Infliximab- and Immunosuppressant-Resistant Crohn's Disease Successfully Treated with Adsorptive Granulocyte Apheresis Combined with Prednisolone

Activated granulocytes, monocytes, and platelets appear to be closely involved in active Crohn's disease (CD). Adsorptive granulocyte apheresis (GCAP) is a new treatment for inflammatory bowel disease. GCAP was used to treat a 23-year-old female patient with CD resistant to both infliximab (IFX) and azathioprine (AZA). At 16 years of age, the patient underwent a partial ileal resection for peritonitis caused by perforative ileitis. On pathological examination of the resected specimen, the diagnosis was CD. Mesalazine was started, but the patient did not comply with therapy. She was admitted to our hospital again in 2007 due to an acute exacerbation. IFX induction therapy was started. The combination of both AZA daily and IFX every 8 weeks was continued as maintenance therapy. However, she developed severe abdominal pain in September 2009. Computed tomography revealed ileitis and ascending colitis, and blood tests showed high inflammatory response marker levels. She was considered to have IFX- and AZA-resistant CD. Initial intravenous steroid therapy did not result in any improvement. Therefore, weekly GCAP therapy was given for 5 weeks, which immediately improved the inflammatory response markers. GCAP combined with prednisolone could be effective for IFX- and AZA-refractory CD

Degradation of Organic Coatings on Steel Investigated by Dynamic Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy

ABSTRACT Degradation of the organic coatings on steel has been investigated by the dynamic impedance measurements. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) has been used to evaluate the corrosion of steel coated by the organic film. Generally the electrochemical impedance of the coated steel shows complicated behavior, because the degradation of organic coating involves various steps until the steel corrodes under the coating. In the present paper, time variation of electrochemical impedance was measured to investigate the initial stage of coating degradation. The dynamic impedance was displayed on 3-dimension plots, whose axes were real and imaginary components and time. The time variation of the film resistance related to the permeation of water was monitored to discuss the corrosion mechanisms of coated steel

Durability Analysis of the REIMEI Satellite Li-ion Batteries after more than 14 Years of Operation in Space

The satellite REIMEI was launched in August 2005, this is one of the first satellites to use Li-ion batteries. REIMEI is a small scientific satellite designed for carrying out aurora observations using three different cameras. The main scientific mission of the satellite ended in 2013. More than 14 years have passed, and the batteries have experienced over 78,100 charge/discharge cycles. REIMEI remains in operation with a new mission dedicated to analyzing its Li-ion battery. In this work, we present a durability analysis for the REIMEI battery based on telemetry data

Opposing effects of estradiol and progesterone on the oxidative stress-induced production of chemokine and proinflammatory cytokines in murine peritoneal macrophages

In inflammatory and oxidative liver injury, virus proteins and reactive oxygen species are involved in the regulation of proinflammatory cytokine production by macrophages. This study investigated the effects of estradiol (E2) and progesterone on the unstimulated and oxidative stress-stimulated production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-2, and macrophage chemotactic protein (MCP)-1 by peritoneal macrophages isolated from male and female mice. E2 inhibited the cytokine production of TNF-α, IL-1β, MIP-2, and MCP-1 by the unstimulated macrophages from males and females, which was then further stimulated by progesterone. The exposure to hydrogen peroxide in the macrophages from both sexes induced the production of cytokine. The hydrogen peroxide-stimulated cytokine production was suppressed by E2 and enhanced by progesterone. The sex hormone effects on the unstimulated and stimulated macrophages were blocked by their receptor antagonists and showed no significant difference between male and female subjects. These findings suggest that E2 may play a favorable role in the course of persistent liver injury, by inhibiting proinflammatory cytokine production, which, in addition, progesterone may counteract the favorable E2 effects through their receptors

Acute Pancreatitis due to pH-Dependent Mesalazine That Occurred in the Course of Ulcerative Colitis

We report the case of a 26-year-old male who presented with acute pancreatitis during the course of treatment for pancolitic ulcerative colitis (UC) with a time-dependent mesalazine formulation, prednisolone and azathioprine (AZA). Despite a review of his clinical history and various tests, the cause of pancreatitis could not be determined. Since drug-induced pancreatitis was considered possible, administration of the time-dependent mesalazine preparation and AZA was discontinued, and conservative treatment for acute pancreatitis was performed. The pancreatitis promptly improved with these treatments, but drug lymphocyte stimulation test (DLST) for both the time-dependent mesalazine formulation and AZA was negative. A pH-dependent mesalazine formulation was given for maintenance therapy of UC. Subsequently, as the pancreatitis relapsed, drug-induced pancreatitis was strongly suspected. Administration of mesalazine was discontinued, and pancreatitis was smoothly in remission by conservative treatment. According to the positive DLST result for the pH-dependent mesalazine formulation and the clinical course, a diagnosis of pH-dependent mesalazine-induced pancreatitis due to this formulation was made. During the clinical course of UC, occurrence of drug-induced pancreatitis must always be considered

「「国際社会観光」基礎教育体系の研究」成果報告 平成30（2018）～令和２（2020）年度和洋女子大学教育振興支援助成報告

　本報告は、2018～2020年度の研究の成果報告である。2020年度に新しく国際学部国際学科が設置されたことにより、国際社会観光についての基礎教育体系を精緻化し、教材の作成を行った。さらに観光PBL（Project Based Learning）教育方法を探求し、企業や自治体とのPBLの拡充と、プロジェクトの経験からよりよい教育方法を探るFDを行った。　本稿では、『キーワードで読む国際観光』（国際学部国際学科編の冊子）で取り上げた内容について、学科FDで情報交換した過去のPBLの経験から学んだことについて、そして昨年度の急なコロナ禍でも積極的に行ったオンラインPBLの内容について、プロジェクト参加メンバーで分担執筆した