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Volume 181 (1997)
- Issue 4 Pages 389-
- Issue 3 Pages 321-
- Issue 2 Pages 245-
- Issue 1 Pages 1-
Volume 181, Issue 2
February
Displaying 1-6 of 6 articles from this issue
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Regular Contributions
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Chan-Seok Moon, Zuo-Wen Zhang, Yoshiko Imai, Shinichiro Shimbo, Takao ...1997 Volume 181 Issue 2 Pages 245-265
Published: 1997
Released on J-STAGE: March 10, 2006
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSNutrient intake was studied by the total food duplicate method in 141 adult working women (at the ages of 21 to 56 years) in four regions (Seoul, Pusan, Chunan and Haman) in Korea. Clinical, hematological and anthropometrical examinations were conducted in parallel. The nutrient intakes were estimated in reference to the weight of each food item and the national standard food composition tables for Korean population, and evaluated in comparison with the nationally recommended dietary allowances (RDA). The intakes were essentially sufficient when evaluated on a group basis. Plant-based foods were major sources of both protein (67%) and lipid (72%). Dinner was the most substantial sources of all nutrients. Further evaluation on an individual basis taking 80-120% RDA as acceptable showed that young people (at the ages of 20-29 years) and those in Seoul had highest prevalence of insufficient intake of nutrients, especially energy, protein and iron. Consumption of rice, the traditional staple food, was the lowest in Seoul and in the youngest groups as compared with others. The prevalence of overweight cases was also the lowest in the Seoul participants. The two observations when combined apparently suggest the difficulties in public nutrition.View full abstractDownload PDF (1170K) -
Juan R. Correa, Panayota N. Zarmakoupis-Zavos, Panayiotis M. Zavos1997 Volume 181 Issue 2 Pages 267-274
Published: 1997
Released on J-STAGE: March 10, 2006
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSThe objective of this study was to use the bovine as a model to evaluate the recovery of frozen-thawed spermatozoa via a conventional and a standardized swim-up technique. Frozen-thawed semen specimens (3 bulls) were washed and reconstituted with 2.9% (w/v) sodium citrate extender containing 20% (v/v) chicken egg yolk (SC-EY). Reconstituted sperm specimens were used for selection via conventional swim-up and the standardized ZSC™ method. The swim-up method consisted of ovarlayering the sperm specimen with 0.7 to 1.0 ml of isolation media (Ham's F-b), followed by 1 hr of incubation. The ZSC™ consisted of a conical cavity on the bottom of a glass column. The sperm specimen was placed into the conical cavity until the surface of the specimen was at the same level as the upper boundaries of the conical cavity. The surrounding periconical and epiconical areas were filled with 0.7 to 1.0 ml of isolation media, followed by 1 hr of incubation. The isolation media was removed (harvesting) from swim-up (80% volume) and ZSC™ specimens (100% volume) at the end of incubation. Recovered specimens were assessed for volume (ml), sperm concentration (×106 spermatozoa/ml), the percentage and grade of motility (0 to 4), the occurrence of osmotic shock and the percentage of spermatozoa reactive to the hypoosmotic swelling (HOS) test. Swim-up and ZSC™ selected specimens were qualitatively similar to each other. However, higher numbers of spermatozoa were recovered when sperm specimens were processed via the ZSC™ method (1.6 fold increase) than with the conventional swim-up technique. Because the ZSC™ method enabled the recovery of up to 100% of the overlayered media, it also enabled the recovery of most of the spermatozoa that migrated from the sperm specimen into the isolation media with no possibility of mixing the two, which was the case with the swim-up method, and which could also contaminate the recovered specimen with dead and immotile spermatozoa. Thus, the ZSC™ technique enabled the harvesting of the medium closest to the underlayered sperm specimen, which contributed to maximize the number of sperm recovered. When all assessed parameters were noted and all clinical improvements and efficiency of the method were compared to the swim-up technique, the sperm manipulation procedure of choice was clearly the ZSC™ method.View full abstractDownload PDF (520K) -
Hiroyoshi Onodera, Katsuaki Ukai, Masaki Suzuki, Yuko Minami1997 Volume 181 Issue 2 Pages 275-283
Published: 1997
Released on J-STAGE: March 10, 2006
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSWe examined the effect of interferon (IFN) therapy for chronic active hepatitis (CAH) C in 207 patients by estimating the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after IFN therapy using the person-years method. Statistical analysis was performed using the Mantel-Haenszel chi-square test. No HCC was detected in patients with normal serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels after IFN therapy (response-effect group), and in patients with both normal serum ALT levels and hepatitis C virus (HCV)-RNA clearance after IFN therapy (complete-responder group). The incidence per 100,000 person-years in the patients with elevated serum ALT level after IFN therapy (other-effects group) and in the patients with positive HCV-RNA after IFN therapy (non-responder group) were 1968 and 1624, respectively. The incidence in control patients who did not achieve IFN therapy was 901. No statistically significant differences were observed between the other-effects group, non-responder group, and the control group. Our results so far suggest that normalization of the serum ALT levels and/or HCV clearance might reduce the incidence of HCC.View full abstractDownload PDF (495K) -
Nanako Hiwatari, Sanae Shimura, Kohei Yamauchi, Masayuki Nara, Wataru ...1997 Volume 181 Issue 2 Pages 285-295
Published: 1997
Released on J-STAGE: March 10, 2006
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSAlthough both procollagen III aminopeptide (P-IIl-P) and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) are reported to be present in lung tissue and/or elevated in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) patients, we have little knowledge concerning the clinical significance of elevated P-III-P and TGF-β levels in BALF. Using a radioimmunoassay, we measured P-III-P and TGF-β in BALF from 48 IPF patients (16F and 32M, 59±2 years, mean± S.E.) who received BAL in our clinic over the past 13 years before glucocorticosteroid treatment. Among them, we could detect a significant amount of P-III-P (2.2± 1.0 U/ml; range 0.03 to 16.5 U/ml) in BALF in 18 of the patients (5F and 13M, 58±3 years) (group B), but not (0.03 U/ml or less) in the other 30 patients (11E and 19M, 59±2 years) (group A). Lymphocyte (%) and basophil (%) in BALF from group B was much larger than that from group A (33% vs. 8%, p<0.01). Group B showed a longer duration of onset to BAL (36 months vs. 23 months, p<0.05). TGF-β levels were obtained using an ELISA system kit from the same BALF samples. TGF-β was not detected in 10 patients (100 pg/ml or less) (3F and 7M, 59±4 years) (group I), while the remaining 38 patients showed a significant amount of TGF-β (329±44 pg/ml, range 100 to 1,360 pg/ml). The latter patients were further divided into two groups; group II 100 to 300 pg/ml (10F and 14M, 56±3 years) and group III 350 or more (3F and 11M, 63±2 years). Group III showed significantly better values in PaO2, Aa-DO2, %VC and %DLco, and smaller percentage of basophils in BALF than did groups I and/or II, whereas survival after BAL in group III was significantly shorter than in group I (31 vs. 19 months, p<0.05). There was no significant relationship between P-III-P and TGF-β levels in BALE. These findings suggest that elevated P-III-P level is accompanied by an increase in lymphocyte population in BALF from IPF patients, resulting in a longer duration of the disease, while elevated TGF-β level reflects alveolar inflammation at an earlier stage of the disease which induces a progression of the disease, resulting in a shorter survival in IPF patients.View full abstractDownload PDF (679K) -
Hisako Yuasa, Yoshihiro Ono, Yoshitatsu Fukabori, Chikako Ohma, Keiji ...1997 Volume 181 Issue 2 Pages 297-309
Published: 1997
Released on J-STAGE: March 10, 2006
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSWe studied the changes in the tissue localization of nuclear estrogen receptor (ER) positively stained cells in the seminal vesicle of immature castrated rats under various environmental conditions of sex hormones by immunohistochemical methods. In castrated rats of 6 weeks of age, the percentage of nuclear ER positively stained cells showed remarkable increase in the periglandular stroma region, but not in the epithelium and the peripheral stroma region. Estrogen administration to castrated rats dramatically increased the percentage of nuclear ER positively stained cells in both the epithelium and the peripheral stroma region, whereas cessation of estrogen treatment caused a significant percentile decrease. These results suggest that the nuclear ER expression in both the epithelial cells and the peripheral stromal cells seems to respond to estrogen. The concomitant treatment of estradiol-17β (E2) with 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) completely inhibited these E2 mediated ER expression in the epithelium and the stroma. This result suggests that ER works only when E2 is given in the absence of DHT in the seminal vesicle of immature castrated rats.View full abstractDownload PDF (742K) -
Yukitoshi Takahashi, Tateki Fujiwara, Kazuichi Yagi, Masakazu Seino1997 Volume 181 Issue 2 Pages 311-319
Published: 1997
Released on J-STAGE: March 10, 2006
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSUsing specially made optical filters, we analyzed the wavelength dependency of photoparoxysmal responses (PPRs) in five photosensitive nonepileptic subjects. The wavelength spectrum around 700 nm (680-700 nm) was estimated as the only visible spectrum essential for eliciting PPRs in two normal trichromat nonepileptic subjects, although the effect of some wavelength spectra (360-400 nm and 520-580 nm) was uncertain. The wavelength dependency of PPRs in two photosensitive nonepileptic subjects was the same as that found in some patients with photosensitive idiopathic generalized epilepsy.View full abstractDownload PDF (531K)
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