The effects of LH-RH agonist alone or with flutamide in the treatment of stage D2 prostate cancer]

We compared the clinical efficacy of treatment with a luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LH-RH) agonist alone to combined androgen blockade (CAB) with a LH-RH agonist and fiutamide. A total of 66 stage D2 prostate cancer patients were enrolled from Nov. 1992 to Mar. 1996 (n = 30: LH-RH agonist alone, n = 36 CAB). Serum PSA levels after 3 months of treatment and progression-free survival rates (Kaplan-Meier curves) were compared. Results were statistically evaluated by Wilcoxon's text. There were no differences in PSA levels between LH-RH agonist alone and CAB. Progression-free survival rates were longer in the patients treated CAB compared to LH-RH agonist alone (P = 0.041). Furthermore, in patients with poorly differentiated prostate cancers, longer survival rates were also observed with CAB (P = 0.030). However, there were no differences in high EOD (> or = 2) patients between the two treatments (P = 0.652).     

N,N-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide assisted synthesis and characterization of poly(vinyl alcohol-co-vinyl levulinate)

Poly(vinyl alcohol-co-vinyl levulinate) was synthesized by N,N-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide assisted esterification of poly(vinyl alcohol) with free levulinic acid using 4-pyrrolidino pyridine as a catalyst in N,N-dimethyl acetamide/lithium chloride solvent system in order to optimize the reaction condition. The vinyl levulinate content in the copolymer was attained up to 0.95. The ¹³C NMR dyad compositional analysis indicated the block character of the copolymer was 0.92, suggesting almost random poly(vinyl alcohol-co-vinyl levulinate) was formed. Glass transition temperature dependence on vinyl levulinate content of the copolymers fitted better into Gordon-Taylor equation as compared with Fox equation and the glass transition temperature of poly(vinyl levulinate) was given as 2.3 °C by the least regression method.     

X-ray diffraction technique to observe magnetostriction and magnetization at coextensive volumes of iron

We present a new technique for observing both magnetostriction and magnetization as a function of applied magnetic field strength. They are simultaneously measured by the same X-ray probes with a goniometer at exactly coextensive specimen volumes. The measurements yield experimental magnetostriction curves during a cyclic magnetization process in iron (100) single-crystal specimen at room temperature. The technique is a new tool to investigate magnetic properties within X-ray extinction depth from the surface.     

Preparation of hydroxyapatite/collagen injectable bone paste with an anti-washout property utilizing sodium alginate. Part 1: influences of excess supplementation of calcium compounds

The anti-washout property, viscosity, and cytocompatibility to an osteoblastic cell line, MG-63, of anti-washout pastes were investigated. Mixing a hydroxyapatite/collagen bone-like nanocomposite (HAp/Col), an aqueous solution of sodium alginate (Na-Alg), which is a paste hardening and lubricant agent, and supplementation of calcium carbonate or calcium citrate (Ca-Cit) as a calcium resource for the hardening reaction realized an injectable bone paste. Adding Ca-Cit at a concentration greater than eight times the Ca²⁺ ion concentration to Na-Alg improved the anti-washout property. Although the viscosity test indicated a gradual increase in the paste viscosity as the calcium compounds increased, pastes with excess supplementation of calcium compounds exhibited injectability through a syringe with a 1.8?mm inner diameter, realizing an injectable bone filler. Furthermore, the anti-washout pastes with Ca-Cit had almost the same cell proliferation rate as that of the HAp/Col dense body. Therefore, HAp/Col injectable anti-washout pastes composed of the HAp/Col, Na-Alg, and Ca-Cit are potential candidates for bioresorbable bone filler pastes.     

Sintering of Mullite–Zirconia Composite Powder Prepared by Ultrasonic Spray Pyrolysis Technique

Sinterabilities of mullite (3Al₂O₃·2SiO₂–zirconia (ZrO₂)composite powders prepared by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis techniques (USPTs) were examined. Starting mullite powders containing 18.5 mol% (15.0 vol%) of zirconia (ZrO₂) were prepared by single-nozzle (SN) and double-nozzle (DN) USPT. In SN-USPT, the composite powder was prepared by spray pyrolysis of a water–ethanol solution in an Al(NO₃)₃–Si(OC₂H₅)₄–ZrOCl₂–YCl₃ system at 900°C, using one ultrasonic vibrator. In DN-USPT, the composite powder was prepared by simultaneous spray pyrolyses of a water–ethanol solution in an Al(NO₃)₃–Si(OC₂H₅)₄ system and one in a ZrOCl₂–YCl₃ system at 900°C, using two ultrasonic vibrators. When these composite compacts were fired at a temperature between 1400 and 1700°C for 5 h, the relative densities attained maxima, i.e., 87.2% (SN-USPT) and 95.5% (DN-USPT), at the firing temperature of 1500°C. Densification of the DN-USPT-derived powder compact proceeded more markedly than that of the SN-USPT-derived powder compact.     

Determination of the scattering lengths of gallium isotopes by neutron interferometry with PNO-apparatus in JRR-3M

For carrying out experiments in the field of the so-called precise neutron optics (PNO), we have implemented special multi-purpose apparatus called the “PNO-apparatus” at JRR-3M. Making use of an Si triple-Laue (LLL) neutron interferometer with the PNO-apparatus, we successfully determined the coherent neutron scattering lengths of gallium isotopes, ⁶⁹Ga and ⁷¹Ga. The results are 8.053±0.013 fm for ⁶⁹Ga and 6.170±0.011 fm for ⁷¹Ga, respectively.     

Functional equivalency between Otx2 and Otx1 in development of the rostral head

Mice have two Otx genes, Otx1 and Otx2. Prior to gastrulation, Otx2 is expressed in the epiblast and visceral endoderm. As the primitive streak forms, Otx2 expression is restricted to the anterior parts of all three germ layers. Otx1 expression begins at the 1 to 3 somite stage in the anterior neuroectoderm. Otx2 is also expressed in cephalic mesenchyme. Otx2 homozygous mutants fail to develop structures anterior to rhombomere 3 (r3), and Otx2 heterozygotes exhibit craniofacial defects. Otx1 homozygous mutants do not show apparent defects in early brain development. In Otx1 and Otx2 double heterozygotes, rostral neuroectoderm is induced normally, but development of the mes/diencephalic domain is impaired starting at around the 3 to 6 somite stage, suggesting cooperative interactions between the two genes in brain regionalization. To determine whether Otx1 and Otx2 genes are functionally equivalent, we generated knock-in mice in which Otx2 was replaced by Otx1. In homozygous mutants, gastrulation occurred normally, and rostral neuroectoderm was induced at 7.5 days postcoitus (7.5 dpc), but the rostral brain failed to develop. Anterior structures such as eyes and the anterior neural ridge were lost by 8.5 dpc, but the isthmus and r1 and r2 were formed. In regionalization of the rostral neuroectoderm, the cooperative interaction of Otx2 with Otx1 revealed by the phenotype of Otx2 and Otx1 double heterozygotes was substitutable by Otx1. The otocephalic phenotype indicative of Otx2 haploinsufficiency was also largely restored by knocked-in Otx1. Thus most Otx2 functions were replaceable by Otx1, but the requirement for Otx2 in the anterior neuroectoderm prior to onset of Otx1 expression was not. These data indicate that Otx2 may have evolved new functions required for establishment of anterior neuroectoderm that Otx1 cannot perform.     

Terence Horgan and John Tienson,Connectionism and the Philosophy of Psychology

Minds and Machines -     

Suppression of elastically accommodated grain-boundary sliding in high-purity MgO

The first high-temperature mechanical spectroscopy experiments on high-purity polycrystalline MgO reveal a monotonically frequency- and temperature-dependent dissipation ‘background’—without any evidence of the superimposed dissipation peak observed in a previous study of a specimen of lower-purity [Webb, S. and Jackson, I. Phys. Chem. Min., 2003 30, 157]. The dissipation and associated relaxation of the shear modulus observed in both studies are well described in an internally consistent manner by a novel Burgers-type model based on a creep function incorporating suitable distributions of anelastic relaxation times. The contrasting patterns for the two materials reinforce an emerging generalisation concerning high-temperature viscoelastic behaviour, whereby the presence of a secondary intergranular phase of relatively low viscosity, and the associated rounding of grain edges, is apparently required to allow elastically accommodated grain-boundary sliding. The absence, in sufficiently pure polycrystalline materials, of a dissipation peak attributable to elastically accommodated grain-boundary sliding is in conflict with classical micromechanical models for grain-boundary sliding, which are therefore being revisited.     

Work Hardening,Dislocation Structure,and Load Partitioning in Lath Martensite Determined by <Emphasis Type="Italic">In Situ</Emphasis> Neutron Diffraction Line Profile Analysis

A lath martensite steel containing 0.22 mass pct carbon was analyzed in situ during tensile deformation by high-resolution time-of-flight neutron diffraction to clarify the large work-hardening behavior at the beginning of plastic deformation. The diffraction peaks in plastically deformed states exhibit asymmetries as the reflection of redistributions of the stress and dislocation densities/arrangements in two lath packets: soft packet, where the dislocation glides are favorable, and hard packet, where they are unfavorable. The dislocation density was as high as 10¹⁵ m^?2 in the as-heat-treated state. During tensile straining, the load and dislocation density became different between the two lath packets. The dislocation character and arrangement varied in the hard packet but hardly changed in the soft packet. In the hard packet, dislocations that were mainly screw-type in the as-heat-treated state became primarily edge-type and rearranged towards a dipole character related to constructing cell walls. The hard packet played an important role in the work hardening in martensite, which could be understood by considering the increase in dislocation density along with the change in dislocation arrangement.