2-(4-Hydroxy­phenyl­sulfon­yl)phenol

The title compound, C12H10O4S, is a phenolic color developer used for leuco colorants. The two benzene rings with substituent hydr­oxy groups are nearly perpendicular to each other [dihedral angle = 91.5 (1)°]. There are inter­molecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds between an OH group of one mol­ecule and a sulfonyl O atom of a neighboring mol­ecule. One mol­ecule is hydrogen bonded to four symmetry-related mol­ecules, forming a two-dimensional hydrogen-bond network

The Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonist Exendin-4 Inhibits Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Osteoclast Formation and Bone Resorption via Inhibition of TNF-α Expression in Macrophages

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists are an effective treatment approach for type 2 diabetes. Recently, anti-inflammatory effects of GLP-1 receptor agonists have also been reported. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induces inflammation and osteoclast formation. In this study, we investigated the effect of exendin-4, a widely used GLP-1 receptor agonist, in LPS-induced osteoclast formation and bone resorption. LPS with or without exendin-4 was administered on mouse calvariae by daily subcutaneous injection. The number of osteoclasts, the ratio of bone resorption pits, and the level of C-terminal cross-linked telopeptide of type I collagen (CTX) were significantly lower in LPS- and exendin-4-coadministered mice than in mice administered with LPS alone. RANKL and TNF-α mRNA expression levels were lower in the exendin-4- and LPS-coadministered group than in the LPS-administered group. Our in vitro results showed no direct effects of exendin-4 on RANKL-induced osteoclast formation, TNF-α-induced osteoclast formation, or LPS-induced RANKL expression in stromal cells. Conversely, TNF-α mRNA expression was inhibited in the exendin-4- and LPS-cotreated macrophages compared with cells treated with LPS alone. These results indicate that the GLP-1 receptor agonist exendin-4 may inhibit LPS-induced osteoclast formation and bone resorption by inhibiting LPS-induced TNF-α production in macrophages

Screening of bacterial DNA in bile sampled from healthy dogs and dogs suffering from liver- or gallbladder-associated disease

Although the biliary system is generally aseptic, gallbladder microbiota has been reported in humans and some animals apart from dogs. We screened and analyzed the bacterial deoxyribonucleic acid in canine gallbladders using bile sampled from 7 healthy dogs and 52 dogs with liver- or gallbladder-associated disease. PCR screening detected bacteria in 17.3% of diseased dogs (9/52) and none in healthy dogs. Microbiota analysis of PCR-positive samples showed that the microbial diversity differed between liver- and gallbladder-associated disease groups. Thus, a specific bacterial community appears to occur at a certain frequency in the bile of diseased dogs

A discourse-based approach for Arabic question answering

The treatment of complex questions with explanatory answers involves searching for arguments in texts. Because of the prominent role that discourse relations play in reflecting text-producers’ intentions, capturing the underlying structure of text constitutes a good instructor in this issue. From our extensive review, a system for automatic discourse analysis that creates full rhetorical structures in large scale Arabic texts is currently unavailable. This is due to the high computational complexity involved in processing a large number of hypothesized relations associated with large texts. Therefore, more practical approaches should be investigated. This paper presents a new Arabic Text Parser oriented for question answering systems dealing with لماذا “why” and كيف “how to” questions. The Text Parser presented here considers the sentence as the basic unit of text and incorporates a set of heuristics to avoid computational explosion. With this approach, the developed question answering system reached a significant improvement over the baseline with a Recall of 68% and MRR of 0.62

地域中核病院から病理解剖を依頼したALS

An 82-year-old man, who developed dysphagia several months ago, presented Tokushima University Hospital and was diagnosed of ALS in December 2019. The patient got gradually worse and became bedridden in May 2020. He was admitted into Tokushima University Hospital suffering an aspiration pneumonia in June 2020. The pneumonia rapidly improved with a treatment ; however, the patient failed to be treated at home against his wish and was transferred to Kaminaka Hospital. We accepted his wish for refusing mechanical ventilation or tube feeding. Later, we requested autopsy consent from the patient. He did not refuse our proposal ; therefore, we presearched transporters capable to deceased bodies and contacted the division of pathology in Tokushima University. 60 days later, the patient died due to a suddenly developed putamen hemorrhage. After getting the family's consent, as previously arranged, we transferred the deceased body to Tokushima University and accomplished an autopsy. Although the number of autopsies is declining, we suggest that hospital collaboration may help perform autopsies

Transition of Anesthesia Management and Anesthetics Used for 50 Years Since the Establishment of Anesthesiology Department in Hiroshima University

広島大学麻酔蘇生学教室は1967年1月に盛生倫夫が初代教授に就任し開講した。開講50周年を機に，麻酔科開設以来の麻酔管理に用いた麻酔薬の変遷を辿った。開講当初から１９８５年までは亜酸化窒素とハロタンを中心とした吸入麻酔薬の時代，1990年から2005年はエンフルラン，イソフルラン，セボフルランなどの吸入麻酔薬とフェンタニルの併用の時で，2010年からはプロポフォールとレミフェンタニルの全静脈麻酔あるいはセボフルランあるいはデスフルランとレミフェンタニル併用の時代であった。開講から1980年頃まではスキサメトニウムを主に使ったが，それ以降は非脱分極性筋弛緩薬であるパンクロニウムへ，そしてベクロニウムへ推移し，現在はロクロニウムが主流となっている。使用麻酔薬の変遷は麻酔薬の科学的な評価とそれらを使用する麻酔科医の考え方を反映していた。Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Hiroshima University, started in January 1967 when Dr. Michio Morio became the first professor.　With the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the department, the transition of the anesthetics used in our long history of anesthesia care was investigated since the beginning of the department. Inhalation anesthetics was mainly used in combination with nitrous oxide and halothane from the beginning to 1985. Inhalation anesthetics such as enflurane, isoflurane, sevoflurane and intravenous fentanyl were used from 1990 to 2005, and the total intravenous anesthesia by using propofol and remifentanil was introduced and used currently. Sevoflurane or desflurane combined with remifentanil was also a mainstream since 2010.　From the beginning to 1980, suxamethonium was mainly used for muscle relaxation, followed by pancuronium thereafter and shifted to vecuronium and to rocuronium. The transition of anesthetics applied for clinical anesthesia in our department seemed to be reflecting the selection based on scientific validity

Enzalutamide versus abiraterone as a first-line endocrine therapy for castration-resistant prostate cancer (ENABLE study for PCa): A study protocol for a multicenter randomized phase III trial

金沢大学附属病院泌尿器科Background: Both enzalutamide and abiraterone have demonstrated improved radiographic progression-free and overall survival for castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) compared with placebo controls before docetaxel treatment in phase III studies. These oral agents target androgen and androgen receptor signaling and are thought to be less toxic than chemotherapy. Cross-resistance to these agents was recently reported because of their similar mechanism of action, and it is important to assess which agent is more effective to use initially for CRPC. Methods/design: The present study is a phase III, investigator-initiated, multicenter, head-to-head, randomized controlled trial investigating enzalutamide vs. abiraterone as a first-line treatment for CRPC patients. Patients will be randomly assigned to an enzalutamide or an abiraterone treatment group. The primary endpoint is the time to prostate-specific antigen progression. The target sample size is set at 100 patients per group (total, 200 patients). The study duration is 5 years, and the duration for recruitment is 2 years and 6 months. Discussion: Thus far, there have been no prospective head-to-head studies comparing enzalutamide and abiraterone. This ENABLE study will clarify which agent should be prioritized for CRPC patients and enable clinicians to decide the appropriate treatment before chemotherapy. Trial registration: University hospital Medical Information Network (UMIN) Center identifier UMIN000015529. Registrated 11/1/2014. © 2017 The Author(s)