Retrospective clinical study on the notable efficacy and related factors of infliximab therapy in a rheumatoid arthritis management group in Japan: one-year clinical outcomes (RECONFIRM-2)

Biologics targeting TNF have brought about a paradigm shift in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and infliximab, anti-TNF-α chimeric monoclonal antibody, was marketed in 2003 in Japan. We previously reported on the RECONFIRM study, a retrospective clinical study on the efficacy of infliximab therapy in a RA management group in Japan, where we evaluated the clinical response after 22 weeks of the therapy in 258 patients. The study reported here was aimed at reconfirming the clinical efficacy of the infliximab therapy and demographic factors related to the efficacy over a 54-week study period in 410 RA patients in the same study group. Infliximab was infused according to the domestically approved method, and the clinical response was evaluated following 54 weeks of infliximab therapy using the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) response criteria. Disease activity was assessed by DAS28-CRP (Disease Activity Score including a 28-joint count/C-reactive protein). Infliximab was discontinued in 24.4% of the 410 patients at 54 weeks and 9.3% and 8.1% discontinued the therapy due to adverse events and inefficiency, respectively. Average DAS28-CRP decreased from 5.5 at week 0 to 3.1 at week 54 after the therapy. Patients in remission and those showing low-, moderate-, and high-disease activity changed from 0.0, 1.0, 9.0 and 90.0%, respectively, at the start of the study to 27.6, 11.7, 34.4 and 26.3%, respectively, at week 54. Younger age, RF-negativity and low scores of DAS28-CRP showed significant correlations with remission at week 54. EULAR response criteria—good, moderate, and no response to infliximab—were 37.0, 41.7 and 21.2%, respectively. In conclusion, we reconfirmed the clinical efficacy of infliximab and demographic factors related to the efficacy over a 54-week study period in 410 Japanese patients with RA using DAS28-CRP and EULAR response criteria

Studies on conjugation of Spirogyra using monoclonal culture

We succeeded in inducing conjugation of Spirogyracastanacea by incubating algal filaments on agar plate. Conjugation could be induced using clone culture. The scalariform conjugation was generally observed, while lateral conjugation was rarely. When two filaments formed scalariform conjugation, all cells of one filament behaved as male and those of other filament did as female. Very rarely, however, zygospores were formed in both of pair filaments. The surface of conjugation tube was stained with fluorescently labeled-lectins, such as Bandeiraea (Griffonia) simplicifolia lectin (BSL-I) and jacalin. BSL-I strongly stained the conjugation tubes, while weakly did the cell surface of female gamete first and then that of male gamete. Jacalin stained mainly the conjugation tubes. Addition of jacalin inhibited the formation of papilla, suggesting some important role of jacalin-binding material at the initial step of formation of the conjugation tubes

A Subaru Search for Lymanα\alpha Emitters at Redshift 5.7

We present the results of a survey for Ly$\alpha$ emitters at $z\approx 5.7$ based on optical narrow-band ($\lambda_{\rm c} = 8150$ \AA ~ and $\Delta\lambda = 120$ \AA), and broad-band ($B$, $R_{\rm C}$, $I_{\rm C}$, and $z^\prime$) observations of the field surrounding the high redshift quasar, SDSSp J104433.04$-$012522.2, on the 8.2 m Subaru Telescope with the Subaru Prime Focus Camera, Suprime-Cam. This survey covers a sky area of $\approx 720$ arcmin$^2$ and a co-moving volume of $\simeq 2 \times 10^5 ~ h_{0.7}^{-3}$ Mpc$^3$. We have found 20 candidates of Ly$\alpha$ emitters at $z \approx$ 5.7 with $\Delta z \approx 0.1$. Two of them have been confirmed star-forming galaxies at $z=5.655$ and $z=5.687$ from our follow-up optical spectroscopy. We discuss star-formation properties of the 20 objects from a statistical point of view. Our survey leads to a new estimate of the star formation rate density at $z \approx 5.7$, $\sim 1.2 \times 10^{-3} h_{0.7} M_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-3}$.Comment: 18 pages, 19 figures, accepted for A

EGUIDE project and treatment guidelines

Aim: Although treatment guidelines for pharmacological therapy for schizophrenia and major depressive disorder have been issued by the Japanese Societies of Neuropsychopharmacology and Mood Disorders, these guidelines have not been well applied by psychiatrists throughout the nation. To address this issue, we developed the ‘Effectiveness of Guidelines for Dissemination and Education in Psychiatric Treatment (EGUIDE)’ integrated education programs for psychiatrists to disseminate the clinical guidelines. Additionally, we conducted a systematic efficacy evaluation of the programs. Methods: Four hundred thirteen out of 461 psychiatrists attended two 1‐day educational programs based on the treatment guidelines for schizophrenia and major depressive disorder from October 2016 to March 2018. We measured the participants’ clinical knowledge of the treatment guidelines using self‐completed questionnaires administered before and after the program to assess the effectiveness of the programs for improving knowledge. We also examined the relation between the participants’ demographics and their clinical knowledge scores. Results: The clinical knowledge scores for both guidelines were significantly improved after the program. There was no correlation between clinical knowledge and participant demographics for the program on schizophrenia; however, a weak positive correlation was found between clinical knowledge and the years of professional experience for the program on major depressive disorder. Conclusion: Our results provide evidence that educational programs on the clinical practices recommended in guidelines for schizophrenia and major depressive disorder might effectively improve participants’ clinical knowledge of the guidelines. These data are encouraging to facilitate the standardization of clinical practices for psychiatric disorders

コウブンシサノヒヘイコウトウケイリキガク

京都大学0048新制・課程博士工学博士甲第1001号工博第214号新制||工||160(附属図書館)2614UT51-45-M211京都大学大学院工学研究科工業化学専攻(主査)教授 倉田 道夫, 教授 中島 章夫, 教授 小野木 重治学位規則第5条第1項該当Kyoto UniversityDA

ショクブツ サイボウ ニ ソンザイスル ヒョウソウ ビショウカン ノ ハイコウ ニ エイキョウスル ヨウソ ニ カンスル ケンキュウ

京都大学0048新制・論文博士博士(農学)乙第10821号論農博第2399号新制||農||836(附属図書館)学位論文||H13||N3603(農学部図書室)UT51-2001-R800(主査)教授 伊東 隆夫, 教授 藤田 稔, 教授 東 順一学位規則第4条第2項該当Doctor of Agricultural ScienceKyoto UniversityDA

Adaptive estimation of the Gutenberg–Richter b value using a state space model and particle filtering

Abstract Earthquakes follow an exponential distribution referred to as the Gutenberg–Richter law, which is characterized by the b value that represents a ratio of the number of large earthquakes to that of small earthquakes. Spatial and temporal variation in the b value is important for assessing the probability of a larger earthquake. Conventionally, the b value is obtained by a maximum-likelihood estimation based on past earthquakes with a certain sample size. To properly assess the occurrence of earthquakes and understand their dynamics, determining this parameter with a statistically optimal method is important. Here, we discuss a method that uses a state space model and a particle filter, as a framework for time-series data, to estimate temporal variation in the b value. We then compared our output with that of a conventional method using data of earthquakes that occurred in Tohoku and Kumamoto regions in Japan. Our results indicate that the proposed method has the advantage of estimating temporal variation of the b value and forecasting magnitude. Moreover, our research suggests no heightened probability of a large earthquake in the Tohoku region, in contrast to previous studies. Simultaneously, there is the potential of a large earthquake in the Kumamoto region, emphasizing the need for enhanced monitoring