Pharmacological effects of SA96 (bucillamine) and its metabolites as immunomodulating drugs--the disulfide structure of SA-96 metabolites plays a critical role in the pharmacological action of the drug

SA96 (generic name, bucillamine) is a disease-modifying anti-rheumatoid arthritis (RA) drug with immunological effects. This compounds has two sulfhydryl groups in its molecule, and the differences and similarities between this drug and D-penicillamine, which is also a sulfhydryl group-containing anti-rheumatic drug, have frequently been discussed. To clarify the pharmacological differences between these two drugs, we examined the concentrations of the compounds and its metabolites in serum and synovial fluid, paying special attention to the metabolites of SA96 produced in vivo. SA96 was metabolized in a very short time to SA981 which is a disulfide compound formed by intramolecular binding of two sulfhydryl groups, and transferred to synovial fluid. In addition SA981 had significant suppressive effects on IL-6 and IL-8 production by synovial cells in vitro. These results demonstrate that SA96, which has two sulfhydryl groups, exhibits anti-rheumatic effects via a pharmacological action clearly different from that of D-penicillamine.     

Direct lattice imageing in single crystals of isotatic polystyrene

Lattice lines with 1.1 nm and 0.55 nm spacings were resolved in isotactic polystyrene (i-PS) single crystals using a conventional transmission electron microscope, equipped for low dose imageing. It is suggested that these crystals may be used as a model for the direct imageing of structural defects in polymer crystals.     

Physiologically based pharmacokinetic prediction of p-phenylbenzoic acid disposition in the pregnant rat

This article combines data from a clinical trial of donepezil with costing figures to evaluate expected direct costs of care over 5 years after diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) for patients aged 75 years and over at diagnosis. A Markov model simulates the progression of elderly persons through changing levels of severity. The model compares three treatment regimes for each of two patient groups; mild AD at start of treatment; moderate AD at start of treatment. Patients are followed until 5 years after the start of the treatment. Despite the acquisition costs, use of donepezil is approximately cost-neutral for both 5 mg and 10 mg treatment groups and for patients initially at either mild or moderate states of illness. Expected costs are slightly higher than for the placebo group, but higher expenditure on drugs is partly offset by lower costs of care consequent on treated patients not declining as rapidly as those untreated. The model showed that donepezil patients spent less time in the state of severe dementia, where costs of care are higher. Sensitivity analysis on key assumptions demonstrated that expected costs were highly dependent on discount rate and, more significantly, on the mortality rate.     

Efficacy of early plasmapheresis in Bickerstaff's encephalitis

Double filtration plasmapheresis (DFPP) was performed in a patient with Bickerstaff's brainstem encephalitis (BBE) in its early phase. He was a 27-year-old male patient suffering from diplopia, facial palsy and drowsiness following upper respiratory tract infection, and had high titers of immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies against ganglioside NeuAc(alpha)2-8NeuAc(alpha)2-3Gal(beta)1-3GalNAc(beta)1-4(NeuAc(al pha)2-8NeuAc(alpha)2-3)Gal(beta)1-4Glc(beta)1-1'Cer (GQ1b) in the serum. DFPP effected immediate improvement of his drowsiness, supporting the diagnosis of BBE. Our observations suggest that DFPP during the early phase of BBE efficiently prevents the progression of consciousness disturbances.     

Pulsed field loss characteristics of the Japanese test coil for the large coil task

This paper describes some results of an analytical calculation and the measurements of a pulsed field loss on the Japanese LCT conductor. The conductor, whose aspect ratio is around 2.5, is wound edge wise to reduce the pulsed field loss. The Japanese LCT coil, with the conductor thus designed, was evaluated to have a pulsed field loss of about 19W. This includes the loss of the helium vessel under the normal LCT test with a pulsed field of 0 to 0.14T. In addition, the loss measurement has been carried out up to 25 T/s. Measured results on the relation between the loss of a single strand and that of a whole strand pack well supports the validity of the loss analysis which includes a newly arranged set of analytical equations.     

Application of focused ion beam techniques and transmission electron microscopy to thin-film transistor failure analysis

The locations of process-induced defects in hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin-film transistors (a-Si:H TFTs), which are used as elements of active-matrix liquid crystal displays, were investigated by combining focused ion beam techniques with cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (X-TEM). The FIB technique is applied to TFT failure analysis problems, which require considerable localised etching without inducing mechanical stress or damage at fragile failure locations. We demonstrate the manner in which these techniques are used to characterise TFT defects such as pinholes and portions of the multilayer damaged by mechanical stress. A dramatic improvement brought about by the FIB technique is the increase in temporal efficiency of sample preparations. X-TEM observations also lead to identification of the fault and analysis of its cause, which in turn lead to a marked yield improvement.     

Preparation of HPLC test solutions for organic impurities in aluminum lakes of food red no. 40 (allura red AC) and food yellow no. 5 (sunset yellow FCF)

The HPLC determination of organic impurities in Food Red No. 40 aluminum lakes (R-40Als) as directed by Japan's Specifications and Standards for Food Additives, 7th Ed. (JSFA-VII), has problems, such as reproducibility and low recovery. ICP analyses suggested that the problem was caused by the aluminum in the test solution. In the improved method for preparation of the test solution, aluminum was precipitated as a hydroxide gel by boiling with 1% aqueous ammonia. After centrifugation, the supernatant was used for the HPLC analysis of the organic impurities in the lakes. Recoveries of organic impurities were more than 85% from R-40Al spiked at the 0.1 and 1.0% levels of R-40. The proposed method was also adapted for Food Yellow No. 5 aluminum lakes.     

Multirate Sampling Method for Acceleration Control System

This paper focuses on the realization of high-performance motion control based on acceleration control. A disturbance observer is used to construct an acceleration control system. A high sampling frequency is known to be effective for improving the performance. Characteristics of acceleration control are investigated to discuss the relationship between the performance and a sampling frequency of the system. The needs for a high sampling frequency for an output are then described. Based on these considerations, a novel multirate sampling method for the acceleration control system is proposed. An output sampling period is set shorter than an input sampling period, and control calculation is executed at each output sampling period in the method. The disturbance observer is redesigned for application to the multirate system. Stability analysis is performed to verify the validity of the proposal. Feasibility of the proposed method and its influence on the performance are also verified by experimental results     

Optical Burst Switching Router With 40-,10-Gb/s Bit-Rate Transparent Contention Resolution

We report a bit-rate transparent optical burst switching (OBS) router prototype using a fast 5 times 5 PLZT [(Pb,La)(Zr,Ti)O₃ ] optical matrix switch. Dynamic switching in a two-wavelength, 2 times 2 OBS switch is demonstrated. Contention resolution using a tunable Mach-Zehnder interferometer wavelength converter for both 40- and 10-Gb/s bursts is demonstrated for the first time. Error-free operation was achieved for both bit rates under the same settings, as required in autonomous networks