Solitary pulmonary metastasis of pancreatic cancer presenting a thin-walled cavity

Because the prognosis of the patients with pancreatic cancer is very poor, there are few opportunities to perform surgery for pulmonary metastasis. Here we report the resection of a solitary pulmonary metastasis from pancreatic cancer, appearing as thin-walled cavity, which appeared 5 years after pancreaticoduodenectomy. Although the present patient underwent incomplete resection because of malignant pleural effusion and pleural dissemination, he is currently still alive without evident recurrence at 18 months after surgery

Ataxia and peripheral nerve hypomyelination in ADAM22-deficient mice

BACKGROUND: ADAM22 is a member of the ADAM gene family, but the fact that it is expressed only in the nervous systems makes it unique. ADAM22's sequence similarity to other ADAMs suggests it to be an integrin binder and thus to have a role in cell-cell or cell-matrix interactions. To elucidate the physiological functions of ADAM22, we employed gene targeting to generate ADAM22 knockout mice. RESULTS: ADAM22-deficient mice were produced in a good accordance with the Mendelian ratio and appeared normal at birth. After one week, severe ataxia was observed, and all homozygotes died before weaning, probably due to convulsions. No major histological abnormalities were detected in the cerebral cortex or cerebellum of the homozygous mutants; however, marked hypomyelination of the peripheral nerves was observed. CONCLUSION: The results of our study demonstrate that ADAM22 is closely involved in the correct functioning of the nervous system. Further analysis of ADAM22 will provide clues to understanding the mechanisms of human diseases such as epileptic seizures and peripheral neuropathy

A Study on the Curriculum of Junior High Schools in Okayama City; Analysis and Classification of the Educational Objectives

岡山市立中学校全38 校の学校教育課程，特にそれを構成する要素の一つである学校教育目標に着目し，その特徴を明らかにするとともに類型化を行った。学校教育目標に使われている言葉の分析からは，「心の教育　豊かな心」「自ら学ぶ力　自己学習力」「健康体力」といった学習指導要領のキーワードが多く使われていること，そして岡山市立中学校の特徴としては岡山市の教育が目指す「自立する子どもの育成」を踏まえた「自主　自立　主体性」という言葉や「努力　向上心　がんばる」「人権尊重」という言葉が多く使われていることが明らかとなった。また，クラスター分析による学校教育目標の類型化からは，「市施策対応型（10 校）」「岡山伝統型（13 校）」「指導要領準拠型（10 校）」「全面強調型（５校）」の4類型に分けられることが明らかにされた

Development of cosmic x-ray polarimeter

We present a performance study of a cosmic X-ray polarimeter which is based on the photoelectric effect in gas, and sensitive to a few to 30 keV range. In our polarimeter, the key device would be the 50 μm pitch Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM). We have evaluated the modulation factor using highly polarized X-ray, provided by a synchrotron accelerator. In the analysis, we selected events by the eccentricity of the charge cloud of the photoelectron track. As a result, we obtained the relationship between the selection criteria for the eccentricity and the modulation factors; for example, when we selected the events which have their eccentricity of > 0.95, the polarimeter exhibited with the modulation factor of 0.32. In addition, we estimated the Minimum Detectable Polarization degree (MDP) of Crab Nebula with our polarimeter and found 10 ksec observation is enough to detect the polarization, if we adopt suitable X-ray mirrors

Low-Grade Endometrial Stromal Sarcoma with a Nodule-in-Nodule Appearance in Preoperative Magnetic Resonance Images

Low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma (LG-ESS) is a rare malignant disease and demonstrates various patterns in preoperative imaging. Therefore, accurate diagnosis is important. Given its unique form, we report a case of LG-ESS with a nodule-in-nodule appearance on preoperative imaging. A 41-year-old woman was referred to our department for further examination of a 45 mm diameter uterine corpus mass. Preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed several small nodules within a larger nodule. T2-weighted images showed moderate-to-high signal intensity with focal bands of low signal intensity in the small nodules. The patient underwent total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. Histopathological findings of the small nodules showed densely concentrated endometrial stromal cells reminiscent of a proliferative phase endometrium with a concentric arrangement of small spiral arteriole-like vessels. The small nodules exhibited an expansile growth pattern and were surrounded by less densely concentrated endometrial stromal cells intermingled with the normal uterine myometrium. LG-ESS with smooth muscle differentiation and sex cord-like elements was partially observed. In summary, LG-ESS demonstrating a unique nodule-in-nodule appearance on preoperative imaging histopathologically comprised tumor cells of varying densities. Our current case suggests that preoperative diagnostic imaging with MRI may be useful

A Study on the Curriculum of Elementary Schools in Okayama City; Analysis and Classification of the Educational Objectives

　岡山市立小学校全93 校（分校・分教室等を含む。）の教育課程，特にそれを構成する要素の一つである学校教育目標に着目し，その特徴を明らかにするとともに類型化を行なった。学校教育目標に使われている言葉の分析からは，体育・徳育・知育の順に重視されていること，岡山市の教育が目指す「自立する子どもの育成」を踏まえた「自主　自立　主体性」や「地域郷土」「国際　国際社会」というESDとの関連を鮮明に示す言葉はあまり使われていないこと，また，クラスター分析による学校教育目標の類型化からは，「指導要領準拠型（23校）」「徳育体育重視型（23 校）」「地域協働型（４校）」「特色ある目標型（29 校）」「努力自立重視型（14 校）」の５類型に分けられることが明らかになった。最後に，岡山市立小学校における学校教育目標の改善・充実に向けた方策を５点提起した