Experimental Study Concerning Safety Dosage of OK-432 for Intrauterine Treatment

ObjectiveClinical intrauterine treatment for fetal cystic hygroma has so far been performed in a few patients; however, it is still difficult to evaluate the results. The aim of this study is to establish the safe dosage of OK-432 in the intrauterine treatment of fetal cystic hygroma.MethodsOK-432 was injected either subcutaneously behind the neck of the fetuses or into the amniotic cavity through the uterine wall of pregnant Japanese white rabbits at 27 days of gestation. Saline was administered to the controls. The dosage and the site of injection were as follows: group 1, OK-432, 0.01 KE (0.25 KE/kg) in 0.2 mL saline per fetus, subcutis; group 2, OK-432, 0.02 KE (0.5 KE/kg) in 0.2 mL saline per fetus, subcutis; group 3, OK-432, 0.04 KE (1 KE/kg) in 0.2 mL saline per fetus, subcutis; group 4, OK-432, 0.01 KE in 0.2 mL saline per fetus, amniotic cavity; group 5, OK-432, 0.04 KE in 0.2 mL saline per fetus, amniotic cavity; group 6, saline, 0.2 mL per fetus, subcutis; group 7, saline, 0.2 mL per fetus, amniotic cavity. All fetuses were delivered at 29 days of gestation.ResultsThe mother's rectal temperature was mostly in the normal range throughout the experiment. There was no significant difference between any of the seven groups in fetal body weight. The C reactive protein values of all fetuses were negative. The appearance of the skin of all the fetuses was normal. The histopathological findings of the skin in the OK-432 groups showed a moderate infiltration of monocytes and plasma cells. No pathological changes were observed in the heart, lung, liver or kidneys of any of the fetuses.ConclusionBased on this rabbit experiment, we determined that OK-432 may be safely used at a dose of up to 1 KE/1 kg of fetal body weight as an intrauterine treatment for fetal cystic hygroma

How to Prevent Technical Issues in Large Multiparty Medical Videoconferencing

Introduction: Videoconferencing (VC) is useful for physicians who need to learn about many cases without moving from one institution to another. However, this advantage can be hampered by technical issues. This study aims to analyse the factors relating technical support that cause technical issues in regular multiparty medical VC to provide high-quality VC to meet participants’ demands. Methods: The study includes large multiparty VC between the Kyushu University Hospital Department of Paediatric Surgery and different institutions within Japan that were held from September 2014 to January 2017. Technical tests, a “previous-week test” and a “last-hour test,” were conducted for checking conditions prior to the VC. The chi-square test was used for factors: participation for previous-week and last-hour test, and attendance by an engineer VCs in each participating institution. A questionnaire survey was distributed among the participants to collect feedback on the quality of VC, ease of preparation and necessity of previous-week testing. Results: Participation in the last-hour test (P=0.002) and the presence of an engineer (P=0.049) significantly decreased overall technical issues. The last-hour tests significantly decreased disconnection (P=0.015) and audio (P=0.019) issues. The engineer’s attendance decreased content-sharing issues (P=0.027). Participants reporting “very good” and “good” audio and visual quality were 92% (109/118) and 96% (105/110). Eighty-three percent of participants (82/99) found the preparation “very easy” or “easy”; while 61% (63/103) found the previous-week test, “unnecessary.” Conclusions: Based on our study, “engineers’ attendance” and “last-hour” technical testing significantly reduced technical problems; these factors help provide high-quality output VC and meet the needs of the participants

Development of Kupffer cell targeting type-I interferon for the treatment of hepatitis via inducing anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory actions

Because of its multifaceted anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects, delivering type-I interferon to Kupffer cells has the potential to function as a novel type of therapy for the treatment of various types of hepatitis. We report herein on the preparation of a Kupffer cell targeting type-I interferon, an albumin-IFNα2b fusion protein that contains highly mannosylated N-linked oligosaccharide chains, Man-HSA(D494N)-IFNα2b, attached by combining albumin fusion technology and site-directed mutagenesis. The presence of this unique oligosaccharide permits the protein to be efficiently, rapidly and preferentially distributed to Kupffer cells. Likewise IFNα2b, Man-HSA(D494N)-IFNα2b caused a significant induction in the mRNA levels of IL-10, IL-1Ra, PD-L1 in RAW264.7 cells and mouse isolated Kupffer cells, and these inductions were largely inhibited by blocking the interferon receptor. These data indicate that Man-HSA(D494N)-IFNα2b retained the biological activities of type-I interferon. Man-HSA(D494N)-IFNα2b significantly inhibited liver injury in Concanavalin A (Con-A)-induced hepatitis model mice, and consequently improved their survival rate. Moreover, the post-administration of Man-HSA(D494N)-IFNα2b at 2 h after the Con-A challenge also exerted hepato-protective effects. In conclusion, this proof-of-concept study demonstrates the therapeutic effectiveness and utility of Kupffer cell targeting type-I interferon against hepatitis via its anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory actions

Integrated genetic and epigenetic analysis defines novel molecular subgroups in rhabdomyosarcoma.

横紋筋肉腫におけるゲノム・エピゲノム異常の全体図を解明 -横紋筋肉腫を4群に分類-. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2015-07-03.Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common soft-tissue sarcoma in childhood. Here we studied 60 RMSs using whole-exome/-transcriptome sequencing, copy number (CN) and DNA methylome analyses to unravel the genetic/epigenetic basis of RMS. On the basis of methylation patterns, RMS is clustered into four distinct subtypes, which exhibits remarkable correlation with mutation/CN profiles, histological phenotypes and clinical behaviours. A1 and A2 subtypes, especially A1, largely correspond to alveolar histology with frequent PAX3/7 fusions and alterations in cell cycle regulators. In contrast, mostly showing embryonal histology, both E1 and E2 subtypes are characterized by high frequency of CN alterations and/or allelic imbalances, FGFR4/RAS/AKT pathway mutations and PTEN mutations/methylation and in E2, also by p53 inactivation. Despite the better prognosis of embryonal RMS, patients in the E2 are likely to have a poor prognosis. Our results highlight the close relationships of the methylation status and gene mutations with the biological behaviour in RMS

Qualitative Improvement of a Coronary Plaque after Treatment with a Strong Statin : Observation using Virtual Histology Intravascular Ultrasound

Statins are used currently for treatment and prevention of coronary artery disease, but it is difficult to assess the therapeutics effects and patient responses to different statins. Virtual histology intravascular ultrasound (VH-IVUS) has been used to evaluate detailed quantitative changes in coronary plaques, and here we report a case in which marked qualitative improvement in a coronary plaque was observed using VH-IVUS after a change in treatment from a conventional statin to a strong statin

Enhancement of Color Images Based on Histogram Equalization with Variable Enhancement Degree

The YCbCr. color space is suitable for image compression and adopted for JPEG and MPEG. The YCbCr color space is related with the HSI (hue, saturation, intensity) color space. The HSI color space is an ideal tool for developing image processing. In this paper, we propose a color image enhancement method, which is combined the intensity enhancement and the saturation enhancement, in the YCbCr color space. Even if the width and shape of (Cb,Cr) space is changed depending on the value of Y component, the proposed method is free from gamut problem. Furthermore, in the proposed method, the saturation enhancement degree can be altered to suit users' own preference.APSIPA ASC 2009: Asia-Pacific Signal and Information Processing Association, 2009 Annual Summit and Conference. 4-7 October 2009. Sapporo, Japan. Oral session: Intelligent Systems for Multimedia Signal Processing (6 October 2009)

Evolution of Filament-Shaped Porous Structure in Polycarbonate by Stretching under Carbon Dioxide

We found that a filament-shaped porous structure with periodic distance was obtained in polycarbonate for optical disk grade (OD-PC) film by stretching under compressed carbon dioxide (CO2). The evolution of the characteristic porous structure was investigated by in situ observation during the stretching under compressed CO2 and the optical microscopic observation of the stretched specimen. The voids were obtained under high CO2 pressure as in the case of elevated temperature, suggesting that the evolution of the voids was caused by crazing due to chain disentanglement by accelerated molecular motion owing to the plasticization effect of CO2. The filament-shaped voids were initiated at around the yielding point and increased continuously by nucleation in the matrix around the surface of the pre-existing voids. The shape of the voids did not change to an ellipsoidal one during stretching due to suppression of the craze opening by the hydrostatic pressure effect. The stretching of the CO2-absorbed depressurized OD-PC revealed that the initiation of the voids was not only caused by the plasticization effect, but the hydrostatic pressure effect was also required

コウアツガスフンイキカニオケルヒショウセイコウブンシノヘンケイキョドウ

博士（工学）東京農工大