Calorie intake and suicide

In Switzerland, calories intake was significantly related negatively to male standardized suicide mortality. On the other hand, sugar consumption was significantly related negatively to female standardized suicide mortality in autoregressive model

Phase II Trial Using Romidepsin after Gemcitabine, Dexamethasone, and Cisplatin Therapy in Elderly Transplant-Ineligible Patients with Relapsed/Refractory Peripheral T-Cell Lymphoma: Study Protocol

Romidepsin is an important therapeutic option for patients with peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL). However, the timing of romidepsin administration remains controversial. Romidepsin was launched in Japan as a consolidation therapy agent after conventional salvage chemotherapy with gemcitabine, dexamethasone, and cisplatin (GDP). GDP therapy will be administered every 3 weeks. If complete response, partial response, or stable disease is confirmed after 2-4 GDP cycles, romidepsin will be administered every 4 weeks. The primary endpoint is a 2-year progression-free survival rate. Patients participating in this study and undergoing treatment can expect results similar to or better than those of conventional therapies

An Arabidopsis SBP-domain fragment with a disrupted C-terminal zinc-binding site retains its tertiary structure

AbstractSQUAMOSA promoter-binding proteins (SBPs) form a major family of plant-specific transcription factors, mainly related to flower development. SBPs share a highly conserved DNA-binding domain of ∼80 amino acids (SBP domain), which contains two non-interleaved zinc-binding sites formed by eight conserved Cys or His residues. In the present study, an Arabidopsis SPL12 SBP-domain fragment that lacks a Cys residue involved in the C-terminal zinc-binding pocket was found to retain a folded structure, even though only a single Zn2+ ion binds to the fragment. Solution structure of this fragment determined by NMR is very similar to the previously determined structures of the full SBP domains of Arabidopsis SPL4 and SPL7. Considering the previous observations that chelating all the Zn2+ ions of SBPs resulted in the complete unfolding of the structure and that a mutation of the Cys residue equivalent to that described above impaired the DNA-binding activity, we propose that the Zn2+ ion at the N-terminal site is necessary to maintain the overall tertiary structure, while the Zn2+ ion at the C-terminal site is necessary for the DNA binding, mainly by guiding the basic C-terminal loop to correctly fit into the DNA groove

「身体の記憶とテキスタイル」展/講義と展示のコラボレーション実践

本報告は、奈良女子大学アジア・ジェンダー文化学研究センター主催の「石垣陽子作品展 身体の記憶とテキスタイル」と全学科目「ジェンダー論入門」のコラボレーション実践報告である。通常、大学教育において展示を導入する際、展示過程への学生の参加が中心となりキュレーション学習と位置付けられることが多い。本実践は、「ジェンダー論入門」というオムニバス講義の中で「美術とジェンダー」について学び、講義を前提として作品展を観ること、講義者と作家のトークセッション、さらに学生は展覧会批評に挑むことにより、作品理解を深め「美術」を社会的・文化的構造の中に位置づけ理解することを目指している。アートをアカデミズムの中に引き寄せると同時に、アートがアカデミズムの枠組みに侵犯することで、その境界線上で主体的に作品と向き合う場を構築し批評空間を創出する可能性を生む。This is a report of the practical implementation of a collaboration between the “Introduction to the Gender Studies” course and the hosting of the Yoko ISHIGAKI Exhibition “Physical Memories and Textiles” by Nara Women’s University’s Asia and Gender Culture Research Center. Normally, when an exhibition is introduced into university class work, it is often student-orientated and in the form of curation praxis. In this case, students studied “Art and Gender” within the omnibus lectures of the “Introduction to the Gender Studies” course with the condition that they went to an exhibition, took part in a talk show with the artist and by daring to critique the exhibition, the aim was to have them develop a deeper understanding of the exhibits by understanding the social and cultural framework of the positioning of “art”. By drawing art into academia, it is coincidentally possible to have art invade the framework of academia and at the dividing line, provide a place at the where students can subjectively confront art and make it possible to create a“critical space”

Cognitive Profile of Idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus

Background/Aims: Frontal lobe dysfunction is believed to be a primary cognitive symptom in idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH); however, the neuropsychology of this disorder remains to be fully investigated. The objective of this study was to delineate a comprehensive profile of cognitive dysfunction in iNPH and evaluate the effects of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) shunt surgery on cognitive dysfunction. Methods: A total of 32 iNPH patients underwent neuropsychological testing of memory, attention, language, executive function, and visuoperceptual and visuospatial abilities. Of these 32 patients, 26 were reevaluated approximately 1 year following CSF shunt surgery. The same battery of tests was performed on 32 patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and 30 healthy elderly controls. Results: The iNPH patients displayed baseline deficits in attention, executive function, memory, and visuoperceptual and visuospatial functions. Impairments of attention, executive function, and visuoperceptual and visuospatial abilities in iNPH patients were more severe than in those with AD, whereas the degree of memory impairment was comparable to that in AD patients. A significant improvement in executive function was observed following shunt surgery. Conclusion: Patients with iNPH are impaired in various aspects of cognition involving both ‘frontal’ executive functions and ‘posterior cortical’ functions. Shunt treatment can ameliorate executive dysfunction