A novel tumor suppressor locus on chromosome 18q involved in the development of human lung cancer

The high incidence of loss of heterozygosity (LOH) on chromosome 18q in advanced non-small cell lung carcinomas indicates the presence of tumor suppressor gene(s) on this chromosome arm, which plays an important role in the acquisition of malignant phenotypes in lung cancers. In the present study, we examined 62 lung cancer specimens and 54 lung cancer cell lines for allelic imbalance at 11 microsatellite loci to define common regions of 18q deletions. Allelic imbalance of 18q was detected in 24 (55.8%) non-small cell lung carcinoma specimens and in 6 (31.6%) small cell lung carcinoma specimens, whereas a similar frequency of LOH was statistically inferred to occur in cell lines by analyzing marker homozygosity as an indirect measure of LOH. Five specimens and 11 cell lines showed partial or interstitial deletions of chromosome 18q, and 2 of them had homozygous deletions at the 18q21.1 region. A commonly deleted region was assigned between the D18S46 and y953G12R loci. The size of this region is less than 1 Mb, and the coding exons of three candidate tumor suppressor genes, Smad2, Smad4, and DCC, were mapped outside the region. This result suggests that the common region harbors a novel tumor suppressor gene involved in the progression of lung cancer.     

A case of spontaneous rupture of renal cell carcinoma

Spontaneous rupture of the kidney is uncommon. We report a case of spontaneous rupture of the kidney due to a renal cell carcinoma. A 53-year-old man presented with right renal tumor. Computed tomography demonstrated a 70 mm right renal tumor which involved the entire upper pole of the kidney and extended into the renal vein. A few days later, the patient had sudden severe right flank pain. Computed tomography of the abdomen revealed a large perirenal hematoma of the right kidney. Angiography demonstrated no vascular abnormality. Nephrectomy was performed. The histological examination showed rupture of a renal cell carcinoma in the right kidney.     

Template-free hydrothermal synthesis of hollow hematite microspheres

Hollow hematite (α-Fe₂O₃) microspheres with an average diameter of 3-4 μm and a shell thickness of approximate 150 nm was synthesized by a simple hydrothermal route using FeCl₃·6H₂O solution and acetic acid without using any templates. The hollow microspheres were composed of α-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles with the diameter range from 20 to 40 nm. The effects of reaction parameters such as reaction time, temperature, concentration of FeCl₃·6H₂O solution, and initial pH on the morphology of the final products were investigated. A possible formation mechanism of hollow α-Fe₂O₃ microspheres was also proposed, where the acetic acid played a role of etching in the formation of hollow structure.     

Synthesis and electronic structure of proton-type partially substituted birnessite by period-four transition metal

Partially substituted proton-type birnessite were prepared by solid state reaction and their structures were refined. The formed birnessite with no substitution is identified to rhombohedral phase. In the case of substitution treatment by V and Cr for Mn, birnessite phase was not formed. On substituting Fe, hexagonal phase increased with increase of the amount of the Fe. For Co and Ni-substitution, monoclinic phase emerged at substitution ratio of around 0.37 and 0.02, respectively. For the substitution of Cu, only the monoclinic birnessite formed irrespective of the ratio. The electric conductivity of the partially substituted birnessites was examined at room temperature. The general trend is lower conductivity with increasing ratio of contained substituents. On several mol% of the substitution by Ni and Cu, the conductivity slightly increased. From DOS calculation of these compounds, the partially substitution for Mn by Fe, Co and Ni in the birnessite poses splitting of crystal field to emerge new bands at around −1 and +1 eV by Mn(IV) 3d orbital.     

Sex determination with a discriminant function analysis of deciduous teeth size in plaster models

Plaster models of the teeth of 3-year-old Japanese children (96 males, 98 females) were used to record the crown length, crown width and crown thickness of 5 maxillary and 5 mandibular deciduous teeth (30 measurement values). These measurements were used to devise a number of sex determination formulae. A sex-determination formula using all 30 values was calculated. Furthermore, a number of practical formulae were derived from only the crown width and crown thickness values because the deciduous teeth wear in 4 years and older children rapidly progress, making the crown length measurement unreliable. These formulae were calculated for the maxillary teeth alone and mandibular teeth alone. The formulae based on only the crown width or thickness were also calculated for both maxillary and the mandibular teeth. A step-wise discriminant analysis was then used to ascertain the most reliable measurements and a practical formula subsequently devised. The results obtained were as follows: 1. The mean value for each measurement was greater in males than in females. 2. Significant differences in the values recorded were seen in 28 out of the 30 measurements taken. The measurement items not exhibiting these significant differences were the crown width of the maxillary lateral incisor and the crown thickness of the mandibular second molar. 3. The accuracy rates for the sex-determination analysis and the step-wise sex determination analysis calculated using all 30 values were 78.6% and 75.7%, respectively. 4. The accuracy ranges for the modified sex-determination formulae and the associated step-wise sex determination analyses were 70.6-78.4% and 67.0-76.8%, respectively.     

Comparative Study of TiAu-Based TES Microcalorimeters with Different Geometries

Seven microcalorimeters with different geometries have been tested and their performance is compared. The study, for TiAu TESs with a Cu absorber, indicates the presence of so-called constant voltage noise and internal thermal fluctuation noise. The constant voltage noise is not changed by a normal metal pattern on the TES, or by a magnetic field. The energy resolution of the detectors, having different heat capacities, is 2.5 and 5.0 eV (at 5.9 keV).      

Decompositions of bubbly flow PIV velocity fields using discrete wavelets multi-resolution and multi-section image method

Currently, wavelet transforms are widely used for the analyses of particle image velocimetry (PIV) velocity vector fields. This is because the wavelet provides not only spatial information of the velocity vectors, but also of the time and frequency domains. In this study, a discrete wavelet transform is applied to real PIV images of bubbly flows. The vector fields obtained by a self-made cross-correlation PIV algorithm were used for the discrete wavelet transform. The performances of the discrete wavelet transforms were investigated by changing the level of power of discretization. The images decomposed by wavelet multi-resolution showed conspicuous characteristics of the bubbly flows for the different levels. A high spatial bubble concentrated area could be evaluated by the constructed discrete wavelet transform algorithm, in which high-leveled wavelets play dominant roles in revealing the flow characteristics.     

Maternal urinary free beta-subunit of human chorionic gonadotrophin: creatinine ratios and fetal chromosomal abnormalities in the second trimester of pregnancy

We observed a 56-year-old woman with Kartagener's syndrome and severe seropositive rheumatoid arthritis. This is the third case of such association in the world literature and a second one being diagnosed in our Department. The patient was also as the previous one a carrier of HLA DR1 and B27 antigens. An electromicroscopic study showed normal bronchial cilia in contrast to classical course of the disease. A number of immunological disturbances were observed, especially defective granulocyte function. We suggest that the severe course of rheumatoid arthritis may be related to the chronic stimulation of immune system by microbes continuously present in the patients airways.