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The clinical features of patients with Klinefelter's syndrome attending a male infertility clinic have been investigated in order to consider their assisted reproduction treatment options. Over 12 years, a total of 148 patients with sterility due to azoospermia had Klinefelter's syndrome. Eight patients were shown by fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) on metaphase spreads to be mosaic (46,XY/47,XXY), and 140 patients showed only 47,XXY. Small testes were observed in 95% of patients and gynaecomastia was seen in 12.4%. Half of the patients showed hypergonadotrophic hypogonadism, while others showed normogonadism (usually hypergonadotrophic). Spermatozoa were observed in semen from one patient with mosaicism and one without. Three-colour FISH revealed hyperploidy in 2.7% and 2.3% of these spermatozoa respectively. Multiple-site testicular biopsies in five recent patients were performed and yielded a specimen with round and elongated spermatids in one patient with 47,XXY karyotype. This sample was cryopreserved for future intracytoplasmic sperm injection. At follow-up, 46% of couples had chosen artificial insemination with donor sperm, and none had chosen adoption. Two patients developed testicular tumours, one a mature teratoma and the other a Leydig cell tumour. Two patients required androgen replacement therapy.

A 69-year-old man with a history of transient chest pain was diagnosed takotsubo cardiomyopathy. In I-123-(3-metyliodophenyl pentadecanoic acid myocardial scintigraphy, decreased uptake of apex was seen in the acute phase, and it recovered in 3 months. In I-123-meta-iodobenzyl-guanidine myocardial scintigraphy, decreased uptake of apex persisted for 6 months, and there was a discrepancy between apical and total washout rate in the acute phase and after 3 months, which disappeared after 6 months. We speculate that the discrepancy of sympathetic innervation between the apical and basal region is the cause of the characteristic left ventricular apical akinesia of takotsubo cardiomyopathy. (Internal Medicine 41: 829-833, 2002)

The atomic and electronic structures of NiO(001)∕Au(001) interfaces were analyzed by high-resolution medium energy ion scattering (MEIS) and photoelectron spectroscopy using synchrotron-radiation-light. The MEIS analysis clearly showed that O atoms were located above Au atoms at the interface and the inter-planar distance of NiO(001)∕Au(001) was derived to be 2.30 ± 0.05 Å, which was consistent with the calculations based on the density functional theory (DFT). We measured the valence band spectra and found metallic features for the NiO thickness up to 3 monolayer (ML). Relevant to the metallic features, electron energy loss analysis revealed that the bandgap for NiO(001)∕Au(001) reduced with decreasing the NiO thickness from 10 down to 5 ML. We also observed Au 4f lines consisting of surface, bulk, and interface components and found a significant electronic charge transfer from Au(001) to NiO(001). The present DFT calculations demonstrated the presence of an image charge beneath Ni atoms at the interface just like alkali-halide∕metal interface, which may be a key issue to explain the core level shift and band structure.