Legal Term Usage No.6: O-iu, To-iu, Fukumu, Nozoku, Kagiru

This article is one of series of the Study of Legal Term Usage in Japanese law. In the 6th Study I analyse five legal terms followings: (1) O-iu (mean), (2) To-iu (refer), (3) Fukumu (include), (4) Nozoku (exclude), (5) Kagiru (limit). Using these terms in the parenthesis als predicate, the legislator give the prescriptions to all the interpreters to difine the concepts respectively. I try to define each term from the new perspective. In addion, I give the brief history of using the parenthesis in the statute law at the period of the codification in modern Japan

Legal Term Usage No.5: Minasu, Suitei, Junyo, Tekiyo <Articles>

This article is one of series of the Study of Legal Term Usage in Japanese law. In the 5th Study I analyse four legal terms followings: (1) Minasu (deem), (2) Suiteisuru (presume), (3) Junyo-suru (apply mutatis mutandis), (4) Tekiyo-suru (apply). All these terms express legal effect in legal paragaraphs. I try to define each term from the new perspective

Legal Term Usage No.7: Item (Gō) and Tabel (Hyō) as Style for Listing

This article is one of series of the Study of Legal Term Usage in Japanese law. In the 7th Study I analyse two styles of Listing. One style is "Item" (jap: Gō), that is the itemization of one or more words, phrase, clause or sentence with item number. When in the body sentence of an article or a paragaraph an item to be listed, e.g. , person, act, fact, event, reason, matter, condition etc. is presented under the term "the following ...", each item says some information correspondent to person, act, fact and so on. The other style is "Table" (jap: Hyō) inside an article or a paragaraph and "Appended Table" (jap: Beppyō) after the Supplementary Provisions. The table, surrounding with one frame, consists of rows and columns of cells containing data. As the table is two-dimensional, it is possible to list the data both horizontally and vertically. From the point of view of the function of listing the item and the table are very similar: in fact, we can find the item, which consists of two or three columns without frame line, and the table, which has no line with each item number

Perspective on Therapeutic Strategies of Leukemia Treatment — Focus on Arsenic Compounds

Leukemia is a type of cancer of the body’s blood-forming tissues, including the bone marrow and the lymphatic system. Treatments for leukemia are complex, depending upon the type of leukemia and other factors. Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is a distinct subtype of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and accounts for approximately 10-15% of all cases of AML in adults. Arsenic and its compounds are widely distributed in the environment and have been used medicinally for over 2,000 years. In fact, investigators from China and the USA have demonstrated that treatment with ATO (As2O3, AsIII) results in complete remission in 90% of relapsed APL patients since mid-1990s. Moreover, As2S2 or As4S4, also known as realgar, has been gaining increasing attention and is traditionally used to treat certain types of hematological disorders including chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), AML, myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and MDS/AML in China. In this chapter, we first highlight the pharmacokinetics of ATO and realgar in leukemia patients and/or healthy volunteer. We will further summarize the detailed mechanisms underlying the cytocidal effects of these arsenic compounds. We also provide detailed insight into potential future clinical application of those promising candidates endowed with potent antitumor activities in view of combination with arsenic compounds

Noninvasive quantification of regional ventricular function in rats: Assessment of serial change and spatial distribution using ultrasound strain analysis

Background: The optimal method for quantitative assessment of regional ventricular function in rats remains unclear. The goal of this study was to investigate the use of ultrasonic strain rate (SR) and strain analysis in evaluating the serial change and spatial distribution of regional contractile function in rats. Methods: In all, 22 anesthetized rats underwent incremental dobutamine infusion (protocol 1) for assessment of serial change or underwent coronary ligation (protocol 2) for assessment of spatial distribution. For protocol 1, the serial change of systolic SR and strain during dobutamine was measured in the posterior myocardium on the short-axis view, and the systolic strain was compared with the percent change in wall thickening. For protocol 2, the spatial distribution of strain profile was analyzed in normal, peripheral ischemic, and central ischemic regions that were identified by myocardial contrast echocardiography. Results: In protocol 1, the incremental dobutamine infusion resulted in a gradual increase in peak systolic SR. In contrast, peak systolic strain increased with low-dose dobutamine but tended to decrease for higher doses of dobutamine. Further, the serial change of peak systolic strain corresponded to changes in percent change in wall thickening, but the strain values were always lower than percent change in wall thickening. In protocol 2, the strain profile indicated postsystolic thickening in the peripheral ischemic region and indicated systolic wall thinning in the central ischemic region. Conclusions: Ultrasonic determination of SR and strain is an accurate and noninvasive method of quantitation of the serial change and spatial distribution of regional contractile function in rats. Copyright 2005 by the American Society of Echocardiography.Hirano T, Asanuma T, Azakami R, Okuda K, Ishikura F, Beppu S. Noninvasive quantification of regional ventricular function in rats: assessment of serial change and spatial distribution using ultrasound strain analysis. J Am Soc Echocardiogr. 2005 Sep;18(9):907-12. doi: 10.1016/j.echo.2005.01.009

Irinotecan Hydrochloride (CPT-11) in Dialysis Patients with Gastrointestinal Cancer

We investigated changes in drug disposition and toxicities with CPT-11 in 15 dialysis patients with gastrointestinal cancers to clarify whether CPT-11 could be administered safely in such patients. For comparison, the same parameters were also investigated in 10 cancer patients not undergoing dialysis. Items investigated included (1) plasma concentrations of SN-38, SN-38G and CPT-11 at 0, 1, 12, 24, 36, 48 and 72h after administration, together with a comparison of mean AUC values for 3 dose levels of CPT-11 (50, 60 and 70mg/m2) in dialysis patients and controls;and (2) occurrence of adverse events. Several findings emerged from this study:(1) No significant difference was observed in the AUC for SN-38 or CPT-11 between the dialysis and control groups;(2) The AUC for SN-38G at each dose was significantly higher in dialysis patients;and (3) Grade 1-4 leucopenia was observed in 11 of the dialysis patients. One patient developed grade 4 leucopenia and died due to sepsis. Anorexia, diarrhea, nausea, alopecia and interstitial pneumonia occurred in 6 dialysis patients. We found changes in drug dispositions of CPT-11, SN-38 and SN-38G in dialysis patients, suggesting that hepatic excretion, especially that of SN-38G, was increased. No significant difference in occurrence of adverse events was observed between the 2 groups. This indicates that CPT-11 can be administered safely in patients on dialysis.</p

Impact of the Coronary Flow Reduction at Rest on Myocardial Perfusion and Functional Indices Derived from Myocardial Contrast and Strain Echocardiography

Background: The severity of the coronary flow reduction that corresponds to myocardial perfusion and functional abnormalities remains unclear. We estimated the impact of various severities of flow-limiting coronary stenosis at rest on myocardial perfusion and functional indices from myocardial contrast echocardiography and tissue strain imaging and characterized the relationship between both the indices. Methods: Four levels of flow-limiting stenoses (slight, mild, moderate, severe) of the left circumflex coronary artery were examined in 10 open-chest dogs. In the left circumflex coronary artery area, plateau videointensity and time to plateau (TP) of the replenishment curve from myocardial contrast echocardiography were calculated for perfusion analysis, and peak systolic strain and postsystolic strain index (PSI) from tissue strain imaging were measured for functional analysis. Results: Plateau videointensity and peak systolic strain tended to decrease with increased severity of stenosis, although these differences did not reach the level of statistical significance. TP and PSI were significantly increased in the context of moderate (≥30-<50%) and severe (≥50%) flow reduction when compared to baseline values (TP, moderate 1.69 ± 0.20 and severe 1.77 ± 0.25 vs baseline 0.93 ± 0.17, P < .01, respectively; PSI, moderate 0.96 ± 0.15 and severe 1.28 ± 0.32 vs baseline 0.59 ± 0.18, P < .05 and P < .01, respectively). Further, TP and PSI were positively correlated with flow reduction (r = 0.81 and r = 0.84, P < .0001, respectively), and PSI was positively correlated with TP (r = 0.72, P < .0001). Conclusions: In contrast to conventional indices, such as plateau videointensity and peak systolic strain, novel indices, such as TP and PSI, were both able to detect 30% or greater coronary flow reduction at rest. © 2006 American Society of Echocardiography.Okuda K, Asanuma T, Hirano T, Masuda K, Otani K, Ishikura F, Beppu S. Impact of the coronary flow reduction at rest on myocardial perfusion and functional indices derived from myocardial contrast and strain echocardiography. J Am Soc Echocardiogr. 2006 Jun;19(6):781-7. doi: 10.1016/j.echo.2005.10.016

Renal Cell Carcinoma with Intraluminal Spread of the Entire Upper Urinary Tract

We describe an unusual case of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) involving the entire upper urinary tract. A 51-year-old female was referred to us because of macroscopic hematuria. Computed tomography revealed a renal tumor filling renal pelvis and ureter, which turned to be a clear cell RCC after nephroureterectomy