New strategies for aspiration pneumonia

Aspiration pneumonia is associated with decreases in both swallowing and cough reflexes and is the most common cause of death in the elderly. Basal ganglia strokes might predispose these patients to develop pneumonia owing to reductions of both reflexes, resulting in frequent aspiration during sleep. An impairment of dopamine metabolism in the basal ganglia is observed in these patients and levodopa administration improves the impaired swallowing reflex. Both swallowing and cough reflexes are mediated by endogenous substance P (SP) released from vagal sensory nerves in the pharynx and upper airways. The addition of a low dose of capsaicin to liquid or food, which stimulates the release of SP, may help prevent aspiration pneumonia. Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor decreases SP catabolism resulting in improvements in both reflexes. Oral care and the sitting position after meals may decrease aspiration pneumonia in the elderly.     

Polymorphisms of dopamine receptor and transporter genes and Parkinson's disease

Disturbances of the dopamine system are involved in the pathogenesis of idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD). Although genetic factors may play a role in the etiology of PD, there is little direct evidence implicating a specific gene. We conducted a study to test the hypothesis that allelic variations of the dopamine receptors (D2, D3, D4) and the dopamine transporter (DAT) contribute to the susceptibility to PD. Association analyses of 70 Japanese PD patients and the same number of age-matched controls did not reveal any association between alleles of the D2, D3 or D4 receptor genes or the DAT gene and PD. Thus, our results suggest that factor(s) other than allelic variations of these key proteins in the dopamine system contribute to the susceptibility to PD.     

A 1-Gb/s/pin 512-Mb DDRII SDRAM using a digital DLL and a slew-rate-controlled output buffer

A 1-Gb/s/pin 512-Mb DDRII SDRAM has been developed using a digital delay-locked loop (DLL) and a slew-rate-controlled output buffer. The digital DLL has a frequency divider for DLL input, performs at an operating frequency of up to 500 MHz at 1.6 V, and provides internal clocking with 50% duty-cycle correction. The DLL has a current-mirror-type interpolator, which enables a resolution as high as 14 ps, needs no standby current, and can operate at voltages as low as 0.8 V. The slew-rate impedance-controlled output buffer circuit reduces the output skew from 107 to 10 ps. This SDRAM was tested using a 0.13-/spl mu/m 126.5-mm/sup 2/ 512-Mb chip.     

In vivo metabolism of the vitamin D analog, 22-oxacalcitriol: evidence for side-chain truncation and 17-hydroxylation

After intravenous administration of the vitamin D3 analog, 22-oxacalcitriol (OCT), to normal rats plasma metabolites were investigated by HPLC, GC-MS and LC-MS. Five side-chain oxidation metabolites, 24R(OH)OCT, 24S(OH)OCT, (25R)-26(OH)OCT, (25S)-26(OH)OCT and 24oxoOCT, were identified by comparison with the corresponding synthetic compounds. These side-chain oxidation metabolites were similar to those of calcitriol [1alpha,25(OH)2 vitamin D3] described previously. Besides these five metabolites, two unique side-chain cleavage metabolites, 20S(OH)-hexanor-OCT and 17,20S(OH)2-hexanor-OCT, were identified as main metabolites in plasma by GC-MS and LC-MS using a specific chemical reaction. Our studies suggest that OCT is extensively metabolized and circulates in blood as a number of metabolites as well as unchanged OCT. This metabolism includes both unique pathways of C23-O22 cleavage and 17-hydroxylation, in addition to the side-chain oxidation metabolites similar to those of 1alpha,25-(OH)2D3.     

Extrathymic differentiation of resident T cells in the joints of mice with collagen-induced arthritis

Murine collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) is known as a T cell-mediated autoimmune disease, although autoantibodies are also suspected to be associated with the onset of the disease. To determine the origin of such T cells in the joints of mice with CIA, their phenotypic properties as well as those of T cells in other immune organs were examined in DBA/1 mice. Since a significant number of mononuclear cells (MNC) was also yielded by the joints of normal DBA/1 mice, the properties of these T cells were examined in parallel. When CIA was induced by an intradermal injection of type II collagen at the base of the tail, the numbers of MNC yielded by the regional lymph nodes and the foot joints were doubled. Interestingly, regardless of the onset of CIA, the joints were always comprised of unique T cell populations, including IL-2(R)alpha- beta+ T cells, gammadelta T cells, CD8alpha+ beta- cells, and CD44+ L-selectin- cells. All these properties coincide with those of extrathymic T cells in liver and intestine. In the case of gammadelta T cells in joints, Vgamma and Vdelta usages were unique and different from those in the other organs. More importantly, Vgamma and Vdelta usages in gammadelta T cells in the joints of normal mice and in those of mice with CIA were essentially the same. Taken together with the expression of recombination-activating gene-1 and -2 mRNAs by MNC in mice with CIA, these findings raise the possibility that the joints have their own resident T cells that are extrathymically generated in situ.     

A novel quarter‐wave retardation film for improving viewing angle properties in time‐sequential stereoscopic 3D‐LCDs

We have successfully developed a quarter‐wave retardation film (QWF) for wide viewing angle 3D liquid crystal displays (3D‐LCDs) that provides high luminance, low crosstalk, low color change, and low head‐tilt‐angle dependency. It was found that the out‐of‐plane retardation (Rth) of the QWF in the LCD needs to be close to 0 nm in order to improve the 3D display properties at an off‐axis position and that the in‐plane retardation (Re) needs to be adjusted from 120 to 130 nm to achieve low color change with head tilting. We adopted a coating process for making our QWF because of its potential for retardation control. 3D‐LCDs with this QWF whose Rth was nearly zero had high performance and allowed off‐axis other than on‐axis.     

Electrical property and defect structure of lanthanum-doped polycrystalline barium titanate

Electrical conductivity of two types of lanthanum-doped barium titanote ceramics with different dopant levels was measured at temperatures between 900 and 1250° C andP _{O 2}from 10^–5 to 1 atm. The activation energies of the conduction for the two are interpreted in terms of the formation energy of ionized oxygen vacancies even in such a highP _{O 2}region. This fact is in contrast with a well -known controlled -valency model proposed for rare- earth -doped semi-conducting perovskites. In a lightly lanthanum-doped specimen, semiconduction achieved at elevated temperatures is retained on cooling the specimen to room temperature, whereas in a heavily doped specimen, the resultant high-temperature semiconduction changed to insulation on cooling. The former behaviour on cooling is successfully explained by a metastabilization of oxygen vacancies accompanied by electrons formed at elevated temperatures.     

Preparation of water‐repellent silks by a reaction with octadecenylsuccinic anhydride

Silk fibers and membranes were acylated with octadecenylsuccinic anhydride (ODSA) at 75°C for different times. Swelling [N,N‐dimethylformamide (DMF) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)] and nonswelling (xylene) solvent media were used for the reaction. Silk membranes that reacted in DMF or DMSO displayed faster reaction kinetics and attained higher weight‐gain values than fibers. The effect of the solvent on the reaction yield was in the following order: DMSO > DMF ? xylene. The Fourier transform infrared spectra of acylated silk samples showed the characteristic absorption bands of the anhydride at 2990, 2852, 1780–1700, and 1170 cm^?1. The intensity of the latter band, which increased linearly with the weight gain, was used as a marker for evaluating the reaction kinetics of the samples acylated in the nonswelling medium. The moisture regain and water retention of silk fibers acylated with ODSA decreased significantly, regardless of the solvent system used. Accordingly, the water repellency increased. Acylation induced an increase in the thermal stability of the silk fibers and membranes. Fine particles adhering to the surfaces of the silk fibers acylated in xylene were detected by scanning electron microscopy. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 89: 324–332, 2003     

Production of antimicrobially active silk proteins by use of metal‐containing dyestuffs

The work presented here discusses a new technique for preparing silk fibers and films with persistent antimicrobial activity through use of metallic dyestuffs during the fiber dyeing process. The length of the silk fibers investigated contracted when the fibers were immersed in concentrated neutral salt solutions, such as calcium or potassium nitrate, at elevated temperature levels. The birefringence and molecular orientation of the silk fibroin molecules became less ordered by the action of the neutral salt solutions, resulting in increased dyestuff absorption. Subsequently, contracted silk fibers were dyed with metallic dyestuffs containing Cr or Cu for the purpose of obtaining silk fibers with antimicrobial activity. Silk fibers dyed with metallic dyestuffs showed significant antimicrobial activity against the plant pathogen Cornebacterium and the human pathogen Coli bacillus. Tensile strength of the silk fibers after the salt shrinking and dyeing processes did not show a significant change, whereas the elongation at break was increased slightly. The techniques described here for preparing significantly active antimicrobial silk fibers are effective and economic ways of providing new materials for industrial and biomedical applications. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 86: 1181–1188, 2002