Pulmonary Cyst

Pulmonary cysts occupy an important place among diseases of the chest. and their treatment has to be considered by taking into account the pathologic condition of each disease. We have reported here the findings obtained through clinical experience of 6 cases of intrapulmonary bronchial cyst, 36 cases of giant bulla, and 127 cases of spontaneous pneumothorax, who were operated on during the past-odd 10 years at this hospital, with regard to the concept, pathologic condition, developmental mechanism, clinical symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of each disease

Gap plasmon excitation in plasmonic waveguide using Si waveguide

Plasmonic waveguides have attracted considerable attention for application in highly integrated optical circuits since they can confine light to areas smaller than the diffraction limit. In this context, in order to realize a highly integrated optical circuit, we fabricate and evaluate the optical characteristics of a poly(methyl methacrylate) junction positioned between Si and plasmonic waveguides. For the plasmonic waveguide, we employ a gap plasmonic waveguide in which the energy of the plasmonic wave can be confined in order to reduce the scattering loss at the junction. By experimental measurement, we determine the coupling efficiency between the Si and gap plasmonic waveguides and the propagation length at the gap plasmonic waveguide to be 52.4% and 11.1 µm, respectively. These values agree with those obtained by the three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain simulation. We believe that our findings can significantly contribute to the development of highly integrated optical circuits

Diverse Effects of FK506 on the Apoptosis of Hepatocytes and Infiltrating Lymphocytes in an Allografted Rat Liver.

BACKGROUND: The current study investigated whether FK506 (FK) regulates the apoptotic systems in allografted rat liver and the contribution of Fas/Fas-ligand system and Bcl-2 family during acute rejection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The recipients were divided into three groups, the allo, the allo-FK, and the syn group. Rats were euthanized 1, 3, 5, and 7 d after OLT. Apoptotic activity was explored using terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) assay. The expression of Fas/Fas-ligand and Bcl-2/Bax in the grafted livers was investigated by Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: The apoptotic index (AI) of hepatocytes in the allo-FK group was less than that in the allo group. Fas in the allo group was more intense than that in the allo-FK group in the periportal areas on day 1 and 3, while Bcl-2 in the allo group was less intense than that in the allo-FK group in the pericaval areas at all time-points after OLT. CONCLUSION: FK provides beneficial antiapoptotic effects on hepatocytes in the grafted rat livers through both the down-regulation of Fas expression in the periportal areas and the up-regulation of Bcl-2 expression in the pericaval areas

Treatment planning of intensity modulated composite particle therapy with dose and linear energy transfer optimization

The biological effect of charged-particle beams depends on both dose and particle spectrum. As one of the physical quantities describing the particle spectrum of charged-particle beams, we took the linear energy transfer (LET) throughout this study. We investigated a new therapeutic technique using two or more ion species in one treatment session, which we call an Intensity Modulated composite PArtiCle Therapy (IMPACT), for optimizing the physical dose and dose-averaged LET distributions in a patient as its proof of principle. Protons and helium, carbon, and oxygen ions were considered as ion species for IMPACT. For three cubic targets of 4 × 4 × 4, 8 × 8 × 8, and 12 × 12 × 12 cm3 defined at the center of the water phantom of 20 × 20 × 20 cm3, we made IMPACT plans of two composite fields with opposing and orthogonal geometries. The prescribed dose to the target was fixed at 1 Gy, while the prescribed LET to the target was varied from 1 keV/μm to 120 keV/μm to investigate the range of LET valid for prescription. The minimum and maximum prescribed LETs, (LT_min, LT_max), by the opposing-field geometry were (3 keV/μm, 115 keV/μm), (2 keV/μm, 84 keV/μm), and (2 keV/μm, 66 keV/μm), while those by the orthogonal-field geometry were (8 keV/μm, 98 keV/μm), (7 keV/μm, 72 keV/μm), and (8 keV/μm, 57 keV/μm) for the three targets, respectively. To show the proof of principle of IMPACT in a clinical situation, we made IMPACT plans for a prostate case. In accordance with the prescriptions, LETs in prostate, planning target volume (PTV), and rectum could be adjusted at 80 keV/μm, at 50 keV/μm, and below 30 keV/μm, respectively, while keeping the dose to the PTV at 2 Gy uniformly. IMPACT enables the optimization of the dose and the LET distributions in a patient, which will maximize the potential of charged particle therapy by expanding the therapeutic window. Further studies and developments will enable this therapeutic technique in clinical practice

Transbilayer Phospholipid Flipping Regulates Cdc42p Signaling during Polarized Cell Growth via Rga GTPase-Activating Proteins

An important problem in polarized morphogenesis is how polarized transport of membrane vesicles is spatiotemporally regulated. Here, we report that a local change in the transbilayer phospholipid distribution of the plasma membrane regulates the axis of polarized growth. Type 4 P-type ATPases Lem3p-Dnf1p and -Dnf2p are putative heteromeric phospholipid flippases in budding yeast that are localized to polarized sites on the plasma membrane. The lem3Δ mutant exhibits prolonged apical growth due to a defect in the switch to isotropic bud growth. In lem3Δ cells, the small GTPase Cdc42p remains polarized at the bud tip where phosphatidylethanolamine remains exposed on the outer leaflet. Intriguingly, phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylserine stimulate GTPase-activating protein (GAP) activity of Rga1p and Rga2p toward Cdc42p, whereas PI(4,5)P2 inhibits it. We propose that a redistribution of phospholipids to the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane triggers the dispersal of Cdc42p from the apical growth site, through activation of GAPs