Clinical experience with incidentally discovered pheochromocytoma

PURPOSE: We reviewed 17 resected pheochromocytomas comprising 7 from symptomatic patients, and 10 unsuspected and incidentally discovered tumors. We compared various parameters concerning these 2 groups and investigated the features of the incidentally discovered pheochromocytoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patient gender and age, clinical symptoms and signs, tumor localization, detection methods, findings on imaging studies, urinary catecholamine concentrations, results of metoclopramide stimulation tests, treatments at operation and tumor size were evaluated. Furthermore, we compared the clinically diverse aspects arising between the symptomatic and incidentally discovered pheochromocytomas. RESULTS: The 24-hour urinary noradrenaline and vanillylmandelic acid levels in the incidental cases tended to be lower than those in the symptomatic cases, while 24-hour urinary dopamine was significantly less (468 +/- 221 compared to 1,558 +/- 899 microg./day, respectively). Typical symptoms of pheochromocytoma were noted in 6 patients (60%) in the incidental tumor group. The incidental cases had a markedly high false-negative rate (71%) as noted by the metoclopramide stimulation test, although the symptomatic cases had a 100% positive rate. On the other hand, the average diameter of incidental tumors was significantly larger than that of the symptomatic lesions (55.5 +/- 19.1 versus 35.9 +/- 12.1 mm., respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Clinical signs and findings in patients with incidental tumors were weaker than those with symptomatic disease although most incidental tumors functioned. Lower urinary catecholamine values in the incidental tumors were consistent with these results. However, the surgical risk for incidental tumors was the same as that for symptomatic lesions. Therefore, patients with incidentally discovered pheochromocytomas scheduled to undergo surgery should be treated accordingly.     

Two mechanisms in the action of repressor deltaEF1: binding site competition with an activator and active repression

BACKGROUND: Counteraction between activators and repressors is crucial for the regulation of a number of cell-specific enhancers, where an activator and a repressor are mutually competitive in binding to the same site. DeltaEF1 is a repressor protein of delta1-crystallin minimal enhancer DC5 binding at the CACCT site, and inhibits activator deltaEF3 from binding to the overlapped site. It has two zinc finger clusters N-fin and C-fin, close to N- and C-termini, respectively, and a homeodomain in the middle. deltaEF1 also binds to the E2-box sequence CACCTG, and represses E2-box-dependent enhancers. RESULTS: The mechanism of the repressor action of deltaEF1 was investigated by examining various deletion mutants of deltaEF1 for their activity to repress delta1-crystallin enhancer fragment HN which contained DC5 sequence and an additional activator site. Both zinc finger clusters were found to be essential for DNA binding and repression, but the homeodomain was not. In addition, the NR domain close to the N-terminus was required for full repression. The NR domain showed active repression when fused to the Gal4 DNA binding domain. Active repression by deltaEF1, dependent on the NR domain, was also demonstrated in a situation where the binding sites of deltaEF1 and deltaEF3 were separated. N-fin and C-fin in their isolated forms bind the 5'-(T/C)ACCTG-3' and 5'-(t/C)ACCT-3' sequences, respectively, while the homeodomain showed no DNA binding activity. An analysis of DNA binding of the delta(Int)F form, having both N-fin and C-fin, indicated that a single DNA binding domain is assembled from two zinc finger clusters. CONCLUSION: Two mechanisms are involved in the repressor action of deltaEF1. First, a binding site competition with an activator which depends on the integrity of both zinc finger clusters, and second, an active repression to silence an enhancer which is attributed to the NR domain.     

Nonlinear level crossing in the infrared transitions of optically pumped far infrared laser media

In conjunction with the Stark field induced power enhancement in optically pumped far infrared lasers, absorption transitions in a degenerate two level system under the influence of an weak static Stark field have been analyed. A third order theory to the density matrix formalism leads to zero field level crossing signals for absorption in rate equation approximation and in Doppler limit. For fast relaxation among Zeeman sublevels, the zero field level crossing signal arises from population effect. Optoacoustic measurements have been carried out on the ν₅,^qQ(16,8) absorption line of CH₃OH which produces the familiar 119-μm laser with the CO₂ 9P(36) pump line. The optoacoustic absorption signals observed are well reproduced by the theoretical expression.     

Central effect of melatonin against stress-induced gastric ulcers in rats

We investigated the role of melatonin in the induction of gastric lesions induced by water immersion restraint stress or centrally administered thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH). Melatonin (0.1-1 ng) injected intracisternally (i.c) 30 min prior to stress dose-dependently inhibited the induction of gastric lesions by water immersion restraint stress, while 100 micrograms/kg, i.p. failed to protect the gastric mucosa. Preadministration of melatonin (1 ng, i.c.) significantly reduced (83%) the severity of gastric lesions induced by a TRH analogue (500 ng, i.c.). Serum melatonin concentrations 30 min after administration of 1 ng melatonin i.c. did not differ from those of rats receiving i.c. vehicle. These results suggest that melatonin plays a protective, anti-stress, role in the gastric mucosa via a mechanism involving the central nervous system.     

Thickness dependence of structural and ferroelectric properties of sol-gel Pb(Zr0.56Ti0.44)0.90(Mg1/3Nb2/3)0.10O3 films

Sol-gel Pb(Zr_0.56Ti_0.44)_0.90(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)_0.10O₃ (PZT-PMN) films were prepared onto the Ti/Pt/Ti bottom electrode by multilayer spin coating. The film thickness ranged from 0.22 to 0.88 μm. The Pt top electrodes were deposited on the PZT-PMN films by DC sputtering. The structural and ferroelectric properties of PZT-PMN films were investigated as a function of film thickness by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (XTEM), and by measuring the relative permittivity. The film retains the tetragonal perovskite structure with the [111] and [100] preferred orientations perpendicular to the film surface independent of film thickness. The [100] texture increases with increasing film thickness although the [111] texture is always predominant. The film consists of columnar grains. The average grain size is nearly independent of film thickness. The surface layer containing fine grains about 30 nm in diameter is induced on the top of the film. As the film thickness exceeds 0.44 μm, the number of the fine grains decreases remarkably. The crystalline interface layer about 10 nm thick is formed between the film and the bottom electrode. This interface layer is composed of Pt, Pb, Zr, Ti and O, while it is rich in Ti and deficient in Pb and O as compared with the inside of the film. The measured relative permittivity of the film increases with increasing film thickness, following the low permittivity interface model. On the basis of this model, the relative permittivity is estimated to be 3200 for the intrinsic PZT-PMN film, 750 for the surface layer and 50 for the interface layer.     

Crown-shaped stacked-capacitor cell for 1.5-V operation 64-Mb DRAMs

A self-aligned stacked-capacitor cell called the CROWN cell (a crown-shaped stacked-capacitor cell), used for experimental 64-Mb-DRAMs operated at 1.5 V, has been developed using 0.3-μm electron-beam lithography. This memory cell has an area of 1.28 μm². The word-line pitch and sense-amplifier pitch of this cell are 0.8 and 1.6 μm, respectively. In spite of this small cell area, the CROWN cell has a large capacitor surface area of 3.7 μm² because (1) it has a crown-shaped capacitor electrode, (2) its capacitor is on the data line, and (3) it has a self-aligned memory cell fabrication process and structure. The large capacitor area and a Ta₂O₅ film equivalent to a 2.8-nm SiO₂ film ensure a large storage charge of 33 fC (storage capacitance equals 44 fF) for 1.5-V operation. A small CROWN cell array and a memory test circuit were successfully used to achieve a basic DRAM cell operation     

Preparation and Characterization of a Large-Scale YBa2Cu3O7−x Superconductor Prepared by Plastic Forming without a High-Pressure Molding: Effect of Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) Addition on the Superconducting Properties

The preparation of large-scale YBa₂Cu₃O_{7− x} superconductor samples was investigated. This method is based on plastic forming using a slurry consisting of YBa₂Cu₃O_{7− x} particles and a sol solution made up of multimetallic hydroxide particles (YBa₂Cu₃(OH) _x colloidal particles) and poly(vinyl) alcohol (PVA). The effects of adding PVA on the product, the crystallinity, and the superconducting properties of the sample were investigated. It was found that PVA acted as a protective colloid in the sol solution and stabilized YBa₂Cu₃(OH) _x colloidal particles, and that the role of PVA changed from a thickener to a flocculant during drying so that the formability/workability of the green sheet sample was improved and large samples (about 80 mm × 80 mm × 3 mm) without large cracks were obtained after firing. The samples became superconducting at 91.5±0.5 K ( T _con) and the full transition temperature ( T _coff) was 88.5±1.5 K. The critical current density ( J _c) of the sample prepared from the slurry containing 1 wt% PVA was 713±150 A/cm² at 77 K. This J _c value was improved to 2300 A/cm² by heat treatment at 773 K under an oxygen atmosphere.     

Improved power regenerative controls by using thyristor rectifierbridge of voltage source inverter and a switching transistor

A few improved techniques of regenerative control for the voltage source inverter are described. In the proposed equipment, the thyristor rectifier bridge can be also utilized for regeneration through a DC reactor or capacitor. For the first converter mentioned, a novel pulse-width-modulated (PWM) strategy is proposed in which the polarity of the sawtooth carrier waveforms is reversed alternately at every 60° interval of the fundamental frequency to reduce the harmonics in quantity. For the next proposed type, a modified Cuk converter method is described for regeneration, whose output current becomes a perfectly zero ripple. The third purpose is to propose a novel frequency analysis method using the switching function. The validity of its theory is confirmed experimentally