Quantitative Values from Synthetic MRI Correlate with Breast Cancer Subtypes

The purpose of this study is to correlate quantitative T1, T2, and proton density (PD) values with breast cancer subtypes. Twenty-eight breast cancer patients underwent MRI of the breast including synthetic MRI. T1, T2, and PD values were correlated with Ki-67 and were compared between ER-positive and ER-negative cancers, and between Luminal A and Luminal B cancers. The effectiveness of T1, T2, and PD in differentiating the ER-negative from the ER-positive group and Luminal A from Luminal B cancers was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic analysis. Mean T2 relaxation of ER-negative cancers was significantly higher than that of ER-positive cancers (p < 0.05). The T1, T2, and PD values exhibited a strong positive correlation with Ki-67 (Pearson’s r = 0.75, 0.69, and 0.60 respectively; p < 0.001). Among ER-positive cancers, T1, T2, and PD values of Luminal A cancers were significantly lower than those of Luminal B cancers (p < 0.05). The area under the curve (AUC) of T2 for discriminating ER-negative from ER-positive cancers was 0.87 (95% CI: 0.69–0.97). The AUC of T1 for discriminating Luminal A from Luminal B cancers was 0.83 (95% CI: 0.61–0.95). In conclusion, quantitative values derived from synthetic MRI show potential for subtyping of invasive breast cancers

Regulation of Mesodermal Differentiation of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells by Basement Membranes

This research was originally published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Hironobu Fujiwara, Yoshitaka Hayashi, Noriko Sanzen, Reiko Kobayashi, Charles N. Weber, Tomomi Emoto, Sugiko Futaki, Hitoshi Niwa, Patricia Murray, David Edgar and Kiyotoshi Sekiguchi. Regulation of Mesodermal Differentiation of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells by Basement Membranes. J. Biol. Chem. 2007; 282: 29701–29711 © the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biolog

Comparison between short-term food restriction and exercise on whole body glucose disposal in high-fat fed rats

High-fat diets induce whole-body insulin resistance. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of two interventions:3-day food restriction (66%of ad libitum fed) and 3-day exercise training (voluntary running wheels), on decreased insulin-mediated whole body glucose uptake in high-fat fed rats (5 mo old) using the hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp procedure. The control group was maintained on rat chow alone. After high-fat feeding for2wk, insulin-stimulated whole body glucose utilization was significantly decreased by26%. The exercise training was more effective than food restriction in lowering plasma concentrations of insulin and triacylglycerol and tissue concentrations of triacylglycerol in soleus muscles. Diminished whole-body glucose uptake resulting from high-fat feeding was reversed completely by exercise training, but only partially by food restriction. The time course of starvation on insulin-stimulated glucose uptake was also observed in high-fat fed rats. Although the extension of starvation time to 48h resulted in decreased plasma glucose, insulin and triacylglycerol concentrations, whole body glucose uptake did not increase further. These findings suggest that short-term exercise has a higher restorative effect on insulin sensitivity in high-fat fed rats than food restriction, in spite of the same loss in body weight, presumably due in part to improved local lipid availability

MR imaging findings in some rare neurological complications of paediatric cancer

Abstract Neurological complications of paediatric cancers are a substantial problem. Complications can be primary from central nervous system (CNS) spread or secondary from indirect or remote effects of cancer, as well as cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy. In this review, we present the clinical and imaging findings of rare but important neurological complications in paediatric patients with cancer. Neurological complications are classified into three phases: pre-treatment, treatment and post-remission. Paraneoplastic neurological syndromes, hyperviscosity syndrome, haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis and infection are found in the pre-treatment phase, while Trousseau’s syndrome, posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome and methotrexate neurotoxicity are found in the treatment phase; though some complications overlap between the pre-treatment and treatment phases. Hippocampal sclerosis, radiation induced tumour, radiation induced focal haemosiderin deposition and radiation-induced white matter injury are found in the post-remission phase. With increasingly long survival after treatment, CNS complications have become more common. It is critical for radiologists to recognise neurological complications related to paediatric cancer or treatment. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) plays a significant role in the recognition and proper management of the neurological complications of paediatric cancer. Teaching Points • Neurological complications of paediatric cancer include various entities. • Neurological complications are classified into three phases: pre-treatment, treatment and post-remission. • Radiologists should be familiar with clinical and imaging findings of neurological complications. • MRI features may be characteristic and lead to early diagnosis and proper treatments

BMP4 induction of trophoblast from mouse embryonic stem cells in defined culture conditions on laminin

Because mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) do not contribute to the formation of extraembryonic placenta when they are injected into blastocysts, it is believed that mESCs do not differentiate into trophoblast whereas human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) can express trophoblast markers when exposed to bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) in vitro. To test whether mESCs have the potential to differentiate into trophoblast, we assessed the effect of BMP4 on mESCs in a defined monolayer culture condition. The expression of trophoblast-specific transcription factors such as Cdx2, Dlx3, Esx1, Gata3, Hand1, Mash2, and Plx1 was specifically upregulated in the BMP4-treated differentiated cells, and these cells expressed trophoblast markers. These results suggest that BMP4 treatment in defined culture conditions enabled mESCs to differentiate into trophoblast. This differentiation was inhibited by serum or leukemia inhibitory factor, which are generally used for mESC culture. In addition, we studied the mechanism underlying BMP4-directed mESC differentiation into trophoblast. Our results showed that BMP4 activates the Smad pathway in mESCs inducing Cdx2 expression, which plays a crucial role in trophoblast differentiation, through the binding of Smad protein to the Cdx2 genomic enhancer sequence. Our findings imply that there is a common molecular mechanism underlying hESC and mESC differentiation into trophoblast

ニホンゴ ノウリョク ノ アタラシイ ソクテイホウ SPOT

筆者らは、日本語能力の新しい測定法「SPOT(Simple Performance-Oriented Test)」を開発した。SPOTは、自然な速度の音声テープを聞きながら、解答用紙に書かれた同じ文を目で追っていき、文中の( )に聞こえた音(ひらがな1字)を書き込ませるテスト法である。各文は互いに独立した文であり、穴埋め作業は1文につき1カ所である。約60の問題文の場合、テスト用紙の配布、テスト上の注意、実施、答案回収まですべてを含めて約10分間で施行できる。受験者がテストのために緊張を強いられるのは約5分間であり、採点作業もひらがな1字をみればよく、単純で客観的なものであることから日本語専門家を必要としない。SPOTは音声テープを使用するために、聞き取りテストのようにみられがちであるが、これは聞き取りテストではない。音声テープは言語能力を測定するための道具とみなすのが適当である。言語能力の構成要素(discrete point)を細目的に診断するには不向きであるようだが、統合的な言語能力(integrated-proficiency)を測定するのに有効であることが、他の日本語テストとの相関の高さからも明らかにされた。SPOTはクラス分け、クラスへの登録許可等、日本語学習の開始の際に、おおまかなレベルを知るのに、有効かつ、処理の簡便さから実用的である。本稿ではこのSPOT法が広く利用されることを願って、これを紹介し、その理論的背景を既存のテスト法(クローズテスト、ディクテーション、ノイズテスト等)との関連において論じる。SPOT (Simple Performance-Oriented Test) is a new testing method developed by the present authors. SPOT looks like a so-called gap-filling test, however, its unique feature is to require testees to react quickly to natural speech. Testees are asked to listen to a tape which consists of about 60 isolated sentences and fill in the blanks on an answer sheet, each with a single hiragana character representing a grammatical item. It takes only 10 minutes to complete, including time for instruction and other necessary testing procedures, so testees are put in a stressful situation for only about 5 minutes. Since the results are scored simply and objectively, it can be conducted by non-specialists. As it uses an audio tape, SPOT looks like a hearing test. However, the tape functions mainly as a means to get testees to react promptly to natural-speed speech. This method does not seem suitable for testing each discrete point of language knowledge, but is effective for testing integrated proficiency, as has become clear by checking its correlation to other tests conducted at University of Tsukuba. This simple test is useful and practical for class placement of learners, or for admission to a course. Its theoretical background and some results discussed