Reconstruction of Winter Temperature since the 1830s in Kawanishi Based on Historical Weather Documents

In the present study, we estimated the winter temperature variations from 1830/31 to 2008/09 in the town of Kawanishi in the southern part of Yamagata prefecture using daily weather reports and observa tions documented in an old personal diary. Using historical weather reports, we computed the snowfall rate (percentage ratio of snowfall days to the total number of precipitation days) for each winter during the study period. Then, mean winter temperatures in Kawanishi were estimated using a simple linear regression analysis based on the relationship between the mean winter temperature and snowfall rate, which was computed from historical weather reports. The results of this analysis showed that there were several warm winters in the late 19th century. The warm winters were observed in a period extending from the late 1840s to the early 1850s, and a period in the late 1860s. The results also showed that the temperatures in those warm winters were similar to the average winter temperature for the period 1970/71-1999/2000. By comparing the time series of estimated temperatures to those of long-term historical instrumental temperature data since the late 19th century, we found that the variation in the estimated temperature correlated well with that of the instrumental temperature data. This indicates that the estimated results in the present study are highly reliable

Reconstruction of July Temperature Variations since the 1830s in Kawanishi Based on Historical Weather Documents

In the present study, we estimated the July maximum temperature variations from 1830 to 2011 in the town of Kawanishi in the southern part of Yamagata prefecture using daily weather reports and observa tions documented in an old personal diary. Using historical weather reports, we computed the number of "fine-weather" days for each July during the study period. Then, July maximum temperatures in Kawanishi were estimated using a simple linear regression analysis based on the relationship between the July maximum temperature and number of "fine-weather" days, computed from historical weather reports. By com paring the time series of estimated temperatures with those of historical instrumental temperature data in the late 19th century, we found that the variation in the estimated temperature correlated well with that of the instrumental temperature data. This indicates that the estimated results in the present study are highly reliable. The results of this analysis showed that there were cool periods in the 1830s, 1860s, 1900s, and a period extending from the 1980s to the early 1990s. Those cool periods in the 1830s, 1860s, and 1900s coincided with poor rice harvests and severe famines in northern Japan. Warm summers were observed in the 1850s, a period extending from the 1870s to 1880s, and 1920s. We found that temperatures in the early 1850s were similar to those of warm summers in the late 20th century

Clinical utility of the Vesical Imaging-Reporting and Data System for muscle-invasive bladder cancer between radiologists and urologists based on multiparametric MRI including 3D FSE T2-weighted acquisitions

Objectives: To investigate the clinical utility of the Vesical Imaging-Reporting and Data System (VI-RADS) by comparing its diagnostic performance for muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) between radiologists and urologists based on multiparametric MRI, including three-dimensional (3D) fast spin-echo (FSE) T2-weighted acquisitions. Methods: This study included 66 treatment-naïve patients (60 men, 6 women; mean age 74.0 years) with pathologically proven bladder cancer who underwent multiparametric MRI, including 3D FSE T2-weighted imaging, before transurethral bladder tumour resection between January 2010 and November 2018. The MRI scans were categorised according to the five-point VI-RADS score by four independent readers (two board-certified radiologists and board-certified urologists each), blinded to the histopathological findings. The VI-RADS scores were compared with the postoperative histopathological diagnosis. Interobserver agreement was assessed using weighted kappa coefficients. ROC analysis and generalised estimating equations were used to evaluate the diagnostic performance. Results: Forty-nine (74.2%) and 17 (25.8%) tumours were confirmed to be non-MIBC and MIBC, respectively, based on pathological examination. The interobserver agreement was good-to-excellent between all pairs of readers (range, 0.73–0.91). The urologists’ sensitivity/specificity values for DCE-MRI VI-RADS scores were significantly lower than those of radiologists. No significant differences were observed for the overall VI-RADS score. The AUC for the overall VI-RADS score was 0.94, 0.92, 0.89, and 0.87 for radiologists 1 and 2 and urologists 1 and 2, respectively. Conclusions: The VI-RADS score, based on multiparametric MRI including 3D FSE T2-weighted acquisitions, can be useful for radiologists and urologists to determine the bladder cancer muscle invasion status preoperatively. Key Points: • VI-RADS (using multiparametric MRI including 3D FSE T2-weighted acquisitions) achieves good to excellent interobserver agreement and has similar diagnostic performance for detecting muscle invasion by both radiologists and urologists. • The diagnostic performance of the overall VI-RADS score is high for both radiologists and urologists, particularly due to the dominant effect of diffusion-weighted imaging on the overall VI-RADS score. • The sensitivity and specificity values of the T2WI VI-RADS scores for four readers in our study (using 3D FSE T2-weighted acquisitions) were similar (with slightly higher specificity values) to previously published results (using 2D FSE T2-weighted acquisitions)

Effect of Asian dust on pulmonary function in adult asthma patients in western Japan: A panel study

AbstractBackgroundAsian dust (AD) has become a major health concern. The concentration of AD is typically expressed in particulate matter less than 10 μm (PM10) and 2.5 μm (PM2.5). However, PM10 and PM2.5 consist of various substances besides AD. Light detection and ranging (LIDAR) systems can selectively measure the quantity of AD particles to distinguish non-spherical airborne particles from spherical airborne particles. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between pulmonary function in adult asthma patients and AD using LIDAR data.MethodsSubjects were 231 adult asthma patients who had their morning peak expiratory flow (PEF) measured from March to May 2012. A linear mixed model was used to estimate the association of PEF with sand dust particles detected by LIDAR.ResultsIncreases in the interquartile range of AD particles (0.018 km−1) led to changes in PEF of −0.42 L/min (95% confidence interval [CI], −0.85 to 0.01). An increase of 11.8 μg/m3 in suspended particulate matter and 6.9 μg/m3 in PM2.5 led to decreases of −0.17 L/min (−0.53 to 0.21) and 0.03 L/min (−0.35 to 0.42), respectively. A heavy AD day was defined as a day with a level of AD particles >0.032 km−1, which was the average plus one standard deviation during the study period, and six heavy AD days were identified. Change in PEF after a heavy AD day was −0.97 L/min (−1.90 to −0.04).ConclusionsHeavy exposure to AD particles was significantly associated with decreased pulmonary function in adult asthma patients

A RUNX-targeted gene switch-off approach modulates the BIRC5/PIF1-p21 pathway and reduces glioblastoma growth in mice

Glioblastoma is the most common adult brain tumour, representing a high degree of malignancy. Transcription factors such as RUNX1 are believed to be involved in the malignancy of glioblastoma. RUNX1 functions as an oncogene or tumour suppressor gene with diverse target genes. Details of the effects of RUNX1 on the acquisition of malignancy in glioblastoma remain unclear. Here, we show that RUNX1 downregulates p21 by enhancing expressions of BIRC5 and PIF1, conferring anti-apoptotic properties on glioblastoma. A gene switch-off therapy using alkylating agent-conjugated pyrrole-imidazole polyamides, designed to fit the RUNX1 DNA groove, decreased expression levels of BIRC5 and PIF1 and induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest via p21. The RUNX1-BIRC5/PIF1-p21 pathway appears to reflect refractory characteristics of glioblastoma and thus holds promise as a therapeutic target. RUNX gene switch-off therapy may represent a novel treatment for glioblastoma

Diagnostic approach for patients with unidentified fever according to the classical criteria of fever of unknown origin in the field of autoimmune disorders

ArticleImmunological medicine. 42(4): 176-184 (2019)journal articl

Long-term maintenance of the mucosal healing induced by azacitidine therapy in a patient with intestinal Behçet's-like disease accompanied with myelodysplastic syndrome involving trisomy 8

ArticleImmunological medicine. 42(3): 135-141 (2019)journal articl