We analyzed the surface phenotypes of infiltrated cells in pancreases of nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice with monoclonal antibodies to mouse lymphocytes. Most of the infiltrated cells were Thy1+ and ...Ly1+ T-lymphocytes, and most of them were L3T4+ helper T-lymphocyte subsets. To elucidate the role of L3T4+ T-lymphocytes in the development of insulitis and diabetes in NOD mice, we treated the animals with injections of monoclonal anti-L3T4 antibody. Administration of this antibody prevented the insulitis and diabetes in NOD mice. These results lead to conclusions that the L3T4+ helper T-lymphocytes may play an essential role in the pathogenesis of type I diabetes and that the manipulation of the OKT4+ (Leu3+) T-lymphocyte subset, the human homology of L3T4, with monoclonal antibodies may provide effective therapy for human type I diabetes.
Alternating copolymer of benzyl methacrylate and styrene (a-BzSt) was synthesized and its fluorescence properties were compared with those for alternating copolymer of methyl methacrylate and styrene ...(a-MSt) and the corresponding random copolymers. Both a-BzSt and a-MSt exhibited a predominant monomer emission which decayed exponentially, indicating no excimer formation in these polymers. However, the styrene and methacrylate monomer units in a-BzSt were found not to have exactly the same chromophores because differences in the fluorescence intensity and lifetime were observed. The fluorescence quenching studies showed that there was no noticeable increase in the quenching efficiency for a-BzSt and a-MSt compared with that for the corresponding random copolymers. Therefore, energy migration contributes inefficiently to the quenching in these alternating copolymers. This may be due in part to an intrinsically low migration efficiency of phenyl chromophores.
This paper describes a scheme for shaping a given wave beam into the desired profile using multiple phase-correction mirrors. This mirror system was applied to a gyrotron internal converter to ...flatten the radiated beam profile at the window. The flat output beam is reconverted into HE11 mode, a basic propagation mode for corrugated waveguides, by another pair of phase-correction mirrors for transmission into a fusion reactor. In addition, a wave-beam splitting and combining technique is also presented.
To characterize the morphological and functional aspects of silent somatotroph adenomas with paradoxical responses of GH in TRH or GnRH provocation tests, which are considered to be a useful strategy ...for endocrinological identification of silent somatotroph adenomas, we examined three silent somatotroph adenomas histopathologically. The adenomas were investigated by immunohistochemistry, including the highly sensitive catalyzed signal amplification system, the non-radioisotopic in situ hybridization method, and confocal laser scanning microscopy. GH production and GH-immunopositive secretory granules in the adenoma cells were demonstrated histopathologically, and the adenomas were interpreted as being densely granulated somatotroph adenomas. Endocrinological identification of silent somatotroph adenomas in combination with paradoxical responses of GH in TRH or GnRH provocation tests may elucidate the increasing number of silent somatotroph adenomas that have been regarded as mammotroph or clinically inactive adenomas. One should be aware of the differences between the previously reported silent somatotroph adenomas, most of which are sparsely granulated somatotroph adenomas, a somatotroph adenomas with paradoxical and the silent somatotroph adenomas, most of which are sparsely granulated somatotroph adenomas, and the silent somatotroph adenomas with paradoxical responses of GH in TRH or GnRH provocation tests, which are densely granulated somatotroph adenomas.
In the neuropathological investigations of 32 demented patients with severe cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), we found an unusual case, a 90-year-old woman, presenting with the pathology of atypical ...Alzheimer's disease (AD). The case showed severe plaque-like angiopathy, in which all the senile plaques except for some diffuse plaques were formed around amyloid beta (/A4) protein-laden vessels. Analysis of the amyloid beta protein precursor gene from the patient revealed no mutation. Our results have indicated that, among demented patients with severe CAA, there is the vascular variant of AD characterized by severe plaque-like beta protein angiopathy.
BACKGROUND A genetic association between the presenilin 1 (PS-1) intronic polymorphism and sporadic Alzheimer’s disease has been a matter of controversy. Recent findings have suggested that the PS-1 ...polymorphism is not associated with Alzheimer’s disease or amyloid β-protein (Aβ) deposition in brains from patients with Alzheimer’s disease. OBJECTIVES To elucidate the influence of the PS-1 polymorphism on Alzheimer type neuropathological changes and the development of Alzheimer’s disease, the relation between the PS-1 polymorphism and quantitative severity of Alzheimer type neuropathological changes in the brains from patients with Alzheimer’s disease and non-demented subjects was studied. METHODS The PS-1 and apolipoprotein E (ApoE) genotypes, were examined, together with the densities of the senile plaques, senile plaques with dystrophic neurites, and neurofibrillary tangles in the brains from 36 postmortem confirmed patients with sporadic Alzheimer’s disease and 86 non-demented subjects. Association of the PS-1 polymorphism with sporadic Alzheimer’s disease and ages at onset and duration of illness in Alzheimer’s disease was also examined. RESULTS The PS-1 polymorphism was not associated with the senile plaques, senile plaques with dystrophic neurites, or neurofibrillary tangles in Alzheimer’s disease or non-demented subjects. There was no association of the PS-1 intronic polymorphism with Alzheimer’s disease, ages at onset, or durations of illness in Alzheimer’s disease. The results remained non-significant even when the PS-1 genotype groups were divided into the subgroups withdifferent ApoE ε4 status. CONCLUSIONS The PS-1 intronic polymorphism does not itself have a direct causal role in the formation of Alzheimer type neuropathological changes or in the development of sporadic Alzheimer’s disease.
Very high trapped field in melt-processed Sm-Ba-Cu-O Ikuta, H.; Mase, A.; Mizutani, U. ...
IEEE transactions on applied superconductivity,
06/1999, Letnik:
9, Številka:
2
Journal Article, Conference Proceeding
Recenzirano
We prepared c-axis oriented Sm-Ba-Cu-O bulk-superconductors by the melt-process technique in a reduced oxygen atmosphere. We particularly studied the effect of Ag addition to the composite in the ...present work, because Ag was found to greatly suppress the formation of macro-sized cracks in our earlier works. The samples were evaluated by measuring the residual magnetic flux density after field-cooling the samples. The trapped-field distributions mapped at 77 K show that samples with 10 or more wt.% Ag/sub 2/O consist of a single domain with no severe weak-links. The trapped magnetic flux density at the open surface of a sample with 20 wt.% Ag/sub 2/O and 30 mm in diameter was 8.0 T at 40 K. It was also found that the addition of Ag affects the microstructure of the sample and the distribution of the Sm/sub 2/BaCuO/sub 5/ phase was more homogeneous in samples with larger amount of Ag.
Previously, nafamostat mesilate was found to be a potent inhibitor of human tryptase. In present study, we performed a kinetic study to determine its Ki value for tryptase and compared it with that ...of gabexate mesilate. Nafamostat mesilate inhibited human tryptase in a competitive manner. The apparent Ki value was estimated to be 95.3 pM, which was 1,000 times lower than that of gabexate mesilate (95.1 nM). These results strongly indicated that nafamostat mesilate is an extremely potent inhibitor of tryptase and suggested that some of its beneficial effects in the treatment of clinical status may be due to tryptase inhibition.
An industrial strain of Bacillus subtilis (natto) was used to produce poly-gamma-DL-glutamate (γPGA), a polymer of DL-glutamate linked by a γ-peptide bond. In spite of efforts to improve γPGA ...production by modifying the medium, little attention has been paid to the expression of the γPGA synthetase gene. In this study, we investigated the expression of the γPGA synthetic gene and the γPGA product under various conditions with the LacZ-fusion of the synthetic gene (pgsB-lacZ). The 5′ upstream regulatory region of the pgsB gene was also investigated by constructing deletion mutations of lacZ-fusion. The pgsB-lacZ was clearly expressed in the early stationary phase and was abolished by degU gene disruption. The results showed that pgsB-lacZ expression was repressed in rich media, and that γPGA production was limited by the substrate supply rather than by the amount of synthetase. Adding D-glutamate to the medium reduced γPGA production and synthetic gene expression. The transcription start point was determined by primer extension, and it was found that up to −721 bp (translation start point = +1) of the 5′ untranslated region (UTR) was required for optimal pgsB-lacZ fusion gene expression.
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