Reductive Extraction of Actinides and Lanthanides from Molten Chloride Salt into Liquid Zinc

As one of the basic investigations on the group partitioning of actinides and lanthanides by pyrochemical reductive extraction system, their distribution behavior in a binary phase system of molten chloride and liquid zinc was studied, Generally speaking, actinides were a litte more easily reduced and extracted from the salt phase into the metal phase than lanthanides. However, the separation factors which were the differences in the distribution coefficient between actinides and lanthanides were not so large even at lower temperatures, and the group partitioning of these elements seemed less attractive in this system. The present results were much the same as those in the LiF-BeF_2/Zn system and the effect of the selection of the salt phase on the separation factors were hardly observed. For some details, the thermodynamic quantities of actinides and lanthanides in the system were calculated from the equilibrium distributions and discussed

Self-Expandable Metal Stent Placement as a Bridge to Laparoscopic or Open Surgery for Obstructive Colorectal Cancer: Short-Term Outcomes of Nineteen Consecutive Cases

Purpose Laparoscopic colorectal resection is a feasible and less invasive procedure with short-term advantages compared with open surgery; however, the evidence for its efficacy for treating obstructive colorectal cancer (CRC) is lacking. In this study, we aimed to determine short-term outcomes of SEMS placement for obstructive CRC followed by laparoscopic colorectal resection.Methods As of August 2013, 51 patients with obstructive CRC underwent stent insertion. Thirty-two patients received palliation therapy not intended for tumor resection. After decompression of the proximal intestine, nine and 10 patients underwent laparoscopic and open surgery, respectively. Clinicopathological, intraoperative, and postoperative data were retrospectively collected.Results There were no differences in resection rates and curabilities between the two groups. All surgeries were performed with a single-stage anastomosis, and no anastomotic leakage was observed. There was one patient with abdominal morbidity in the open group (Open) and none in the Lap group. There was no mortality in either group. Time to flatus (3.4 ± 1.8 days, Lap; 2.6 ± 1.1 days, Open) and time to oral intake (7.9 ± 2.5 days, Lap; 7.7±1.9 days, Open) were similar between the groups. Postoperative hospitalization times for the Lap group were shorter, but the difference was not statistically significant (15.2 ± 3.9 days, Lap; 21 ± 11.7 days, Open, p = 0.21).Conclusion Our findings indicate that laparoscopic surgery combined with preoperative stent placement is feasible as well as safe compared with open surgery for obstructive CRC

LINE-1 hypomethylation status of circulating cell-free DNA in plasma as a biomarker for colorectal cancer.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a serious public health problem and non-invasive biomarkers improving diagnosis or therapy are strongly required. Circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) has been a promising target for this purpose. In this study, we evaluated the potential of long interspersed nuclear element-1 (LINE-1) hypomethylation as a blood biomarker for CRC. LINE-1 hypomethylation level in plasma cfDNA in 114 CRC patients was retrospectively examined by absolute quantitative analysis of methylated alleles real-time PCR, and was expressed using LINE-1 hypomethylation index (LHI) [unmethylated copy number/ (methylated copy number + unmethylated copy number)]. Greater LHI values indicated enhanced hypomethylation. In our clinicopathological analysis, CRC patients with large tumors (≥6.0 cm), advanced N stage (≥2), and distant metastasis (M1) had statistically significantly higher cfDNA LHI than other CRC patients, suggesting cfDNA LHI as a disease progression biomarker for CRC. Furthermore, early stage I/II (n = 57) as well as advanced stage III/IV (n =57) CRC patients had significantly higher cfDNA LHI than healthy donors (n=53) [stage I/II: median 0.369 (95% confidence interval, 0.360-0.380) vs. 0.332 (0.325-0.339), P \u3c 0.0001; stage III/IV: 0.372 (0.365-0.388) vs. 0.332 (0.325-0.339), P \u3c 0.0001]. The receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that cfDNA LHI had the detection capacity of CRC with area under the curve(AUC) of 0.79 and 0.83 in stage I/II and stage III/IV CRC patients, respectively. The present study demonstrated for the first time the potential of plasma cfDNA LHI as a novel biomarker for CRC, particularly for early stage detection

TDP-43 stabilises the processing intermediates of mitochondrial transcripts

The 43-kDa trans-activating response region DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) is a product of a causative gene for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Despite of accumulating evidence that mitochondrial dysfunction underlies the pathogenesis of TDP-43–related ALS, the roles of wild-type TDP-43 in mitochondria are unknown. Here, we show that the small TDP-43 population present in mitochondria binds directly to a subset of mitochondrial tRNAs and precursor RNA encoded in L-strand mtDNA. Upregulated expression of TDP-43 stabilised the processing intermediates of mitochondrial polycistronic transcripts and their products including the components of electron transport and 16S mt-rRNA, similar to the phenotype observed in cells deficient for mitochondrial RNase P. Conversely, TDP-43 deficiency reduced the population of processing intermediates and impaired mitochondrial function. We propose that TDP-43 has a novel role in maintaining mitochondrial homeostasis by regulating the processing of mitochondrial transcripts

Blood Flow Restriction Increases the Neural Activation of the Knee Extensors During Very Low-Intensity Leg Extension Exercise in Cardiovascular Patients:A Pilot Study

Blood flow restriction (BFR) has the potential to augment muscle activation, which underlies strengthening and hypertrophic effects of exercise on skeletal muscle. We quantified the effects of BFR on muscle activation in the rectus femoris (RF), the vastus lateralis (VL), and the vastus medialis (VM) in concentric and eccentric contraction phases of low-intensity (10% and 20% of one repetition maximum) leg extension in seven cardiovascular patients who performed leg extension in four conditions: at 10% and 20% intensities with and without BFR. Each condition consisted of three sets of 30 trials with 30 s of rest between sets and 5 min of rest between conditions. Electromyographic activity (EMG) from RF, VL, and VM for 30 repetitions was divided into blocks of 10 trials and averaged for each block in each muscle. At 10% intensity, BFR increased EMG of all muscles across the three blocks in both concentric and eccentric contraction phases. At 20% intensity, EMG activity in response to BFR tended to not to increase further than what it was at 10% intensity. We concluded that very low 10% intensity exercise with BFR may maximize the benefits of BFR on muscle activation and minimize exercise burden on cardiovascular patients

Hydrogen production from biomass and plastic mixtures by pyrolysis-gasification

The addition of plastics to the steam pyrolysis/gasification of wood sawdust with and without a Ni/AlO catalyst was investigated in order to increase the production of hydrogen in the gaseous stream. To study the influence of the biomass/plastic ratio in the initial feedstock, 5, 10 and 20 wt.% of polypropylene was introduced with the wood in the pyrolysis reactor. To investigate the effect of plastic type, a blend of 80 wt.% of biomass and 20 wt.% of either polypropylene, high density polyethylene, polystyrene or a mixture of real world plastics was fed into the reactor. The results showed that a higher gas yield (56.9 wt.%) and a higher hydrogen concentration and production (36.1 vol.% and 10.98 mmol H g sample, respectively) were obtained in the gaseous fraction when 20 wt.% of polypropylene was mixed with the biomass. This significant improvement in gas and hydrogen yield was attributed to synergetic effects between intermediate species generated via co-pyrolysis. The Ni/Al O catalyst dramatically improved the gas yield as well as the hydrogen concentration and production due to the enhancement of water gas shift and steam reforming reactions. Very low amounts of coke (less than 1 wt.% in all cases) were formed on the catalyst during reaction, with the deposited carbonaceous material being of the filamentous type. The Ni/AlO catalyst was shown to be effective for hydrogen production in the co-pyrolysis/gasification process of wood sawdust and plastics

Antiproliferative effect of a novel mTOR inhibitor temsirolimus contributes to the prolonged survival of orthotopic esophageal cancer-bearing mice

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains one of the most aggressive cancers with poor prognosis regardless of a several reports that indicate a better therapeutic efficacy using some new chemotherapeutic agents. Recent drug development has contributed to an improved specificity to suppress mTOR activity by which many types of malignancies can be explosively progressed. Temsirolimus (CCI-779, TricelTM) is one of recently synthesized analogs of rapamycin and has provided better outcomes for patients with renal cell carcinoma. In this study, we experimentally evaluated an efficacy of targeting mTOR by temsirolimus for ESCC treatment, with an assessment of its survival advantage using an advanced ESCC animal model. First, we confirmed that the expression of phosphorylated mTOR was increased in 46 of 58 clinical ESCC tumor tissues (79.3%) and appeared to get strengthened with tumor progression. All of ESCC cell lines used in this study revealed an increase of mTOR phosphorylation, accompanied with the upregulation of hypoxia inducible factor-I alpha (HIF-1 alpha), one of the critical effectors regulated by mTOR. Temsirolimus treatment apparently suppressed the activation of mTOR and its downstream effectors, resulting in the reduced ability of ESCC cell proliferation. Finally, the weekly administration of temsirolimus significantly diminished the size of subcutaneous tumors (vehicle, 3261.6 +/- 722.0; temsirolimus, 599.2 +/- 122.9; p = 0.007) in nude mice and effectively prolonged orthotopic esophageal cancer-bearing mice (median survival periods: control, 31 d; temsirolimus, 43 d; p = 0.0024). These data suggests that targeting mTOR by temsirolimus may become a therapeutic alternative for esophageal cancer, with a contribution to a better outcome

Investigating Japanese EFL University Students’ Needs, Motivations and Perceptions of the New EAP Program

The School of Global Humanities and Social Sciences (SGHSS) at Nagasaki University introduced a new curriculum for English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses in 2022. “The KEY Program: Academic English for Unlocking Futures” breaks with tradition; unlike the General English Courses at Nagasaki University, the courses in the KEY program explore innovative ways to build communicative competence, especially academic English competence in the target language. In addition to English classes that meet once a week, some of the core classes of the newly introduced KEY program meet twice a week for 90 minutes. The program is designed to empower SGHSS students so that they progress in their English to meet the language requirement to register for upper-level course subjects taught in English (TOEFL ITP 500 or equivalent). This paper, based on students’ progress and program experience, reports on the implemented KEY program, students’ needs, motivations, and perceptions of their first year in the Program. Pre-(n=101) and post-program surveys (n=84) have been conducted to understand students’ learning experiences, as well as to design, analyze, and assess the overall curriculum. The primary findings provide fresh insight into the current state of EAP courses in higher education. The results of the first-year program help identify areas for improvement so that SGHSS students’ learning experience in the KEY program is enriched as we take a several steps toward our goal of “unlocking futures.

Recent Mortality from Pleural Mesothelioma, Historical Patterns of Asbestos Use, and Adoption of Bans: A Global Assessment

[[abstract]]BACKGROUND: In response to the health risks posed by asbestos exposure, some countries have imposed strict regulations and adopted bans, whereas other countries have intervened less and continue to use varying quantities of asbestos. OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to assess, on a global scale, national experiences of recent mortality from pleural mesotheliomal historical trends in asbestos use, adoption of bans, and their possible interrelationships. METHODS: For 31 countries with available data, we analyzed recent pleural mesothelioma (International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision) mortality rates (MRs) using age-adjusted period MRs (deaths/million/year) from 1996 to 2005. We calculated annual percent changes (APCs) in age-adjusted MRs to characterize trends during the period. We characterized historical patterns of asbestos use by per capita asbestos use (kilograms per capita/year) and the status of national bans. RESULTS: Period MRs increased with statistical significance in five countries, with marginal significance in two countries, and were equivocal in 24 countries (five countries in Northern and Western Europe recorded negative APC values). Countries adopting asbestos bans reduced use rates about twice as fast as those not adopting bans. Turning points in use preceded bans. Change in asbestos use during 1970-1985 was a significant predictor of APC in mortality for pleural mesothelioma, with an adjusted R-2 value of 0.47 (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The observed disparities in global mesothelioma trends likely relate to country-to-country disparities in asbestos use trends