Fixation of an Anatomically Designed Cementless Stem in Total Hip Arthroplasty

Purpose. The Anatomic Fiber Metal plus stem (Zimmer) is one of the anatomically designed cementless stems to achieve stable fixation by metaphyseal fit. We studied outcomes of cementless total hip arthroplasty using this stem and possible effects of metaphyseal fit on outcomes. Methods. The cementless total hip arthroplasty using this stem was performed for 155 hips. One hundred and thirty-seven hips of 122 patients were followed for 5 to 16 (mean, 9.7) years and entered into the study. The metaphyseal fit was defined as good or poor in an anteroposterior radiograph after surgery. We studied the fixation of the stem and bone reaction on an anteroposterior radiograph at the final followup. Results. Twelve hips had revision, six acetabular components and six acetabular liners. No stem was revised. The biological fixation of the stem was bone ingrown fixation for 136 hips and unstable for one. The metaphyseal fit was good for 83 hips and poor for 54 hips. There were no differences for stem fixation and bone reaction between the two groups. Conclusions. The fixation of the stem was stable at a mean followup of 9.7 years independently from metaphyseal fit

Phased A-tracts bind to the α subunit of RNA polymerase with increased affinity at low temperature

AbstractPreviously we showed that the expression of a Clostridium perfringens phospholipase C gene (plc) is activated by promoter upstream phased A-tracts in a low temperature-dependent manner. In this paper we characterize the interaction between the α subunit of C. perfringens RNA polymerase and the phased A-tracts. Hydroxyl radical footprinting and fluorescence polarization assaying revealed that the α subunit binds to the minor grooves of the phased A-tracts through its C-terminal domain with increased affinity at low temperature. The result provides a molecular mechanism underlying the activation of the plc promoter by the phased A-tracts

Effects of Housing Environment on Household Location Choice : Examination of Tiebout Hypothesis by Poisson Gravity Model

ティブー仮説によれば、人々は移転を考えている候補地の住宅環境を精査した上で、転居をするか否かの意思決定を行っていることとなる。本論文は、Poisson Gravity Modelを利用し、この仮説の検証を行った。分析の結果、人々が日照条件の悪い地域を避ける傾向が示されたが、保育サービスに関してはむしろ逆の傾向が導出された。後者は、保育サービスの需要が高いと思われる世代が、むしろ保育サービスの逼迫している地域へと転居する傾向をもつことを意味している。「行政は日照条件の改善に関して対応策を講ずることができないが、保育サービスに関して何らかの対応策を講ずるはずだ」と人々が予想するため、こうした現象が発生するのであろう。足による投票のメカニズムの利用を考慮する場合には、転居後に行政がどのような対応策をとると人々が予想しているかが重要となる

Validity of reduced radiation dose for localized diffuse large B-cell lymphoma showing a good response to chemotherapy

To evaluate the validity of a decrease in the radiation dose for patients who were good responders to chemotherapy for localized diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), 91 patients with localized DLBCL who underwent radiotherapy after multi-agent chemotherapy from 1988-2008 were reviewed. Exclusion criteria were as follows: central nervous system or nasal cavity primary site, or Stage II with bulky tumor (>= 10 cm). Of these patients, 62 were identified as good responders to chemotherapy. They were divided into two groups receiving either a higher or a lower radiation dose (32-50.4 Gy or 15-30.6 Gy, respectively). There were no statistically significant differences between the lower and higher dose groups in progression-free survival, locoregional progression-free survival or overall survival. Adaptation of decreased radiation dose may be valid for localized DLBCL patients who show a good response to chemotherapy.ArticleJOURNAL OF RADIATION RESEARCH. 55(2):359-363 (2014)journal articl

Shigella dysenteriae Serotype 1, Kolkata, India

Since July 2002, bacteriologically confirmed shigellosis cases have increased, and multidrug-resistant Shigella dysenteriae serotype 1 strains have reemerged in patients hospitalized with diarrhea in Kolkata, India. The isolated strains of S. dysenteriae 1 showed resistance to chloramphenicol (80%), ampicillin (100%), tetracycline (100%), co-trimoxazole (100%), nalidixic acid (100%), norfloxacin (100%), and ciprofloxacin (100%). Emergence of fluoroquinolone resistance in S. dysenteriae 1 strains complicated treatment of shigellosis patients. Six strains belonging to provisional serovars of S. dysenteriae were also identified for the first time in patients hospitalized with diarrhea in Kolkata, India

Evaluation of Right Ventricular overload by ^<123>I-MIBG, ^<123>I-BMIPP , and ^<99m>Tc-MIBI

It is important to evaluate the severity of right ventricular (RV) overload in patients with chronic pulmonary diseases or pulmonary thromboembolism because their prognosis depend on the severity of RV overload. Various examination methods have been used to non-invasively evaluate the severity of RV overload. We evaluated the usefulness of recently developed novel radiopharmaceuticals 123I-MIBG, 123I-BMIPP, and 99mTc-MIBI) in patients with chronic respiratory diseases or pulmonary thromboembolism. Myocardial scintigraphy using 1231-MIBG revealed that the ratio of scintillation counts in the interventricular septum (IVS) to those in the left ventricle (LV) correlated negatively with the mean pulmonary arterial pressure (MPAP), suggesting the presence of sympathetic neuropathy due to RV overload. Myocardial scintigraphy using 123I-BMIPP revealed that the ratio of scintillation counts in the RV to those in LV (RV/LV uptake ratio) correlated with MPAP. There was a negative correlation between RV metabolic index [RVMI = (RV/LV ratio of 123I-BMIPP uptake)(RV/LV ratio of 201T1 uptake)] and MPAP. These findings suggested the presence of RV overload-induced fatty acid metabolic disorder. 99iTc-MIBI allows the simultaneous performance of both cardiac pool scintigraphy and myocardial single photon emission computed tomography. RV/LV ratio of 99Tc-MIBI uptake correlated with MPAP. Moreover, RV ejection fraction (RVEF) obtained by right cardiac pool scintigraphy correlated with the RVEF determined by the thermodilution method, suggesting the usefulness of 99mTc-MIBI. Our findings suggest that these radiopharmaceuticals are useful for evaluating the severity of RV overload in patients with chronic respiratory diseases or pulmonary thromboembolism, as well as for evaluating RV overloadinduced metabolic disorders

Adrenomedullin is not Related to Acute Hypoxic Pulmonary Vascular Response in Patients with Chronic Respiratory Disease

In the present study, acute hypoxia was induced in 19 patients with chronic respiratory disease to evaluate the corre lation between pulmonary circulation kinetics and adrenomedullin (AM) levels. Using radioimmunoassay (RIA), pulmonary circulation kinetics were evaluated before and after hypoxic loading (13% oxygen for 15 minutes) by determining AM levels in plasma obtained from the pulmonary artery (PA) and the right femoral artery (FA). There were no significant differences in pre-hypoxia plasma AM levels between samples obtained from the PA and FA, and plasma AM levels did not change after hypoxic loading. Subjects were classified into two groups [responders (R) and non-responders (NR) ] to evaluate changes in the mean pulmonary arterial pressure(笆ｳMPAP). There were no changes in AM levels between these two groups in either the PA or FA after hypoxic loading. These results suggest that AM do not appear to be related to hypoxic pulmonary vascular response to acute hypoxic loading in patients with chronic respiratory disease