Effects of heating rate and particle size on pulse electric current sintering of alumina

Two Al₂O₃ powders with different particle sizes were sintered by pulse electric current sintering method at different heating rates. Rapid heating reduced grain growth rate, and the level of reduction depended on the initial powder size and sintering temperature. Under certain conditions, rapid heating could enhance densification.     

Expression of endothelial and inducible nitric oxide synthase in human glomerulonephritis

The presence of nitric oxide (NO) in the kidney has been implicated in the pathogenesis of human glomerulonephritis. However, the exact type of glomerular cells that express NO synthase (NOS) and the NOS isoform involved in the local production of NO has not been identified in the human diseased kidney. We examined the expression of three isoforms of NOS, inducible NOS (iNOS), endothelial NOS (eNOS) and brain NOS (bNOS) in the renal tissue of patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN, N = 10), lupus nephritis (LN, N = 5), membranous nephropathy (MN, N = 5) and minimal change nephrotic syndrome (MCNS, N = 5). Sections were immunostained and the correlation between the expression of each NOS and the degree of glomerular injury in that section was also examined. Normal portions of surgically resected kidneys served as controls. eNOS was present in glomerular endothelial cells and endothelium of cortical vessels in the control and diseased kidneys. iNOS was localized in mesangial cells, glomerular epithelial cells and infiltrating cells in the diseased glomeruli, whereas immunostaining for iNOS was hardly detected in control kidneys. In addition, the expression pattern of eNOS in each glomerulus was the reverse of that of iNOS. In IgAN and LN, the extent of staining for eNOS correlated negatively with the degree of glomerular injury, while the extent of staining for iNOS correlated positively with the degree of glomerular injury in the same tissues. bNOS was not detected in normal or nephritic glomeruli. Our results indicate the presence of a NO pathway in human diseased kidney, and suggest that NO derived from eNOS and iNOS may be involved in the progression of renal diseases and that NO derived from each NOS may play an important role in different way in human inflamed glomeruli.     

Coronary sinus pacing initiates counterclockwise atrial flutter while pacing from the low lateral right atrium initiates clockwise atrial flutter. Analysis of episodes of direct initiation of atrial flutter

INTRODUCTION: Rapid atrial pacing in sinus rhythm may directly induce atrial flutter without provoking intervening atrial fibrillation, or initiate atrial flutter indirectly, by a conversion from an episode of transient atrial fibrillation provoked by rapid atrial pacing. The present study was performed to examine whether or not the direct induction of clockwise or counterclockwise atrial flutter was pacing-site (right or left atrium) dependent. METHODS AND RESULTS: We analyzed the mode of direct induction of atrial flutter by rapid atrial pacing. In 46 patients with a history of atrial flutter, rapid atrial pacing with 3 to 20 stimuli (cycle length = 500 - 170 ms) was performed in sinus rhythm to induce atrial flutter from 3 atrial sites, including the high right atrium, the low lateral right atrium, and the proximal coronary sinus, while recording multiple intracardiac electrograms of the atria. Direct induction of atrial flutter by rapid atrial pacing was a rare phenomenon and was documented only 22 times in 15 patients: 3, 11, and 8 times during stimulation, respectively, from the high right atrium, low lateral right atrium, and the proximal coronary sinus. Counterclockwise atrial flutter (12 times) was more frequently induced with stimulation from the proximal coronary sinus than from the low lateral right atrium (8 vs 1, P = .0001); clockwise atrial flutter (10 times) was induced exclusively from the low lateral right atrium (P = .0001 for low lateral right atrium vs proximal coronary sinus, P = .011 for low lateral right atrium vs high right atrium). CONCLUSIONS: Direct induction of either counterclockwise or clockwise atrial flutter was definitively pacing-site dependent; low lateral right atrial pacing induced clockwise, while proximal coronary sinus pacing induced counterclockwise atrial flutter. Anatomic correlation between the flutter circuit and the atrial pacing site may play an important role in the inducibility of counterclockwise or clockwise atrial flutter.     

Magnetic resonance angiography in patients with acute stroke treated by local thrombolysis

Although magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) is accepted for showing chronic intracranial stenotic or occlusive lesions, the method has not been practically examined in patients with acute cerebral ischaemia. We carried out three-dimensional time-of-flight MRA in six patients with acute ischaemia treated by local thrombolysis, and compared the findings with those of digital subtraction angiography (DSA). In all patients, MRA before thrombolysis clearly demonstrated the occluded arteries, which corresponded precisely to those shown by DSA. In four patients with complete recanalisation of the occluded vessels after thrombolysis, the recanalisation could be demonstrated by postoperative MRA. In one patient with reocclusion of the recanalised artery, repeat MRA also demonstrated the reocclusion, confirmed by DSA. These results suggest that MRA may be helpful for noninvasive investigation before and after thrombolysis.     

Microstructures and Vickers hardness of rapidly solidified Al-Cu alloys near the Al-Al2Cu equilibrium eutectic composition

Al-Cu alloys near the Al-Al₂Cu equilibrium eutectic composition were rapidly solidified by the single-roller method. Two-zone structures were observed in transverse sections of Al-24.8, 30.0, 32.7, 33.2, 37.0 and 40.3 mass % Cu alloy ribbons, which were interpreted on the basis of the difference in cooling rates and of the temperature gradients between the chilled and free-surface sides of the ribbons. Non-equilibrium eutectic structures, cellular and irregular lamellar, were seen at the chilled side because the alloy liquids were directionally solidified with coupled eutectic growth. The coupled zone of the Al-Cu alloy expanded over the composition range 24.8–40.3 mass % Cu by rapid solidification. Dendritic structures were formed at the unchilled side of Al-24.8, 30.0, 37.0 and 40.3 mass % Cu alloys. Vickers hardness values at the chilled side differed from those at the unchilled side due to the difference in the microstructure.     

Prognostic factors and rational approach in the treatment of submucosal cancer of the stomach

Metallothionein (MT) mRNA levels were analyzed following exposure of neonatal rat primary astrocyte cultures to physiologic pH (7.4), acidosis (pH 6.5 and 6.0), and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). Treatments were carried out both in the presence and absence of the bioflavonoid, quercetin. Total RNA was probed on northern blots with [alpha32P]dCTP-labeled synthetic cDNA probes specific for rat MT isoform mRNAs. MT-I and MT-II mRNA levels in astrocytes exposed to pH 6.5 or pH 6.0 were increased compared to controls (pH 7.4). Treatment with DMSO in the presence and absence of acidosis, also increased MT-I and MT-II mRNA levels compared to controls (pH 7.4). The DMSO-induced increase in MT mRNA expression was reversed by treatment of astrocytes with quercetin, such that MT-I and MT-II mRNA levels in DMSO plus quercetin-treated astrocytes were indistinguishable from mRNA levels in their respective controls at pH 7.4, pH 6.5, and pH 6.0. These findings suggest that both acidosis and DMSO exposure are associated with increased astrocytic MT synthesis at the mRNA level, and that quercetin, effectively blocks MT mRNA induction by DMSO.     

Interaction of rat lin-10 with brain-enriched F-actin-binding protein, neurabin-II/spinophilin

We have recently isolated a rat homologue of the Caenorrhabditis elegans lin-10 product. Although rat lin-10 is expressed in the cytosol and membrane fractions of various tissues, it is distributed only in the membrane fraction in brain where it is enriched in the synaptic plasma membrane and postsynaptic density fractions. We have isolated here a rat lin-10-interacting protein from rat brain and identified it to be neurabin-II/spinophilin, which has recently been isolated as a protein interacting with protein phosphatase I and F-actin. Neurabin-II/spinophilin is ubiquitously expressed but enriched in brain, especially in the synaptic plasma membrane and postsynaptic density fractions. We discuss the physiological significance of the interaction of rat lin-10 with neurabin-II/spinophilin.     

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.     

Massive adrenal hemorrhage secondary to metastasis of lung cancer

Hemorrhagic adrenal metastasis from lung cancer is extremely rare, although adrenal involvement is common in widely disseminated cancer. We report a case of massive adrenal hemorrhage secondary to metastasis of lung cancer. A 47-year-old female was treated by left upper lobectomy and mediastinal lymph node resection for an adenocarcinoma with intrapulmonary metastasis in the left upper lobe. Eight months later, she presented with right flank and back pain, and abdominal ultrasonography and computed tomography showed a right solitary adrenal tumor with massive hemorrhage. The tumor was not resectable and partially responded to chemotherapy. A massive adrenal hemorrhage, secondary to metastasis of lung cancer, presents with nonspecific clinical signs and symptoms. In lung cancer patients with an acute flank or back pain, hemorrhagic adrenal metastasis should be considered in the differential diagnosis.