In Vitro Thermochemotherapy of Human Osteosarcoma Cells with Cis-Dichlorodiammineplatinum (II)

Human osteosarcoma cells (HuO-3Nl cells) and fibroblastic cells with normal human karyotype (HuO-3 cells) were derived from a patient with osteosarcoma. HuO-3N1 cells were more sensitive to heat treatment than HuO-3 cells. The combination of heat and cis-dichlorodiammineplatinum (II) (CDDP) exerted synergistic cytotoxity on HuO-3N1 cells, and was much less cytotoxic to HuO-3 cells than to HuO-3Nl cells. Therefore, thermochemotherapy with CDDP may be useful for treatment of human osteosarcoma

Optimal Place for Precordial Stethoscope Attachment in Nonintubated Children under Two Years of Age: An Observational Trial

Background: The precordial stethoscope is a non-invasive monitoring method in pediatric anesthesia. We previously investigated optimal place for its attachment among intubated children under two years old. Now we also did in nonintubated children under two years old. Methods: Twenty-five patients who underwent general anesthesia in our institution were involved in this study. Lung and heart sounds via precordial stethoscope were recorded (MP3 format) at the six places: Site A (paratracheal region), B (suprasternal notch), C (between place of the nipple and clavicle on the left midclavicular line), D (between place of the costal arch and nipple on the left midclavicular line), E (horizontal level of Site D on the left midaxillary line), and F (epigastric fossa). Two blinded evaluators scored random sorted lung and heart sounds on a 10-point scale (0: cannot hear at all and 10: can hear clearly) individually. Results: Statistically significant differences were observed between Sites A: 10.0 (8.5–10.0), B: 9.0 (2.5–9.5), C: 8.0 (6.5-9.0) and D: 1.5 (1.0–6.5), E: 4.5 (1.5–7.0), F: 1.0 (0.0–4.5) for lung sounds and between Sites B: 9.0 (5.0–10.0), C: 9.5 (8.0–10.0), D: 9.0 (4.5–9.5) and A: 0.0 (0.0–0.0), E: 0.5 (0.0–2.5), F: 0.5 (0.0–0.5) for heart sounds. Conclusion: Site C is the optimal place for precordial stethoscope attachment for children under two years of age during general anesthesia

可積分保存系における剛性の研究

金沢大学理工研究域数物科学系本研究の目的は可積分保存系(ハミルトン系)の剛性の理解と,その近可積分系への応用にあり,平成20年度は離散ハミルトン系であるシンプレクティック写像のバーコフ標準化の問題を超可積分性の観点から研究した。主たる成果は以下の定理を得たことにある:「fを不動点の近傍で定義された2n次元の解析的シンプレクティック写像とする。もしその不動点が共鳴度q(0≦q≦n)の不動点であり,fがその近傍でn+q個の関数的に独立な解析的第一積分をもつならば,解析的なシンプレクティック変換によってfはバーコフ標準形に変換される。このときのバーコフ標準形は共鳴項をもたないハミルトニアンHの時間1写像として表され,Hはとくにn-q個の変数の関数になる。」この結果については,すでに昨年度の研究で,fを時間tについて(周期1の)周期的なハミルトニアンの時間1写像としてとらえ,その時間依存するハミルトニアンのバーコフ標準化の問題に帰着させる証明を行っていた。しかし今回,そのような手法を用いずに直接定理を証明できる簡明な方法を発見し,標準形の形についても明快な理解を得ることができた。さらに,上記の結果は与えられた写像がパラメータに依存し不動点の共鳴度がパラメータとともに変化する場合にも成り立つことを示した。この結果は正しく可積分系のもつ剛性といえるものであろう。また,この結果をオイラーのコマの運動の解析に応用し,特殊な周期運動(剛体の回転)のまわりで(特異点を許す)作用-角変数が導入できることを示した。以上の成果は,超可積分系の摂動問題の研究を進める上で基礎となる結果と考えられる。研究課題/領域番号:18654033, 研究期間(年度):2006 – 2008出典：「可積分保存系における剛性の研究」研究成果報告書　課題番号18654033（KAKEN：科学研究費助成事業データベース（国立情報学研究所））（https://kaken.nii.ac.jp/ja/grant/KAKENHI-PROJECT-18654033/)を加工して作

H. pylori-Eradication Therapy Increases RUNX3 Expression in the Glandular Epithelial Cells in Enlarged-Fold Gastritis

Helicobacter pylori (HP)-eradication therapy increases Runt domain transcription factor 3 (RUNX3) expression in the glandular epithelial cells in enlarged-fold gastritis. The aim of this study is to evaluate expression of the RUNX3 protein, the product of a gastric tumor suppression gene, and mutagenic oxidative stress in human gastric mucosal specimens obtained from patients with HP-induced enlarged-fold gastritis. Methods. RUNX3 expression was immunohistochemically scored and the degree of the mucosal oxidative stress was directly measured by the chemiluminescense (ChL) assay in the biopsy specimens. Results. RUNX3 expression was detected in the gastric epithelial cells. HP-eradication significantly increased RUNX3 expression in the glandular epithelium of the corpus, however, no change was observed in those of the antrum. A fourfold higher mucosal ChL value was observed in the corpus as compared with that in the antrum. HP-eradication significantly decreased the mucosal ChL values in both portions of the stomach to nearly undetectable levels. Conclusion. The glandular epithelium is exposed to a high level of carcinogenic oxidative stress and shows low levels of expression of the tumor suppressive molecule, RUNX3; however, this expression was restored after HP-eradication, suggesting the high risk of carcinogenesis associated with HP-induced enlarged-fold gastritis of the corpus

Improved Neural Processing Efficiency in a Chronic Aphasia Patient Following Melodic Intonation Therapy: A Neuropsychological and Functional MRI Study

Melodic intonation therapy (MIT) is a treatment program for the rehabilitation of aphasic patients with speech production disorders. We report a case of severe chronic non-fluent aphasia unresponsive to several years of conventional therapy that showed a marked improvement following intensive nine-day training on the Japanese version of MIT (MIT-J). The purposes of this study were to verify the efficacy of MIT-J by functional assessment and examine associated changes in neural processing by functional magnetic resonance imaging. MIT improved language output and auditory comprehension, and decreased the response time for picture naming. Following MIT-J, an area of the right hemisphere was less activated on correct naming trials than compared to before training but similarly activated on incorrect trials. These results suggest that the aphasic symptoms of our patient were improved by increased neural processing efficiency and a concomitant decrease in cognitive load

In vivo anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of ellagitannin metabolite urolithin A

Urolithin A is a major metabolite produced by rats and humans after consumption of pomegranate juice or pure ellagitannin geraniin. In this study, we investigated the anti-inflammatory effect of urolithin A on carrageenan-induced paw edema in mice. The volume of paw edema was reduced at 1 h after oral administration of urolithin A. In addition, plasma in treated mice exhibited significant oxygen radical antioxidant capacity (ORAC) scores with high plasma levels of the unconjugated form at 1 h after oral administration of urolithin A. These results indicate strong associations among plasma urolithin A levels, the plasma ORAC scores, and anti-inflammatory effects and may help explain a mechanism by which ellagitannins confer protection against inflammatory diseases

Effect of high-fat diet on phosphorus absorption

Objective: Dietary carbohydrate/fat ratio may affect phosphorus metabolism because both calcium and phosphorus are regulated by similar metabolic mechanisms, and a high-fat diet (HF) induces deleterious effects on the absorption of dietary calcium. We hypothesized that the HF induces an increase in phosphorus absorption; therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of differences in the quantity and quality of dietary fat on phosphorus metabolism over the short and long term. Research Methods & Procedures: Eighteen 8-week-old Sprague-Dawley male rats were fed an isocaloric diet containing varied carbohydrate/fat energy ratio and sources of fat (control diet [Control], HF, and high saturated-fat diet [HF-SFA]). At 3 days and 7 weeks after the allocation and initiation of the test diets, feces and urine were collected and used for phosphorus and calcium measurement. Results: The fecal phosphorous concentration (F-Pi) was lower in the HF-SFA group than in the other two groups; however, the urine phosphorus concentration (U-Pi) was significantly higher in the HF-SFA group than the other two groups when the rats were fed over the short (p<0.01) and long term (p<0.01 vs Control group, p<0.05 vs HF group). There were no significant differences in type-IIa sodium-phosphate cotransporter (NaPi-2a) and type-IIc sodium-phosphate cotransporter (NaPi-2c) mRNA expression, which are renal phosphate transport-related genes; however, the expression of type-IIb sodium-phosphate cotransporter (NaPi-2b) and type-III sodium-phosphate cotransporter (Pit-1) mRNA in the duodenum was higher in the HF and HF-SFA groups than in the Control group (p<0.05), although there were no significant differences in these in the jejunum. Conclusions: Our results indicated that HF, particularly HF-SFA, increases intestinal phosphate absorption compared with Control

Selection of regional factors associated with low birthweight in Japan

Background　Babies with low birthweight have potential physical and mental disadvantages.Purpose　The purpose of this study was to determine the social and demographic variables (SDVs) related to the low birthweight rate (LBWR) in Japan using a combination of the correlation coefficient (CC) and coefficient of determination (R2)．Methods　We obtained 704 variables from 13 statistical tables in the SDVs of the 2017 e-Stat database of Japan. We calculated the CCs between the LBWR and the 704 variables in each Japanese prefecture. Of the original 704 variables, 21 were selected, as the CCs between the LBWR and variables were ≥0.4. We conducted multiple regression analysis between the LBWR and these 21 variables to obtain a list of 21 explanatory variables in ascending order by p-value. We also repeated the multiple regression analysis 21 times to obtain the R2 and adjusted R2.Results　The median LBWR was 9.5%, the maximum was 11.5%, the minimum was 8.2%, and the mean was 9.5% among 47 prefectures. Only the variable amount of saving per household” exhibited statistical significance (p＝0.048)， and its R2 and R2adj were 0.164 and 0.149, respectively. The R2 was 0.669 (88.3% of the maximum)， and the R2adj was 0.610 (95.3% of the maximum) and the maximum in seven explanatory variables that reached the plateau.Conclusion　The combination of CCs and R2 indicated that the LBWR was significantly related to the regional factor “amount of savings per household,” as determined from the social and demographic database in Japan