Construction of the corpus of senmyō: one of the oldest materials of Japanese language

Of the oldest texts written in native Japanese that still exist today, waka (poems) and senmyō (imperial edicts) from the 8th century comprise the largest part. In this period, texts were usually written in Classical Chinese, but waka and senmyō were written in native Japanese using kanji (Chinese characters). Therefore, they are valuable materials of Old Japanese for linguists. We worked on construction of the corpus of senmyō mainly for the purpose of language research. Our corpus adheres to the writing style of the original text and is created under a unified design as part of the diachronic corpus covering from the eighth century to the present (CHJ)

Cerebroplacental ratio and acidemia to the birth in placental insufficiency detected before 34th week's gestation

OBJETIVO: avaliar a hipótese de que a relação cerebroplacentária (RCP) fetal relaciona-se com acidemia no nascimento, em gestações complicadas pela insuficiência placentária detectada antes da 34ª semana de gestação. MÉTODOS: trata-se de coorte prospectiva de 55 pacientes entre a 26ª e a 34ª semanas de gestação, com diagnóstico de insuficiência placentária caracterizada pelo Doppler de artéria umbilical alterado (índice de pulsatilidade &gt;p95). Para cada paciente foi realizada avaliação da vitalidade fetal pela doplervelocimetria de artéria umbilical, artéria cerebral média e ducto venoso, e pelo perfil biofísico fetal. Foi calculada a RCP pela razão entre os valores do índice de pulsatilidade da artéria umbilical e da artéria cerebral média, bem como o cálculo de seu z-score (número de desvios padrão que se afasta da média para a idade gestacional). A acidemia no nascimento foi caracterizada quando pH<7,2. RESULTADOS: das 55 pacientes, 29 (52,7%) apresentaram acidemia no nascimento. O grupo com acidemia, comparado ao grupo com pH&gt;7,2, apresentou associação significativa com os valores da RCP (mediana 0,47 versus 0,58; p=0,009), índice de pulsatilidade da artéria umbilical (mediana 2,45 versus 1,93; p=0,003), índice de pulsatilidade para veias (IPV) do ducto venoso (mediana 1,08 versus 0,85; p=0,034) e perfil biofísico fetal suspeito ou alterado (37 versus 8%; p=0,031). A análise da RCP pelo seu z-score demonstrou tendência de maior afastamento negativo da média, mas sem atingir valor significativo (p=0,08). Foi constatada correlação significativa entre o pH no nascimento e a RCP (r=0,45; p<0,01), o z-score da RCP (r=0,27; p<0,05) e o IPV do ducto venoso (r=-0,35 p<0,01). CONCLUSÃO: A RCP associa-se à presença de acidemia no nascimento nas gestações com insuficiência placentária antes da 34ª semana, e esse parâmetro pode configurar potencial fator para avaliação da gravidade do comprometimento fetal.PURPOSE: to evaluate the hypothesis that the fetal cerebroplacental ratio (CPR) is related to acidemia at birth in pregnancies complicated by placental insufficiency detected before 34 weeks of gestation. METHODS: this is a prospective cohort study of 55 patients between 26 and 34 weeks of gestation with a diagnosis of placental insufficiency characterized by abnormal umbilical artery Doppler (pulsatility index&gt;95p). Fetal assessment was performed for each patient by dopplervelocimetry of the umbilical artery, middle cerebral artery and ductus venosus, and by the fetal biophysical profile. CPR was calculated using the ratio between middle cerebral artery pulsatility index and umbilical artery pulsatility index, and the z-score was obtained (number of standard deviations of the mean value at each gestational age). Acidemia at birth was characterized when pH<7.2. RESULTS: of 55 patients, 29 (52.7%) presented acidemia at birth. In the group of fetal acidemia, when compared with the group with pH&gt;7.2, a significant association was observed with CPR values (median 0.47 versus 0.58; p=0.009), pulsatility index of the umbilical artery (median 2.45 versus 1.93; p=0.003), ductus venosus pulsatility index for veins (PIV) (median 1.08 versus 0.85; p=0.034) and suspected or abnormal fetal biophysical profile (37 versus 8%; p=0.031). CPR analysis by z-score showed a negative tendency, but was not statistically significant (p=0.080). Significant correlations were found between pH at birth and CPR (r=0.45; p<0.01), z-score of CPR (r=0.27; p<0.05) and ductus venosus PIV (r=-0.35 p<0.01). CONCLUSION: CPR is associated with the presence of acidemia at birth in pregnancies with placental insufficiency detected before 34 weeks of gestation and this parameter could potentially represent a factor for assessing the severity of fetal involvement

Successful use of dupilumab for egg-induced eosinophilic gastroenteritis with duodenal ulcer: a pediatric case report and review of literature

Background Non-esophageal eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorder (non-EoE-EGID) is a rare disease in which eosinophils infiltrate parts of the gastrointestinal tract other than the esophagus; however, the number of patients with non-EoE-EGID has been increasing in recent years. Owing to its chronic course with repeated relapses, it can lead to developmental delays due to malnutrition, especially in pediatric patients. No established treatment exists for non-EoE-EGID, necessitating long-term systemic corticosteroid administration. Although the efficacy of dupilumab, an anti-IL-4/13 receptor monoclonal antibody, for eosinophilic esophagitis, has been reported, only few reports have demonstrated its efficacy in non-EoE EGIDs. Case presentation A 13-year-old boy developed non-EoE-EGID with duodenal ulcers, with chicken eggs as the trigger. He was successfully treated with an egg-free diet, proton pump inhibitors, and leukotriene receptor antagonists. However, at age 15, he developed worsening upper abdominal pain and difficulty eating. Blood analysis revealed eosinophilia; elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate; and elevated levels of C-reactive protein, total immunoglobulin E, and thymic and activation-regulated chemokines. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed a duodenal ulcer with marked mucosal eosinophilic infiltration. Gastrointestinal symptoms persisted even after starting systemic steroids, making it difficult to reduce the steroid dose. Subcutaneous injection of dupilumab was initiated because of comorbid atopic dermatitis exacerbation. After 3 months, the gastrointestinal symptoms disappeared, and after 5 months, the duodenal ulcer disappeared and the eosinophil count decreased in the mucosa. Six months later, systemic steroids were discontinued, and the duodenal ulcer remained recurrence-free. The egg challenge test result was negative; therefore, the egg-free diet was discontinued. Blood eosinophil count and serum IL-5, IL-13, and eotaxin-3 levels decreased after dupilumab treatment. The serum levels of IL-5 and eotaxin-3 remained within normal ranges, although the blood eosinophil counts increased again after discontinuation of oral prednisolone. Conclusions Suppression of IL-4R/IL-13R-mediated signaling by dupilumab may improve abdominal symptoms and endoscopic and histologic findings in patients with non-EoE-EGID, leading to the discontinuation of systemic steroid administration and tolerance of causative foods

Serum Procalcitonin Levels in Acute Encephalopathy with Biphasic Seizures and Late Reduced Diffusion

Procalcitonin (PCT) is used as a biomarker in severe infections. Here, we retrospectively investigated levels of serum PCT, C-reactive protein (CRP), and inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, TNF-alpha, and IFN-gamma) in the second phase of patients with acute encephalopathy with biphasic seizures and late reduced diffusion (AESD). Nine AESD pediatric patients (4 men, 5 women; AESD group) admitted to Okayama University Hospital from 2010 to 2016 were compared with 10 control patients with febrile seizures (FS) (3 men, 7 women; FS group). Mean PCT concentrations (ng/mL) in the AESD and FS groups were significantly different, at 9.8 +/- 6.7 and 0.8 +/- 0.9, respectively (p = 0 0006). CRP (mg/dL) were 0.79 +/- 0.89 and 1.4 +/- 1.0 (p = 0 94), respectively; IL-6 (pg/mL) were 449.7 +/- 705.0 and 118.3 +/- 145.4 (p = 0 20), respectively; TNF-alpha (pg/mL) were 18.6 +/- 12.5 and 16.6 +/- 6.0 (p = 0 67), respectively; and IFN-gamma (pg/mL) were 79.6 +/- 158.5 and 41.9 +/- 63.7 (p = 0 56), respectively. Ratios of PCT to CRP were 27.5 +/- 34.2 and 3.2 +/- 6.8 (p < 0 0001), respectively. The sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of AESD using a cutoff of PCT/CRP ratio of 1.0 were 79% and 100%, respectively. These results suggest that PCT and the PCT/CRP ratio are useful in auxiliary diagnosis of the second stage of AESD, and in AESD, PCT is likely to increase through a different mechanism

小麦アレルギーのエピトープペプチドに対するモノクローナル抗体の作製

Monoclonal Antibodies were raised against SQQQ(Q)PPF peptide conjugated to Keyhole Limpet Hemocyanin, which has been identified as epitope peptide of wheat allergy. Three monoclonal antibodies, mAbs 3D, 4B, and 6F were obtained by screening with the peptide conjugated to bovine serum albumin. However, these mAbs did not react with the free peptide in a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. On western analysis, about 14 and 17kDa proteins in the wheat globulin fraction were detected with these mAbs. It is reported that wheat proteins of about 14, 16kDa were reactive with sera of patients allergic to wheat and that a wheat globulin of about 19kDa has SQQQQQG sequence. It seems likely that the mAbs obtained here recognize the 19kDa protein related to wheat allergy

Rosmarinic acid is a novel inhibitor for Hepatitis B virus replication targeting viral epsilon RNA-polymerase interaction

Current therapeutics for hepatitis B virus (HBV) patients such as nucleoside analogs (NAs) are effective; however, new antiviral drugs against HBV are still desired. Since the interaction between the epsilon (c) sequence of HBV pregenomic RNA and viral polymerase (Pot) is a key step in the HBV replication cycle, we aimed to identify small compounds for its inhibition, and established a pull-down assay system for the detection of c-RNA-binding-Pol. Screening showed that 5 out of 3,965 compounds inhibited c-Pol binding, and we identified rosmarinic acid, which exhibited specificity, as a potential antiviral agent. In order to examine the anti-HBV effects of rosmarinic acid, HBV-infected primary human hepatocytes from a humanized mouse liver were treated with rosmarinic acid. The rosmarinic acid treatment decreased HBV components including the amounts of extracellular HBV DNA with negligible cytotoxicity. We also investigated the combined effects of rosmarinic acid and the NA, lamivudine. rosmarinic acid slightly enhanced the anti-HBV activity of lamivudine, suggesting that the HBV replication step targeted by rosmarinic acid is distinct from that of NA. We analyzed an additional 25 rosmarinic acid derivatives, and found that 5 also inhibited c-Pol. Structural comparisons between these derivatives implied that the "two phenolic hydroxyl groups at both ends" and the "caffeic acid-like structure" of rosmarinic acid are critical for the inhibition of c-Pol binding. Collectively, our results demonstrate that rosmarinic acid inhibits HBV replication in HBV-infected cells by specifically targeting c-Pol binding

First Data Release of the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program

The Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC-SSP) is a three-layered imaging survey aimed at addressing some of the most outstanding questions in astronomy today, including the nature of dark matter and dark energy. The survey has been awarded 300 nights of observing time at the Subaru Telescope and it started in March 2014. This paper presents the first public data release of HSC-SSP. This release includes data taken in the first 1.7 years of observations (61.5 nights) and each of the Wide, Deep, and UltraDeep layers covers about 108, 26, and 4 square degrees down to depths of i~26.4, ~26.5, and ~27.0 mag, respectively (5sigma for point sources). All the layers are observed in five broad bands (grizy), and the Deep and UltraDeep layers are observed in narrow bands as well. We achieve an impressive image quality of 0.6 arcsec in the i-band in the Wide layer. We show that we achieve 1-2 per cent PSF photometry (rms) both internally and externally (against Pan-STARRS1), and ~10 mas and 40 mas internal and external astrometric accuracy, respectively. Both the calibrated images and catalogs are made available to the community through dedicated user interfaces and database servers. In addition to the pipeline products, we also provide value-added products such as photometric redshifts and a collection of public spectroscopic redshifts. Detailed descriptions of all the data can be found online. The data release website is https://hsc-release.mtk.nao.ac.jp/.Comment: 34 pages, 20 figures, 7 tables, moderate revision, accepted for publication in PAS