Activation and detection of HTLV-I Tax-specific CTLs by Epitope expressing Single-Chain Trimers of MHC Class I in a rat model

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Impact of myocardial perfusion abnormality on prognosis in patients with non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy

SummaryBackgroundMyocardial perfusion imaging shows various patterns in patients with non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). However, influences of regional abnormalities of myocardial perfusion or ventricular wall motion on prognosis in DCM patients remains to be clarified. Accordingly, we investigated a relation between myocardial perfusion patterns and long-term prognosis in DCM patients.Methods and resultsSixty-two patients were divided into 2 groups according to patterns of 99mTc-Tetrofosmin scintigraphy, i.e. large focal defects (focal) and minimally impaired perfusion or multiple small defects (non-focal). There were no differences between the 2 groups in left ventricular (LV) end-diastolic dimensions (63.4±9.1 and 63.8.4±7.5mm, respectively) and LV ejection fraction (30.3±9.2 and 27.9±7.8%, respectively), indicating LV systolic dysfunction was comparable between the groups. The focal group had a higher prevalence of brain natriuretic peptide ≧200ng/dl and plasma norepinephrine ≧500pg/ml than the non-focal group (p<0.05), and had longer QRS durations (p<0.05). The focal group had non-sustained ventricular tachycardia (VT) (p<0.05) on 24-h electrocardiogram recording and a history of VT/ventricular fibrillation more frequently (p<0.05), and had higher New York Heart Association functional class than the non-focal group (p<0.05). The mortality was significantly higher in the focal group (56.0%) than in the non-focal group (28.6%) and the survival curves revealed worse prognosis in the focal group during a follow-up period of 5.3±2.8 years.ConclusionsNon-ischemic DCM patients with focal defects are accompanied by more advanced heart failure and poor prognosis compared to those with minimally impaired perfusion or multiple small defects, despite comparable LV systolic dysfunction

A preliminary study on ultrasonic treatment effect on transverse wood permeability

Ultrasonic pre-treatment of small and pressure saturated Douglas-fir heartwood specimens at 20 kHz fixed frequency with an acoustic horn resulted in increased specific permeability coefficient in both radial and tangential directions. Statistical analysis revealed that there was a high correlation between ultrasonic treatment time and specific permeability coefficient. Improvement rate of permeability in both radial and tangential directions was nearly the same regardless of treatment time

Air Permeability Of Sugi (Cryptomeria Japonica) Wood In The Three Directions

To investigate the air permeability of sugi (Cryptomeria japonica) and the effect of grain directions on it, the air permeabilities of air-dried sugi sapwood and heartwood were determined along the three material directions of wood. The value of the longitudinal permeability was the highest and that of the radial permeability was the lowest. The permeability of heartwood was about an order of magnitude less than the permeability of sapwood in the same direction. The ratio between the tangential and radial permeability was approximately 10, which was similar to softwoods that have impermeable rays. These results suggest that sugi has ray tissues that are either impermeable or have very low permeability. The radial permeability of sugi was much lower than that of Pinus, Sequoia, Juniperus, Abies and Tsuga measured with gases reported in the literature, indicating that sugi is one of the least radially permeable softwoods. These findings explain the reasons for the difficulties encountered in the drying and chemical treatment of sugi (Cryptomeria japonica)

Advanced moderately differentiated neuroendocrine carcinoma of the rectum with favorable prognosis by postoperative chemoradiation

Rectal neuroendocrine carcinoma is rare with poor prognosis. We report herein a case of advanced moderately differentiated neuroendocrine carcinoma of the rectum with relatively favorable prognosis treated by postoperative adjuvant chemoradiation therapy. A 58-year-old Japanese female was referred and colonofiberscopy revealed an easy-bleeding irregular tumor in the lower rectum, which was pathologically diagnosed as a neuroendocrine carcinoma. Surgical treatment consisted of abdominoperineal resection and lymph node dissection. The tumor invaded deeply into perirectal tissues, and 9 of 11 lymph node metastases were observed. Immunohistochemically, chromogranin A showed diffuse and strong staining, and the MIB-1 labeling index was 18.3 ± 5.6, supporting the high proliferation of the tumor. Some nucleus of the tumor showed positive staining for p21/WAF1. A total dose of 46 Gy of radiotherapy was delivered with 800 mg of daily oral doxifluridine. At 5 years post-surgery, the patient demonstrated no clinical evidence of intrapelvic recurrence or distant metastases