Inkjet printers are capable of printing at high resolution by ejecting extremely small ink drops. Established printing technology will be able to seed living cells, at micrometer resolution, in arrangements similar to biological tissues. We describe the use of a biocompatible inkjet head and our investigation of the feasibility of microseeding with living cells. Living cells are easily damaged by heat; therefore, we used an electrostatically driven inkjet system that was able to eject ink without generating significant heat. Bovine vascular endothelial cells were prepared and suspended in culture medium, and the cell suspension was used as "ink" and ejected onto culture disks. Microscopic observation showed that the endothelial cells were situated in the ejected dots in the medium, and that the number of cells in each dot was dependent on the concentration of the cell suspension and ejection frequency chosen. After the ejected cells were incubated for a few hours, they adhered to the culture disks. Using our non-heat-generating, electrostatically driven inkjet system, living cells were safely ejected onto culture disks. This microseeding technique with living cells has the potential to advance the field of tissue engineering.

Duration of the CsA treatment and the duration of heavy proteinuria during CsA treatment were independent significant risk factors for the development of CsA-induced tubulointerstitial lesions in children with MCNS who had been treated with long-term moderate-dose CsA.

We previously reported an automatic method for quantitative analysis of schistocytes or fragmented red cells using an automatic hematology analyzer, XE-2100. In the study reported here, we evaluated the accuracy of this detection method in patients with thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA). A follow-up study was performed on 14 patients with two types of TMA, thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura or hemolytic uremic syndrome. Schistocyte percent was evaluated both with an automatic counter and by means of microscopic observation. Total activity and isoenzyme pattern of lactate dehydrogenase (LD) were also determined. In these patients, schistocyte percent determined by automatic counting correlated highly with that determined by manual counting under microscopic observation (r = 0.852, P < 0.0001). Schistocyte percent was shown to correlate significantly with isoenzyme fractions 1 and 2 of LD (r = 0.732, P < 0.02), reflecting hemolysis. Nine of 11 patients tested had high concentrations of LD isoenzyme five without distinct liver damage, and schistocyte percent did not relate to fraction 5 of LD. Automatic detection of schistocyte percent using a hematology analyzer was useful for an accurate diagnosis and follow-up of thrombotic microangiopathy. The origin of LD fraction 5 remains to be determined.

On high-resolution computed tomography, the presence of the midzone distribution and nodules within GGOs without traction bronchiectasis suggests CSS rather than CEP.

The oxidation reaction of the thallium(I) ion to the thallium(III) ion by the peroxodisulfate ion has been studied in an aqueous acidic solution. The reaction constituted a chain reaction initiated by the thermal decomposition of the peroxodisulfate ion, the reaction involving no direct reactions between the thallium(I) and peroxodisulfate ions. At thallium(I) ion concentrations larger than 0.004 mol dm−3, the reaction mechanism was assumed to be: S2O82−\oversetk1→2SO4\ewdot; S2O82−+H+\oversetk2→HSO4−+1/2O2+SO3; Tl(I)+SO4\ewdot\oversetk3→Tl(II)+SO42−; S2O82−+Tl(II)\oversetk4→Tl(III)+SO4\ewdot+SO42−; 2Tl(II)\oversetk5\undersetk−5\ightleftharpoonsTl(I)+Tl(III). The rate of the reaction was described as −d[S2O82−]/dt=(k1+k2[H+])[S2O82−]+k4(k1⁄k5)1⁄2[S2O82−]3⁄2. The rate constants at an ionic strength of 0.16 mol dm−3 were determined to be k1=1.99×1019exp[−157 kJ mol−1/RT]s−1, k2=2.75×1012exp[−103 kJ mol−1/RT] dm3 mol−1 s−1, and k4(k1⁄k5)1⁄2=2.81×1013exp[−108 kJ mol−1/RT] dm3⁄2 mol−1⁄2 s−1 in 0.01 mol dm−3 perchloric acid, the k4 value being increased with a decrease in the hydrogen-ion concentration. The ionic strength (μ) dependence was described as logk4(k1⁄k5)1⁄2=−4.17–1.05 μ1⁄2 in 0.01 mol dm−3 perchloric acid at 40 °C. The reaction rate was completely retarded by the addition of 1% acrlyronitrile, 5×10−6 mol dm−3 cerium(III) sulfate, 1×10−3 mol dm−3 cerium(IV) sulfate, or 0.1 mol dm−3 sodium acetate, and it was also remarkably retarded by the addition of 1×10−3 mol dm−3 tetranitromethane. The copper(II) ion and molecular oxygen did not appreciably affect the reaction rate, but the iron (III) ion accelerated it greatly.