An Analysis of Factors that Exacerbate Asthma, Based on a Japanese Questionnaire

ABSTRACTBackgroundIt is known that a wide variety of factors exacerbate asthma; however, few studies have investigated the factors that exacerbate asthma from a patient's perspective. The aim of this study was to analyze the factors that exacerbate asthma, based on a questionnaire completed by asthma patients in Niigata Prefecture.MethodsBased on questionnaires given to 3085 patients who visited the medical institutes in the Niigata Prefecture monthly from September through October 2006, groups stratified by sex, age, disease type and disease severity, were analyzed for factors contributing to asthma exacerbation, as described in the guideline of the Japanese Society of Allergology.ResultsThe leading exacerbating factor chosen by patients was a change in the weather, followed by smoking, allergen exposure, fatigue, stimulants, and air pollutants. Respiratory infection, widely recognized as a critical factor of severe exacerbation, was ranked seventh. Allergen exposure and air pollutants were prominent in younger individuals, whereas respiratory infection tended to be more common in elderly subjects. Allergen exposure, air pollutants, and exercise were significantly more common in atopic-type patients, in contrast with respiratory infection in non-atopic-type patients. According to multiple regression analysis, poor asthma control during the last one year was associated with changes in the weather, whereas the non-atopic disease type was related to exacerbation by respiratory infection. Current smoking was associated with both factors.ConclusionsMany factors exacerbate asthma, depending on the individual case and his/her background. These data suggest that changes in the weather may be more important factor for patients in asthma exacerbation

Effects of a novel elastase inhibitor, ONO-5046, on nephrotoxic serum nephritis in rats

Effects of a novel elastase inhibitor, ONO-5046, on nephrotoxic serum nephritis in rats. ONO-5046 is a potent, specific and intravenously active inhibitor of neutrophil elastase. To examine the role of elastase in glomerulonephritis, we tested the effects of ONO-5046 on nephrotoxic serum (NTS) nephritis in a rat model of the disease in humans. Rats were administered ONO-5046 or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) intraperitoneally 24hours prior to injection of NTS, and they were then given equal doses of ONO-5046 or PBS three hours and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6days later. Compared with the control groups, ONO-5046 significantly reduced proteinuria and hematuria, and suppressed the formation of crescentic glomeruli in a dose-dependent manner. Our results suggest that neutrophil elastase participates in NTS nephritis by degrading glomerular basement membrane proteins, and that the elastase inhibitor, ONO-5046, suppresses crescentic formation and glomerular injury caused by elastase

Genetic Characterization of the Local Pirenaica Cattle for Parentage and Traceability Purposes

Pirenaica is the most important autochthonous cattle breed within the Protected Geographic Indication (PGI) beef quality label in the Basque region, in northern Spain. The short tandem repeats (STRs) are powerful markers to elucidate forensic cases and traceability across the agri-food sector. The main objective of the present work was to study the phylogenetic relationships of Pirenaica cattle and other breeds typically raised in the region and provide the minimum number of STR markers for parentage and traceability purposes. The 30-STR panel recommended by the International Society of Animal Genetics-Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (ISAG-FAO) was compared against other commercial STR panels. The 30-STR panel showed a combined matching probability of 1.89 × 10−25 and a power of exclusion for duos of 0.99998. However, commercial STR panels showed a limited efficiency for a reliable parentage analysis in Pirenaica, and at least a 21-STR panel is needed to reach a power of exclusion of 0.9999. Machine-learning analysis also demonstrated a 95% accuracy in assignments selecting the markers with the highest FST in Pirenaica individuals. Overall, the present study shows the genetic characterization of Pirenaica and its phylogeny compared with other breeds typically raised in the Basque region. Finally, a 21-STR panel with the highest FST markers is proposed for a confident parentage analysis and high traceability.This work was supported by Basque Government: [Grand number of Biomics: IT-833-13], [Grand number of Lactiker: IT944-16]; Basque Government, Department of Economic Development & Competitiveness [Doctoral fellowship of D.G]

FANTOM5 CAGE profiles of human and mouse samples

In the FANTOM5 project, transcription initiation events across the human and mouse genomes were mapped at a single base-pair resolution and their frequencies were monitored by CAGE (Cap Analysis of Gene Expression) coupled with single-molecule sequencing. Approximately three thousands of samples, consisting of a variety of primary cells, tissues, cell lines, and time series samples during cell activation and development, were subjected to a uniform pipeline of CAGE data production. The analysis pipeline started by measuring RNA extracts to assess their quality, and continued to CAGE library production by using a robotic or a manual workflow, single molecule sequencing, and computational processing to generate frequencies of transcription initiation. Resulting data represents the consequence of transcriptional regulation in each analyzed state of mammalian cells. Non-overlapping peaks over the CAGE profiles, approximately 200,000 and 150,000 peaks for the human and mouse genomes, were identified and annotated to provide precise location of known promoters as well as novel ones, and to quantify their activities

Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry for Mechanism Analysis of Metal Ion Complexation and Photoionization of Malachite Green Derivatives Incorporating a Crown Ether Moiety

Electrospray-ionization mass spectrometry using a photoirradiation interface has been successfully applied to the investigation of metal-ion complexation and photoionization of crowned Malachite Green leuconitrile derivatives in solution. The mass spectrometry clearly showed that the Malachite Green derivatives in their electrically neutral forms can complex metal ions with their crown ether moiety. Ionization of the Malachite Green derivatives to their corresponding cationic forms, accompanied by metal-ion repelling from their crown ether moiety, was detected upon UV-light irradiation. A remarkably different photoionization behavior in various solvents, which is difficult to detect by other analytical techniques, was also found by the mass spectrometry

Studies on metal-ion complex formation of crown ether derivatives incorporating a photoionizable spirobenzopyran moiety by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

Metal-ion complexation of crown ether derivatives incorporating one and two spirobenzopyran units was investigated by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.The crowned spirobenzopyran derivatives exhibited very different metal ion-complexing behavior from their corresponding parent crown ether rings,preferring multivalent to monovalent metal ions owing to the additional ionic interaction with the nitrophenolate anion of the merocyanine moiety.The on-line photochemical reaction for mass spectrometry indicated that the metal ion-complexing ability and ion selectivities of the crowned spirobenzopyrans can be switched photochemically,taking advantage of the difference between the spiropyran and merocyanine isomers