Quantification of Hepatic Iron Concentration in Chronic Viral Hepatitis: Usefulness of T2-weighted Single-Shot Spin-Echo Echo-Planar MR Imaging

Objective: To investigate the usefulness of single-shot spin-echo echo-planar imaging (SSEPI) sequence for quantifying mild degree of hepatic iron stores in patients with viral hepatitis. Methods: This retrospective study included 34 patients with chronic viral hepatitis/cirrhosis who had undergone histological investigation and magnetic resonance imaging with T2-weighted gradient-recalled echo sequence (T2-GRE) and diffusion-weighted SSEPI sequence with b-factors of 0 s/mm 2 (T2-EPI), 500 s/mm 2 (DW-EPI-500), and 1000 s/mm 2 (DW-EPI-1000). The correlation between the liver-to-muscle signal intensity ratio, which was generated by regions of interest placed in the liver and paraspinous muscles of each sequence image, and the hepatic iron concentration (mmol/g dry liver), which was assessed by spectrophotometry, was analyzed by linear regression using a spline model. Akaike information criterion (AIC) was used to select the optimal model. Results: Mean 6 standard deviation of the hepatic iron concentration quantified by spectrophotometry was 24.6616.

Carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus contents of cultured Nori (Porphyra yezoensis)

有明海佐賀県沿岸で採取された紅藻スサビノリを用いて,炭素,窒素,リン含有量を測定した。炭素,窒素,リンの含有量は,それぞれ42.6±2.3μg-at mg DW^4, 8.6±0.8μg-at mg DW^,0.32±0.01μg-at mg DW^ であり,それらの比はC:N:P=132:26:1であった。Carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus contents of cultured Nori (Porphyra yezoensis) that were sampled from Saga sea region of Ariake Bay, were measured. Carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus contents of the frond were 42.6±2.3, 8.6±0.8, 0.32±0.01μg-at mg DW^ respectively, and the ratio was C:N:P=132:26:1原著論

Comparison of Conventional 2D CC (Cranio-Caudal) + MLO (Medio-Lateral Oblique) Bi-Directional Photography and 2D-MLO + DBT-MLO (Digital Breast Tomosynthesis) in Mammography Examination

Introduction: Mammography (MMG) is an excellent examination for breast cancer detection and is widely used in both screening and clinical practice. However, the breast thickness and background the concentration of the mammary gland is large among individuals, and the mammary gland and cancer may overlap and it may not be possible to point out a lesion. In recent years, digital breast tomosynthesis (hereinafter referred to as DBT) has been introduced to solve these problems, and its usefulness has been reported in clinical practice. Therefore, in anticipation of a higher cancer detection rate etc., we compared the conventional 2D CC + MLO 2-way MMG examination with 2DMLO + DBTMLO 2-way MMG examination.Materials and Methods: The combination of 2D CC + MLO and 2DMLO + DBTMLO was read for 95 cases of breast cancer taking 2D CC and MLO and DBT MLO from May 2016 to October 2017. It was judged that the category 3 or more required detailed examination, cancer detection, and cancer detection rates were compared. Subjects were 28 to 87 years of age (median: 55 years), breast composition: high concentration 15.8% (15 cases), heterogeneous high concentration 47.4% (45 cases), mammary gland 28.4% (27 cases), Fatty was 8.4% (8 cases).Results: The cancer detection rate was 87% for the 2D CC + MLO combination and 94% for the 2DMLO + DBTMLO combination in 95 cases of breast cancer. The interpretation time was 95 minutes for the 2D CC + MLO combination and 110 minutes for the 2DMLO + DBTMLO combination.The breast cancer detected only by the combination of 2D CC + MLO was scattered in 1 case and was classified as Category 3 by FAD. Breast cancer detected only by the combination of 2DMLO + DBTMLO: 8 cases with uneven distribution of breast composition, 3 cases with scattered mammary gland, 3 cases with 5 cases with disordered construction, Category 4 with 3 cases with FAD was.Conclusion: Both 2D CC + MLO combination and 2DMLO + DBTMLO combination are considered useful for screening MMG examination. In particular, we would like to consider the introduction to medical examinations for the addition of MMG in DBT, but the issue of the amount of image information, the problem of exposure to radiation, the direction of imaging, the establishment of interpretation methods etc. are future issues

AJK2011-21015 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SCALAR FIELD IN A TURBULENT LIQUID JET AND A FUNDAMENTAL STUDY ON THE MICRO SCALE CONCENTRATION MEASUREMENTS BY THE OPTICAL FIBER LIF METHOD

ABSTRACT In this study, the characteristics of the scalar field in an axisymmetric turbulent water jet are investigated experimentally. In the experiments, the axial velocity, the concentration of the dye solution and the temperature of the fluid are measured by the hot-film probe, the fiber sensor and the cold-firm probe, respectively. In particular, the difference of statistics between scalars (concentration and temperature) with the different molecular diffusion coefficients is discussed. The Schmidt number of the diffusing matter is 3,800, and the Prandtl number of temperature is 7. As regarding the mean values, the r.m.s values and distribution of PDF, we cannot find any difference between the concentration field and temperature field. However, in the spectrum, it is found that the temperature spectrum shows the -5/3 law almost in the same range as the velocity spectrum, on the other hand, the concentration spectrum shows the -5/3 law in the wider range than the velocity spectrum. This means that the shape of spectrum depends on the diffusion coefficient. In order to make the higher resolution measurement of concentration, a new optical probe based on the LIF method is designed. This probe consists of the two optical fibers, the tip of which is processed like the shape of a lens. By the effect of lens, the laser beam can be focused on the narrower area in comparison with the past LIF measurements. In the present design, the width of focus of laser beam is set to 0.6 micrometers, and the focal length is set to 7.3mm. It is shown that this probe has the resolution less than the Batchelor scale at in the condition of present jet diffusion field (d=4mm, Re=20,000). Further, a new system to adjust the position of the optic fiber probe exquisitely is developed. INTRODUCTION There are many practical problems in the industrial and natural flow fields that the diffusing matter are mixed. In this study, we pay a special attention to the diffusion fields of scalars (concentration and temperature) in the turbulent liquid jet. In the liquid phase, it is usually known that the Schmidt number of the diffusing matter (or the Prandtl number in case of temperature) is larger than 1, so that the scalar fields have been crucially influenced by the velocity field. In this case, it is useful to investigate the relations between the velocity and scalar statistics to understand the mixing process of the scalar in the turbulent liquid flows. With regard to the measurements of high Schmidt number matter, the concentrations of the fluorescent dye or the kalium chloride have been often measured by Laser-Induced Fluorescence (LIF) method or the electrode method. However seeing the past reports, in case of the flows with the mean shear, there are still large scattering of the data for the scalar statistics, and so the reliable turbulent statistics are keenly required. On the other hand, the similarity theory of turbulent scalar field shows that for the scalar field of high Schmidt number and high Reynolds number, there exist the statistical universal ranges called the "viscous convective subrange" and the "viscous diffusive subrange" in the space smaller than the Kolmogorov scale (which is the smallest velocity fluctuatio

Inhibition of Rho-associated coiled-coil containing protein kinase enhances the activation of epidermal growth factor receptor in pancreatic cancer cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Rho-associated coiled-coil containing protein kinase (Rho-kinase/ROCK) is involved in various cellular functions including cell proliferation, and is generally considered to be oncogenic, while some studies show that ROCK functions as a negative regulator of cancer progression. As a result, the precise role of ROCK remains controversial. We have previously reported that Rho-kinase/ROCK negatively regulates epidermal growth factor (EGF)-induced cell proliferation in SW480 colon cancer cells. In the present study, we investigated the role of ROCK in EGF receptor (EGFR) signaling in the pancreatic cancer cell lines, Panc1, KP3 and AsPc1.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In these cells, Y27632, a specific ROCK inhibitor, enhanced EGF-induced BrdU incorporation. The blockade of EGF stimulation utilizing anti-EGFR-neutralizing antibodies suppressed Panc1 cell proliferation. EGF induced RhoA activity, as well as the phosphorylation of cofilin and myosin light chain (MLC), both targets of ROCK signaling, and Y27632 suppressed both of these processes, indicating that the phosphorylation of cofilin and MLC by EGF occurs through ROCK in Panc1 cells. EGF-induced phosphorylation of EGFR at tyrosine residues was augmented when the cells were pretreated with Y27632 or were subjected to gene silencing using ROCK-siRNA. We also obtained similar results using transforming growth factor-α. In addition, EGF-induced phosphorylation of p44/p42 mitogen-activated protein kinase and Akt were also enhanced by Y27632 or ROCK-siRNA. Moreover, an immunofluorescence microscope study revealed that pretreatment with Y27632 delayed EGF-induced internalization of EGFR. Taken together, these data indicate that ROCK functions to switch off EGFR signaling by promoting the internalization of the EGFR.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>While EGF first stimulates the activation of the EGFR and subsequently increases cancer cell proliferation, EGF concurrently induces the activation of ROCK, which then turns off the activated EGFR pathway via a negative feedback system.</p

PRDM14 Drives OCT3/4 Recruitment via Active Demethylation in the Transition from Primed to Naive Pluripotency

Primordial germ cells (PGCs) are specified from epiblast cells in mice. Genes associated with naive pluripotency are repressed in the transition from inner cell mass to epiblast cells, followed by upregulation after PGC specification. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the reactivation of pluripotency genes are poorly characterized. Here, we exploited the in vitro differentiation of epiblast-like cells (EpiLCs) from embryonic stem cells (ESCs) to elucidate the molecular and epigenetic functions of PR domain-containing 14 (PRDM14). We found that Prdm14 overexpression in EpiLCs induced their conversion to ESC-like cells even in the absence of leukemia inhibitory factor in adherent culture. This was impaired by the loss of Kruppel-like factor 2 and ten-eleven translocation (TET) proteins. Furthermore, PRDM14 recruited OCT3/4 to the enhancer regions of naive pluripotency genes via TET-base excision repair-mediated demethylation. Our results provide evidence that PRDM14 establishes a transcriptional network for naive pluripotency via active DNA demethylation

Leukocytapheresis Therapy Improved Cholestasis in a Patient Suffering from Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis with Ulcerative Colitis

Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is an autoimmune disease of the hepatobiliary system for which effective therapy has not been established. Leukocytapheresis (LCAP) therapy is known to effective in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). In addition, effects of LCAP therapy were reported on some autoimmune diseases such as Crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis and rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis. Here we report the case of a 29-year-old man with PSC associated with UC who was treated with LCAP therapy. He had a 16-year history of UC and a 12-year history of PSC. Although he was under treatment with prednisolone and ursodeoxycholic acid, exacerbation of UC and PSC-associated cholestasis were seen. Since he showed side effects of prednisolone, he was treated with LCAP. Not only improvement of UC, but also decreased serum alkaline phosphatase, γ-guanosine triphosphate and total bile acids, suggesting improvement of PSC-associated cholestaisis, were seen after treatment with LCAP. Our experience with this case suggests that LCAP therapy could be a new effective therapeutic strategy for patients with PSC associated with UC