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Magnetoresistance (MR) devices using degenerated oxide semiconductors, Nb-doped SrTiO3, (Nb-STO) as intermediate layers between two ferromagnets were fabricated and their magnetic and transport properties were evaluated. Magnetic junctions using the trilayer films showed MR of ∼5% at 4.2 K, and the sign and the magnitude of the MR were changed depending on the thickness of Nb-STO layers. The origin of the inversion of the MR is not clear, however we consider spin injection from ferromagnetic electrodes to Nb-STO through Schottky tunnel barriers plays an important role.

Background & Aims: Active ulcerative colitis (UC) is characterized by infiltration of activated granulocytes and monocytes/macrophages (GM) within the large bowel mucosa. GM are major sources of inflammatory cytokines, and in UC they are elevated with increased survival time. We investigated the possibility that reducing the level of these cells might promote remission of active UC. Methods: Thirty-one patients with active corticosteroid refractory (refractory) UC, mean age of 42 years, duration of UC 6 years, clinical activity index (CAI) of 15, disease activity index (DAI) of 10, and 8 corticosteroid naive patients (naive), mean age of 36 years, duration of UC 2 years, CAI of 11, DAI of 8 were recruited. Each patient was treated with up to 11 cycles of granulocyte and monocyte adsorptive apheresis over 11 weeks by using a 335-mL capacity column filled with cellulose acetate beads that adsorb GM. Results: At week 12, 81% of refractory (CAI, 3; P < 0.001 and DAI, 4; P < 0.001) and 88% of naive (CAI, 1; P = 0.012 and DAI, 3; P = 0.011) patients achieved remission. Early relapse was not a feature, and at 12 months, 26 of 33 patients had maintained their remission. The treatment was well tolerated, and no severe side effects were observed. Conclusions: The outcome of this study suggests that reduction of circulating granulocytes and monocytes results in alleviation of inflammation and promotes clinical remission in patients with severe active UC that has not responded to intensive corticosteroid treatment. These data suggest that formal controlled studies are warranted. CLINICAL GASTROENTEROLOGY AND HEPATOLOGY 2003;1:28-35

Purpose: The efficacy of repeated courses of intravesical bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) for superficial bladder cancer was assessed with particular attention to initially resistant cases. Materials and Methods: A total of 75 patients with stages Ta to T1b superficial transitional cell bladder carcinoma received 6 weekly instillations of 80 mg. Tokyo strain BCG in 40 ml. saline followed by 6 instillations at monthly intervals. If tumors recurred, another course of treatment was given with surgery. Results: Of 17 patients (22.7 percent) with recurrent tumor at followup periods of up to 84 months 12 received an additional course of BCG instillations according to the same protocol after transurethral resection of bladder tumors, and 10 (83.3 percent) showed no further recurrence with or without additional surgery and BCG therapy after a median followup of 42.9 months. Thus, the overall success rate with this approach was 90.7 percent (68 of 75 patients). Comparison of patients with and without recurrence revealed a significant difference in number of tumors before therapy (p less than 0.05), and a pronounced tendency (p = 0.00507) for recurrence after prior systemic chemotherapy or intravesical instillation. Conclusions: The results suggest that up to 3 courses of repeated intravesical instillation of BCG are effective even for cases that initially did not respond, and that best results may be achieved if no other prior chemotherapy has been attempted.

A total of 17 patients underwent total cystectomy at 1–8 weeks following transurethral contact Nd: YAG laser destruction of bladder tumors (TULD) between February 1984 and December 1990. The laser-irradiated areas were studied pathologically. Five principal results were obtained. First, the irradiated areas were sharply bound from the nonirradiated area and featured ulceration and granulation associated with intensive edema. Second, fibroblast cells and fibrous cells appeared and new vascular growth was manifest; by approx. week 8 postirradiation, carbonized foreign bodies had been incorporated into the granulation and giant cells could be seen ingesting the foreign bodies. Third, neither perforation nor thermal damage to the intestine occurred. Fourth, the irradiated beds were suspected of harboring residual cancer cells in cases at stage T3. Finally, contact irradiation did not result in the transplantation of cancer cells.

We studied the metabolism of testosterone in primary cultures of prostate epithelial cells and fibroblasts obtained from patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The conversion of 3H-testosterone in both cell cultures was predominantly to the oxidative pathway, with the formation of 3H-androstenedione increasing with cell number and time of incubation. Although we also detected some 5a-reductase activity in these cells, the activity in the stroma component (0.00688 pmol/mg protein/min) was nonetheless insignificant when compared to the 5a-reductase activity in the tissue of origin (0.0616 pmol/mg protein/min) and well below the 17ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity of the same cells (0.0518 pmol/mg protein/min). The aromatase activity in our cells was also measured by two separate techniques, but neither the deuterium procedure nor the production of oestrone from androgen precursors yielded any positive results, suggesting that under these experimental conditions there was no aromatase activity within the cells. The shift from the reductive to the oxidative pathways in these primary cell cultures was reminiscent of the androgen-metabolizing enzyme profiles seen in poorly differentiated prostate cancer. Whether this fransition is an obligatory step in the development of hormone refractiveness remains to be elucidated.

Immunohistochemical staining of urothelial tumours using paraffin-embedded tissue blocks was performed for p53 and Retinoblastoma (RB) proteins, to characterize any correlation with sensitivity to hyperthermia treatment. Seventeen patients with primary urothelial tumours (16 of the bladder and one of the ureter) treated at our institute between July, 1987 and March, 1993 were included in this study; tissues investigated consisted of 16 transitional cell carcinomas (TCC) (6 Grade2 (G2), 6 G3, 2 G2 > G3, 1 G3 > squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), 1 undifferentiated carcinoma > G3), and 1 SCC. One case was Tis, 4, 3, 1, and 4, were T1 to T4, respectively, and 4 were post-cystectomy. Clinically, in terms of response to treatment, there were four complete response (CR) cases, four partial response (PR) cases, six no change (NC) cases, and three progressive disease (PD) cases, the total in which treatment was effective thus accounting for approximately half of those examined (CR + PR, 47%). Immunohistochemically, six of eight pre hyperthermia lesions which demonstrated positive staining for RB were CRs or PRs, 75% of which were high-grade lesions, and 50% exhibited invasion and lymph node metastasis. Only three in total were positive for p53 staining, two of which were T4 and these both responded to treatment. The results suggested that RB gene expression may be related to heat sensitivity to some degree.

Boron is sensitively determined by spectrophotometry after color development with curcumin, but, the presence of a large amount of iron interferes with the color development. Therefore, in order to separate boron from the iron, boron is allowed to react with methanol to form trimethyl borate ester which is separated from iron by distillation. The distilled ester is trapped into sodium hydroxide solution. For color development with curcumin, water in the solution must be removed by evaporation. The procedure is time-consuming. In order to shorten the time, an apparatus for the distillation is modified to carry out simultaneously both distillation of the ester and evaporation of water in sodium hydroxide solution which traps it. Hence, the time of these procedures is shortened to 25 min from about 90 min of a conventional procedure. Boron reacted with curcumin is extracted with 4-methyl-2-pentanone. The detection limit of boron in iron corresponds to 0.048 μg/g.

The structure of the isolated alpha subunit of F1-ATPase from the thermophilic Bacillus strain PS3 was probed using limited proteolysis by four different proteases, and the following results were obtained. 1) Distribution of 21 protease-cleaved sites is similar to that of the beta subunit of F1-ATPase (Tozawa, K., Odaka, M., Date, T., and Yoshida, M. (1992) J. Biol. Chem. 267, 16484-16490), thus providing experimental evidence for similar folding topology of the two subunits, and the locations of 11 water-exposed loop regions in the tertiary structure are predicted. 2) Most proteolytic peptides remain associated to maintain the gross structure of the alpha subunit and can reassociate each other after denaturing urea treatment. 3) However, the carboxyl-terminal peptides comprising approximately 80 residues (C1 peptides) are released from other peptide(s) during proteolysis, and those comprising approximately 105 residues (C2 peptides) are released during native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis after proteolysis. 4) Inclusion of Mg-ATP in the native electrophoretic system prevents the release of the C2 peptide. Addition of Mg-ATP to the proteolysis mixtures results in an increase of the C2 peptide population and a decrease of the C1 peptide population. Thus, Mg-ATP induces a conformational change at the regions of C1 and C2 peptides of the alpha subunit. 5) Except for the trypsin-treated one, protease-treated alpha subunits are reconstitutable with the native beta subunit into the form of alpha 3 beta 3 complexes, which show significantly higher ATPase activities than the intact alpha 3 beta 3 complex. This activation is attributable to the cleavage of a peptide bond that produces C2 peptides. The carboxyl-terminal region of the alpha subunit is likely to be involved in the regulation of ATPase activity in F1-ATPase.

Although the local stress intensification in the immediate vicinity of a crackat room temperature was also carried out. Local stress-induced amorphization at moving crack tips has been observed. The HREM observation with a 200 kV FE-TEM revealed nano-crystalline formation in the intermediate region between the amorphous region and the crystalline region.