Measurement of two solvation regimes in water-ethanol mixtures using x-ray compton scattering.

Water-ethanol mixtures exhibit interesting anomalies in their macroscopic properties. Despite a lot of research, the origin of the anomalies and the microscopic structure itself is still far from completely known. We have utilized the synchrotron x-ray Compton scattering technique to elucidate the structure of aqueous ethanol from a new experimental perspective. The technique is uniquely sensitive to the local molecular geometries at the angstrom and subangstrom scales. The experiments reveal two distinct mixing regimes in terms of geometry: the dilute 5 mol % and the concentrated >15 mol % regimes. By comparing with pure liquids, the former regime is characterized by an intramolecular and the latter by an intermolecular change. The findings bring new light to evaluating the hypothesis of formation of clathratelike structures at the dilute concentrations.

[Six cases of spontaneous pneumomediastinum].

We report 6 cases of spontaneous pneumomediastinum. It is defined not to have clear etiology such as trauma, and is comparatively rare disease developing suddenly. Our patients complained of chest or neck pain, dyspnea and pain when swallowing. They were 3 men and 3 women, who were young and did not have causal disease. Chest X-ray films and computed tomography (CT) scans revealed pneumomediastinum. All of them were treated conservatively and recovered completely within 10 days hospitalization. Spontaneous pneumomediastinum is uncommon and usually benign. Most patients require only conservative treatment. However, since it possibly develops tension pneumothorax, pneumothorax, or mediastinitis, careful observation is recommended never to overlook life-threatening condition. In addition, it is important to distinguish from Boerhaave syndrome, tracheal trauma and so on.

Changes in calpain and calpastatin activities of osmotically dehydrated bovine muscle during storage after treatment with calcium.

Calpain and calpastatin activities were investigated in calcium-treated beef after osmotic dehydration. Dehydrated beef was soaked in 150 mM calcium chloride solution for 3 h, and then stored for 48 h at 3-4 °C. The untreated sample (control) was soaked in deionized water for 3 h instead of calcium chloride solution, after osmotic dehydration. The increase and decrease in the relative activity of crude calpain were observed in the untreated and the calcium-treated meat, respectively, during the storage. When the crude calpains were subjected to DEAE-Sephacel column chromatography, it was found that µ-calpain activity decreased rapidly during the storage in the untreated meat, whereas there was almost no change in the activity of m-calpain during the storage. The decrease of calpastatin activity was moderate compared with the decrease of µ-calpain activity. In the calcium chloride-treated meat, however, no µ-calpain nor calpastatin activities was detectable after 48 h at cold-room temperature, and m-calpain activity after 48 h had decreased to 6.1% of its activity immediately after thawing. It was concluded that 150 mM calcium chloride treatment after osmotic dehydration was sufficient to introduce calcium ions into the meat. In the presence of sufficient calcium, autolysis of calpains and proteolytic degradation of calpastatin, which eventually related to the rate of decrease in calpain and calpastatin activities, clearly seem to be related to a decrease in meat toughness.

Changes in immunoelectron microscopic localization of cathepsin D in muscle induced by conditioning or high-pressure treatment.

Changes in the localization of cathepsin D in postmortem and pressurized rabbit muscles were investigated by immunoelectron microscopy. The anti-cathepsin D monoclonal antibody strongly labeled a large vesicle in a subsarcolemmal part of the cell , which strongly suggests that this is the primary lysosome. The liberation of the cathepsin D entrapped in the lysosomes in the muscle prepared immediately after death proceeded with the progress of the conditioning. The release of almost all cathepsin D from the lysosomes and its absorption on the myofibrils were observed in the muscle conditioned for 14 days. The accumulation of lysosomes having various volumes and shapes accompanied with the disruption of myofibrillar structure was also observed. The liberation of cathepsin D from the lysosomes can be attributed to the modification of membranes permeability of the lysosomes during conditioning. When the muscle was pressurized at 100 MPa, the modification of the round shape of the lysosome was observed. With the increase of the pressure applied to the muscle, the release of cathepsin D from the lysosome due to the disruption of membrane was accelerated, and absorption of the released cathepsin D on the myofibrils was observed. From the results obtained, it was clear that the changes in the localization of cathepsin D accompanied with the modification of lysosomes induced by the brief exposure to high pressure were drastic in comparison with that in the muscle during conditioning.

Meat tenderization by calcium chloride after osmotic dehydration.

In this study, meat was tenderized by dipping the meat in a calcium-containing solution after osmotic dehydration. Dehydrated meats were dipped in a 150 mM calcium chloride solution for 3 h, and after that stored for 24, 48, and 168 h at 3 ∼ 4°C. Then, meat was subjected to texture measurement, sensory evaluations, biochemical analysis and histological observations. A gradual decrease in the firmness and higher tenderness sensory scores were observed in the meat treated with calcium chloride as compared with the untreated meat. Few differences were observed in water holding capacity by treatment at any stage of storage. A gradual increase in the myofibril fragmentation from the calcium chloride-treated meats was observed throughout the storage compared with the controls. Broadening of the I band and a disordered Z-line were observed in the treated meat. The deformation of the honeycomb-like structure of the endomysium was also observed in the treated samples. Therefore, the dipping in 150 mM calcium chloride solution after dehydration can be applied to improve meat tenderness without detrimental effects on other palatability and quality traits.

Novel synthesis of electroresponsive poly(thiophenylene) through a Michael-type addition.

[figure: see text] A novel poly(thiophenylene) having N,N-diphenyl-1,4-phenylenediamine (PDA) as a redox unit was synthesized through a Michael-type addition. This polymerization proceeded at room temperature without catalysts. The polymer obtained acted as a good electroresponsive material with moderate thermostability.

[A case of metastatic urinary bladder tumor from gastric carcinoma].

We report a case of metastatic bladder tumor from gastric carcinoma. A 55-year old male patient was referred to our urological clinic with a complaint of frequent urination and voiding pain. He had undergone total gastrectomy for poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma, signet-ring cell type, 9 months earlier. Computed tomographic scan revealed a thick bladder and rectum wall all around. Punch biopsies from vesical and rectal wall revealed metastatic adenocarcinoma, signet-ring cell type. There were no other metastatic sites. Systemic chemotherapy was done with a combination of mitomycin-C, 5-fluorouracil and cytosine arabinoside. This chemotherapy was effective and complete remission was obtained at bladder and rectum. Six months after chemotherapy, peritoneal recurrence developed and he died 9 months after chemotherapy. However no recurrence of bladder tumor was detected. This was a quite rare case of metastatic bladder tumor characterized by good response to systemic chemotherapy.

The binding ability of alpha-lactalbumin and beta-lactoglobulin to mutagenic heterocyclic amines.

The binding ability of bovine milk proteins with mutagenic heterocyclic amines was investigated. Binding was determined with 2 mg of beta-lactoglobulin and 20 micrograms of heterocyclic amine in .4 ml of pH 7.4, 50 mM phosphate buffer, at 37 degrees C, in a shaker for 10 min. The unbound heterocyclic amine in protein-free ultrafiltrate was analyzed by HPLC method. The binding of alpha-lactalbumin, beta-lactoglobulin A and beta-lactoglobulin B were 90.44, 81.38, and 89.18%, respectively, with 3-amino-1,4-dimethyl-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]indole; 37.85, 34.04, and 43.90%, respectively, with 3-amino-1-methyl-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]indole; and 49.11, 43.25, and 57.44%, respectively, with 2-amino-6-methyldipyrido[1,2-a:3',2'-d] imidazole. Binding of beta-lactoglobulin and alpha-lactalbumin to 3-amino-1,4-dimethyl-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]indole and 3-amino-1-methyl-5H-pyrido [4,3-b]-indole was higher at pH conditions above 7.4, and binding was lost at pH less than 5.5. Maximum binding of both proteins to 2-amino-6-methyl-dipyrido[1,2-a:3',2'-d]imidazole was at pH 7.4, and binding was inhibited at pH conditions above 8.5 and less than 6.5.

Experimental combined hormone therapy on human breast carcinomas serially transplanted into nude mice.

Experimental combined hormone therapy with tamoxifen, aminoglutethimide and medroxyprogesterone acetate was investigated using three hormone-dependent human breast carcinomas serially transplanted into nude mice. The antitumor effect of combined tamoxifen and aminoglutethimide was better than that of either tamoxifen or aminoglutethimide alone. Since aminoglutethimide significantly reduced the level of estrogen and the uterine weight in normal female mice, the antitumor effect of combined tamoxifen and aminoglutethimide was assumed to be a result of the low estrogen level produced by aminoglutethimide, favoring the competition of tamoxifen with estrogen receptors. There was no additive antitumor effect of the combination of tamoxifen and medroxyprogesterone acetate, although serum medroxyprogesterone acetate levels in nude mice were almost equivalent to those of humans. These results indicate that combination hormone therapy, especially with and aminoglutethimide, might be a promising method for clinical application.

[Auchincloss's mode versus Patey's mode in early breast cancer].

On the assumption that an early breast cancer is tumor under 1.0 centimeter in diameter, sixty five cases of the early disease were picked out from 970 patients who had breast cancer during 20 years from 1961 to 1980. The former were 6.7 percentage among them. Only five cases (7.6%) among patients with such early breast cancer had metastasis in the axillary lymph nodes, except lymph nodes of the level III group. On the other hand, ten year survival after modified radical mastectomy for early breast cancer was 93 percentage. An inquiry of the atrophy of the major pectoral muscles after modified radical mastectomy revealed that it was rather fewer after Auchincloss's mode than after Patey's. In conclusion, the two facts suggested that surgery of Auchincloss's type was the most available for such early breast cancer.