Discrepancies between pathological examination and imaging analysis after primary systemic chemotherapy for breast cancer: report of two cases

Primary systemic chemotherapy (PSC) in breast cancer prolongs disease-free survival in patients who have obtained pathological complete remission (pCR). In combination with pathological examination, CT and MRI have been used to evaluate the efficacy of PSC, they generally coincide well with pathological evaluation. We here present two cases showing discrepancies between pathological examination and imaging analysis after PSC in breast cancer. We should keep such discrepancies in mind to determine the ideal treatment after PSC. An accurate method of evaluating cellular damage by PSC is needed

Time Dependent Solution in Cubic String Field Theory

We study time dependent solutions in cubic open string field theory which are expected to describe the configuration of the rolling tachyon. We consider the truncated system consisting of component fields of level zero and two, which are expanded in terms of cosh n x^0 modes. For studying the large time behavior of the solution we need to know the coefficients of all and, in particular, large n modes. We examine numerically the coefficients of the n-th mode, and find that it has the leading n-dependence of the form (-\beta)^n \lambda^{-n^2} multiplied by a peculiar subleading part with peaks at n=2^m=4,8,16,32,64,128,.... This behavior is also reproduced analytically by solving simplified equations of motion of the tachyon system.Comment: 22 pages, 12 figures, LaTeX2e, v3:minor correction

Structural and functional studies on Ycf12 (Psb30) and PsbZ-deletion mutants from a thermophilic cyanobacterium

Ycf12 (Psb30) and PsbZ are two low molecular weight subunits of photosystem II (PSII), with one and two trans-membrane helices, respectively. In order to study the functions of these two subunits from a structural point of view, we constructed deletion mutants lacking either Ycf12 or PsbZ from Thermosynechococcus elongatus, and purified, crystallized and analyzed the structure of PSII dimer from the two mutants. Our results showed that Ycf12 is located in the periphery of PSII, close to PsbK, PsbZ and PsbJ, and corresponded to the unassigned helix X1 reported previously, in agreement with the recent structure at 2.9 Å resolution (A. Guskov, J. Kern, A. Gabdulkhakov, M. Broser, A. Zouni, W. Saenger, Cyanobacterial photosystem II at 2.9 Å resolution: role of quinones, lipids, channels and chloride, Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol. 16 (2009) 334–342). On the other hand, crystals of PsbZ-deleted PSII showed a remarkably different unit cell constants from those of wild-type PSII, indicating a role of PsbZ in the interactions between PSII dimers within the crystal. This is the first example for a different arrangement of PSII dimers within the cyanobacterial PSII crystals. PSII dimers had a lower oxygen-evolving activity from both mutants than that from the wild type. In consistent with this, the relative content of PSII in the thylakoid membranes was lower in the two mutants than that in the wild type. These results suggested that deletion of both subunits affected the PSII activity, thereby destabilized PSII, leading to a decrease in the PSII content in vivo. While PsbZ was present in PSII purified from the Ycf12-deletion mutant, Ycf12 was present in crude PSII but absent in the finally purified PSII from the PsbZ-deletion mutant, indicating a preferential, stabilizing role of PsbZ for the binding of Ycf12 to PSII. These results were discussed in terms of the PSII crystal structure currently availabl

Transmission of Specific Genotype Streptomycin Resistant Strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area in Japan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>From 2003 through to 2004, an outbreak of tuberculosis was identified at a university campus in Yokohama City, located in the southern part of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area (TMA). All <it>Mycobacterium tuberculosis </it>(<it>M. tuberculosis</it>) strains detected with regards to this outbreak turned out to be Streptomycin resistant with matched patterns of 14 IS<it>6110 </it>bands of Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP). The <it>M. tuberculosis </it>bacilli, which had the matched IS<it>6110 </it>band patterns with resistance to Streptomycin to those of bacilli isolated in the outbreak, were also concurrently detected through either the population-based or the hospital-based DNA fingerprinting surveillance of <it>M. tuberculosis </it>either in Shinjuku City or in Kawasaki City respectively.</p> <p>The aim of the present study is to describe the spread of the specific genotype strains of <it>M. tuberculosis </it>in the TMA as observed in the above incident, and to identify the possible transmission routes of the strains among people living in urban settings in Japan.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We applied Variable Numbers of Tandem Repeats (VNTR) analysis to all <it>M. tuberculosis </it>isolates which were resistant to Streptomycin with a matched IS<it>6110</it>-RFLP band pattern (M-strains). They were isolated either from cases related to the tuberculosis outbreak that happened at a university, or through DNA fingerprinting surveillance of <it>M. tuberculosis </it>both in Shinjuku City and in Kawasaki City. For VNTR analysis, 12MIRU loci, 4ETR loci, seven loci by Supply, four loci by Murase (QUB15, Mtub24, VNTR2372, VNTR3336) were selected.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Out of a total of 664 isolates collected during the study period, 46 isolates (6.9%) were identified as M-strains. There was a tendency that there was a higher proportion of those patients whose isolates belonged to M4-substrains, with four copies of tandem repeat at the ETR-C locus, to have visited some of the internet-cafés in the TMA than those whose isolates belonged to M5-substrains, with five copies at the ETR-C locus, although statistically not significant (38.1% vs. 10.0%, Exact p = 0.150).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Although firm conclusions could not be reached through the present study, it suggested that we have to take into consideration that tuberculosis can be transmitted in congregated facilities like internet cafés where tuberculosis high-risk people and general people share common spaces.</p

Rett症候群一例に対する言語聴覚療法の経過

We report our experience with a infant with Rett syndrome (RS) for whom we performed speechlanguage-hearing therapy on a weekly, with reference to the course of training and the importance of support for infants with RS.The infant was a 3-year-old girl who had been diagnosed with RS at the age of 1 year and 4 months, and began receiving speech-language-hearing therapy at our department at 2 years and 11 months.The infant followed a different course from that classic- RS, and showed developmental changes without regression of language and communication skills. With regard to language skills, the infant progressed from the word level to the word sequence level in terms of both comprehension and expression. As for communication skills, the infant became able to actively interact with others.These findings suggest that even in infants with disorders such as RS, developmental changes in language and communication skills can be achieved by performing individualized speech-languagehearing therapy that considers the child\u27s developmental stage from an early stage.Therefore, in order to support children with these disorders from an early stage, it is important in the future to actively report cases and to promote the recognition of the need for speech-language-hearing therapy

発達性読み書き障害児に対するATを用いた言語訓練

In the present study, we introduced an assistive technology (AT) for a child with developmental dyslexia and dysgraphia who demonstrated difficulty writing kanji characters, and reviewed the effects using the information processing model. The patient was an 11-year-old boy in the fifth grade at a regular elementary school. He had problems in the visual memory and retention stage of the information processing model and presented with kanji dysgraphia. Memory recall of kanji shape, which was poorly memorized and retained by the patient, was achieved through typing. As this method was therefore believed to be beneficial, the language training using computer-based AT commenced. Content over the year of training was divided into three phases: I, II, and III. Word input (three characters) typing speed was approximately 60 seconds in phase I, approximately 20 seconds in phase II and 3 to 5 seconds in phase III; as each training was repeated, speed gradually increased. The number of characters that could be typed also increased from monosyllables in phase I to words in phase II and short sentences in phase III. The above findings suggest that computer substitution in the area of difficulty for the patient provided an effective support method for dysgraphia

2歳代の語彙発達 : 語彙チェックリストを用いた表出語彙の分析

This study examined 300 children aged 24-35 months to clarify expressive vocabulary development using the vocabulary checklist questionnaire. Children were classified into 4 periods: first period, 24-26 months; second period, 27-29 months; third period, 30-32 months; and fourth period, 33-35 months. We analyzed median and quartiles of expressive vocabulary and performed one-way analysis of variance to determine which periods differed significantly from other periods. As a result, median total expressive vocabulary was 238.0 in the first period, 423.0 in the second period, 508.0 in the third period, and 661.0 in the fourth period. A clear correlation was seen between total expressive vocabulary, noun vocabulary, verb vocabulary, adjective vocabulary and child age. No significant difference in total expressive vocabulary was evident between second and third periods. These results indicate an incubation period in which the expressive vocabulary is invariable. A significant difference was apparent between the second and third periods in the verb vocabulary, suggesting a qualitative change in the expressive vocabulary. However, the term of increasing verb vocabulary was shorter than that for the noun vocabulary, which previous studies have reported in children aged 18-30 months