Peroxyl radical scavenging capability of fish sauces measured by the chemiluminescence method

Oxygen-related free radicals have been suggested as a cause of aging and various diseases, for example, various cancers and rheumatoid arthritis. A radical scavenger as an antioxidant has been sought in foods. Fish sauces are traditional Asian fermented seasonings. Using the luminol chemiluminescence method, the peroxyl radical scavenging capability of fish sauces was examined. From the IC50 values, many fish sauces have been shown to have a strong scavenging capability as well as soy sauces. A scavenging mechanism is also proposed.     

Histamine downregulates CD14 expression via H2 receptors on human monocytes

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) binds to LPS-binding protein (LBP) in plasma and is delivered to the cell surface receptor CD14 on human monocyte. LPS is transferred to the transmembrane signaling receptor toll-like receptor (TLR) 4. In the present study, the effect of histamine on the expression of CD14 on human monocytes was investigated. Histamine concentration- and time-dependently decreased the expression of cell surface CD14, whereas histamine did not decrease mRNA for CD14 nor increase soluble CD14 (sCD14). The inhibitory effects of histamine on CD14 expression were antagonized by H2-receptor antagonist, but not by H1 and H3/H4 antagonist. The effects of selective H2-receptor agonists, 4-methylhistamine and dimaprit, on CD14 expression mimicked that of histamine indicating that histamine regulated CD14 expression through the stimulation of H2-receptors. The pretreatment with histamine partially inhibited the LPS-induced TNF-alpha production in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Such inhibition might be due to the down-regulation of CD14 expression on monocytes by histamine.     

Chromosome 1q terminal deletion resulting fromde novo translocation with an acrocentric chromosome

Summary Distal deletion of chromosome 1q has been reported in nearly 30 patients, all being associated with a deletion ranging from the 1q42 or q43 band to 1qter region. Here, we describe a girl with 1q terminal deletion resulting from an unbalancedde novo translocation t(1;D or G)(q44; p11), as revealed by the presence of a satellited feature and an NOR-stained region at the tip of 1q. We suggest that most of the phenotypic abnormalities seen in patients with 1q distal deletion are attributable to the monosomy for band 1q44.     

Phase stability after aging and its influence on pin-on-disk wear properties of Ce-TZP/Al2O3 nanocomposite and conventional Y-TZP

Recently zirconia/alumina composites have been examined by many researchers as the new generation of bearing materials in total joint replacements. In this study, the phase stability of a Ce-TZP/Al(2)O(3) nanocomposite and conventional Y-TZP after aging, and its influence on wear resistance, were investigated. Very slight phase transformation was observed in both types of ceramics 18 months after the implantation of Ce-TZP/Al(2)O(3) or Y-TZP samples into rabbit tibiae. However, Y-TZP showed marked phase transformation (approximately 80%) after aging in an autoclave (121 degrees C) for 190 h or in physiological saline at 62 degrees C for 18 months, whereas the new composite remained almost resistant to degradation. According to the results of self-pairing pin-on-disk wear tests using ceramic specimens with or without autoclave aging, the wear factor was almost the same between Ce-TZP/Al(2)O(3) samples with and without aging (6.74 +/- 0.36 x 10(-8) and 6.04 +/- 0.95 x 10(-8) mm(3)/Nm, respectively). In contrast, although non-aged Y-TZP had the lowest wear factor (4.88 +/- 0.51 x 10(-8) mm(3)/Nm) of all specimens tested, aged Y-TZP showed 10-fold greater wear than nonaged Y-TZP. The present study suggests that Ce-TZP/Al(2)O(3) nanocomposite has much greater phase stability than Y-TZP, and that its wear properties are not influenced by aging.     

Generators of visual evoked potentials for faces and eyes in the human brain as determined by dipole localization

Human visual evoked potentials were recorded during presentation of photos of human and animal faces and various face features. Negative waves with approximate peak latencies of 165 msec (N170) were bilaterally recorded from the occipito-temporal regions. Mean peak latencies of the N170 were shorter for faces than eyes only. Analyses of amplitudes of evoked potentials indicated that the N170 elicited by faces reflected activity of a specific neural system which was insensitive to detailed differences among individual faces regardless of species, and consequently suggest that this system might function to detect existence of faces in general. On the other hand, the mean amplitude of the N170 elicited by human eyes was significantly larger than those by animal eyes. These differences in response latencies and amplitudes of the N170 suggest existence of at least 2 different visual evoked potentials with similar latencies (i.e., N170) which are sensitive to faces in general and human eyes, respectively. Dipole source localization analysis indicated that dipoles for the N170 elicited by eyes were located in the posterior inferior temporal gyrus, and those for faces, located initially in the same region, but moved toward the fusiform and lingual gyri at the late phase of the N170. The results indicated that information processing of faces and eyes separated at least as early as the latency of the N170 at the posterior inferior temporal gyrus as well as the fusiform and lingual gyri, and might provide neurophysiological and anatomical bases to an initial structural encoding stage of human faces.     

Detection of t(14; 18)(q32;q21) in hyperdiploid cells by fluorescence in situ hybridization in a patient with Hodgkin disease

The most frequent nonrandom chromosome rearrangements in B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is the t(14;18)(q32;q21) found in follicular lymphomas. The t(14;18) in Hodgkin disease (HD) was rarely observed using cytogenetic techniques. Although Southern blot analysis failed to demonstrate the t(14;18), there have been conflicting reports concerning the occurrence of the translocation using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods in HD. In some HD tissues, the translocation might be derived from background lymphocytes rather than Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells, because B-cells with t(14;18) are regularly generated in normal individuals. However, the cells bearing the translocation have remained unidentified. We describe a patient with HD who showed t(14;18) in hyperdiploid cells using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and HRS cells which were strongly positive for BCL2 by immunohistochemistry. These findings suggest that HRS cells may have a t(14;18).     

Thymosin alpha 1 exerts protective effect against the 5-FU induced bone marrow toxicity

Thymosin alpha 1 was shown to prevent the 5-fluorouracil(5-FU)-induced bone marrow toxicity in BDF1 mice, as determined by the cellularity, haemopoietic stem cells (CFU-s) and granulocyte-macrophage colony forming unit (GM-CFU). Furthermore, thymosin alpha 1 increased the levels of colony stimulating factor (CSF) in sera or in culture media of spleen cells derived from 5-FU-treated mice. The treatment of spleen cells with anti-Thy 1,2 antibody plus complement abolished completely the CSF production. The in vivo treatment of donor mice with anti-Thy 1,2 antibody following 5-FU abolished completely the capability of their bone marrow cells to save lethally irradiated recipients. Thymosin alpha 1 treatment prevented the damage by such combined treatment. The present study indicates that thymosin alpha 1 exerts its protective effect against the 5-FU-induced bone marrow toxicity, at least partially, through its effect on the maturation of immature T cells to functional T cells which produce various kinds of lymphokines including CSF.