Young Japanese College Students with Dysmenorrhea Have High Frequency of Irregular Menstruation and Premenstrual Symptoms

In this study, to estimate the current status of young women with menstrual disorders, the relation among dysmenorrhea, irregular menstruation and premenstrual symptoms was investigated by a questionnaire. Subjects ranging from 18 to 20 years old were recruited from 522 female students at Ashiya College in Japan. The intensity of dysmenorrhea was classified into 3 grades (score 1, not requiring analgesic; score 2, painful, requiring analgesic; score 3, painful, not relieved by analgesic). All participants were further divided into subsequent groups as having premenstrual symptoms or not and those having regular or irregular menstruation. Dysmenorrhea scores in the students with premenstrual symptoms or irregular menstruation were significantly higher than those without these symptoms (1.66±0.66 vs 1.41±0.59; 1.62±0.68 vs 1.49±0.61, respectively). There was no significant relation in the incidence between premenstrual symptoms and irregular menstruation. These findings suggest that considerable numbers of young women with dysmenorrhea are associated with premenstrual symptoms

A Five-Year-Old Boy with Marked Hypergastrinemia Associated with H. pylori Infection

A 5-year-old boy was referred to our department for persistent epigastric discomfort. Serum gastrin level was 635 pg/ml with a pepsinogen (PG) I level of 102.7 ng/ml and a PG I/II ratio of 23.2, indicating a hyperacidic state. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy showed normal gastric mucosal folds and no abnormalities including no gastric mucosal atrophy. To investigate the cause of hypergastrinemia, a Ca injection test was performed and the patient showed no definitive response to a large load of Ca. Contrast-enhanced dynamic CT revealed no space-occupying lesions. The results from these two studies were not consistent with the presence of gastrinoma. A urea breath test showed 2.8%, and a test for the fecal H. pylori antigen was positive. Since H. pylori infection was considered to be a possible cause of hypergastrinemia, eradication therapy was introduced. The therapy was shown to be successful by using a repeated urea breath test that showed a normalization to 0.6%. 7 months after the therapy blood examination showed a gastrin level of 191 pg/ml, a PG I level of 36.7 ng/ml, and a PG I/II ratio of 7.3. An immunostaining study of the gastric mucosa suggested that a decrease in somatostatin secretion due to a reduction in D cell population might have induced hypergastrinemia in this case. In children with H. pylori infection showing marked hypergastrinemia, immunohistochemical examination and therapeutic diagnosis by eradication may be helpful in the differential diagnosis of gastrinoma

Cellular DBP and E4BP4 proteins are critical for determining the period length of the circadian oscillator

AbstractThe phenotypes of mice carrying clock gene mutations have been critical to understanding the mammalian clock function. However, behavior does not necessarily reflect cell-autonomous clock phenotypes, because of the hierarchical dominance of the central clock. We performed cell-based siRNA knockdown and cDNA overexpression and monitored rhythm using bioluminescent reporters of clock genes. We found that knockdown of DBP, D-box positive regulator, in our model led to a short-period phenotype, whereas overexpressing of DBP produced a long-period rhythm when compared to controls. Furthermore, knockdown and overexpressing of E4BP4, D-box negative regulator, led to an opposite effect of DBP. Our experiments demonstrated that D-box regulators play a crucial role in determining the period length of Per1 and Per2 promoter-driven circadian rhythms in Rat-1 fibroblasts

学習支援事業者と学校との連携の実態と課題 : 生活支援を重視する事業者との連携に着目して

The purpose of this study is the following two points. (1) Focusing on learning support providers that emphasize life support, clarify the actual situation of cooperation between learning support providers and schools based on the Act on Support for Independence of People in poor. (2) Clarify administrative tasks to promote cooperation between learning providers and schools. In this study, we conducted a questionnaire survey and an interview for learning support providers. As a result of analyzing the investigation results, the following seven points were clarified. (1) The learning support providers mainly needed cooperation with the school to share the state of the “Worried Child” with the school and to search for a support method. (2) Providers that place importance on life support was more aware of the need to share information with schools regarding “Worried Child” than providers that place importance on other purposes. (3) Providers that place importance on life support supported children, including families in poor, by sharing sensitive information about “Worried Child” in cooperation with schools. (4) However, about 40% of Providers that emphasize life support answered that the cooperation with the school was “not very successful” or “not at all.” (5) Regarding providers that emphasize life support that do not cooperate well with schools, “NPO corporations, etc.” were more aware of the reason why cooperation did not work well than the “Social Welfare Council”. (6) Providers that emphasize life support that cooperate well with schools shared their children\u27s personal information with schools not only by working on schools but also by obtaining the cooperation of the government. (7) Some providers that emphasize life support described “established a conference body involving the Board of Education and the welfare department” and “cooperate with great power” are necessary to promote cooperation with schools in the future. From the above, we considered that there are the following two administrative tasks regarding the promotion of cooperation between providers that emphasize life support and schools. (1) Both education and welfare administrations should establish the infrastructure for sharing children\u27s information and building relationships between schools and providers that emphasize life support. (2) The government should give priority support to the promotion of cooperation with schools for “NPO corporations, etc.” that do not cooperate with schools among providers that emphasize life support

Transurethral resection for botryoid bladder rhabdomyosarcoma

The outcome of multimodal therapy for localized bladder rhabdomyosarcoma is quite good in terms of morbidity, and conservative surgery is generally recommended. However, in cases originating in the bladder neck, tumorectomy or partial cystectomy has adverse effects on bladder function. A 2-year-old girl underwent transurethral resection of a bladder tumor (TUR-BT), chemotherapy consisting of vincristine, actinomycin-D, and cyclophosphamide, and radiotherapy. She was in remission for 3 years when frequent urination became evident. Her bladder capacity and compliance were low; however, her urinary symptom was controlled using anticholinergic medication. Accordingly, TUR-BT could be an optional approach for bladder rhabdomyosarcoma

Safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of the afucosylated, humanized anti-EPHA2 antibody DS-8895a: a first-in-human phase I dose escalation and dose expansion study in patients with advanced solid tumors

BACKGROUND:Erythropoietin-producing hepatocellular receptor A2 (EPHA2) is overexpressed on the cell surface in many cancers and predicts poor prognosis. DS-8895a is a humanized anti-EPHA2 IgG1 monoclonal antibody afucosylated to enhance antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity activity. We conducted a two-step, phase I, multicenter, open-label study to determine the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of DS-8895a in patients with advanced solid tumors.METHODS:Step 1 was a dose escalation cohort in advanced solid tumor patients (six dose levels, 0.1-20 mg/kg) to determine Step 2 dosing. Step 2 was a dose expansion cohort in EPHA2-positive esophageal and gastric cancer patients. DS-8895a was intravenously administered every 2 weeks for the duration of the study, with a 28-day period to assess dose-limiting toxicity (DLT). Safety, pharmacokinetics, tumor response, and potential biomarkers were evaluated.RESULTS:Thirty-seven patients (Step 1: 22, Step 2: 15 [9: gastric cancer, 6: esophageal cancer]) were enrolled. Although one DLT (Grade 4 platelet count decreased) was observed in Step 1 (dose level 6, 20 mg/kg), the maximum tolerated dose was not reached; the highest dose (20 mg/kg) was used in Step 2. Of the 37 patients, 24 (64.9%) experienced drug-related adverse events (AEs) including three (8.1%) with Grade ≥ 3 AEs. Infusion-related reactions occurred in 19 patients (51.4%) but were manageable. All patients discontinued the study (evident disease progression, 33; AEs, 4). Maximum and trough serum DS-8895a concentrations increased dose-dependently. One gastric cancer patient achieved partial response and 13 patients achieved stable disease. Serum inflammatory cytokines transiently increased at completion of and 4 h after the start of DS-8895a administration. The proportion of CD16-positive natural killer (NK) cells (CD3-CD56+CD16+) decreased 4 h after the start of DS-8895a administration, and the ratio of CD3-CD56+CD137+ to CD3-CD56+CD16+ cells increased on day 3.CONCLUSIONS:Twenty mg/kg DS-8895a infused intravenously every 2 weeks was generally safe and well tolerated in patients (n = 21) with advanced solid tumors. The exposure of DS-8895a seemed to increase dose-dependently and induce activated NK cells

Evolutionary inactivation of a sialidase in group B Streptococcus

Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a leading cause of bacterial sepsis and meningitis in newborns. GBS possesses a protein with homology to the pneumococcal virulence factor, NanA, which has neuraminidase (sialidase) activity and promotes blood-brain barrier penetration. However, phylogenetic sequence and enzymatic analyses indicate the GBS NanA ortholog has lost sialidase function – and for this distinction we designate the gene and encoded protein nonA/NonA. Here we analyze NonA function in GBS pathogenesis, and through heterologous expression of active pneumococcal NanA in GBS, potential costs of maintaining sialidase function. GBS wild-type and ΔnonA strains lack sialidase activity, but forced expression of pneumococcal NanA in GBS induced degradation of the terminal sialic acid on its exopolysaccharide capsule. Deletion of nonA did not change GBS-whole blood survival or brain microvascular cell invasion. However, forced expression of pneumococcal NanA in GBS removed terminal sialic acid residues from the bacterial capsule, restricting bacterial proliferation in human blood and in vivo upon mouse infection. GBS expressing pneumococcal NanA had increased invasion of human brain microvascular endothelial cells. Thus, we hypothesize that nonA lost enzyme activity allowing the preservation of an effective survival factor, the sialylated exopolysaccharide capsule