A Novel Mutation of a Leucine Residue in Coil 1A of Keratin 9 in Epidermolytic Palmoplantar Keratoderma

Keratin 9 mutation was examined in a Japanese kindred of epidermolytic palmoplantar keratoderma (EPPK), which is a dominantly inherited autosomal disorder of keratinization characterized by diffuse thickening of the palms and soles and by epidermolytic hyperkeratosis histologically. We report herein a novel mutation, a C → G transversion at nucleotide position 541 that converts a leucine residue (CTC) to a valine (GTC) at codon 159. As in all other reported cases of keratin 9 mutation in EPPK, this mutation lies within the highly conserved coil 1A of the rod domain, which is considered to play a role in the correct alignment of the coiled-coil molecules

Pre- and Postoperative Ocular Events in Cataract Patients with Small Pupils who Underwent Cataract Surgery

Purpose：To analyze pre- and postoperative surgical events in cataract patients with small pupils who underwent cataract surgery.Patients and methods：We reviewed the medical records of patients who underwent cataract surgery between January 2009 and May 2014 at Dokkyo Medical University Koshigaya Hospital. Surgery was performed by four experienced surgeons. We included 106 eyes from 83 patients with pupil sizes ＜5 mm in diameter who required iris retractors during the cataract surgery （small pupil group）. The control group was comprised of 447 eyes from 319 patients with pupil sizes ＞5 mm in diameter who did not require a mechanical dilatation of the pupil during cataract surgery. Pre- and postoperative intra- or extraocular surgical events were analyzed.Results：Preoperative intra- or extraocular surgical events were observed in 36 eyes （34.0％） in the small pupil group and 72 eyes （16.1％） in the control group, with a significant difference observed for those who underwent laser iridotomy （P＜0.001） and trabeclectomy （P＜0.01）. Postoperative intra- or extraocular events were observed in 25 eyes （23.6％） in the small pupil group and 61 eyes （13.7％） in the control group, with significant differences observed for those who underwent the following procedures：trabeculectomy （P＜0.001）, sub-Tenon’s injection of triamcinolone acetonide （P＜0.001）, and posterior capsulotomy （P＝0.012）.Conclusion：Cataract patients with small pupils often have pre- and postoperative intra- or extraocular surgical events. It should be recognized that cataract surgery is only one step in the treatment of cataract patients with small pupils

Clinical Aspect of Peripheral Cholangiocarcinoma: A Study of 7 Hepatectomy Cases

To clarify the features and problems presented by a peripheral cholangiocarcinoma (CCC), seven patients with hepatectomy from the First Department of Surgery, Nagasaki University School of Medicine (6 patients), and from Department of Surgery, National Ureshino Hospital (one patient) were reviewed. Men predominate with ratio of 5:2, and an average age was 65.4 years. Tumor location was left lateral segment in 4 patients, right lobe, middle lobe and posterior segment in one, respectively. Three patients were associated with hepatolithiasis. Underlying liver disease was found in 4 patients (57%); cirrhosis in 3 patients, and chronic hepatitis in one. Initial symptoms were abdominal pain, fever and palpable abdominal mass. In imaging modalities available, the detection rates of tumor were 100% in CT and 67% in US and angiography, respectively. Combination of MRI and CT clearly showed tumor characteristics. The serum CEA was slightly elevated in 5 patients (83%), but serum CA19-9 rose strikingly in 3 patients. Most tumors showed an infiltrating growth along intrahepatic bile duct, with a portal vein thrombus and/or satellite tumors frequently. In 3 patients, early recurrence with intrahepatic metastasis occured within the first 6 months. The patient of poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma containing a squamous or signet ring cell carinoma showed an extremely poor prognosis. This study suggests that early detection of small CCC and an extended resection are the most important factors for the survival of patient

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

Attorney SHINKAI Takahiro, KAWAMURA Yoshisada, YOKOYAMA Akira

神大法曹会の人々弁護士 新開崇弘・川村宜禎・横山朗さんに聞

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

The status of DECIGO

DECIGO (DECi-hertz Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory) is the planned Japanese space gravitational wave antenna, aiming to detect gravitational waves from astrophysically and cosmologically significant sources mainly between 0.1 Hz and 10 Hz and thus to open a new window for gravitational wave astronomy and for the universe. DECIGO will consists of three drag-free spacecraft arranged in an equilateral triangle with 1000 km arm lengths whose relative displacements are measured by a differential Fabry-Perot interferometer, and four units of triangular Fabry-Perot interferometers are arranged on heliocentric orbit around the sun. DECIGO is vary ambitious mission, we plan to launch DECIGO in era of 2030s after precursor satellite mission, B-DECIGO. B-DECIGO is essentially smaller version of DECIGO: B-DECIGO consists of three spacecraft arranged in an triangle with 100 km arm lengths orbiting 2000 km above the surface of the earth. It is hoped that the launch date will be late 2020s for the present