Q fever in acute upper respiratory tract infection

We examined whether or not acute upper respiratory tract infection is associated with Q fever (Coxiella burnetii infection). The subjects consisted of 124 patients with acute upper respiratory tract infection. At initial medical consultation, the presence or absence of serum C. burnetii was examined by nested PCR method. Of the 124 patients, no patients (0 percent) were positive for C. burnetii in serum. These results suggested that the involvement of Q fever in acute upper respiratory tract infection is extremely low

Cutting error prediction by multilayer neural networks for machine tools with thermal expansion and compression

In training neural networks, it is important to reduce input variables for saving memory, reducing network size, and achieving fast training. This paper proposes two kinds of selecting methods for useful input variables. One of them is to use information of connection weights after training. If a sum of absolute value of the connection weights related to the input node is large, then this input variable is selected. In some case, only positive connection weights are taken into account. The other method is based on correlation coefficients among the input variables. If a time series of the input variable can be obtained by amplifying and shifting that of another input variable, then the former can be absorbed in the latter. These analysis methods are applied to predicting cutting error caused by thermal expansion and compression in machine tools. The input variables are reduced from 32 points to 16 points, while maintaining good prediction within 6 ﾎｼm, which can be applicable to real machine tools

Clinical effect of 3g/day administration of meropenem on severe pneumonia

We examined the clinical effect of Meropenem (MEPM) on severe pneumonia. We administered 3g of Meropenem daily to 20 patients with severe pneumonia: 8 communityacquired pneumonia patients, 9 nursing and healthcare-associated pneumonia patients, and 3 hospital-acquired pneumonia patients. It was effective in 15 of the 20 patients (75%): 8 of 8 community-acquired pneumonia patients (100%), 6 of 9 nursing and healthcare-associated pneumonia patients (66.6%), and 1 of 3 hospital-acquired pneumonia patients (33.3%). Bacteriologically, 9 of a total of 10 strains (90%) were eradicated: 4 of 4 Streptococcus pneumoniae strains, 2 of 2 methicillin-sensitive Staphlococcus aureus strains, 1 of 2 Enterococcus faecalis strains, 1 of 1 Klebsiella pneumoniae strain, and 1 of 1 Escherichia coli strain. Hepatic dysfunction was observed as a side effect in 8 patients (40%). Based on the above, administration of MEPM daily 3 g is extremely effective for community-acquired pneumonia, while it appears ineffective in many cases of nursing and healthcare-associated pneumonia or hospital-acquired pneumonia, and results in hepatic dysfunction at a high frequency

NF-kB阻害剤デヒドロキシメチルエポキシキノマイシン(DHMEQ)の鍵中間体および新規類縁体の合成

The synthesis of the key intermedicate of dehydroxymethylepoxyquinomicin (DHMEQ),a potent and specific NF-kB inhibitor,was achieved. The method involved the following crucial steps:i) direct construction of quinone functionality by degradative oxidation using hypervalent iodine (III) reagents such as (diacetoxyiodo) benzene (PIDA) and [bis(trifluoroacetoxy)iodo]beneze (PIFA);ii) regioselective epoxidation of quinone having a carbamoyl group; and iii) regio- and stereoselective reduction of an epoxyquinone moiety. In addition,a novel DHMEQ analog was synthesized by applying this approach

Identification of key yeast species and microbe–microbe interactions impacting larval growth of Drosophila in the wild

自然界で動物の成長を支える共生微生物叢 --中心的な役割を担う共生酵母・細菌の同定--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2023-12-28.Microbiota consisting of various fungi and bacteria have a significant impact on the physiological functions of the host. However, it is unclear which species are essential to this impact and how they affect the host. This study analyzed and isolated microbes from natural food sources of Drosophila larvae, and investigated their functions. Hanseniaspora uvarum is the predominant yeast responsible for larval growth in the earlier stage of fermentation. As fermentation progresses, Acetobacter orientalis emerges as the key bacterium responsible for larval growth, although yeasts and lactic acid bacteria must coexist along with the bacterium to stabilize this host–bacterial association. By providing nutrients to the larvae in an accessible form, the microbiota contributes to the upregulation of various genes that function in larval cell growth and metabolism. Thus, this study elucidates the key microbial species that support animal growth under microbial transition

Five-year quality of life assessment after carbon ion radiotherapy for prostate cancer

The aim of this study was to prospectively assess 5-year health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of patients treated with carbon ion radiotherapy (C-ion RT) for clinically localized prostate cancer. A total of 417 patients received carbon ion radiotherapy at a total dose of 63–66 Gray-equivalents (GyE) in 20 fractions over 5 weeks, and neoadjuvant and adjuvant androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) were administered for intermediate and high-risk patients. A HRQOL assessment was performed at five time points (immediately before the initiation of C-ion RT, immediately after, and at 12, 36 and 60 months after completion of C-ion RT) using Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT) questionnaires. FACT-G and FACT-P scores were significantly decreased; however, the absolute change after 60 months was minimal. The transient decreases in the Trial Outcome Index (TOI) score returned to their baseline levels. Use of ADT, presence of adverse events, and biochemical failure were related to lower scores. Scores of subdomains of FACT instruments indicated characteristic changes. The pattern of HRQOL change after C-ion RT was similar to that of other modalities. Further controlled studies focusing on a HRQOL in patients with prostate cancer are warranted

Beta-Arrestin Functionally Regulates the Non-Bleaching Pigment Parapinopsin in Lamprey Pineal

The light response of vertebrate visual cells is achieved by light-sensing proteins such as opsin-based pigments as well as signal transduction proteins, including visual arrestin. Previous studies have indicated that the pineal pigment parapinopsin has evolutionally and physiologically important characteristics. Parapinopsin is phylogenetically related to vertebrate visual pigments. However, unlike the photoproduct of the visual pigment rhodopsin, which is unstable, dissociating from its chromophore and bleaching, the parapinopsin photoproduct is stable and does not release its chromophore. Here, we investigated arrestin, which regulates parapinopsin signaling, in the lamprey pineal organ, where parapinopsin and rhodopsin are localized to distinct photoreceptor cells. We found that beta-arrestin, which binds to stimulated G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) other than opsin-based pigments, was localized to parapinopsin-containing cells. This result stands in contrast to the localization of visual arrestin in rhodopsin-containing cells. Beta-arrestin bound to cultured cell membranes containing parapinopsin light-dependently and translocated to the outer segments of pineal parapinopsin-containing cells, suggesting that beta-arrestin binds to parapinopsin to arrest parapinopsin signaling. Interestingly, beta-arrestin colocalized with parapinopsin in the granules of the parapinopsin-expressing cell bodies under light illumination. Because beta-arrestin, which is a mediator of clathrin-mediated GPCR internalization, also served as a mediator of parapinopsin internalization in cultured cells, these results suggest that the granules were generated light-dependently by beta-arrestin-mediated internalization of parapinopsins from the outer segments. Therefore, our findings imply that beta-arrestin-mediated internalization is responsible for eliminating the stable photoproduct and restoring cell conditions to the original dark state. Taken together with a previous finding that the bleaching pigment evolved from a non-bleaching pigment, vertebrate visual arrestin may have evolved from a “beta-like” arrestin by losing its clathrin-binding domain and its function as an internalization mediator. Such changes would have followed the evolution of vertebrate visual pigments, which generate unstable photoproducts that independently decay by chromophore dissociation