Study on the Efficient Use of Industrial by Products in the Fabrication of Concrete - Suitability as Aerated Mortar -

It has been indicated that three kinds of industrial wastes were recycled for aggregate of concrete materials, Test programs were examined concerning absorption and release properties of moisture, and pull out resistance of nail and impact strength and heat insulation as using aerated mortar. According to the results, the efficient use of industrial wastes was confirmed by some tests. For example according to heat insulation property, it was more effective than when concrete was not mixed with industrial wastes

Dietary conjugated linoleic acid lowered tumor necrosis factor-alpha content and altered expression of genes related to lipid metabolism and insulin sensitivity in the skeletal muscle of Zucker rats

Type-2 diabetes is characterized by obesity-related insulin resistance. Insulin resistance and accompanying hyperinsulinemia have been reported to play an important role in pathogenesis of the metabolic syndrome. Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a mixture of positional and geometric isomers of linoleic acid, has attracted considerable attention because of its potentially beneficial biological effects. Previous studies showed that dietary CLA alleviates diabetes through improvement of glucose tolerance and insulin-stimulated glucose transport activity in skeletal muscle of diabetic rats. Skeletal muscle plays an important role both in insulin-mediated glucose metabolism and in lipid metabolism. In the present study, we evaluated comprehensively the effect of dietary CLA on the expression of genes related to lipid metabolism and insulin sensitivity in the skeletal muscle of obese, diabetic Zucker rats. After 8 weeks of feeding, expression of lipogenic genes was decreased in tendency, while expression of lipolytic genes was markedly increased by dietary CLA. Additionally, expression of genes-related insulin sensitivity, such as adiponectin receptor 1, was significantly enhanced, and mRNA level of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-alpha, known as a transcriptional factor related lipid metabolism and insulin signaling in skeletal muscle, was markedly increased in CLA-fed rats. We also showed that dietary CLA significantly decreased the level of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), associated with the development of insulin resistance, in the skeletal muscle of Zucker rats. We suppose that the attenuated TNF-alpha accumulation in skeletal muscle may contribute to the alteration of expression of several genes and the alleviation of insulin resistance in CLA-fed Zucker rats

大学病院でのノロウイルスによる感染性胃腸炎アウトブレイクの経験

An outbreak of norovirus-related gastroenteritis occurred in one ward at a university hospital in June 2006. Atotal of 32 people (16 patients and 16 staffs) suffered and it took 17 days from the recognition to the end of the outbreak. Wespeculated that the virus was brought to the hospital from the outside by a patient and spread from person to person. Infectioncontrol measures, including the closure of the ward, may have prevented the spread to other wards. When the outbreak wasover, we looked back the case with all the hospital staff members and reconfirmed how to prevent norovirus outbreak. InNovember 2006, another outbreak occurred in a different ward. It took 11 days from the recognition to the end and 13 people(10 patients and 3 staffs) suffered this time. It seemed that the familiarization with a norovirus outbreak and the reconfirmationof prevention measures made it possible to respond earlier to the second outbreak