A Fatal Aortoesophageal Fistula Caused by Critical Combination of Double Aortic Arch and Nasogastric Tube Insertion for Superior Mesenteric Artery Syndrome

Double aortic arch (DAA) is a rare vascular congenital abnormality. Since a vascular ring surrounds bronchus and esophagus, any oral or nasal intubation can physically cause fatal aortoesophageal fistula (AEF). We report herein the first case of association of DAA and superior mesenteric artery (SMA) syndrome and the second case of AEF caused by nasogastric intubation in an adult with DAA. A 19-year-old woman visited our hospital for nausea and vomiting. She was diagnosed with SMA syndrome by computed tomography (CT). Nasogastric intubation relieved her symptoms in 4 days. Extramural compression with top ulceration was found in esophagogastroduodenoscopy on the 5th hospital day. She suddenly showed massive hematemesis on the 12th hospital day. AEF was found by CT. Soon, she died despite of intensive care. Retrospective interview disclosed the fact that DAA was pointed out in her childhood. We conclude that intubation must be avoided in DAA and a detailed clinical interview about DAA is mandatory to avoid AEF

HRAS1 Variable Number of Tandem Repeats Polymorphism in Japanese Patients with Colorectal Adenoma and Cancer

The highly polymorphic HRAS1 variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) has been described as an inherited predisposing factor in various human cancers. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between the presence of rare HRAS1 VNTR alleles and colorectal adenoma and cancer. A total of 165 Japanese patients underwent total colonoscopy with informed consent, and were divided into 2 groups: colorectal neoplastic and non-neoplastic patients. Two hundred and sixteen HRAS1 VNTR alleles from 108 colorectal neoplastic patients (67 adenomas and 41 cancers) and 114 alleles from 57 non-neoplastic patients were genotyped using PCR-based long-agarose gel electrophoresis assay of peripheral blood leukocyte DNA. Rare alleles were differentiated from 4 types of common allele (a1, a2, a3 and a4) by shifts in electrophoretic mobility. The prevalence of rare HRAS1 VNTR alleles was higher in colorectal neoplastic patients than in non-neoplastic patients (25.4% and 34.1% versus 8.8%). The adjusted odds ratio with at least one rare allele was 8.65 (95% confidence interval = 2.93 ? 25.53, P < 0.0001) in colorectal neoplastic patients. The presence of rare HRAS1 VNTR alleles could be a genetic predisposing factor for risk of colorectal neoplasm in Japanese people

Presynaptically Released Cbln1 Induces Dynamic Axonal Structural Changes by Interacting with GluD2 during Cerebellar Synapse Formation

SummaryDifferentiation of pre- and postsynaptic sites is coordinated by reciprocal interaction across synaptic clefts. At parallel fiber (PF)-Purkinje cell (PC) synapses, dendritic spines are autonomously formed without PF influence. However, little is known about how presynaptic structural changes are induced and how they lead to differentiation of mature synapses. Here, we show that Cbln1 released from PFs induces dynamic structural changes in PFs by a mechanism that depends on postsynaptic glutamate receptor delta2 (GluD2) and presynaptic neurexin (Nrx). Time-lapse imaging in organotypic culture and ultrastructural analyses in vivo revealed that Nrx-Cbln1-GluD2 signaling induces PF protrusions that often formed circular structures and encapsulated PC spines. Such structural changes in PFs were associated with the accumulation of synaptic vesicles and GluD2, leading to formation of mature synapses. Thus, PF protrusions triggered by Nrx-Cbln1-GluD2 signaling may promote bidirectional maturation of PF-PC synapses by a positive feedback mechanism

Simulation Study of Ballooning Modes in the Large Helical Device

The magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation code MHD Infrastructure for Plasma Simulation (MIPS) was benchmarked on ballooning instability in the Large Helical Device (LHD) plasma. The results were compared to the results of linear analysis by using the CAS3D code. Both the linear growth rates and the spatial profiles were found to be in good agreement. An extended MHD model with finite ion Larmor radius effects was implemented into the MIPS code. Ballooning instabilities were investigated using the extended MHD model, and the results were compared with those using the MHD model. Ion diamagnetic drift was found to reduce the growth rate of the short-wavelength modes; hence, modes with a diamagnetic drift frequency comparable to the ideal MHD growth rate are the most unstable. The most unstable toroidal mode number of ballooning instability in the LHD is reduced to |n| ? 5 for hydrogen plasma with ion number density ni ? 1019 m?3

SNP analysis of the inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor family heavy chain-related protein (IHRP) gene by a fluorescence-adapted SSCP method

BACKGROUND: Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are considered to be useful polymorphic markers for genetic studies of polygenic traits. Single-stranded conformational polymorphism (SSCP) analysis has been widely applied to detect SNPs, including point mutations in cancer and congenital diseases. In this study, we describe an application of the fluorescent labeling of PCR fragments using a fluorescent-adapted primer for SSCP analysis as a novel method. METHODS: Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor family heavy chain-related protein (IHRP) gene were analyzed using a fluorescence-adapted SSCP method. The method was constructed from two procedures: 1) a fluorescent labeling reaction of PCR fragments using fluorescence-adapted primers in a single tube, and 2) electrophoresis on a non-denaturing polyacrylamide gel. RESULTS: This method was more economical and convenient than the single-stranded conformational polymorphism (SSCP) methods previously reported in the detection of the labeled fragments obtained. In this study, eight SNPs of the IHRP gene were detected by the fluorescence-adapted SSCP. One of the SNPs was a new SNP resulting in an amino acid substitution, while the other SNPs have already been reported in the public databases. Six SNPs of the IHRP were associated with two haplotypes. CONCLUSIONS: The fluorescence-adapted SSCP was useful for detecting and genotyping SNPs

Effect of X-Irradiation at Different Stages in the Cell Cycle on Individual Cell?Based Kinetics in an Asynchronous Cell Population

Using an asynchronously growing cell population, we investigated how X-irradiation at different stages of the cell cycle influences individual cell-based kinetics. To visualize the cellcycle phase, we employed the fluorescent ubiquitination-based cell cycle indicator (Fucci). After 5 Gy irradiation, HeLa cells no longer entered M phase in an order determined by their previous stage of the cell cycle, primarily because green phase (S and G2) was less prolonged in cells irradiated during the red phase (G1) than in those irradiated during the green phase. Furthermore, prolongation of the green phase in cells irradiated during the red phase gradually increased as the irradiation timing approached late G1 phase. The results revealed that endoreduplication rarely occurs in this cell line under the conditions we studied. We next established a method for classifying the green phase into early S, mid S, late S, and G2 phases at the time of irradiation, and then attempted to estimate the duration of G2 arrest based on certain assumptions. The value was the largest when cells were irradiated in mid or late S phase and the smallest when they were irradiated in G1 phase. In this study, by closely following individual cells irradiated at different cell-cycle phases, we revealed for the first time the unique cell-cycle kinetics in HeLa cells that follow irradiation