Clinical evaluation of hepatic bruit audible in patients with alcoholic hepatitis]

Human exposure to methylating agents appears to be widespread, as indicated by the frequent occurrence of methylated DNA adducts in human DNA. The high incidence of methylated DNA adducts even in humans thought not to have suffered extensive exposure to environmental methylating agents implies that chemicals of endogenous origin, probably N-nitroso compounds such as the strongly carcinogenic N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), may be primarily responsible for their formation and raises the question of the carcinogenic risks associated with such exposure. In addition to accumulation of DNA damage, other factors (such as induced cell proliferation) appear to be important in determining the probability of induction of mutation or cancer by NDMA, implying that high to low dose risk extrapolations should not be based on the assumption of dose- or even adduct-linearity. Comparative studies of the accumulation and repair of methylated adducts in humans and animals treated with methylating cytostatic drugs do not reveal significant species differences. Based on this and the dosimetry of adduct accumulation in rats chronically exposed to very low doses of NDMA, it is suggested that the exposure needed to account for the levels of adducts found in human DNA may be of the order of hundreds of micrograms NDMA (or equivalent) per day, a level of exposure which may well represent a significant carcinogenic hazard for man.     

A case of multiple colonic liver metastases treated successfully with percutaneous isolated liver chemoperfusion using cisplatin

We herein report a case of multiple colonic liver metastases treated with repeated percutaneous isolated liver chemoperfusion of cisplatin under hepatic venous isolation and charcoal hemoperfusion (HVI.CHP) as an inductive treatment. The patient was a 70-year-old man who underwent curative resections for metachronous rectal and descending colonic cancer in 1979 and 1995, respectively. During outpatient follow-up, he showed increases of serum CEA level. An abdominal CT study demonstrated multiple low-density lesions in the bilateral lobes of the liver, indicating colonic liver metastases. The patient had a total of 2 treatments with percutaneous isolated liver chemoperfusion of cisplatin (total dose, 500 mg) under HVI.CHP. His post-treatment course was uneventful without side effects, including leukopenia and renal dysfunction. Serum CEA levels showed a sharp decrease to 160 ng/ml 3 months after treatment from the pretreatment value of 1,064 ng/ml. CT scan 3 months after treatment revealed remarkable tumor regression along with liquefaction of liver tumors, showing a partial response. These results suggested that repeated percutaneous isolated liver chemoperfusion of cisplatin under HVI.CHP is a potent inductive treatment for patients with multiple colonic liver metastases.     

Formation of porous α-CD ethanol dihydrate by crystal transformation method

The crystal transformation method using ethanol as a dehydration medium is a new method which can create a porous crystal. In this study α-cyclodextrin (α-CD) hexahydrate was transformed by this method and porous ethanol dihydrate crystal was obtained. The pore volume measured was 0.25 mL/g and the median pore diameter was 0.11 μm. Dissolution rate of this crystal was several times higher than that of (α-CD) hexahydrate or anhydrate obtained by drying.     

Preparation of a fine powder composed of oxide–metal composite by an arc-plasma method

Fine oxide–metal composite powders have been prepared under an H₂–Ar gas environment using an arc-plasma irradiation technique. Initial Cu particles with grain sizes between 10 and 30 μm were mixed with TiO₂ powder of submicron size at different weight ratios to form targets by sintering. Mixtures with varying Cu/TiO₂ weight ratios were prepared, but mostly a mixture with the weight ratio at 95:5 was used. The targets were exposed to arc-plasma irradiation to form a fine composite powder. Particles prepared are Cu-fine core particles each coated with a thin film of TiO₂. The thickness of the oxide film ranges from a few nanometers to some tens of nanometers, and is independent of the ambient gas composition and irradiation. The size distribution of prepared composite particles is broad, and most of them range from 20 to 100 nm. H₂ gas in the chamber plays a significant role in forming the composite powder.     

The development of <100> texture in Fe-Cr-Co-Mo permanentmagnet alloys

The cold-rolled and recrystallization textures of Fe-Cr-Co-Mo permanent magnet alloys are described. The studied composition is Fe-30%Cr-15%Co-3%Mo (in wt.%). The cold-rolled texture can be considered to be {111}<110>, {111}<112>, {100}<110>, and {211}<110>, while the recrystallization texture can be considered to be {111}<100>, {110}<112>, {211}<110>, and {110}<110>. The secondary recrystallization is caused by heat-treating the alloys in the sequence of α, α+γ, α+γ+σ, α phase region. This results in a favorable texture of {110}<110> and <100> direction, aligning along the transverse direction (TD) of the strips. The best magnetic properties obtained in this study were 1.2 T (12.0 kG), iH _c=82.0 kAm^-1 (1025 Oe), and (BH)max= 60.8 kJm^-3 (7.6 MGOe) with TD alloys     

Chronic urticaria associated with aseptic meningitis: an atypical urticarial vasculitis?

OBJECTIVE: This study is based on promising results using the ratio of free/ total (F/T) prostatic-specific antigen (PSA) for discrimination between benign prostatic hypertrophy and prostate cancer. We tried to determine the value of F/T PSA in different clinical situations at a certain time point during follow-up of luteinizing-hormone-releasing hormone (LH-RH) agonist treatment and to correlate it to T-PSA. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 182 patients followed-up for different periods in the last 3 years were routinely monitored for serum T-PSA. During the last 11 months, F-PSA was also measured together with T-PSA, and the ratio of F/T PSA was calculated. In 26 patients, the ratio of F/T PSA was monitored sequentially in several samples. RESULTS: Although 5 patterns of clinical response to LH-RH agonists were identified according to previous T-PSA, the F/T ratio could significantly (p < 0.05) discriminate between patients responding to treatment in contrast to patients escaping, fluctuating or not responding to hormonal ablation. Those patients responding to hormones showed a higher F/T PSA ratio (36.5 +/- 33.1%) compared to the nonresponding group (12.0 +/- 10.1%). CONCLUSIONS: During individual follow-ups, the pattern of response to LH-RH treatment is reflected by the F/T PSA ratio: while successful treatment causes an F/T PSA increase, relapse is accompanied by a decrease in this ratio. However, the changes in the F/T PSA ratio did not precede the indicative changes in T-PSA. It seems that increased values of F/T PSA ratios are intrinsic features of 'benign' prostatic disease, and the molecular events resulting in different PSA molecules in various clinical situations have to be elucidated.     

Structures and vapor-sorption characteristics of sputtered polychlorotrifluoroethylene films treated by hydrogen-plasma

Hydrogen-plasma treatment of the polychlorotrifluoroethylene (PCTFE) film produced by radio-frequency sputtering induces considerable elimination of halogen (fluorine and chlorine) atoms. This dehalogenation produces some noteworthy structural features: surface densification (crosslinks), trapped radicals, and incorporation of oxygen in the carbon networks. These structural changes modify the vapor-sorption properties of the sputtered PCTFE film, producing a molecular-sieving effect and enhancing the polar character of solubility properties of organic vapors.     

Acid lipase inhibitor in chicken plasma identified as apolipoprotein A-I

We have reported a inhibitor of acid lipases in liver lysosomes and erythrocytes from chickens [M. Fujii et al., Int. J. Biochem., 22, 895-898 (1990)]. In this paper, the properties of the inhibitor were described in comparison with those of apo A-I of chicken. The purified inhibitor migrated with the same mobility on SDS-PAGE as apo A-I, and had a molecular weight of 27,000. The peptide map from the lipase inhibitor was similar to that of apo A-I. Antibodies to the acid lipase inhibitor also reacted with apo A-I. Apo A-I inhibited the acid lipase activities of liver lysosomes and erythrocytes from chickens as strongly as the lipase inhibitor. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of lipase inhibitor was identical to that of apo A-I as far as residue 20. The amino acid sequence of peptides obtained from the inhibitor by cleavage with CNBr corresponded to internal sequence of apo A-I, and so the CNBr-peptides were derived by cleavage after the methionine residues in apo A-I. The findings showed that the inhibitor of the acid lipases in liver lysosomes and erythrocytes from chickens was identical to apo A-I.     

High electronic-optical conversion efficiency in avertical-to-surface transmission electro-photonic device with a verticalcavity

Electronic-optical conversion efficiency of 11.4% in a vertical-to-surface-transmission electrophotonic device with a vertical cavity is reported. Reduction of the electrical resistance by the double mesa structure, efficient confinement of carriers in the active region by the proton implanted structure, and photon recycling by sidewall reflectors lead to this high conversion efficiency. Efficiency over 10% is achieved for the first time in surface-emitting devices