The effect of Ndrg2 expression on astroglial activation

N-myc downstream-regulated gene 2 (Ndrg2) is a differentiation- and stress-associated molecule predominantly expressed in astrocytes in the central nervous system (CNS). To study the expression and possible role of Ndrg2 in quiescent and activated astrocytes, mice were administrated with 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropypridine (MPTP), a Parkinson disease (PD)-related neurotoxin which causes both neurodegeneration and glial activation. Immunohistological analysis revealed that Ndrg2 was highly expressed in both types of astrocytes, but less so in astrocytes during the early process of activation. Ndrg2 was also expressed in astrocyte-like cells, but not in neurons, in human brains from PD and Cortico-basal degeneration (CBD) patients. In cultured astrocytes, gene silencing of Ndrg2 significantly enhanced the numbers of 5-bromo-2′-deoxy-uridine (BrdU)-incorporated and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA)-positive cells, and reduced the length of cell processes and the amount of F-actin. In contrast, adenovirus-mediated overexpression of Ndrg2 significantly reduced the numbers of BrdU-incorporated and PCNA-positive cells, and enhanced the amount of F-actin. Fractionation and immunocytochemical analysis further revealed that Ndrg2 was located in different cellular fractions including the cytosol and cell surface membranes. These results suggest that Ndrg2 may regulate astroglial activation through the suppression of cell proliferation and stabilization of cell morphology. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Research and Design of a Routing Protocol in Large-Scale Wireless Sensor Networks

无线传感器网络，作为全球未来十大技术之一，集成了传感器技术、嵌入式计算技术、分布式信息处理和自组织网技术，可实时感知、采集、处理、传输网络分布区域内的各种信息数据，在军事国防、生物医疗、环境监测、抢险救灾、防恐反恐、危险区域远程控制等领域具有十分广阔的应用前景。 本文研究分析了无线传感器网络的已有路由协议，并针对大规模的无线传感器网络设计了一种树状路由协议，它根据节点地址信息来形成路由，从而简化了复杂繁冗的路由表查找和维护，节省了不必要的开销，提高了路由效率，实现了快速有效的数据传输。 为支持此路由协议本文提出了一种自适应动态地址分配算——ADAR（AdaptiveDynamicAddre...As one of the ten high technologies in the future, wireless sensor network, which is the integration of micro-sensors, embedded computing, modern network and Ad Hoc technologies, can apperceive, collect, process and transmit various information data within the region. It can be used in military defense, biomedical, environmental monitoring, disaster relief, counter-terrorism, remote control of haz...学位：工学硕士院系专业：信息科学与技术学院通信工程系_通信与信息系统学号：2332007115216

Performance evaluation of the compounding robot, APOTECAchemo, for injectable anticancer drugs in a Japanese hospital

Abstract Background The accuracy, safety and feasibility of, the compounding robot APOTECAchemo were evaluated in the clinical practice of Japan. Methods Accuracy and precision of robotic preparations by APOTECAchemo was evaluated in 20 preparations of fluorouracil (FU) and cyclophosphamide (CPA) infusions by four pharmacists. Environmental and product contaminations with FU and CPA were evaluated by wipe testing. Robotic performance was compared with manual preparation in a biological safety cabinet. The number of robotic products, total compounding time and total pre-reconstitution time of lyophilized drugs between January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2015 were investigated. Results Robotic preparation resulted more accurate and precise (mean absolute dose error and coefficient of variation were 0.83 and 1.04% for FU and 0.52 and 0.59% for CPA) than those of manual preparation (respective values were 1.20 and 1.46% for FU and 1.70 and 2.20% for CPA). Drug residue was not detected from any of the prepared infusion bags with the robotic preparation, whereas FU was detected in two of four analyzed infusion bags with manual preparation. Average total time to make single anticancer drug preparation (compounding plus reconstitution of lyophilized drugs) was 6.11 min in the second half of 2015. During the study period, the highest percentage of production covered by APOTECAchemo was 70.4% of the total inpatient pharmacy activity. Conclusion Robotic preparation using APOTECAchemo should give substantial advantages in drug compounding for accuracy and safety and was able to be successfully worked in Mie university hospital

The Impact of Early Optimization of Infliximab Blood Concentrations >1 μg/mL on Therapeutic Effectiveness in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Background: Infliximab is a human-murine chimeric monoclonal IgG antibody against tumor necrosis factor that is used in combination with methotrexate for the treatment of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The trough concentration of serum infliximab required to control disease activity in RA is ≥1 μg/mL, and we investigated whether this trough concentration can predict the effectiveness of RA treatment. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the cases of 76 patients with RA. The REMICHECK Q® (REMIQ) is a kit that can check for serum infliximab concentrations. Infliximab concentrations >1 μg/mL at 14 weeks after an initial infliximab induction is considered REMIQ-positive, otherwise considered REMIQ-negative. Here, we determined the retention rates and investigated the clinical and serologic features of REMIQ-positive and REMIQ-negative patients.Results: At 14 weeks, significantly more of the REMIQ-positive patients (n = 46) were responders compared to the non-responders (n = 30). The retention rate at 54 weeks was also significantly higher in the REMIQ-positive group versus the negative group. After 14 weeks, more patients in the REMIQ-negative group were considered inadequate responders, and their infliximab doses were escalated. At baseline, the REMIQ-positive group had significantly lower C-reactive protein (CRP) levels compared to the negative group. Cox regression analysis with multiple variables showed that the positivity of REMIQ (hazard ratio [HR] 2.10 and 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.55–5.71) at baseline was associated with the achievement of low disease activity. The positivities of rheumatoid factor and anti-CCP antibody at baseline were associated with the achievement of remission with infliximab treatment (HR 0.44, 95% CI: 0.09–0.82 and HR 0.35, 95% CI: 0.04–0.48, respectively). Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that the control of RA disease activity may be facilitated by using the REMIQ kit at 14 weeks to check whether it is necessary to increase a patient’s infliximab dose to ensure a therapeutic blood concentration that will help the patient achieve low disease activity

Onboard rearing attempts for the Japanese eel leptocephali using POM-enriched water collected in the Western North Pacific

Hatchery produced leptocephalus larvae of the Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica) were reared on a research vessel and fed natural particulate organic matter (POM) collected in the Western North Pacific. A small net (36 cm diameter, 60 µm mesh) was vertically towed from 200 m depth to surface in 2013, and POM-enriched water (POMEW) filtered through 350 µm mesh was fed to the leptocephali for 11 days. Although the swollen gut corroborated the active ingestion of POM by the leptocephali, low survival rate and heavily melanized gut followed by necrosis in the mid-hindgut region of the leptocephali were observed. A large net (1.14 m diameter, 30 µm mesh) was used in 2014 and 2015, which was horizontally drifted subsurface (100–175 m). POMEWs filtered through 53 or 25 µm meshes were fed to the leptocephali for 5–18 days. Neither melanized gut nor necrosis occurred, but considerably low survival rate and little growth comparable with that in a starved condition were observed. No apparent shift in stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios was observed in the reared leptocephali. These indicated that the ingested POMs were not assimilated by the leptocephali and suggested that smaller particles may be important for the leptocephali

Helium Ion Observation during 3rd Harmonic Ion Cyclotron Heating in Large Helical Device

In higher harmonic ion cyclotron resonance heating using the fast wave, a helium resonance layer appears near the plasma core. It is very important to detect the helium ions to investigate the confinement of α particles, which are produced by a nuclear reaction in ITER or a fusion reactor. In Large Helical Device (LHD), we attempt to observe the charge-exchange helium particles using a compact neutral particle analyzer (CNPA). Helium acceleration below 5 keV can be confirmed by comparing the signal ratio of helium in adjusted plate voltages of the CNPA to that of hydrogen. Successful helium measurement in LHD will lead to the development of α particle measurement