The lifespan of classical solutions of one dimensional wave equations with semilinear terms of the spatial derivative

This paper is devoted to the lifespan estimates of small classical solutions of the initial value problems for one dimensional wave equations with semilinear terms of the spatial derivative of the unknown function. It is natural that the result is same as the one for semilinear terms of the time-derivative. But there are so many differences among their proofs. Moreover, it is meaningful to study this problem in the sense that it may help us to investigate its blow-up boundary in the near future.Comment: 10 page

Single cell analysis of neutrophils NETs by Microscopic LSPR imaging system

A simple microengraving cell monitoring method for neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) released from single neutrophils has been realized using a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microwell array (MWA) sheet on a plasmon chip platform. An imbalance between NETs formation and the succeeding degradation (NETosis) are considered associated with autoimmune disease and its pathogenesis. Thus, an alternative platform that can conduct monitoring of this activity on single cell level at minimum cost but with great sensitivity is greatly desired. The developed MWA plasmon chips allow single cell isolation of neutrophils from 150 μL suspension (6.0 × 105 cells/mL) with an efficiency of 36.3%; 105 microwells with single cell condition. To demonstrate the utility of the chip, trapped cells were incubated between 2 to 4 h after introducing with 100 nM phorbol 12- myristate 13-acetate (PMA) before measurement. Under observation using a hyperspectral imaging system that allows high-throughput screening, the neutrophils stimulated by PMA solution show a significant release of fibrils and NETs after 4 h, with observed maximum areas between 314–758 μm2. An average absorption peak wavelength shows a redshift of Δλ = 1.5 nm as neutrophils release NETs

Specific antibodies to moesin, a membrane-cytoskeleton linker protein, are frequently detected in patients with acquired aplastic anemia

取得学位 : 博士（医学）, 学位授与番号 : 医博甲第1831号, 学位授与年月日 : 平成19年3月22日, 学位授与大学 : 金沢大学, 主査教授 : 小泉 晶一, 副査教授 : 金子 周一, 山岸 正

Cervical root sonography to differentiate multifocal motor neuropathy from ALS

To explore suggestive evidence of focal proximal demyelination in multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN) without overt evidence of conduction block, we conducted sonographical assessment of cervical nerve roots in 9 MMN patients, 22 ALS patients, and 17 control subjects. The mean diameters of the C5 and C6 roots in MMN patients were significantly larger than those in ALS and controls, especially on the clinically dominant side. Although non-specific, sonography can be a potentially useful diagnostic procedure to support the diagnosis of MMN, even when overt conduction block is lacking

Utility of phrenic nerve ultrasound in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disorder affecting the upper and lower motor neurons causing progressive weakness. It eventually involves the diaphragm which leads to respiratory paralysis and subsequently death. Phrenic nerve (PN) conduction studies and diaphragm ultrasound has been studied and correlated with pulmonary function tests in ALS patients. However, PN ultrasonography has not been employed in ALS. This study aims to sonographically evaluate the morphologic appearance of the PN of ALS patients. Thirty-eight ALS patients and 28 normal controls referred to the neurophysiology laboratory of two institutions were retrospectively included in the study. Baseline demographic and clinical variables such as disease duration, ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised score, and ALS region of onset were collected. Ultrasound was used to evaluate the PN cross-sectional area (CSA) of ALS and control subjects. The mean PN CSA of ALS patients were 1.08 ± 0.39 mm on the right and 1.02 ± 0.34 mm on the left. The PN CSA of ALS patients were significantly decreased compared to controls (p value < 0.00001). The PN CSA of ALS patients was not correlated to any of the demographic and clinical parameters tested. This study demonstrates that ALS patients have a smaller PN size compared to controls using ultrasonography

Texture analysis of myopathy

Given the recent technological advent of muscle ultrasound (US), classification of various myopathic conditions could be possible, especially by mathematical analysis of muscular fine structure called texture analysis. We prospectively enrolled patients with three neuromuscular conditions and their lower leg US images were quantitatively analyzed by texture analysis and machine learning methodology in the following subjects : Inclusion body myositis (IBM) [N=11] ; myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) [N=19] ; polymyositis/dermatomyositis (PM-DM) [N=21]. Although three-group analysis achieved up to 58.8% accuracy, two-group analysis of IBM plus PM-DM versus DM1 showed 78.4% accuracy. Despite the small number of subjects, texture analysis of muscle US followed by machine learning might be expected to be useful in identifying myopathic conditions

Recommendations related to the analytical equivalence assessment of gene panel testing

Advances in cancer genome care over the past few years have included the development of gene panel testing for various biomarkers. This article summarizes issues and provides recommendations related to analytical performance evaluations for new oncology gene panels. The scope of these recommendations includes comprehensive genomic profiling assays related to gene panel testing that uses histological or serum specimens to detect gene mutations. As a research project of the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development Research on Regulatory Science of Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices, we convened the working group committee that consisted of more than 30 experts from academia, industry, and government. We have discussed the points that should be considered to allow maximal simplification of assessments using clinical specimens in evaluating accuracy and limit of detection in equivalence and analytical performance for three years. We provide recommendations specific to each type of gene mutation as well as to reference standards or specimens used for evaluations. In addition, in order to facilitate the discussion on the analytical performance of gene panel tests by multidisciplinary tumor boards of hospitals, the present recommendations also describe the items that companies are expected to provide information on in their packaging inserts and reports, and the items that are expected to be discussed by multidisciplinary tumor boards. Our working group document will be important for participants in multidisciplinary tumor boards including medical oncologists and genome scientists, and developers of gene panels not only in Japan but also in other countries

Texture in aging

Texture analysis characterizes regions in an image by their texture content and has been utilized to infer the underlying structures of medical images such as skeletal muscles. Although potentially useful in tissue diagnosis and assessing disease progression of neuromuscular diseases, the use of texture analysis in such purposes are limited, due to lack of information such as effects of aging. Thus, we performed texture analysis of medial gastrocnemius in healthy individuals form their 20s to late 80s. Among the 283 texture features in 6 classes, the features related to histogram, co-occurrence matrix, absolute gradient, and wavelet were correlated to age in 17-40% of the parameters, while none of the features related to run-length matrix and autoregressive model had significant correlation to age. This study showed that age-dependency in many texture features are present and need to be taken into account in elucidating the clinical significance. By contrast, the features related to run-length matrix and autoregressive model could have clinical utility

Measurement of brain concentration of FK960 for development of a novel antidementia drug: A PET study in conscious rhesus monkeys

金沢大学大学院医学系研究科This study used PET to measure the time course of the brain concentration of 18F-labeled N-(4-acetyl-1-piperazinyl)-p-fluorobenzamide monohydrate (FK960), a novel antidementia drug, after oral administration to conscious rhesus monkeys. Methods: Three young-adult male rhesus monkeys were tested. FK960 (0.1 mg/kg) containing about 370 MBq of 18F-FK960 was administered orally to each monkey. Dynamic PET images were acquired for 4 h from 5 min after the administration. Arterial blood samples were withdrawn during PET scanning and were analyzed by an automatic well γ-counter and thin-layer chromatography to determine the time course of authentic 18F-FK960 activity concentration in plasma. FK960 concentrations in brain and plasma were calculated in units of mol/L using the specific activity of FK960 preparations. Results: 18F-FK960 penetrated the blood-brain barrier and underwent perfusion-dependent distribution in the entire brain. Maximal concentrations in the brain and plasma were 1.11 ± 0.30 x 10-7 mol/L (at 3.0 ± 0.6 h after administration) and 4.04 ± 1.29 x 10-7 mol/L (at 2.0 ± 1.1 h after administration), respectively. Conclusion: We succeeded in measuring the FK960 concentration in the brains of conscious monkeys and in plasma after oral administration at a dose of 0.1 mg/kg. The results suggested that this method can measure the FK960 concentration in the human brain, and a potential use of the PET technique in drug development was demonstrated