An example of risk management on board a cruise ship: COVID-19

The COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 is still giving impacts to world economy and crisis management system. My cruise ship sailed from Yokohama in Jan 17 2020 to round Asian Cruise with 300 aged passengers and 200 crews under beginning of emergency situation. As a reference of crisis management and human behaviour, designated in STCW convention STCW section V/2 par. 3-4 and is based on the guidelines of IMO Model Course 1.29, I introduce my experience featuring leadership of crisis management of anti-infectious disease of COVID 19 as a captain of cruise ship. The objective of this paper is to suggest that methodology based on leader’s humanism leads better or best results of risk management

Hepatocyte growth factor and Met in tumor biology and therapeutic approach with NK4

金沢大学がん研究所分子標的がん医療研究開発センターHepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and Met/HGF receptor tyrosine kinase play a role in the progression to invasive and metastatic cancers. A variety of cancer cells secrete molecules that enhance HGF expression in stromal fibroblasts, while fibroblast-derived HGF, in turn, is a potent stimulator of the invasion of cancer cells. In addition to the ligand-dependent activation, Met receptor activation is negatively regulated by cell-cell contact and Ser985 phosphorylation in the juxtamembrane of Met. The loss of intercellular junctions may facilitate an escape from the cell-cell contact-dependent suppression of Met-signaling. Significance of juxtamembrane mutations found in human cancers is assumed to be a loss-of-function in the negative regulation of Met. In attempts to block the malignant behavior of cancers, NK4 was isolated as a competitive antagonist against HGF-Met signaling. Independently on its HGF-antagonist action, NK4 inhibited angiogenesis induced by vascular endothelial cell growth factor and basic fibroblast growth factor, as well as HGF. In experimental models of distinct types of cancers, NK4 inhibited Met activation and this was associated with inhibition of tumor invasion and metastasis. NK4 inhibited tumor angiogenesis, thereby suppressing angiogenesis-dependent tumor growth. Cancer treatment with NK4 suppresses malignant tumors to be "static" in both tumor growth and spreading. © 2008 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA

A novel nonsense mutation in the TITF-1 gene in a Japanese family with benign hereditary chorea

A Japanese family with a novel nonsense mutation in the TITF-1 gene (p.Y98X) is described. The proband showed severe generalized chorea, delayed motor development, subnormal intelligence, congenital hypothyroidism, bronchial asthma, and a history of pulmonary infection, all of which are characteristic features of Brain-Thyroid-Lung syndrome. On the other hand, her brother and mother showed a mild benign hereditary chorea (BHC) phenotype with congenital hypothyroidism. Intrafamilial phenotypic variation is common in BHC/Brain-Thyroid-Lung syndrome and suggests the existence of other genetic or environmental factors regulating TITF-1 function. Although choreic movement in BHC/Brain-Thyroid-Lung syndrome is recognized as non-progressive, the proband showed re-exacerbation of choreic movement at puberty. The dopamine agonist, ropinirole hydrochloride, reduced her choreic movements, suggesting that levodopa and/or dopamine agonists may compensate for underdeveloped dopaminergic pathways in this disorder.ArticleJOURNAL OF THE NEUROLOGICAL SCIENCES. 313(1-2):189-192 (2012)journal articl