This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of interleukin-1α (IL-1α) on prostacyclin (PGI2) production in cultured human vascular endothelial cells in association with intracellular Ca, ...inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3), and with prostaglandin H synthase (PGHS) and phospholipase A2 (PLA2) gene expression by using the competitive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. IL-1α did not increase PGI2 production for 15 min, but induced an increase of about three-fold relative to that in controls at 60 and 180 min. IL-1α had no effect on intracellular Ca levels throughout the experimental period. In this study, consistent with previous reports, PGHS-1 messenger RNA (mRNA) was constitutively expressed, whereas PLA2 mRNA was not. After stimulation with IL-1α, PLA2 mRNA level showed an eightfold increase within 15 min, and PGHS-2 mRNA level increased by 76-fold within 180 min. PGHS-1 mRNA level was increased 1.6-fold at 180 min. These results suggest the existence of regulatory mechanisms of IL-1α-induced PGI2 production, which involve PGHS and PLA2 gene transcription.
Microtopography, vegetation, structure of subsoil and amount of soil erosion were observed in order to know the relationship between microtopography and plants, namely their distribution and species ...composition of communities. In the study area, ca. 100 m×150 m in size, a probe area of 30 m×50 m was set. The probe area was separated into 60 quadrates of 5 m×5 m. Quadrates were divided into three groups (1), (2) and (3) according to species composition. Groups (1) and (2) have the species found commonly in beech forests. Among them, group (1) is characterized by the species of beech (Fagus crenata) forests under dry condition and is found on the crest slopes and upper landslide scarp where deposition of soil materials is not expected. Group (3), characterized by the species of Pterocarya rhoifolia forest are observed in the lower part of landslide body under depositional and humid soil condition induced by the groundwater seepage at the toe of a landslide body. Group (2), with no remarkable characteristic species, basically composed of the species of beech forests, are located on the various micro-topographical units. Vegetation of the study area is basically a beech forest from viewpoint of species composition. Species of dry type beech forest are found on the crest and upper landslide scarp. On the contrary, species characteristic to Pterocarya rhoifolia forest are found under the depositional and humid soil condition.
We investigated the effect of probucol on the intracellular pH (pHi) and proliferation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC), as well as their production of prostacyclin (PGI
2). The ...addition of probucol produced a biphasic shift in pHi, with a brief initial acidification followed by a rapid alkaline shift. After pretreatment with EGTA, the initial decrease in pHi was abolished, and the subsequent increase was inhibited. After pretreatment with amiloride, only the increase of pHi was abolished. These results suggest that the probucol-induced increase of pHi was mainly dependent on Na
+/H
+ exchange and partly on extracellular Ca
2+. In contrast, the addition of LDL produced a decrease of pHi. Under Ca
2+-free condition, pHi was further decreased by LDL. In cells pretreated with amiloride, however, pHi was not further decreased by LDL. It was found that probucol promoted cell proliferation, and LDL inhibited cell proliferation. Addition of probucol also enhanced prostacyclin generation by HUVEC. This enhancement of PGI
2 generation resulted from increased release of Ca
2+ from the storage sites, due not only to increased production of inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate (IP
3) but also to the increase of pHi. These findings may help to explain the antiatherosclerotic action of probucol.
A multi-center cooperative clinical trial was undertaken to evaluate the safety and efficacy of weekly taxol (TXL) therapy combined with short-premedication as a pretreatment in an effort to ...determine if TXL can be used in ambulatory treatment. TXL was administered at 60 mg/m2 to patients with advanced recurrent breast cancer once a week without a rest or with a rest for 1 week after treatment for 3 weeks. A total of 36 patients were finally enrolled. The site of recurrence was the local region in 8 patients, lung/pleura in 24, liver in 9, bone in 16, lymph nodes in 15, epicardium in 2, and brain metastasis in 2. The response was CR in 2, PR in 12, NC in 9, PD in 8, and NE in 5, with a response rate of 45.2%. Grade 4 anorexia was reported as non-hematotoxicity. All other adverse reactions, such as myalgia/arthralgia and peripheral neuropathy, were mild (grade 1 or 2). Hematotoxic effects observed in this study included only grade 3 leukopenia in 5 patients, neutropenia in 4, and decreases in hemoglobin in 1.
A 4-way VLIW geometry processor runs at 312 MHz and contains a PCI/AGP bus bridge in a three-layer-metal CMOS process with 0.21 /spl mu/m design rules at 2.5 V. It features: (1) VLIW and SIMD ...instruction sets, (2) a software bypass mechanism, (3) special condition-code registers and branch condition generator for clipping, and (4) automatic clock delay tuning. The result is performance of 2.5 GFLOPS and 6.5 Mpolygons/s in a 3D geometry processor. This chip can be added to conventional graphics systems without requiring additional LSIs.
In previous multi-dimensional modeling on spray dynamics and vapor formation, single component fuel with pure substrance has been analyzed to assess the mixture formation process. Then it shold be ...expected that the evaporation process could be performed for the multi-component fuel such as actual Gasoline and Diesel gas oil. In this study, vapor liquid equilibrium prediction was conducted for multi component fuels such as 3 and 10 components mixed solution with ideal solution analysis and non ideal solution analysis. And the computation of distillation characteristics was conducted for the steady state fuel conditions to understand the evaporation process. As a result, calculated distillation characteristics is consistent well with experiment results. Further the vapor concentration was measured for the analysis of the binary fuel spray using IR absorption measurement method.
This study was designed to evaluate the effect of thrombin on prostacyclin (PGI
2) production in cultured human vascular endothelial cells in association with intracellular Ca
2+ and with the gene ...expression of prostaglandin H
2 synthase (PGHS) and phospholipase A
2 (PLA
2) using competitive polymerase chain reaction. Thrombin enhanced the PGI
2 synthesis dependent with time. Additionally, thrombin increased the intracellular Ca
2+, which stimulates PLA
2, resulting in arachidonic acid cleavage from membrane phospholipids and its subsequent conversion into PGI
2 through the PGHS pathway. The elevation of intracellular Ca
2+ was a result of Ca
2+ influx and Ca
2+ release from its intracellular storage sites. In this study, PGHS-1 mRNA was constitutively expressed, whereas PGHS-2 mRNA was not. With the stimulation of thrombin, cytosolic PLA
2 (cPLA
2) mRNA increased 9-fold at 15 min, PGHS-1 mRNA increased 3.4-fold at 180 min, and PGHS-2 mRNA increased 38-fold at 60 min. These results suggest that the elevation of intracellular Ca
2+ and the expression of cPLA
2, PGHS-1, and PGHS-2 mRNA cause PGI
2 generation.
Eight new hydrazones derived from 2-pyridinecarbaldehyde 5-nitro-2-pyridylhydrazone (PA-5-NPH) were synthesized. Their properties, reactivities with metal ions and extractabilities of the complexes ...have been investigated and compared. It has been found that (1) the introduction of a nitro group to the 3-, 4- and/or 5-position of the pyridine ring in the aldehyde moiety of PA-5-NPH lowers the pKa values and causes remarkable bathochromic shifts in the absorption spectra of the hydrazone and its metal complexes, (2) the introduction of a nitro group to the 5-position of the pyridine ring brings about increases in molar absorptivities of the metal complexes, whereas introduction to the 4-position causes them to decrease, and (3) the introduction of electron-releasing groups to the 4-position of the pyridine ring, on the contrary, brings about increases in molar absorptivities of the metal complexes. Furthermore, considering the results reported already, it is concluded that the introduction of a nitro group to the 5-position of the pyridine ring in both the hydrazine and aldehyde moiety of 2-pyridinecarbaldehyde 2-pyridylhydrazone (PAPH) is very effective for increasing the molar absorptivity of the metal complexes.
Eight new hydrazones derived from 2-pyridinecarbaldehyde 5-nitro-2-pyridylhydrazone (PA-5-NPH) were synthesized. Their properties, reactivities with metal ions and extractabilities of the complexes ...have been investigated and compared. It has been found that (1) the introduction of a nitro group to the 3-, 4- and/or 5-position of the pyridine ring in the aldehyde moiety of PA-5-NPH lowers the pKa values and causes remarkable bathochromic shifts in the absorption spectra of the hydrazone and its metal complexes, (2) the introduction of a nitro group to the 5-position of the pyridine ring brings about increases in molar absorptivities of the metal complexes, whereas introduction to the 4-position causes them to decrease, and (3) the introduction of electron-releasing groups to the 4-position of the pyridine ring, on the contrary, brings about increases in molar absorptivities of the metal complexes. Furthermore, considering the results reported already, it is concluded that the introduction of a nitro group to the 5-position of the pyridine ring in both the hydrazine and aldehyde moiety of 2-pyridinecarbaldehyde 2-pyridylhydrazone (PAPH) is very effective for increasing the molar absorptivity of the metal complexes.
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