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Notes: GYROTRON FU IV, a frequency tunable gyrotron for spectroscopy in the submillimeter wavelength range using a 17 T superconducting magnet, has been designed and constructed. Simulations predict that the gyrotron will emit radiation at high frequencies up to 394 GHz (TE041 cavity mode) at the fundamental of the electron cyclotron frequency, up to 858 GHz (TE091 mode) at the second harmonic and up to 1301 GHz (TE8 11 1 mode) at the third harmonic. Preliminary experimental results have demonstrated operation from 158 to 443 GHz at the fundamental and from 336 to 838 GHz at the second harmonic. Output powers are several hundred watts and efficiencies several percent. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: An experimental study of the rapid step-switching of the frequency of a submillimeter wave gyrotron is described. Modulation of the energy of the electron beam in turn modulates the electron mass and hence the cyclotron resonance frequency fc or its second harmonic 2fc, while the magnetic field B0 remains the same. This opens up the possibility of switching from one cavity mode to another. The first experimental results for frequency switching between two fundamental modes and between a fundamental and a second harmonic mode are demonstrated.

Notes: Experimental results of the amplitude modulation of the output of a submillimeter wave gyrotron are presented. The 100% modulation of the output at frequencies up to several hundred kilohertz has been achieved with anode modulation levels of only a few percent. A good account of the experimental results is given by including a small modulation of the anode voltage in an energy transfer formula and then calculating the power output.

Notes: The development of a submillimeter wave, high-harmonic gyrotron using a 12 T superconducting magnet is described. It has achieved frequencies as high as 636 GHz (corresponding to a wavelength of 472 μm) in second harmonic operation. Many resonances could be obtained as a single mode without competing modes. Typical output power is several hundred watts at both the fundamental and the second harmonic. At low beam currents (Ib∼0.5 A), third harmonic operation has been obtained. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: In this Letter, a high-frequency, second-harmonic gyrotron using a 12 T superconducting magnet is described. It has achieved a maximum frequency of 636 GHz (corresponding to a wavelength of 472 μm). Operating at both the fundamental and the second harmonic of the electron cyclotron frequency enables the gyrotron to act as a high power (several 100 W), step tunable, millimeter to submillimeter wave source in the wide frequency range from 150 to 630 GHz.

Notes: In our previous study, apparent reduction of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) mRNA was seen in the hippocampus and the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) during repeated immobilization (IMO) stress, but not following starvation. Our laboratory has also shown that the sp1 activates, whereas tumour suppressor p53 represses the promoter activity of GR gene. In an attempt to reveal the possibility that transcription factors such as sp1 and/or p53 are involved in the regulation of GR mRNA expression in the hippocampus and in the PVN in vivo, we examined the expression of GR mRNA, p53 mRNA, and sp1 mRNA in the hippocampus and in the PVN during repeated IMO and following starvation. In addition, the expression of these mRNAs was examined in the anterior pituitary, another GR-rich area. GR mRNA in all subfields of the hippocampus was robustly decreased, while GR mRNA in the anterior pituitary was increased, 24 h following 4 × IMO (2 h daily, for 4 consecutive days) and immediately after 5 × IMO. GR mRNA in the PVN was significantly decreased immediately after 5 × IMO, but not at 24 h after 4 × IMO. Conversely, p53 mRNA in the PVN and hippocampus was increased, whereas p53 mRNA in the anterior pituitary was decreased, 24 h following 4 × IMO and immediately after 5 × IMO. Sp1 mRNA was unchanged in all areas examined following repeated IMO. Following 4 days of starvation, neither GR mRNA, p53 mRNA nor sp1 mRNA showed any changes in the PVN and the hippocampus, except there was a minor decrease in GR mRNA in CA1-2. In the anterior pituitary, 4 days of starvation induced a minor, but significant increase in GR mRNA, whereas it decreased p53 mRNA. Overall, regression analyses revealed a negative correlation between GR mRNA levels and p53 mRNA levels in CA1-2 and dentate gyrus of the hippocampus and in the anterior pituitary. GR mRNA in the PVN also showed a tendency towards the negative correlation with p53 mRNA levels. The results raise the possibility that p53 negatively regulates GR mRNA expression in the PVN, the hippocampus and the anterior pituitary during repeated immobilization stress.

Notes: During starvation, counterregulatory responses to loss of food (i.e. responses that lead to an increase in appetite) occur in the central nervous system (CNS). This study was designed to examine whether middle-aged rats show greater or smaller behavioural, peripheral and central hormonal responses during starvation compared to young rats. In experiment 1, refeeding following 4 days of starvation was measured in both middle-aged (72-week-old) and young (9-week-old) rats. The level of refeeding was similar to each prestarved level until 3 days after the end of starvation in both groups. From the 4th day, the level of refeeding in young rats increased and reached beyond the prestarved level, whereas refeeding in middle-aged rats remained similar to the prestarved level. Thus, overall refeeding throughout 7 days was greater in young rats than in middle-aged rats. In experiment 2, middle-aged and young rats were starved for 4 days and were killed in the morning. Middle-aged rats showed a smaller plasma corticosterone response than that of young rats. The magnitude of decreases in plasma glucose, insulin and leptin was similar in both groups. In the arcuate nucleus, the starvation-induced increase in neuropeptide Y (NPY) mRNA and the decrease in proopiomelanocortin (POMC) mRNA were smaller in middle-aged rats than in young rats. In contrast, the starvation-induced decrease in corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) mRNA in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus was greater in middle-aged rats than young rats. The magnitude of decrease in type-2 CRH receptor mRNA in the ventromedial hypothalamus was similar in both groups. The results indicate that (a) ageing impaired refeeding response (b), middle-aged rats showed the same directional neuropeptide mRNA responses as seen in young rats during starvation and (c) the magnitude of these counterregulatory responses in the CNS in middle-aged versus young rats was not uniform, but rather was site-specific or neuropeptide-specific. This study suggests the importance of NPY and POMC responsiveness in the arcuate nucleus in the age-related differences resulting from starvation-induced refeeding.

Notes: Background We have shown that interleukin-5 (IL-5) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) are present in sputum from patients experiencing acute asthma attacks, by eosinophil survival assay. The viability of guinea-pig eosinophils was significantly increased in the presence of such sputum extracts after 3 days' culture, and it was inhibited by the addition of anti-IL-5 and anti-GM-CSF antibodies. However, the contribution of IL-5 to the increase in eosinophil viabihty was less than expected from the values of IL-5 measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Therefore, we speculated that something in sputum inhibited the function of IL-5.Objective Tratnsforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) was the only cytokine we tested that inhibited the prolongation of survival of guinea-pig eosinophils induced by IL-5. The objective of this study is to detect TGF-β in the same sputum. Methods Guinea-pig eosinophils were cultured with or without anti-TGF-β antibody in the presence of sputum extracts, and the eosinophil viability was counted after 3 days. Measurement of TGF-βl in sputum was performed by ELISA. Results Eosinophil viabilities with and without anti-TGF-β antibody were 79.7 ± 2.9% and 69.0 ± 2.7%, respectively, and the difference between them was statistically significant (P 〈 0.05, n = 9). The concentration of TGF-β1 in the sputum was 21.7 ± 3.3 ng/mL (n = 9).Conclusion These observations suggest that TGF-β is present in sputum from patients with bronchial asthma.