Precise Orbit Determination for ALOS

The Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) has been developed to contribute to the fields of mapping, precise regional land coverage observation, disaster monitoring, and resource surveying. Because the mounted sensors need high geometrical accuracy, precise orbit determination for ALOS is essential for satisfying the mission objectives. So ALOS mounts a GPS receiver and a Laser Reflector (LR) for Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR). This paper deals with the precise orbit determination experiments for ALOS using Global and High Accuracy Trajectory determination System (GUTS) and the evaluation of the orbit determination accuracy by SLR data. The results show that, even though the GPS receiver loses lock of GPS signals more frequently than expected, GPS-based orbit is consistent with SLR-based orbit. And considering the 1 sigma error, orbit determination accuracy of a few decimeters (peak-to-peak) was achieved

Basic performance assessment of reagents for measuring soluble FMS-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt-1) and placental growth factor (PlGF) in Japanese women

Among the factors associated with angiogenesis, soluble FMS-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1) is antiangiogenic and placental growth factor (PlGF) is proangiogenic. The sFlt-1/PlGF ratio is considered useful for the short-term prediction of preeclampsia (PE) in high-risk pregnancies and has been used clinically in Japan since July 2021. Regarding the clinical use of the sFlt-1/PlGF ratio in Japan, there have been no published reports demonstrating that sFlt-1 and PlGF assay reagents have the same basic performance in Japanese and European women. To our knowledge, we conducted the first basic performance assessment of the sFlt-1 and PlGF assay reagents using sera from Japanese women. We obtained satisfactory results for repeatability, intermediate precision, linearity, effects of interferents, and the LoQ. The sFlt-1 and PlGF assay reagents performed well, and we believe that they are entirely adequate for use in routine clinical assays of Japanese patients, similar to those in European patients

HCV Virus and Lymphoid Neoplasms

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is one of the viruses known to cause hepatic cancer. HCV is also believed to be involved in malignant lymphoma. In this paper, we investigated characteristics of malignant lymphoma cases that were anti-HCV antibody (HCV-Ab) positive. We were able to perform pathological examinations on 13 out of 14 HCV-positive cases. Of these, lymphoid tissues of 10 stained positive for HCV-Ab. There was no significant correlation between the degree of HCV staining and the rate of recurrence or resistance to treatment. However, there did appear to be a consistent decrease in the amount of HCV-RNA between pre- and posttreatment among HCV-Ab-positive cases; that is, treatment-resistant cases that exhibited resistance from the first treatment and recurrent cases more frequently had a higher HCV level at treatment termination compared to the pretreatment level. This suggests that the HCV virus either accelerates oncogenesis by direct interaction with B cells or indirectly affects lymphoma prognosis

Functional Analysis of MeCP2 Mutations Associated with Rett Syndrome Using Transient Expression Systems

レット症候群は生後半年から1歳半ころに発症する重度の精神発達遅滞を伴う疾患で女児の1万人から1万5千人に1人に発症する頻度の高い遺伝子疾患である。この疾患の原因遺伝子が最近MeCP2遺伝子であることが判明した。レット症候群の患者でみられる変異がMeCP2の本来の機能にどのような影響を及ぼすかを理解することは、レット症候群の病態を解明する上での手がかりになる。MeCP2は2つの機能ドメインを持ち、一つはメチル化CpGに結合するメチル化結合ドメイン(MBD)で、もう一つはヒストン脱アセチル化酵素をリクルートするSin3Aと結合する転写抑制ドメイン(TRD)である。報告されている変異の中でミスセンス変異の多くは、この二つのドメイン内でみられ、特にMBD内での変異の割合は多い。MBD内のミスセンス変異のMeCP2機能への影響を把握するため、培養細胞を用いた遺伝子導入発現系を開発して解析を行った

Functional Characterisation of MeCP2 Mutatiions Found in Male Patients with X Linked Mental Retardation

MeCP2の遺伝子変異は、Rett症候群以外の疾患の患者でも見つかり、X染色体性の精神発達遅滞を伴う男性患者においても報告された。これらの患者ではMBD内の変異として137番目のGluからGlyと140番目AlaからValのアミノ酸変異が確認された。これらの変異に関して、開発した二つの機能解析系を用いて解析を行ったところ、140番目の変異では、メチル化DNAに対しての転写抑制活性は完全に維持されており、137番目の変異ではわずかに転写抑制活性の低下がみられる程度であった。また、マウス細胞のヘテロクロマチン親和性についても140番と137番目の変異は共に明らかな点状の像を示し、親和性は維持されていた。これらの遺伝性の精神発達遅滞を伴う男性患者でのMeCP2の変異は、その機能への影響がレット症候群の場合と比較して軽度であるため、Rett症候群とは異なる病態を呈する成因となっている可能性が示唆された

Quantification of Cell Migration and Invasion, and Their Association with Periostin in Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer, Using a Real-time Cell Analyzer

Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is known to be a highly malignant cancer of the thyroid with a high mortality rate. In a previous study, we used real-time cell analysis (RTCA) to analyze cell migration and invasion of oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs) of the tongue and floor of the mouth. In the present study, we investigated cell migration and invasion of ATC using RTCA, as well as their association with periostin, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), and integrins. Experiments were performed on TCO-1 and HTC/C3 cells, which are human ATC cell lines. OSCC cell lines were used for comparison. Using the cell analysis system, cell migration was assessed on fibronectin-coated CIM-Plates, whereas invasion was assessed on fibronectin- and matrigel-coated CIM-Plates. SCC-4 cells exhibited high cell migration and invasion activity compared with other OSCC cell lines. TCO-1 cells exhibited equivalent cell invasion but stronger migration than SCC-4 cells. Although TCO-1 cells had strong invasive activity, they did not express MMP-9, unlike SCC-4 cells. Conversely, periostin expression was high in TCO-1 cells. Therefore, periostin expression appears to be associated with the cell migration and invasion activity of ATC. The RTCA system will be useful for the analysis of the metastatic characteristics of ATC in head and neck cancer

Alpha-fetoprotein kinetics in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma receiving ramucirumab or placebo: An analysis of the phase 3 REACH study

Background: Post-hoc analyses of AFP response and progression and their relationship with objective measures of response and survival were performed in patients from REACH. Methods: Serum AFP was measured at baseline and every 3 cycles (2 weeks/cycle). Associations between AFP and radiographic progression and efficacy end points were analysed. Results: Median percent AFP increase from baseline was smaller in the ramucirumab than in the placebo arm throughout treatment. Time to AFP progression (HR 0.621; P < 0.0001) and to radiographic progression (HR 0.613; P < 0.0001) favoured ramucirumab. Association between AFP and radiographic progression was shown at 6 (OR 6.44, 95% CI 4.03, 10.29; P < 0.0001) and 12 weeks (OR 2.28, 95% CI 1.47, 3.53; P = 0.0002). AFP response was higher with ramucirumab compared with placebo (P < 0.0001). More patients in the ramucirumab arm experienced tumour shrinkage and AFP response compared with placebo. Survival was longer in patients with AFP response (13.6 months) than in patients without (6.2 months), irrespective of treatment (HR 0.457, P < 0.0001). Conclusions: Treatment with ramucirumab prolonged time to AFP progression, slowed AFP increase and was more likely to induce AFP response. Similar benefits in radiographic progression and response correlated with AFP changes

ダイモウ ゲンパツ キョダイ GIST 1セツジョレイ

We report a case of giant gastrointestinal stromal tumor（GIST）primarily occurred in the greater omentum. A７８-year-old woman was referred to our hospital because of a giant abdominal tumor. Contrast-enhanced abdominal computed tomography（CT）showed a giant tumor measuring ２０×２４×１３cm in diameter in the abdominal cavity, consisting of heterogeneously enhanced solid and cystic lesions. Abdominal magnetic resonance imaging（MRI）after ３ weeks from the first medical examination showed the enlarged tumor measuring２４×２５×１７cm in diameter, the intensity of the solid lesion was low on T１weighted image, heterogeneously enhanced on T２weighted image and high on diffusion weighted image. At surgery, we confirmed the giant tumor continued to the omentum, and pressured the stomach, pancreas, and colon. The resected specimen weighed ８，３２５g containing of５，６４０ml of red-brown fluid. Histological examination showed the tumor consisted of proliferated spindle cells in a fascicular pattern and polynesic hemorrhage and necrosis. Immunohistochemically, the tumor cells were positive for c-kit and CD３４, and negative for S‐１００ protein and desmin, indicating a GIST in the greater omentum. The mitotic figures were in a４０／５０ high power field. In genetic testing, the tumor cells had exon１１mutation of c-kit gene. The woman started taking imatinib after operation and remains alive and recurrence-free