DEVELOPMENT OF A TABLE TENNIS MACHINE TO COUNTER THE “CHIQUITA” SPIN

After Beijing Olympics, leading athletes began to use a stroke known as the “Chiquita” spin frequently. Thus, the Japan national table tennis team at the time undertook countermeasures against the Chiquita spin including some plans. However, these did not produce significant results. Therefore, we developed a table tennis training machine for the team in activities supporting the Japan national table tennis team. The machine has 3 rotors to shoot a ball stably. Also, these rotors are twisted to make a “gyro rotation” of the ball. This machine was introduced into the Japan national table tennis team to take measures for London 2012 Olympic

Multicentric Epithelioid Hemangioendothelioma of the Bone: Histologic and Radiographic Features

A multicentric epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (EHE) of the bone is reported which affected the right femur, the right patella and the right fibula of a 56-year-old man. Plain radiographs demonstrated purely lytic multicentric lesions with well-defined sclerotic borders. Computed tomography (CT) scans showed multiple osteolytic lesions in a honeycomb pattern at the epiphyseal lesion of the right femur; the other lesions of the right femoral shaft, the right patella and the right fibula were punched out sharply. Magnetic resonance (MR) images showed that the tumors contained mixed signal intensities: low intensity for T1-weighted images and high intensity for T2-weighted images. Histologically, the tumor was discerned as EHE with a spectrum of endothelial tumor, with the added feature of epithelioid hemangioma in a limited area. As for the initial treatment, curettage and bone cementing were performed for the epiphyseal tumor of the right femur, followed by surgical resections of the other tumors. Neither recurrence nor metastasis was observed 3 years after resection

Transplantable murine plasma cell leukemia with polyclonal gammopathy

A transplantable plasma cell leukemia cell line, designated as S27, was established from a 12-month-old female New Zealand Black mouse (NZB); serum showed polyclonal elevation of gamma globulin with agarose-agar gel electrophoresis. Immunoelectrophoretic analysis of the serum showed precipitation lines in the IgG1, IgG2a, IgG2b and IgM regions. The amount of serum immunoglobulin increased rapidly with tumor growth. S27 cells proliferating in the spleen contained simultaneously IgG1, IgG2a, IgG2b in the cytoplasm as revealed by indirect immunofluorescence. Membrane immunofluorescence revealed IgG1 on the tumor cell surface. S27 cells were transplantable to syngeneic NZB mice with inoculation of spleen cell suspension, and showed the same histological and immunological findings as those of the original mouse. These findings imply that a single clone of plasma cells has the capacity to produce more than one class of immunoglobulin.</p

Apoptotic Cell Death and p53 Expression in Leiomyosarcoma of Soft-Tissue Origin

Leiomyosarcoma (LMS) of soft-tissue origin was studied on the expression and the biological significance of apoptosis in relation to p53 oncoprotein. Immunohistochemical analysis was performed initially on the paraffin-embbeded sections taken from 29 surgical tissues (20 cases) including 9 recurrent/metastatic tumors. The results are as follows: A positive correlation was observed between the p53 indices (PIs) and the proliferative markers designated by Ki-67, PCNA and MCM2, both of which increased significantly in the high-grade malignant LMS much more than in the low-grade one (P < 0.001). Apoptotic cells were detected by the TUNEL method and evaluated as the apoptotic index (AI). A high AI-level was shown in the high-grade malignant LMS, especially in cases of the recurrent/metastatic sites in comparison with the tumors of the primary site (P < 0.05). The AI was statistically higher in the p53-positive cases of high-grade malignant LMS than in the p53-negative cases of low-grade malignant LMS. In conclusion, apoptotic activity paralleled the overexpression of p53 protein along with an increasing grade of malignancy and may be related intimately to the increased malignant potential, especially to recurrence/metastasis

Anisotropy in broad component of Hα\alpha line in the magnetospheric device RT-1

Temperature anisotropy in broad component of H$\alpha$ line was found in the ring trap 1 (RT-1) device by Doppler spectroscopy. Since hot hydrogen neutrals emitting a broad component are mainly produced by charge exchange between neutrals and protons, the anisotropy in the broad component is the evidence of proton temperature anisotropy generated by betatron acceleration

Immunohistochemical Detection of Occult Serosal Microinvasion in Primary Lesions of Gastric Cancer with Subserosal Invasion

In gastric cancer, the presence or absence of serosal invasion by cancer in the primary lesion is an important prognostic factor. Pathological findings are routinely determined by hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) staining, but it is well known that micrometastasis or microinvasion are easily overlooked by H&E staining. Cytokeratin (CK) proteins serve as reliable markers for cells from epithelial origins. The purpose of this study was to clarify the usefulness of CK immunohistochemical staining in the detection of serosal microinvasion in gastric cancer with subserosal invasion. We examined 50 primary lesions from 50 gastric cancer patients with subserosal invasion. Two consecutive sections were prepared for simultaneous staining with ordinary H&E and CK immunostaining with anticytokeratin antibody (CAM 5.2), respectively. Although there were no differences in the postoperative survival rates between patients with or without microinvasion, serosal microinvasion was 0detected in 8 (16%) of 50 patients by CK staining, including 1 patient whose invasion was detected by both H&E and CK stainings. CK immunostaining enabled us to make an accurate and detailed diagnosis which we believe to be useful for detecting serosal microinvasion in the primary lesion in gastric cancer with subserosal invasion