Parental satisfaction and seizure outcome after corpus callosotomy in patients with infantile or early childhood onset epilepsy

AbstractPurposeTo elucidate the benefit of corpus callosotmy in terms of parental satisfaction and seizure outcome.MethodThis study included 16 consecutive patients with infantile or early childhood onset epilepsy who underwent total corpus callosotomy for alleviation of seizures. Questionnaires were sent anonymously to the parents asking about relative changes in seizures and about parental satisfaction for the post-operative outcome.ResultsThe improvements in frequency, intensity, and duration of seizures were correlated with the level of satisfaction (Spearman's rank-order correlation coefficient, ρ=0.87, 0.93, and 0.75, respectively). The highest level of satisfaction was only seen in patients who achieved freedom from all seizures or drop attacks.ConclusionComplete seizure freedom and freedom from drop attacks are important goals of corpus callosotomy for parental satisfaction. These factors should be considered in assessing post-operative outcome after corpus callosotomy

Development and characterization of IL-21–producing CD4+ T cells

It has recently been shown that interleukin (IL)-21 is produced by Th17 cells, functions as an autocrine growth factor for Th17 cells, and plays critical roles in autoimmune diseases. In this study, we investigated the differentiation and characteristics of IL-21–producing CD4+ T cells by intracellular staining. Unexpectedly, we found that under Th17-polarizing conditions, the majority of IL-21–producing CD4+ T cells did not produce IL-17A and -17F. We also found that IL-6 and -21 potently induced the development of IL-21–producing CD4+ T cells without the induction of IL-4, IFN-γ, IL-17A, or IL-17F production. On the other hand, TGF-β inhibited IL-6– and IL-21–induced development of IL-21–producing CD4+ T cells. IL-2 enhanced the development of IL-21–producing CD4+ T cells under Th17-polarizing conditions. Finally, IL-21–producing CD4+ T cells exhibited a stable phenotype of IL-21 production in the presence of IL-6, but retained the potential to produce IL-4 under Th2-polarizing conditions and IL-17A under Th17-polarizing conditions. These results suggest that IL-21–producing CD4+ T cells exhibit distinct characteristics from Th17 cells and develop preferentially in an IL-6–rich environment devoid of TGF-β, and that IL-21 functions as an autocrine growth factor for IL-21–producing CD4+ T cells

The C-Terminal Fragment of Prostate-Specific Antigen, a 2331 Da Peptide, as a New Urinary Pathognomonic Biomarker Candidate for Diagnosing Prostate Cancer

Background and Objectives: Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most common cancers and leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men. Mass screening has been carried out since the 1990s using prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels in the serum as a PCa biomarker. However, although PSA is an excellent organ-specific marker, it is not a cancer-specific marker. Therefore, the aim of this study was to discover new biomarkers for the diagnosis of PCa. Materials and Methods: We focused on urine samples voided following prostate massage (digital rectal examination [DRE]) and conducted a peptidomic analysis of these samples using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/MS_n). Urinary biomaterials were concentrated and desalted using CM-Sepharose prior to the following analyses being performed by MALDI-TOF/MS_n: 1) differential analyses of mass spectra; 2) determination of amino acid sequences; and 3) quantitative analyses using a stable isotope-labeled internal standard. Results: Multivariate analysis of the MALDI-TOF/MS mass spectra of urinary extracts revealed a 2331 Da peptide in urine samples following DRE. This peptide was identified as a C-terminal PSA fragment composed of 19 amino acid residues. Moreover, quantitative analysis of the relationship between isotope-labeled synthetic and intact peptides using MALDI-TOF/MS revealed that this peptide may be a new pathognomonic biomarker candidate that can differentiate PCa patients from non-cancer subjects. Conclusion: The results of the present study indicate that the 2331 Da peptide fragment of PSA may become a new pathognomonic biomarker for the diagnosis of PCa. A further large-scale investigation is currently underway to assess the possibility of using this peptide in the early detection of PCa

Digenic inheritance of mutations in EPHA2 and SLC26A4 in Pendred syndrome

Enlarged vestibular aqueduct (EVA) is one of the most commonly identified inner ear malformations in hearing loss patients including Pendred syndrome. While biallelic mutations of the SLC26A4 gene, encoding pendrin, causes non-syndromic hearing loss with EVA or Pendred syndrome, a considerable number of patients appear to carry mono-allelic mutation. This suggests faulty pendrin regulatory machinery results in hearing loss. Here we identify EPHA2 as another causative gene of Pendred syndrome with SLC26A4. EphA2 forms a protein complex with pendrin controlling pendrin localization, which is disrupted in some pathogenic forms of pendrin. Moreover, point mutations leading to amino acid substitution in the EPHA2 gene are identified from patients bearing mono-allelic mutation of SLC26A4. Ephrin-B2 binds to EphA2 triggering internalization with pendrin inducing EphA2 autophosphorylation weakly. The identified EphA2 mutants attenuate ephrin-B2- but not ephrin-A1-induced EphA2 internalization with pendrin. Our results uncover an unexpected role of the Eph/ephrin system in epithelial function

Human NK cell development in hIL-7 and hIL-15 knockin NOD/SCID/IL2rgKO mice.

The immune system encompasses acquired and innate immunity that matures through interaction with microenvironmental components. Cytokines serve as environmental factors that foster functional maturation of immune cells. Although NOD/SCID/IL2rgKO (NSG) humanized mice support investigation of human immunity in vivo, a species barrier between human immune cells and the mouse microenvironment limits human acquired as well as innate immune function. To study the roles of human cytokines in human acquired and innate immune cell development, we created NSG mice expressing hIL-7 and hIL-15. Although hIL-7 alone was not sufficient for supporting human NK cell development in vivo, increased frequencies of human NK cells were confirmed in multiple organs of hIL-7 and hIL-15 double knockin (hIL-7xhIL-15 KI) NSG mice engrafted with human hematopoietic stem cells. hIL-7xhIL-15 KI NSG humanized mice provide a valuable in vivo model to investigate development and function of human NK cells

Mutation Accumulation in a Selfing Population: Consequences of Different Mutation Rates between Selfers and Outcrossers

Currently existing theories predict that because deleterious mutations accumulate at a higher rate, selfing populations suffer from more intense genetic degradation relative to outcrossing populations. This prediction may not always be true when we consider a potential difference in deleterious mutation rate between selfers and outcrossers. By analyzing the evolutionary stability of selfing and outcrossing in an infinite population, we found that the genome-wide deleterious mutation rate would be lower in selfing than in outcrossing organisms. When this difference in mutation rate was included in simulations, we found that in a small population, mutations accumulated more slowly under selfing rather than outcrossing. This result suggests that under frequent and intense bottlenecks, a selfing population may have a lower risk of genetic extinction than an outcrossing population

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

言語聴覚士実習生の臨床実習への満足度に影響する要因 : テキストマイニングによる検討

Objective: We investigated satisfaction with on-the-job training among 129 speech, language, and hearing therapy trainees.Materials and methods: Text mining analysis was performed to analyze factors that influenced trainee satisfaction regarding on-the-job training. Results: Among trainees with higher satisfaction and higher grades, the training opportunity increased their internal locus of control through the knowledge and therapy skills acquired and the exchanges with trainers and other staff. However, trainees with lower satisfaction tended to cite external factors such as the length of training or the training format as the cause. Conclusion: Our results suggest that students with a lower internal locus of control need to experience many successes throughout an intramural simulated on-the-job training curriculum

Current status of space gravitational wave antenna DECIGO and B-DECIGO

Deci-hertz Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (DECIGO) is the future Japanese space mission with a frequency band of 0.1 Hz to 10 Hz. DECIGO aims at the detection of primordial gravitational waves, which could be produced during the inflationary period right after the birth of the universe. There are many other scientific objectives of DECIGO, including the direct measurement of the acceleration of the expansion of the universe, and reliable and accurate predictions of the timing and locations of neutron star/black hole binary coalescences. DECIGO consists of four clusters of observatories placed in the heliocentric orbit. Each cluster consists of three spacecraft, which form three Fabry-Perot Michelson interferometers with an arm length of 1,000 km. Three clusters of DECIGO will be placed far from each other, and the fourth cluster will be placed in the same position as one of the three clusters to obtain the correlation signals for the detection of the primordial gravitational waves. We plan to launch B-DECIGO, which is a scientific pathfinder of DECIGO, before DECIGO in the 2030s to demonstrate the technologies required for DECIGO, as well as to obtain fruitful scientific results to further expand the multi-messenger astronomy.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure