Prognostic markers in head and neck carcinoma

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most common cancer worldwide. Well-known risk factors include tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption. Overall survival has improved, but is still low especially in developing countries. One reason for this is the often advanced stage of the disease at the time of diagnosis, but also lack of reliable prognostic tools to enable individualized patient treatment to improve outcome. To date, the TNM classification still serves as the best disease evaluation criterion, although it does not take into account the molecular basis of the tumor. The need for surrogate molecular markers for more accurate disease prediction has increased research interests in this field. We investigated the prevalence, physical status, and viral load of human papillomavirus (HPV) in HNSCC to determine the impact of HPV on head and neck carcinogenesis. The prevalence and genotyping of HPV were assessed with an SPF10 PCR microtiter plate-based hybridization assay (DEIA), followed by a line probe-based genotyping assay. More than half of the patients had HPV DNA in their tumor specimens. Oncogenic HPV-16 was the most common type, and coinfections with other oncogenic and benign associated types also existed. HPV-16 viral load was unevenly distributed among different tumor sites; the tonsils harbored significantly greater amounts of virus than other sites. Episomal location of HPV-16 was associated with large tumors, and both integrated and mixed forms of viral DNA were detected. In this series, we could not show that the presence of HPV DNA correlated with survival. In addition, we investigated the prevalence and genotype of HPV in laryngeal carcinoma patients in a prospective Nordic multicenter study based on fresh-frozen laryngeal tumor samples to determine whether the tumors were HPV-associated. These patients were also examined and interviewed at diagnosis for known risk factors, such as tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption, and for several other habituations to elucidate their effects on patient survival. HPV analysis was performed with the same protocols as in the first study. Only 4% of the specimens harbored HPV DNA. Heavy drinking was associated with poor survival. Heavy drinking patients were also younger than nonheavy drinkers and had a more advanced stage of disease at diagnosis. Heavy drinkers had worse oral hygiene than nonheavy drinkers; however, poor oral hygiene did not have prognostic significance. History of chronic laryngitis, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and orogenital sex contacts were rare in this series. To clarify why vocal cord carcinomas seldom metastasize, we determined tumor lymph vessel (LVD) and blood vessel (BVD) densities in HNSCC patients. We used a novel lymphatic vessel endothelial marker (LYVE-1 antibody) to locate the lymphatic vessels in HNSCC samples and CD31 to detect the blood microvessels. We found carcinomas of the vocal cords to harbor less lymphatic and blood microvessels than carcinomas arising from sites other than vocal cords. The lymphatic and blood microvessel densities did not correlate with tumor size. High BVD was strongly correlated with high LVD. Neither BVD nor LVD showed any association with survival in our series. The immune system plays an important role in tumorigenesis, as neoplastic cells have to escape the cytotoxic lymphocytes in order to survive. Several candidate HLA class II alleles have been reported to be prognostic in cervical carcinomas, an epithelial malignancy resembling HNSCC. These alleles may have an impact on head and neck carcinomas as well. We determined HLA-DRB1* and -DQB1* alleles in HNSCC patients. Healthy organ donors served as controls. The Inno-LiPA reverse dot-blot kit was used to identify alleles in patient samples. No single haplotype was found to be predictive of either the risk for head and neck cancer, or the clinical course of the disease. However, alleles observed to be prognostic in cervical carcinomas showed a similar tendency in our series. DRB1*03 was associated with node-negative disease at diagnosis. DRB1*08 and DRB1*13 were associated with early-stage disease; DRB1*04 had a lower risk for tumor relapse; and DQB1*03 and DQB1*0502 were more frequent in controls than in patients. However, these associations reached only borderline significance in our HNSCC patients.

Characterization of a mercury-reducing Bacillus cereus strain isolated from the Pulicat Lake sediments, south east coast of India

Pulicat Lake sediments are often severely polluted with the toxic heavy metal mercury. Several mercury-resistant strains of Bacillus species were isolated from the sediments and all the isolates exhibited broad spectrum resistance (resistance to both organic and inorganic mercuric compounds). Plasmid curing assay showed that all the isolated Bacillus strains carry chromosomally borne mercury resistance. Polymerase chain reaction and southern hybridization analyses using merA and merB3 gene primers/probes showed that five of the isolated Bacillus strains carry sequences similar to known merA and merB3 genes. Results of multiple sequence alignment revealed 99% similarity with merA and merB3 of TnMERI1 (class II transposons). Other mercury resistant Bacillus species lacking homology to these genes were not able to volatilize mercuric chloride, indicating the presence of other modes of resistance to mercuric compounds.

Characterization of a mercury-reducing Bacillus cereus strain isolated from the Pulicat Lake sediments, south east coast of India

Pulicat Lake sediments are often severely polluted with the toxic heavy metal mercury. Several mercury-resistant strains of Bacillus species were isolated from the sediments and all the isolates exhibited broad spectrum resistance (resistance to both organic and inorganic mercuric compounds). Plasmid curing assay showed that all the isolated Bacillus strains carry chromosomally borne mercury resistance. Polymerase chain reaction and southern hybridization analyses using merA and merB3 gene primers/probes showed that five of the isolated Bacillus strains carry sequences similar to known merA and merB3 genes. Results of multiple sequence alignment revealed 99% similarity with merA and merB3 of TnMERI1 (class II transposons). Other mercury resistant Bacillus species lacking homology to these genes were not able to volatilize mercuric chloride, indicating the presence of other modes of resistance to mercuric compounds.

Synthetic and conformational studies on dehydrophenylalanine containing model peptides

Four model dipeptides containing a Z-dehydrophenylalanine residue (ΔZPhe) at the C-terminal, Boc-X-ΔZ Phe-NHMe (X = Ala (1), Gly (2), Pro (3), and Val (4)), have been synthesised and their solution conformations investigated by 270 MHz 1H n.m.r. and i.r. spectroscopy. N.m.r. studies on these peptides clearly show the presence of intramolecularly hydrogen bonded structures in CHCl3 solutions while such structures appear to be absent in the corresponding saturated peptides. This conclusion is also supported by i.r. studies. Studies of the nuclear Overhauser effect provided evidence for the occurrence of a significant population of β-turn structures in solvents like CDCl3 and (CD3)2SO. The observed NOES are consistent with a major contribution from Type II β-turn structure in CDCl3, while in (CD3)2SO solutions there is evidence of a partially extended structure also.

Reactivity Of Pph3 Toward Ruiiruiiicl(O2car)4 - Syntheses, Molecular-Structures, And Spectroscopic And Electrochemical Properties Of Ruiiruiii(Oh2)Cl(Mecn)(O2car)4(Pph3)2 And Ruii2(Oh2)(Mecn)2(O2car)4(Pph3)2

By the reaction of Ru2Cl(O2CAr)4 (1) and PPh3 in MeCN-H2O the diruthenium(II,III) and diruthenium(II) compounds of the type Ru2(OH2)Cl(MeCN)(O2CAr)4(PPh3)2 (2) and Ru2(OH2)(MeCN)2(O2CAr)4(PPh3)2 (3) were prepared and characterized by analytical, spectral, and electrochemical data (Ar is an aryl group, C6H4-p-X; X = H, OMe, Me, Cl, NO2). The molecular structure of Ru2(OH2)Cl(MeCN)(O2CC6H4-p-OMe)4(PPh3)2 was determined by X-ray crystallography. Crystal data are as follows: triclinic, P1BAR, a = 13.538 (5) angstrom, b = 15.650 (4) angstrom, c = 18.287 (7) angstrom, alpha = 101.39 (3)-degrees, beta = 105.99 (4)-degrees, gamma = 97.94 (3)-degrees, V = 3574 angstrom 3, Z = 2. The molecule is asymmetric, and the two ruthenium centers are clearly distinguishable. The Ru(III)-Ru(II), Ru(III)-(mu-OH2), and Ru(II)-(mu-OH2) distances and the Ru-(mu-OH2)-Ru angle in [{Ru(III)Cl(eta-1-O2CC6H4-p-OMe)(PPh3)}(mu-OH2)(mu-O2CC6H4-p-OMe)2{Ru(II)(MeCN)(eta-1-O2CC6H4-p-OMe)(PPh3)}] are 3.604 (1), 2.127 (8), and 2.141 (10) angstrom and 115.2 (5)-degrees, respectively. The compounds are paramagnetic and exhibit axial EPR spectra in the polycrystalline form. An intervalence transfer (IT) transition is observed in the range 900-960 nm in chloroform in these class II type trapped mixed-valence species 2. Compound 2 displays metal-centered one-electron reduction and oxidation processes near -0.4 and +0.6 V (vs SCE), respectively in CH2Cl2-TBAP. Compound 2 is unstable in solution phase and disproportionates to (mu-aquo)diruthenium(II) and (mu-oxo)diruthenium(III) complexes. The mechanistic aspects of the core conversion are discussed. The molecular structure of a diruthenium(II) compound, Ru2(OH2)(MeCN)2(O2CC6H4-p-NO2)4(PPh3)2.1.5CH2Cl2, was obtained by X-ray crystallography. The compound crystallizes in the space group P2(1)/c with a = 23.472 (6) angstrom, b = 14.303 (3) angstrom, c = 23.256 (7) angstrom, beta = 101.69 (2)-degrees, V = 7645 angstrom 3, and Z = 4. The Ru(II)-Ru(II) and two Ru(II)-(mu-OH2) distances and the Ru(II)-(mu-OH2)-Ru(II) angle in [{(PPh3)-(MeCN)(eta-1-O2CC6H4-p-NO2)Ru}2(mu-OH2)(mu-O2CC6H4-p-NO2)2] are 3.712 (1), 2.173 (9), and 2.162 (9) angstrom and 117.8 (4)-degrees, respectively. In both diruthenium(II,III) and diruthenium(II) compounds, each metal center has three facial ligands of varying pi-acidity and the aquo bridges are strongly hydrogen bonded with the eta-1-carboxylato facial ligands. The diruthenium(II) compounds are diamagnetic and exhibit characteristic H-1 NMR spectra in CDCl3. These compounds display two metal-centered one-electron oxidations near +0.3 and +1.0 V (vs SCE) in CH2Cl2-TBAP. The overall reaction between 1 and PPh3 in MeCN-H2O through the intermediacy of 2 is of the disproportionation type. The significant role of facial as well as bridging ligands in stabilizing the core structures is observed from electrochemical studies.

Biocompatibility and biofunctionalization of mesoporous silicon particles

Several of the newly developed drug molecules experience poor biopharmaceutical behavior, which hinders their effective delivery at the proper site of action. Among the several strategies employed in order to overcome this obstacle, mesoporous silicon-based materials have emerged as promising drug carriers due to their ability to improve the dissolution behavior of several poorly water-soluble drugs compounds confined within their pores. In addition to improve the dissolution behavior of the drugs, we report that porous silicon (PSi) nanoparticles have a higher degree of biocompatibility than PSi microparticles in several cell lines studied. In addition, the degradation of the nanoparticles showed its potential to fast clearance in the body. After oral delivery, the PSi particles were also found to transit the intestines without being absorbed. These results constituted the first quantitative analysis of the behavior of orally administered PSi nanoparticles compared with other delivery routes in rats. The self-assemble of a hydrophobin class II (HFBII) protein at the surface of hydrophobic PSi particles endowed the particles with greater biocompatibility in different cell lines, was found to reverse their hydrophobicity and also protected a drug loaded within its pores against premature release at low pH while enabling subsequent drug release as the pH increased. These results highlight the potential of HFBII-coating for PSi-based drug carriers in improving their hydrophilicity, biocompatibility and pH responsiveness in drug delivery applications. In conclusion, mesoporous silicon particles have been shown to be a versatile platform for improving the dissolution behavior of poorly water-soluble drugs with high biocompatibility and easy surface modification. The results of this study also provide information regarding the biofunctionalization of the THCPSi particles with a fungal protein, leading to an improvement in their biocompatibility and endowing them with pH responsive and mucoadhesive properties.

The TCP4 transcription factor of Arabidopsis blocks cell division in yeast at G1 -> S transition

The TCP transcription factors control important aspects of plant development. Members of class I TCP proteins promote cell cycle by regulating genes directly involved in cell proliferation. In contrast, members of class II TCP proteins repress cell division. While it has been postulated that class II proteins induce differentiation signal, their exact role on cell cycle has not been studied. Here, we report that TCP4, a class II TCP protein from Arabidopsis that repress cell proliferation in developing leaves, inhibits cell division by blocking G1 -> S transition in budding yeast. Cells expressing TCP4 protein with increased transcriptional activity fail to progress beyond G1 phase. By analyzing global transcriptional status of these cells, we show that expression of a number of cell cycle genes is altered. The possible mechanism of G1 -> S arrest is discussed. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Variable-speed wind power generation using doubly fed wound rotor induction machine - A comparison with alternative schemes

In this paper, a wind energy conversion system (WECS) using grid-connected wound rotor induction machine controlled from the rotor side is compared with both fixed speed and variable speed systems using cage rotor induction machine. The comparison is done on the basis of (I) major hardware components required, (II) operating region, and (III) energy output due to a defined wind function using the characteristics of a practical wind turbine. Although a fixed speed system is more simple and reliable, it severely limits the energy output of a wind turbine. In case of variable speed systems, comparison shows that using a wound rotor induction machine of similar rating can significantly enhance energy capture. This comes about due to the ability to operate with rated torque even at supersynchronous speeds; power is then generated out of the rotor as well as the stator. Moreover, with rotor side control, the voltage rating of the power devices and dc bus capacitor bank is reduced. The size of the line side inductor also decreasesd. Results are presented to show the substantial advantages of the doubly fed system.

Hyper-activation of the TCP4 transcription factor in Arabidopsis thaliana accelerates multiple aspects of plant maturation

Plant organs are initiated as primordial outgrowths, and require controlled cell division and differentiation to achieve their final size and shape. Superimposed on this is another developmental program that orchestrates the switch from vegetative to reproductive to senescence stages in the life cycle. These require sequential function of heterochronic regulators. Little is known regarding the coordination between organ and organismal growth in plants. The TCP gene family encodes transcription factors that control diverse developmental traits, and a subgroup of class II TCP genes regulate leaf morphogenesis. Absence of these genes results in large, crinkly leaves due to excess division, mainly at margins. It has been suggested that these class II TCPs modulate the spatio-temporal control of differentiation in a growing leaf, rather than regulating cell proliferation per se. However, the link between class II TCP action and cell growth has not been established. As loss-of-function mutants of individual TCP genes in Arabidopsis are not very informative due to gene redundancy, we generated a transgenic line that expressed a hyper-activated form of TCP4 in its endogenous expression domain. This resulted in premature onset of maturation and decreased cell proliferation, leading to much smaller leaves, with cup-shaped lamina in extreme cases. Further, the transgenic line initiated leaves faster than wild-type and underwent precocious reproductive maturation due to a shortened adult vegetative phase. Early senescence and severe fertility defects were also observed. Thus, hyper-activation of TCP4 revealed its role in determining the timing of crucial developmental events, both at the organ and organism level.

Catalysis of tRNA Aminoacylation: Single Turnover to Steady-State Kinetics of tRNA Synthetases

Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRS) catalyze the bimolecular association reaction between amino acid and tRNA by specifically and unerringly choosing the cognate amino acid and tRNA. There are two classes of such synthetases that perform tRNA-aminoacylation reaction. Interestingly, these two classes of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases differ not only in their structures but they also exhibit remarkably distinct kinetics under pre-steady-state condition. The class I synthetases show initial burst of product formation followed by a slower steady-state rate. This has been argued to represent the influence of slow product release. In contrast, there is no burst in the case of class H enzymes. The tight binding of product with enzyme for class I enzymes is correlated with the enhancement of rate in presence of elongation factor. EF-TU. In spite of extensive experimental studies, there is no detailed theoretical analysis that can provide a quantitative understanding of this important problem. In this article, we present a theoretical investigation of enzyme kinetics for both classes of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases. We present an augmented kinetic scheme and then employ the methods of time-dependent probability statistics to obtain expressions for the first passage time distribution that gives both the time-dependent and the steady-state rates. The present study quantitatively explains all the above experimental observations. We propose an alternative path way in the case of class II enzymes showing the tRNA-dependent amino acid activation and the discrepancy between the single-turnover and steady-state rate.

Environments of extended radio sources in the Australia Telescope Low-Brightness Survey

We present a study of the environments of extended radio sources in the Australia Telescope Low-Brightness Survey (ATLBS). The radio sources were selected from the ATLBS Extended Source Sample, which is a well defined sample containing the most extended of radio sources in the ATLBS sky survey regions. The environments were analysed using 4-m Cerro-Tololo Inter-American Observatory Blanco telescope observations carried out for ATLBS fields in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey r(') band. We have estimated the properties of the environments using smoothed density maps derived from galaxy catalogues constructed using these optical imaging data. The angular distribution of galaxy density relative to the axes of the radio sources has been quantified by defining anisotropy parameters that are estimated using a new method presented here. Examining the anisotropy parameters for a subsample of extended double radio sources that includes all sources with pronounced asymmetry in lobe extents, we find good evidence for environmental anisotropy being the dominant cause for lobe asymmetry in that higher galaxy density occurs almost always on the side of the shorter lobe, and this validates the usefulness of the method proposed and adopted here. The environmental anisotropy parameters have been used to examine and compare the environments of Fanaroff-Riley Class I (FRI) and Fanaroff-Riley Class II (FRII) radio sources in two redshift regimes (z < 0.5 and z > 0.5). Wide-angle tail sources and head-tail sources lie in the most overdense environments. The head-tail source environments (for the HT sources in our sample) display dipolar anisotropy in that higher galaxy density appears to lie in the direction of the tails. Excluding the head-tail and wide-angle tail sources, subsamples of FRI and FRII sources from the ATLBS appear to lie in similar moderately overdense environments, with no evidence for redshift evolution in the regimes studied herein.

Estudio preliminar de la utilización de la manteca de armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) en el tratamiento de la mastitis bovina en el municipio de Paiwas departamento de Región Autónoma del Atlántico Norte (RAAN)

El presente estudio se realizo con el objetivo de utilización de la manteca de Armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus)en el tratamiento de la mastitis bovina en el Municipio de PAIWAS Departamento de Región Autónoma del Atlántico Norte (RAAN).Se localiza entre las coordenadas 12° 47' de latitud norte y 85° 07', con una altura sobre el nivel del mar de 145.88 msnm. una temperaturas entre 24°C y 25°C. La precipitación anual oscila entre los 2,400 mm y los 3,000 mm con una buena distribución durante todo el año. Se utilizo un diseño completamente al azar (D.C.A) el que esta compuesto por un lote de 30 animales divididas en 3 grupos, cada grupo formado por 10 animales seleccionadas al azar y sometidas a tratamientos distintos Tratamiento I: Mastivet complex, Tratamiento II: Manteca de cusuco al 100%. Tratamiento III: Manteca de cusuco al 50%. Existe una prevalencia de la mastitis en el hato del 65% de esto el 39% de mastitis subclínica y el 22.4% de mastitis clíni ca, y 74 vacas resultaron negativas a la prueba representando el 35.2%. EL cuarto mas afectado fue el Anterior derecho (AD) del cual el 48.5 % reaccionaron positivos. Los tratamiento III y II a base de manteca de del armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) tuvieron mejores resultados clínico-terapéuticos en la curación de la mastitis bovina, donde a los 42 días se alcanzó la mayor efectividad; ya que el tratamiento I la efectividad fue del 60 % ,en el II del 70 % y en el III del 80%. Los tratamientos alternativos (III y II) a base de manteca de del armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus)mostraron factibilidad económica y terapéuticas.

An in vivo approach to tRNA identity

A leucine-inserting tRNA has been transformed into a serine-inserting tRNA by changing 12 nucleotides. Only 8 of the 12 changes are required to effect the conversion of the leucine tRNA to serine tRNA identity. The 8 essential changes reside in basepair 11-24 in the D stem, basepairs 3-70, 2-71 and nucleotides 72 and 73, all of the acceptor stem.

Functional amber suppressor tRNA genes were generated for 14 species of tRNA in E. coli, and their amino acid specificities determined. The suppressors can be classified into three groups, based upon their specificities. Class I suppressors, tRNA^(Ala2)_(CUA), tRNA^(GlyU)_(CUA), tRNA^(HisA)_(CUA), tRNA^(Lys)_(CUA), and tRNA^(ProH)_(CUA), inserted the predicted amino acid. The Class II suppressors, tRNA^(GluA)_(CUA) , tRNA^(GlyT)_(CUA), and tRNA^(Ile1)_(CUA) were either partially or predominantly mischarged by the glutamine aminoacyl tRNA synthetase (AAS). The Class III suppressors, tRNA^(Arg)_(CUA), tRNA^(AspM)_(CUA), tRNA^(Ile2)_(CUA), tRNA^(Thr2)_(CUA), tRNA^(Met(m))_(CUA) and tRNA^(Val)_(CUA) inserted predominantly lysine.

Biotechnologies for cancer diagnostics : cell sorting, protein analysis and imaging of cellular metabolism

This thesis presents the development of chip-based technology for informative in vitro cancer diagnostics. In the first part of this thesis, I will present my contribution in the development of a technology called “Nucleic Acid Cell Sorting (NACS)”, based on microarrays composed of nucleic acid encoded peptide major histocompatibility complexes (p/MHC), and the experimental and theoretical methods to detect and analyze secreted proteins from single or few cells.

Secondly, a novel portable platform for imaging of cellular metabolism with radio probes is presented. A microfluidic chip, so called “Radiopharmaceutical Imaging Chip” (RIMChip), combined with a beta-particle imaging camera, is developed to visualize the uptake of radio probes in a small number of cells. Due to its sophisticated design, RIMChip allows robust and user-friendly execution of sensitive and quantitative radio assays. The performance of this platform is validated with adherent and suspension cancer cell lines. This platform is then applied to study the metabolic response of cancer cells under the treatment of drugs. Both cases of mouse lymphoma and human glioblastoma cell lines, the metabolic responses to the drug exposures are observed within a short time (~ 1 hour), and are correlated with the arrest of cell-cycle, or with changes in receptor tyrosine kinase signaling.

The last parts of this thesis present summaries of ongoing projects: development of a new agent as an in vivo imaging probe for c-MET, and quantitative monitoring of glycolytic metabolism of primary glioblastoma cells. To develop a new agent for c-MET imaging, the one-bead-one-compound combinatorial library method is used, coupled with iterative screening. The performance of the agent is quantitatively validated with cell-based fluorescent assays. In the case of monitoring the metabolism of primary glioblastoma cell, by RIMChip, cells were sorting according to their expression levels of oncoprotein, or were treated with different kinds of drugs to study the metabolic heterogeneity of cancer cells or metabolic response of glioblastoma cells to drug treatments, respectively.

Symmetric representation of an integral domain over a subdomain

Let F(θ) be a separable extension of degree n of a field F. Let Δ and D be integral domains with quotient fields F(θ) and F respectively. Assume that Δ ᴝ D. A mapping φ of Δ into the n x n D matrices is called a Δ/D rep if (i) it is a ring isomorphism and (ii) it maps d onto dI_n whenever d ϵ D. If the matrices are also symmetric, φ is a Δ/D symrep.

Every Δ/D rep can be extended uniquely to an F(θ)/F rep. This extension is completely determined by the image of θ. Two Δ/D reps are called equivalent if the images of θ differ by a D unimodular similarity. There is a one-to-one correspondence between classes of Δ/D reps and classes of Δ ideals having an n element basis over D.

The condition that a given Δ/D rep class contain a Δ/D symrep can be phrased in various ways. Using these formulations it is possible to (i) bound the number of symreps in a given class, (ii) count the number of symreps if F is finite, (iii) establish the existence of an F(θ)/F symrep when n is odd, F is an algebraic number field, and F(θ) is totally real if F is formally real (for n = 3 see Sapiro, “Characteristic polynomials of symmetric matrices” Sibirsk. Mat. Ž. 3 (1962) pp. 280-291), and (iv) study the case D = Z, the integers (see Taussky, “On matrix classes corresponding to an ideal and its inverse” Illinois J. Math. 1 (1957) pp. 108-113 and Faddeev, “On the characteristic equations of rational symmetric matrices” Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR 58 (1947) pp. 753-754).

The case D = Z and n = 2 is studied in detail. Let Δ’ be an integral domain also having quotient field F(θ) and such that Δ’ ᴝ Δ. Let φ be a Δ/Z symrep. A method is given for finding a Δ’/Z symrep ʘ such that the Δ’ ideal class corresponding to the class of ʘ is an extension to Δ’ of the Δ ideal class corresponding to the class of φ. The problem of finding all Δ/Z symreps equivalent to a given one is studied.