The 90-day oral toxicity of d-psicose in male Wistar rats

d-Psicose is a rare sugar present in small quantities in natural products. In a previous study, we showed that d-psicose suppresses increase in plasma glucose and reduces body fat accumulation in rats. Based on acute toxicity testing in rats, d-psicose is classified as an ordinary substance (LD50 = 16 g/kg). Elucidating the effects of sub-chronic feeding of d-psicose in rats is essential before it can be utilized as a physiologically functional food. In this study, male Wistar rats (3 weeks old) were fed diets containing 3% d-psicose or sucrose for 90 days. The body weight gain and intra-abdominal adipose tissue weight did not differ between the sucrose and the d-psicose groups. The weights of the liver and kidneys were significantly higher in the d-psicose group than in the sucrose group. However, no gross pathological findings were evident at dietary doses of 3% d-psicose or were correlated with hypertrophy of the liver and kidney. In a clinical chemistry analysis, the erythrocyte and leukocyte courts were significantly higher in the d-psicose group, but that was not considered to be toxicologically significant. Therefore, the present study found no adverse effects of d-psicose in rats fed a diet containing 3% d-psicosefor 90 days

Enucleation assisted with filler for open-globe injury

In cases of severe open-globe injury, it is often difficult to reconstruct the globe and maintain visual acuity. Ocular globe enucleation may decrease the risk of sympathetic ophthalmia in the fellow eye. However, the surgical procedure is difficult to perform with an open globe, because the injured globe is inclined to collapse. We report the case of an enucleation for an open-globe injury in which we used alginate, which is often used for dental impressions, as filler for the collapsed globe. We were able to maintain the resistance of the globe sufficiently well enough to perform the procedure easily and without complication. Thus, alginate may be a novel aid to assist in enucleation by preserving globe resistance

The mechanism of mesenteric fat accumulation induced by high-carbohydrate diet : the study on nutrient sensing of dietary glucose

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Tsukuba, (A), no. 3249, 2003.3.25Includes bibliographical reference

Remarkable sequence similarity between the dinoflagellate-infecting marine girus and the terrestrial pathogen African swine fever virus

Heterocapsa circularisquama DNA virus (HcDNAV; previously designated as HcV) is a giant virus (girus) with a ~356-kbp double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) genome. HcDNAV lytically infects the bivalve-killing marine dinoflagellate H. circularisquama, and currently represents the sole DNA virus isolated from dinoflagellates, one of the most abundant protists in marine ecosystems. Its morphological features, genome type, and host range previously suggested that HcDNAV might be a member of the family Phycodnaviridae of Nucleo-Cytoplasmic Large DNA Viruses (NCLDVs), though no supporting sequence data was available. NCLDVs currently include two families found in aquatic environments (Phycodnaviridae, Mimiviridae), one mostly infecting terrestrial animals (Poxviridae), another isolated from fish, amphibians and insects (Iridoviridae), and the last one (Asfarviridae) exclusively represented by the animal pathogen African swine fever virus (ASFV), the agent of a fatal hemorrhagic disease in domestic swine. In this study, we determined the complete sequence of the type B DNA polymerase (PolB) gene of HcDNAV. The viral PolB was transcribed at least from 6 h post inoculation (hpi), suggesting its crucial function for viral replication. Most unexpectedly, the HcDNAV PolB sequence was found to be closely related to the PolB sequence of ASFV. In addition, the amino acid sequence of HcDNAV PolB showed a rare amino acid substitution within a motif containing highly conserved motif: YSDTDS was found in HcDNAV PolB instead of YGDTDS in most dsDNA viruses. Together with the previous observation of ASFV-like sequences in the Sorcerer II Global Ocean Sampling metagenomic datasets, our results further reinforce the ideas that the terrestrial ASFV has its evolutionary origin in marine environments

看護師の摂食・嚥下訓練に関するイメージ

原著論文Original Paper脳血管障害後遺症として摂食・嚥下障害を持つ患者と日常的に接している病棟に勤務する看護師とその他の病棟に勤務する看護師に対し、摂食・嚥下訓練に対するイメージ調査をSD法の測定尺度を用いて行った。今回の調査では、専門病棟に勤務する看護師の方が他の病棟に勤務する看護師よりも摂食・嚥下訓練に対して「日常的な」イメージが強いこと、また、「親しみにくくない」「消極的ではない」「あいまいではない」「抽象的ではない」「難しくはない」という、プラスにもマイナスにも偏らないイメージがあり、専門病棟に勤務する看護師も、摂食・嚥下訓練において、専門性を発揮できているとは感じていないことが分かった。今後、看護師が専門性を発揮しながら摂食・嚥下訓練を展開できるように環境を整えることが必要と考えた