A case of a premenopausal woman with advanced breast cancer treated with aromatization inhibition in combination with luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonist

A 44-year-old premenopausal woman having local recurrence and pleural and bone metastases of breast cancer was treated with aromatization inhibition in combination with Luteinizing Hormone-releasing Hormone (LH-RH) agonist. The dominant site of metastasis was a painful local lesion invading the chest wall. A partial response by reducing the size of the local lesion was attained 3 months after initiation of treatment. This result suggested that treatment using aromatization inhibition in combination with LH-RH agonist would be effective in premenopausal breast cancer. To confirm the effectiveness of this treatment, comparative study between aromatization inhibition in combination with LH-RH agonist aromatization inhibition alone and anti-estrogen in combination with LH-RH agonist are needed.     

Hand-mirror cells acute lymphoblastic leukemia (L3)

To our knowledge, this report represents the first confirmed case in Japan of a 15-year-old boy with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).L3 with hand-mirror cells (HMC) in the bone marrow. HMC lymphoid leukemia is an unusual variant of ALL in which the bone marrow lymphoblasts manifest distinctive hand-mirror morphologic features. HMC lymphoblast is characterized by an asymmetric foot-like cytoplasmic process that extends from the portion of the cell, thus giving it the light-microscopic appearance responsible for its name. Besides ALL, HMC has been reported in acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML), blastic crisis of chronic myelogenous leukemia, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and infectious mononucleosis. HMC has been reported to be prevalent in ALL.L1 and L2 as compared with L3.     

Nepheline gradient solid solutions

Nepheline solid solutions having high thermal expansion coefficients ranging from 1.2 to 1.8×10⁻⁵°C⁻¹ were prepared from the systems NaAlSiO₄-LiAlSiO₄ and NaAlSi₄-KAlSiO₄. The thermal expansion coefficient decreased by substituting Li⁺ for Na⁺, and increased by substituting K⁺ for Na⁺. By forming a series of the nepheline solid solutions in a single ceramic body, a functionally gradient material with respect to thermal expansion was prepared. The thermal expansion coefficient should gradually vary with position according to the composition x in Na_1−x M_xAlSiCO₄ (M=Li and K).     

Increase of coercive force in sputtered hard disk

A study was made on increasing the coercive force in CoNiCr/Cr sputtered hard-disk media. A higher coercive force could be obtained when the substrate temperature was higher than 150°C and a negative bias voltage was applied to the substrate during sputtering. With optimized conditions, a coercive force of more than 2300 Oe was obtained. The increase in the coercive force is thought to be due to the enhancement of isolation between magnetic particles by developing the segregation of Cr in the CoNiCr film     

Control of percolation curve by filler particle shape in Cu- SBR composites

Abstracts are not published in this journal This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Biosurfactant-and-Bioemulsifier Produced by a Promising Cunninghamella echinulata Isolated from Caatinga Soil in the Northeast of Brazil

A Mucoralean fungus was isolated from Caatinga soil of Pernambuco, Northeast of Brazil, and was identified as Cunninghamella echinulata by morphological, physiological, and biochemical tests. This strain was evaluated for biosurfactant/bioemulsifier production using soybean oil waste (SOW) and corn steep liquor (CSL) as substrates, added to basic saline solution, by measuring surface tension and emulsifier index and activity. The best results showed the surface water tension was reduced from 72 to 36 mN/m, and an emulsification index (E₂₄) of 80% was obtained using engine oil and burnt engine oil, respectively. A new molecule of biosurfactant showed an anionic charge and a polymeric chemical composition consisting of lipids (40.0% w/w), carbohydrates (35.2% w/w) and protein (20.3% w/w). In addition, the biosurfactant solution (1%) demonstrated its ability for an oil displacement area (ODA) of 37.36 cm², which is quite similar to that for Triton X-100 (38.46 cm²). The stability of the reduction in the surface water tension as well as of the emulsifier index proved to be stable over a wide range of temperatures, in pH, and in salt concentration (4%–6% w/v). The biosurfactant showed an ability to reduce and increase the viscosity of hydrophobic substrates and their molecules, suggesting that it is a suitable candidate for mediated enhanced oil recovery. At the same time, these studies indicate that renewable, relatively inexpensive and easily available resources can be used for important biotechnological processes.     

Study of performance characteristics of a small Stirling refrigerator

A prototype Stirling cycle refrigerator employing helium as a working fluid was investigated to determine whether a freon‐free machine was a viable alternative for the current household refrigerator. A displacer‐type or β‐type Stirling cycle machine of 100‐W capacity was designed and tested using varying design parameters such as dead volume ratio, working fluids, the ratio of the compression volume to the expansion volume, and the phase difference between a power piston and displacer. The detrimental effect of the dead space on the refrigeration capacity was confirmed. The refrigeration produced by nitrogen in an expansion space was 28% less than that produced by helium. The optimum volume ratio and the phase difference for maximum refrigeration was determined under the design operation conditions. Moreover, the refrigeration correlation formula as a function of these parameters was obtained. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 31(5): 344–361, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.10033     

Application of nuclear energy for environmentally friendly hydrogen generation

It is universally admitted that hydrogen is one of the best energy media and its demand will increase greatly in the near future. However, little hydrogen exists naturally, so that how to generate hydrogen without bringing forth much CO₂${}_2$ will be very important research subject. Hydrogen generation from water using nuclear energy is one of the solutions for this problem. Especially, the high temperature gas cooled reactor (HTGR) has a possibility to generate hydrogen economically compared with other types of nuclear reactors. As for long-lived radioactive waste to be generated by nuclear reactors, it is expected to significantly reduce its burden to the human environment by applying transmutation technologies. This report describes the feature of the hydrogen generation with HTGR and the development of the accelerator-driven subcritical system to reduce radioactive waste ongoing at JAEA.     

Heat transfer of tubes closely spaced in an in-line bankTransfert thermique de tubes serres dans un reseau en ligneWärmeübergang in einem fluchtenden rohrbündelTeплoпepeнoc oт тpyб в кopидopнoм лyKhcyкe

An experimental investigation of heat transfer around four cylinders closely spaced in a cross-flow of air has been conducted. The cylinders are settled in tandem with equal distances between centers. Their inline pitch ratio is in the range of $\text{1.15 ≤}\text{c}\text{d ≤ 3.4}$ (c = distance between cylinders' centers, d = cylinder diameter); the Reynolds number ranges from 10⁴ to 5 × 10⁴. It is found that there exists a critical Reynolds number Red_c at which the heat transfer behavior changes drastically, and is correlated with the in-line pitch ratio by $\text{Red}{}_{\mathrm{c}}\text{= 1.14 × 10}{}^5\text{(}\text{c}\text{d)}{}^{\mathrm{?5.84}}$.Variations of characteristic features of the mean and local Nusselt numbers are discussed in relation to the length of the vortex formation region behind the cylinder.