Surgical management of late esophageal perforation

A simple and rapid high-performance capillary electrophoresis (HPCE) method for the determination of 2-mercaptopyridine-1-oxide (pyrithione) was developed. After addition of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), pyrithione was determined in the form of the free anion using 50 mM borate (pH 9.2) as background electrolyte and was detected at 244 nm with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.636 ppm (S/N = 3). The method was used to check the purity of pyrithione preparations and for the determination of pyrithione in shampoo.     

Immunochemical approaches to AGE-structures: characterization of anti-AGE antibodies

An extractionless method for determining aflatoxin M1 (AFM1), a major metabolite of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), in human urine was developed. The biological fluid is injected directly into the chromatographic system after simple dilution and centrifugation. A pre-column, packed with a cation-exchange phase and coupled on-line to a column-switching liquid chromatography (LC) system, is used for sample pre-treatment and concentration. The analytes are non-selectively desorbed with the LC eluent and cleaned by means of a column-switching procedure. Pre-treatment and analysis were performed within 40 min. Average AFMI recovery reached 97% in the 10-100 ng/l range of urine. The detection limit of AFM1 in urine and milk was 2.5 ng/l for 1 ml of injected sample. A comparison with an immunoaffinity column clean-up and LC method was performed. The method was applied to determine AFM1 in the urine of AFB1 gavaged rats, and in the urine of both potentially exposed and supposedly unexposed workers. The method was also extended to milk.     

Nasal insulin delivery in rabbits using soybean-derived sterylglucoside and sterol mixtures as novel enhancers in suspension dosage forms

We describe herein the first successful implementation of intraportal stent placement combined with right portal vein embolization as preoperative management against far advanced gallbladder carcinoma. The patient was a 66-year-old woman with obstructive jaundice, in whom computed tomography confirmed that gallbladder carcinoma had invaded the liver and that massive lymph node metastases involved the hepatoduodenal ligament. Portography also revealed severe stenosis of the main portal trunk to less than 2 mm in diameter. To prevent the contribution of intraportal thrombosis and ensure postoperative liver functional reserve, an intraportal metallic stent implantation was conducted simultaneously with right portal vein embolization via a single route using the percutaneous transhepatic approach. There were no complications following this technique, and the patient subsequently underwent hepato-ligament-pancreatoduodenectomy. The resected specimen disclosed a well-expanded stent containing no thrombus. This method could therefore be an amenable strategy for the preoperative treatment of far advanced biliary malignancies in selected patients.     

Polymorphism in the promoter region of the alpha 2A adrenergic receptor gene and mood disorders

Alpha 2 adrenergic receptors are thought to play a crucial role in the etiology or treatment of mood disorders. Polymorphism(s) in the promoter region of the alpha 2 receptor may affect the gene expression and be associated with mood disorders. We studied the previously reported polymorphisms of the alpha 2A receptor gene at position-1291 in 114 healthy controls and 103 mood disorder patients. There was statistically no difference between controls and patients in either the genotype or the allele frequency. There was statistically no difference between the genotype and the clinical characteristics. Our results suggest there is no association between this polymorphism in the promoter region of the alpha 2A receptor gene and mood disorders.     

Effect of prednisolone on IgE-dependent biphasic cutaneous reaction in BALB/c mice

We have examined a series of 24 Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) DNAs for loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at eight loci on chromosome 13. All patients were heterozygous for at least one locus. Overall, 18 of 24 (75%) patients showed LOH, among whom 10 patients demonstrated LOH at all informative loci. A single common region of loss was identified in all cases and included the marker D13S233 (13q14.3), which maps close to the retinoblastoma susceptibility gene RB1. The RB1 protein was not detected by Western blot analysis in any of nine MCC cell lines tested. These data indicate that 13q losses are the most common chromosomal losses observed to date in MCC and the likely target of these deletions is the RB1 locus.     

Is Kaposi's sarcoma--associated herpesvirus ubiquitous in urogenital and prostate tissues?

Controversy exists as to whether Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is more widespread than originally reported. Recently, Monini et al reported that KSHV is ubiquitous in urogenital and prostate tissues and sperm of healthy Italian adults using nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR). We have examined for the presence of KSHV in 10 normal prostates from Italian men and 10 from men from the United States, as well as 32 prostatic, 30 vulvar, 24 ovarian, 20 cervical, and 30 testicular cancer specimens from patients from the United States. None of the patients had a history of human immunodeficiency virus infection. The samples were tested by nested PCR. The sensitivity of this assay was determined by a dilution study performed by diluting KSHV DNA from the KS-1 cells (a primary effusion lymphoma cell line which is estimated to have 16 copies of KSHV per cell) in DNA from a K562 myeloid cell line. The nested PCR that we used can detect 2.4 copies of KSHV sequences on a background of K562 DNA. All the samples were negative for KSHV sequences. Therefore, we cannot confirm the finding that KSHV sequences are ubiquitous in urogenital and prostate tissues. Furthermore, because our samples were from both the United States and Italy, the discrepancy between results is unlikely to be explained by either ethnic or environmental factors. False-positive results easily occur using nested primer PCR because of contamination. Our data argue that KSHV is not widely disseminated in urogenital tissues from nonimmunosuppressed individuals.     

Facilitation of apoptosis by cyclosporins A and H, but not FK506 in mouse bronchial eosinophils

This study was undertaken to clarify whether or not binding to cyclophilin is a prerequisite for cyclosporin A-induced modulation of apoptotic cell death in eosinophils. Eosinophils were isolated from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of mice challenged with inhaled allergen after sensitization. Apoptosis was determined by analysing the DNA content. At 72 h, 99% of the cells had died without addition of cytokines, whereas 55-60% of the cells survived in the presence of 10 U/ml recombinant murine interleukin 5 or recombinant murine granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulation factor (GM-CSF). Apoptotic cell death at 72 h in the presence of 10 U/ml interleukin 5 was increased by addition of cyclosporin H, an analogue of cyclosporin A without cyclophilin binding activity, in a concentration-dependent (0.3 to 3 microM) manner. The increase in apoptosis elicited by cyclosporin A and cyclosporin H took place also in the presence of 10 U/ml GM-CSF but to a lesser extent. There was a significant augmentation of apoptosis in eosinophils cultured in the presence of each cytokine for 72 h or longer. Tacrolimus (FK506) failed to augment apoptotic cell death. Thus, it is unlikely that binding of cyclosporin A to cyclophilin accounts for the increased apoptosis induced by cyclosporin A and its analogue in eosinophils. The increase in apoptosis induced by cyclosporin A, but not FK506, in activated eosinophils from the airways may be attributed to the anti-asthmatic effects of cyclosporin A.     

X-ray absorption fine structure analysis of local structure of CeO2–ZrO2 mixed oxides with the same composition ratio (Ce/Zr=1)

Three types of CeO₂–ZrO₂ (Ce:Zr=1:1 molar ratio) compounds with different oxygen storage/release capacities (OSCs) were characterized by means of the Ce K-edge and Zr K-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS). In order to investigate the relationship between the OSC and local structure, the quantitative EXAFS curve-fitting analysis was applied. By enhancing the homogeneity of the Ce and Zr atoms in the CeO₂–ZrO₂ solid solution, the OSC performance increased. Especially, the atomically homogeneous Ce_0.5Zr_0.5O₂ solid solution exhibited the highest OSC among these CeO₂–ZrO₂ samples. Additionally, the local oxygen environment around Ce and Zr was remarkably modified by enhancing the homogeneity of the CeO₂–ZrO₂ solid solution. It was postulated that the enhancement of the homogeneity of the CeO₂–ZrO₂ solid solution and the modification of the oxygen environment would be the source for the OSC improvement.     

Analysis of demand‐priority access using a priority queue with server vacations and message dependent switchover times

In this paper, we analyse the message waiting times in a local area network (LAN) that uses the demand‐priority access method. This is a priority‐based round‐robin arbitration method where the central controller (the repeater) polls its connected ports to determine which have transmission requests pending and the requests' priority classes. We model it as a 2‐priority M/G/1 queue with multiple server vacations and switchover time between service periods. The service discipline is nonpreemptive and the length of the switchover time is dependent upon the priority class of the preceding message served as well as that of the message to be served next. We provide an approximate analysis for the waiting times of both message classes and derive expressions for the Laplace–Stieltjes transforms (LST) of the stationary distributions and the mean waiting times. We conclude with numerical and simulation results to show the applicability and accuracy of the analytical model. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Time dependent changes occurring in rat liver microsomes upon lipid peroxidation

Steady-state fluorescence anisotropy of diphenylhexatriene and n-(9-anthroyloxy)stearic acids (n=2,12) in rat liver microsomes showed a marked increase in the early stages of enzymatically or non-enzymatically induced lipid peroxidation. The changes in fluorescence anisotropy occurred in parallel with the formation of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBA-RS). Parallel to these changes, the fluorescence emitted from peroxidized microsomes increased markedly in the early stages of lipid peroxidation. In contrast to the changes in the fluorescence anisotropy and in the formation of TBA-RS, the fluorescence showed a continuing increase over the three hr period of lipid peroxidation. Glucose-6-phosphatase was inactivated in the early stages of lipid peroxidation, whereas NADH-cytochrome b₅ reductase underwent a slow deactivation over three hr. The apparently slow deactivation of the peripheral protein may be explained by the formation of fluorescent substances.