Oxalate Crystallization in the Kidney in the Presence of Hyperuricemia

It has been a long time since uric acid was suggested to be a promoting factor in calcium oxalate stones, and a number of in vitro studies have been carried out on the relationship between uric acid or urate and calcium oxalate. Concerning in vivo studies, urate or calcium oxalate stone-forming diets were given alone in most cases, and diets that induce formation of stones with different composition have not been given in combinations. We administered a low-concentration oxalemic diet, and a mixed diet containing oxalic acid and uric acid, and biochemically and histologically studied the effects of oxalate and uric acid on kidney stone formation. In the kidney of the animals given the mixed diet, formation of crystalloids of uric acid or urate was evident when no crystallization was noted in the kidney of those given the low concentration oxalemic diet alone. The morphological differences in the uric acid and urate crystalloids in the kidney and the process leading to crystallization of calcium oxalate were examined under transmission and scanning electron microscopy. Histological examination indicated that these uric acid crystals and urate crystals serve as seeds and induce formation and epitaxial growth of calcium oxalate crystals. Our in vivo study provides additional evidence that uric acid is a promoting factor in calcium oxalate stone formation

Laboratory Verification of a Proposed New Method to Determine the In-Situ Effective Porosity of Unsaturated Soil

A laboratory validation of a proposed new method of determining the in-situ effective porosity of unsaturated soils was carried out on unsaturated river sand. The proposed method consists of boring a small diameter hole into the soil and inserting an Amplitude Domain Reflectometry (ADR) probe at the bottom part of the hole. Water is supplied into the hole till saturation and later de-saturated. The water content with time is determined from the ADR probe voltage potential readings. The effective porosity is determined from the difference between the saturated and de-saturated water contents. However, in the laboratory, the water is supplied through the top and bottom parts of the sample. From the experiments the obtained effective porosity ranged from 0.28 to 0.29 for wetting from the top with an average of 0.287 and 0.29 to 0.30 for wetting from the bottom with an average of 0.293. The determined effective porosity ranged from 71.7-73.3% of the real initial porosity of 0.40 of the river sand. The maximum attained degree of saturation during the experiment was 91%. The results indicated that the method will be suitable and useful in determining the effective porosity of medium grained unsaturated soils

前立腺癌における血清γ-セミノプロティンの測定

前立腺癌の新しいマーカーとして, γ-セミノプロテイン(γ-Sm)と前立腺性酸性ホスファターゼ(PAP)とを比較評価した.未治療前立腺癌におけるγ-SMおよびPAPのsensitivityは, それぞれ81%, 67%であった.γ-Smはすべての病期で前立腺肥大症と比較して陽性率が高かった.前立腺癌ではγ-SmとPAPは相関を示さなかった.γ-SmとPAPを同時に測定することにより, 感度が上昇した.γ-SmおよびPAPのspecificityはそれぞれ87%と90%であった.内分泌療法を施行した病期D2において, γ-SmはPAPよりもより多く正常化した.以上より, γ-Smは前立腺癌のもう1つの有用なマーカーであるといえるSerum gamma-seminoprotein (gamma-Sm) was evaluated as a new marker for prostatic cancer in comparison with prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP). The sensitivity of gamma-Sm and PAP for untreated prostatic cancer was 81% and 67%, respectively. gamma-Sm showed a higher positive rate over all stages than in benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH). There was no correlation between gamma-Sm and PAP in prostatic cancer. Improved sensitivity was obtained by simultaneous measurement of gamma-Sm and PAP. Specificity of gamma-Sm and PAP for BPH was 87% and 90%, respectively. gamma-Sm normalized after endocrine therapy for stage D2 more often than did PAP. These results indicate that gamma-Sm is another useful marker to evaluate prostatic cancer

Subjective discomfort of TMS predicts reaction times differences in published studies

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was developed thirty years ago, in part to decrease the peripheral side-effects associated with transcranial electrical stimulation (Barker, 1991). TMS has been effective in that aim, and great advances have been made over the past 30 years. TMS can still be uncomfortable and painful, however, as it stimulates excitable superficial tissue including scalp muscles and peripheral nerves (Maizey et al., 2013). This causes annoyance, pain, and muscle twitches (i.e., discomfort) that vary systematically across the scalp (Meteyard & Holmes, 2018). For this Opinion, we investigated whether the TMS-related discomfort measured in our previous work could predict the reported differences in RT in studies published in the last 10 years. For single-pulse TMS studies, differences in RT between TMS and control conditions were significantly correlated with both the mean of median ratings of muscle twitches, and the mean effect of TMS on RT from Meteyard & Holmes (2018)

フタタビ ナカムラ キョウイチ シ ノ シミン カンリ ロン ニツイテ ヒハン ニ コタエル ケイザイ ガクブ カイセツ 50シュウネン キネンゴウ

Prof. Kyoichi Nakamura argues that corporate control by outside citizens is the only effective way to get rid of the evils of capitalistic economy and corporations. He says that under the contemporary capitalism the market system no more works effectively or "disappeared", but political control by few monopolistic corporations and central government have replaced the old market system (in other words, "controlled society" has come). Now the new system is working instead. Only the new system can manage "surplus capital," existence of which is the distinction of contemporary capitalism, and management of which is a decisive element of sustainable development of contemporary capitalism. He criticized my book on the ground that the theory was based on obsolete market-oriented capitalism image instead of contemporary controlled capitalism. Therefore, he argues, my (Kataoka\u27s) theory cannot clarify the actual conditions of contemporary corporations, and consequently it failed to find the way to capitalism tomorrow. In this paper, I argue back against Prof. Nakamura referring to mistake-filled contemporary capitalism view, misinterpretation or misreading of Kataoka\u27s view, and vagueness or ambiguity of many concepts he uses in his paper, which are disastrous mistakes. Consequently I cannot accept his criticism at all, which stands on the basis of totally erroneous knowledge of capitalism

Comparison of properties between Pr-Fe-B and Nd-Fe-B thick-film magnets applied to MEMS

We investigated the possibility of R (Nd or Pr)-Fe-B thick-film magnets applied to MEMS. First, an enhancement in the thickness of the Si oxide layer on a Si substrate enabled us to increase the adhesion force between the Si substrate and Nd-Fe-B film. Then, after depositing a glass buffer layer on the Si substrate to obtain a thicker Si oxide layer, we compared the mechanical characteristics and magnetic properties of both Pr-Fe-B and Nd-Fe-B films. As the thickness of the glass buffer layer increased, the thickness of the Pr-Fe-B film could be enhanced without mechanical destruction. We had difficulty in exceeding the thickness of 100 μm in Nd-Fe-B films. Moreover, the (BH)max value of a 127-μm-Thick Pr-Fe-B film was higher by approximately 30 kJ m-3 than that of a 92-μm-Thick Nd-Fe-B film. The obtained results suggest that a Pr-Fe-B thick-film magnet is more suitable for MEMS applications