Thromboxane (TX) A2 is an important bronchoconstrictor in the pathogenesis of asthma. Seratrodast, known as AA-2414, is a new oral TXA2 receptor antagonist which is currently prescribed in asthma therapy in Japan. However its clinical effects have been very different in individual subjects. To assess whether the clinical efficacy of TXA2 antagonist is predictable on the basis of urinary arachidonic acid metabolites in urine of patients with asthma, an open and multicentre trial was conducted. Fifty adult asthmatic subjects (women/men = 28/22) were enrolled [resting mean forced expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV1)% was 82%; range, 50-96%]. Urinary levels of 11-dehydro-TXB2, leukotriene (LT) E4, 2,3-dinor-6-keto-prostaglandin F1alpha and creatinine in 3-h urine collected in the morning at the start of seratrodast (80 mg day(-1), once a day at evening for 4 weeks) were measured. Responders were defined by improvements of asthma symptoms score and peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR). Of the 50 subjects, 45 completed this study. Eighteen patients were responders and the other 27 were nonresponders. There were no significant differences between the two groups in patients' characteristics, baseline lung functions, treatments and baseline urinary eicosanoids. The 11-dehydro-TXB2/LTE4 ratio of responders was significantly higher (P = 0.0091) than that of non-responders (mean +/- SE, 7.49+/-0.71 vs. 5.09+/-0.67). Eleven patients out of 18 responders agreed to continue this drug for 6 months, the 11-dehydro-TXB2/LTE4 ratio decreased during this period, but not significantly. Our data demonstrated that responders and non-responders to TXA2 receptor antagonist existed in patients with asthma, and it suggests that the ratio of urinary eicosanoids might be a possible predictor of the effects of TXA2 receptor antagonist.

The biochemical and therapeutic responses to dietary therapy were studied in a 25-month-old girl and a 1-month-old girl with methylmalonic acidemia (MMA-emia), which was unresponsive to vitamin B12. The minimum daily intake of protein which patients could tolerate and display a good development was between 1.0 and 1.2 g per kg body weight. Supplementation with amino acid mixture devoid of toxic amino acids was required to prevent protein malnutrition when daily protein intake was restricted to 0.6 g per kg body weight. Caloric intake should be sufficient, not only to promote growth but also to prevent a rise in MMA level, especially when a patient has ketoacidosis. It was found that MMA excretion per mg creatinine in random urine specimens correlated significantly with serum MMA and twenty four-hour output of MMA per kg body weight. Therefore measurement of MMA in a single urine specimen is useful for evaluating the in vivo accumulation of MMA.

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The in-process assurance (IPA) welding system is the real-time weld quality monitoring system which is possible to abridge the nondestructive test (NDT) or decrease the number of NDTs. It consists of a personal computer, analog/digital converter, and several sensors such as voltage, current, velocity, sound, and torch distance. It is necessary to make clear the relationship between welding conditions and defects. The welding data of the IPA system for the automatic TIG tube welding and semiautomatic TIG and MIG welding were thoroughly studied and the following results were obtained:The IPA system is able to monitor welding conditions;quality control of welded joints is possible by statistical analysis of the IPA system; andwelding sound is useful for assurance of welding quality.

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