Interstitial pneumonia treated with intermittent cyclophosphamide pulse therapy

A 52-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital because of polyarthralgia and dry coughing. A chest X-ray film showed bilateral diffuse reticulo-nodular shadows. A specimen obtained by transbronchial lung biopsy revealed alveolar septal thickening and infiltration by mononuclear cells. Interstitial pneumonia associated with rheumatoid arthritis was diagnosed. Interstitial pneumonia relapsed soon after the first pulse of corticosteroid therapy. Cyclophosphamide pulse therapy was given in addition to a second pulse of corticosteroid therapy; 700 mg of cyclophosphamide (500 mg/m2) was administered intravenously every month and the dose of steroids was gradually reduced. Cyclophosphamide pulse therapy was repeated three times and the dose of oral corticosteroids was reduced from 60 mg to 35 mg. There was no bone marrow suppression or hemorrhagic cystitis after the cyclophosphamide pulses. Eventually, corticosteroid therapy was stopped with no clinical deterioration. This case suggests that intermittent cyclophosphamide pulse therapy can be effective for treatment of interstitial pneumonia unresponsive to corticosteroids.     

Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) induces duodenal phasic contractions via the vagal cholinergic nerves in sheep

High swelling galactose-based hydrogels have been prepared using a chemoenzymatic procedure. Regioselective acylation of beta-O-methyl-galactopyranoside in nearly anhydrous pyridine with lipase from Pseudomonas cepacia yields the 6-acryloyl derivative (Compound I). Further lipase-catalysed acylation of the monoacrylate derivative in nearly anhydrous acetone yielded 2,6-diacryloyl-beta-O-methyl galactopyranoside (Compound II) that can act as a cross-linker with a structure similar to that of the sugar-based monomer. The high selectivity of enzyme catalysis yielded apparently highly regular hydrogel networks with swelling ratios at equilibrium ranging from 170 to 1100. elastic moduli ranging from 0.005 to 0.088 MPa and calculated mesh sizes ranging from 1160 to 6600 A. These values are far higher than conventional uncharged or lightly charged hydrogels at similar elastic moduli. Gel swelling was fast, with 75% of the equilibrium swelling value reached in a fractional time of 0.17. Non-selective chemical acryloylation of beta-O-methyl galactopyranoside followed by polymerization yielded a far lower-swelling hydrogel than that obtained using selective enzyme catalysis. These results indicate that the highly regular polymer structure achieved by regioselective enzyme-catalysed acylation yields relatively strong and highly swellable materials. Sugar-based hydrogels, such as those described herein, may find particular use as biomaterials because of their high water content, homogeneity, stability and expected non-toxicity. A wide range of pore sizes can be attained, suggesting that they may also be especially useful as matrices for enzyme immobilization and controlled delivery of biological macromolecules.     

Specificity and development of innervation pattern of Xenopus pectoralis muscle

Multielectrode recordings were used to identify and measure the axonal inputs to each end plate on contiguous surface fibers covering about 25% of the Xenopus pectoralis muscle in mature and developing animals. The mature innervation pattern was remarkably precise. Individual axons tended to innervate fibers of similar input resistance (R(in)) in compact motor units restricted to only a portion of the region studied. Motor units comprising fibers of similar R(in) overlapped mainly near their borders. Most fibers had two end plates. In more than 80% of these fibers, both end plates received input from the same axon. In 57%, this was the only input to both end plates. This implies a powerful mechanism for excluding or eliminating inputs from other axons. About 16% of the mature junctions showed focal polyneuronal innervation, with the weaker end plate potential component often less than 1 mV in noncurarized preparation. However, we have no evidence that the weaker inputs were being eliminated. During development, motor units became more compact, which was associated with synapse elimination; but from the earliest times studied, soon after metamorphosis when many fibers were adding second end plates, a majority of those that had two end plates were innervated at both sites by the same axon.     

Inhibition in a microgravity environment of the recovery of Escherichia coli cells damaged by heavy ion beams during the NASDA ISS phase I program of NASA Shuttle/Mir mission no. 6

OBJECTIVE: To explore whether there are different disease patterns of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in women and men. METHODS: We studied 55 male case patients and 110 female control patients who developed RA between 1970 and 1985 and who resided and received medical care in Olmsted County, Minnesota, for at least 10 years after the diagnosis of RA. Case and control patients were matched for the date of first diagnosis. The pattern and extent of joint involvement, the frequency of joint surgeries, and the presence and type of extraarticular manifestations were determined by retrospective chart review. RESULTS: Incidence rates in women were variable and age dependent, whereas the risk in men older than 36 years was constant over their lifetime. Erosive disease was more frequent in men than in women (72% versus 55%, respectively; P < 0.05) and tended to occur earlier (47% versus 31% for erosive disease within the first 4 years of RA). Although male sex was correlated with a higher risk of bony erosions and an accelerated course of RA, structural consequences of joint destruction were more pronounced in women. Joint surgery was performed more frequently in women (50%) than in men (27%) (P = 0.01). In particular, the frequencies of arthroplasties and arthrodeses of hand and foot joints were different (34 procedures in women versus 1 procedure in men; P < 0.001). Sex influenced the risk as well as the pattern of organ involvement in RA. Nodules and rheumatoid lung disease were typical manifestations in men (P = 0.001 and P < 0.001, respectively), whereas women typically developed sicca syndrome (P = 0.05). Despite differences in disease aggressiveness and disease pattern, there was little difference in the medical therapy in the men compared with the women. CONCLUSION: RA is a heterogeneous disease with variations in phenotype. Sex-associated factors influence disease severity as well as disease pattern. Because sex-related effects influence treatment goals, treatment responses, and side effects, they should be considered in clinical study design and analysis as well as in the treatment decisions for individual patients with RA.     

An estimation method for the free-space antenna factor of VHF EMI antennas

A novel numerical method is developed for theoretically estimating the free-space antenna factor of an electromagnetic interference (EMI) antenna, especially for the very high frequency (VHF) range where traditional methods are difficult to apply. It requires conventional EMI antenna calibration such as the standard antenna method to obtain the antenna factor of an antenna under calibration as a function of the antenna height. Then, a nonlinear least-squares method is applied to the calibration results to estimate the free-space antenna factor. It is found that the proposed method can yield more accurate estimates of the free-space antenna factor than the averaging method. Attainable accuracy of this method is better than 0.2 dB for tuned dipole antennas and 0.1 dB for biconical antennas and biconi-log antennas. The paper outlines the theoretical background and the validity of this method, with the attainable accuracy demonstrated using method of moments simulations.     

日本新建筑标准的结构抗火设计

本的目的是为了说明1998—2000期间日本建筑规程(日本建筑标准)以及相关技术标准的修订。考虑了功能要求后，规程修订趋向于以性能为主。在抗大这一章节中，功能要求指的是在发生火灾时防止结构倒塌以及火势向其他隔问的蔓延，同时还包括防止火势由失火建筑物内部向周围建筑的扩散。为了满足功能上的要求，我们提供了三种方法(A、B、C)。方法A是传统的设计方法，即建筑框架及隔墙采用防火构件。相对于方法A，新近引进了以考虑性能为主的方法B。在方法B中，由一系列设计公式计算出指定部分发生火灾可能产生的后果、结构和边界部分的热反应、构件破坏的临界时间。设计公式应足够简单，以便于建筑工程师和有关官员的使用。由方法B计算出的结果通常是保守的。方法C是一个框架，用最先进的设计方法。规程没有指定采用的设计方法，但是工程上火灾和结构分析的结果只有在全面地考证后才能被行业接受。     

The fibrinolytic effects of intermittent pneumatic compression: mechanism of enhanced fibrinolysis

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) is an effective form of deep vein thrombosis prophylaxis for general surgery patients. The antithrombotic effect of IPC is thought to be the result of increased venous velocity and stimulation of endogenous fibrinolysis. However, the mechanism of enhanced fibrinolytic activity and the relative effects on normal and postthrombotic veins have not been defined. The purposes of this study are 1) to quantify changes in fibrinolytic activity with IPC; 2) to study the mechanism of fibrinolytic enhancement with IPC; and 3) to evaluate whether postthrombotic patients have the same capacity for fibrinolytic enhancement with IPC as do normal subjects. METHODS: Twelve volunteers (6 normal and 6 postthrombotic) had 5 IPC devices applied for 120 minutes in random fashion, 1 per week x 5 weeks. The devices included single-chamber, sequential, foot, calf, and long-leg compression. Subjects had an indwelling antecubital venous cannula placed for blood drawn at baseline, 60, 120, and 180 minutes after IPC devices were applied. Global fibrinolytic activity (euglobulin fraction, fibrin plate assay), tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) antigen (Ag) and activity (Act), plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) Ag and Act, alpha-2-antiplasmin-plasmin complexes, and von Willebrand factor (vWF) antigen were assayed. RESULTS: A striking elevation in fibrinolytic activity was noted at 180 minutes with all devices in normal subjects and postthrombotic patients (p = 0.01-0.0001); however, baseline and stimulated fibrinolytic activity was attenuated in postthrombotic patients (<0.03). The tPA-Act increased only in normal subjects (3.8 +/- 1.9%) (p = 0.057), despite a decrease in plasma tPA-Ag, which was observed in both normal subjects (-12.4 +/- 3.8%) (p = 0.009) and patients (-17.2 +/- 3.1%) (p = 0.001). PAI-1-Ag decreased in both normal subjects (-13.4 +/- 3.8%) (p = 0.007) and patients (-12.0 +/- 3.1%) (p = 0.013) with a marked reduction in PAI-1-Act in both normal subjects (p = 0.003) and patients (p = 0.004). There were no changes in vWF, and alpha-2-antiplasmin-plasmin complexes increased only in postthrombotic patients (p = 0.021). CONCLUSIONS: Stimulation of endogenous fibrinolytic activity occurs after IPC, both in normal subjects and postthrombotic patients; however, baseline and overall fibrinolytic response in postthrombotic patients is reduced. The mechanism of increased fibrinolytic activity is likely because of a reduction in PAI-1, with a resulting increase of tPA activity.     

A 0.5-V MTCMOS/SIMOX logic gate

This paper proposes a multithreshold CMOS (MTCMOS) circuit that uses SIMOX process technology. This MTCMOS/SIMOX circuit combines fully depleted low-threshold CMOS logic gates and partially depleted high-threshold power-switch transistors. The low-threshold CMOS gates have a large noise margin for fluctuations in operating temperature in addition to high-speed operation at the low supply voltage of 0.5 V. The high-threshold power-switch transistor in which the body is connected to the gate through the reverse-diode makes it possible to obtain large channel conductance in the active mode without any increase of the leakage current in the sleep mode. The effectiveness of the MTCMOS/SIMOX circuit is confirmed by an evaluation of a gate-chain test element group (TEG) and an experimental 0.5-V, 40-MHz, 16-b ALU, which were designed and fabricated with 0.25-μm MTCMOS/SIMOX technology     

Common clonal origin of lymphocytes and plasma cells in splenic lymphoma with villous lymphocytes

In two-thirds of patients with splenic lymphoma with villous lymphocytes (SLVL) a small amount of M-protein can be detected in association with the presence of plasma cells in the peripheral blood (PB) and/or bone marrow (BM). However, it is not known whether lymphoma cells and plasma cells originate from the same clone. In this report we describe a case of SLVL which was characterized by the presence of marked monoclonal gammopathy (IgG-kappa 90 g/l) and increased plasma cells in the BM. In an attempt to elucidate the origin of lymphoma cells and plasma cells, we performed morphological, cytogenetic and molecular studies on PB mononuclear cells (PBMNC) without plasma cells and BMMNC containing 10% plasma cells from this patient. Immunofluorescence showed that lymphoma cells and plasma cells were positive for cytoplasmic gamma heavy and kappa light chains. Well-developed endoplasmic reticulum was observed in the cytoplasmic organelles of PBMNC using an electron microscope. The mean IgG concentration in the 3 d supernatant cultures of PBMNC was 374 +/- 24 microg/l. More than 50% PBMNC differentiated into plasmacytoid cells in 6 d of liquid culture with IL-3 and IL-6. Analysis by two-colour FISH revealed that karyotypic abnormalities of monosomy X and trisomy 17 existed simultaneously in both lymphoma cells and plasma cells. JH gene rearranged bands from PBMNC and BMMNC by Southern blot hybridization were identical, whereas DNAs from PBMNC failed to hybridize with the Cmu probe. These observations strongly suggest that lymphoma cells and plasma cells originate from the same clone, and that plasma cells, as well as lymphoma cells, which have undergone class switch recombination, could produce IgG type M-protein in this case.