浸潤性子宮頸癌における血管内皮増殖因子の発現と微小血管密度の重要性について

To determine whether vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression and microvessel density are predictive of prognosis in cases of invasive cervical cancer, correlations among VEGF expression, microvessel density, and clinicopathological parameters were identified. VEGF expression was evaluated in 50 cervical cancer samples by immunohistochemical staining. Microvessel density was assessed by immunostaining for CD31-positive endothelial cells in the most vascularized areas of tumors. VEGF expression and microvessel density were significantly higher in adenocarcinomas than in squamous cell carcinomas. However, in cases of adenocarcinoma, no significant correlations were found among VEGF expression, microvessel density, and clinicopathological parameters. In contrast, for squamous cell carcinomas, microvessel density was significantly higher in cases at an advanced stage and in those with several other poor prognostic factors. The finding that cervical adenocarcinomas exhibited greater VEGF expression and microvessel density than squamous cell carcinomas may explain the poorer prognosis of adenocarcinoma compared with squamous cell carcinoma. Moreover, microvessel density in squamous cell carcinomas was significantly correlated with poor prognostic factors. Therefore, there is possibility that bevacizumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody against VEGF-A, may be useful in the initial treatment targeting angiogenesis for early-stage cervical cancer

Mental health problems and influencing factors in Japanese women 4 months after delivery

BACKGROUND: Postpartum mental health problems are a major public health issue; however, studies on the mental health status of mothers and its influencing factors between 8 weeks and 1 year postpartum are scarce. Furthermore, it would be necessary to examine the factors influencing mothers\u27 mental health in order to evaluate their physiological adaptations to the nursing environment.METHODS: We examined the mental health status of postpartum women and the factors influencing poor mental health at 4 months after delivery. A cross-sectional study of 584 postpartum women was conducted. Information on mental health status, delivery, and other factors was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Women were asked about their age, height, weight, gestational or marital status, whether they were eating regular meals, appetite, frequency of going out, financial difficulty, stressful life events, and history of depression. The Japanese version of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) was used to identify potential poor mental health status. Participants with GHQ-12 scores of ?4 were classified as the high GHQ-12 score group (poor mental health status) and participants with GHQ-12 scores of ?3 were classified as the low GHQ-12 score group (good mental health status).RESULTS: Forty-five women (7.7%) were classified as having high GHQ-12 scores. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that older age, not eating meals regularly, and history of depression were significantly associated with poor mental health. Financial difficulty had a borderline association with poor mental health in this model.CONCLUSIONS: These risk factors might help practitioners identify women at high risk of poor mental health after delivery

Association of Physical Performance and Pain With Fear of Falling Among Community?Dwelling Japanese Women Aged 65 Years and Older

Our aim was to explore the association of physical performance and pain with fear of falling among community-dwelling Japanese women. The subjects were 278 women aged 65 years and over. We collected information on fear of falling, painful joints, comorbidities, falls in the previous year, and cataracts. Walking time (distance of 6 m), chair stand time (5 times), grip strength, the timed up and go test (TUG), and functional reach were measured. The prevalence of fear of falling was 36.3%, and it increased with age, but it was not significant (P=0.081). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that poor physical performance (longer walking time, longer chair stand time, weaker grip strength, and longer TUG) and pain (low back, and upper and lower extremity pain) were significantly associated with fear of falling after adjusting for age, body mass index, comorbidities, falls in the previous year, and cataracts. Maintaining physical functioning and managing pain may be important for elderly women with fear of falling

Vitamin K deficiency, evaluated with higher serum ucOC, was correlated with poor bone status in women

BACKGROUND: An increase in serum undercarboxylated osteocalcin concentrations suggests vitamin K deficiency. Clinical intervention studies suggested that the vitamin K supplementation might contribute to preventing bone loss in postmenopausal women. Evidence on the relationship between serum undercarboxylated osteocalcin (ucOC) levels and bone parameters of quantitative ultrasound (QUS) is limited. We examined the correlation between serum ucOC concentrations and bone status as measured by QUS among middle-aged and older Japanese men and women. METHODS: The subjects were community-dwelling men (n = 358) and women (n = 503) aged ? 40?years in Japan. Heel QUS parameters, including the stiffness index, speed of sound, and broadband ultrasound attenuation, were measured. Serum ucOC concentrations were measured by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay. Grip strength was measured in the dominant hand. Information on alcohol drinking, current smoking, exercise, and menopause in women was collected. RESULTS: Serum ucOC concentrations were significantly associated with age in both sexes. Serum ucOC concentrations in men were higher at ? 80?years than those in the age groups of 40-49, 50-59, and 60-69?years. Serum ucOC concentrations in women were higher in the age groups of 50-59 and 60-69?years than those at 40-49?years. Partial correlation analysis adjusting for covariates (age, body mass index, grip strength, alcohol drinking, current smoking, and exercise in men; age, body mass index, grip strength, alcohol drinking, current smoking, exercise, and menopause in women) showed that serum ucOC concentrations were negatively significantly correlated with all QUS parameters in women. Serum ucOC concentrations were not correlated with them in men. CONCLUSIONS: Vitamin K deficiency, evaluated with higher serum ucOC, was correlated with poor bone status in women

Association between mental health and bone mass among community-dwelling adults: Nagasaki Islands Study on bone health

Osteoporosis and its related fractures are important public health issues. This study examined the association between the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6) and low bone mass in middle-aged community-dwelling men and women. A crosssectional study was nested in a prospective observational study of 1,101 participants (median age: 57 [49-62] years in men and 58 [50-62] years in women) residing in a rural city in western Japan. Participants were recruited during medical check-ups in 2016 and 2017 from the community-dwelling population. The bone mass of the calcaneus was evaluated using quantitative ultrasound. Of the participants, 56 men (14.9%) and 144 women (19.9%) had a bone mass of less than 70% of the mean of young adults. Univariate analysis revealed that there was a trend toward lower body mass index (BMI) and higher prevalence of low bone mass with an increase in K6 scores in men but not in women. Logistic regression analysis, adjusting for possible confounders(age, BMI, smoking, drinking habits, exercise habits, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension), showed significant associations between the K6 scores and low bone mass (odds ratio (OR) = 2.66 for the men with 5 to 12 points of K6, OR = 7.51 for men with ≥ 13 of K6, not for women). We showed an association between psychological distress and low bone mass independent of cofounders among community-dwelling middle-aged men but not women. This suggests that healthy mental health in middle-aged men may be a possible target for the prevention of consequent osteoporosis or fragile bone fractures

Association of FTO genotype with obesity and bone health among communitydwelling adults ; Goto Island study on bone health

Bone mass is tuned by various factors, including aging, menopause, low body weight, and genetic variations. Here, we showed an independent association between a genotype on the fat mass- and obesity-associated FTO gene (#610966 on OMIM) and bone loss after adjusting for age and body mass index (BMI). A cross-sectional study was nested in a prospective observational study of 1,828 participants (median age: 69 [62-76] years in men and 68 [61-75] years in women) residing in a rural city in western Japan (Goto Island study). Participants were recruited during medical checkups in 2014 and 2016 from the community-dwelling population. The bone mass of the calcaneus was evaluated using quantitative ultrasound. The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs1421085 was genotyped using a hydrolysis probe. The chi-squared test was used to determine whether the variants were in equilibrium in this population. There were differences in medians of BMI among the genotypes (24.3 in CC, 23.0 in CT, and 22.6 in TT, P = 0.01), but not in those of bone mass. There was a significant association between the minor allele (C) and being overweight in a gene dosage-dependent manner (BMI > 25, OR per allele =1.52, 95% CI = 1.07-2.14, P = 0.02 in men, OR = 1.48, 95% CI = 1.16-1.95, P = 0.01 in women). Logistic regression analysis showed a significant protective association in male carriers of the minor allele against low bone mass (QUS T-score less than -2.0) after adjusting for age and BMI in men aged 65-75 years (OR = 0.50, 95% CI = 0.27-0.96, P = 0.036), with no significant association in women.Our study indicated an association between the genetic polymorphism of FTO and bone mass among community-dwelling men aged 65-75 years. The polymorphism may play a role in bone health with higher BMI and other beneficial functions

Characterization of autonomous Dart1 transposons belonging to the hAT superfamily in rice

An endogenous 0.6-kb rice DNA transposon, nDart1-0, was found as an active nonautonomous element in a mutable virescent line, pyl-v, displaying leaf variegations. Here, we demonstrated that the active autonomous element aDart in pyl-v corresponds to Dart1-27 on chromosome 6 in Nipponbare, which carries no active aDart elements, and that aDart and Dart1-27 are identical in their sequences and chromosomal locations, indicating that Dart1-27 is epigenetically silenced in Nipponbare. The identification of aDart in pyl-v was first performed by map-based cloning and by detection of the accumulated transposase transcripts. Subsequently, various transposition activities of the cloned Dart1-27 element from Nipponbare were demonstrated in Arabidopsis. Dart1-27 in Arabidopsis was able to excise nDart1-0 and Dart1-27 from cloned sites, generating footprints, and to integrate into new sites, generating 8-bp target site duplications. In addition to Dart1-27, Nipponbare contains 37 putative autonomous Dart1 elements because their putative transposase genes carry no apparent nonsense or frameshift mutations. Of these, at least four elements were shown to become active aDart elements in transgenic Arabidopsis plants, even though considerable sequence divergence arose among their transposases. Thus, these four Dart1 elements and Dart1-27 in Nipponbare must be potential autonomous elements silenced epigenetically. The regulatory and evolutionary implications of the autonomous Dart1 elements and the development of an efficient transposon-tagging system in rice are discussed

Association between self-reported walking speed and calcaneal stiffness index in postmenopausal Japanese women

Background: Osteoporosis and related fractures, a worldwide public health issue of growing concern, is characterized by compromised bone strength and an increased risk of fracture. Here we show an association between self-reported walking speed and bone mass among community-dwelling postmenopausal Japanese women aged 50 years and older. Design; cross-sectional study: Setting and Participants; The survey population included 1008 postmenopausal women 50?92 years of age residing in rural communities. Methods: Self-reported walking speed was ascertained by asking the participants: “Is your walking speed faster than others of the same age and sex?” to which participants responded “yes (faster)” or “no (moderate/slower).” Calcaneal stiffness index was measured. Results: Women with a faster self-reported walking speed were younger and had a lower BMI, higher stiffness index, and higher grip strength than women with a slower walking speed. Multiple linear regression analysis adjusted for age, BMI, grip strength, comorbidity, current smoking, and alcohol drinking status showed a significant association between faster self-reported walking speed and higher calcaneal stiffness index (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that questionnaires of walking speed may be useful for predicting bone mass and that a fast self-reported walking may benefit bone health in postmenopausal women

Effect of self-reported walking difficulty on bone mass and bone resorption marker in Japanese people aged 40?years and over

Background: This study aimed to examine the association of walking difficulty with bone mass or bone turnover among community-dwelling Japanese people aged 40 years and older. Methods: We studied 1097 community-dwelling Japanese people aged 40 years and older (379 men and 718 women) who were invited to participate in periodic health examinations in 2006?2009. Walking difficulty was defined as having difficulty walking 100 m on a level surface (self-administered questionnaire). Calcaneal stiffness index (bone mass) was measured by quantitative ultrasound. Spot urine samples were collected, and urinary N-terminal cross-linking telopeptide of type I collagen (NTx) was measured. Values were corrected for creatinine (Cre) concentration. Results: The prevalence of walking difficulty was significantly higher in women than in men (7.4 vs. 3.4 %, p?=?0.011) and significantly increased with age in men (p for trend?=?0.02) and women (p for trend <0.001). In univariate analysis, men and women with walking difficulty were older (p?<?0.001) and had a lower stiffness index (p?<?0.001), compared with those without walking difficulty. Among women, individuals with walking difficulty had significantly higher urinary NTx/Cre than those without walking difficulty (p?<?0.001); however, this was not so among men (p?=?0.39). Multiple regression analysis adjusted for age, weight, and menopausal status showed a significant association between walking difficulty and lower stiffness index in men (p?=?0.004) and women (p?=?0.005). In women, walking difficulty was significantly associated with higher NTx/Cre (p?=?0.001), but not in men (p?=?0.35). Conclusions: Walking difficulty may contribute to low bone mass in both sexes but might cause high bone turnover in women only

The Sustainability of Urban Heritage Preservation: El Caso de Valparaíso

El centro histórico de Valparaíso fue declarado Sitio Patrimonio de la Humanidad por UNESCO en el año 2003. Este estudio evalúa la sustentabilidad económica y social del Sitio Patrimonial de Valparaíso, el cual registra un proceso de transformación bastante dinámico que se caracteriza por una pérdida de población, lo que ha significado una disminución de la función residencial y un cambio de uso de suelo de un tercio de las propiedades. Los autores examinan el Plan Director de Gestión Patrimonial, que unifique la normativa vigente a fin de orientar en mejor forma las intervenciones públicas y las iniciativas privadas. Los autores concluyen que la sustentabilidad del Sitio Patrimonial requeriría de una acción pública clara y decidida, abierta a acciones asociativas con el sector privado, especialmente con la comunidad local