Motility related protein 1 (MRP1/CD9) expression in colon cancer

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To examine the incidence and clinical significance of prolonged air leak (PAL) in patients undergoing radical upper lobectomy and to determine potential risk factors for PAL in this group of patients. DESIGN: Retrospective review of a prospective database. SETTING: Experience of one thoracic surgeon at a tertiary care cancer center. PATIENTS: One hundred consecutive patients undergoing right upper lobectomy and mediastinal lymph node dissection for non-small cell lung cancer over an 11-year period. MEASUREMENTS: PAL was defined as an air leak lasting >7 days. Preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative clinical data were collected and analyzed to determine the factors associated with PAL. RESULTS: PAL was the most prevalent postoperative complication, comprising 25.5% of all complications seen, and lasting an average of 12.1+/-5.3 days. In 21 of the 26 patients with PAL, this complication was the only morbidity identified. There was no statistically significant difference in patient age, gender, preoperative FEV1 and diffusion of carbon monoxide, exposure to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, status of pulmonary fissures, or pathologic stage between the PAL group vs the remaining 74 patients without this complication. A significantly greater proportion of patients with PAL had FEV1/FVC ratio < or =50% (6/26 vs 5/74; p=0.02). Patients with PAL had significantly longer median length of hospital stay (11 vs 7 days; p=0.0001). Moreover, PAL was the single most common reason for an extended length of hospitalization (21/58, 36% of all causes). CONCLUSION: PAL is an alarmingly common postoperative complication and is the most frequent cause of an extended length of hospital stay in patients undergoing radical upper lobectomy. Severe obstructive pulmonary disease predisposes patients to the development of this complication.     

Methanation of carbon deposited directly from CO2 on rhodium-bearing activated magnetite

Methanation reactivity was studied for the surface carbon deposited from CO₂ on the surface of Rh-bearing activated magnetite. The most active material (Rh=0.83 wt %) for methanation was prepared by the impregnation method at 60°C and showed 98% conversion at 300°C. The surface carbon was composed of elemental carbon (-carbon) and polymerized carbon (-carbon), the proportion being dependent on the density of carbon deposited. In temperature-programmed surface reaction, the extent of conversion of the - and -carbon to CH₄ was 0.34 (-carbon) and 0.53 (-carbon), respectively, and the total conversion was 0.87. This result indicates that not only elemental carbon but polymerized carbon (-carbon) could be converted to CH₄ on the Rh-bearing activated (-carbon) magnetite, whereas -carbon is not hydrogenated on activated magnetite.     

Association of interleukin 6 release from endothelial cells and pulmonary hypertension in SLE

OBJECTIVE: To investigate how sera from 37 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) stimulate interleukin (IL) 6 release from IL-1beta pretreated endothelial cells and compare these effects to those of sera from 16 normal controls. METHODS: Endothelial cells pretreated 18 h with IL-1beta (5 U/ml) were incubated 2 h with sera diluted 10-fold with phosphate buffered saline (PBS). IL-6 concentrations in endothelial culture supernatants collected after incubation were measured by ELISA. RESULTS: Compared with PBS, sera from controls and 24 patients with SLE suppressed IL-6 release from IL-1beta pretreated cells. However, sera from 13 patients with SLE augmented IL-6 release. Of note, sera from 5 patients with pulmonary hypertension induced the highest level of IL-6 release. IgG from control sera suppressed IL-6 release, whereas F(ab')2 did not. Both IgG and F(ab')2 from the sera of patients with SLE with pulmonary hypertension augmented IL-6 release from IL-1beta pretreated cells. CONCLUSION: IgG antiendothelial cell antibodies from patients with SLE may be associated with the pathogenesis of SLE and pulmonary hypertension.     

CO2 decomposition with oxygen-deficient Mn(II) ferrite

An oxygen-deficient Mn(II) ferrite (Mn_0.97Fe_2.02O_3.92) was synthesized and its reactivity to reduce CO₂ gas into carbon was studied at 300°C. The oxygen-deficient Mn(II) ferrite was obtained by flowing H₂ gas through Mn(II) ferrite with a nearly stoichiometric composition of Mn_0.97Fe_2.02O_4.00 at 300° C. The lattice constant of the oxygen-deficient Mn(II) ferrite (0.8505nm) is larger than that of the Mn(II) ferrite with a nearly stoichiometric composition (0.8498nm). The chemical composition of the Mn(II) ferrite changed from Mn_0.97Fe_2.02O_4.00 to Mn_0.97Fe_2.02O_3.92 during the H₂ reduction process, indicating that the oxygen is deficient in the spinel structure of the Mn(II) ferrite. This was confirmed by Mössbauer spectroscopy and X-ray diffractometry. The efficiency of CO₂ decomposition into carbon at 300°C with the oxygen-deficient Mn(II) ferrite was much lower by about 10⁵ than that of oxygen-deficient magnetite. This is considered to be due to the difference in electron conductivity between Mn(II) ferrite and magnetite, which determines the reductivity for CO₂ into carbon by donation of an electron at the adsorption site.     

Clinical characteristics of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and methotrexate induced pneumonitis

OBJECTIVE: To determine the clinical features of methotrexate (MTX) pneumonitis in patients treated for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS: The medical records of 284 patients with RA who had been treated with oral MTX (mean followup 33.2 mo) were reviewed retrospectively. RESULTS: MTX induced interstitial pneumonitis developed in 6 patients (2.1%). The affected patients were significantly older than those without MTX pneumonitis (67.3 +/- 9.8 vs 52.4 +/- 12.6 yrs, respectively; p < 0.005). The cumulative MTX dose ranged from 65 to 580 mg at the time pneumonitis developed. Five of the patients (83%) had preexisting interstitial abnormalities, while only 29 of the 278 patients without MTX pneumonitis (10%) had such abnormalities (p < 0.001). The frequency of adverse effects due to previous treatment with disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARD) was 66.7% in MTX pneumonitis patients and 14.3% in the other 278 patients (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Advanced age, preexisting interstitial abnormalities, and previous adverse reactions to DMARD may be associated with MTX pneumonitis. Patients with these characteristics require careful monitoring during MTX therapy.     

Re-expression of functional P-selectin molecules on the endothelial cell surface by repeated stimulation with thrombin

This study used three separate methods to evaluate sexual behavior in boars previously classified as having high (H), intermediate (INT), or low (L) levels of sexual behavior. Boars were initially evaluated for sexual behavior at 9.6 to 10.6 mo of age with a tethered female for 5 min. Boars were subsequently evaluated with a tethered female for 10 min (TF), a group of females for 10 min (FG), or continuously in a cohabitation environment for 113 h (C). When boars were evaluated with the TF procedure they mounted the female in less time (P < .01) and copulated sooner (P < .01) than when evaluated with the FG procedure. Regardless of whether the TF or FG procedure was used, L boars cumulated less time (P < .01) nosing the sides of females and took longer (P < .01) to first mount than H or INT boars. Proportion of successful matings was not different between the TF and FG procedure; however, the proportion of successful matings by H (91.7%), INT (79.2%), and L (45.8%) boars did differ (P < .001). With the C procedure, sexual behavior classification affected (P < .01) average number of successful matings (H, 4.7; INT, 2.3; and L, .33). This study indicates that sexual behavior traits expressed by a boar are similar when evaluated with a tethered female, a group of females, or a cohabitation environment.     

Nucleation and Avalanche of 4He Crystals in Aerogel

Dynamical transition of ⁴He crystals in aerogel was reported recently (Nomura et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 101:175703, 2008). Bare aerogel, which was placed in the bulk ⁴He crystals, was used in the report. ⁴He crystals inside the aerogel grew via creep at high temperatures and via avalanche at low temperatures owing to the competition between thermal fluctuation and quenched disorder. Crystal-liquid interface advanced from the edge to inside of the aerogel. Crystal has a greater density than liquid so that the extra mass has to be transported in the crystallization process. It is not known how the mass is transported in the aerogel. To find a clue to this issue, we did an experiment with aerogel in a glass tube so that the aerogel had contact with the bulk on only one surface. In this case, a similar dynamical transition was observed at low temperatures. In the avalanche region, however, ⁴He crystals did not grow from the outer surface of the aerogel but nucleated at various sites inside the aerogel. This means that crystallization in aerogel does not occur by the forced invasion of ⁴He crystal but by a process of the bulk crystal once being melted and transported to increase the pressure of the liquid in the aerogel. Thus, a mass transport mechanisms for the crystallization has been revealed by this observation.     

Anti-KS: identification of autoantibodies to asparaginyl-transfer RNA synthetase associated with interstitial lung disease

Autoantibodies to five of the aminoacyl-transfer RNA (tRNA) synthetases have been described, and each is associated with a syndrome of inflammatory myopathy with interstitial lung disease (ILD) and arthritis. Serum KS, from a patient with ILD and inflammatory arthritis without evidence of myositis, immunoprecipitated a tRNA that was distinct from that precipitated by any described anti-synthetase or other reported tRNA-related Abs, along with a protein of 65 kDa. KS serum and IgG fraction each showed significant (88%) inhibition of asparaginyl-tRNA synthetase (AsnRS) activity, but not of any of the other 19 aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase activities. Among 884 patients with connective tissue diseases tested, only two other sera were found to immunoprecipitate tRNAs and proteins of identical gel mobility. These two and KS showed identical immunodiffusion lines using HeLa cell extract. The new sera significantly inhibited AsnRS without significant effects on other synthetases tested. Both patients had ILD but neither had evidence of myositis. These data strongly suggest that these three sera have autoantibodies to AsnRS, representing a sixth anti-synthetase. Anti-KS was more closely associated with ILD than with myositis. Further study of this Abs might prove useful in dissecting the stimuli responsible for the genesis of anti-synthetase autoantibodies.     

Systemic sclerosis complicated by procainamide-induced lupus and antiphospholipid syndrome

In order to estimate the effect of the long term administration of cyclosporine (CsA) on the shape change of erythrocytes, erythrocyte shapes which are observed with a scanning electron microscope were classified according to the nomenclature of Bessis for stomatocyte-echinocyte shape transformation. As a result of observing the erythrocyte shape of fifty-six patients with kidney transplantation treated with CsA, the morphological index of the erythrocytes of patients significantly increased to 0.0835+/-0.0085*** in comparison with 0.0004+/-0.0051 of those from healthy volunteers (control) (***: p<0.001, ANOVA). Such transformations had no relation to the subjects' sex or age. On the other hand, the erythrocytes of patients administered more than 100 ng/ml of CsA and posttransplanted within less than two years were transformed by CsA from the state of discocyte to echinocyte. In rats, the morphological index of erythrocytes of rats treated with 3 mg/kg/d or 5 mg/kg/d of CsA significantly increased in comparison with rats treated with saline (control). Furthermore, the erythrocytes of two patients were observed in terms of shape before the treatment with CsA. In both patients, the echinocyte type of erythrocyte increased by treatment with CsA. In vitro, the morphological index of the erythrocytes incubated with plasma containing CsA significantly increased, to 0.459+/-0.066*** in comparison with 0.064+/-0.029 of the control. It is suggested from these results that CsA treatment induces the echinocyte type of erythrocyte.