Radiation therapy for stage I-II non-small cell lung cancer in patients aged 75 years and older

Vaccination with peptides that induce a specific immune response is a potential prophylactic or therapeutic strategy against viral infections and tumors. Because of the extensive polymorphism of the HLA loci, synthetic peptide vaccines must consist of a cocktail of peptides that bind specifically to different HLA molecules. Such cocktails should be optimized for the target population as each population has its specific HLA gene frequencies. To achieve maximum population coverage with a minimum number of peptides, information is needed on the ranking of the most frequent HLA phenotypes. We introduce the minimal phenotype panel, which is the smallest combination of HLA antigens selected so that the proportion of individuals in a population that express at least one of the antigens in the panel exceeds a desired minimum value. We developed a method for assembling minimal phenotype panels based on known HLA class I gene frequencies. We give an example based on a set of 2446 well-defined HLA-typed, random, healthy, unrelated, Dutch Caucasoid individuals. In addition, we discuss the possibility of assembling minimal phenotype panels based on two-locus haplotypes, which enables the assembly of phenotype panels from the antigens of both loci.     

Effect of immunosuppression on composition of quasispecies population of hepatitis C virus in patients with chronic hepatitis C coinfected with human immunodeficiency virus

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To study the effects of the immunosuppression caused by the reduction of CD4 activity on the composition of hepatitis C virus (HCV) populations, we analyzed the number of HCV quasispecies clones and the nucleotide diversity of the hypervariable region 1 (HVR1) of HCV in 37 patients with hemophilia with persistent HCV infection, with or without human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). METHODS: The numbers of HCV quasispecies clones were measured by fluorescence single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis. Direct sequencing was used to analyze the degree of diversity of HVR1. We compared these values according to coinfection with HIV, and CD4 counts of patients. RESULTS: There were no differences in either the number of HCV clones or the diversity between patients with and without HIV coinfection. In HIV coinfected patients the diversity decreased in association with the decrease in CD4 count while the number of HCV clones did not. The diversity of HVR1 was 3.64 +/- 5.03% in patients with a CD4 count < 50/microliters and 14.92 +/- 6.03% in patients with a CD4 count > or = 50/microliters; it was significantly lower in the former (p = 0.0002). CONCLUSIONS: A severe reduction in the CD4 count, which is considered to cause a decline in the activity of helper T-lymphocytes, induced changes in the composition of HCV populations; one or a few quasispecies clones are predominant in the HCV population in the serum of individual patients.     

Power swing analysis in a future metropolitan electric power system on a contingent trip of cryogenic high-power cables

A cryogenic power cable is expected to be capable of carrying bulk power as a main transmission line in a future metropolitan electric power system. It is important to establish a strategy of how to sustain power supply when such a highly densified power supply route trips from the network due to contingency. It is proposed here that the bulk power transmitted by the cryogenic cable could be distributed into the parallel conventional transmission lines by suitable circuit breaker operations in the system. In this process, power-flow routes are forced to be changed with a remarkable modification in the system configuration. In this paper, the power swings associated with the large power-flow change following contingent faults are analyzed by means of a transient network analyzer. It is found that the proposed system modification could be realized without any harmful power swing if the parameters in generators as well as in control devices have conventional magnitudes. It is shown also by simulations that the margin to occurrence in an unstable power swing is left sufficient even if the parameters deviate somewhat from the present magnitudes.     

Observation of cold-rolling texture and partially recrystallized texture in polycrystalline 3 pct Si-Fe by high-resolution electron backscattered diffraction

Cold-rolling texture and partially recrystallized texture of polycrystalline 3 pct Si-Fe were investigated using high-resolution electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) method. From the measurement on a deformed grain with {211}〈011〉∼{111}〈011〉 orientations, deformation bands with {12 4 1}〈014〉 orientation were found. It turned out that the orientation rotation relationship between deformation bands and surrounding deformed grain can be explained by the activation of the slip system, which has a common slip plane with an adjacent grain. Oriented nucleation of recrystallized grains with {12 4 1}〈014〉 orientation was observed in a deformed grain with {211}〈011〉∼{111}〈011〉 orientation. Exactly the same orientation relationship that was observed between deformed grain and the deformation bands was also observed between the deformed grain and the recrystallized grain. A hypothesis that recrystallization nuclei are generated directly from the deformation bands formed by an activation of the slip system that has a common slip plane of neighboring deformed grains was proposed from the present experimental results.     

Identification of electric circuits described by ill-conditioned mathematical models

This paper treats the problem of identification of a linear electric circuit described by an ill-conditioned mathematical model. The identification problem is considered as the problem of model parameters determination by means of processing experimental data measured for the objective circuit. Topological singularities (low-admittance cutsets and low-impedance loops) in a circuit are found to be origins of ill-conditionality of a circuit model. For more in-depth investigation the classification of electric circuits is made in respect to singularities position. It is shown that the first set of experimental data obtained for an ill-conditioned model is useless for getting the required solution of the identification problem. In this case a solution error amounts to a huge value that exponentially increases with growth in condition number of a model matrix. It is found that linear relations between model parameters can be determined in an ill-conditioned problem. Accuracy of these relations does not depend on condition number, but is defined only by measurement precision. An approach named as repeat measurements principle (RMP) and based on linear relations is suggested to solve an ill-conditioned identification problem. A new RMP-based algorithm of linear circuit identification is developed. The algorithm shows a high efficiency and allows us to determine model parameters accurate to measurement precision as applied to any type of reciprocal and nonreciprocal linear circuits.     

Non-hookean stress-strain response and changes in crystallite orientation of carbon fibres

The non-hookean stress-strain response of carbon fibres was investigated in relation to changes in crystallite orientation with tensile stress. Various one-dimensional array models and a mosaic model were examined. Amongst these models, only the mosaic model in which the stress of the crystallites can be transmitted in both the transverse and the axial directions showed any quantitative agreement with the measured increases in the tensile modulus and the crystallite orientation with tensile stress. This suggests that deformation of the crystallites is constrained with increasing tensile stress. It was also found that the ratio of the tensile stress of the fibre to that of the crystallites is close to the crystallite volume fraction rather than the ratio of the fibre density to the crystallite density.     

Relationship between local immune response to Helicobacter pylori and the diversity of disease: investigation of H. pylori-specific IgA in gastric juice

In order to evaluate the relationship between local immune response to Helicobacter pylori and the diversity of disease, 77 asymptomatic subjects who underwent a health examination were studied. Helicobacter pylori-specific IgG in serum and H. pylori-specific IgA in gastric juice were measured by ELISA, and the measured IgA titre was classified into two grades, low or high. Histological classification of gastritis was performed according to the Sydney system. Cytokines in gastric juice were also measured, and the cytotoxin-associated gene A (cagA) status of H. pylori was tested by PCR. Of the 65 subjects who were positive for H. pylori-specific IgG in serum, 38 (58.5%) were classified as H. pylori-specific IgA low titre in gastric juice and 27 (41.5%) had high titres. In the IgG-positive, IgA-low group, the rate of peptic ulcers (especially duodenal ulcers) in endoscopic findings was higher (P < 0.05); the score of activity and the density of H. pylori were higher (P < 0.001 and P < 0.05, respectively); the score of metaplasia was lower (P < 0.05); and the level of interleukin-1 beta was lower (P < 0.05) than in the IgG-positive, IgA-high group. The positive rate of the cagA gene was 84.4% and there was no significant difference between the two groups. There were differences in endoscopic and histological findings between the IgG-positive, IgA-low and the IgG-positive, IgA-high groups. It is suggested that persons infected with H. pylori can be divided into two different states of disease according to local immune response.     

Fine structure of the supramammillary nucleus of the rat: analysis of the ultrastructural character of dopaminergic neurons

The islets of Langerhans are richly innervated, and an inhibitory effect on insulin secretion, mediated through alpha 2-adrenergic receptors, appears to be an important physiological neural modulator of beta-cell function. An alpha 2-receptor was cloned from isolated newborn rat islets using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) approach. This receptor was shown by sequencing to be a new rat alpha 2-receptor very similar to the human alpha 2-C2 receptor. No other alpha 2-receptor subtype was identified in normal islets by the PCR using alpha 2-receptor primers. This was also the only alpha 2-receptor subtype present in the exocrine pancreas and liver. In contrast, in the beta-cell line, beta TC3, the alpha 2-C2 receptor was not detected, but the alpha 2-C4 and alpha 2-C10 receptor subtypes were detected. It is suggested that the alpha 2-C2 subtype may be the principal alpha 2-receptor mediating inhibitory autonomic nervous system activity in the gastrointestinal tract. A comparison of the rat islet, pancreas, and liver alpha 2-receptor sequences reported here with previously reported alpha 2-receptor sequences indicates that the rat islet alpha 2-receptor is not the rat alpha 2-C2 homologue previously denoted as RNG alpha 2, but is a new, fourth rat subtype with an even higher similarity to the human alpha 2-C2 receptor.