On the analysis of chum salmon scale pattern by use of auto-correlation coefficient

Translated from the Bulletin of the Faculty of Fisheries, Hokkaido University, 15 (1): 25-33, 1964. Goro Nagase, translator; George C. Grant, editor

CO_2 Methanation Catalysts Prepared from Amorphous Ni-Valve Metal Alloys Containing Platinum Group Elements

The amorphous Ni-valve metal (Ti, Zr, Nb and Ta) alloys containing a few at% of platinum group elements were activated by immersion into hydrofluoric acid and used for hydrogenation of carbon dioxide at 100-300℃. This surface activation led to formation of nanocrystalline surface alloys with high surface area, and to surface enrichment of platinum group elements on the titanium-, niobium- and tantalum-containing alloys, but not on the zirconium-containing alloys. The surface of the latter alloys was mainly composed of nickel. The activity and selectivity for methane formation on the titanium-, niobium- and tantalum-containing alloys were significantly affected by the difference in the platinum group elements; the ruthenium- and rhodium-containing alloys showed higher activity and selectivity for methane formation while the platinum-containing alloys exhibited the lowest activity for methane formation and produced mainly carbon monoxide. The zirconium-containing alloys showed the one order of magnitude higher activity for methanation of carbon dioxide in comparison with the titanium-, niobium- and tantalum-containing alloys and produced exclusively methane independent of platinum group elements contained. The alloying with zirconium seems very important to prepare the alloy catalysts having the extremely high activity

Clinical Impact of Down-Regulated Plasma miR-92a Levels in Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

Background: We undertook a study to evaluate the clinical relevance of miR-92a in plasma obtained from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) patients, because the miR-17-92 polycistronic miRNA cluster plays a crucial role in lymphomagenesis and affects neo-angiogenesis. Methodology/Principal Findings: Plasma miR-92a values in NHL were extremely low (,5%), compared with healthy subjects (P,.0001), irrespective of lymphoma sub-type. The very low plasma level of miR-92a increased in the complete response (CR) phase but did not reach the normal range, and the plasma level was lower again in the relapse phase. Patients in CR or CR unconfirmed with a plasma miR-92a level of less than the cut-off level showed a significantly high relapse rate compared with patients with normalized plasma miR-92a level. Conclusions/Significance: The current results therefore indicate that the plasma miR-92a value could be a novel biomarke

Clinical response in Japanese metastatic melanoma patients treated with peptide cocktail-pulsed dendritic cells

BACKGROUND: Metastatic, chemotherapy-resistant melanoma is an intractable cancer with a very poor prognosis. As to immunotherapy targeting metastatic melanoma, HLA-A2(+ )patients were mainly enrolled in the study in Western countries. However, HLA-A24(+ )melanoma patients-oriented immunotherapy has not been fully investigated. In the present study, we investigated the effect of dendritic cell (DC)-based immunotherapy on metastatic melanoma patients with HLA-A2 or A24 genotype. METHODS: Nine cases of metastatic melanoma were enrolled into a phase I study of monocyte-derived dendritic cell (DC)-based immunotherapy. HLA-genotype analysis revealed 4 cases of HLA-A*0201, 1 of A*0206 and 4 of A*2402. Enriched monocytes were obtained using OptiPrep™ from leukapheresis products, and then incubated with GM-CSF and IL-4 in a closed serum-free system. After pulsing with a cocktail of 5 melanoma-associated synthetic peptides (gp100, tyrosinase, MAGE-2, MAGE-3 and MART-1 or MAGE-1) restricted to HLA-A2 or A24 and KLH, cells were cryopreserved until used. Finally, thawed DCs were washed and injected subcutaneously (s.c.) into the inguinal region in a dose-escalation manner. RESULTS: The mean percentage of DCs rated as lin(-)HLA-DR(+ )in melanoma patients was 46.4 ± 15.6 %. Most of DCs expressed high level of co-stimulatory molecules and type1 phenotype (CD11c(+)HLA-DR(+)), while a moderate number of mature DCs with CD83 and CCR7 positive were contained in DC products. DC injections were well tolerated except for transient liver dysfunction (elevation of transaminases, Grade I-II). All 6 evaluable cases except for early PD showed positive immunological responses to more than 2 melanoma peptides in an ELISPOT assay. Two representative responders demonstrated strong HLA-class I protein expression in the tumor and very high scores of ELISPOT that might correlate to the regression of metastatic tumors. Clinical response through DC injections was as follows : 1CR, 1 PR, 1SD and 6 PD. All 59 DC injections in the phase I study were tolerable in terms of safety, however, the maximal tolerable dose of DCs was not determined. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggested that peptide cocktail-treated DC-based immunotherapy had the potential for utilizing as one of therapeutic tools against metastatic melanoma in Japan

Association Analysis of Nuclear Receptor Rev-erb Alpha Gene (NR1D1) and Japanese Methamphetamine Dependence

Several investigations suggested abnormalities in circadian rhythms are related to the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders, including drug addiction. Recently, orphan nuclear receptor rev-erb alpha and glycogen synthase kinase-3 β (GSK-3β) were shown to be important circadian components. In addition, the orphan nuclear receptor rev-erb alpha is a key negative feedback regulator of the circadian clock. These evidences indicate that rev-erb alpha gene (NR1D1) is a good candidate gene for the pathogenesis of methamphetamine dependence. To evaluate the association between NR1D1 and methamphetamine dependence, we conducted a case-control study of Japanese samples (215 methamphetamine dependence and 232 controls) with three tagging SNPs selected by HapMap database. Written informed consent was obtained from each subject. This study was approved by the ethics committees at Fujita Health University, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine and each participating member of the Institute of the Japanese Genetics Initiative for Drug Abuse (JGIDA). We did not detect an association between NR1D1 and Japanese methamphetamine dependence patients in allele/genotype-wise analysis, or the haplotype analysis. Our findings suggest that NR1D1 does not play a major role in the pathophysiology of methamphetamine dependence in the Japanese population