Fruit Quolity of'Gros Colman'Grapes Produced on Virus-free Vines

The Grape cultivar 'Gros Coleman'(Vitis vinifera)is the latest-maturing variety in japan,mainly cultivatde in green-houses in southern Okayama.Vines treated with virus-free treatments before raising in a nursery bed have been introduced in the last desade to improve the fuit quality,especially skin coloration and sugar content.However,some growers feel that the fruit taste from treated vines tends to deteriorate earlier than from untreated vines. We investigated change in the qualities of the berries produced on treated and untreated vines from October to January.After analysing skin color,berry turgidity,and juice constituents,we concluded that the palatability of berries on virus-free vines might be lessened in late December or thereafter of the rapid decrease in amino acids such as glutamic acid,glutamine,and alanine,which considerrably affects fruit taste.岡山県南部で施設栽培されている晩熟性ブドウの’グローコールマン’では、果実の品質を高めるためにウイルスフリー樹の導入が進められてきた。それによって、多くの場合は果実の着色や糖の蓄積が促進されるようになったが、樹によっては出荷最盛期の12月下旬になると果実の「張り」や食味が低下すると言われている。本研究で主産地の岡山市一宮地区内にある５ケ所の’グロー･コールマン’園で、ウイルスフリー樹と在来樹の果実の成熟を比較した結果、12月上旬から1月中旬までの間に果粒の「張り」や果汁の糖濃度が低下することは認められなかった。しかし、ウイルスフリー樹では果汁のアミノ酸が速く低下する傾向があり、それが食味の低下を引き起こす可能性があると推察される

Visual acuity of amblyopic eye under binocular condition and stereopsis in anisometropic amblyopia

　片眼弱視における視機能障害の主な原因のひとつとして，眼間抑制の不均衡，すなわち健眼から弱視眼への抑制の影響が知られている．この不均衡の程度は，日常臨床では片眼を完全に遮閉した状態で測定した一眼の視力（片眼遮閉視力）と両眼を開放した状態で測定した一眼の視力（両眼開放視力）を比較することで評価が可能と考えられている．　これまで，弱視治療により弱視眼の片眼遮閉視力が1.0以上に回復した不同視弱視症例において，眼間抑制の不均衡がどの程度残存しているかは報告者によって異なる見解が示されている．そこで，本研究では，弱視治療により弱視眼の片眼遮閉視力が1.0以上に到達した不同視弱視患者17例を対象に，方向変換ミラーによる両眼開放視力および Titmus stereo test による立体視機能について検討を行った．　その結果，弱視眼の平均両眼開放視力は平均片眼遮閉視力よりも有意に不良であった（p<0.001）．なお，17例中13例（76％）は両眼開放視力が片眼遮閉視力よりも低値を示し，17例中４例（24％）は両眼開放視力と片眼遮閉視力に差がなかった．さらに，両眼開放視力の低下がみられた13例のうち７例（54%）が60秒より不良な立体視を示したが，両眼開放視力が同等であった群は全例が60秒より良好な正常立体視を獲得していた．　以上より，弱視治療により片眼遮閉視力が改善した弱視患者においても，眼間抑制の不均衡が残存している症例が多いことが示唆された．　The imbalance of inter-ocular suppression is known to be one of the main causes of visual dysfunction in unilateral amblyopia. The amount of imbalance can be clinically evaluated by comparing visual acuities (VA) of the amblyopic eye between binocular and monocular viewing conditions.　Previous studies have reported inconsistent findings concerning how much the suppression imbalance remains in patients whose monocular VAs of the amblyopic eye improved to more than 1.0 after treatment. In the present study, we measured VAs of the amblyopic eye under binocular and monocular viewing conditions using mirrors and stereoacuities using the Titmus stereo test. Seventeen patients with anisometropic amblyopia participated in a survey after their monocular VAs of the amblyopic eye improved to more than 1.0.　The results indicated that VAs of the amblyopic eye were significantly lower for the binocular condition than for the monocular condition (p<0.001). Thirteen of the 17 patients (76%) showed lower VAs under binocular viewing compared with monocular viewing. There was no difference in VA between the binocular and monocular conditions in the remaining 4 patients (24%). Their stereoacuities were more than 60 seconds of arc, indicating normal stereopsis, whereas 7 of the 13 patients with lower binocular VAs than monocular VAs (54%) showed stereoacuities lower than 60 seconds of arc. The present study suggests that there exists an imbalance of inter-ocular suppression even after treatment of the amblyopic eye in a substantial number of patients with amblyopia

20KDa PEGylated Adrenomedullin as a New Therapeutic Candidate for Inflammatory Bowel Disease

2020年

ELF4/MEF Activates MDM2 Expression and Blocks Oncogene-Induced p16 Activation To Promote Transformation▿ †

Several ETS transcription factors, including ELF4/MEF, can function as oncogenes in murine cancer models and are overexpressed in human cancer. We found that Elf4/Mef activates Mdm2 expression; thus, lack of or knockdown of Elf4/Mef reduces Mdm2 levels in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (mef's), leading to enhanced p53 protein accumulation and p53-dependent senescence. Even though p53 is absent in Elf4−/− p53−/− mef's, neither oncogenic H-RasV12 nor c-myc can induce transformation of these cells. This appears to relate to the INK4a/ARF locus; both p19ARF and p16 are increased in Elf4−/− p53−/− mef's, and expression of Bmi-1 or knockdown of p16 in this context restores H-RasV12-induced transformation. Thus, ELF4/MEF promotes tumorigenesis by inhibiting both the p53 and p16/Rb pathways

Immunolocalization of thymidylate synthase as a favorable prognostic marker in estrogen receptor-positive breast carcinoma

Background: Thymidylate synthase (TS) is an enzyme involved in DNA synthesis, and it is a target for 5-fluorouracil. Previous studies have demonstrated that TS is a potent estrogen-induced gene in breast carcinoma cells, suggesting the importance of TS in estrogen-receptor (ER)-positive breast carcinoma. TS immunolocalization has been reported previously, but the clinicopathological significance of TS in ER-positive breast carcinoma still remains unclear. Patients and methods: We immunolocalized TS in 178 breast carcinoma tissues in total, and examined its significance according to the ER-status. Results: TS status was positive in 58% of ERpositive ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) cases, and it was significantly associated with the Ki-67 and progesterone receptor (PR). Moreover, in ER-positive DCIS patients who received aromatase inhibitor (AI) before surgery, TS immunoreactivity was significantly decreased after AI treatment. In ER-positive invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) cases, TS status was significantly associated with PR, and it turned out an independent favorable prognostic factor for recurrence of the patients by multivariate analysis. On the other hand, TS status was positively correlated with pathological T factor in ER-negative IDC cases, and tended to have a worse prognosis for disease-free survival of the patients. Conclusion: These results suggest that TS expression is mainly regulated by estrogen in ERpositive breast carcinoma and is associated with estrogen-mediated proliferation. TS status is a favorable prognostic factor in ER-positive IDC patients, which is different from the ER-negative cases