Effect Of Epa Ethyl Ester On Fatty Acid Profile In Hemodialysis Patients With Low Epa/Aa Ratio

BackgroundLarge amounts of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids are known to lower the risk of cardiovascular events (CVE). Serum eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) / arachidonic acid (AA) ratio may potentially be a predictor of CVE which is the most common cause of death in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Therefore, we estimated the effect of EPA ethyl ester on fatty acid profile in HD patients.Subjects & MethodsFatty acid profile and high sensitivity CRP (hs-CRP) were measured in 131 patients receiving maintenance HD. Among these, 64 patients (F:M=25:39) with both low EPA/AA ratio (≦0.4) and negative CRP were enrolled in this randomized study (Group A, EPA administrated group, n=30; Group B, EPA non-administrated group, n=34). The mean age of the patients was 66.5 ± 11.9 years old and the duration of HD was 8.4 ± 7.9 years. The serum levels of EPA, AA, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and dihomogammalinolenic acid (DHL-A) were measured by gas chromatography (SRL, Tokyo, Japan).ResultsThe mean levels of EPA/AA ratio, DHA/AA ratio, DHL-A, non HDL-C and GNRI (Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index) were 0.28±0.13, 0.62±0.15, 22.7±8.4 μg/ml, 112.2±31.0 mg/dl and 93.6±5.5, respectively. After one month of treatment with EPA in group A, EPA/AA ratio was significantly increased (0.30±0.15 vs. 0.95±0.45, p<0.0001) and DHL-A significantly decreased (22.7±7.4 vs. 15.7±6.8, p= 0.0003), but DHA/AA ratio, serum non HDL-C and phosphate levels did not change. EPA/AA ratio was significantly higher and DHL-A lower in group A compared with group B after one month of the start of study.ConclusionsMedication of EPA for one month increases EPA/AA ratio, and decreases DHL-A level without the change of serum phosphate level in HD patients with low EPA/AA ratio

Supernova Nucleosynthesis and Extremely Metal-Poor Stars

We investigate hydrodynamical and nucleosynthetic properties of the jet-induced explosion of a population III $40M_\odot$ star and compare the abundance patterns of the yields with those of the metal-poor stars. We conclude that (1) the ejection of Fe-peak products and the fallback of unprocessed materials can account for the abundance patterns of the extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars and that (2) the jet-induced explosion with different energy deposition rates can explain the diversity of the abundance patterns of the metal-poor stars. Furthermore, the abundance distribution after the explosion and the angular dependence of the yield are shown for the models with high and low energy deposition rates $\dot{E}_{\rm dep}=120\times10^{51} {\rm ergs s^{-1}}$ and $1.5\times10^{51} {\rm ergs s^{-1}}$. We also find that the peculiar abundance pattern of a Si-deficient metal-poor star HE 1424--0241 can be reproduced by the angle-delimited yield for $\theta=30^\circ-35^\circ$ of the model with $\dot{E}_{\rm dep}=120\times10^{51} {\rm ergs s^{-1}}$.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. To appear in "ORIGIN OF MATTER AND EVOLUTION OF GALAXIES: From the Dawn of Universe to the Formation of Solar System", AIP Conf. Proc. 1016 (December 2007, Sapporo), eds. T. Suda, T. Nozawa, et al. (Melville: AIP

Aldehyde Dehydrogenase Activity as a Marker of Quality in Cryopreserved Cord Blood

We investigated the effects of cryopreservation on CD34+ cells and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) -positive cells (ALDH (+) cells) in the umbilical cord blood (UCB) of unrelated donors. Ten units of UCB were collected at the Kanagawa Cord Blood Bank from September 2009 to November 2010. These UCB units were frozen for 2 weeks or 1 year, and then assayed for quality by flow cytometry analysis and colony-forming assay. We found that both ALDH (+) cells and the numbers of total colony-forming units and colony-forming units of granulocyte/macrophage from the isolated CD34+ cells were significantly decreased after all cryopreservation. The numbers of ALDH (+) /CD34+ cells, ALDH (+) /CD34+CD38- cells, and total colony-forming units from the cryopreserved UCB units continued to decrease over time with cryopreservation. In contrast, levels of traditional primitive surface markers were not significantly decreased in CD34+ cells and CD34+CD38- cells after cryopreservation, although this result depended on the duration of cryopreservation. These findings suggested that ALDH (+) cells could be a new marker for assessing cryopreserved UCB quality prior to hematopoietic cell transplantation

Genetic distance of inbred lines of Chinese cabbage and its relationship to heterosis

AbstractChinese cabbage (Brassica rapa L. var. pekinensis) is an important vegetable in Asia. Most Japanese commercial cultivars of Chinese cabbage use an F1 hybrid seed production system because of the high yielding cultivars produced. An efficient method for predicting hybrid performance in the parental generations is desired, and genetic distance between parental lines might be a good indicator of the level of hybrid vigor in a cross. Information concerning the genetic relationships among parental candidate inbred lines is useful for variety protection. The number of DNA markers available that can be used to assess the purity of inbred lines is limited in B. rapa. The aim of this study is to use DNA markers to assess the genetic distance between inbred lines to examine early developmental and yield heterosis so as to develop methods for selecting the best parental lines for the production of hybrids. We screened highly polymorphic SSR and CAPS markers to assess the genetic uniformity of inbred lines and characterize their genetic relationship. We examined the early size and yield heterosis in 32 F1 hybrids of Chinese cabbage. There was a moderate correlation in mid-parent heterosis between leaf size at 21days after sowing and harvested biomass but not in best-parent heterosis. In contrast there was no correlation between genetic distance and mid-parent or best-parent heterosis, indicating that genetic distance does not predict the heterosis phenotype

Peritumoral radiomics features on preoperative thin-slice CT images can predict the spread through air spaces of lung adenocarcinoma

The spread through air spaces (STAS) is recognized as a negative prognostic factor in patients with early-stage lung adenocarcinoma. The present study aimed to develop a machine learning model for the prediction of STAS using peritumoral radiomics features extracted from preoperative CT imaging. A total of 339 patients who underwent lobectomy or limited resection for lung adenocarcinoma were included. The patients were randomly divided (3:2) into training and test cohorts. Two prediction models were created using the training cohort: a conventional model based on the tumor consolidation/tumor (C/T) ratio and a machine learning model based on peritumoral radiomics features. The areas under the curve for the two models in the testing cohort were 0.70 and 0.76, respectively ( = 0.045). The cumulative incidence of recurrence (CIR) was significantly higher in the STAS high-risk group when using the radiomics model than that in the low-risk group (44% vs. 4% at 5 years;  = 0.002) in patients who underwent limited resection in the testing cohort. In contrast, the 5-year CIR was not significantly different among patients who underwent lobectomy (17% vs. 11%;  = 0.469). In conclusion, the machine learning model for STAS prediction based on peritumoral radiomics features performed better than the C/T ratio model

Multi-Dimensional Simulations of Radiative Transfer in Aspherical Core-Collapse Supernovae

We study optical radiation of aspherical supernovae (SNe) and present an approach to verify the asphericity of SNe with optical observations of extragalactic SNe. For this purpose, we have developed a multi-dimensional Monte-Carlo radiative transfer code, SAMURAI (SupernovA MUlti-dimensional RAdIative transfer code). The code can compute the optical light curve and spectra both at early phases (<~ 40 days after the explosion) and late phases (~ 1 year after the explosion), based on hydrodynamic and nucleosynthetic models. We show that all the optical observations of SN 1998bw (associated with GRB 980425) are consistent with polar-viewed radiation of the aspherical explosion model with kinetic energy 20 x 10^{51} ergs. Properties of off-axis hypernovae are also discussed briefly.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. Proceedings of "Origin of Matter and Evolution of Galaxies (OMEG07): From the Dawn of Universe to the Formation of Solar System", 4-7 Dec 2007, Sapporo, Japa

Interplay between Stellar Spirals and the ISM in Galactic Disks

We propose a new dynamical picture of galactic stellar and gas spirals, based on hydrodynamic simulations in a `live' stellar disk. We focus especially on spiral structures excited in a isolated galactic disk without a stellar bar. Using high-resolution, 3-dimensional N-body/SPH simulations, we found that the spiral features of the gas in galactic disks are formed by essentially different mechanisms from the galactic shock in stellar density waves. The stellar spiral arms and the interstellar matter on average corotate in a galactic potential at any radii. Unlike the stream motions in the galactic shock, the interstellar matter flows into the local potential minima with irregular motions. The flows converge to form dense gas clouds/filaments near the bottom of the stellar spirals, whose global structures resemble dust-lanes seen in late-type spiral galaxies. The stellar arms are non-steady; they are wound and stretched by the galactic shear, and thus local densities of the arm change on a time scale of ~ 100 Myrs, due to bifurcating or merging with other arms. This makes the gas spirals associated with the stellar arms non-steady. The association of dense gas clouds are eventually dissolved into inter-arm regions with non-cirucular motions. Star clusters are formed from the cold, dense gases, whose ages are less than ~30 Myrs, and they are roughly associated with the background stellar arms without a clear spatial offset between gas spiral arms and distribution of young stars.Comment: 13 pages, 12 figures, accepted by ApJ. Higher resolution of ms.pdf is available at http://d.pr/Nvjk A targzipped Supplementary movies is available at http://d.pr/TV6

Impact of pathological tumor stage for salvage radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy in patients with prostate-specific antigen < 1.0 ng/ml

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To evaluate prognostic factors in salvage radiotherapy (RT) for patients with pre-RT prostate-specific antigen (PSA) < 1.0 ng/ml.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Between January 2000 and December 2009, 102 patients underwent salvage RT for biochemical failure after radical prostatectomy (RP). Re-failure of PSA after salvage RT was defined as a serum PSA value of 0.2 ng/ml or more above the postradiotherapy nadir followed by another higher value, a continued rise in serum PSA despite salvage RT, or initiation of systemic therapy after completion of salvage RT. Biochemical relapse-free survival (bRFS) was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Multivariate analysis was performed using the Cox proportional hazards regression model.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The median follow-up period was 44 months (range, 11-103 months). Forty-three patients experienced PSA re-failure after salvage RT. The 4-year bRFS was 50.9% (95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 39.4-62.5%). In the log-rank test, pT3-4 (p < 0.001) and preoperative PSA (p = 0.037) were selected as significant factors. In multivariate analysis, only pT3-4 was a prognostic factor (hazard ratio: 3.512 [95% CI: 1.535-8.037], p = 0.001). The 4-year bRFS rates for pT1-2 and pT3-4 were 79.2% (95% CI: 66.0-92.3%) and 31.7% (95% CI: 17.0-46.4%), respectively.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In patients who have received salvage RT after RP with PSA < 1.0 ng/ml, pT stage and preoperative PSA were prognostic factors of bRFS. In particular, pT3-4 had a high risk for biochemical recurrence after salvage RT.</p

Molecular and cellular characteristics of hybrid vigour in a commercial hybrid of Chinese cabbage

Abstract Background Heterosis or hybrid vigour is a phenomenon in which hybrid progeny exhibit superior performance compared to their parental inbred lines. Most commercial Chinese cabbage cultivars are F1 hybrids and their level of hybrid vigour is of critical importance and is a key selection criterion in the breeding system. Results We have characterized the heterotic phenotype of one F1 hybrid cultivar of Chinese cabbage and its parental lines from early- to late-developmental stages of the plants. Hybrid cotyledons are larger than those of the parents at 4 days after sowing and biomass in the hybrid, determined by the fresh weight of leaves, is greater than that of the larger parent line by approximately 20 % at 14 days after sowing. The final yield of the hybrid harvested at 63 days after sowing is 25 % greater than the yield of the better parent. The larger leaves of the hybrid are a consequence of increased cell size and number of the photosynthetic palisade mesophyll cells and other leaf cells. The accumulation of plant hormones in the F1 was within the range of the parental levels at both 2 and 10 days after sowing. Two days after sowing, the expression levels of chloroplast-targeted genes in the cotyledon cells were upregulated in the F1 hybrid relative to their mid parent values. Shutdown of chlorophyll biosynthesis in the cotyledon by norflurazon prevented the increased leaf area in the F1 hybrid. Conclusions In the cotyledons of F1 hybrids, chloroplast-targeted genes were upregulated at 2 days after sowing. The increased activity levels of this group of genes suggested that their differential transcription levels could be important for establishing early heterosis but the increased transcription levels were transient. Inhibition of the photosynthetic process in the cotyledon reduced heterosis in later seedling stages. These observations suggest early developmental events in the germinating seedling of the hybrid may be important for later developmental vigour and yield advantage.This work was supported in part by a grant-in-aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (24113509) (JSPS), by the Sasakawa Scientific Research Grant (24–517) from The Japan Science Society, by Grant for Promotion of Niigata University Research Projects (23C024) and by PREST (12101066) (JST) to R. Fujimoto

Tolerability and Efficacy of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy with a Tri-Weekly Interval Methotrexate, Doxorubicin, Vinblastine, and Cisplatin Regimen for Patients with Locally Advanced Bladder Cancer

Objective: Compared with standard treatment, a modified tri-weekly MVAC (methotrexate, doxorubicin, vinblastine, and cisplatin) treatment regimen with a high cisplatin dose intensity shows good efficacy and lower toxicity. Thus, we retrospectively investigated the tolerability and efficacy of a modified tri-weekly MVAC neoadjuvant regimen. Methods: We analyzed 25 patients with locally advanced bladder cancer medicated by a modified tri-weekly MVAC neoadjuvant regimen that omits treatment on days 15 and 22. The efficacy and tolerability were assessed retrospectively. Results: The numbers of patients in clinical stages 2, 3, and 4 were 13 (52.0%), 1 (4.0%), and 11 (44.0%), respectively. Surgery could be performed on all patients. Five patients (20.0%) had no cancer remaining in their surgical specimens. Remaining non-muscle-invasive cancer without metastasis was observed in 7 patients (28.0%), and the total downstaging rate was 44.0%. The 5-year overall and relapse-free survival rates were 79.0 and 75.0%, respectively. The overall relative dose intensity was 0.90. Serious hematologic toxicities rated grade 3 or greater were leukopenia in 6 patients (24.0%) and anemia in 1 patient (4.0%). Conclusions: Sufficient efficacy and tolerability of a modified tri-weekly MVAC neoadjuvant regimen were suggested. Thus, tri-weekly modified MVAC may be an option for neoadjuvant chemotherapy of advanced bladder cancer