A technique for noninvasive ultrasound examination to detect and map abdominal wall adhesions is described. The examination is based on the demonstration of movement of abdominal viscera during real-time imaging. This movement is called viscera slide and either occurs spontaneously as a result of respiratory movement or may be induced by manual compression. Abdominal wall adhesions produce a restriction of viscera slide. Ultrasonic demonstration of restricted viscera slide has been used for the precise localization and mapping of abdominal wall adhesions prior to abdominal surgery. The technique may be particularly useful in providing safe initial access in patients undergoing laparoscopy who are at increased risk for trocar injury of viscera due to abdominal wall adhesions resulting from previous surgery or peritonitis.

Real-time ultrasonography can detect the movement of viscera immediately deep to the abdominal wall. This motion of abdominal contents is called viscera slide, and is produced by the force of respiratory motion (spontaneous viscera slide) or by manual ballottement of the abdomen (induced viscera slide). Viscera slide was observed in 18 "normal" subjects (no history of previous abdominal surgery or peritonitis) and in 24 subjects at "risk" for abdominal wall adhesions because of previous abdominal operations or past history of peritonitis. In 14 of the 24 "risk" group subjects, spontaneous and induced viscera slide was restricted to excursions of less than 1 cm (58.3%). Operations were performed on 18 patients, which confirmed the fact that restriction of ultrasonically detected viscera slide identified abdominal wall adhesions in all cases, but no adhesions were found in patients with normal viscera slide. This ultrasonic finding of restricted viscera slide may be useful in the preoperative discovery and localization of abdominal wall adhesions prior to laparoscopy or laparotomy.

Immune recognition of human cancers except melanoma is not well understood at either the cellular or the molecular level. We demonstrate in this study the existence of HLA class-I-restricted and tumor-specific CTL in IL-2-activated TIL (tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes) of all 4 gastric cancer patients tested. We established HLA A2-restricted and adenocarcinoma-specific CTL in 2 HLA A0201 1 patients, and HLA A2402-restricted CTL recognizing both adenocarcinoma and squamous-cell carcinomas (SCC) in the 2 remaining HLA A2402 1 patients. Further, HLA A3101-restricted and adenocarcinoma-specific CTL were established in 1 of the 2 HLA A2402 1 patients who had HLA A3101 allele. HLA A2-, A2402-and A3101-restricted CD8 1 CTL clones were established from these parental CTL lines. The 2 HLA A2-restricted CTL lines lysed 8 of 13 HLA A2 1 adenocarcinoma cell lines established from different organs (stomach, colon, lung and breast) with different subtypes (HLA A0201, A0206 and A0207). The HLA A2-restricted CTL line recognized 9 and 6 different HPLC fractions of peptides eluted from the HLA A0201 1 breast and HLA A0201 1 colon adenocarcinoma cell lines, respectively. Allele-specific deletion of HLA A2 or A24 molecules was observed in some tumor lines that were not susceptible to lysis by the CTL lines. These results suggest that TIL of gastric cancer possess CTL recognizing different peptide antigens binding to different HLA-A alleles that are widely expressed on adenocarcinomas and also, to some extent, on SCC from different organs. Int.

Immune recognition of human cancers except melanoma is not well understood at either the cellular or the molecular level. We demonstrate in this study the existence of HLA class-I-restricted and tumor-specific CTL in IL-2-activated TIL (tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes) of all 4 gastric cancer patients tested. We established HLA A2-restricted and adenocarcinoma-specific CTL in 2 HLA A0201 1 patients, and HLA A2402-restricted CTL recognizing both adenocarcinoma and squamous-cell carcinomas (SCC) in the 2 remaining HLA A2402 1 patients. Further, HLA A3101-restricted and adenocarcinoma-specific CTL were established in 1 of the 2 HLA A2402 1 patients who had HLA A3101 allele. HLA A2-, A2402-and A3101-restricted CD8 1 CTL clones were established from these parental CTL lines. The 2 HLA A2-restricted CTL lines lysed 8 of 13 HLA A2 1 adenocarcinoma cell lines established from different organs (stomach, colon, lung and breast) with different subtypes (HLA A0201, A0206 and A0207). The HLA A2-restricted CTL line recognized 9 and 6 different HPLC fractions of peptides eluted from the HLA A0201 1 breast and HLA A0201 1 colon adenocarcinoma cell lines, respectively. Allele-specific deletion of HLA A2 or A24 molecules was observed in some tumor lines that were not susceptible to lysis by the CTL lines. These results suggest that TIL of gastric cancer possess CTL recognizing different peptide antigens binding to different HLA-A alleles that are widely expressed on adenocarcinomas and also, to some extent, on SCC from different organs. Int.

This paper introduces a newly developed probing system for a micro-coordinate measurement machine (micro-CMM) based on an interaction force generated by the water layer on the surface of the measuring object. In order to measure the dimensions of the micrometric structures, a probing system using a nanopipette ball stylus has been developed. A glass microsphere with diameter of 9 µm is used as a stylus tip of the probing system. The glass nanopipette, which is fabricated from a capillary glass tube by a thermal pulling process, is employed as a stylus shaft to improve the fixation strength of the stylus tip. The approach between the stylus tip and the surface of the measuring object can be detected by utilizing the method of shear-force detection. The stylus is oscillated in the lateral direction at its resonant frequency to detect an interaction force owing to the viscoelasticity of the meniscus layer existing on the surface of the measuring object. The oscillation amplitude is decreased by the shear-force applied to the stylus tip. In this study, the basic characteristics of the probing system including sensitivity, resolution and reproducibility are investigated. The experimental result of dimensional measurement of micrometer-scale structure is presented.