonic brainstems. Transmembrane voltage-related optical responses evoked by a brief square current pulse applied with a microsuction electrode to the vagus nerve were recorded simultaneously from many sites in the preparation. In preparations from 6-d-old embryos, only action potential-related spike-like optical signals were often detected in the normal bathing solution containing 0.

Hepatic resection under the intermittent selective portal branch occlusion by balloon catheter.

Background: In hepatic resection, it is important to control intrahepatic blood flow to minimize blood loss. Intermittent and selective vascular occlusion, if possible, are advisable.

Study Design: For this purpose, we created the double balloon catheter, which when introduced into a lobar or a smaller branch of the intrahepatic portal vein through a branch of the ileocolic vein, made it possible to occlude these branches temporarily during hepatic resection.

Calcification of eccrine poroma.

Two cases of eccrine poroma with calcification were described, both of which were those of the Winkelmann-MacLeod type. They occurred on the face and lower leg. We supposed that calcification in both cases was dystrophic in nature due to minor pressure or injury.

[Mechanism of axial elongation and chorioretinal atrophy in high myopia].

Myopic chorioretinal atrophy with axial elongation is one of the main factors of visual impairment in high myopia. To clarify the causes of this chorioretinal atrophy (CRA), the mechanism of ocular axial elongation was investigated from the effects of growth factors on experimental myopia models. From the analysis of large numbers of humans with extreme myopia, the factors causing CRA and the process of progression of this atrophy were also studied.

Morphology of C5 ventral nerve rootlets as part of dissociated motor loss of deltoid muscle.

Study Design: This study analyzed anatomic characteristics of cervical ventral rootlets. After total vertebrectomy, detailed morphology of the ventral rootlets was studied from the anterior.

Summary Of Background Data: The clinical study showed the predominance of ventral root lesion.