Neural-specific ablation of the scaffold protein JSAP1 in mice causes neonatal death

Division of Molecular Cell Signalin

Comparison of rapid immunochromatographic assays using sputum and urine for Streptococcus pneumoniae detection in adult patients with respiratory tract infection

Aim: Streptococcus pneumoniae is the most frequently detected bacterium in pneumonia. RAPIRUN Streptococcus pneumoniae (RAPIRUN) using sputum and BinaxNow Streptococcus pneumoniae (BinaxNow) using urine have been used as rapid diagnostic methods for S. pneumoniae detection in Japan; however, their correlation with quantitative culture tests has not been well evaluated.Methods: A prospective study was conducted on adult patients with respiratory tract infections whose sputum and urine samples were available in six hospitals. Sputum and urine samples were tested at each site, and quantitative sputum cultures were performed. The performance of RAPIRUN and BinaxNow was compared in cases in which quantitative culture showed S. pneumoniae.Results: A total of 192 patients were analyzed. Of these, 167 were diagnosed with pneumonia (87.0%) including 161 of community-acquired pneumonia. Of the 192 cases, 86 (44.8%) were culture-proven for S. pneumoniae. There were 83 and 57 RAPIRUN- and BinaxNow-positive cases, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of RAPIRUN were 84.9% and 90.6%, respectively, and those of BinaxNOW were 55.8% and 91.5%, respectively, indicating that RAPIRUN was significantly superior in sensitivity (p < 0.0001) with almost equal specificity (p = 0.317). Positive and negative percent agreements of both tests were 59.3% (κ, 0.114 [95% CI, 0.053–0.281]) and 99.1% (κ, 0.942 [95% CI, 0.830–1]), respectively, indicating they were well matched in specificity but not in sensitivity. The positivity rate of RAPIRUN increased with an increase in the number of bacteria (p< 0.0001) but not BinaxNow (p = 0.275).Conclusion: In adult patients with respiratory tract infections in whom sputum collection is feasible, RAPIRUN will increase the diagnostic efficacy of S. pneumoniae infection

Stromal Palladin Expression Is an Independent Prognostic Factor in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

It has been clear that cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) in the tumor microenvironment play an important role in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) progression. However, how CAFs relate to the patients' prognosis and the effects of chemoradiation therapy (CRT) has not been fully investigated. Tissue microarrays (TMAs) representing 167 resected PDACs without preoperative treatment were used for immunohistochemical studies (IHC) of palladin, alpha-smooth muscle actin (SMA), and podoplanin. Correlations between the expression levels of these markers and clinicopathological findings were analyzed statistically. Whole sections of surgical specimens from PDACs with and without preoperative CRT, designated as the chemotherapy-first group (CF, n = 19) and the surgery-first group (SF, n = 21), respectively, were also analyzed by IHC. In TMAs, the disease-specific survival rate (DSS) at 5 years for all 167 cases was 23.1%. Seventy cases (41.9%) were positive for palladin and had significantly lower DSS (p = 0.0430). alpha-SMA and podoplanin were positive in 167 cases (100%) and 131 cases (78.4%), respectively, and they were not significantly associated with DSS. On multivariable analysis, palladin expression was an independent poor prognostic factor (p = 0.0243, risk ratio 1.60). In the whole section study, palladin positivity was significantly lower (p = 0.0037) in the CF group (5/19) with a significantly better DSS (p = 0.0144) than in the SF group (16/22), suggesting that stromal palladin expression is a surrogate indicator of the treatment effect after chemoradiation therapy

BGDL-II: a GPS data logger for birds

We have developed a new GPS data logger consisting of a receiver, timer, memory, and battery. It is principally designed for long period tracking of migratory birds. It can fix 600 positions with one small lithium battery. We can set an arbitrary measuring schedule prior to each experiment. We can, for example, track a bird over six months, fixing positions three times a day. The whole unit weighs 67 g including battery and casing. The casing is pressure-resistant up to 3 bars. The main advantages compared to tracking methods based on the ARGOS system are: 1) several times cheaper equipment, 2) no charge for the use of satellite links, 3) the errors in the position data obtained are more than 10 times smaller, 4) the schedule setting has greater flexibility, and 5) the fixing has a lesser failure rate. However these advantages are realized at the cost of real time delivery of position data as users must re-capture the birds to obtain the stored data. In this paper, we explain the configuration of equipment, principles of operation, and the performance. We also discuss some results of albatross tracking. In the experiment the failure rate in the fixing of the albatross positions averaged 20%

Development of imatinibmesylate-induced interstitial lung disease 2 weeks after discontinuation of the treatment: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Imatinibmesylate (imatinib) is a small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor administered to patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia and gastrointestinal stromal tumor. Although imatinib-associated interstitial lung disease is uncommon, a few cases have been reported so far. However, in all these cases interstitial lung disease developed during the use of imatinib. The present case is the first report of imatinib-induced interstitial lung disease developing after discontinuation of the drug.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 51-year-old woman was administered oral imatinib for gastrointestinal stromal tumor. Ten weeks later, imatinib was discontinued because of facial edema. On this occasion, chest radiography showed no abnormal findings. However, 2 weeks after discontinuation of imatinib, she developed fever, dry cough, and dyspnea. Chest radiography and computed tomography showed diffuse interstitial infiltrates in both lungs. Examination of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid showed an increased proportion of lymphocytes. Imatinib-induced interstitial lung disease was suspected, because no other cause was evident. After administration of corticosteroids, her clinical condition and chest radiographic findings improved.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We report a unique case of imatinib-induced interstitial lung disease that developed 2 weeks after discontinuation of the drug. Physicians should consider occurrence of imatinib-induced interstitial lung disease even after discontinuation of the drug.</p