Anti-Inflammatory Effect on Colitis and Modulation of Microbiota by Fermented Plant Extract Supplementation

Although results of recent studies suggest that fermented foods strongly affect the gut microbiota composition and that they relieve inflammatory bowel disease symptoms, some reports have described that fermented foods increase some inflammation markers based on differences in fermented food materials. This study evaluated the effects of fermented plant extract (FPE) on dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis in mice and the effects on fecal microbiota composition in humans. Mice fed 5% FPE with 3% DSS (FPE group) showed no body weight loss, atrophy of colonic length, or bloody stool, similar to mice fed a basal diet (negative group), whereas mice fed 3% DSS (positive group) exhibited those effects. Concentrations of inflammation markers IL-6 and TNF-alpha were not significantly different between FPE and negative groups; however, those concentrations became higher in the positive group. 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing was used to characterize fecal microbiota in healthy women before and after 3-month FPE supplementation. The FPE supplementation induced increases in Firmicutes phyla and in Clostridiales order, which play a central role in inflammation suppression. These results suggest that FPE enhances Clostridiales growth in the gut and that it has an anti-inflammatory effect

Long-Term Outcome after Bone Marrow Transplantation for Aplastic Anemia Using Cyclophosphamide and Total Lymphoid Irradiation as Conditioning Regimen

AbstractWe retrospectively studied 49 patients in a single institute to evaluate the long-term outcome of total lymphoid irradiation (TLI) conditioning for allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT) to treat aplastic anemia (AA). Most of the patients had received transfusions and had undergone previous treatment, with 33 receiving related transplants and 16 receiving unrelated transplants. Conditioning consisted of cyclophosphamide (Cy; 200 mg/kg) plus TLI (750 cGy) for related transplantation and Cy plus total body irradiation (TBI; 500 cGy) and TLI (500 cGy) for unrelated transplantation. Antithymocyte globulin (ATG) was added for 6 of the unrelated transplantations. Graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) prophylaxis consisted mainly of cyclosporine (CSA) and methotrexate (MTX). Graft failure developed in 2 patients (4.1%). With a median follow-up of 7 years, overall survival (OS) was 81% and was not statistically significantly different between the patients receiving related transplants and those receiving unrelated transplants. In multivariate analyses, a history of previous treatment with ATG was the sole factor associated with a worse survival rate, and the interval from diagnosis to treatment was not prognostic. The incidence of acute (grade II to IV) GVHD (aGVHD) was 23%, and that of chronic GVHD (cGVHD) was 29%. Female-to-male transplantation was the sole factor associated with chronic GVHD. B cell lymphoproliferative disorder developed only after the ATG-containing conditioning. No other secondary malignancies developed after long-term follow-up. Our findings suggest that TLI conditioning is feasible and effective for patients with AA

Transactive Relationship Phenomena

Healthcare for older adults is a significant problem in Japan and in other developed countries. To address this problem, healthcare robots, now realized, can assist and meet healthcare and welfare practice demands. The aim of this study was to clarify characteristics of Transactive Relationships (TR) in older adults, in care workers as intermediaries, and Pepper (Softbank Robotics Corporation) a robot equipped with the application program of Care Prevention Gymnastics Exercises for Pepper (Pepper-CPGE) made by Xing Company, Japan. Data were collected by observing TRs between Pepper and older patients in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan between from May 8 to August 1 2018. The Transactive Relationship Theory of Nursing (TRETON) was used to explain how Pepper-CPGE led the exercises with older adults as physical exercises. The role of Pepper-CPGE was to provide instructions for the older adults in performing gymnastic exercises. During the exercising activity, care workers were present to prevent falls of the older adults, and to operate and observe the video presentations by supporting and caring for the participants. In using Pepper-CPGE, it was possible to change the role of the healthcare providers, originally thought to contribute to increasing the quality of older adult care and their rehabilitation

Visualizing Nanoscale Distribution of Corrosion Cells by Open-Loop Electric Potential Microscopy

Corrosion is a traditional problem but still one of the most serious problems in industry. To reduce the huge economic loss caused by corrosion, tremendous effort has been made to understand, predict and prevent it. Corrosion phenomena are generally explained by the formation of corrosion cells at a metal-electrolyte interface. However, experimental verification of their nanoscale distribution has been a major challenge owing to the lack of a method able to visualize the local potential distribution in an electrolytic solution. In this study, we have investigated the nanoscale corrosion behavior of Cu fine wires and a duplex stainless steel by in situ imaging of local corrosion cells by open-loop electric potential microscopy (OL-EPM). For both materials, potential images obtained by OL-EPM show nanoscale contrasts, where areas of higher and lower potential correspond to anodic areas (i.e., corrosion sites) and cathodic areas, respectively. This imaging capability allows us to investigate the real-time transition of local corrosion sites even when surface structures show little change. This is particularly useful for investigating reactions under surface oxide layers or highly corrosion-resistant materials as demonstrated here. The proposed technique should be applicable to the study of other redox reactions on a battery electrode or a catalytic material. The results presented here open up such future applications of OL-EPM in nanoscale electrochemistry. © 2016 American Chemical Society.Embargo Period 12 month

Silencing of p53 and CDKN1A establishes sustainable immortalized megakaryocyte progenitor cells from human iPSCs

iPS細胞を用いた人工血小板の作製の効率化に成功 血小板のテイラーメイド医療に向けた一歩. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2021-12-03.Platelet transfusions are critical for severe thrombocytopenia but depend on blood donors. The shortage of donors and the potential of universal HLA-null platelet products have stimulated research on the ex vivo differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) to platelets. We recently established expandable immortalized megakaryocyte cell lines (imMKCLs) from hPSCs by transducing MYC, BMI1, and BCL-XL (MBX). imMKCLs can act as cryopreservable master cells to supply platelet concentrates. However, the proliferation rates of the imMKCLs vary with the starting hPSC clone. In this study, we reveal from the gene expression profiles of several MKCL clones that the proliferation arrest is correlated with the expression levels of specific cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors. Silencing CDKN1A and p53 with the overexpression of MBX was effective at stably inducing imMKCLs that generate functional platelets irrespective of the hPSC clone. Collectively, this improvement in generating imMKCLs should contribute to platelet industrialization and platelet biology

ソウダン エンジョ ジッシュ ニ オケル ジッシュウ キョウイク スーパー ビジョン ノ ゲンジョウ ト カダイ

本研究は， 相談援助実習の巡回指導における実習教育スーパービジョンの内容とその課題を明らかにすることを目的としている． 巡回指導における複数回の実習教育スーパービジョンにおいて， それぞれの回で取り上げるべき実習教育スーパービジョン項目があることを仮説とし， 各回の実習教育スーパービジョンの項目を明らかにするための調査を行った． 分析方法は， 新カリキュラム初年度に本学通信教育課程の教員が作成した 『巡回指導ガイドライン』 の分類枠組みを作業仮説とした逐語データの分析である．その結果， ①それぞれの回の巡回指導を構成する実習教育スーパービジョン項目の位置づけ， ②実習生の語りから実習教育スーパービジョンの手がかりを得ることの有用性， ③実習教育スーパービジョンにおける 「実習記録」 活用の有用性が明らかになった