Salted Radish Root Biology during Food Processing

White radish root (daikon) is an important vegetable in Japanese food culture and has spawned the development of various cooking and processing methods. takuan-zuke is the major processed food derived from daikon. Takuan-zuke is prepared by the dehydration of the root using a salt-press or a weighted stone, or by sun-drying, followed by salt-aging using salt or salted rice bran. The color of takuan-zuke changes to yellow during salt-aging. We determined the effects of dehydration and salt-aging on the metabolism of daikon using takuan-zuke. In the yellowing reaction, the generation of daikon isothiocyanate was significant, requiring a temperature of ≥10°C and pH ≥5. The color change of the sun-dried takuan-zuke was the most significant. Moreover, we investigated the nutritional characteristics of takuan-zuke. In the sun-dried daikon, metabolism progressed for 3 weeks during drying, with increase in the concentrations of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and proline as well as drying stress metabolites. In the salt-pressed daikon, GABA concentrations temporarily increased due to osmotic stress but then decreased on metabolic inhibition by salt permeation. In addition, no change in the concentration of proline was observed under salt-press conditions. The results showed a marked difference between the stress response of the living and processed root

A case of primary mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma of the prostate

We report a case of primary mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma of the prostate. A 67-year-old man presented with urinary obstruction and an elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level. A physical examination revealed mild prostate enlargement and no lymphadenopathy. A needle biopsy and immunohistochemical studies of the prostate were performed, which revealed marginal zone B-cell MALT-type lymphoma. A bone marrow aspiration and biopsy did not show involvement by lymphoma. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the abdomen and the pelvis revealed no lymphadenopathy or ascites. There was no involvement of other sites by lymphoma. The patient was diagnosed and staged as extranodal marginal zone B-cell MALT-type lymphoma of the prostate, low grade and stage I. The patient received external beam radiation therapy to the prostate with a total dose of 3600cGy in 22 fractions, and became free of disease within the following 15 months

Concern over radiation exposure and psychological distress among rescue workers following the Great East Japan Earthquake

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>On March 11, 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami that followed caused severe damage along Japans northeastern coastline and to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. To date, there are few reports specifically examining psychological distress in rescue workers in Japan. Moreover, it is unclear to what extent concern over radiation exposure has caused psychological distress to such workers deployed in the disaster area.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>One month after the disaster, 424 of 1816 (24%) disaster medical assistance team workers deployed to the disaster area were assessed. Concern over radiation exposure was evaluated by a single self-reported question. General psychological distress was assessed with the Kessler 6 scale (K6), depressive symptoms with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), fear and sense of helplessness with the Peritraumatic Distress Inventory (PDI), and posttraumatic stress symptoms with the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Radiation exposure was a concern for 39 (9.2%) respondents. Concern over radiation exposure was significantly associated with higher scores on the K6, CES-D, PDI, and IES-R. After controlling for age, occupation, disaster operation experience, duration of time spent watching earthquake news, and past history of psychiatric illness, these associations remained significant in men, but did not remain significant in women for the CES-D and PDI scores.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The findings suggest that concern over radiation exposure was strongly associated with psychological distress. Reliable, accurate information on radiation exposure might reduce deployment-related distress in disaster rescue workers.</p

前立腺癌における血清γ-セミノプロティンの測定

前立腺癌の新しいマーカーとして, γ-セミノプロテイン(γ-Sm)と前立腺性酸性ホスファターゼ(PAP)とを比較評価した.未治療前立腺癌におけるγ-SMおよびPAPのsensitivityは, それぞれ81%, 67%であった.γ-Smはすべての病期で前立腺肥大症と比較して陽性率が高かった.前立腺癌ではγ-SmとPAPは相関を示さなかった.γ-SmとPAPを同時に測定することにより, 感度が上昇した.γ-SmおよびPAPのspecificityはそれぞれ87%と90%であった.内分泌療法を施行した病期D2において, γ-SmはPAPよりもより多く正常化した.以上より, γ-Smは前立腺癌のもう1つの有用なマーカーであるといえるSerum gamma-seminoprotein (gamma-Sm) was evaluated as a new marker for prostatic cancer in comparison with prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP). The sensitivity of gamma-Sm and PAP for untreated prostatic cancer was 81% and 67%, respectively. gamma-Sm showed a higher positive rate over all stages than in benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH). There was no correlation between gamma-Sm and PAP in prostatic cancer. Improved sensitivity was obtained by simultaneous measurement of gamma-Sm and PAP. Specificity of gamma-Sm and PAP for BPH was 87% and 90%, respectively. gamma-Sm normalized after endocrine therapy for stage D2 more often than did PAP. These results indicate that gamma-Sm is another useful marker to evaluate prostatic cancer

A MODIFICATION OF AN ESTIMATION METHOD OF THE NATURAL FREQUENCY OF A CUBE FORM MICRO SATELLITE

Micro satellites must survive severe mechanical conditions during their launch phase. One design requirement for rockets is the stiffness requirement, i.e. the natural frequencies requirement. In the early stages of satellite development, presumption of the natural frequency of a satellite may be difficult. The material used for the structure of many micro satellites is an aluminum alloy. The structure subsystem occupies a large portion of the satellite mass, and the elastic modulus of this aluminum alloy is larger than that of other subsystems. Therefore, the mechanical property of the aluminum alloy cannot be used to represent the mechanical property of the whole satellite. The density of an actual satellite differs from the density of the aluminum alloy. Therefore, when estimating the minimum natural frequency, the size and the elastic modules of an actual satellite structure must be used. When using an actual satellite structure, the estimated minimum natural frequencies of the lateral direction and the longitudinal direction during the ascent phase are in agreement with the measured values acquired by the vibration tests. In order to shorten a process of satellite development, this paper describes a practical method for estimating the natural frequency of a cube-shaped micro satellite This paper is a modified version of the previous paper [1] using new measurement results