Effectiveness of Dance/Movement Therapy Intervention for Children with Intellectual Disability at an Early Childhood Special Education Preschool

Children with intellectual disability (ID) often have deficits in gross motor skills and static and dynamic balance abilities, poor lower muscle strength, and an increased risk of serious falls. They also face difficulty in continuing physical activity programs due to cognitive impairment and easy loss of motivation. However, dance/movement therapy (DMT) has been found to help children with ID perform static and dynamic movements. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of DMT group sessions for children with ID as part of an early childhood special education preschool program. The outcome measures involved employing a hand-held dynamometer to assess knee extensor muscles, the one-leg stand test for static balance, and the timed “up and go” test for dynamic balance, and administering the Child Behavior Checklist and Caregiver-Teacher Report Form for children’s adaptive functions and behavioral problems, as reported by parents or relatives and teachers respectively. Twenty-one children with ID aged 36 to 72 months participated in the study. Ten 60-min DMT group sessions were conducted as manualized intervention, once a week. The measurements were done before and after the 10 DMT group session, and then compared. The results showed statistically significant changes in both knee extensor muscles, the standing time for both legs in the one-leg stand test, attention problems and affective problems in the Checklist, and total score, internalizing problems (including emotionally reactive and somatic complaints), externalizing problems (including attention problems and aggressive behavior), affective problems, anxiety problems, and attention deficit/hyperactivity problems in the Report Form. This study found that the DMT group sessions as part of an early childhood special education preschool program for children with ID aged 36 to 72 months helped improve their knee extensor muscles and static balance while reducing maladaptive behaviors, enabling them to enjoy the sessions for the full study period

Approach for growth of high-quality and large protein crystals

Three crystallization methods, including crystallization in the presence of a semi-solid agarose gel, top-seeded solution growth (TSSG) and a large-scale hanging-drop method, have previously been presented. In this study, crystallization has been further evaluated in the presence of a semi-solid agarose gel by crystallizing additional proteins. A novel crystallization method combining TSSG and the large-scale hanging-drop method has also been developed

Suppression and Regression of Choroidal Neovascularization in Mice by a Novel CCR2 Antagonist, INCB3344

PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of an intravitreally administered CCR2 antagonist, INCB3344, on a mouse model of choroidal neovascularization (CNV). METHODS: CNV was induced by laser photocoagulation on Day 0 in wild type mice. INCB3344 or vehicle was administered intravitreally immediately after laser application. On Day 14, CNV areas were measured on retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)-choroid flat mounts and histopathologic examination was performed on 7 µm-thick sections. Macrophage infiltration was evaluated by immunohistochemistry on RPE-choroid flat mounts and quantified by flow cytometry on Day 3. Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) protein in RPE-choroid tissue was examined by immunohistochemistry and ELISA, VEGF mRNA in sorted macrophages in RPE-choroid tissue was examine by real-time PCR and expression of phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (p-ERK 1/2) in RPE-choroid tissue was measured by Western blot analysis on Day 3. We also evaluated the efficacy of intravitreal INCB3344 to spontaneous CNV detected in Cu, Zn-superoxide dismutase (SOD1) deficient mice. Changes in CNV size were assessed between pre- and 1week post-INCB3344 or vehicle administration in fundus photography and fluorescence angiography (FA). RESULTS: The mean CNV area in INCB3344-treated mice decreased by 42.4% compared with the vehicle-treated control mice (p<0.001). INCB3344 treatment significantly inhibited macrophage infiltration into the laser-irradiated area (p<0.001), and suppressed the expression of VEGF protein (p = 0.012), VEGF mRNA in infiltrating macrophages (p<0.001) and the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 (p<0.001). The area of spontaneous CNV in Sod1⁻/⁻ mice regressed by 70.35% in INCB3344-treated animals while no change was detected in vehicle-treated control mice (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: INCB3344 both inhibits newly forming CNV and regresses established CNV. Controlling inflammation by suppressing macrophage infiltration and angiogenic ability via the CCR-2/MCP-1 signal may be a useful therapeutic strategy for treating CNV associated with age-related macular degeneration

コウジョウセン クリーゼ 20レイ ノ チリョウ ト ヨゴ : コウジョウセン クリーゼ シンダン キジュン オ モチイタ ケントウ

日本甲状腺学会から甲状腺クリーゼの診断基準が2008 年に発表された.2004 年4 月から2009 年3月に当院で臨床的に甲状腺クリーゼと診断,治療した20 症例を,その診断基準にあてはめ,治療と予後等について解析した.基礎疾患は全例バセドウ病だった.誘因として服用不規則や中断が9 例,感染症6 例,糖尿病性ケトアシドーシス3 例,情動ストレス2 例,脳血管障害1 例,外傷1 例だった.診断基準で確定診断例が15例,疑い例が1 例,除外症例が4 例だった.症状では中枢神経症状が疑い・確定診断例では11 例,脈拍130/分以上は12 例認められたが,除外例では認められなかった.治療としてはチアマゾールが全症例に使用されていた.ヨードは13 例,b ブロッカーは17 例,ステロイドは12 例の症例で使用されており全例救命できた.服用不規則や中断,感染症が誘引となりやすく,症状では中枢神経症状・脈拍が特にクリーゼの診断には重要と考えられた.後遺症を残す重症例は6 例で全て新診断基準によって確定診断された症例であり,新診断基準は予後への有用性も期待できると考えられた.The Japan Thyroid Association established diagnosticcriteria for thyroid crisis in 2008. Using these criteria, weanalyzed 20 cases clinically diagnosed as thyroid crisis andtreated in our hospital from April 2004 to March 2009. Allpatients had Basedow\u27s disease at the basal disease. Thecauses were irregular compliance or interruption of treatment(9 cases), infection (6 cases), diabetic ketoacidosis (3cases), emotional stress( 2 cases), stroke( 1 case), and trauma(1 case). Fifteen cases were confirmed as thyroid crisis,1 case was suspected as thyroid crisis, and 4 cases were rejectedas thyroid crisis according to the diagnostic criteria.Central nervous symptoms were observed in 11 cases, andtachycardia (over 130 beats/min) in 12 cases in the definitiveand suspicious cases, although there were no centralnervous symptoms or tachycardia in the excluded cases.Thiamazole was administered to all patients. In addition, iodine(13 cases), b -blocker (17 cases), and corticosteroids(12 cases) were administered. All patients were recovered.Irregular internal use, stopping treatment, and infectionwere likely to induce thyroid crisis. In paticular, centralnervous symptoms and tachycardia were important factorsfor diagnosis. As 6 serious cases with aftereffect were diagnosedas definitive cases of thyroid crisis according to thenew criteria, these new criteria may be useful to predictthe prognosis

The sensitivity of carthamin and safflor yellow B colours towards redox substances

The sensitivities of carthamin and safflor yellow B towards oxidants and antioxidants were compared in bufferized solutions at various given concentrations. The test chemicals affected variously on the pigment colourations: (1) externally charged 02 had less effect on the colour change of carthamin, (2) organe-yellow coloured safflor yellow B was bleached by the gas flush, (3) carthamin showed little or no affinitive property for H202 at 0.001-230 µM level, (4) safflor yellow B reacted positively with the oxidant and was changed readily to faint yellow unknown compounds, (5) double-faced responses could be found in carthamin solution with L-ascorbic acid or with D-isoascorbic acid, namely the former antioxidant intensified the colour of carthamin and the latter reduced the red colouration, (6) hydroquinone emphasized the red colour of carthamin in solution, (7) safflor yellow B shifted bathochromically in hydroquinone containing solution, however, it showed no shift in L-ascorbic acid and D-isoascorbic acid solutions. The data are discussed from the standpoint of oxidative dissimilation of the quinochalconoids in the floral tissues of dyer's saffron capitula

Low-dose lipopolysaccharide pretreatment suppresses choroidal neovascularization via IL-10 induction.

Recent studies have suggested that some kinds of microbial infection may have a crucial role in the development of many diseases such as autoimmune diseases and certain types of cancer. It has been reported that some chronic infections, such as Chlamydia pneumoniae, and immunological dysfunctions are associated with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness. To evaluate the association between systemic low-level inflammation induced by infection and AMD pathogenesis, we investigated whether intraperitoneal injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) can modulate the development of laser-induced choroidal neovascularization (CNV), a key feature of AMD. Contrary to our expectations, the sizes of CNV in mice with LPS pretreatment were approximately 65% smaller than those of the control mice. After LPS pretreatment, serum IL-10 concentration and IL-10 gene expression in peritoneal macrophages and in the posterior part of the eye increased. Peritoneal injection of anti-IL10 antibody reduced CNV suppression by LPS pretreatment. Moreover, adoptive transfer of the resident peritoneal macrophages from LPS-treated mice into control littermates resulted in an approximately 26% reduction in the size of CNV compared with PBS-treated mice. We concluded that CNV formation was suppressed by low-dose LPS pretreatment via IL-10 production by macrophages

Severe Hypoglycemia Accompanied with Thyroid Crisis

We report a 32-year-old Japanese women with severe hypoglycemia accompanied with thyroid crisis. She complained of dyspnea, general fatigue, and leg edema. She was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism with congestive heart failure and liver dysfunction. Soon after admission, sudden cardiopulmonary arrest occurred. She was then transferred to the intensive care unit. Her serum glucose level was 7 mg/dl. Intravenous glucose, hydrocortisone, diuretics, and continuous hemodiafiltration (CHDF) saved her. We considered that hypoglycemia occurred due to heart failure and liver dysfunction due to thyroid crisis