The Effect of Psychological Intervention on Personality Change Coping and Psychological Distress of Japanese Primary Breast Cancer Patients

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Solid Phase Biosensors for Arsenic or Cadmium Composed of A trans Factor and cis Element Complex

The presence of toxic metals in drinking water has hazardous effects on human health. This study was conducted to develop GFP-based-metal-binding biosensors for on-site assay of toxic metal ions. GFP-tagged ArsR and CadC proteins bound to a cis element, and lost the capability of binding to it in their As- and Cd-binding conformational states, respectively. Water samples containing toxic metals were incubated on a complex of GFP-tagged ArsR or CadC and cis element which was immobilized on a solid surface. Metal concentrations were quantified with fluorescence intensity of the metal-binding states released from the cis element. Fluorescence intensity obtained with the assay significantly increased with increasing concentrations of toxic metals. Detection limits of 1 μg/L for Cd(II) and 5 μg/L for As(III) in purified water and 10 µg/L for Cd(II) and As(III) in tap water and bottled mineral water were achieved by measurement with a battery-powered portable fluorometer after 15-min and 30-min incubation, respectively. A complex of freeze dried GFP-tagged ArsR or CadC binding to cis element was stable at 4 °C and responded to 5 μg/L As(III) or Cd(II). The solid phase biosensors are sensitive, less time-consuming, portable, and could offer a protocol for on-site evaluation of the toxic metals in drinking water

ESTIMATION OF GROUND REACTION FORCES DURING WALKING

One way to calculate net forces utilizes the Newton-Euler equations where the human body is assumed to consist of solid elements. However, previous research only applied them to open-loop motion in which both legs are off the ground or only one leg is on the ground. It has been problematic to analyse closed-loop motions such as walking in which both feet are on the ground. This study suggested a way to calculate net forces throughout a walking cycle. Furthermore, one walking trial of each subject (3 in total) was conducted to validate with the proposed methods. This study showed that the correlations between force plates and calculated GRF were strong, in particular for the z axis, in the left limb ranged from 0.92 to 0.99, in the right limb from 0.99 to 0.98. Thus, the proposed method was considered to successfully calculate the net forces during walking

The ASTRO-H X-ray Observatory

The joint JAXA/NASA ASTRO-H mission is the sixth in a series of highly successful X-ray missions initiated by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS). ASTRO-H will investigate the physics of the high-energy universe via a suite of four instruments, covering a very wide energy range, from 0.3 keV to 600 keV. These instruments include a high-resolution, high-throughput spectrometer sensitive over 0.3-2 keV with high spectral resolution of Delta E < 7 eV, enabled by a micro-calorimeter array located in the focal plane of thin-foil X-ray optics; hard X-ray imaging spectrometers covering 5-80 keV, located in the focal plane of multilayer-coated, focusing hard X-ray mirrors; a wide-field imaging spectrometer sensitive over 0.4-12 keV, with an X-ray CCD camera in the focal plane of a soft X-ray telescope; and a non-focusing Compton-camera type soft gamma-ray detector, sensitive in the 40-600 keV band. The simultaneous broad bandpass, coupled with high spectral resolution, will enable the pursuit of a wide variety of important science themes.Comment: 22 pages, 17 figures, Proceedings of the SPIE Astronomical Instrumentation "Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2012: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray

Studies on Monitoring Tumor Response in Head and Neck to Radiation Therapy by Using P-31 MR Spectroscopy

We studied the usefulness of P-31 MRS (magnetic resonance spectroscopy) for the early indication and monitoring of responses to radiation therapy in 30 patients with superficial tumors in the head and neck regions. P-31 MRS was used to estimate phosphomonoesters (PME) in tumors before and after patients were subjected to 20 Gy radiation therapy. Computed tomography ( CT) was carried out to measure tumor sizes before and after patients received 40~45 Gy of radiation. The relationship between the changes in PME levels and the reduction in tumor size was investigated. In the tumors of 30 patients, the concentration ratio of PME / β -adenosine triphosphate (ATP) was 0.99 ± 0.53 (mean±SD) before radiation treatment. The MR spectra of 23 tumors after 20 Gy radiation were detectable, but those of 7 tumors were not. We found a significant positive correlation between the PME/ β-ATP reduction ratio and the tumor reduction ratio for the 23 tumors with detectable spectra after being subjected to 20 Gy radiation. The response rate was 85.7% after 40~45 Gy radiation for the 7 tumors with spectra below the noise level after 20 Gy radiation. The present results suggest that PME/β-ATP is a useful parameter for estimation of the early response of tumors to radiotherapy.departmental bulletin pape

Long-term outcomes of transapical-transcatheter aortic valve replacement

The version of record of this article, first published in General Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, is available online at Publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11748-024-02095-x.Objective: Transapical-transcatheter aortic valve replacement is one of the main interventions indicated for patients where access via peripheral vessels is challenging. However, there have been no reports on the long-term outcomes of this intervention. Here, we report the long-term outcomes of this intervention. Methods: Among 178 patients who underwent transapical-transcatheter aortic valve replacement between October 2009 and July 2023, 173 patients who underwent this intervention for native aortic stenosis were included in this study, and early and long-term results were evaluated. Results: The mean age was 82.4 ± 6.4 years, 52.6% were women, mean body area was 1.46 ± 0.17 m2, and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Predicted Risk of Mortality was 11.2 ± 9.9%. In-hospital mortality was observed in three patients (1.7%). Mean follow-up duration was 4.3 ± 2.8 years, and the survival rates at 1-, 3-, 5-, and 8-years were 84.9%, 67.1%, 47.0%, and 22.1%, respectively. Freedom from cardiovascular mortality at 1, 3, 5, and 8-years was 92.9%, 86.1%, 75.8%, and 53.5%, respectively. The freedom from disabling stroke rates at 1, 3, 5, and 8-years were 95.0%, 92.4%, 92.4%, and 90.8%, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that male (Hazard Ratio 1.85, 95%Confidence Interval 1.27−2.70, p = 0.0012) and hemodialysis (Hazard Ratio 1.64, 95%Confidence Interval 1.00−2.67, p = 0.049) were significant poor prognosis factors. Conclusions: Long-term outcomes of transapical-transcatheter aortic valve replacement were satisfactory. Despite the variety of available approaches, the role of transapical-transcatheter aortic valve replacement, which has low vascular impact, has not been completely lost