A Case of Catamenial Pneumothorax Treated by Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery

This is a case of a 47-year-old female who had a medical history of right pneumothorax for the second time. The pneumothorax, accompanying the start of menstruation, recurred and the patient was hospitalized. From the medical history, a catamenial pneumothorax was suspected. As for intraoperative findings, many small fenestrations of 1 mm or 3 mm were present in the border region with the muscle bundle of the central tendon of the diaphragm. The lesion site of the diaphragm and the apex area as a biopsy were partially excised under video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. Although a postoperative Gn-RH agonist was started for endometriosis, it was stopped because side effects appeared. Because the right pneumothorax recurred in accordance with the start of menstruation, the treatment was changed to danazol. To date, the pneumothorax has not recurred

Golimumab in combination with methotrexate in Japanese patients with active rheumatoid arthritis: results of the GO-FORTH study

Objective: To assess the efficacy and safety of golimumab + methotrexate (MTX) in Japanese patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods: 269 Japanese patients with active RA despite treatment with MTX were randomised (1:1:1) to placebo + MTX (Group 1), golimumab 50 mg + MTX (Group 2) or golimumab 100 mg + MTX (Group 3). Subcutaneous golimumab/placebo was injected every 4 weeks; stable doses of oral MTX (6-8 mg/week) were continued. Patients were allowed to enter early escape (Group 1 added golimumab 50 mg, Group 2 increased golimumab to 100 mg, Group 3 continued golimumab 100 mg) based on swollen/tender joint counts at week 14. The primary study endpoint was achievement of at least 20% improvement in the American College of Rheumatology (ACR20) response criteria at week 14. To control for multiplicity of testing, treatment group comparisons were first made between combined Groups 2 and 3 versus Group 1, followed by comparisons of Group 2 and Group 3 versus Group 1. Results: The proportion of patients with an ACR20 response at week 14 was significantly higher in combined Groups 2 and 3 (73.4%, 127/173) and in each of Group 2 (72.1%, 62/86) and Group 3 (74.7%, 65/87) compared with Group 1 (27.3%, 24/88; p<0.0001 for all comparisons). Golimumab + MTX also elicited a significantly better response than placebo + MTX in other efficacy parameters, including disease activity score (DAS28) response/remission and radiographic assessments. During the 16-week fixed treatment regimen study period, 72.7%, 75.6% and 78.2% of patients had adverse events and 1.1%, 1.2% and 2.3% had serious adverse events in Groups 1, 2 and 3, respectively. Conclusion: In Japanese patients with active RA despite MTX therapy, golimumab + MTX was significantly more effective than MTX monotherapy in reducing RA signs/symptoms and limiting radiographic progression with no unexpected safety concerns

Superconductivity and spin correlation in organic conductors: a quantum Monte Carlo study

The d-wave pairing correlations along with spin correlation are calculated with quantum Monte Carlo method for the two-dimensional Hubbard model on lattice structures representing organic superconductors $\kappa$-(BEDT-TTF)$_2$X and (TMTSF)$_2$X. In both cases the pairing correlations for superconducting order parameters with nodes are found to be enhanced. The symmetry and the enhancement of the pairing is systematically correlated with the spin structure factor, suggesting a spin-fluctuation mediated pairing. We have further found that, as we deform the Fermi surface to make the system approach the half-filled square lattice, the coherence of the pairing saturates while the local pairing amplitude continues to increase.Comment: 5 pages, RevTeX, uses epsf.sty and multicol.st

Mutant huntingtin impairs Ku70-mediated DNA repair

Mutant huntingtin prevents interaction of the DNA damage repair complex component Ku70 with damaged DNA, blocking repair of double-strand breaks

Anti-NXP2 autoantibodies in adult patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies: Possible association with malignancy

Objectives: Myositis-specific autoantibodies (MSAs) are useful tools for identifying clinically homogeneous subsets and predicting prognosis of patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) including polymyositis (PM) and dermatomyositis (DM). Recent studies have shown that anti-NXP2 antibody (Ab) is a major MSA in juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM). In this study the frequencies and clinical associations of anti-NXP2 Ab were evaluated in adult patients with IIM. Methods: Clinical data and serum samples were collected from 507 adult Japanese patients with IIM (445 with DM and 62 with PM). Eleven patients with JDM, 108 with systemic lupus erythematosus, 433 with systemic sclerosis and 124 with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis were assessed as disease controls. Serum was examined for anti-NXP2 Ab by immunoprecipitation and western blotting using polyclonal anti-NXP2 Ab. Results: Seven patients (1.6%) with adult DM and one (1.6%) with adult PM were positive for anti-NXP2 Ab. Except for two patients with JDM, none of the disease controls were positive for this autoantibody. Among eight adult patients with IIM, three had internal malignancies within 3 years of diagnosis of IIM. Another patient with DM also had a metastatic cancer at the diagnosis. All of the carcinomas were at an advanced stage (stage IIIb-IV). Conclusions: While less common than in juvenile IIM, anti-NXP2 Ab was found in adult IIM. Anti-NXP2 Ab may be associated with adult IIM with malignancy

Genome-wide analysis of WRKY gene family in Cucumis sativus

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>WRKY proteins are a large family of transcriptional regulators in higher plant. They are involved in many biological processes, such as plant development, metabolism, and responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. Prior to the present study, only one full-length cucumber WRKY protein had been reported. The recent publication of the draft genome sequence of cucumber allowed us to conduct a genome-wide search for cucumber WRKY proteins, and to compare these positively identified proteins with their homologs in model plants, such as <it>Arabidopsis</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We identified a total of 55 WRKY genes in the cucumber genome. According to structural features of their encoded proteins, the cucumber WRKY (<it>CsWRKY</it>) genes were classified into three groups (group 1-3). Analysis of expression profiles of <it>CsWRKY </it>genes indicated that 48 WRKY genes display differential expression either in their transcript abundance or in their expression patterns under normal growth conditions, and 23 WRKY genes were differentially expressed in response to at least one abiotic stresses (cold, drought or salinity). The expression profile of stress-inducible <it>CsWRKY </it>genes were correlated with those of their putative <it>Arabidopsis WRKY (AtWRKY) </it>orthologs, except for the group 3 WRKY genes. Interestingly, duplicated group 3 <it>AtWRKY </it>genes appear to have been under positive selection pressure during evolution. In contrast, there was no evidence of recent gene duplication or positive selection pressure among <it>CsWRKY </it>group 3 genes, which may have led to the expressional divergence of group 3 orthologs.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Fifty-five WRKY genes were identified in cucumber and the structure of their encoded proteins, their expression, and their evolution were examined. Considering that there has been extensive expansion of group 3 WRKY genes in angiosperms, the occurrence of different evolutionary events could explain the functional divergence of these genes.</p