Cavity resonator for circularly polarized microwave irradiation mounted on a cryostat.

We have constructed a cylindrical cavity resonator with a hybrid coupler where circularly polarized microwaves can be irradiated to a sample. The polarity of the microwave can be switched by changing the input ports of the hybrid coupler. The cavity resonator is small enough to be mounted on a cryostat which enables us to change the sample temperature in a wide range. To demonstrate the performance of the cavity resonator mounted on a cryostat, Yttrium Iron Garnet (YIG) was used as a test sample. We succeeded in selectively exciting left and right circularly polarized modes with high polarization (>80%). We also evaluated the susceptibility tensor of YIG in the cryostat. The technique presented here would offer a new direction in the fields of spintronics and quantum information.

[Limited operation for stage I lung cancer: a retrospective study].

Although lobectomy is standard therapy for Stage I non-small cell lung cancer, it often cannot be performed in poor-risk patients. In this report, we describe the results of a retrospective study to assess the usefulness of limited operation for stage I lung cancer. Over a 21-year period, 1,286 lung cancers were resected at our center. Among the 497 patients with stage I lung cancer, 36 sublobar resections were performed. There was only one surgery-related death, and the 5-year survival rate was 46% for all patients. At 5 years, survival was 69.2% for patients with squamous cell carcinoma and 33.7% for patients with adenocarcinoma. Survival rates were higher in patients who underwent mediastinoscopy than those who did not, and depended on histological findings and accurate pathological staging.

Lack of detectable reverse transcriptase activity in human and chimpanzee sera with a high infectivity for non-A, non-B hepatitis.

A serum sample from a patient with hepatitis and samples from two experimentally infected chimpanzees, all with a high infectivity for non-A, non-B hepatitis, were tested for reverse transcriptase. Biopsy confirmed that the hepatocytes of the chimpanzees that received these sera contained the characteristic tubular structures associated with non-A, non-B hepatitis. None of these three sera revealed detectable enzyme activity. We have not been able to confirm the association of reverse transcriptase activity with non-A, non-B hepatitis reported recently.

Beta-propiolactone for the inactivation of non-A/non-B type 1 hepatitis virus capable of inducing cytoplasmic tubular ultrastructures in chimpanzees.

Non-A/Non-B type 1 hepatitis virus may be recognized because it induces characteristic tubular ultrastructures in the hepatocyte cytoplasm of chimpanzees. 3 chimps received 0.1 ml of a chimp serum containing more than 100 chimp infecting units of non-A/non-B type 1 hepatitis virus after it had been treated with beta-propiolactone with or without combined ultraviolet irradiation. All of the chimps escaped infection throughout the observation period of 23 weeks. The treatment of the serum with beta-propiolactone at the mildest condition employed (0.05%, 4 degrees C, 20 min) was still effective in inactivating the virus. The susceptibility of the chimps was ascertained by the subsequent challenge with 0.1 ml of the untreated serum which invariably induced non-A/non-B type 1 hepatitis in them. On the basis of these results, beta-propiolactone was extremely efficacious for the cold sterilization of non-A/non-B type 1 hepatitis virus.

Non-A, non-B (type 1) hepatitis agent capable of inducing tubular ultrastructures in the hepatocyte cytoplasm of chimpanzees: inactivation by formalin and heat.

We have reported two kinds of viruslike particles derived from human sera that induced morphologically and serologically different types of non-A, non-B hepatitis in chimpanzees. A chimp serum containing one such agent capable of inducing a type of hepatitis with cytoplasmic tubular ultrastructures (non-A, non-B, type 1) was titrated for its infectivity in chimps. Two chimps who received 1 ml of a 10(-2) dilution of the original serum developed the characteristic morphological changes in the liver together with elevated serum transaminase levels, while the other two who received 1 ml of a 10(-4) dilution failed to show such changes. The two who escaped the infection were proven to be susceptible to the agent, because they developed non-A, non-B, type 1 hepatitis when they were challenged by 1 ml of a 10(-1) dilution of the same serum on the 23rd week after the first inoculation. One milliliter of a 10(-1) dilution containing more than 10 chimp infecting units were inactivated in the presence of 1/2000 formalin or by heating at 100 degrees C for 5 min and then given to four other chimps. None of them developed clinical or histologic evidence of non-A, non-B, type 1 hepatitis, thereby indicating that both formalin and heat could destroy the ability of the agent to induce this type of hepatitis.

Demonstration of two different types of non-A, non-B hepatitis by reinjection and cross-challenge studies in chimpanzees.

Utilizing immune electron microscopy, viruslike particles were identified in the serums of three apparently healthy, HBsAg-negative blood donors. The serum from one of the donors, when injected into two susceptible chimpanzees, induced non-A, non-B hepatitis with an increase in SGPT level and pathological changes in the liver compatible with acute hepatitis but none of the cytoplasmic ultrastructures previously noted by electron microscopy in non-A, non-B hepatitis. These two chimps did not contract hepatitis when the same inoculum was given again 17 wk after the first injection. When they were subsequently challenged, however, by a chimp inoculum containing viruslike particles known to induce non-A, non-B hepatitis with cytoplasmic tubular ultrastructures, they developed high SGPT levels and these characteristic ultrastructures in their hepatocytes. A third chimp was initially injected with the chimp inoculum containing viruslike particles known to induce hepatitis with tubular ultrastructures, reinjected with the same agent, and then challenged by the human serum containing viruslike particles capable of inducing non-A, non-B hepatitis without tubular ultrastructures. He developed biochemical and pathological evidence of acute hepatitis after the first and the third, but not after the second inoculations. There are at least two kinds of viruslike particles which are associated with infectivity for two different types of non-A, non-B hepatitis; these have been tentatively designated NANB-1 and NANB-2.

Glomerulonephritis associated with arteritis in marmosets infected with hepatitis A virus.

Seven of 8 marmosets (Saguinus oedipus and Saguinus labiatus) injected i.v. with different inocula of hepatitis A virus isolated from patients in the acute phase of disease developed proliferative glomerulonephritis associated with arteritis. The glomerulonephritis was characterized by immunofluorescent and electron-dense deposits and hypercellularity. Although no antigenic component of the glomerular immune complex was detected, this glomerulonephritis and arteritis may be diagnosed morphologically as an immune complex disease. These findings show the possibility of the appearance of exohepatic disease as an immunologically mediated disease in human hepatitis A virus infection.

Viruslike particles in a plasma fraction (fibrinogen) and in the circulation of apparently healthy blood donors capable of inducing non-A/non-B hepatitis in humans and chimpanzees.

Two patients who had received a fibrinogen preparation contracted hepatitis of non-A/non-B etiology 3 and 8 wk after the injection. A chimpanzee inoculated with the same preparation developed hepatitis 11 wk later, with an increase in SGPT and a liver pathology compatible with acute viral hepatitis. His preacute serum containing the presumptive etiologic agent induced hepatitis in another chimpanzee. Electron microscopic observation of the liver of these chimpanzees biopsied during preacute and acute stages revealed peculiar tubular structures composed of two unit membranes with electron-opaque material in between. Using the serum obtained from infected chimpanzees at convalescence as an antibody reagent, viruslike particles were identified in the fibrinogen preparation by immune electron microscopy. When the serum of 100 apparently healthy blood donors with SGPT value of 80 Karmen units/ml or higher was tested for viruslike particles, eight were found to be positive. Furthermore, one of these sera, when a 5-ml amount was injected into each of two chimpanzees, induced hepatitis with viruslike particles in the circulation and characteristic tubular changes in the liver. On the basis of the results obtained, the viruslike particles in the fibrinogen preparation, as well as in the circulation of apparently healthy donors, were capable of inducing hepatitis of non-A/non-B category with a liver pathology characterized by tubular structures. The detection of non-A/non-B viral particles, especially when refined to routine laboratory tests, may open the way for the specific diagnosis, exclusion of contaminated blood from transfusion, and eventual prophylaxis by vaccination.

Diagnosis of type A hepatitis by fecal IgA antibody against hepatitis A antigen.

A method was developed for the early diagnosis of type A hepatitis. The method involved the detection of fecal antibody against hepatitis A antigen (HAAg). We followed 6 patients who contracted type A hepatitis in an outbreak for the fecal excretion of HAAg and antibody against HAAg (anti-HA) by immune electron microscopy. Fecal anti-HA appeared soon after the disappearance of HAAg, at around the zenith of serum transaminase, and persisted approximately 4 mo after the development of hepatitis. Fecal anti-HA was of IgA class, since it was completely absorbed by an anti-IgA column, but not affected by anti-IgG or anti IgM column. Owing to its early appearance and short duration, fecal anti-HA allows an early diagnosis of type A hepatitis by the test of a single specimen. Fecal anti-HA would be assumed to herald the termination of the period during which patients should be segregated from the community to prevent secondary infection.

Duality of hepatitis B e antigen in serum of persons infected with hepatitis B virus: evidence for the nonidentity of e antigen with immunoglobulins.

Hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) is detected in the serum of some persons infected with hepatitis B virus. Owing to a close correlation of HBeAg and hepatitis B virus in the serum, it has been used as a practical indicator of infectivity. Two entities of HBeAg activity physicochemically different from each other were demonstrated in the serum of persons infected with hepatitis B virus. One was associated with a molecule that precipitated in 1.33 M ammonium sulfate solution, was larger than IgG, and had an electrophoretic mobility in the beta- to gamma-globulin regions and an isoelectric point of approximately pH 5.7. In contrast, the other HBeAg activity was associated with a molecule that was soluble in 1.33 M ammonium sulfate solution, was smaller than IgG, and had an electrophoretic mobility in the alpha-globulin region and an isoelectric point at pH 4.8. In spite of their marked physicochemical differences, a line of antigenic identity was clearly observed for them when they were tested against antibody to HBeAg by a them when they were tested against antibody to HBeAg by a double immunodiffusion method. The HBeAg activity associated with the large molecule was completely removed by an affinity column of anti-IgG, whereas the activity of the small molecule was not. These results indicate that, in the serum, HBeAg exists as a molecule smaller than IgG and also in association with IgG.