Cerebellar Ataxia and Overactive Bladder after Encephalitis Affecting the Cerebellum

The cerebellum is one of the regions that contribute to urinary dysfunction in humans. A 43-year-old woman at age 35 had an acute onset of encephalitis that led to fever, generalized convulsion and coma. Six months after the disease onset, she regained consciousness and developed generalized myoclonus, cerebellar ataxia and overactive bladder, e.g., urinary urgency, daytime urinary frequency, and urinary incontinence. Eight years after the disease onset, she was revealed to have cerebellar atrophy on MRI, cerebellar hypoperfusion on SPECT, and detrusor overactivity on urodynamic study. Selective inflammation in the cerebellum seemed to produce cerebellar ataxia and overactive bladder in our case

乳幼児をもつ勤労女性の夜間の育児による睡眠中断の状況

本研究は,乳幼児を持つ勤労女性の夜間の育児による睡眠中断の状況を,携帯用活動量測定器アクチウォッチを用いて計測した活動量および睡眠日誌から検討した。その結果,以下のことが明らかになった。1.睡眠とみなされる時間は著しく少なくはなかったが,睡眠中断が頻回にみられ睡眠効率が悪い。2.育児による睡眠中断の際,彼女らはほとんど無意識でこれらを行っている。3.就労日・休日を問わず,睡眠中断があることによって,十分な休息をとることが困難である。The purpose of this study was to investigate the quality of sleep who have to take care of infants. The subjects were two women who are working in daytime and taking care of infants during nights. Sleep logs and actiwatch activities were evaluated during 3 consecutive nights. The results were as follows 1. Altough time in bed was enough, there are many waking times with low sleep efficiency. 2. They took care of children several times during nights, but they could not remenber all of them in the next morning. 3. Even if in the weekend, they could not take enough sleep time, because of their interrupted sleep

Association of variations in HLA class II and other loci with susceptibility to EGFR-mutated lung adenocarcinoma

Lung adenocarcinoma driven by somatic EGFR mutations is more prevalent in East Asians (30-50%) than in European/Americans (10-20%). Here we investigate genetic factors underlying the risk of this disease by conducting a genome-wide association study, followed by two validation studies, in 3,173 Japanese patients with EGFR mutation-positive lung adenocarcinoma and 15,158 controls. Four loci, 5p15.33 (TERT), 6p21.3 (BTNL2), 3q28 (TP63) and 17q24.2 (BPTF), previously shown to be strongly associated with overall lung adenocarcinoma risk in East Asians, were re-discovered as loci associated with a higher susceptibility to EGFR mutation-positive lung adenocarcinoma. In addition, two additional loci, HLA class II at 6p21.32 (rs2179920; P =5.1 × 10(-17), per-allele OR=1.36) and 6p21.1 (FOXP4) (rs2495239; P=3.9 × 10(-9), per-allele OR=1.19) were newly identified as loci associated with EGFR mutation-positive lung adenocarcinoma. This study indicates that multiple genetic factors underlie the risk of lung adenocarcinomas with EGFR mutations

加工澱粉糊液の性状に関する研究

Hokkaido potatoes are widely used as a source of starch. Potato starch is used for various purposes,particularly for the production of fish paste products,livestock products, and confectionery. Moreover, modified starch, which is produced by processing potato starch chemically and physically, is used in a variety of forms. This study examines the properties of modified starch gels produced by further enhancing the starch functions of potato starch. To study the primary properties of starch gels, color tone tests, viscosity measurements, and texture measurements were performed. Acetylated distarch phosphate gel had the highest values, followed byhydroxypropyl distarch phosphate gel,starch acetate gel,and potato starch gel. As for the degree of viscosity, hydroxypropyl distarch phosphate gel was the thickest,followed by acetylated distarch phosphate gel,potato starch gel,and starch acetate gel. In this experiment, changes in the properties of modified starch gels were observed as compared with those of potato starch gel. In the future,we would like to compare various types of modified starch and the effects of being frozen or defrosted on starch properties

Parents' Anxiety about Their Children's Consumption of Suger or Sweets and Their Opinions Relating to Facts and Myths of Sugar Intake in Japan

Parents' worry about consumption of sweets by their children and their beliefs in the popular opinions regarding sugar intake were investigated. One thousand eight hundred fifty nine adults having elementary school students completed a questionnaire on their views relating to sugar. Results indicated that 91% of parents worried about consumption of carbonated soft drinks and 83% were anxious about sweet snacks and chocolates. Over 80% of the subjects agreed that sugar was a cause of dental caries, adult disease and was effective in improving fatigue. In Japan, it is commonly believed that high sugar intake acidifies blood and then disolves calcim in bone. The myth of acidifyng blood was believed by 40% and disolving calcium was believed by 66% of the subjects. Parents who thought sugar caused attention deficit hyperactivity in children were 49%. Eight percent and 12% of parents agreed that sugar caused antisocial behavior in adulthood and juvenile deliquency in childhood respectively. Many parents worry about their children's consumption of sweets because of the many myths surrounding sugar. It is unfair to use these myths to prevent excessive sugar intake. Sugar intake reduction must be based on scientific rationale