Immunoglobulin Production by Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells in IgA Nephropathy Patients and their Relatives

Immunoglobulin production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 27 patients of IgA nephropathy and 11 relatives was determined. In comparison with 15 healthy controls, no significant difference could be observed in both IgA nephropathy patients and relatives of the group not stimulated with PWM, but in the group stimulated with PWM a significant elevation in the production of IgA, IgG and IgM was seen in IgA nephropathy patients, while in the relatives a significant elevation in production of IgA and IgG was observed. It is speculated that immune complexes mainly IgA are the chief cause of development and progression of IgA nephropathy and that IgG and IgM are also involved. In also relatives, the presence of immunological abnormalities similar to those of IgA nephropathy patients is suggested

Experimental IgA Nephropathy Induced by Oral Administration of Dextran

Attempts were made to produce experimental IgA nephropathy by oral administration for 18 weeks of dextran having a molecular weight of 10,000, 70,000, and 500,000 to 6-week old female BALB/c mice. It was observed that in three out of eight cases belonging to the group given dextran having a molecular weight of 70,000 and in three out of seven cases belonging to the group given dextran having a molecular weight of 500,000, deposition of IgA on the mesangium was demonstrated by immunofluorescence direct method. Furthermore, deposition of IgG and IgM was observed in not only the groups given dextran but also in the control group, but no significant difference in deposition pattern could be demonstrated between the groups. C3 was observed only in one case belonging to the group given dextran having a molecular weight of 10,000. The serum IgA value showed a higher value in the cases with IgA deposition than in the control group. Serum C3 value was higher in the IgA deposition cases in the group given dextran having a molecular weight of 500,000 than in the control group. These results suggest that it is possible to produce experimental IgA nephropathy by continual oral administration of carbohydrate antigen of bacterial origin and that bacterial infection is involved in the development of IgA nephropathy

Adult Intussusception Due to Endometriosis Arising from the Uterine Tube: Report of a Case

Introduction: Endometriosis is a rare cause of intussusceptions in adults. Although intestinal endometriosis sometimes arises as a consequence of direct involvement of the pelvic organs with endometrial tissue, there is no report that this type of endometriosis causes ileocecal intussusception. Case presentation: Computed tomography assessment of a 40-year-old woman who presented with abdominal pain revealed ileocecal intussusceptions. The patient was managed by endoscopic reduction followed by laparoscopic resection. Adhesion between the right uterine adnexa and caecum was identified during surgery; therefore, combined resection of the uterine adnexa and ileocecum was performed. Pathological findings revealed that endometriosis, arising from the uterine tube and directly involving the cecal wall, had caused the intussusceptions. Conclusion: Although rare, endometriosis should be considered as part of a differential diagnosis of intussusception in adult women who present with abdominal pain. A preoperative diagnosis is sometimes difficult, therefore, surgical resection could be a reasonable strategy to achieve a precise diagnosis

The Japanese space gravitational wave antenna; DECIGO

DECi-hertz Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory (DECIGO) is the future Japanese space gravitational wave antenna. DECIGO is expected to open a new window of observation for gravitational wave astronomy especially between 0.1 Hz and 10 Hz, revealing various mysteries of the universe such as dark energy, formation mechanism of supermassive black holes, and inflation of the universe. The pre-conceptual design of DECIGO consists of three drag-free spacecraft, whose relative displacements are measured by a differential Fabry– Perot Michelson interferometer. We plan to launch two missions, DECIGO pathfinder and pre- DECIGO first and finally DECIGO in 2024

DECIGO pathfinder

DECIGO pathfinder (DPF) is a milestone satellite mission for DECIGO (DECi-hertz Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory) which is a future space gravitational wave antenna. DECIGO is expected to provide us fruitful insights into the universe, in particular about dark energy, a formation mechanism of supermassive black holes, and the inflation of the universe. Since DECIGO will be an extremely large mission which will formed by three drag-free spacecraft with 1000m separation, it is significant to gain the technical feasibility of DECIGO before its planned launch in 2024. Thus, we are planning to launch two milestone missions: DPF and pre-DECIGO. The conceptual design and current status of the first milestone mission, DPF, are reviewed in this article

Case Report: Nonverbal approaches in the treatment of a patient with fibromyalgia with anger rooted in adverse childhood experiences

IntroductionIn psychotherapy, it is important to establish and deepen a therapeutic trusting relationship, but patients who have experienced extreme adversity in childhood tend to have difficulty in building such a relationship. This paper reports a case of fibromyalgia with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in which a nonverbal approach was successful in building a trusting relationship.Case and methodsThe patient is a woman in her late 40s. She had strong anger rooted in ACEs, including neglect by her father, a feeling of unfair parenting by her mother compared to her younger brother, overcontrol of her life by her mother, and sexual abuse by her uncle. She was filled with strong interpersonal distrust and anger, and the experience of an unsuccessful surgery compounded her distrust of medical care. The therapist initially had severe difficulty in verbal interaction with the patient. When conducting “drawing” therapy, she ignored the therapist's comments and completely blacked out the drawing paper. However, the patient-therapist relationship gradually changed, and verbal interaction became possible through the use of nonverbal approaches such as framing her drawing paper and “Towel Baby Holding.”ResultsThe therapist was able to understand the patient's emotions through these nonverbal approaches and to communicate with the patient that she understood her feelings. This approach was also successful in the patient’s understanding of her own pathology. The patient became able to honestly express her feelings in words, which eventually enabled her to be introduced to mindfulness therapy, leading to a favorable treatment course.ConclusionFor patients with ACEs, a nonverbal approach helps build a therapeutic relationship and plays an important role in understanding the patient

The status of DECIGO

DECIGO (DECi-hertz Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory) is the planned Japanese space gravitational wave antenna, aiming to detect gravitational waves from astrophysically and cosmologically significant sources mainly between 0.1 Hz and 10 Hz and thus to open a new window for gravitational wave astronomy and for the universe. DECIGO will consists of three drag-free spacecraft arranged in an equilateral triangle with 1000 km arm lengths whose relative displacements are measured by a differential Fabry-Perot interferometer, and four units of triangular Fabry-Perot interferometers are arranged on heliocentric orbit around the sun. DECIGO is vary ambitious mission, we plan to launch DECIGO in era of 2030s after precursor satellite mission, B-DECIGO. B-DECIGO is essentially smaller version of DECIGO: B-DECIGO consists of three spacecraft arranged in an triangle with 100 km arm lengths orbiting 2000 km above the surface of the earth. It is hoped that the launch date will be late 2020s for the present

JASMINE: Near-infrared astrometry and time-series photometry science

The Japan Astrometry Satellite Mission for INfrared Exploration (JASMINE) is a planned M-class science space mission by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. JASMINE has two main science goals. One is Galactic archaeology with a Galactic Center survey, which aims to reveal the Milky Way’s central core structure and formation history from Gaia-level (∼25 ${\mu}$as) astrometry in the near-infrared (NIR) Hw band (1.0–1.6 ${\mu}$m). The other is an exoplanet survey, which aims to discover transiting Earth-like exoplanets in the habitable zone from NIR time-series photometry of M dwarfs when the Galactic Center is not accessible. We introduce the mission, review many science objectives, and present the instrument concept. JASMINE will be the first dedicated NIR astrometry space mission and provide precise astrometric information on the stars in the Galactic Center, taking advantage of the significantly lower extinction in the NIR. The precise astrometry is obtained by taking many short-exposure images. Hence, the JASMINE Galactic Center survey data will be valuable for studies of exoplanet transits, asteroseismology, variable stars, and microlensing studies, including discovery of (intermediate-mass) black holes. We highlight a swath of such potential science, and also describe synergies with other missions