Improved formulations of antisense oligodeoxynucleotides using wrapped liposomes.

Previously, we demonstrated that wrapping dextran fluorescein anionic/cationic lipid complexes with neutral lipids produced a stable formulation that markedly increased the duration of the compound in plasma after intravenous administration to rats. The improved drug-delivery properties of the wrapped liposomes (WL) relative to other formulations suggested that this technology could offer important advantages for the administration of other polyanionic drugs, including antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (ODN). In the present study, we investigated the value of WL for formulating fluorescence-labeled phosphorothioated ODN (F-ODN). WL encapsulating F-ODN/cationic lipid complexes were prepared efficiently using similar methodology to that used in our earlier study. Studies confirmed that these WL were stable in vitro. Following intravenous administration to mice, free F-ODN and naked F-ODN/cationic lipid complexes were rapidly eliminated whereas administration of the WL resulted in high blood concentrations of drug that were maintained for several hours. Additional studies were conducted in mice that were inoculated with tumor cells (Caki-1 xenograft model, human kidney); in these experiments, intravenous administration of WL delivered 13 times more F-ODN to the tumor site than achieved after injection of free F-ODN.     

Correlation between scalp-recorded electroencephalographic and electrocorticographic activities during ictal period.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlation between scalp-recorded electroencephalographic (EEG) and electrocorticographic (ECoG) activities during ictal periods. METHODS: Simultaneous EEG and ECoG recordings with chronic subdural electrodes were performed in eight patients with partial epilepsy. RESULTS: In two cases where the ictal ECoG discharges originated in deep brain structures such as the hippocampus and interhemispheric surface of the frontal lobe, ictal discharges could not be detected on EEG until they expanded to the cortex of convexity. In four cases, the ictal onset zones were located in the lateral convexity. When synchronous or near synchronous ictal ECoG discharges with amplitudes of 200-2000muV were recorded on more than 8-15cm(2) of cortex, corresponding discharges were recorded on EEG in these four cases. However, in a case of frontal lobe epilepsy, asynchronous ictal ECoG discharges were recorded on 10 electrodes of convexity but no ictal EEG activity was recorded. Furthermore, in two frontal lobe epilepsy cases, ictal EEG discharges did not always reflect the ictal ECoG spike, but occasionally reflected slow background ECoG activity around the ictal discharges. CONCLUSIONS: Multiple factors such as the width of the cortical area involved, amplitude of ictal discharges and degree of synchronization of electrical potentials play important roles in the appearance of ictal EEG recordings, and the relationship between ictal EEG and ECoG is not straightforward.     

Prophylactic effect of UFT on the recurrence of bladder cancer

To evaluate the effect of UFT, a mixture of ftorafur and uracil in a ratio of 1:4, in preventing postoperative recurrence of bladder cancer, we performed a randomized controlled study with a non-medication group as control. UFT was given orally 400 mg a day for 6 months. Of 111 patients, 56 were given UFT and 55 were followed up without any medication. The non-recurrence rate in the group treated with UFT was 62.8% after 1 year and 36.3% after 2 years of follow up, and that of the control group was 45.7% and 39.5%, respectively. The rate of non-recurrence in the UFT group was significantly higher (p less than 0.05) than that of the control group during the period of follow up for 2 years. The incidence of side effects was 6.8% in UFT patients. These results indicate the clinical usefulness of prophylactic administration of UFT for bladder cancer patients.     

Effects of sex hormones on human PMN migration

It is believed that gingivitis at puberty is exaggerated by alterations of the hormonal balance. We have suggested that estradiol promotes the gingivitis at puberty while progesterone reduces it (J. Hiroshima Univ. Dent. Soc. 19: 1987). But the mechanisms of these hormones which influence gingival inflammation are not known yet. Therefore, we hypothesized that one of the possible mechanisms of sex hormones on gingival inflammation is through their action on polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMNs) function because PMNs play an important role in periodontal disease. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of sex hormones on PMNs function, especially their migration in vitro. PMNs and plasma were obtained from heparinized peripheral blood of 23 healthy adults. PMNs were preincubated at 37 degrees C for 15 minutes with progesterone or 17 beta-estradiol at designated concentrations. After preincubation, PMNs migration was measured using 48-well chemotaxis micro-chamber with N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP) as chemoattractant. The levels of estradiol and progesterone in the plasma were determined using Direct Radioimmunoassay Kits and the correlation between sex hormone levels and PMNs migration was investigated. PMNs migration to 10(-6) M FMLP was enhanced significantly by progesterone at the concentrations of 200 ng/ml while it was reduced by estradiol at 0.4 ng/ml and 2.0 ng/ml. Random migration of PMNs was enhanced significantly by progesterone at 20 ng/ml while it was reduced by estradiol at 0.4 ng/ml. Significant positive correlation was found between progesterone level in plasma and the PMNs migration in vitro. Estradiol level in plasma did not have any correlation with the PMNs migration in vitro.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Cultural competency in occupational therapy: beyond a cross-cultural view of practice.

The purposes of this paper are two. The first purpose is to contribute to cultural competence in occupational therapy practice. The second is to contribute to occupational therapy literature about culture and cultural analysis related to practice. This paper introduces a cultural analysis of stories about the therapeutic process with two Japanese therapists and their Japanese patients. Two therapeutic situations, including therapists' and their patients' experiences, are interpreted by the author, a Japanese occupational therapist, as critical incidents for reflection to improve culture general competence. The stories illustrate the patients' perception of life with illness and, particularly, the emergence of their cultural values within the therapy process. The analyses focus on how an understanding of the patients' illness experience is integrated into the therapy process and how the therapeutic interventions reflect the culture. In one case, the therapeutic occupation of cooking links to the meaning found in the traditional Japanese woman's role. In the second case, the therapist-patient relationship, based on local rather than western social relationships, promoted the patient's engagement in meaningful occupations. Reflection on these stories, which illustrate an alternative cultural view of occupations and therapeutic relationships, may assist occupational therapists in the development of improved level of cultural competence.     

Optimization of self-reference thermometry using complex field estimation.

Referenceless, or self-reference, thermometry is a technique for mapping temperature differences in the region of interest (ROI) using the baseline phase estimated by extrapolating the field in the surrounding region for estimation (RFE) and subtracting the estimated baseline from the measured field. In the present work a self-reference technique based on complex field estimation using 2D polynomials comprising complex-valued coefficients was proposed and optimized. Numerical simulations with a Gaussian-profiled phase distribution demonstrated that the ROI radius had to be 2.3-2.5 times the standard deviation (SD) of the Gaussian function in order to keep the error below 8% of the peak phase change. The area ratio between the ROI and the RFE had to be larger than 2.0 to maintain the error level. Based on the simulations, and phantom and volunteer experiments, the complex-based method with independently optimized polynomial orders for the two spatial dimensions was compared with the phase-based method using the similar-order optimization strategy. The complex-based method appeared to be useful when phase unwrapping was not removed. Otherwise, the phase-based method yielded equivalent results with less polynomial orders.     

Metabolic expression of intrinsic developmental programs for dentine and enamel biomineralization in serumless,chemically-defined,organotypic culture

Summary Biomineralization was investigated using embryonic mouse mandibular first molars (M₁) cultured in the presence or absence of fetal calf serum. Metabolic features including cell division and Ca²⁺ and phosphate incorporation into dentine and enamel extracellular matrices were analyzed. The relative timing and magnitude of DNA synthesis for serumless cultures was comparable toin vivo controls. Isotopic calcium and phosphate incorporation into the mineral phase of dentine and enamel matrices, in the absence of serum, fluctuated during development. Molar tooth morphogenesis, cytodifferentiation, and extracellular matrix formation approximated late crown-stage development in serumless cultures. Von Kossa histochemical staining indicated calcium phosphate salt formation in serumless cultures. Analysis of anhydrous fixation-prepared enamel and dentine representing serumless cultured explants indicated that crystal size and orientation were comparable toin vivo enamel and dentine. In contrast, serum-supplemented cultures showed atypical crystal size and orientation. Calcium/phosphorous (Ca/P) ratio values for serumless cultures after 21 days showed Ca/P enamel values of 2.03 (SD±0.04, p<0.025) and dentine values of 1.89 (SD±0.01, p<0.025). Electron diffraction patterns of enamel and dentine formed in serumless cultures were principally those of highly-ordered crystalline hydroxyapatite. Our results suggest that tissue-specific dentine and enamel biomineralization is regulated by endogenous factors intrinsic to the developmental program of embryonic tooth organs during serumless culture.     

Fibroepithelial polyp of the verumontanum

A case of fibroepithelial polyp of the verumontanum in a 20-year-old male is presented. The endoscopic examination revealed polypoid lesion protruding from the verumontanum, and transurethral resection of the tumour was performed. The histopathological diagnosis was fibroepithelial polyp, containing no prostatic glandular structures. As the nomenclature of the lesions is widely varying, we tried to classify polypoid or papillary lesions of the prostatic urethra by a literature review.