Voltage-gated Na þ channel (I Na ) is expressed under culture conditions in human smooth muscle cells (hSMCs) such as coronary myocytes. The aim of this study is to clarify the physiological, pharmacological and molecular characteristics of I Na expressed in cultured hSMCs obtained from bronchus, main pulmonary and coronary artery. I Na , was recorded in these hSMCs and inhibited by tetrodotoxin (TTX) with an IC 50 value of approximately 10 nM. Reverse transcriptase/polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis of mRNA showed the prominent expression of transcripts for SCN9A, which was consistent with the results of real-time quantitative RT-PCR. These results provide novel evidence that TTX-sensitive Na þ channel expressed in cultured hSMCs is mainly composed of Na v 1.7.

Extranodal marginal zone lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT lymphoma)

A study of the equilibrium positions of a superconducting magnetic levitation system which substitutes an electromagnetic energy for a mechanical energy is in progress for the absolute determination of the magnetic flux quantum «1>0' The study on a preliminary system at ppm-level resolution has been done and the reproducibility of the trajectory turned out to be of the order of 10 ppm. The problems of the present system and ideas for the next system at the sub-ppm level are discussed.(2) corner cube reflector Laser Interferometerwhere k is the flux-to-current conversion factor and n; is the order of the SQUID.The vertical position z, of the center of gravity of M is measured by a laser interferometer. Sets of data (ie' z.) as a function of cI> describe the equilibrium trajectory of the system. It is assumed that there exists a unique equilibrium trajectory as long as the attitude of M is stable and the Meissner effect of the system holds.The total energy U of the system is the sum of the magnetic energy of the system and the gravitational potential energy of M. The difference in U between two points (epf, i el , Zel) and (cI>h, i eh , Zeh) arises from the energy supplied by the current driver I d during the flux-up from cI>l to 4>h. This energy injected under a quasi-static flux-up condition can be obtained by the integration of i e over cI>I to cI>h on the equilibrium trajectory, sõ 4>h i e dcI> = ! (cI>h i eh -cI>li el) + mg (Zeh -Zel) (3) 4>[ where g is the gravitational acceleration.Introducing the expressions for cI> and i e in terms of 4>0 Fig. 1. Superconducting magnetic levitation system.The body M is levitated by the force due to the Meissner effect when cI> is large enough. When cI> is kept constant (is = 0), M reaches the equilibrium position which depends on cI>.The system in equilibrium will now be dealt with, and quantities in equilibrium are indicated with the suffix "e." The coil current i, is measured by a SQUID ammeter (CSQ) which is calibrated with a Josephson voltage reference and a calibrated resistor aswhere N is the number of cI>0 linking C. II. THEORYA superconducting magnetic levitation system is composed of a superconducting floating body M with mass m, a superconducting coil C, and the Josephson junction J irradiated with a microwave frequency 1as shown in Fig. 1. The flux cI> linking C increases when the bias current is of J is set on the first Shapiro step ( V] = 1cI>0) by the drive current i d controlled by the SQUID ammeter (VSQ) so that the EMF of C corresponds to 1cI>0.This process may be called flux-up, and cI> is obtained by the integration oflover the flux-up period T as

A 30-year-old man presented with fever and consciousness disturbance (Glasgow Coma Scale; E4V1M6). Chest computed tomography showed infiltrative shadows in both lungs (Picture 1). Diffusion-weighted and T2-weighted brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (Picture 2A, 2B) revealed high intensity in the splenium of the corpus callosum (SCC) (arrows). Mycoplasma pneumoniae antibody (particle agglutination) titer was markedly elevated (10,240 fold), thus M. pneumoniae pneumonia was diagnosed. After intravenous levofloxacin treatment, his consciousness disturbance was completely recovered on the third hospital day, and the SCC lesion disappeared one week later (Picture 2C, 2D), along with improvement of pneumonia. Clinically mild encephalitis/encephalopathy with a reversible splenial lesion (MERS) is characterized by the MRI finding of a lesion with transiently reduced diffusion, at least in SCC, and shows a favorable prognosis (1). We report the first adult case of MERS due to M. pneumoniae infection; only a few child cases have been reported to date (2).

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