We investigated and compared rayon Vortex, ring-spun, and open-end spun yarns, and plain knitted fabrics produced from these yarns. Yarn tensile, compression, bending, and torsion tests were conducted, and differences between spinning systems were observed for bending and torsion properties. Evaluation by hand indicated that the Vortex fabric was much smoother than fabric made from open-end yarn, but less smooth than the fabric produced from ring-spun yarn. Fabric smoothness was related to both its air resistance and the hairiness of its yarn. Fabric air resistance is found to be a useful index to describe the tactile properties of knitted fabrics.

Serum concentrations of prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP), Γ-seminoprotein (Γ -Sm) and prostatic specific antigen (PSA) were measured in 31 hemodialysis patients without clinical signs of malignant disease. PAP, Γ -Sm and PSA levels in serum were not significantly different between control and hemodialysis groups. A significant reduction in these tumor markers was not found after dialysis treatment. This indicates that the measurement of PAP, Γ -Sm and PSA in serum is useful for the detection of prostatic cancer in patients undergoing hemodialysis.

The sexual fate of honeybees is determined by the complementary sex determination (CSD) model: heterozygosity at a single locus (the CSD locus) determines femaleness, while hemizygosity or homozygosity at the CSD locus determines maleness. The csd gene encodes a splicing factor that regulates sex-specific splicing of the downstream target gene feminizer (fem), which is required for femaleness. The female mode of fem splicing occurs only when csd is present in the heteroallelic condition. To gain insights into how Csd proteins are only activated under the heterozygous allelic composition, we developed an in vitro assay system to evaluate the activity of Csd proteins. Consistent with the CSD model, the co-expression of two csd alleles, both of which lack splicing activity under the single-allele condition, restored the splicing activity that governs the female mode of fem splicing. RNA immunoprecipitation quantitative PCR analyses demonstrated that the CSD protein was specifically enriched in several exonic regions in the fem pre-mRNA, and enrichment in exons 3a and 5 was significantly greater under the heterozygous allelic composition than the single-allelic condition. However, in most cases csd expression under the monoallelic condition was capable of inducing the female mode of fem splicing contrary to the conventional CSD model. In contrast, repression of the male mode of fem splicing was predominant under heteroallelic conditions. These results were reproduced by real-time PCR of endogenous fem expression in female and male pupae. These findings strongly suggest that the heteroallelic composition of csd may be more important for the repression of the male splicing mode than for the induction of the female splicing mode of the fem gene.

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Histopathological studies were performed in 18 dialysis patients with renal cell carcinoma. All patients were classified as stage I according to the criteria in the protocol of Robson. The 2 main cell types in these patients were granular (50%) and clear (44%) cell tumors. Thirty-nine percent of the carcinomas exhibited a predominantly acinar growth pattern, 27% had a papillary, and 17% exhibited a cystic growth pattern. In 28 nondialysis patients, the commonest cell type was clear cell carcinoma (67%) and acinar growth pattern was the predominant one (67%). The incidence of papillary renal cell tumors in dialysis patients was significantly higher than in nondialysis patients (p < 0.05). Patients with papillary renal cell tumors had received longer duration of dialysis therapy than those with nonpapillary renal cell carcinomas (p < 0.05). Seven (39%) showed grade 1 carcinoma and 11 (61%) showed grade 2, but grade 3 carcinoma was not observed. In these patients, 8 had associated acquired cystic disease of the kidney (ACDK). The duration of dialysis in the patients with ACDK was significantly longer (p < 0.001). The most frequent cell type was granular-cell carcinoma (63%) in the patients with ACDK. Six patients without ACDK (60%) showed clear-cell carcinoma and 4 (40%) had granular cell tumors. Seventy-four percent of carcinomas exhibited a predominantly either papillary or cystic growth pattern in the patients with ACDK. However, renal cell carcinomas in dialysis patients with or without ACDK did not show significant differences in growth pattern. In the patients without ACDK, 60% of the tumors showed an acinar growth pattern. Grade 2 carcinomas were observed in 5 (62%) of the ACDK patients and in 6 (60%) of the non-ACDK patients. Grade 1 was seen in 3 (38%) of the ACDK patients and in 4 (40%) of the non-ACDK patients. These facts suggest that pathogenesis of renal cell carcinoma is different between dialysis and nondialysis patients, but that the presence of ACDK does not influence the histopathological findings of renal cell carcinoma.