Glomerular IgA deposition in pulmonary diseases

Glomerular IgA deposition in pulmonary diseases. Glomerular changes of 70 cases of pulmonary diseases and 25 control cases among 1100 consecutive autopsy cases were studied by light, immunofluorescence, and electron microscopy. These pulmonary diseases consisted of 11 cases of chronic obstructive bronchiolitis (COB), 15 cases of bronchopneumonia, 4 cases of acute interstitial pneumonia, 22 cases of idiopathic interstitial pneumonia (IIP), and 18 cases of lung cancer free from IIP. Bacteriological examination of the lung was performed in these cases including control cases on autopsy. Mesangial IgA deposition was predominant in 25 out of the 70 study cases (36%) frequently accompanied by C3, whereas slight mesangial IgA deposition was observed in one of the control cases. Incidence of IgA deposition was 64% in IIP, 54.5% in COB, 13.3% in bronchopneumonia, 16.7% in lung cancer and 25% in acute interstitial pneumonia. The results of the present study suggest that recurrence or persistence of inflammatory processes of the lung leads to IgA-mediated immune abnormalities and to mild mesangial changes with predominant IgA deposition, which are similar to the immunopathologic features of IgA nephropathy

Element distributions in metallic fractions of an Antarctic ordinary chondrite ALH-77231(L6)

A chemical dissolution method based on different leaching rates of kamacite, taenite and tetrataenite in concentrated HF was developed for isolating metal phases from non-magnetic minerals (mainly silicates) in chondritic meteorites, and for separating taenite from kamacite. This method was applied to an Antarctic chondrite, ALH-77231 (L6), to study the elemental distributions between metal and non-magnetic phases and between taenite and kamacite. The separated phases as well as the bulk metal were studied by Mossbauer spectrometry and by INAA. Mossbauer spectra of ^Fe show that our procedure is efficient in removing silicates from metal and separating taenite from kamacite. The existence of tetrataenite and the absence of disordered taenite in ALH-77231 metals imply that the parent body of ALH-77231 has not experienced severe shock events that redistribute elements among different phases. Thus, element distributions among different phases reflect, in general, the metamorphic history of ALH-77231. INAA results show that siderophile elements are differently distributed between taenite and kamacite. Most siderophiles have very strong to moderate affinities to taenite, while Co is enriched in kamacite. Refractory siderophile elements seem to behave as an individual group. Distribution of Ir between the metal and the non-magnetic fractions implies that a portion of Ir is present in the silicate fraction. This portion of Ir cannot be attributed to the contamination of FeNi metal in the silicates. While the Os/Ir rations in the metals of ALH-77231 are in agreement with the CI value, the Re/Ir rations are significantly higher than the CI value, indicating that Re is fractionated from Ir and Os, between the metal and the non-magnetic fractions. This may be attributable to either the later redistribution of Re between metal and non-magnetic fractions or differences in the condensation phases for Re, and for Ir and Os

Continuous speech recognition with modified learning vector quantization algorithm and two-level DP-matching

PROCEEDINGS OF IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ACOUSTICS, SPEECH, AND SIGNAL PROCESSIN

A Japanese text dictation system based on phoneme recognition and a dependency grammar

PROCEEDINGS OF IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ACOUSTICS, SPEECH, AND SIGNAL PROCESSIN

How Cervical Reconstruction Surgery Affects Global Spinal Alignment.

BACKGROUND:There have been no reports describing how cervical reconstruction surgery affects global spinal alignment (GSA). OBJECTIVE:To elucidate the effects of cervical reconstruction for GSA through a retrospective multicenter study. METHODS:Seventy-eight patients who underwent cervical reconstruction surgery for cervical kyphosis were divided into a Head-balanced group (n = 42) and a Trunk-balanced group (n = 36) according to the values of the C7 plumb line (PL). We also divided the patients into a cervical sagittal balanced group (CSB group, n = 18) and a cervical sagittal imbalanced group (CSI group, n = 60) based on the C2 PL-C7 PL distance. Various sagittal Cobb angles and the sagittal vertical axes were measured before and after surgery. RESULTS:Cervical alignment was improved to achieve occiput-trunk concordance (the distance between the center of gravity [COG] PL, which is considered the virtual gravity line of the entire body, and C7 PL < 30 mm) despite the location of COG PL and C7PL. A subsequent significant change in thoracolumbar alignment was observed in Head-balanced and CSI groups. However, no such significant change was observed in Trunk-balanced and CSB groups. We observed 1 case of transient and 1 case of residual neurological worsening. CONCLUSION:The primary goal of cervical reconstruction surgery is to achieve occiput-trunk concordance. Once it is achieved, subsequent thoracolumbar alignment changes occur as needed to harmonize GSA. Cervical reconstruction can restore both cervical deformity and GSA. However, surgeons must consider the risks and benefits in such challenging cases

Two Theories in Task Preferenc : Self-Enhancement Theory and Self-Assessment Theory

課題選択ににおいて対立している，自己高揚理論と自己査定理論との関係を調べるために，シミュレーション実験が行われた。課題は，英語能力の優劣についての判別姓によって異なっている。被験者は難易度の違う4つの課題の中からひとつだけ選択するように求められた。228人の大学生を，どの課題を選んだかということと，実際に課題を受ける意志があるかということとの2つの条件によって，自己高揚型，自己査定型，そして疑似査定型の3つに分類した。次に，課題の結果を公表するという条件でも同様の選択をさせ，どの課題を選んだかということと，実際に課題を受ける意志があるかということと，前に選んだ課題と同じかどうかということによって，被験者を自己高揚型，自己査定型，疑似査定型，上昇遷移型，下降遷移型の5つに分類した。この5類型に対して，YG性格検査及び自尊心尺度の項目変量を用いて正準判別分析を行った結果，統計的に有意な3軸が見いだされ，それぞれ，外向性，自尊心，活動的自立性と解釈された。その中でも活動的自立性の影響は大きく，自己高揚理論と自己査定理論の2理論について，新たな視点での解釈が可能である。A simulation experiment was conducted to test the validity of opposing theories of self-enhancement and self-assessment in task preference. In this research, tasks were varied in diagnosticity of English proficiency. Subjects were required to choose only one out of four tasks of different difficulty levels. 228 university students (male 128, female 100) were classified into three groups by two conditions. (1.The task they chose. 2.Whether or not they would actually try to do the task.) The three groups were named\u27 self-enhancement\u27, \u27self-assessment\u27, and \u27pretended self-assessment\u27 types. Secondly, under the condition that personal results are made public, subjects were required to choose the task again. And they were classifed into five groups by three conditions. (1.Whether they chose the same task or not. 2.The task they chose. 3.Whether or not they would actually try to do the task.) These five groups were \u27self-enhancement\u27, \u27self-assessment\u27, \u27pretended self assessment\u27, \u27higher-transition\u27, and \u27lower-transition\u27 types. The five groups were analyzed by canonical discriminant analysis in terms of the YG Personality Inventory and Self Esteem Scales. Three canonieal axes were statistically significant and interpreted as extraversion, self-esteem, and active independency. Especially, active independency plays an important role in task preference. Using this personal factor, the differences between self-enhancement theory and self assessment theory can be reconciliated in a new way

Proliferation of parathyroid cells negatively correlates with expression of parathyroid hormone–related protein in secondary parathyroid hyperplasia

Proliferation of parathyroid cells negatively correlates with expression of parathyroid hormone-related protein in secondary parathyroid hyperplasia.BackgroundParathyroid hormone–related protein (PTHrP) is now suspected to act as an autocrine or paracrine regulator of cell growth or differentiation, although it was originally reported as a hypercalcemic substance in malignancies. This study was performed to assess the relationship between PTHrP expression and cell proliferation in human parathyroid glands.MethodsThe localization of PTH and PTHrP was studied in 42 samples of hyperplastic parathyroid from 14 long-term hemodialysis cases with immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization. Results were compared with proliferative activity (proliferating cell nuclear antigen index: counts of proliferating cell nuclear antigen-positive cells/100 cells). The localization of the PTH/PTHrP receptor was also examined. Ten normal glands were studied as controls.ResultsIn hyperplasia, cells positive for PTH, PTHrP, or both were observed immunohistochemically. The areas expressing PTHrP mRNA completely coincided with those positive for PTHrP immunohistochemically. Oxyphilic or transitional oxyphilic cells were consistently positive for PTHrP. PTH/PTHrP receptors were located in the cytoplasmic membrane in most parathyroid cells. Proliferating cell nuclear antigen-positive cells were rare in normal glands with an index of 0.22 ± 0.09 (mean ± sem). They were significantly increased in hyperplastic cases but less for PTHrP-positive than for -negative cells (1.25 ± 0.16 as compared with 7.80 ± 0.52; P < 0.0001).ConclusionThe observed low level of proliferation of PTHrP-positive cells suggests a functional role for PTHrP as a possible growth suppressor in the human parathyroid

A case of locally advanced adenosquamous carcinoma of the cecum with long-term survival

A 63-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with a right lower abdominal mass and general fatigue. Preoperative examination suggested a large ovarian tumor or cecal carcinoma. However, her intraoperative diagnosis was colon cancer; we therefore performed an ileocecal resection with oophorectomy. The tumor was pathologically diagnosed as adenosquamous carcinoma T4bN1M-stage IIIa. We administrated CapeOX adjuvant chemotherapy for 6 months. Adenosquamous carcinoma is extremely rare, at around 0.1% of all colorectal cancers, and usually has a poor prognosis. The patient is still alive without recurrence after 84 post-operative months, even with later developments of metachronous early colorectal cancer and breast cancer. We herein report a rare case of cecal ASC with good prognosis

Large Supersymmetric Contribution to CP Asymmetry of B_d \to \phi K_S from Left-Handed Squark Mixing

Supersymmetric contribution to the CP asymmetry of B_d \to \phi K_S is re-examined. It is emphasized that our analysis takes into account the recently found constraint from the mercury electric dipole moment, in addition to the well-known constraint from the branching ratio of b \to s \gamma. We show that, despite these constraints, the CP asymmetry can considerably deviate from the Standard Model prediction, if the CP-odd flavor mixing comes from left-handed squarks. Alignment mechanism of sfermion masses and mixing may imprint the required flavor mixing at high energy scale.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure