Effects of dominant and nondominant eyes in binocular rivalry.

PURPOSE: To investigate the relation between sighting and sensory eye dominance and attempt to quantitatively examine eye dominance using a balance technique based on binocular rivalry. METHODS: The durations of exclusive visibility of the dominant and nondominant eye target in binocular rivalry were measured in 14 subjects. The dominant eye was determined by using the hole-in-card test (sighting dominance). In study 1, contrast of the target in one eye was fixed at 100% and contrast of the target in the other eye was varied from 100% to 80% to 60% to 40% to 20%, when using rectangular gratings of 1, 2, and 4 cycles per degree (cpd) at 2 degrees, 4 degrees , and 8 degrees in size. In study 2, contrast of the target in the nondominant eye was fixed at 100% and contrast of the target in the dominant eye was varied from 100% to 80% to 60% to 40% to 20%, when using a rectangular grating of 2 cpd at 4 degrees in size. RESULTS: In study 1, the total duration of exclusive visibilities of the dominant eye target; that is, the target seen by the eye that had sighting dominance was longer compared with that of the nondominant eye target. When using rectangular gratings of 4 cpd, mean total duration of exclusive visibility of the dominant eye target was statistically longer than that of the nondominant eye target (p < 0.05). In study 2, reversals (in which duration of exclusive visibility of the nondominant eye becomes longer than the dominant eye when the contrast of the dominant eye target is decreased) were observed for all contrasts except for 100%. CONCLUSIONS: The dominant sighting eye identified by the hole-in-card test coincided with the dominant eye as determined by binocular rivalry. The contrast at which reversal occurs indicates the balance point of dominance and seems to be a useful quantitative indicator of eye dominance to clinical applications.     

Augmented production of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor and alpha/beta interferon in mice inoculated with heat-killed Corynebacterium liquefaciens.

We demonstrated that heat-killed Corynebacterium liquefaciens bacteria, as a known potent host immune activity modulator, stimulate spleen cells to produce granulocyte-macrophage (GM) colony-stimulating factor (CSF) and another CSF with similar activity, as well as alpha/beta interferon, when injected intravenously into mice. Alpha/beta interferon was shown to be produced by C. liquefaciens-activated plastic-G-10 column-adherent cells (A cells) in a thymus-independent manner. In contrast, augmented production of GM-CSF required the action of C. liquefaciens-activated T lymphocytes that collaborated with normal A cells. Non-T spleen cells from C. liquefaciens-stimulated athymic mice, however, produced an alternative CSF that partially replaced GM-CSF. Correspondingly, the numbers of GM-producing CFU developing in cultures of spleen cells from C. liquefaciens-treated euthymic or athymic mice were 10 to 30 times higher than those in cultures of spleen cells from untreated mice. These results suggest that gram-positive rods such as C. liquefaciens activate T and A cells for production of multiple cytokines and that potential cooperative actions of these cytokines underlie the known immunomodulatory action of coryneforms.     

Treatment with hypotensive agents affects the impaired relaxation of the penile corpus cavernosum in hypertensive rats.

Treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED) in hypertensive subjects remains to be formally established. There is currently no standardized treatment for ED in hypertensive subjects. In this study, we tested our hypothesis that hypotensive drugs would improve impaired relaxation in the corpus cavernosum of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Ten-week-old SHR was treated with amlodipine, imidapril or hydralazine for 4 weeks. Although all three drugs achieved an equivalent decrease in systolic blood pressure (SBP), only amlodipine and imidapril induced an increase in relaxation in response to electrical field stimulation (EFS) of the corpus cavernosum. In the case of amlodipine, this effect was dose- and SBP-dependent. Nitric oxide (NO)-dependent relaxation was increased by amlodipine over a wide range of EFS frequencies, was increased by imidapril at low EFS frequencies, and was decreased by hydralazine. Carbon monoxide (CO)-dependent relaxation was only increased by hydralazine, and this increase occurred over a wide range of frequencies. The NOx and cGMP levels in the EFS-stimulated corpus cavernosum were increased by amlodipine. Amlodipine did not affect the thiobarbituric acid-reacting substance levels in the serum and the corpus cavernosum, but did decrease superoxide dismutase activity in the tissue. Imidapril and hydralazine inhibited the acetylcholine-induced relaxation in the corpus cavernosum. Sodium nitroprusside-induced relaxation in the tissue was increased by amlodipine. All three agents similarly inhibited the phenylephrine-induced contraction. These results suggest that impaired neurogenic relaxation in the corpus cavernosum of SHR is improved by amlodipine and imidapril through an increase in the synthesis and/or release of neuronal NO, but not CO, and presumably the inhibited detumescence of erection, which is induced by norepinephrine being released from sympathetic neuron. These findings indicate that amlodipine and imidapril may ameliorate the decreased relaxation of cavernous smooth muscle in the setting of hypertension.     

Atrial septal defect repair through limited lateral thoracotomy in children

Objective We have developed a surgical method for atrial septal defect repair through a limited right lateral thoracotomy in which the incision line begins 2 cm caudal from the lower angle of the scapula and ends at the midaxial line, thereby improving patient satisfaction with the cosmetic results of treatment. Methods We performed a retrospective review of 28 patients who underwent isolated atrial septal defect repair through a limited right lateral thoracotomy between January 2002 and August 2004. The mean age and mean body weight at the time of the operation were 85.8 months (range 9–236 months) and 23.0 kg (range 8.0–56.0 kg), respectively. All repaired defects were the ostium secundum type. Results There was no operative or late mortality and no late morbidity after a mean follow-up of 26 months (range 12–41 months). Echocardiography showed no residual shunt in any of the patients. The mean length of the skin incision was 7.8 cm (range 5.0–11.0 cm), and almost all the patients had satisfactory cosmetic results. Conclusion The atrial septal defect repair through a limited right lateral thoracotomy in pediatric patients showed satisfactory surgical results and excellent cosmetic results.     

HTLV-I, HIV-I, and Hepatitis B and C Viruses in Western Province, Papua New Guinea: A Serological Survey

Seven hundred and twenty-three serum samples from individuals in 13 Gidra-speaking villages in Western Province, Papua New Guinea were tested for evidence of infection with human T- lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I), human immunodeficiency virus type I (HIV-I), hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV). No samples were positive for antibodies to HIV-I. Antibodies to HTLV-I were found in 13 samples (1.8%), HBV surface antigens (HBsAg) were found in 86 samples (11.9%), and antibodies to HCV were found in 30 samples (4.1%). Six (46.2%) of 13 HTLV-I positive samples were positive for HCV or HBsAg. The seropositive rate varied in different villages and the incidence of HTLV-I and HCV was higher in coastal and riverine areas than inland.     

Comparison of DNA fingerprinting by PFGE and PCR-RFLP of the coagulase gene to distinguish MRSA isolates

Staphylococcus aureus isolates were collected from epidemiologically unrelated clinical sources in Japan between 1991 and 1993. A total of 40 isolates, five each of eight coagulase types, were analysed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of the coagulase gene, PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) after AluI digestion, and pulsedfield gel electrophoresis (PFGE) of chromosomal DNA after SmaI digestion. The efficiency of discrimination among the isolates increased in the order of PCR < PCR-RFLP < PFGE, yielding five, 13 and 31 different types, respectively. To assess the clinical use of these methods, 42 additional methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) isolates collected from 27 inpatients in a hospital were analysed. PFGE and PCR-RFLP were able to discriminate 11 and four types, respectively. PFGE analysis detected cross-infection between four postoperative patients in an intensive-care unit, and in six neonates in intensive care. We conclude that of the three methods tested, PFGE analysis currently allows the most effective discrimination of MRSA strains.     

Development of a high-level expression system for deuterium-labeled human serum albumin

We have developed an expression system for recombinant human serum albumin (rHSA) using methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris Mut(+) transformants together with the multiple cross-over integration of the vector containing human serum albumin (HSA). After 86 h of methanol induction, the secreted rHSA reached levels of approximately 320 mg/l in 100% H(2)O medium and approximately 180 mg/l in 70% D(2)O/30% H(2)O (v/v) medium in a fed-batch fermenter. The structures of the obtained rHSA and plasma-derived HSA (pHSA) were virtually identical as viewed from various physicochemical techniques such as HPLC, SDS gel electrophoresis, and CD. NMR peaks of the partially deuterium (D)-labeled rHSA (DrHSA) were quite sharp compared to those of pHSA due to suppression of the intramolecular nuclear Overhauser effect, promising further structural studies of the whole HSA molecule in the solution state using the recent NMR techniques.     

Immunosuppressive activity induced by nitric oxide in culture supernatant of activated rat alveolar macrophages.

Alveolar macrophages (AM) from normal rats had immunosuppressive activity to mitogen-induced proliferative responses of splenic lymphocytes. We studied the mechanism and the implication of the nitric oxide synthetase pathway in AM-mediated suppression of concanavalin A (Con A)-induced lymphocyte proliferation. The culture supernatant from AM cultures alone did not have immunosuppressive activity to Con A-induced proliferative responses of non-adherent spleen cells (n-ad SC), but the culture supernatant from co-culture of AM and autologous n-ad SC had this activity. Con A-pulsed AM also liberated the immunosuppressive factor. When AM and autologous n-ad SC were cultured separately under the condition that medium could freely communicate, the culture supernatant did not suppress the Con A-induced proliferative response of n-ad SC. This indicated that the immunosuppressive factor was liberated when AM was activated by cell-to-cell contact with n-ad SC. Further, we examined the immunosuppressive activity of the culture supernatant of co-culture of AM and autologous n-ad SC to Con A-induced responses of allogeneic n-ad SC and xenogeneic murine n-ad SC, and allogeneic mixed leucocyte reaction, and found that this culture supernatant could suppress all these proliferative responses. Nitrate (NO2-) synthesis was markedly augmented in the culture supernatants of Con A-pulsed AM and co-culture of AM and n-ad SC. NG-monomethyl-L-arginine (MMA), a specific competitive inhibitor of the nitric oxide synthetase pathway (NOSP), extinguished both NO2- synthesis by AM and AM-mediated immunosuppressive activity. These data suggest that NOSP was important in AM-mediated suppression of Con A-induced lymphocyte proliferation.