Clinicopathology of kidneys from brain-dead patients treated with vasopressin and epinephrine

Studies were made on the biochemical and pathological conditions of kidneys of 20 brain-dead patients who were maintained for 0 to 48 days after brain death by administration of vasopressin and epinephrine. Twenty specimens were obtained by percutaneous biopsy or at autopsy. The biochemical and pathological degrees were compared with those on the day of brain death (day 0). Biochemical tests on day 0 indicated that they showed the diuretic phase of prerenal failure, and then glomerular hyperemia was extensive. Renal function recovered on day 1 and remained almost normal during the 14 day period. Their urine retained high levels of sodium and osmolarity for days 0 to 14, with mild hyponatremia and hypo-osmolarity of the plasma. Tubulointerstitial nephritis gradually became extensive. There was no significant change in the degrees of mesangial widening, mesangial cell proliferation or hyalinosis. Arterial intimal proliferation was gradually extensive after day 3 and glomerular endothelial proliferation was gradually extensive after a week. Brain-dead patients have been mostly reported to develop diabetes insipidus, but our brain-dead patients did not show any manifestation of this disease. We suggest that constant natriuresis and continuing high level of urine osmolarity might have been caused by prerenal renal failure, brain death followed by neurogenic impairment, high level of serum vasopressin, or interstitial nephritis.     

4×4 GaAs/AlGaAs optical matrix switches with uniform devicecharacteristics using alternating Δβ electrooptic guided-wavedirectional couplers

Integrated 4×4 GaAs/AlGaAs optical matrix switches constructed from 12 electrooptic directional couplers have been realized. In order to achieve uniform device characteristics, molecular beam epitaxy and reactive ion beam etching were chosen as the crystal growth technique and waveguide fabrication technique, respectively, in addition to the simplified tree structure as a matrix switch architecture. As a result, matrix switches with quite uniform device characteristics, such as small switching voltage deviation and little path dependence in ±0.5-dB propagation loss, have been realized     

Polymerization of fluorene-based monomers modified with thiavinylidene structure at 9-position and their optical properties

Two iodo-functionalized fluorene-based monomers having a thiavinylidene moiety at 9-position [2,7-diiodo-9-(n-hexylthiavinylidene)fluorene and 2,7-diiodo-9-((2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethyl)thiavinylidene)fluorene] were synthesized. Suzuki coupling reactions with thienylboronic acids bearing a n-hexyl chain were subsequently conducted to obtain two thiophene-functionalized monomers [2,7-bis(4-hexylthienyl)-9-(n-hexylthiavinylidene)fluorene and 2,7-bis(3-hexylthienyl)-9-(n-hexylthiavinylidene)fluorene]. The dehalogenative polycondensation using Ni(cod)₂/cod/bpy system and the oxidation coupling polymerization using FeCl₃ gave three homopolymers (HP1, HP2, and HP3). The polymerization under Suzuki coupling condition gave three copolymers (CP1, CP2, and CP3). The number-averaged molecular weights ranged from 2500 to 23,000. The optical properties of polymer were dependent upon the character of arylene unit. Namely, HP1 solely consisting of a 9-(n-hexylthiavinylidene)fluorene segment demonstrated the short absorption maximum wavelength but the large red-shift (13 nm) from the solution state to film state. CP3 having a hydrophilic side chain showed the larger red-shift (13 nm) as compared with CP2 bearing the similar backbone and a hydrophobic side chain.     

Oligomannose-coated liposomes as an adjuvant for the induction of cell-mediated immunity

Rats were exposed prenatally to the coplanar congener 3,3',4,4'-tetrachlorobiphenyl (TCB). The amount of long-term potentiation (LTP) was measured in slices from the visual cortex and hippocampus of the adult males as well as of controls. While in the cortical slices from the controls a stable LTP could be induced, LTP was inhibited in the TCB-exposed rats. In hippocampal slices, the amount of LTP was not significantly different between the two groups. Our results suggest that the visual cortex of adult animals is functionally altered by TCB if the exposure takes place during embryonic development.     

Nucleotide sequence of the cDNA encoding nucleoside diphosphate kinase II from spinach leaves

The primary structure of nucleoside diphosphate (NDP) kinase II, one of the two isozymes found in spinach leaves, has been deduced from its cDNA sequence. NDP kinase II comprises 233 amino acid residues and has a molecular mass of 26,107 Da, which is larger than that of the purified NDP kinase II subunits (18 kDa) by about 8 kDa, suggesting that NDP kinase II might be post-translationally processed. Homology was found between the sequence of spinach NDP kinase II, and the sequences of spinach NDP kinase I, rat NDP kinases alpha and beta, Dictyostelium discoideum NDP kinase, the human Nm23-H1 and Nm23-H2 proteins and the awd protein of Drosophila melanogaster.     

A hybrid integrated waveguide isolator on a silica-based planarlightwave circuit

La and Ga substituted yttrium iron garnet single-mode buried channel waveguides, prepared using liquid-phase-epitaxial growth and Ar ion beam etching, have been successfully applied as 45° nonreciprocal waveguide rotators (NRWR) for hybrid integrated waveguide isolators at λ=1.55 μm. The optical and magneto-optical properties of the prepared 45° NRWRs and the epitaxial films are investigated in detail. We describe the assembly procedure and present optical measurement results for the hybrid integrated waveguide isolators. The hybrid isolators are composed of a 45° NRWR, a half-wave plate sheet, thin film-type polarizers, a thin plate-type permanent magnet and a silica-based waveguide on a silicon substrate. We obtained good waveguide isolators with low insertion losses (<3.2 dB) and high isolation (>25 dB) in the 1.5 μm wavelength band     

AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF SUPERCRITICAL FLUID DRYING OF Y-BA-CU OXIDES POWDER FROM AQUEOUS ALCOHOL SUSPENSION USING CARBON DIOXIDE

In order to prepare fine Y-Ba-Cu oxides, a suspension of oxide was synthesized by simultaneous hydrolization of 2-propanol solution of yttrium triisopropoxide - barium diisopropoxide - copper diisopropoxide. The suspension could not be dried by the freeze-drying method because the freezing point of aqueous alcohol solvent in the suspension was so low: therefore, supercritical fluid drying was used. Although the diameters of dried powders were larger than expected, the powders containing no BaCO₃ were obtained.

The results from this experiment suggest that the supercritical fluid drying method is useful for drying a suspension prepared by the alkoxide method.     

A direct computation of state deadbeat feedback gains

A method for computing a feedback gain that achieves state deadbeat control is given. From systems given in the staircase form, this method derives the deadbeat gain in a numerically reliable way. It is shown that the gain turns out to be LQ optimal for some weightings     

Impaired motor coordination in mice lacking prion protein

1. Prion protein (PrPC) is a host-encoded glycoprotein constitutively expressed on the neuronal cell surface. Accumulation of its protease-resistant isoform is closely related to pathologic changes and prion propagation in the brain tissue of a series of prion diseases. However, the physiological role of PrPC remains to be elucidated. 2. After long-term observation, we noted impaired motor coordination and loss of cerebellar Purkinje cells in the aged mice homozygous for a disrupted PrP gene, a finding which strongly suggests that PrPC plays a role in the long-term survival of Purkinje cells. 3. We also describe the resistance of the PrP null mice to the prion, indicating the requirement of PrPC for both the development of prion diseases and the prion propagation.