Magnetic resonance imaging findings of the skeletal muscle of a patient with nemaline myopathy

This is the first magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) report of nemaline myopathy in which muscle atrophy was not apparent clinically in the lower extremities because of subcutaneous fat. The patient is a 38-year-old woman who was admitted to our hospital because of muscle weakness of the four extremities. Until the age of 17 years, she was asymptomatic except that her running speed was slow. The T1-weighted image of muscle MRI at the mid-thigh level showed hyperintensity of the quadriceps femoris muscle and relatively spared hamstring muscle. The T2-weighted image of muscle MRI at the maximum diameter of the lower leg showed hyperintensity of the tibialis anterior muscle and a relatively spared triceps surae muscle. The biopsy specimen of the right deltoid muscle showed nemaline bodies and type II fiber deficiency.     

Comparison of single sample methods for determination of plasma clearance using 99mTc-MAG3

We compared relationship among three single blood sampling methods which have been proposed for determination of plasma clearance with 99mTc-MAG3. Russell's and Bubeck's algorithms were employed for 48 adults (average age: 53 years) and Bubeck's and Piepsz's algorithms were used in 9 children (average age: 5.8 years). Three methods showed very high correlation among them. However, Russell's and Piepsz's methods were about 1.4 times higher than Bubeck's method in calculating plasma clearance of 99mTc-MAG3. The present study indicates that three methods discussed here are useful for the determination of plasma clearance with 99mTc-MAG3. In addition, Bubeck's method may be preferable as a reference for single plasma sampling method because of common application to adults and children.     

Stochastic Asset Pricing with Seismic Hazard Risk

Since cash flow of asset in the long run is generally subject to economic fluctuation, and also to potential damage due to seismic hazard risk, asset pricing is more relevantly evaluated, provided that uncertainties of both cash flow and seismic risk are properly taken into account. This study will propose a discounted cash flow method to evaluate asset pricing, in which incomes gained from asset are modeled as a Markov process and seismic loss is modeled due to only one earthquake event during the service time. A numerical example is demonstrated for an 11 story steel reinforced commercial building considering the service time of 50 years. Various risk–asset price curves are numerically obtained in the form of probability of excess versus asset price with discount rate as a parameter for cases with and without earthquake loss taken into account, and for a case in which earthquake strengthening measure is implemented. These curves contribute information to decision makers in charge of risk and investment management.     

Modulation of GABAC response by Ca2+ and other divalent cations in horizontal cells of the catfish retina

GABAC responses were recorded in cultured cone-driven horizontal cells from the catfish retina using the patch clamp technique. At a holding potential of -49 mV, a bicuculline-resistant inward current (IGABA) was observed when 10 microM GABA was applied. The amplitude of IGABA increased as the extracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+]o) was increased. Concentration-response curves of IGABA at 2.5 and 10 mM -Ca2+-o had similar EC50 (3.0 and 3.1 microM) and Hill coefficients (1.54 and 1. 24). However, the maximal response estimated at 10 mM [Ca2+]o was larger than the maximal response at 2.5 mM [Ca2+]o. Increasing Ca influx through voltage-gated Ca channels and the resulting rise in the intracellular Ca2+ concentration had no effects on IGABA. However, IGABA was inhibited by extracellular divalent cations, with the following order of the inhibitory potency: Zn2+ > Ni2+ > Cd2+ > Co2+. The inhibitory action of Zn2+ on the [Ca2+]o-dependent IGABA increase was noncompetitive. The action of [Ca2+]o on IGABA was mimicked by Ba2+ or Sr2+. These results demonstrate that the extracellular domain of GABAC receptors has two functionally distinct binding sites represented by Ca2+ (facilitation) and Zn2+ (inhibition). Since [Ca2+]o and [Zn2+]o change into the opposite direction by light, it seems likely that they modify cooperatively the efficacy of the positive feedback consisting of the GABAC receptor.     

Incidence of delayed onset infection after trabeculectomy with adjunctive mitomycin C or 5-fluorouracil treatment

AIMS/BACKGROUND: The introduction of the adjunctive use of antiproliferatives to trabeculectomy has greatly improved the success rate of this operation. Trabeculectomy with antiproliferative treatment, however, is usually associated with a cystic and thin walled filtering bleb, which may be more susceptible to infection. The objective of this study was to evaluate the incidence, clinical findings, and risk factors of delayed onset, bleb related infection after trabeculectomy with adjunctive mitomycin C (MMC) or 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) treatment. METHODS: The records of 632 glaucoma patients who underwent 966 trabeculectomies, with and without the use of adjunctive MMC or 5-FU treatment, between January 1985 and February 1995 were analysed. The mean follow up period was 3.5 (2.4) years (range 0.1 to 11.2 years). The mean patient age was 54.8 (18.8) years (range 0 to 88 years). RESULTS: Bleb related infection occurred in one of 76 trabeculectomies that did not receive antiproliferatives (1.3%), three of 228 treated with 5-FU (1.3%) trabeculectomies, and seven of 662 treated with MMC (1.1%). Five eyes developed blebitis; six eyes developed endophthalmitis. Bleb related infection developed an average of 3.1 (1.6) (range 0.4 to 6.0) years after trabeculectomy. All eyes had avascular or hypovascular blebs that were cystic in shape before infection and all eyes had reduced intraocular pressure. Early wound leaks and chronic, intermittent bleb leaks were identified to be risk factors for the bleb related infection. CONCLUSION: The incidence of delayed onset, bleb related infection after trabeculectomy with antiproliferative treatment is similar to that after trabeculectomy without antiproliferatives.     

Molecular cloning, cDNA sequence analysis, and chromosomal localization of mouse Pkd2

The gene responsible for the second form of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, PKD2, has recently been identified. We now describe the cloning, genomic localization, cDNA sequence, and expression analysis of its murine homologue, Pkd2. The cloned cDNA sequence is 5134 bp long and is predicted to encode a 966-amino-acid integral membrane protein with six membrane-spanning domains and intracellular NH2 and COOH termini. Pkd2 is highly conserved with 91% identity and 98% similarity to polycystin-2 at the amino acid level. Pkd2 mRNA is widely expressed in mouse tissues. Pkd2 maps to mouse Chromosome 5 and is excluded as a candidate gene for previously mapped mouse mutations resulting in a polycystic kidney phenotype.     

Early hemodynamic effects of olprinone hydrochloride after coronary artery bypass grafting

Our purpose was to evaluate the hemodynamic effects of olprinone hydrochloride early after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Fifteen patients undergoing CABG were administered a constant infusion of 0.1 microgram/kg/min of olprinone and continued for 4 hours. No bolus infusion of olprinone was administered before continuous infusion. Systolic systemic arterial pressure, systolic pulmonary arterial pressure, systemic vascular resistance and pulmonary vascular resistance were significantly decreased. There were no significant changes in heart rate, mean central venous pressure, mean left atrial pressure and left ventricular stroke work index. Cardiac index was significantly increased, but a correlation between cardiac index and mixed venous blood oxygen saturation was not found. Double product was significantly decreased, which described above suggest that olprinone achieved improvement of left cardiac function without more myocardial oxygen consumption. Severe transient hypotension (systolic arterial pressure < 80 mmHg) after infusion of olprinone was observed in three patients. Olprinone administered soon after CABG surgery had beneficial effects in terms of improvement of hemodynamic status without more oxygen consumption and reduction of pulmonary vascular resistance. However transient hypotension was a serious clinical problem in patients after open heart surgery, especially in CABG patients who need suitable systolic arterial pressure to keep enough blood perfusion of arterial bypass grafts.     

Simultaneous amplification of wavelength-division-multiplexed signals by a highly efficient fibre Raman amplifier pumped by high-power semiconductor lasers

We describe the first operation of a high-power semiconductor-laser pumped fibre Raman amplifier (FRA) using high-Raman-gain optical fibre in the 1.5?m region. A high optical gain of 5 dB for 60mW of pump power is obtained. We have also achieved simultaneous amplification of wavelength-division-multiplexed signals by the FRA.     

Osteoclastogenesis inhibitory factor exhibits hypocalcemic effects in normal mice and in hypercalcemic nude mice carrying tumors associated with humoral hypercalcemia of malignancy

In the present study, we attempted to determine the extent to which an anterior capsulorrhexis carried out during cataract surgery contracts postoperatively. The size of the continuous curvilinear capsulorrhexis (CCC) was measured at the end of surgery and at the final follow-up examination in 52 eyes of 40 patients who underwent phacoemulsification/aspiration and implantation of an intraocular lens (IOL) with 6-mm optics. Images obtained by video during surgery and by slit-lamp microscopy were used to determine the CCC size with reference to the optics of the IOL. The average CCC size was 5.0 mm at the end of surgery; it contracted to 4.4 mm by the final postoperative examination. The contraction of the anterior capsule progressed rapidly in the first 50 days following surgery and then gradually thereafter. The extent of contraction was greater in older patients. The smaller the CCC size immediately after surgery, the more rapidly it contracted. The size of the capsulorrhexis contracted an average of 22% following cataract surgery. The contraction rate tended to be higher in older patients. The results suggest that the capsulorrhexis carried out in cataract surgery for elderly patients should be sufficiently large, but not larger than the optics size of the IOL.     

Administration-time-dependent effects of diltiazem on the 24-hour blood pressure profile of essential hypertension patients

Cells of the central nervous system (CNS) normally do not express detectable levels of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) Class I antigens. However, MHC Class I expression can be induced after virus infection. We tested the hypothesis that virus-induced Class I expression is mediated by lymphocytes or cytokines using lymphocyte- and cytokine-deficient mice. We used Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV), which induces CNS demyelination that maps genetically to the D region of MHC Class I and is associated with high levels of Class I products. TMEV infection of severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) and recombination activation gene-1-deficient mice, which lack B and T lymphocytes, resulted in equivalent H-2D and H-2K expression in brain and spinal cord, according to analysis of the area and intensity of immunoperoxidase staining. Class I antigens were demonstrated as early as 6 hours after infection, and they were more widely distributed than viral RNA, indicating that expression was induced indirectly via a soluble factor. To determine whether cytokines induced the expression, we infected mice lacking receptors for interferon-alpha/beta (IFN-alpha/beta R (-/-)), interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma R(-/-)), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFRp55(-/-)). TMEV-infected IFN-gamma R(-/-) and TN-FRp55(-/-) mice expressed Class I antigens in the CNS, whereas IFN-alpha/beta R(-/-) mice did not, establishing that IFN-alpha/beta mediated the expression. In contrast to the equivalent expression in SCID mice, we observed greater area and higher intensity of H-2D versus H-2K antigens in infected SCID mice reconstituted with normal spleen cells. Collectively, the data indicate that after TMEV infection, early generalized MHC Class I expression is mediated by IFN-alpha/beta independently of lymphocytes, but the differential regulation of H-2D over H-2K may be controlled by B and/or T lymphocytes.