Establishment of an adrenocortical carcinoma xenograft with normotensive hyperaldosteronism in vivo

We established a xenograft line of human adrenocortical carcinoma (ADR-1), and analyzed the hyperaldosteronism induced by the xenograft in vivo. Adrenocortical carcinoma specimens from a 25-year-old woman were subcutaneously inoculated into nude mice (BALB/c-nu/nu) followed by serial passages in vivo. ADR-1 retained the histopathological features (trabecular and sinusoid nests) seen in the primary carcinoma. The patient showed hyperaldosteronism (serum aldosterone >4000 pg/ml) and hypokalemia (serum K 2.1 mEq/l), but did not show hypertension. The nude rat (F344-rnu/rnu) bearing ADR-1 showed hyperaldosteronism (serum aldosterone 3320+/-1420 pg/ml; control 191+/-130 pg/ml) and hypokalemia (serum K 3.4+/-0.4 mEq/l; control 5.2+/-1.0 mEq/l) in vivo, and hypertension was not obvious. ADR-1 was shown immunohistochemically to retain production of human-specific corticosteroid synthetase. The xenograft ADR-1 will be useful to elucidate the regulatory mechanism of normotensive hyperaldosteronism.     

Synthesis of anti-rheumatic agent epoxyquinomicin B

Anti-rheumatic agent (+/-)-epoxyquinomicin B was synthesized for a 22% overall yield in eight steps from commercially available 3-hydroxy-4-nitrobenzaldehyde via the intermediate quinone 6 prepared by selective phenol oxidation of 5 by use of Fremy's salt as the key step.     

A dual-plane comb-line filter having plural attenuation poles

In this paper, a dual-plane comb-line filter having plural attenuation poles is proposed. We investigate the filtering characteristics from both experiments and numerical simulations by means of the finite-difference time-domain method. It is shown that this filter has attenuation poles just above, as well as below the passband and that intersections between the curves of input susceptance of the even and odd modes agree with the attenuation-pole frequencies. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that, by changing the position of the metal pin, which connects two resonators, we can change the input susceptance of the odd mode alone and, hence, regulate the attenuation-pole frequencies     

THREE-DIMENSIONAL FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF STRESS RESPONSE IN ADHESIVE BUTT JOINTS SUBJECTED TO IMPACT BENDING MOMENTS

The stress wave propagation and the stress distribution in adhesive butt joints of T-shaped similar adherends subjected to impact bending moments are calculated using a three-dimensional finite-element method (FEM). An impact bending moment is applied to a joint by dropping a weight. The FEM code employed is DYNA3D. The effects of the Young's modulus of adherends, the adhesive thickness, and the web length of T-shaped adherends on the stress wave propagation at the interfaces are examined. It is found that the highest stress occurs at the interfaces. In the case of T-shaped adherends, it is seen that the maximum principal stress at the interfaces increases as Young's modulus of the adherends increases. In the special case where the web length of T-shaped adherends equals the flange length, the maximum principal stress at the interfaces increases as Young's modulus of the adherends decreases. The maximum principal stress at the interfaces increases as the adherend thickness decreases. The characteristics of the T-shaped adhesive joints subjected to static bending moments are also examined by FEM and compared with those under impact bending moments. Furthermore, strain response of adhesive butt joints was measured using strain gauges. A fairly good agreement is observed between the numerical and the experimental results.     

Effect of matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor on experimental pseudomonal corneal ulceration

We examined the effect of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) inhibitor (CS-610) on experimental pseudomonal corneal ulceration by clinical and histological evaluation. Intrastromal injection of 3.5 microliters sterile culture broth of P. aeruginosa, IID-1117 (13.5 unit Type I collagenase equivalent proteinase activities), was done to induce corneal ulcers in guinea pigs. The animals were divided into two groups of 23 each. The CS-610 group received topical CS-610 (400 micrograms/ml) treatment at 2-hour intervals and the control group received only the vehicle of CS-610 at the same intervals. In the control group, corneas developed acute corneal damage following corneal ulcerations at 6-12 hours. In the CS-610 group, these corneal lesions were inhibited in most of the eyes (p < 0.01). In the late period, as inflammatory cells migrated into the cornea, some animals of the CS-610 group developed corneal ulcer. The results indicated that CS-610 had a potent inhibitory activity against pseudomonal proteinases in vivo. The results also suggested that the mechanism of the ulceration model involved not only pseudomonal proteinases but also endogenous responses.     

Carbon tax for subsidizing photovoltaic power generation systems and its effect on carbon dioxide emissions

This paper proposes a new framework for evaluating quantitatively the effect of carbon taxation. In this study, the tax revenues are supposed to be used only as a subsidy for installing Photovoltaic Power Generation (PV) Systems on houses. The evaluation model developed in this study comprises three sequential modules. The first module is for estimating the demand for the PV system under the subsidy and the carbon taxation policy, the second is the module for life-cycle inventory analysis based on the modified Input–Output table, and the third is the module for calculating the amount of carbon-dioxide emissions from the final-demand vector of the Input–Output table. Major findings of this study are as follows: (1) The amount of CO₂-emission reduction increases by advertising the PV system with subsidy policy even under the same tax-rate. (2) The CO₂-payback time of the PV system reduces by half if the GDP is assumed not to change after the introduction of carbon taxation.     

Sensory Preconditioning in Spatial Learning Using a Touch Screen Task in Pigeons.

The authors used a touch screen-based visual-search task to investigate spatial integration in pigeons. First, pigeons were presented with a consistent spatial relationship between compound visual landmarks (LMs) A-X and B-Y, separately. Next, pigeons learned to find a hidden goal on the monitor in the presence of LMs A and B. The goal bore a consistent spatial relationship to LM A, but not to LM B. On nonreinforced probe tests, the peak and distribution of responses to LM X suggest that pigeons computed a novel X-goal spatial relationship on the basis of X-A and A-goal spatial vectors. Responses to LM Y, however, revealed no evidence of spatial integration. These results replicate and extend those of A. P. Blaisdell and R. G. Cook (2005) using an open-field task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of alveolar macrophages in initiation and regulation of inflammation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa pneumonia

To evaluate the role of alveolar macrophages (AMs) in acute Pseudomonas aeruginosa pneumonia in mice, AMs were depleted by aerosol inhalation of liposomes containing clodronate disodium. AM-depleted mice were then intratracheally infected with 5 x 10(5) CFU of P. aeruginosa. In addition to monitoring neutrophil recruitment and chemokine releases, lung injury was evaluated soon after infection (8 h) and at a later time (48 h). At 8 h, depletion of AMs reduced neutrophil recruitment, chemokine release, and lung injury. At 48 h, however, depletion of AMs decreased bacterial clearance and resulted in delayed movement of neutrophils from the site of inflammation with aggravated lung injury. With instillation of 5 x 10(7) CFU of bacteria, AM-depleted mice showed low mortality within 24 h of infection but high mortality at a later time, in contrast to non-AM-depleted mice. These results demonstrate that depletion of AMs has beneficial early effects but deleterious late effects on lung injury and survival in cases of P. aeruginosa pneumonia.