Liver Sarcoidosis with Unique MRI Images Using Gadolinium Ethoxybenzyl Diethylenetriamine Pentaacetic Acid

Sarcoidosis is a systemic disease characterized by the formation of non-caseating granulomas in multiple organs. In the diagnosis of sarcoidosis, imaging modalities such as ultrasonography, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are useful;however, there are few reports of MRI imaging using gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB) MRI. A 46-year-old Japanese female with suspected pulmonary sarcoidosis was admitted to our hospital because low-density mottles in the liver were observed incidentally by chest CT. The low-density mottles were not enhanced at the arterial phase or portal phase by abdominal CT and MRI, and decreased uptake was observed in the hepatobiliary phase of Gd-EOB MRI. No hematological disorder was observed except for a slight increase of biliary enzymes. The lesion was diagnosed as liver sarcoidosis by the liver biopsy. Since the patient refused steroid therapy, we prescribed ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA). 600mg/day. The serum levels of biliary enzymes were normalized and the abdominal CT findings gradually improved after the initiation of UDCA medication. Gd-EOB MRI showed unique hypointense areas in the liver at the hepatobiliary phase, which might be useful in the diagnosis of liver sarcoidosis

Safety and Efficacy of Radiofrequency Ablation with Artificial Ascites for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

The artificial ascites technique is often used during radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treatment because it prevents visceral damage and improves visualization by minimizing interference of the lungs and mesentery. This study determined the efficacy and safety of RFA using the artificial ascites technique in HCC patients. We examined 188 HCC patients who were treated by RFA and fulfilled the Milan criteria. Treatment outcomes (complete ablation rate, local recurrence rate, complication rate, liver function including total bilirubin level, alanine aminotransferase level, albumin level, and prothrombin time) were compared among patients divided into 3 groups based on the volume of artificial ascites injected:GroupⅠ (n＝86), no artificial ascites injected;GroupⅡ (n＝35), ＜1,000ml artificial ascites injected;and Group Ⅲ (n＝67), ＞1,000ml artificial ascites injected. No significant difference was observed in complete ablation or local recurrence rates among the 3 groups, or in the extent of liver function damage after RFA. Artificial ascites disappeared within 7 days; additional diuretics were needed only in 5 (all from Group Ⅲ) of 102 patients. No serious complications such as intestinal perforation or intraperitoneal bleeding were observed. Thus, we found that artificial ascites injection during RFA is effective and safe, and can be used to prevent major procedural complications

Factors associated with kindergarten teachers’ willingness to continue working

The turnover rate among kindergarten teachers in advanced countries is extremely high. As such, there is an urgent need to determine the reasons for this turnover and to identify ways to prevent it. The current study investigates the individual and environmental factors that impact kindergarten teachers’ willingness to continue working.A total of 600 kindergarten teachers in Japan participated in this study. Participants responded to questionnaires regarding their willingness to continue working, mental health, work engagement, and the availability of social support. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to analyze participants’ data, with willingness to continue working for 5 or more years as the dependent variable. Additionally, Spearman rank correlation was used to examine the correlations between factors associated with willingness to continue working.Factors such as older age, living with a spouse, caring for younger children (up to 2 years old) at work, good mental health, and higher work engagement were significantly associated with teachers’ higher willingness to continue working. Factors such as marriage, health and family problems, overtime work, issues with workplace childcare, and education policy, working time/day problems, human relations, and difficulties taking care of children were correlated with teachers’ lack of willingness to continue working.The findings of this cross-sectional study suggest that welfare benefits and individual support systems could be key elements to encourage kindergarten teachers to continue working and could lead to their improved job satisfaction and mental health. Balanced work conditions and workers’ high agreement with their workplace\u27s overall childcare or educational policies may lead to lower turnover. Some programs – such as relationship counselling – could have a positive impact on teachers’ mental health and job satisfaction

A genome-wide gain-of-function analysis of rice genes using the FOX-hunting system

Funding Information: Acknowledgements This work was supported by a grant from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan (Green Technology Project EF-1004). We are grateful to Dr. Takuji Sasaki for his encouragement throughout the project and his excellent advice on the improvement of this manuscript, and to Dr. Shoshi Kikuchi for providing useful information on rice FL-cDNAs. We thank Professors Kokichi Hinata, Atsushi Hirai, Hiroshi Kamada and Masashi Ugaki for their encouragement, critical comments and helpful suggestions, and Drs. Hisato Okuizumi and Hiroyuki Kawahigashi for their administrative support throughout the project. We also thank Mayumi Akagawa, Hiroko Abe, Keiko Mori, Etsuko Sugai, Yumiko Nakane, Ken-ichi Watanabe, Mayumi Takeya, and Kana Miyata for their technical assistance; the members of the Technical Support Section of the National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences for their help in the care of the FOX-rice plants; Haruko Onodera and Kazuko Ono for their technical assistance and advice on rice transformation; Inplanta Innovations Inc. for their technical help on the construction of theThe latest report has estimated the number of rice genes to be ∼32 000. To elucidate the functions of a large population of rice genes and to search efficiently for agriculturally useful genes, we have been taking advantage of the Full-length cDNA Over-eXpresser (FOX) gene-hunting system. This system is very useful for analyzing various gain-of-function phenotypes from large populations of transgenic plants overexpressing cDNAs of interest and others with unknown or important functions. We collected the plasmid DNAs of 13 980 independent full-length cDNA (FL-cDNA) clones to produce a FOX library by placing individual cDNAs under the control of the maize Ubiquitin-1 promoter. The FOX library was transformed into rice by Agrobacterium-mediated high-speed transformation. So far, we have generated approximately 12 000 FOX-rice lines. Genomic PCR analysis indicated that the average number of FL-cDNAs introduced into individual lines was 1.04. Sequencing analysis of the PCR fragments carrying FL-cDNAs from 8615 FOX-rice lines identified FL-cDNAs in 8225 lines, and a database search classified the cDNAs into 5462 independent ones. Approximately 16.6% of FOX-rice lines examined showed altered growth or morphological characteristics. Three super-dwarf mutants overexpressed a novel gibberellin 2-oxidase gene, confirming the importance of this system. We also show here the other morphological alterations caused by individual FL-cDNA expression. These dominant phenotypes should be valuable indicators for gene discovery and functional analysis.publishersversionPeer reviewe

チイキ ホケン ニオケル ナイゾウ シボウ ショウコウグン キケン インシ ホユウシャ ニ タイスル ホスウケイ オヨビ インサツブツ オ モチイタ ケンコウ キョウシツ ノ ジッシ

本研究は, 健康教育を目的とした健康教室において, 歩数計の貸与, 運動および栄養に関する健康情報を掲載した印刷物を配布し, 5ケ月間(2008年10月から2009年3月)の介入を行った。対象は, 京都市南部の精華町在住の40-74歳の特定健診における腹囲, 血糖, 脂質, 血圧のリスクに1つでも該当する者(総数694名, 男性313名, 女性381名)のうち, 本研究に参加意思のあった52名(男性23名, 女性29名)であった。介入前後の評価指標は, 歩数, 身体組成および血圧を用いた。その結果, 介入期間中に有意な歩数の増減は認められなかった。しかし, 介入開始時の1日平均歩数が7,500歩未満または以上で介入期間中の歩数増加量を検討すると, 終了時には7,500歩未満群が約1,200歩/日増加した。本研究により, 健康教室, 歩数計および印刷物による介入は, 身体活動量の低い者の身体活動量を増加させることが示唆された

Impacts of electric supply shortage in Japan simulated by the GTAP, GTAP-E and the revised GTAP-E models

The growing risk of electric supply shortage in Japan has necessitated an urgent review of energy policy. As the magnitude of the impacts of electric supply shortage will be largely influenced by the development of energy substitution in industries, it is worthwhile to undertake simulations for different scenarios concerning energy substitution, to evaluate the impacts of electric supply shortage. Two models are used in the simulation: the GTAP and the GTAP-E model. The latter is an extended energy-environment version incorporating an energy substitution structure in the GTAP model. The simulation using the GTAP model considers a scenario without energy substitution, while that using the GTAP-E model considers one with energy substitution. Thus, the comparison of these simulation results indicates the effect of energy substitution on electric supply shortage. The purposes of this paper are two-fold. The first is to analyze the impacts of reduced electric power usage caused by electric supply shortage in Japan, using the GTAP and the GTAP-E models, based on the GTAP 8 database. The second is to compare the simulation results of the GTAP-E and the revised GTAP-E models, the latter of which was released in late 2012. This paper first discusses the methodology used to evaluate the impacts of electric supply shortage using the GTAP model. Second, it proposes a method to create a database for the GTAP-E and the revised GTAP-E models, by adopting a new regional and sectoral aggregation. Third, this paper compares and analyzes the simulation results of each model. The comparison of the simulation results of the GTAP and the GTAP-E models shows that the effect of energy substitution could be significant. The simulation results of the GTAP-E and the revised GTAP-E models are quite similar. Thus, it could be said that the revised GTAP-E model has improved many technical points of the original GTAP-E model, while maintaining its basic structure

Analysis of Japanese power supply beyond 2020 using the GTAP-E-Power model

The GTAP-E-Power model, which breaks down the power sector in the framework of the GTAP-E model, has recently been developed. Using the GTAP-E-Power model, it would be possible to analyze the effect of the change in the structure in the power sector, taking the effect of energy substitution into account. After the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, the structure of the power sector in Japan has drastically changed and will continue to change in attaining targets concerning aspects such as zero-emission power source ratio, energy saving, energy self-sufficiency, and energy-derived CO2emissions. This research analyzes the effect of the change in the Japanese power supply using the GTAP-E-Power model. We will try, too, to update the database of the GTAP-E-Power model from GTAP 9.0 to GTAP 10.0, released in February 2020. The impact on Japan’s macroeconomy, power sector and industry will be analyzed by comparing the results of several policy scenarios, in which Japan’s zero-emission power supply growth rate changes from 2019 to 2030. In our simulations, shocks concerning the growth rate in real GDP, the labor force, population, and Japanese zero-emission base load power supply will be introduced. First, simulations from 2014 to 2018 will be performed to update the GTAP-E-Power database. Since the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 2011, the power supply composition in Japan has been changing significantly and it is therefore desirable to analyze the situation of Japan’s power supply and to update the database for 2018 to ensure that it reflects the actual values. Next, simulations from 2019 to 2030 will be performed for policy scenarios with different growth rate of zero-emission power supply in Japan. Simulation results show that a change in zero-emission power supply will influence Japan's energy and industrial structure as well as have a rather positive effect on Japanese GDP growth

Analysis of the impact of the decline in crude oil imports on the Japanese economy

This study analyzes the impact of the decrease in crude oil imports on the Japanese economy. In Japan, the use of crude oil depends almost exclusively on imports. Thus, guaranteeing crude oil imports is an important issue. In order to analyze the impact of the decrease in crude oil imports by considering two features of crude oil, namely as a factor of production and as feedstock, this study uses the GTAP and GTAP-E models, respectively, following the same methodology and applying the same exogenous values. This study will try, too, to use both the static analysis and the analysis incorporating the capital accumulation effects. The difference in the simulation results of the GTAP and GTAP-E models in terms of Japan’s real GDP is relatively small. However, the simulation results concerning trade show different tendencies. In general, the energy substitution structure of the GTAP-E model makes it suitable for analyzing energy goods. However, when energy goods are used mainly as feedstock, as in the case of crude oil in petroleum and coal products, the GTAP model presents results that are more realistic by treating energy goods as intermediate inputs. Thus, it is better to use the GTAP model to analyze the impact of the decrease in crude oil imports on the Japanese economy, while referring to the results of the GTAP-E model, which treats energy goods as factors of production