Whole body counter surveys of Miharu-town school children for four consecutive years after the Fukushima NPP accident

Comprehensive whole-body counter surveys of Miharu town school children have been conducted for four consecutive years, in 2011-2014. This represents the only long-term sampling-bias-free study of its type conducted after the Fukushima Dai-ichi accident. For the first time in 2014, a new device called the Babyscan, which has a low $^{134/137}$Cs MDA of $< 50$ Bq/body, was used to screen the children shorter than 130 cm. No child in this group was found to have detectable level of radiocesium. Using the MDAs, upper limits of daily intake of radiocesium were estimated for each child. For those screened with the Babyscan, the upper intake limits were found to be <1 Bq/day for $^{137}$Cs. Analysis of a questionnaire filled out by the children's parents regarding their food and water consumption shows that the majority of Miharu children regularly consume local and/or home-grown rice and vegetables. This however does not increase the body burden.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figure

High Throughput Titration Based on Variable and Fixed Triangular Wave Controlled Flow Ratiometry with LED-Photodiode Detector

Unprecedented high throughput flow titration (maximally 43.1 titrations/min) has been realized by a triangular wave controlled flow ratiometry using an in-house LED-photodiode detector. The detector was fabricated mainly with quartz tubing, an LED, a photodiode and a DC power supply. While the total flow rate is held constant, a titrand (acid) is merged with a titrant (base) containing an indicator, the flow rate of which is linearly varied by the control voltage Vc supplied from a computer. Downstream, the intensity of the transmitted light is monitored with the detector and acquired in the computer as detector output voltage Vd. In the initial feedback-based mode, the lamp direction of Vc is changed from upward to downward, or vice versa, when the detector senses the equivalence point. In the subsequent fixed triangular wave controlled mode, the scan range and the scan rate of Vc are further limited and quickened, respectively, in order to increase the throughput rate. Equivalence point is determined by offsetting the effect of the lag time between the upstream merging and the downstream sensing. Although the present approach is an absolute method, calibration curves have been constructed for practical operation. The linearity of the curve is satisfactory (r2 › 0.993). The present method is well applicable to various titrations of acids and bases including acetic acid in commercial vinegars

Unprecedented High Throughput Titration by Feedback-Based and Subsequent Fixed Triangular Wave-Controlled Flow Ratiometry and Its Application to Quantification of Japanese Pharmacopoeia Drugs

Throughput rate of flow ratiometric titration has further been enhanced by shortening the lag time from the confluence of solutions upstream to the sensing of signal downstream and by optimizing analytical parameters. Feedback-based upward and downward scans of titrand/titrant flow ratio were repeated in order to offset the effect of the lag time and thus to locate the equivalence point. Subsequent faster fixed triangular wave-controlled scans in narrower range further increased the throughput rate. Analytical parameters such as scan rate and scan range were optimized. Maximally, 46.9 titrations/min was realized with reasonable precision (RSD = 1.79%). Applicability of the method to the quantitation of the Japanese Pharmacopoeia drugs (furosemide, isoniazid and prochlorperazine maleate) was verified, where the latter two drugs were determined by nonaqueous titrations

Therapy for pneumonitis and sialadenitis by accumulation of CCR2-expressing CD4(+)CD25(+ )regulatory T cells in MRL/lpr mice

Adoptive transfer of CD4(+)CD25(+ )regulatory T cells has been shown to have therapeutic effects in animal models of autoimmune diseases. Chemokines play an important role in the development of autoimmune diseases in animal models and humans. The present study was performed to investigate whether the progression of organ-specific autoimmune diseases could be reduced more markedly by accumulating chemokine receptor-expressing CD4(+)CD25(+ )regulatory T cells efficiently in target organs in MRL/MpJ-lpr/lpr (MRL/lpr) mice. CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+ )T cells (Treg cells) and CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+ )CCR2-transfected T cells (CCR2-Treg cells) were transferred via retro-orbital injection into 12-week-old MRL/lpr mice at the early stage of pneumonitis and sialadenitis, and the pathological changes were evaluated. Expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1)/CCL2 was observed in the lung and submandibular gland of the mice and increased age-dependently. The level of CCR2 expression and MCP-1 chemotactic activity of CCR2-Treg cells were much higher than those of Treg cells. MRL/lpr mice to which CCR2-Treg cells had been transferred showed significantly reduced progression of pneumonitis and sialadenitis in comparison with MRL/lpr mice that had received Treg cells. This was due to more pronounced migration of CCR2-Treg cells and their localization for a longer time in MCP-1-expressing lung and submandibular gland, resulting in stronger suppressive activity. We prepared chemokine receptor-expressing Treg cells and demonstrated their ability to ameliorate disease progression by accumulating in target organs. This method may provide a new therapeutic approach for organ-specific autoimmune diseases in which the target antigens remain undefined

High Time-Resolution Monitoring of Free-Tropospheric Sulfur Dioxide and Nitric Acid at the Summit of Mt. Fuji, Japan

This is the first paper that describes the atmospheric sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitric acid (HNO3) monitored with a good time-resolution at the summit (3,776 m a.s.l.), which is located in the free troposphere, and southeastern foot (1,284 m a.s.l.) of Mt. Fuji. Japan. During the summer of 2012, two analytical systems consisting mainly of a parallel-plate wet denuder and ion chromatograph operated simultaneously at both the sampling sites. All the samples collected at both the sampling sites contained detectable levels of sulfate from gas-phase SO2 while the nitrate from gas-phase HNO3 was detectable in 97.8% of air samples at the southeastern foot and 88.4% at the summit. The average concentrations of SO2 and HNO3 were, respectively, 0.061 ± 0.071 and 0.031 ± 0.020 ppbv at the summit (n = 672), and 0.347 ± 0.425 and 0.146 ± 0.070 ppbv at the southeastern foot (n = 1344) of Mt. Fuji. Both the acidic gases at the southeastern foot and the HNO3 at the summit showed a diurnal pattern with daytime maxima and nighttime minima. Meanwhile, the SO2 at the summit did not show a distinct shift, which indicates the SO2 concentrations at the summit would be principally controlled by the advection of air parcel in the free troposphere

Feasibility study of two schedules of sunitinib in combination with pemetrexed in patients with advanced solid tumors

Background Sunitinib is an oral multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor and platelet-derived growth factor receptors, as well as of other receptor types. We have performed a feasibility study to investigate the safety of sunitinib in combination with pemetrexed for treatment of advanced refractory solid tumors. Methods Sunitinib was administered once daily on a continuous daily dosing (CDD) schedule (37.5 mg/day) or a 2-weeks-on, 1-week-off treatment schedule (50 mg/day, Schedule 2/1) in combination with pemetrexed at 500 mg/m2 on day 1 of repeated 21-day cycles. Results Twelve patients were enrolled in the study: six on the CDD schedule and six on Schedule 2/1. None of the treated patients experienced a dose-limiting toxicity. Toxicities were manageable and similar in type to those observed in monotherapy studies of sunitinib and pemetrexed. Pharmacokinetic analysis did not reveal any substantial drug–drug interaction. One patient with squamous cell lung cancer showed a partial response and five patients had stable disease. Conclusions Combination therapy with sunitinib administered on Schedule 2/1 (50 mg/day) or a CDD schedule (37.5 mg/day) together with standard-dose pemetrexed (500 mg/m2) was well tolerated in previously treated patients with advanced solid tumors

Genome Information Broker for Viruses (GIB-V): database for comparative analysis of virus genomes

Genome Information Broker for Viruses (GIB-V) is a comprehensive virus genome/segment database. We extracted 18 418 complete virus genomes/segments from the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration (INSDC, ) by DNA Data Bank of Japan (DDBJ), EMBL and GenBank and stored them in our system. The list of registered viruses is arranged hierarchically according to taxonomy. Keyword searches can be performed for genome/segment data or biological features of any virus stored in GIB-V. GIB-V is equipped with a BLAST search function, and search results are displayed graphically or in list form. Moreover, the BLAST results can be used online with the ClustalW feature of the DDBJ. All available virus genome/segment data can be collected by the GIB-V download function. GIB-V can be accessed at no charge at