A reduced brain and liver FDG uptake

Purpose : To investigate whether or not the physiological brain and liver FDG uptake are decreased in patients with highly accelerated glycolysis lesions. Methods : We retrospectively analyzed 51 patients with malignant lymphoma. We compared the FDG uptake in the brain and liver of the patients with that in a control group. In 24 patients with a complete response (CR) or partial response (PR) to treatment, we compared the brain and liver uptake before and after treatment. Results : The maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) and total glycolytic volume (TGV) of the brain as well as the SUVmax and mean standardized uptake value (SUVmean) of the liver in malignant lymphoma patients were 13.1 ± 2.3, 7386.3 ± 1918.4, 3.2 ± 0.5, and 2.3 ± 0.4, respectively ; in the control group, these values were 14.9 ± 2.4, 8566.2 ± 1659.5, 3.4 ± 0.4, and 2.5 ± 0.3, respectively. The SUVmax and TGV of the brain and the SUVmean of the liver in malignant lymphoma patients were significantly lower than the control group. The SUVmax and TGV of the brain after treatment were significantly higher than before treatment. Both the SUVmax and SUVmean of liver after treatment were higher than before treatment, but not significant. Conclusion : A decreased physiological brain and liver FDG uptake is caused by highly accelerated lesion glycolysis

保育者や教員志望学生の「幼児期の終わりまでに育ってほしい姿」の評価に関する研究

The purpose of this study is to clarify how childcare teachers and students at teacher education universities evaluate the “Ideal Image by the End of Childhood,” “qualities and abilities,” “proactive and dialogic deep learning,” and the “five areas” in the National Curriculum Standard for Kindergartens after watching videos of kindergarten children. The study showed a significant difference in the evaluations by teachers and students, but no significant difference in evaluations by teachers at kindergartens, nursery schools, and centers for early childhood education and care. However, there was a difference based on their years of experience. The “Ideal Image by the End of Childhood” was classified into “items that are easy to observe” and “items that are not easy to observe”. Due to multiple regression analysis, the path coefficients of “qualities and abilities”, “proactive and dialogic deep learning”, and “five areas” were significant. The results suggest that it may be effective for students to practice comprehensive and related evaluation of children, such as by watching videos of children in kindergarten

The whole blood transcriptional regulation landscape in 465 COVID-19 infected samples from Japan COVID-19 Task Force

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19患者由来の血液細胞における遺伝子発現の網羅的解析 --重症度に応じた遺伝子発現の変化には、ヒトゲノム配列の個人差が影響する--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-23.Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a recently-emerged infectious disease that has caused millions of deaths, where comprehensive understanding of disease mechanisms is still unestablished. In particular, studies of gene expression dynamics and regulation landscape in COVID-19 infected individuals are limited. Here, we report on a thorough analysis of whole blood RNA-seq data from 465 genotyped samples from the Japan COVID-19 Task Force, including 359 severe and 106 non-severe COVID-19 cases. We discover 1169 putative causal expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) including 34 possible colocalizations with biobank fine-mapping results of hematopoietic traits in a Japanese population, 1549 putative causal splice QTLs (sQTLs; e.g. two independent sQTLs at TOR1AIP1), as well as biologically interpretable trans-eQTL examples (e.g., REST and STING1), all fine-mapped at single variant resolution. We perform differential gene expression analysis to elucidate 198 genes with increased expression in severe COVID-19 cases and enriched for innate immune-related functions. Finally, we evaluate the limited but non-zero effect of COVID-19 phenotype on eQTL discovery, and highlight the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs (ieQTLs; e.g., CLEC4C and MYBL2). Our study provides a comprehensive catalog of whole blood regulatory variants in Japanese, as well as a reference for transcriptional landscapes in response to COVID-19 infection

DOCK2 is involved in the host genetics and biology of severe COVID-19

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19疾患感受性遺伝子DOCK2の重症化機序を解明 --アジア最大のバイオレポジトリーでCOVID-19の治療標的を発見--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-10.Identifying the host genetic factors underlying severe COVID-19 is an emerging challenge. Here we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving 2, 393 cases of COVID-19 in a cohort of Japanese individuals collected during the initial waves of the pandemic, with 3, 289 unaffected controls. We identified a variant on chromosome 5 at 5q35 (rs60200309-A), close to the dedicator of cytokinesis 2 gene (DOCK2), which was associated with severe COVID-19 in patients less than 65 years of age. This risk allele was prevalent in East Asian individuals but rare in Europeans, highlighting the value of genome-wide association studies in non-European populations. RNA-sequencing analysis of 473 bulk peripheral blood samples identified decreased expression of DOCK2 associated with the risk allele in these younger patients. DOCK2 expression was suppressed in patients with severe cases of COVID-19. Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis (n = 61 individuals) identified cell-type-specific downregulation of DOCK2 and a COVID-19-specific decreasing effect of the risk allele on DOCK2 expression in non-classical monocytes. Immunohistochemistry of lung specimens from patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia showed suppressed DOCK2 expression. Moreover, inhibition of DOCK2 function with CPYPP increased the severity of pneumonia in a Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by weight loss, lung oedema, enhanced viral loads, impaired macrophage recruitment and dysregulated type I interferon responses. We conclude that DOCK2 has an important role in the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of severe COVID-19, and could be further explored as a potential biomarker and/or therapeutic target

Clinical identification of the stimulus intensity to measure temporal summation of second pain

Temporal summation of second pain (TSSP) has been suggested as a psychophysical index for central sensitization, one of the critical mechanisms in the chronification of pain. However, there is no gold standard for protocols to measure TSSP. The purpose was to establish the stimulus intensity for measuring TSSP. Female patients with chronic myofascial temporomandibular disorders pain (n = 16) and healthy female volunteers with no pain (n = 15) participated. Pain thresholds (PT °C) were measured, and repetitive heat stimuli at three stimulus intensities (PT °C, PT + 1 °C, PT + 2 °C) were applied. TSSP parameters were quantified as TSSP magnitude (TSm) and TSSP frequency (TSf). In healthy female volunteers, pain ratings significantly decreased at PT °C (p &lt; 0.050), besides TSm and TSf at PT + 2 °C were significantly higher than those at PT °C (p &lt; 0.025). In chronic pain patients, pain ratings significantly increased at PT + 1 °C and PT + 2 °C (p &lt; 0.050). At PT + 2 °C, TSm and TSf in chronic pain patients were significantly higher than those in healthy volunteers (p &lt; 0.050). It could be helpful to measure TSSP with the stimulus intensity adjusted individually to the patient’s pain thresholds + 2 °C for assessing central sensitization.An Author Correction to this article was published on 29 August 2022 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-19043-5</p

Assessment of urine partial oxygen pressure to predict postoperative acute kidney injury in major surgical patients

　Urine partial oxygen pressure (PuO2) was monitored in postoperative intensive care unit (ICU) patients to verify if an earlier diagnosis of acute kidney injury (AKI) is possible. Fifty-nine patients who were admitted to the ICU after surgery for at least 48 hours at Kawasaki Medical Center between January 2019 and June 2020 were assessed for AKI using the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcome (KDIGO) criteria. The AKI group had 15 patients while the non-AKI group had 44 cases. The PuO2 of each group showed no significant difference. Arterial partial oxygen pressure (PaO2) was measured concurrently with PuO2. When the ratio of PuO2 to PaO2 (PuO2 / PaO2) from each group was compared, the AKI group had a significantly higher ratio just 2 hours after admission to the ICU. Reduced oxygen consumption in the renal medulla may be a possible cause of AKI in those patients. Thus, measuring the PuO2 / PaO2 ratio in postoperative patients 2 hours after ICU admission could be useful to predict AKI earlier than is currently done

Multiple polypoid filling defects of the duodenal bulb

Multiple polypoid filling defects of the duodenal bulb are infrequently encountered. Two cases of multiple filling defects of the duodenal bulb are reported in this paper. Case 1. A 42 year old female complained of abdominal fullness and epigastralgia. On examination, generalized peripheral lymphadenopathy and marked hepatosplenomegaly were noted. Cervical lymphnode biopsy revealed a diffuse, poorly-differanciated lymphocytic lymphoma. X-ray examination of the gastrointestinal tract showed multiple filling defects localized at the duodenal bulb. Endoscopy disclosed multiple well-defined protrusions with small mucosal ulceration over the the whole circumference of the duodenal wall. Case 2. A 36 year old female had no subjective symptoms. At gastric mass screening, numerous polypoid elevations of the duodenal bulb were pointed out. Detailed gastrointestinal x-ray examination showed numerous, tiny, round polypoid nodules localized at the duodenal bulb. These nodules were 2-3mm in size with no mucosal ulceration. The endoscopic biopsy specimen revealed lymphoid hyperplasia of the duodenal bulb