A Very Long Foreign Body in the Bladder

In the urinary tract, foreign body is most commonly found in the urinary bladder. But it is anatomically very difficult for a man to self-insert a long object into the urinary bladder. Here we report a case of a 49-year-old Japanese man who has inserted a 140-cm vinyl tube in the bladder for masturbation. He could not retrieve it, and the bladder foreign body remained in this position for about two years. He was referred to our hospital and open surgery was performed

Pctaire1/Cdk16 promotes skeletal myogenesis by inducing myoblast migration and fusion

AbstractThe Cdk-related protein kinase Pctaire1/Cdk16 is abundantly expressed in brain, testis and skeletal muscle. Functional roles of Pctaire1 such as regulation of neuron migration and neurite outgrowth thus far have been mainly elucidated in the field of nervous system development. Although these regulations based on cytoskeletal rearrangements evoke a possible role of Pctaire1 in the development of skeletal muscle, little is known in this regard. In this study, we demonstrated that myogenic differentiation and subsequent fusion is promoted in Pctaire1 overexpressing cells, and conversely, is inhibited in the knockdown cells. Furthermore, our findings suggest that Pctaire1 exerts promyogenic effects by regulating myoblast migration and process formation during skeletal myogenesis

Unexpected outcome after sclerotherapy of simple renal cyst

BACKGROUND: Simple renal cysts usually have benign clinical features. We report a rare case of papillary renal cell carcinoma (RCC) associated with a large recurrent simple cyst following sclerotherapy. CASE PRESENTATION: A 47-year-old Japanese woman received minocycline sclerotherapy for a large (9 cm in diameter) simple left renal cyst in May 2005. The cyst regrew, and second-line sclerotherapy with ethanol was performed in November 2005. Three years later, she developed papillary RCC on the wall of the recurrent renal cyst. Radical nephrectomy was performed, but the patient died of metastatic disease 15 months after surgery. CONCLUSION: Malignant transformation from recurrent simple renal cyst to RCC may occur in the years following sclerotherapy, underscoring the need for long-term follow-up

Great Role in Gynecological Cancer Prophylaxis of a Unique Health Check-Up Institute, Ningen Dock in Japan (Review)

In Japan, there are unique facilities (namely Ningen Dock) for health check-up that provide asymptomatic participants with a health examination, including cancer screening activities, at their own expense. The most advanced examination equipment and examinations do not only provide high accuracy, but they also reduce stress on the body of the client. Usage of the medical equipment and diagnostic techniques allows us for successful detection of many diseases in their early stages of development. This early detection leads to quicker response for the disease. On the other hand, gynecological cancer screening is a relatively simple, low cost, and noninvasive method. In this chapter, we introduce a major role of Ningen Dock in gynecological malignancy prophylaxis. Ningen Dock attendances are associated with extremely low positive gynecology cancer screening incidence (0.03%). The level of knowledge and attitude toward screening may be related to multiple factors such as ethnicity, place of residence, income, and social-economic status. Not paying attention to cancer screening may be the risk factors for non-attendance to health check-up. These findings are of importance for improving the gynecological cancer screening practices of the lower screening attendance in Japan

介護老人保健施設職員の労働と健康に関する研究 : 腰痛とうつについて

研究ノート老人施設職員の介護負担およびストレスに関する研究はこれまでに数多く行われているが、その研究対象の多くは、介護老人福祉施設の介護職員あるいは在宅要介護高齢者の家族介護者や在宅介護の介護職員であり、最近ではグループホームの職員を対象とした研究がみられるようになってきている。しかし、介護老人保健施設の職員を対象とした研究は少ない。これまでに介護老人保健施設の職員を対象とした労働負担あるいはストレスに関する研究としては、主に腰痛をはじめとする身体的症状に関するものが散見されるのみであり、抑うつ状態などの心理的ストレス反応に主眼をおいて調査検討を行った研究はほとんどない。介護老人福祉施設に比較し相対的に介護職員の少ない介護老人保健施設では、介護職員の労働負担も介護老人福祉施設以上に大きくなっている可能性も考えられる。これらのことから、従来あまり労働負担に関する実態調査が行われていない介護老人保健施設職員を対象に、特に介護負担の身体的腰痛と精神的負担のうつ症状との関連の実態を明らかにする。今後介護職員の健康管理を進めていく上で、また、良質なケアを提供するうえでも重要であり、社会的に大きな意義があるものと考えられる

Xenograft Tumors Vascularized with Murine Blood Vessels May Overestimate the Effect of Anti-Tumor Drugs: A Pilot Study

Recent evidence demonstrated that endothelial cells initiate signaling events that enhance tumor cell survival, proliferation, invasion, and tumor recurrence. Under this new paradigm for cellular crosstalk within the tumor microenvironment, the origin of endothelial cells and tumor cells may have a direct impact on the pathobiology of cancer. The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the effect of endothelial cell species (i.e. murine or human) on xenograft tumor growth and response to therapy. Tumor xenografts vascularized either with human or with murine microvascular endothelial cells were engineered, side-by-side, subcutaneously in the dorsum of immunodefficient mice. When tumors reached 200 mm3, mice were treated for 30 days with either 4 mg/kg cisplatin (i.p.) every 5 days or with 40 mg/kg sunitinib (p.o.) daily. Xenograft human tumors vascularized with human endothelial cells grow faster than xenograft tumors vascularized with mouse endothelial cells (P\u3c0.05). Notably, human tumors vascularized with human endothelial cells exhibited nuclear translocation of p65 (indicative of high NF-kB activity), and were more resistant to treatment with cisplatin or sunitinib than the contralateral tumors vascularized with murine endothelial cells (P\u3c0.05). Collectively, these studies suggest that the species of endothelial cells has a direct impact on xenograft tumor growth and response to treatment with the chemotherapeutic drug cisplatin or with the anti-angiogenic drug sunitinib

Stomagen positively regulates stomatal density in Arabidopsis.

葉の気孔の数を増加させる因子の発見～CO2削減や食糧増産へ向けて～. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2009-12-10.Stomata in the epidermal tissues of leaves are valves through which passes CO(2), and as such they influence the global carbon cycle. The two-dimensional pattern and density of stomata in the leaf epidermis are genetically and environmentally regulated to optimize gas exchange. Two putative intercellular signalling factors, EPF1 and EPF2, function as negative regulators of stomatal development in Arabidopsis, possibly by interacting with the receptor-like protein TMM. One or more positive intercellular signalling factors are assumed to be involved in stomatal development, but their identities are unknown. Here we show that a novel secretory peptide, which we designate as stomagen, is a positive intercellular signalling factor that is conserved among vascular plants. Stomagen is a 45-amino--rich peptide that is generated from a 102-amino-acid precursor protein designated as STOMAGEN. Both an in planta analysis and a semi-in-vitro analysis with recombinant and chemically synthesized stomagen peptides showed that stomagen has stomata-inducing activity in a dose-dependent manner. A genetic analysis showed that TMM is epistatic to STOMAGEN (At4g12970), suggesting that stomatal development is finely regulated by competitive binding of positive and negative regulators to the same receptor. Notably, STOMAGEN is expressed in inner tissues (the mesophyll) of immature leaves but not in the epidermal tissues where stomata develop. This study provides evidence of a mesophyll-derived positive regulator of stomatal density. Our findings provide a conceptual advancement in understanding stomatal development: inner photosynthetic tissues optimize their function by regulating stomatal density in the epidermis for efficient uptake of CO(2)