[Surgical therapy for left ventricular pseudoaneurysm].

Left ventricular pseudoaneurysm is a rare complication of myocardial infarction. However, the risk of rupture and heart failure are high, especially in a case of rapidly expanding aneurysm. As for left ventricular pseudoaneurysm, the risk of operation is high, and the long-term results are not good. We experienced 2 cases The 1st case was lost due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) pneumonia The 2nd case is alive and has been free from heart failure for 3 years. The early diagnosis and surgery is necessary for a pseudoaneurysm.

Excitons at the B K edge of boron nitride nanotubes probed by x-ray absorption spectroscopy.

We have performed a near-edge x-ray absorption fine-structure (NEXAFS) investigation of multi-walled boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs). We show that the one-dimensionality of BNNTs is clearly evident in the B K edge spectrum, while the N K edge spectrum is similar to that of layered hexagonal BN (h-BN). We observe a sharp feature at the σ* onset of the B K edge, which we ascribe to a core exciton state. We also report a comparison with spectra taken after an ammonia plasma treatment, showing that the B K edge becomes indistinguishable from that of h-BN, due to the breaking of the tubular order and the formation of small h-BN clusters.

Isotope effect on the thermal conductivity of boron nitride nanotubes.

We have measured the temperature-dependent thermal conductivity kappa(T) of individual multiwall boron nitride nanotubes using a microfabricated test fixture that allows direct transmission electron microscopy characterization of the tube being measured. kappa(T) is exceptionally sensitive to isotopic substitution, with a 50% enhancement in kappa(T) resulting for boron nitride nanotubes with 99.5% 11B. For isotopically pure boron nitride nanotubes, kappa rivals that of carbon nanotubes of similar diameter.

[High-speed recording of fluorescein fundus angiography using an argon laser as the illumination source].

We constructed a new fluorescein fundus angiography system using a speedy and sensitive fundus camera and an argon laser apparatus as the illumination source. The system consists of a fluorescein fundus camera, a high-speed camera, a digital recorder, an argon laser apparatus, and a cathode ray tube(CRT)monitor. The frame speed was 200 frames/s. It was possible to record high speed fluorescein angiography with lower illumination by using an argon laser as the illumination source. This system allowed us to measure the rate of blood flow in the retinal vessels because it easily detected the dye front in the retinal vessels.

[Expression of decay-accelerating factor on CD8-positive lymphocytes as an index of aging and of host defense function].

Decay-accelerating factor (DAF) is a membrane glycoprotein that prevents complement activation on blood cells. Among CD8+ T cells, DAF-negative cells can be distinguished from DAF-positive cells. We computed the proportion of DAF-negative CD8+ T cells in the peripheral blood of 59 normal healthy subjects, 27 to 93 years old, and analyzed the differences between subjects of different ages. The proportion of CD8+ T cells that were DAF-negative correlated significantly and positively with age. We also studied these lymphocytes in patients with cerebrovascular dementia, Alzheimer's dementia, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. The proportion of CD8+ T cells that were DAF-negative did not correlate significantly with age in patients with cerebrovascular dementia, Alzheimer's dementia or cancer, but it correlated significantly and positively with age in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and in those with systemic lupus erythematosus. Therefore, healthy subjects and patients with various diseases can be classified according to age and to the proportion of CD8+ T cells that are DAF-negative. This proportion can then be used as an index of aging and of host defense function.

Immunohistochemical demonstration of membrane cofactor protein (MCP) of complement in normal and diseased kidney tissues.

The immunohistochemically stained membrane cofactor protein of complement (MCP/CD46), one of the complement regulatory proteins, was up-regulated in some diseased kidney tissues. MCP in diseased kidneys was strongly concentrated along the glomerular capillary walls as well as in the mesangial regions, while MCP in normal kidneys was weakly detected in all glomerular structural cells and in the epithelial cells of tubules. Since the enhanced staining was noted in those areas where depositions of C3b/C3c occurred, ongoing complement reaction might be responsible for the up-regulation of MCP expression. MCP expression may be up-regulated by complement fragments generated during complement activation in glomerulonephritis. Furthermore, anti-MCP staining was stronger in intensity in patients with moderate to massive proteinuria, indicating that up-regulation of MCP expression could be directly correlated to the kidney damage.

[Drug concentration in cancerous large bowel tissue and thymidylate synthase inhibition rate after administration of tegafur and UFT].

Tegafur and UFT are most widely used for the treatment of cancers of the gastrointestinal tract. FdUMP, a metabolite of 5-fluorouracil(5-FU), is known to have an inhibitory activity of thymidylate synthase (TS). We administered 600 mg/day of tegafur or UFT to 37 patients with cancer of the large bowel beginning 1 week prior to surgery and then measured the concentrations of tegafur and 5-FU, and TS inhibition rate in the excised tissue. Our results showed that the concentrations of 5-FU in tumor were 0.077 +/- 0.026 microgram/g in tegafur group and 0.208 +/- 0.143 microgram/g in UFT group, with the UFT showing significantly higher levels (p less than 0.05). On the other hand, TS inhibition rates in tumor tissue were 45.5 +/- 13.3% in tegafur group and 56.1 +/- 13.0% in UFT group, with a significantly higher level existing in the latter group (p less than 0.05). Furthermore, the same high 5-FU concentration and TS inhibition rates were observed in the lymph nodes affected by metastasis. No difference between the tegafur and UFT groups was noted in normal tissue or normal lymph nodes, and compared to tegafur, UFT showed an effective action on cancerous large bowel tissue.