Randomization of left-right asymmetry due to loss of nodal cilia generating leftward flow of extraembryonic fluid in mice lacking KIF3B motor protein

Microtubule-dependent motor, murine KIF3B, was disrupted by gene targeting. The null mutants did not survive beyond midgestation, exhibiting growth retardation, pericardial sac ballooning, and neural tube disorganization. Prominently, the left-right asymmetry was randomized in the heart loop and the direction of embryonic turning. lefty-2 expression was either bilateral or absent. Furthermore, the node lacked monocilia while the basal bodies were present. Immunocytochemistry revealed KIF3B localization in wild-type nodal cilia. Video microscopy showed that these cilia were motile and generated a leftward flow. These data suggest that KIF3B is essential for the left-right determination through intraciliary transportation of materials for ciliogenesis of motile primary cilia that could produce a gradient of putative morphogen along the left-right axis in the node.     

Antitumor effect of a neutralizing antibody to vascular endothelial growth factor on liver metastasis of endocrine neoplasm

Distant metastasis of gastrointestinal endocrine neoplasm is resistant to currently available treatments. Because hematogenic metastasis is dominant, anti-angiogenic drugs are expected to be a novel therapy for this neoplasm. In the present study, the therapeutic effect of vascular endothelial growth factor neutralizing antibody (VEGFAb) on liver metastasis of an endocrine neoplasm was investigated experimentally. Cecal transplantation into nude mice of small pieces of EN-1, a xenotransplanted human intestinal endocrine neoplasm, resulted in liver metastasis. A treated group (n = 19) received 100 micrograms/mouse of VEGFAb intraperitoneally on alternate days from day 10 after tumor transplantation, and the control group (n = 19) received saline. Five of the 19 control mice died of tumor progression, of which 2 could not be evaluated. The cecal tumor weighed 6316 +/- 2333 mg (n = 17) in the control group and 1209 +/- 837 mg (n = 19) in the treated group (P < 0.01) 6 weeks after transplantation. Liver metastasis developed in 16 of 17 control mice and in 2 of 19 treated mice (P < 0.01). The VEGF level of the whole cecal tumor in the control group was significantly higher than that in the treated group (305.1 +/- 174.1 vs. 54.7 +/- 41.2 mg; P < 0.001). VEGFAb did not cause any body weight loss (28.52 +/- 1.63 in the control vs. 28.44 +/- 1.71 g in the treated group). These results indicate that VEGFAb may be a novel therapeutic agent for endocrine neoplasm with distant metastasis.     

Determination of urinary and serum pentosidine and its application to elder patients

Pentosidine, a fluorescent cross-linking compound, accumulates in extracellular matrix, especially in the collagen, and is formed by the nonenzymatic process of advanced Maillard reaction. We developed a method of determination of pentosidine and tried to examine its level in urine and serum of elder patients. The method, which involves the hydrolysis of samples, pretreatment using a CF-11 cellulose column and HPLC quantification, resulted in a high recovery (94.3%) of pentosidine with low coefficient of variation (8-10%) of total analysis. Serum and urinary levels of pentosidine in control subjects gradually increased with age. Elder patients with cerebral infarction showed higher levels of serum and urinary pentosidine as compared with those with senile dementia and other geriatric disorders. These results suggest that serious damage to systemic vascular tissues has already occurred in these patients due to glycation.     

Segmental liver resections for hilar cholangiocarcinoma

BACKGROUNDS/AIMS: Liver resection for hilar cholangiocarcinoma is now popular, and combined en bloc resection of the caudate lobe has become general practice, especially in Japan and some European countries. However, surgical procedure is not yet standardized, and many problems concerning surgical treatment of this disease still remain unsolved. METHODOLOGY: From April 1977 to December 1996, 173 patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma were treated at The First Department of Surgery, Nagoya University Hospital. Of the 173 patients, 138 patients underwent surgical resection, including 124 liver resections and 14 bile duct resections. RESULTS: Several kinds of hepatic segmentectomy with en bloc resection of the caudate lobe were performed in the 124 patients: 109 underwent hepatic lobectomy or more extensive resection including central bisegmentectomy; 15 received resection of one or less segment of the liver. Aggressive resections, including combined portal vein and liver resection (n = 41) and hepatopan-creatoduodenectomy (n = 16), were applied to advanced hilar cholangiocarcinoma. The hospital death rate in hepatectomized patients was 9.7% (12/124). The 3- and 5-year rates for the 97 patients with curative hepatectomy were 42.7%, and 25.8%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Aggressive liver resection improves survival of patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma. Resection procedures should be designed based on a precise diagnosis of the extent of carcinoma.     

Automated performance evaluation of document image analysis systems: Issues and practice

The performance of document image analysis systems is affected by a variety of variables that alter the quality of documents. Objective evaluation and characterization of systems usually require large quantities of test data, and it is important to automate evaluation processes. In this article, issues in designing tools for automated evaluation of document image analysis techniques and systems are discussed, and some examples are presented. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Measurement of pancreatic blood flow to prevent pancreatic juice leakage after pancreas-preserving total gastrectomy for gastric cancer

Disintegration apparatus according to P.Ph was adepted to measure the disintegration rate of tablets. The data obtained for 10 batches of aminophenazone tablets with different content of gelatine (2-20%) showed that there is a linear correlation between the area under non-disintegrated tablets mass curves (AUDC) and the area under release curves (AURC) described by equation: AUDC = bcr AURC - acr.     

Electronic structure of fullerene derivatives in organic photovoltaics

The electronic structures of the fullerene derivatives [6,6]-phenyl-C₆₁-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM), [6,6]-diphenyl C₆₂ bis (butyric acid methyl ester) (bisPCBM), C₇₀, [6,6]-phenyl-C₇₁-butyric acid methyl ester (PC₇₀BM), [6,6]-phenyl-C₆₁-butyric acid butyl ester (PCBB), [6,6]-phenyl-C₆₁-butyric acid octyl ester (PCBO), [6,6]-thienyl-C₆₁-butyric acid methyl ester (TCBM), and indene-C₆₀ bisadduct (ICBA), which are frequently used as n-type materials in organic photovoltaics, were studied by ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy and inverse photoemission spectroscopy. We also performed molecular orbital calculation based on density functional theory to understand the experimental results. The electronic structures near the energy gap of the compounds were found to be governed predominately by the fullerene backbone. The side chains also affected the electronic structures of the compounds. The ionization energy and electron affinity were strongly affected by the number of carbons and functional groups in the side chain.     

Nanoscale solid-state quantum computing

Most experts agree that it is too early to say how quantum computers will eventually be built, and several nanoscale solid-state schemes are being implemented in a range of materials. Nanofabricated quantum dots can be made in designer configurations, with established technology for controlling interactions and for reading out results. Epitaxial quantum dots can be grown in vertical arrays in semiconductors, and ultrafast optical techniques are available for controlling and measuring their excitations. Single-walled carbon nanotubes can be used for molecular self-assembly of endohedral fullerenes, which can embody quantum information in the electron spin. The challenges of individual addressing in such tiny structures could rapidly become intractable with increasing numbers of qubits, but these schemes are amenable to global addressing methods for computation.