Apple Procyanidins Suppress Amyloid β-Protein Aggregation

Procyanidins (PCs) are major components of the apple polyphenols (APs). We previously reported that treatment with PC extended the mean lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans (Sunagawa et al., 2011). In order to estimate the neuroprotective effects of PC, we investigated the antiaggregative activity of PC on amyloid β-protein (Aβ) aggregation, which is a pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. We herein report that PC significantly suppressed Aβ42 aggregation and dissociated Aβ42 aggregates in a dose-dependent manner, indicating that PC is a potent suppressor of Aβ aggregation. Furthermore, PC significantly inhibited Aβ42 neurotoxicity and stimulated proliferation in PC-12 cells. These results suggested that the PC and AP acted as neuroprotective factors against toxic Aβ aggregates

Timing of butterfly parasitization of a plant-ant-scale symbiosis

In the Southeast Asian tropics, Arhopala lycaenid butterflies feed on Macaranga ant-plants inhabited by Crematogaster (subgenus Decacrema) ants tending Coccus-scale insects. A recent phylogenetic study showed that (1) the plants and ants have been codiversifying for the past 20-16 million years (Myr), and that (2) the tripartite symbiosis was formed 9-7 Myr ago, when the scale insects became involved in the plant-ant mutualism. To determine when the lycaenids first parasitized the Macaranga tripartite symbiosis, we constructed a molecular phylogeny of the lycaenids that feed on Macaranga by using mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data and estimated their divergence times based on the cytochrome oxidase I molecular clock. The minimum age of the lycaenids was estimated by the time-calibrated phylogeny to be 2.05 Myr, about one-tenth the age of the plant-ant association, suggesting that the lycaenids are latecomers that associated themselves with the pre-existing symbiosis of plant, ant, and scale insects.ArticleECOLOGICAL RESEARCH. 27(2):437-443 (2012)journal articl

Colonization by Clostridium difficile of neonates in a hospital, and infants and children in three day-care facilities of Kanazawa, Japan

The intestinal-carriage rates of i>Clostridium difficile in neonates hospitalized in the University Hospital’s Center for Perinatal and Reproductive Health and in infants and children enrolled in two day-nurseries and a kindergarten were examined. Swab samples from the floors of these facilities were also analyzed to determine the extent of environmental contamination by this organism. C. difficile was found in the stool of only one of 40 neonates during the normal 1-week stay in the hospital after delivery. The isolate from the neonate was identical to that of her mother, as determined by PCR ribotyping, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis, and toxin gene type, suggesting that the C. difficile-positive neonate acquired the organism from her mother rather than from the environment. By contrast, 47 (48.0%) of the 98 infants and children, comprising 50 enrolled in two daynurseries who were ≤3 years old and 48 enrolled in a kindergarten who were 2–5 years old, carried C. difficile. The carriage rate in infants under 2 years of age was much higher (84.4%) than in children 2 years old and older (30.3%). When analyzed according to age group, the carriage rates were 100, 75.0, 45.5, 24.0, 38.5, and 23.5% in infants and children 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 years old, respectively. The observation that several children were colonized with the same type of C. difficile strain in each day-care facility, and that the floors of day-nursery A and kindergarten C were contaminated with C. difficile strains identical to those colonizing the intestines of children enrolled in those facilities suggests that cross-infection of C. difficile among children occurs through C. difficile-carrying children or their contaminated environments. [Int Microbiol 2005; 8(1):43-48

Pedunculated Hepatoma ; A Clinical Study of 7 Cases

Pedunculated hepatoma (hepatocellular carcinoma ; HCC) showing an extrahepatic growth is very rare. In order to clarify the clinical and pathological features and problems presented by this tumor, seven patients in our hospitals were reviewed. All patients were men and the average age was 64 years. Tumors originated from the lateral segment in 3 patients, anterior segment in 2, and medial segment and quadrate lobe in one patient each, and ranged in size from 7 cm to 21 cm with pedicles (2-7 cm) corresponding to the liver tissue. Underlying liver disease was found in 6 patients ; cirrhosis and chronic hepatitis in 3 patients each. Initial symptoms were abdominal pain and palpable abdominal mass. Imaging modalities including US, CT and angiography could not adequately demonstrate definite findings of this tumor arising from the liver. Serum AFP was normal or slightly elevated in 3 patients. Pathologically, pedunculated tumors showed expansive growth with septum formation and complete capsule, with a portal vein thrombus and/or frequent satellite tumors. The postoperative outcomes of the 5 patients were excellent in only one patient. The other 4 patients died of hepatic recurrence of the tumor within 3 years. This study suggests that early detection of small pedunculated HCC and an adequate resection margin are the most important factors for the prognosis of patient

Plasma Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Levels Predict the Clinical Outcome of Depression Treatment in a Naturalistic Study

Remission is the primary goal of treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD). However, some patients do not respond to treatment. The main purpose of this study was to determine whether brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels are correlated with treatment outcomes. In a naturalistic study, we assessed whether plasma BDNF levels were correlated with clinical outcomes by measuring plasma BDNF in patients with depressive syndrome (MADRS score ≥18), and subsequently comparing levels between the subgroup of patients who underwent remission (MADRS score ≤8) and the subgroup who were refractory to treatment (non-responders). Patients with depressive syndrome who underwent remission had significantly higher plasma BDNF levels (p<0.001), regardless of age or sex. We also found a significant negative correlation between MADRS scores and plasma BDNF levels within this group (ρ = –0.287, p = 0.003). In contrast, non-responders had significantly lower plasma BDNF levels (p = 0.029). Interestingly, plasma BDNF levels in the non-responder group were significantly higher than those in the remission group in the initial stage of depressive syndrome (p = 0.002). Our results show that plasma BDNF levels are associated with clinical outcomes during the treatment of depression. We suggest that plasma BDNF could potentially serve as a prognostic biomarker for depression, predicting clinical outcome

Isotope production in proton-, deuteron-, and carbon-induced reactions on Nb 93 at 113 MeV/nucleon

Isotope-production cross sections for p-, d-, and C-induced spallation reactions on Nb93 at 113 MeV/nucleon were measured using the inverse-kinematics method employing secondary targets of CH2, CD2, and C. The measured cross sections for Mo90, Nb90, Y86,88 produced by p-induced reactions were found to be consistent with those measured by the conventional activation method. We performed benchmark tests of the reaction models INCL-4.6, JQMD, and JQMD-2.0 implemented in the Particle and Heavy Ion Transport code System (PHITS) and of the nuclear data libraries JENDL-4.0/HE, TENDL-2017, and ENDF/B-VIII.0. The model calculations also showed generally good agreement with the measured isotope-production cross sections for p-, d-, and C-induced reactions. It also turns out that, among the three nuclear data libraries, JENDL-4.0/HE provides the best agreement with the measured data for the p-induced reactions. We compared the present Nb93 data with the Zr93 data, that were measured previously by the same inverse kinematics method (Kawase et al., Prog. Theor. Exp. Phys. 2017, 093D03 (2017)2050-391110.1093/ptep/ptx110), with particular attention to the effect of neutron-shell closure on isotope production in p- and d-induced spallation reactions. The isotopic distributions of the measured production cross sections in the Zr93 data showed noticeable jumps at neutron number N=50 in the isotopic chains of ΔZ=0 and -1, whereas no such jump appeared in isotopic chain of ΔZ=0 in the Nb93 data. From INCL-4.6 + GEM calculations, we found that the jump formed in the evaporation process is smeared out by the intranuclear cascade component in Nb91 produced by the Nb93(p,p2n) and (d,d2n) reactions on Nb93. Moreover, for Nb93, the distribution of the element-production cross sections as a function of the change in proton number ΔZ is shifted to smaller ΔZ than for Zr93, because the excited Nb prefragments generated by the cascade process are more likely to emit protons than the excited Zr prefragments, due to the smaller proton-separation energies of the Nb isotopes

Coulomb breakup reactions of 93,94 Zr in inverse kinematics

Coulomb breakup reactions of 93,94 Zr have been studied in inverse kinematics at incident beam energies of about 200 MeV/nucleon in order to evaluate neutron capture reaction methods. The 93 Zr(n,γ) 94 Zr reaction is particularly important as a candidate nuclear transmutation reaction for the long-lived fission product 93 Zr in nuclear power plants. One- and two-neutron removal cross sections on Pb and C targets were measured to deduce the inclusive Coulomb breakup cross sections, 375 ± 29 (stat.) ± 30 (syst.) and 403 ± 26 (stat.) ± 31 (syst.) mb for 93 Zr and 94 Zr, respectively. The results are compared with estimates using the standard Lorentzian model and microscopic calculations. The results reveal a possible contribution of the pygmy dipole resonance or giant quadrupole resonance in the Coulomb breakup reactions of 94 Zr

Guidelines for the management of biliary tract and ampullary carcinomas: surgical treatment

The only curative treatment in biliary tract cancer is surgical treatment. Therefore, the suitability of curative resection should be investigated in the first place. In the presence of metastasis to the liver, lung, peritoneum, or distant lymph nodes, curative resection is not suitable. No definite consensus has been reached on local extension factors and curability. Measures of hepatic functional reserve in the jaundiced liver include future liver remnant volume and the indocyanine green (ICG) clearance test. Preoperative portal vein embolization may be considered in patients in whom right hepatectomy or more, or hepatectomy with a resection rate exceeding 50%–60% is planned. Postoperative complications and surgery-related mortality may be reduced with the use of portal vein embolization. Although hepatectomy and/or pancreaticoduodenectomy are preferable for the curative resection of bile duct cancer, extrahepatic bile duct resection alone is also considered in patients for whom it is judged that curative resection would be achieved after a strict diagnosis of its local extension. Also, combined caudate lobe resection is recommended for hilar cholangiocarcinoma. Because the prognosis of patients treated with combined portal vein resection is significantly better than that of unresected patients, combined portal vein resection may be carried out. Prognostic factors after resection for bile duct cancer include positive surgical margins, especially in the ductal stump; lymph node metastasis; perineural invasion; and combined vascular resection due to portal vein and/or hepatic artery invasion. For patients with suspected gallbladder cancer, laparoscopic cholecystectomy is not recommended, and open cholecystectomy should be performed as a rule. When gallbladder cancer invading the subserosal layer or deeper has been detected after simple cholecystectomy, additional resection should be considered. Prognostic factors after resection for gallbladder cancer include the depth of mural invasion; lymph node metastasis; extramural extension, especially into the hepatoduodenal ligament; perineural invasion; and the degree of curability. Pancreaticoduodenectomy is indicated for ampullary carcinoma, and limited operation is also indicated for carcinoma in adenoma. The prognostic factors after resection for ampullary carcinoma include lymph node metastasis, pancreatic invasion, and perineural invasion