Pseudotachylytes from Langhovde and Skarvsnes in the Lützow-Holm Complex, East Antarctica, and their conditions of formation

The Tenth Symposium on Polar Science/Ordinary sessions: [OG] Polar Geosciences, Wed. 4 Dec. / Entrance Hall (1st floor), National Institute of Polar Researc

Geological field survey in the regions of L*tzow-Holm Bay, Prince Olav Coast and Enderby Land, 2018-2019 (JARE-60)

The Tenth Symposium on Polar Science/Ordinary sessions: [OG] Polar Geosciences, Wed. 4 Dec. / 3F Seminar room, National Institute of Polar Researc

Prostaglandin E2 Reverses Aberrant Production of an Inflammatory Chemokine by Microglia from Sandhoff Disease Model Mice through the cAMP-PKA Pathway

Background: Sandhoff disease (SD) is a neurodegenerative lysosomal b-hexosaminidase (Hex) deficiency involving excessive accumulation of undegraded substrates, including terminal GlcNAc-oligosaccharides and GM2 ganglioside. Microglia-mediated neuroinflammation contributes to the pathogenesis and progression of SD. Our previous study demonstrated that MIP-1a, a putative pathogenic factor for SD, is up-regulated in microglial cells derived from SD model mice (SD-Mg) through activation of Akt and JNK. Methodology/Principal Findings: In this study, we first demonstrated that prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), which is one of the lipid mediators derived from arachidonic acid and is known to suppress activation of microglia, reduced the aberrant MIP-1a production by SD-Mg to the same level as by WT-Mg. PGE2 also attenuated the activation of Akt and JNK. The inhibition of MIP-1a production and the activation of Akt and JNK occurred through the EP2 and 4/cAMP/PKA signaling pathway in the murine microglia derived from SD model mice. Conclusions/Significance: We propose that PGE2 plays a role as a negative regulator of MIP-1a production in th

Prognostic Value of Podoplanin Expression in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma―A Regression Model Auxiliary to UICC Classification

Podoplanin, a type I transmembrane glycoprotein with an effect of platelet aggregation, has been reported to be one of the possible prognostic factors of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). However, the biological significance of podoplanin is largely unclear. The aim of this study was to develop a practical model for the prediction of prognosis using the grade of podoplanin expression, and also to evaluate the biological function of podoplanin. Eighty-two specimens of patients with previously untreated OSCC, who underwent either biopsy or surgery, were histopathologically and immunohistochemically analyzed. These 82 cases were composed of 66 well-differentiated, 10 moderately differentiated and 6 poorly differentiated OSCC. Podoplanin was successfully immunostained in 78 specimens, and was detected in most cases, but the frequency of positive cells varied. The prognosis of patients with more than 50 % podoplanin-positive tumor cells was significantly poorer than that of the other patients. Multivariate hazards regression analysis suggested that a linear combination of covariates, OSCC patients with more or less than 50 % podoplanin expression, age of more or less than 70 years old, mode of invasion and T3, T4 or T2 versus T1 of the UICC T-stage classification was the most effective model for evaluating the prognosis of OSCC patients. Additionally, podoplanin expression had a significant relationship to UICC clinical stage and the expression of Ki-67. An effective regression model using podoplanin expression was developed for evaluating the prognosis of OSCC and the biological significance of podoplanin was suggested to be associated with the growth and/or progression of OSCC

Nationwide surveillance of bacterial respiratory pathogens conducted by the surveillance committee of Japanese Society of Chemotherapy, the Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases, and the Japanese Society for Clinical Microbiology in 2010: General view of the pathogens\u27 antibacterial susceptibility

The nationwide surveillance on antimicrobial susceptibility of bacterial respiratory pathogens from patients in Japan, was conducted by Japanese Society of Chemotherapy, Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases and Japanese Society for Clinical Microbiology in 2010.The isolates were collected from clinical specimens obtained from well-diagnosed adult patients with respiratory tract infections during the period from January and April 2010 by three societies. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was conducted at the central reference laboratory according to the method recommended by Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institutes using maximum 45 antibacterial agents.Susceptibility testing was evaluable with 954 strains (206 Staphylococcus aureus, 189 Streptococcus pneumoniae, 4 Streptococcus pyogenes, 182 Haemophilus influenzae, 74 Moraxella catarrhalis, 139 Klebsiella pneumoniae and 160 Pseudomonas aeruginosa). Ratio of methicillin-resistant S.aureus was as high as 50.5%, and those of penicillin-intermediate and -resistant S.pneumoniae were 1.1% and 0.0%, respectively. Among H.influenzae, 17.6% of them were found to be β-lactamase-non-producing ampicillin (ABPC)-intermediately resistant, 33.5% to be β-lactamase-non-producing ABPC-resistant and 11.0% to be β-lactamase-producing ABPC-resistant strains. Extended spectrum β-lactamase-producing K.pneumoniae and multi-drug resistant P.aeruginosa with metallo β-lactamase were 2.9% and 0.6%, respectively.Continuous national surveillance of antimicrobial susceptibility of respiratory pathogens is crucial in order to monitor changing patterns of susceptibility and to be able to update treatment recommendations on a regular basis