Tropical calcific pancreatitis.........An overview

Tropical calcific pancreatitis is a nonalcoholic type of chronic pancreatitis affecting the childrens and young adults characterized clinically by recurrent abdominal pain in childhood, diabetes in adolescent and death in early childhood. Although the exact etiology is not known, malnutrition and chronic cassava toxicity either singly or in combination are presumed to be the prime factor in pancreatic injury unopposed by detoxification of free radical. Moreover micronutrients deficiency, oxidant stress and antioxidant deficiency might play substantial role. Diabetes secondary to tropical calcific pancreatitis is a distinctive and frequent problem, being named by W.H.O. study group as 'fibrocalculous pancreatic diabetes (FCPD) and classified as one of the variant of the so-called malnutrition related diabetes mellitus (MRDM).熱帯地方の貧困層の小児や若干成人にみられる非アルコール性の慢性膵炎で,小児期に反復する腹痛で発症し,10～20歳で膵性糖尿病になり,20～ 30歳で死亡する類似の病像を示す症例をTropical calcific pancreatitis(熱帯性石灰化慢性膵炎)という｡高率に膵石を伴う｡成因は乳幼児期からの熱量,蛋白貰,micronutrients(亜鉛,銅,セレニウム)の摂取不足に加えて食事中シアン産生物質や環境中oxidantsなど複合因子によると推測されている｡病理像は世界各国にみられる慢性膵炎典型例に類似する｡最近は,生活環境や医療事情の改善により,全身栄養障害の減少や生存期間 の延長など病像が変貌しっつある｡糖尿病を重視する立場からはFibrocalculous pancreatic diabetesと呼ばれ,同一地域にみられるProtein-deficient pancreatic diabetesと合わせてMalnutrition-related diabetes mellitus(MRDM)と総称し,糖尿病の一亜型に分類されている

Drum Beating and a Martial Art Bojutsu Performed by a Humanoid Robot

Over the past few decades a considerable number of studies have been made on impact dynamics. Zheng and Hemami discussed a mathematical model of a robot that collides with an environment (Zheng & Hemami, 1985). When a robot arm fixed on the ground collides with a hard environment, the transition from the free space to constrained space may bring instabilit

Superconductivity in undoped T' cuprates with Tc over 30 K

Undoped cuprates have long been considered to be antiferromagnetic insulators. In this article, however, we report that superconductivity is achieved in undoped T'-RE2CuO4 (RE = Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, and Gd). Our discovery was performed by using metal-organic decomposition (MOD), an inexpensive and easy-to-implement thin-film process. The keys to prepare the superconducting films are firing with low partial-pressure of oxygen and reduction at low temperatures. The highest Tc of undoped T'-RE2CuO4 is over 30 K, substantially higher than "electron-doped" analogs. Remarkably, Gd2CuO4, even the derivatives of which have not shown superconductivity so far, gets superconducting with Tconset as high as ~ 20 K. The implication of our discovery is briefly discussed.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letter

Suppression of the Sweat Gland Sensitivity to Acetylcholine Applied Iontophoretically in Tropical Africans Compared to Temperate Japanese

Tropical inhabitants possess the ability of heat-tolerance through permanent residence in the tropics. Previously, we had shown that tropical African and Thai subjects regulate the core temperature with less amount of sweat against heat compared to temperate Japanese subjects and that suppression of sweating in tropical subjects was attributed to suppression in both central and peripheral sudomotor mechanisms. To elucidate the peripheral mechanisms of the suppressed thermal sweating in tropical natives, sweating responses to acetylcholine (ACh), a primary transmitter of the sudomotor innervation, were compared between Japanese (20 healthy males) and Africans (10 healthy males). ACh was iontophoretically administered on the forearm. Directly activated and axon reflex-mediated sweat responses were evaluated by quantitative sudomotor axon reflex test. The sweat on-set-time was 0.72 min shorter (P<0.01) and the sweat volumes were 72% - 110% higher (P<0.01) in the Japanese than the Africans. Iodine-impregnated paper method revealed that sweat gland density was 50.6% higher (P<0.001) and sweat gland output per single gland was 20.4% larger (P<0.001) in the Japanese compared to the Africans. The Japanese showed the a 0.17℃ higher oral temperature and a 0.30℃ higher forearm skin temperature compared to the Africans (P<0.05, respectively) at rest under a thermoneutral condition. ACh iontophoresis did not produce any influences on oral temperature, but increased the local skin temperature in both the Japanese and the Africans. These results indicate that suppressed thermal sweating in Africans is, at least in part, attributed to the suppressed glandular sensitivity to ACh through both recruitment of sweat glands and sweat output per each gland

Automated detection method of thoracic aorta calcification from non-contrast CT images using mediastinal anatomical label map

Progression of thoracic aortic calcification (TAC) has been shown to be associated with hard cardiovascular events including stroke and all-cause mortality as well as coronary events. In this study, we propose an automated detection method of TACs of non-contrast CT images using mediastinal anatomical label map. This method consists of two steps: (1) the construction of a mediastinal anatomical label map, and (2) the detection of TACs using the intensity and the mediastinal anatomical label map. The proposed method was applied to two non-contrast CT image datasets: 24 cases of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) and 100 non-CTEPH cases of low-dose CT screening. The method was compared with two-dimensional U-Nets and the Swin UNETR. The results showed that the method achieved significantly higher F1 score of 0.937 than other methods for the non-CTEPH case dataset (p-value < 0.05, pairwise Wilcoxon signed rank test with Bonferroni correction)

Insulative Adaptation to Cold and Absence of Circadian Body Temperature Rhythm in Afghan Pikas : Ochotona rufescens rufescens

The pika inhabiting cold climate and high mountains is thought to be adapted to its environment. The autonomic characteristics of the high body temperature, high metabolism and poor heat loss ability such as poor panting, small ear pinnae and absence of thermal salivation as well as the behavioral characteristics, i.e. living in burrows under the ground or in the shelter among rocks and hoarding grasses for food to survive winter have been reported. However, insulative cold defense in pikas have not been studied and the pika\u27s circadian activity rhythm remains controversial. In this study, the skin thickness and hairs length were histologically studied and the body temperature and locomotive activity were monitored in the freely moving pikas with a bio-telemetry system to clarify the pika\u27s circadian rhythm. The hairs in the pikas were longer than the rats and more dense and 2 times longer on the dorsal region than the ventral region, though the skin was thinner. 20 mm of the hair length of the pikas was estimated to provide 3 Clo of insulative property. In contrast with the robust nocturnal rhythms in the rabbits and the rats, neither diurnal nor nocturnal body temperature rhythm was observed in the pikas, except for a slight increase at dawn and dusk consistent with the previous field observations. The pika is considered to be adaptive to cold not only ecologically and autonomically but also due to the insulative cold defense mechanisms. Though further investigation should be done, the absence of circadian body temperature rhythm in the pika is quite unique and attractive for the research field of circadian rhythm

Experimental model of chronic pancreatitis, a review - Does it really exist?

Experimental model of pancreatitis is mandatory for elucidating the pathobiology of the disease and also to see the response of a novel treatment. In addition, the need for an animal model of chronic pancreatitis is further strengthened by the relative inaccessibility and paucity of the human pancreatitis tissue. Whereas various models of acute pancreatitis and also of exocrine pancreatic tumor have been described, chronic pancr-eatitis has not been consistently reproduced in experimental animals. Many researchers attempted to establish an experimental model of chronic pancreatitis either by partially obstructing the drainage of pancreatic secretion in dogs and cats or by feeding alcohol to dogs and rats with and without temporary occlusion of the biliopancreatic duct or by surgically inducing ischaemia in the pancreas of the dogs. But, none of these models is identical with human disease. A consistently reproducible model of human chronic pancr-eatitis probably does not exist. In this expanding era of molecular biology which promises us to enhance greatly our understanding of this disease, a right experimental model of chronic pancreatitis is still in progress.疾患の実験モデルの作成は,その疾患の病因,病態の解明,さらに治療法の開発のために重要である｡筆者らの一人は厚生省難治性膵疾患調査研究班の班員として,慢性膵炎の病態の解明や治療法の開発に関する研究を行っており,その研究の一環として,慢性膵炎の実験モデルの作成を現在行っている｡そこで,これまで報告されている慢性膵炎の実験モデルについて概要を報告した｡種々の動物や方法でヒト慢性膵炎に病因,病態,組織像が類似するモデルの作成が試みられてきたが,そのすべてが合致するような慢性膵炎モデルは確 立されてはいない｡近年の分子生物学的研究の進歩は著しく,実験モデルへの応用が種々なされている現在,より簡便で再現性のある慢性膵炎モデルの作成が望まれるところである

Pars Plana Vitrectomy Combined with Focal Endolaser Photocoagulation for Idiopathic Macular Telangiectasia

Background. To report the outcome of pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) combined with intraoperative endolaser focal photocoagulation (PC) on eyes with idiopathic macular telangiectasis (MacTel) type 1. Methods. This was a retrospective study of two female patients with MacTel type 1 who were resistant to focal photocoagulation, sub-Tenon triamcinolone injection, and/or antiangiogenic drugs. The best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was determined, and fluorescein angiography (FA) and spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) were performed before and after surgery for up to 19 months. Results. After surgery, the BCVA gradually improved from 20/100 to 20/20 at 19 months in Case 1 and from 20/50 to 20/13 at 13 months in Case 2. Fluorescein angiography (FA) showed leakage at the late phase, and OCT showed that the cystoid macular edema was resolved and the fovea was considerably thinner postoperatively. Conclusion. Patients with MacTel type 1 who are refractory to the other types of treatments can benefit from PPV combined with intraoperative endolaser focal PC with functional and morphological improvements

The novel heart-specific RING finger protein 207 is involved in energy metabolism in cardiomyocytes

A failing heart shows severe energy insufficiency, and it is presumed that this energy shortage plays a critical role in the development of cardiac dysfunction. However, little is known about the mechanisms that cause energy metabolic alterations in the failing heart. Here, we show that the novel RING-finger protein 207 (RNF207), which is specifically expressed in the heart, plays a role in cardiac energy metabolism. Depletion of RNF207 in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes (NRCs) leads to a reduced cellular concentration of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and mitochondrial dysfunction. Consistent with this result, we observed here that the expression of RNF207 was significantly reduced in mice with common cardiac diseases including heart failure. Intriguingly, proteomic approaches revealed that RNF207 interacts with the voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC), which is considered to be a key regulator of mitochondria function, as an RNF207-interacting protein. Our findings indicate that RNF207 is involved in ATP production by cardiomyocytes, suggesting that RNF207 plays an important role in the development of heart failure