Preoperative Butyrylcholinesterase Level as an Independent Predictor of Overall Survival in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma Patients Treated with Nephrectomy

The prognostic factors for the overall survival (OS) of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) patients treated with nephrectomy are not well defined. In the present study, we investigated the prognostic significance of preoperative butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) levels in 400 ccRCC patients undergoing radical or partial nephrectomy from 1992 to 2013 at our institution. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine the clinical factors associated with OS. Among the enrolled patients, 302 were diagnosed with organ-confined disease only (T1-2N0M0), 16 with lymph node metastases, and 56 with distant metastases. The median preoperative BChE level was 250 U/L (normal range, 168–470 U/L), and median follow-up period was 36 months. The 3-year OS rate in patients with preoperative BChE levels of ≥100 U/L was significantly higher than in those with levels of <100 U/L (89.3% versus 77.7%, P=0.004). On univariate analysis, performance status; anemia; hypoalbuminemia; preoperative levels of BChE, corrected calcium, and C-reactive protein; and distant metastasis status were significantly associated with OS. Multivariate analysis revealed that preoperative BChE levels and distant metastasis status were significantly associated with OS. Our findings suggest a possible role of preoperative BChE levels as an independent predictor of OS after nephrectomy in ccRCC patients

Catalytic Direct Oxidation of Methane to Methanol by Redox of Copper Mordenite

Expectations for industrial implementation of direct conversion of CH4 to CH3OH are growing with the increasing demand for energy-efficient chemical processes. In this study, catalytic production of CH3OH by direct oxidation of CH4 with O2 was performed using Cu zeolite catalysts in a CH4/O2/H2O flow reaction. Among the various Cu zeolites investigated, the Cu-MOR catalyst exhibited relatively high CH3OH production with a turnover number of 7.4 molCH3OH/molCu over 24 h (CH4 conversion: 0.011%). The catalytically active Cu species and catalytic cycle were investigated by in-situ simultaneous X-ray absorption and infrared spectroscopy. The results suggest that the key to the catalytic cycle over Cu-MOR is the redox of Cu(I)/Cu(II) species. Furthermore, H2O-adsorption-included dynamic Cu species are revealed to be catalytically active

Unexpected A-form formation of 4′-thioDNA in solution, revealed by NMR, and the implications as to the mechanism of nuclease resistance

Fully modified 4′-thioDNA, an oligonucleotide only comprising 2′-deoxy-4′-thionucleosides, exhibited resistance to an endonuclease, in addition to preferable hybridization with RNA. Therefore, 4′-thioDNA is promising for application as a functional oligonucleotide. Fully modified 4′-thioDNA was found to behave like an RNA molecule, but no details of its structure beyond the results of circular dichroism analysis are available. Here, we have determined the structure of fully modified 4′-thioDNA with the sequence of d(CGCGAATTCGCG) by NMR. Most sugars take on the C3′-endo conformation. The major groove is narrow and deep, while the minor groove is wide and shallow. Thus, fully modified 4′-thioDNA takes on the A-form characteristic of RNA, both locally and globally. The only structure reported for 4′-thioDNA showed that partially modified 4′-thioDNA that contained some 2′-deoxy-4′-thionucleosides took on the B-form in the crystalline form. We have determined the structure of 4′-thioDNA in solution for the first time, and demonstrated unexpected differences between the two structures. The origin of the formation of the A-form is discussed. The remarkable biochemical properties reported for fully modified 4′-thioDNA, including nuclease-resistance, are rationalized in the light of the elucidated structure

ボランティアセンターの創設と活動の現状

Sendai College in Miyagi, Japan established the Volunteer Center in April 2003. The purposes for starting this rogram are for university students to enrich their social experiences, to develop their leadership skills and to help deepen their understanding of human experiences. It is the universitys hope that the center serves a role expected by the community as well. The students volunteers acquire curricular units after one year of their participation. One year after opening the center, out of 1,797 total student population, 42 acquired the units. The author conducted a survey to examine students\u27 participation and their activities at the volunteer center and to analyze the results for improving the program. The result indicated that there are several problems including publicity and giving information about the program

Structure of Musashi1 in a complex with target RNA: the role of aromatic stacking interactions

Mammalian Musashi1 (Msi1) is an RNA-binding protein that regulates the translation of target mRNAs, and participates in the maintenance of cell ‘stemness’ and tumorigenesis. Msi1 reportedly binds to the 3′-untranslated region of mRNA of Numb, which encodes Notch inhibitor, and impedes initiation of its translation by competing with eIF4G for PABP binding, resulting in triggering of Notch signaling. Here, the mechanism by which Msi1 recognizes the target RNA sequence using its Ribonucleoprotein (RNP)-type RNA-binding domains (RBDs), RBD1 and RBD2 has been revealed on identification of the minimal binding RNA for each RBD and determination of the three-dimensional structure of the RBD1:RNA complex. Unique interactions were found for the recognition of the target sequence by Msi1 RBD1: adenine is sandwiched by two phenylalanines and guanine is stacked on the tryptophan in the loop between β1 and α1. The minimal recognition sequences that we have defined for Msi1 RBD1 and RBD2 have actually been found in many Msi1 target mRNAs reported to date. The present study provides molecular clues for understanding the biology involving Musashi family proteins

Temperature Distribution Measurement Based on ML-EM Method Using Enclosed Acoustic CT System

In this paper, a measurement method for cross-sectional temperature distributions is considered. A novel method based on an acoustic computed tomography (CT) technique is proposed. Specifically, the temperature distributions are estimated using the time of flight (TOF) of multidirectional ultrasonic propagation paths. Maximum Likelihood Expectation Maximization (ML-EM) method and the Median Filter are introduced to reconstruct the temperature distributions in a square area properly. The effectiveness of the proposed reconstruction method is confirmed experimentally

Unexpected A-form formation of 4’-thioDNA in

solution, revealed by NMR, and the implications as to the mechanism of nuclease resistanc

Catalytic Oxidation of Methane to Methanol over Cu-CHA with Molecular Oxygen

Direct oxidation of CH4 to CH3OH using O2 is challenging because of the high stability of CH4 and the relatively high reactivity of CH3OH. Here, Cu-CHA zeolites are tested for direct oxidation of CH4. Catalytic production of CH3OH in a CH4-O2-H2O flow reaction is improved using CHA type zeolites compared to other zeolites including MOR, BEA, MFI, and FAU zeolites reported previously. In situ X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy reveals that high catalytic activity of Cu-CHA is derived from its redox property, particularly, the high reducibility of Cu2+ involved in CH4 activation. The reaction gas concentrations are varied to find optimized reaction conditions on Cu-CHA. In addition, the reaction mechanism of the direct CH4 oxidation on a Cu-CHA is investigated based on not only the effects of gas concentrations but also the isotope gas effects using CD4, 18O2, and D2O. It is suggested that the rate-determining step is C-H activation of CH4, and the selectivity of CH3OH is determined by oxidation rate of CH3OH, which is affected by O2 and OH groups activation rate on Cu-CHA