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Objective and design:To determine the effect of FK506 (tacrolimus) on paw inflammation, TNF-a expression in joint, and bone and cartilage destruction in type II collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) model in rats. Methods:CIA was induced by immunization of female Lewis rats with an emulsion of bovine type II collagen and incomplete Freund’s adjuvant. Paw inflammation was assessed by the increase in paw volume. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) -a expression in hind knee joint was assessed by immunohistochemical analysis. Lesions of bone and cartilage were assessed on the basis of histological change in knee joint, radiographic analysis in hind paw, bone mineral density in femora and proteoglycan contents in the cartilage of femoral heads. FK506 at doses of 1, 1.8 and 3.2 mg/kg or its placebo formulation was orally administered to rats for 28 days from the day after immunization (n = 10). Effect of FK506 was compared with that of vehicle (distilled water). Results:FK506 at a dose of 1.8 mg/kg significantly suppressed paw swelling (p < 0.01) and histological change in knee joint (p < 0.05). Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a was mainly expressed in the region with a marked infiltration of inflammatory cells in the hind knee joint. FK506 (3.2 mg/kg) markedly reduced TNF-a expression. FK506 at a dose of 1.8 mg/kg suppressed radiographic changes in hind paw (p < 0.05) and also recovered the decrease in bone mineral density in the femora (p < 0.05). Proteoglycan contents in the cartilage of femoral heads were determined to evaluate the cartilage destruction more quantitatively and found to significantly decrease in CIA rats. FK506 at a dose of 1.8 mg/kg recovered the loss of proteoglycan contents (p < 0.01). Conclusion:These results show that FK506 is effective in suppressing inflammation, TNF-a expression in joint, and damage to bone and cartilage in rat CIA, and may be useful in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

Tests of fundamental symmetries offer the promise of possibly unique insights into the nature of the strong interaction. We review the current status of selected experimental and theoretical investigations of charge symmetry in fewbody systems.

The method of continued fractions proposed by Horácek and Sasakawa is applied to calculate the binding energy of the triton. By this method, the Faddeev equation is solved very quickly. We solved it with 34 channels for the super-soft core (TRS), Paris (PARIS) and Argonne (AV) potentials with Tucson-Melbourne (TM) three-nucleon potential. The binding energy obtained from these realistic two-nucleon potentials without a threenucleon potential is at most 7.7 MeV. If we include the TM three-nucleon potential taking a cutoff mass of ?=800 MeV for the dipole pNN form factor, the triton is overbound (9.3 ˜ 9.7 MeV), whereas for ?=700 MeV, we get binding energies which almost agree with the experimental value; TRS+TM, 8.47; PARIS + TM, 8.32; AV+TM, 8.42 MeV.

The triton binding energy, the percentages ofS, S', andD states, and the asymptotic normalization constants are presented for 5-, 18-, 26-, and 34-channel Faddeev calculations with some realistic two-nucleon potentials and the Tucson-Melbourne three-nucleon potential. For the two-nucleon interaction, we take the Reid soft-core, the Argonne, the Paris, and the de-Tourreil-Rouben-Sprung potentials. The convergence properties of these calculations are discussed in detail. It turns out that five-channel calculations are decisively insufficient. We also discuss some asymptotic properties, such as the asymptotic normalization constants, the charge radius, and the momentum distribution in the long-wave-length region. It is shown that these quantities do not depend on the specific dynamics of the system, but only on the binding energy.

The works of the Sendai group on investigations of the properties of the trinucleon bound states3H and3He are reviewed in detail. For these mirror nuclei, results are summarized that have been obtained from rigorous solutions of the (Coulomb-modified) Faddeev equations for various realistic nucleon-nucleon potentials with inclusion of three-nucleon forces as well as chargeindependence-and charge-symmetry-breaking forces. It becomes evident that for most trinucleon bound-state observables quite reasonable results have been achieved.

The crystal structure of the new ternary pnicogenide LaRhAs, space group I4 1 md (N109), a= 4.187(2) A˚, c= 14.950(2) A˚, Z=4, V=262.09 A˚, ρ =8.027 g cm, μ =34.51 mm was refined to R =0.0585, wR 2 =0.1658 from the single-crystal X-ray diffraction data. This structure was confirmed by Rietveld refinement of the X-ray powder diffraction data. The LaRhAs compound is the first representative of the LaPtSi structure type among ternary pnictides of the rare-earths and transition metals.

Conclusion The effect of increasing number of channels as well as the inclusion of the three-body force is very important in the charge form factor. We succeeded in getting a very good fit with the experimental result for3He. The experiment on3H is waited for. It will give important informations about the effect of the three-body force, as well as the neutron electro-magnetic form factor. A precise experiment about the first minimum of the magnetic form factor of3He is necessary.

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