塩酸デクスメデトミジンによる静脈内鎮静法が聴覚性記憶に及ぼす影響

The amnesia effect by intravenous sedation produces an elimination of unpleasant memory in dental treatment that becomes profits for a patient. In this research, the memory was investigated after auditory memory loads in order to understand the amnesia effect and recovery in the intravenous sedation by Dexmedetomidine hydrochloride (DEX). Moreover, the relations between memory and clinical sedation levels (OAA/S Scale) or BIS values were investigated to judge the recovery of memory. Thirty-five volunteers were divided into a thirty persons\u27 DEX administration group and a five persons\u27 control group. As control in the DEX administration group, five auditory memory subjects were given from headphones at 15 seconds before DEX administration, so that the subjects might repeat and memorize them. According to the recommendation method, DEX was continuously prescribed in maintenance doses (0.4μg/kg/hr) following in initial dose (6μg/kg/hr) for 10 minutes. The auditory memory tasks were given 3 times every 5 minutes after 3 minutes from the maintenance administration start, and a further 12 times every 10 minutes after the DEX administration stop. After awaking from sedation, the names of all the memorized subjects were written out. Throughout research, blood pressure, heart rate, SpO_2, and BIS values were measured and recorded. Furthermore, in the control group, saline was prescribed for the patient instead of DEX, and set to the same schedule. As results, the rate of the memory decreased significantly by DEX, and was maintained falling even after the DEX administration stop. The rate of the memory recovered at last to a control value and had no significant difference from it 120 minutes after an administration stop. Moreover, we found out the relationship among OAA/S Scale, the BIS value, and the rate of the memory. As a conclusion, the results suggest that recovery of the memory under intravenous sedation with DEX needs 2 hours or more after the administration stop, and OAA/S Scale and the BIS value would be clinical indexes to judge effect and recovery of the amnesia. Therefore, in order to prevent a lapse of memory of notes etc., it is important to explain them in advance, to explain after 2 hours or more passes at BIS value over 81 and checking sufficient recovery, or to show them by a document

Internal Dose from Food and Drink Ingestion in the Early Phase after the Accident

Activity concentrations in food and drink, represented by water and vegetables, have been monitored continuously since the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, with a focus on radioactive cesium. On the other hand, iodine-131 was not measured systematically in the early phase after the accident. The activity concentrations of iodine-131 in food and drink are important to estimate internal exposure due to ingestion pathway. When the internal dose from ingestion in the evacuation areas is estimated, water is considered as the main ingestion pathway. In this study, we estimated the values of activity concentrations in water in the early phase after the accident, using a compartment model as an estimation method. The model uses measurement values of activity concentration and deposition rate of iodine-131 onto the ground, which is calculated from an atmospheric dispersion simulation. The model considers how drinking water would be affected by radionuclides deposited into water. We estimated the activity concentrations of water on Kawamata town and Minamisouma city during March of 2011 and the committed effective doses were 0.08 mSv and 0.06 mSv. We calculated the transfer parameters in the model for estimating the activity concentrations in the areas with a small amount of measurement data. In addition, we estimated the committed effective doses from vegetables using atmospheric dispersion simulation and FARMLAND model in case of eating certain vegetables as option information

FADおよびFADH2存在下におけるD-アスパラギン酸酸化酵素とD-アスパラギン酸のドッキングシュミレーション

recently, D-amino acids have been found to exist in the human body both as free amino acids and as residues in proteins. The free D-Asp is degraded by d-aspartate oxidase(DDO). DDO with cofactor FAD catalyzes the oxidative deamination of D-Asp and oxaloacetic acid is generated. On the other hand, it is reported that DDO with cofactor FADH2 can also form a complex with D-Asp. in this study, computational docking between D-Asp and DDO was carried out with FAD or FADH2 as the cofactor. The results of docking studies indicate that D-Asp can be recognized both by DDO with FAD and DDO with FADH2, and the difference in binding affinity between the oxidative and reductive states is caused by difference of hydrogen bonding patterns

Total transferrin in cerebrospinal fluid is a novel biomarker for spontaneous intracranial hypotension

Spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH) is caused by cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage. Patients with SIH experience postural headaches, nausea, etc., due to CSF hypovolemia. Imaging studies and clinical examinations, such as radioisotope (RI) scintigraphy, are useful for diagnosing SIH. However, 20-30% of patients do not show typical morphology and clinical test results. We previously reported that CSF contains transferrin (Tf) isoforms:"brain-type" Tf derived from the choroid plexus and "serum-type" Tf derived from blood. We showed that both isoforms increased in the CSF of patients with SIH by Western blotting. In the present study, we demonstrate that conventional ELISA for quantifying total Tf is useful for diagnosing SIH more accurately than Western blotting. In addition, SIH with chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH) was also accurately diagnosed. Total Tf in the CSF can serve as a useful biomarker for diagnosing SIH with or without CSDH

Production of thermostable phycocyanin in a mesophilic cyanobacterium

Phycocyanin (PC) is a soluble phycobiliprotein found within the light-harvesting phycobilisome complex of cyanobacteria and red algae, and is considered a high-value product due to its brilliant blue colour and fluorescent properties. However, commercially available PC has a relatively low temperature stability. Thermophilic species produce more thermostable variants of PC, but are challenging and energetically expensive to cultivate. Here, we show that the PC operon from the thermophilic cyanobacterium Thermosynechococcus elongatus BP-1 (cpcBACD) is functional in the mesophile Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. Expression of cpcBACD in an ‘Olive’ mutant strain of Synechocystis lacking endogenous PC resulted in high yields of thermostable PC (112 ± 1 mg g−1 DW) comparable to that of endogenous PC in wild-type cells. Heterologous PC also improved the growth of the Olive mutant, which was further supported by evidence of a functional interaction with the endogenous allophycocyanin core of the phycobilisome complex. The thermostability properties of the heterologous PC were comparable to those of PC from T. elongatus, and could be purified from the Olive mutant using a low-cost heat treatment method. Finally, we developed a scalable model to calculate the energetic benefits of producing PC from T. elongatus in Synechocystis cultures. Our model showed that the higher yields and lower cultivation temperatures of Synechocystis resulted in a 3.5-fold increase in energy efficiency compared to T. elongatus, indicating that producing thermostable PC in non-native hosts is a cost-effective strategy for scaling to commercial production