Relationship between mucin expression and preoperative bile juice cytology in biliary tract carcinoma

The present study evaluated correlations between preoperative bile juice cytology and mucin expression of surgical specimens in biliary tract carcinoma. Twenty-five patients with biliary tract carcinoma surgically treated at our hospital, whose bile juice cytology had been evaluated before operation, were allocated to this study. Biliary cytology was classified into three categories based on the Papanicolaou classification. Immunohistochemical staining of tissues was performed using MUC1 and MUC2 monoclonal antibodies. Lesions showing MUC1 expression of ＋＋ or higher and MUC2 expression of - were classified as Group A, and the remaining lesions as Group B. According to the epithelial site, preoperative cytology was highly correlated in Group A, while it was negative in Group B (p<0.05). In the advanced site of carcinomas, preoperative cytology tended to highly be positive in Group A, while it tended to be negative in Group B (p<0.05). These results suggest that the bile juice cytology results are affected by characteristics of mucin expression in the tissue. Based on the possibility that mucin expression correlates with the prognosis of each carcinoma, a positive cytological result suggests a poor prognosis for the carcinoma, which may be informative for predicting the post-operative courses and choosing treatments

Identification and Differential Expression of MicroRNAs during Metamorphosis of the Japanese Flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus)

BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of endogenous small non-coding RNAs of 20-25 nucleotides that play a key role in diverse biological processes. Japanese flounder undergo dramatic metamorphosis in their early development. The metamorphosis is characterized by morphological transformation from a bilaterally symmetrical to an asymmetrical body shape concomitant with extensive morphological and physiological remodeling of organs. So far, only a few miRNAs have been identified in fish and there are very few reports about the Japanese flounder miRNA. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Solexa sequencing technology was used to perform high throughput sequencing of the small RNA library from the metamorphic period of Japanese flounder. Subsequently, aligning these sequencing data with metazoan known miRNAs, we characterized 140 conserved miRNAs and 57 miRNA: miRNA* pairs from the small RNA library. Among these 57 miRNA: miRNA* pairs, twenty flounder miRNA precursors were amplified from genomic DNA. We also demonstrated evolutionary conservation of Japanese flounder miRNAs and miRNA* in the animal evolution process. Using miRNA microarrays, we identified 66 differentially expressed miRNAs at two metamorphic stages (17 and 29 days post hatching) of Japanese flounder. The results show that miRNAs might play a key role in regulating gene expression during Japanese flounder metamorphosis. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We identified a large number of miRNAs during flounder metamorphosis, some of which are differentially expressed at two different metamorphic stages. The study provides an opportunity for further understanding of miRNA function in the regulation of flounder metamorphosis and gives us clues for further studies of the mechanisms of metamorphosis in Japanese flounder

N-メチルレモルホリン-N-オキシド中におけるセルロースの極限粘度数と分子量の関係

非水系セルロース溶媒であるN-メチルモルホリン-N-オキシド中において, 80℃におけるセルロースの極限粘度数と重量平均分子量の関係を求めた。広い範囲の分子量を持つセルロース試料を得るために, 木綿を酸加水分解した。加水分解したセルロースをアセチル化した後, セルロースアセテートを塩化メチレン-エチルアルコールで分別沈殿法により分別した。分別された各セルロースフラクションの分子量を, アセトン中で25℃において沈降平衡法により測定した。一方セルロースアセテートの各フラクションを脱アセチル化し, 再生されたセルロースの極限粘度をN-メチルモルホリン-N-オキシド中において, 80℃で測定した。極限粘度数と重量平均分子量の両対数プロットより, Houwink-Mark- 桜田の式の定数として以下の値が求められた

Development of Mine Detection Robot System

The Mine Detection Robot supports the mine removal work in countries where mines are buried, such as Afghanistan. The development started from September, 2003. Considering running on rough terrains, the robot has four crawlers, and hydraulic motors in front and rear were serially connected by piping so that they could rotate synchronously. Two work arms were mounted on the robot, one was a horizontal multi-joint SCARA type with motorized 2-link arm, while the other was a vertical multi-joint manipulator with 6 degrees of freedom. Also, domestic evaluation tests were carried out from February to March, 2005, followed by overseas validation tests in Croatia from February to March, 2006. These tests were conducted with a mine detecting senor mounted on the Robot, and the detection performance was evaluated by its mine detection rate

Observation of Xenon EUV Spectra in Compact Helical System

We have carried out spectroscopic measurements of xenon (Xe) extreme ultraviolet (EUV) emissions in plasmas produced by a medium-size fusion-oriented torus device, Compact Helical System (CHS), for the development of reliable spectroscopic data of Xe ions. The EUV spectra have been measured in low density (<1019 m?3) hydrogen plasma with Xe gas injection by an existing grazing incidence spectrometer. Electron density and temperature profiles are measured by Thomson scattering diagnostic. Observed spectral lines arecompared with the results of HULLAC code calculation and charge exchanging collisions experiment. The charge states of Xe ions and transitions are inferred for several prominent peaks