Sexual Violence, Sanity, and Safety: Constitutional Parameters for Involuntary Civil Commitment of Sex Offenders

This Comment will address two questions: (1) whether the Washington law is substantially similar to or fundamentally different from the Illinois statute; and (2) whether the Washington statute should be upheld as a constitutional exercise of the state\u27s civil commitment authority under Allen v. Illinois. This Comment argues that the Washington scheme is fundamentally different from the Illinois statute under Allen because it is essentially a lifetime preventive detention scheme and therefore fails to meet the constitutional requirements set forth in Allen. To that end, Part II of this Comment generally explores the involuntary commitment of sex offenders, the constitutional standards for police power commitments, and the issue of preventive detention. Part III discusses provisions of the Illinois Sexually Dangerous Persons Act as well as Allen v. Illinois, concluding that Allen implicitly established a four-part test to judge the constitutionality of sex offender involuntary commitment statutes. Part IV discusses the relevant provisions of the Washington Sexually Violent Predators Act and compares the Washington statute with the Illinois Act. Finally, Part V concludes that the Washington statute fails under the analysis of Allen and is therefore unconstitutional

Sexual Violence, Sanity, and Safety: Constitutional Parameters for Involuntary Civil Commitment of Sex Offenders

This Comment will address two questions: (1) whether the Washington law is substantially similar to or fundamentally different from the Illinois statute; and (2) whether the Washington statute should be upheld as a constitutional exercise of the state\u27s civil commitment authority under Allen v. Illinois. This Comment argues that the Washington scheme is fundamentally different from the Illinois statute under Allen because it is essentially a lifetime preventive detention scheme and therefore fails to meet the constitutional requirements set forth in Allen. To that end, Part II of this Comment generally explores the involuntary commitment of sex offenders, the constitutional standards for police power commitments, and the issue of preventive detention. Part III discusses provisions of the Illinois Sexually Dangerous Persons Act as well as Allen v. Illinois, concluding that Allen implicitly established a four-part test to judge the constitutionality of sex offender involuntary commitment statutes. Part IV discusses the relevant provisions of the Washington Sexually Violent Predators Act and compares the Washington statute with the Illinois Act. Finally, Part V concludes that the Washington statute fails under the analysis of Allen and is therefore unconstitutional

Does Masticatory Ability Contribute to Nutritional Status in Older Individuals?

Mastication plays a primary role in the process of eating. Hence, compromised masticatory ability may affect the nutrition and quality of life, which are particularly important concerns among older individuals. It remains unclear how is the masticatory ability assessed regarding the nutritional status. We examined the effect of various oral factors on three masticatory ability tests conducted among older individuals. A total of 100 older individuals were enrolled in this study. Body mass index (BMI) as an indicator of nutritional status; and age, sex, and the number of occlusal and molar occlusal supports as clinical attributes were recorded. Three masticatory ability tests (masticatory efficiency, masticatory score, and satisfaction with mastication) were conducted, and tongue pressure, cheek pressure, and occlusal force were assessed as oral functions. A significant but weak correlation was found between masticatory efficiency and the masticatory score, but not between masticatory efficiency and satisfaction score. Objective masticatory efficiency was strongly associated with objective oral factors, whereas subjective assessments of masticatory ability (masticatory score and satisfaction score) were not. Furthermore, BMI was significantly associated with subjective assessments of masticatory ability but not with objective masticatory efficiency. Both subjective and objective assessments of masticatory ability, along with considerations of nutritional formulations, are required for the maintenance and improvement of nutritional status in older individuals

TALE-mediated plant genome visualization

Live imaging of the dynamics of nuclear organization provides the opportunity to uncover the mechanisms responsible for four-dimensional genome architecture. Here, we describe the use of fluorescent protein (FP) fusions of transcription activator-like effectors (TALEs) to visualize endogenous genomic sequences in Arabidopsis thaliana. The ability to engineer sequence-specific TALEs permits the investigation of precise genomic sequences. We could detect TALE-FP signals associated with centromeric, telomeric, and rDNA repeats and the signal distribution was consistent with that observed by fluorescent in situ hybridization. TALE-FPs are advantageous because they permit the observation of intact tissues. We used our TALE-FP method to investigate the nuclei of several multicellular plant tissues including roots, hypocotyls, leaves, and flowers. Because TALE-FPs permit live-cell imaging, we successfully observed the temporal dynamics of centromeres and telomeres in plant organs. Fusing TALEs to multimeric FPs enhanced the signal intensity when observing telomeres. We found that the mobility of telomeres was different in subnuclear regions. Transgenic plants stably expressing TALE-FPs will provide new insights into chromatin organization and dynamics in multicellular organisms

Acute Exacerbation of Pulmonary Fibrosis in Syndrome of Combined Pulmonary Fibrosis and Emphysema Following Lung Surgery : A Report of Two Cases

We herein report two cases of an acute exacerbation of pulmonary fibrosis in the syndrome of combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema (CPFE) following lung surgery, and also review the relevant literature. One is a 76-year-old man, who had been diagnosed with CPFE and lung cancer and undergone lobectomy. He was admitted to our hospital because of aggravation of dyspnea 50 days after lung surgery. The other is a 69-yearold man who had been diagnosed with pulmonary bulla, pulmonary emphysema and idiopathic interstitial pneumonia at 53 years old and was complicated by lung cancer. He underwent right lower lobectomy and presented with slight fever and desaturation 18 days after lung surgery. In both cases, chest computed tomography showed diffuse bilateral ground-glass opacities superimposed on preceding reticular opacities in the lower lung field. They were diagnosed as acute exacerbation of pulmonary fibrosis in CPFE.A strict followup is required, because the prevalence of lung cancer may be higher, and acute exacerbation may occur following lung surgery in CPFE patients. HRCT plays an important role in evaluating the occurrence of lung cancer at an early stage and for determining whether there is an acute exacerbation of pulmonary fibrosis in CPFE patients.Article信州医学雑誌 60(3): 149-156(2012)journal articl

Reliability of Screening Methods to Diagnose Oral Dryness and Evaluate Saliva Secretion

In this study, we evaluated the reliability and reproducibility of widely implemented salivary flow rate and oral dryness tests. In experiment 1, twenty young and healthy Japanese participants volunteered to participate. For each participant, the oral moisture (OM) level, unstimulated whole saliva volume (U-WSV), and stimulated whole saliva volume (S-WSV) were measured at the same time on two separate days. In experiment 2, twenty-seven patients who were over 65 years of age volunteered to participate. The OM level and U-WSV were measured at the same time on two separate days. In Experiment 1, the intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) corresponding to the S-WSV, U-WSV, and OM level were 0.23, 0.28, and 0.16, respectively, for the young participants. In Experiment 2, the ICCs corresponding to the U-WSV/spitting and OM level were 0.83 and 0.12, respectively, for the older participants. The results of Bland–Altman analysis confirmed the absence of systematic error, with the exception of the OM level results in Experiment 2, which indicated systematic bias. In conclusion, we believe that there is currently no consistent and reliable screening test for assessing salivary flow rate and oral dryness, although the spitting test was determined to be highly reliable

ZFAT is an antiapoptotic molecule and critical for cell survival in MOLT-4 cells

AbstractZFAT (also known as ZNF406), originally identified as a candidate gene for autoimmune thyroid disease, encodes a zinc-finger protein, however, its function has not been elucidated. Here, we report that human ZFAT protein is expressed in peripheral B and T lymphocytes and a human acute T lymphoblastic leukaemia cell line, MOLT-4 cells. Intriguing is that mouse ZFAT expression in CD4+ lymphocytes is increased during blast formation. Furthermore, ZFAT-knockdown in MOLT-4 induces apoptosis via activation of caspases. These results suggested that ZFAT protein is a critical regulator involved in apoptosis and cell survival for immune-related cells

Tespa1 is a novel inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor binding protein in T and B lymphocytes

AbstractTespa1 has been recently reported to be a critical molecule in T-cell development, however, the precise molecular mechanisms of Tespa1 remain elusive. Here, we demonstrate that Tespa1 shows amino-acid sequence homology to KRAS-induced actin-interacting protein (KRAP), an inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP3R) binding protein, and that Tespa1 physically associates with IP3R in T and B lymphocytes. Two-consecutive phenylalanine residues (Phe185/Phe186) in Tespa1, which are conserved between Tespa1 and KRAP, are indispensable for the association between Tespa1 and IP3R. These findings suggest that Tespa1 plays critical roles in the immune system through the regulation of the IP3R