[Structure of cytochrome bc1 complex from bovine heart mitochondria].
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to K Okada.
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Low flow anesthesia (LFA) at a fresh gas flow (FGF) level of 10 ml.kg-1.min-1 with oxygen flow set at 0.5 ml.kg-1.min-1: 0.5 ml.kg-1.min-1 nitrous oxide and 3% isoflurane was performed using time-cycled ventilator on 10 patients of ASA class I or II, with age of 55 +/- 13 (mean +/- SD) years and body weight of 55 +/- 10 kg for 5 h. Excessive anesthetic gases from the anesthesia gas monitor were led to an expiratory breathing tube. After rapid induction and tracheal intubation, denitrogenation was performed for about 5 min using a 100% oxygen flow of 6 l.min-1 before LFA. The inspired/expired oxygen concentration decreased gradually from 96 +/- 2%/90 +/- 2% at beginning of LFA to 42 +/- 3%/37 +/- 4% at 5 h. The operation was started after 29 +/- 10 min of beginning of LFA. The nitrous oxide concentration reached 37 +/- 4%/35 +/- 4% at the beginning of operation and further increased to 55 +/- 3%/53 +/- 3% at 5 h. The isoflurane concentration reached 1.0 +/- 0.1%/0.8 +/- 0.1% at the beginning of operation and further increased to 1.2 +/- 0.1%/1.0 +/- 0.1% at 5 h. The anesthetic potency was 1.2 +/- 0.1 MAC/1.0 +/- 0.2 MAC at the beginning of operation. The isoflurane vaporizer setting was changed only once in two cases from 3% to 2% exceeding 1.5% in inspired concentration. There was no need to change the flow of oxygen and nitrous oxide for 5 hrs. No SpO2 lower than 95% was observed during this study. This method is a clinically safe, easily applicable anesthesia method and used the smallest FGF reported in LFA without occurrence of low FIO2.
PURPOSE: A high frequency of genetic loss at 4 loci on chromosome 3p has been shown in human sporadic renal cell carcinomas (RCCs), but the relative contribution of each locus is not well known, and the involvement of DNA replication errors (RERs) in carcinogenesis of RCCs remains unclear. We report the simultaneous comparison of genetic loss at the 4 chromosome 3p loci and RERs in sporadic RCCs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: DNA was extracted from 33 Japanese sporadic RCC samples, and examined for loss of heterozygosity (LOH) and RERs by amplification of 14 microsatellite regions. LOH of the von Hippel Lindau (VHL) gene was analyzed by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) method. The target sequences of RER, transforming growth factor beta type II receptor (TGFbetaRII) and Bcl-2-associated X protein (BAX) genes were amplified and analyzed for mutations by sequencing. RESULTS: LOH of the VHL gene was observed in 53.3% of RCCs, a higher frequency than that of the 4 regions 3p12-p13 (18.8%), 3p14.2 (17.4%), 3p21 (21.2%) and 3p25-p26 except for VHL (31.3%). There were no RERs in 14 microsatellite regions, including the mononucleotide (A)10 repeats of the TGFbetaRII gene and (G)8 repeats of the BAX gene. CONCLUSION: Japanese sporadic RCCs were characterized by predominant loss of VHL gene and low contribution of the other 3 candidate RCC tumor suppressor genes. RERs, mostly caused by a defect of DNA mismatch repair, might only rarely be involved in the carcinogenesis of sporadic RCCs.
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The aim of this study is to evaluate the usefulness of a mask processing method for obtaining the true myocardial tracer distribution by eliminating the influence of the liver uptake to the myocardial uptake on myocardial SPECT images by using technetium-99m (99mTc) blood flow agents. A SPECT imaging was performed with a two-head SPECT system (GCA-7200A/DI) in both phantom and clinical studies. The mask processing method was applied to the reconstructed and projection images. The phantom consisted of heart, lung, liver and spine. A defect was located in the inferior wall of the left ventricle and other parts of the heart and liver were filled with 99mTc solution. For clinical study 10 patients with difficulty in the interpretation of the inferior wall were selected for the evaluation of usefulness of the mask method. In the phantom study, the mask processing method applied to the reconstructed images was able to remove the overlapped liver from the heart, but was not able to remove the influence of the liver uptake to the myocardial uptake. Nevertheless, the mask processing method applied to the projection images successfully eliminated not only the overlapped liver but also the influence of the liver uptake to the myocardial uptake. In the clinical study, the liver uptake could be removed from the uptake in the inferior wall in 8 of 10 patients with the mask processing methods. In 2 patients, the overlapped liver uptake could not be eliminated from the uptake in the inferior wall because the distance between the liver and heart was too short. The mask processing method applied to the projection images was thought to be superior to that applied to the reconstruction images in both phantom and clinical studies. The mask processing method, especially applied to the projection images, seems to be useful for the elimination of the liver uptake from the inferior wall of the myocardium on myocardial SPECT images using 99mTc blood flow agents.
Between March 1997 and December 1998, a total of 170 cases with an abnormal serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) level (range: 4.1-200, mean: 20.5 +/- 31.0) were chosen for this study. Following the evaluation of the prostate using power Doppler imaging (PDI) with a 7.5 MHz transrectal probe, the hypervascular lesion (HVL) was biopsied transperineally under PDI real-time guidance. Thereafter, when gray-scale transrectal sonography revealed a hypoechoic lesion, additional samples were taken from them. Finally, sextant systematic biopsy was performed in all cases. Prostatic biopsy was positive for cancer in 41 cases (24%). The positive biopsy rate was 59% (40/68) in cases with HVL, compared to 1% (1/102) in cases with no HVL (p < 0.0001). In 107 patients with serum PSA 4.1 to 10.0 ng/ml, biopsy was positive in 13 cases (12%). The positive biopsy rate was 38% (12/32) in cases with HVL, compared to 1% (1/75) in cases with no HVL (p < 0.0001). These results imply that HVL represents the neovascularity or increased perfusion of blood in the cancer lesion. Power Doppler-guided prostatic biopsy could be promising as a new biopsy technique in patients with abnormal PSA levels including moderately elevated PSA levels (4.1-10.0 ng/ml).
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University hospitals and large public hospitals introduced a first-generation ordering system, which mainly involved an integrated system developed by each institution. This type of system considerably improved the efficiency of hospital jobs, but clinically increased the burden of data-input handling of hospital staffs because the software used was unique to the respective unit. Later, the development of both network technology and package software for the ordering system allowed construction of an easy, low-cost and high-performance ordering system. Most of the recent ordering systems are a type of distributed system which is referred to as a client-server system. In this system the terminal was replaced by personal computer loaded with widely distributed Windows OS, resulting in better performance of multi-tasks. In February 1998, our hospital information system was changed from an intensive host-type to a client-server system, in which the laboratory ordering system was also reconstructed. The laboratory ordering system mainly utilizes EG Main for Windows, package software by Fujitsu Co. Ltd., and has reduced the handling of laboratory ordering jobs with Graphical User Interface and better construction of screen images. In addition to extra-laboratory tests, ordering into this system allowed the database of all the laboratory tests ordered in our hospital to be unified. The previous laboratory ordering system supported laboratory data, especially those of laboratory tests and samples conducted within the last 10 years, and the new system will also provide this function. The new laboratory ordering system is further expected to support reference image-data from physiological tests as well as to allow consultation concerning laboratory test data. These clinical job-supporting systems will likely lead to further progress of the total laboratory system.
PURPOSE: We separated the entire length of the isolated human female urethra into seven parts from external urethral meatus to bladder neck and examined regional differences in contractile responses to noradrenaline, clonidine, acetylcholine and KCl. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The entire urethra was obtained from 9 female patients with a mean age of 72.2 +/- 1.8 years. The entire urethra (35 to 42 mm. in length) was transversely cut into seven parts, and the contractile responses to noradrenaline, clonidine, acetylcholine and KCl of these parts were examined. RESULTS: Noradrenaline but not clonidine produced concentration-dependent contraction in all parts, with a peak amplitude in middle to proximal urethra. In contrast, acetylcholine produced contraction only in proximal urethra and bladder neck. The amplitudes of noradrenaline-induced contraction were normalized against those induced by KCl, revealing similarity in patterns between noradrenaline-induced contractions and urethral pressure profile in human female urethra. These contractions to noradrenaline and acetylcholine were competitively inhibited by prazosin (pK(B): 8.38 +/- 0.10) and atropine (pK(B): 8.52 +/- 0.43), respectively. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that sympathetic innervation helps maintain resting urethral tonus, mainly through alpha1-adrenoceptors.
An 82-year-old man underwent thoracoabdominal aortic replacement under cardiopulmonary bypass with left femoral artery cannulation. Lumber descending evoked spinal cord potentials and segmental evoked spinal cord potentials were monitored simultaneously for detecting spinal cord damage. When the cardiopulmonary bypass was terminated, a peripheral nerve ischemia pattern was evident. Left peroneal nerve paralysis was present at emergence from anesthesia. This monitoring system revealed that peroneal nerve paralysis can occur due to leg ischemia caused by femoral artery cannulation. This is, to our knowledge, the first report that segmental evoked spinal cord potential monitoring reveals peroneal nerve ischemia during thoracoabdominal surgery.
Reconstruction of several intercostal arteries is inevitable in surgical treatment of thoraco-abdominal aortic aneurysm. A Dacron inverted-Y shaped graft was fashioned by cutting one of two graft legs and making an elliptical patch, like a cobra-head. Once the elliptical patch was sutured to the orifices of the intercostal arteries (usually from T9 to T12) with running sutures, selective intercostal arterial perfusion was initiated. After completion of aneurysmectomy, the distal end of the elliptical patch graft was sutured to the main tube graft. This method is easier and faster and results in a decreased incidence of spinal cord injury.
We evaluated the physical or psychosocial states of testicular cancer patients receiving orchiectomy, radiation therapy and chemotherapy to assess their quality of life during and after treatment. The subjects were 33 post-treatment patients with testicular cancer who responded to the questionnaire we mailed to them. The quality of life score during chemotherapy showed a decrease, which was accompanied by gastrointestinal symptoms induced by anti-cancer drugs. With regard to the difference in adjuvant treatment types, the surveillance group showed the highest score in the satisfaction of daily life. Moreover, married patients tended to be satisfied with daily life more than non-married patients. With regard to sexual or erectile function, scores of testicular cancer patients, especially in the retroperitoneal lymph node dissection group, were inferior to these of normal volunteers. In conclusion, the physical or psychosocial states after treatment for testicular cancer depend not only on treatment type but also marriage status.
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During the one hundred years and more from the beginning of the 18th century to the beginning of the 19th century, about 16 Chinese doctors, at the invitation of Japanese, went to Japan successively by trade ships to practice medicine and teach Chinese medicine. They also conducted academic exchanges with Japanese doctors. Because both the Japanese authorities of that time and the emperor of Qing dynasty implemented the policy of closing the country, they could only do things in certain areas within limited time. By consulting a vast amount of data and following the footprints of some of the Chinese doctors in Japan, the author has got things into shape about the comings and goings of the doctors who went to Japan during the century and their activities, with the stressed point laid on the achievements of such influential doctors as Zhu Laizhang, Zhu Zizhang, Zhou Qilai, Zhao Songyang, Li Renshan, Hu Zhaoxin and so on.
Optical recordings with a voltage-sensitive dye showed that the spatio-temporal pattern of depolarizing responses evoked by electrical stimulation of antennal nerve (AN) was non-homologously distributed in the antennal lobe (AL) of the male silkworm moth, Bombyx mori. Time courses of postsynaptic activities and GABAergic inhibitory potentials of AL neurons were individually demonstrated by pharmacological experiments, i.e. Ca2+ free and bicuculline conditions. GABAergic inhibitory potentials began with a ca. 3 ms delay from the beginning of the postsynaptic activities. Intensity of the postsynaptic activities and GABAergic inhibitory potentials were non-homologously distributed in the AL. Relatively strong postsynaptic activities and GABAergic inhibitory potentials were consistently observed in some parts of the macroglomerular complex (MGC) and/or in some ordinary glomeruli (Gs) in the medial and ventral part of the AL.
Chlorophyll b is an ubiquitous accessory pigment in land plants, green algae, and prochlorophytes. Its biosynthesis plays a key role in the adaptation to various light environments. We isolated six chlorophyll b-less mutants by insertional mutagenesis by using the nitrate reductase or argininosuccinate lyase genes as tags and examined the rearrangement of mutant genomes. We found that an overlapping region of a nuclear genome was deleted in all mutants and that this encodes a protein whose sequence is similar to those of methyl monooxygenases. This coding sequence also contains putative binding domains for a [2Fe-2S] Rieske center and for a mononuclear iron. The results demonstrate that a chlorophyll a oxygenase is involved in chlorophyll b formation. The reaction mechanism of chlorophyll b formation is discussed.
BACKGROUND: An important unanswered question concerning the histogenesis of superficial-type gastric carcinoma is whether it is monoclonal or multiclonal in origin. Therefore, the authors analyzed multiple areas of each cancer with a clonality assay based on trinucleotide repeat length polymorphism of the human androgen receptor gene (HUMARA) that was subject to random inactivation of X chromosomes. METHODS: The HUMARA assay was applied to 15 gastric carcinomas, early and advanced stage, manifested in superficial, depressed lesions of various sizes and at least some signet ring cells. DNA was extracted from fresh frozen and formalin fixed tumor tissues that were microdissected from the mucosal lesions, and the HUMARA locus was amplified by polymerase chain reaction with and without prior digestion of nonmethylated DNA with Hpa II. The amplified DNA samples were loaded on polyacrylamide gels, electrophoresed, and visualized by a silver-staining method. RESULTS: In the 15 cases examined, 9 cancers were informative (had features of the types sought in this study), and in these 9 cancers a total of 57 areas were analyzed. In 7 of the 9 cancers, the inactivated allele was common to all the informative areas of each tumor, irrespective of the macroscopic shape of the tumor or the degree of histologic heterogeneity within it. In one of the two remaining cancers, the inactivated allele of one of the areas examined was different from those in the other areas. CONCLUSIONS: Most of the superficial depressed-type gastric carcinomas in this study were demonstrated to be of monoclonal origin. This finding supports a notion expressed previously in the literature that superficial-type carcinoma has a long natural history, and it indicates that efforts to detect gastric carcinomas in early stages to improve patients' survival should be encouraged.
Recombinant aspartate aminotransferase from an extremely thermophilic bacterium, Thermus thermophilus HB8, has been crystallized in two different crystal forms. The crystals of both forms are orthorhombic and belong to space group P212121 with cell dimensions a = 124.3, b = 113.6 and c = 61.6 A for form I and a = 197.3, b = 109.7 and c = 80.3 A for form II. The crystals of form I and II diffract to 2.1 and 2.5 A resolution, respectively, on a conventional laboratory rotating-anode source. Two heavy-atom derivatives have been identified for form I.