Familial Osteoarthritis of the Hip Joint Associated with Acetabular Dysplasia Maps to Chromosome 13q

Genetic factors have been implicated in osteoarthritis (OA), particularly in OA of the hip joint (hip OA). Several instances of familial hip OA that show distinctive modes of inheritance but that differ from chondrodysplasia have been reported. Here, we report the characterization of a large Japanese family with an inherited disease of the hip that is indistinguishable from common hip OA, as evidenced by clinical symptoms and radiographs of the joint. This family contained eight patients in 4 generations. Affected individuals develop pain in the hip joint during adolescence, and the disease progresses to severe crippling before age 60 years. Patients generally are in good health, height is not reduced, and there is no extraskeletal involvement suggestive of chondrodysplasia. The skeletal change is bilateral acetabular dysplasia followed by OA, which occurs after age ∼40 years and is indistinguishable from idiopathic nonfamilial dysplastic hip OA. This trait shows autosomal dominant inheritance, with a considerably consistent phenotype. Genomewide screening revealed linkage at chromosome 13q22, and haplotype analysis narrowed the locus to a 6.0-cM interval between markers D13S1296 and D13S162, with a maximal multipoint LOD score of 3.57. The family described here represents a novel genetic entity as a monogenic form of hip OA. Its further characterization can aid in elucidating the etiology and pathogenesis of a common idiopathic form of OA

Seeding technique for lowering temperature during synthesis of α-alumina

This paper reports a method for producing α-Al2O3 at low temperature using a seeding technique. A white product obtained by hydrolyzing aluminum isopropoxide in water at 80 °C was peptized using acetic acid at 80 °C, which transformed the white product to a transparent alumina sol. α-Al2O3 particles were added to the alumina sol as seed material; the sol containing α-Al2O3 particles was then transformed to an α-Al2O3-seeded alumina gel by drying the sol at room temperature. The non-seeded alumina gel remained boehmite after annealing at 300 °C and crystallized into γ-Al2O3 and α-Al2O3 at temperatures between 300 and 500 °C and between 900 and 1100 °C, respectively. The α-Al2O3 seeding promoted crystallization of the alumina gel into α-Al2O3. The promotion of crystallization was significant with an increase in α-Al2O3 particle content by weight in the final seeded alumina gel. With an α-Al2O3 particle content of 5%, the seeded alumina gel was partially crystallized into α-Al2O3 by annealing at a temperature as low as 900 °C

Quantitative evaluation of the rate of myocardial interstitial fibrosis using a personal computer

金沢大学大学院医学系研究科　金沢大学大学院医学系研究科　We investigated the reliability and reproducibility of an image- analyzing system run on a personal computer for measurement of myocardial interstitial fibrosis. Measurements of myocardial interstitial fibrosis in right ventricular endomyocardial biopsies obtained from patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy determined by this image-analyzing system were compared with measurements determined by the point-counting method. We also investigated the correlation between measurements of interstitial fibrosis obtained by image analysis and biochemical measurements of myocardial levels of hydroxyproline in normal and cardiomyopathic hamsters. The intra- and interobserver variability were significantly lower for measurements obtained by the image-analyzing system than for measurements obtained by the point- counting system. Reproducibility was superior with the image-analyzing method. The rate of myocardial interstitial fibrosis determined by the computer image-analyzing method was positively correlated with the hydroxyproline measurement (r=0.89). Our results suggest that an image- analyzing system using a personal computer provides reproducible results with a high level of reliability