Survey of Uterine Cervix Cancer Screening by Examination Car in Niigata Prefecture from 1995 to 2009

Based on the results obtained from 1995 to 2009, we explored the current activity statuses of the uterine cervix cancer screening by examination car conducted in Niigata Prefecture. A total of 318,580 women between age 20 and 85 (60,215 initial examinees including examinees who received cancer screening at interval of more than 3 or 5 years, and 258,365 re-examinees who received the screening more than twice within the past 3 or 5 years) were screened during this 15-year period. The mean consultation rate (proportion of examinees to the target population) was 4.10%, showing the highest rate 5.50% in 1996 and the lowest rate 1.98% in 2007. By the cancer screening, 255 cancer patients were detected in the 15 years (mean detection rate: 0.08%, range: 0.04% -1.30%). The mean cancer detection rate in the initial examinees (0.28%, 167 cases) was 8.1 times higher than that in the re-examinees (0.03%, 88 cases). Furthermore, the frequency of examinees diagnosed with dysplasia in the initial examinees was 5.7 times higher than that in the re-examinees (0.51% vs. 0.09%). Examinees requiring detailed examination (3.27%), or examinees diagnosed with dysplasia (0.18%), were detected at the highest rate in their twenties. However, the overall cancer detection rate in their twenties (0.17%) was the secondhighest during the study period, after that in their thirties (0.24%). The cancer detection rate leveled off at about 0.08% during the 15 years, and higher detection rates were found in the initial examinees, especially in their twenties and thirties. We believe the increase in cancer screening examinees of these generations is related to the increase in detection rates of dysplasia or cancer, and may be implicated in the future decrease in the cervical cancer death rate

アグロバクテリウム ホウ ニヨル タバコ ハマキ ウイルス ガイヒ タンパクシツ イデンシ ノ タバコ ヘノ ドウニュウ ト ドウニュウ イデンシ ノ ホモ カ ニ カンスル ケンキュウ

タバコNicotiana tabacum cv Burley21へAgrobacterium tumefaciensを用いてジェミニウイルス科(Geminiviridae)に属するtobacco leaf curl virus(TbLCV)の外被タンパク質遺伝子を導入した。外被タンパク質遺伝子を導入したタバコを自殖して後代系統を養成し,T1世代,T2世代における分離比を算定することにより,導入遺伝子のコピー数を推定した。分離比から1コピー,2コピー,3コピーと推定される形質転換タバコ系統を得た。1コピー,2コピーと考えられる形質転換植物については更に自殖を繰り返し,導入遺伝子をホモに持つ組換え系統を得た。Coat protein gene of Tobacco leaf curl virus was introduced to Nicotiana tabacum cv Burley21 by mediation with Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Transgenic plants obtained were inbreed, offspring plants were harvested and then segregation ratios were computed of T1 generation plants using resistance for hygromycin as a marker trait. For results obtained, copy numbers of introduced coat protein gene were inferred. We obtained transgenic plants containing one copy, two copies and three copies of introduced coat protein gene. The homozygous lines were obtained by inbreeding of transgenic tobacco plants which contained one or two copies of introduced coat protein gene

Sound to Language: Different Cortical Processing for First and Second Languages in Elementary School Children as Revealed by a Large-Scale Study Using fNIRS

A large-scale study of 484 elementary school children (6–10 years) performing word repetition tasks in their native language (L1-Japanese) and a second language (L2-English) was conducted using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Three factors presumably associated with cortical activation, language (L1/L2), word frequency (high/low), and hemisphere (left/right), were investigated. L1 words elicited significantly greater brain activation than L2 words, regardless of semantic knowledge, particularly in the superior/middle temporal and inferior parietal regions (angular/supramarginal gyri). The greater L1-elicited activation in these regions suggests that they are phonological loci, reflecting processes tuned to the phonology of the native language, while phonologically unfamiliar L2 words were processed like nonword auditory stimuli. The activation was bilateral in the auditory and superior/middle temporal regions. Hemispheric asymmetry was observed in the inferior frontal region (right dominant), and in the inferior parietal region with interactions: low-frequency words elicited more right-hemispheric activation (particularly in the supramarginal gyrus), while high-frequency words elicited more left-hemispheric activation (particularly in the angular gyrus). The present results reveal the strong involvement of a bilateral language network in children’s brains depending more on right-hemispheric processing while acquiring unfamiliar/low-frequency words. A right-to-left shift in laterality should occur in the inferior parietal region, as lexical knowledge increases irrespective of language

Rikkunshito prevents paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy through the suppression of the nuclear factor kappa B (NFκB) phosphorylation in spinal cord of mice.

Peripheral neuropathy is the major side effect caused by paclitaxel, a microtubule-binding antineoplastic drug. Paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy causes a long-term negative impact on the patient's quality of life. However, the mechanism underlying paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy is still unknown, and there is no established treatment. Ghrelin is known to attenuate thermal hyperalgesia and mechanical allodynia in chronic constriction injury of the sciatic nerve, and inhibit the activation of nuclear factor kappa B (NFκB) in the spinal dorsal horn. Rikkunshito (RKT), a kampo medicine, increases the secretion of ghrelin in rodents and humans. Thus, RKT may attenuate paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy by inhibiting phosphorylated NFκB (pNFκB) in the spinal cord. We found that paclitaxel dose-dependently induced mechanical hyperalgesia in mice. Paclitaxel increased the protein levels of spinal pNFκB, but not those of spinal NFκB. NFκB inhibitor attenuated paclitaxel-induced mechanical hyperalgesia suggesting that the activation of NFκB mediates paclitaxel-induced hyperalgesia. RKT dose-dependently attenuated paclitaxel-induced mechanical hyperalgesia. Ghrelin receptor antagonist reversed the RKT-induced attenuation of paclitaxel-induced mechanical hyperalgesia. RKT inhibited the paclitaxel-induced increase in the protein levels of spinal pNFκB. Taken together, the present study indicates that RKT exerts an antihyperalgesic effect in paclitaxel-induced neuropathic pain by suppressing the activation of spinal NFκB