Recurrent venous thromboembolism after discontinuation of rivaroxaban therapy in a patient with antiphospholipid syndrome

A Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is a systemic autoimmune disease characterized by thrombembolic events including thromboembolism (VTE) in association with the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies. The standard treatment of VTE historically consists of anticoagulation therapy with warfarin, a vitamin K antagonist. Recently, direct oral anticoagulants, including rivaroxaban have become available for the treatment of VTE. However, the choice of anticoagulant, and the duration of anticoagulation in patients with APS has not been determined yet due to lack of evidence. Here, we report a case of recurrent venous thrombosis after discontinuation of rivaroxaban therapy and avoiding sedentary life style in a patient with APS. We suggest that indefinite anticoagulation therapy might be needed even in low risk APS cases

Effect of 3'-methyl-N,N-dimethyl-4-aminoazobenzene in the presence or absence of liver microsomes on the liver cells having low tumor-producing capacity in culture.

A cell strain having low tumor-producing capacity was exposed in culture to 3'-methyl-N,N-dimethyl-4-aminoazobenzene (3'-Me-DAB) in the presence or absence of liver microsomes, and whether or not the cells will progress to those having high tumor-producing capacity was examined. When transplanted into rats, the cells treated with 3'-Me-DAB four (Exp-I) or thirteen times (Exp-II) formed larger tumors than untreated control cells, the latter treatment being more efficient in this regard. Furthermore, the tumors formed by the cells treated with 3'-Me-DAB in the presence of liver microsomes were considerably larger than those formed by the cells treated with 3'-Me-DAB alone. The subcutaneous tumors produced by the cells treated with 3'-Me-DAB with S-15 Mix showed poorly differentiated histology compared with those produced by control and 3'-Me-DAB-treated cells. The frequency of lung metastasis tended to increase by 3'-Me-DAB with S-15 Mix. The cells treated with 3'-Me-DAB in the presence or absence of liver microsomes differed from untreated control cells in vitro in some properties, including the size of aggregates in rotation culture, plating efficiency in liquid medium and morphology. These observations suggest that cell malignancy was promoted by 3'-Me-DAB alone as well as by 3'-Me-DAB in the presence of liver microsomes.</p

Wide-area scanner for high-speed atomic force microscopy

High-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM) has recently been established. The dynamic processes and structural dynamics of protein molecules in action have been successfully visualized using HS-AFM. However, its maximum scan ranges in the X- and Y-directions have been limited to ∼1 μm and ∼4 μm, respectively, making it infeasible to observe the dynamics of much larger samples, including live cells. Here, we develop a wide-area scanner with a maximum XY scan range of ∼46 × 46 μm2 by magnifying the displacements of stack piezoelectric actuators using a leverage mechanism. Mechanical vibrations produced by fast displacement of the X-scanner are suppressed by a combination of feed-forward inverse compensation and the use of triangular scan signals with rounded vertices. As a result, the scan speed in the X-direction reaches 6.3 mm/s even for a scan size as large as ∼40 μm. The nonlinearity of the X- and Y-piezoelectric actuators\u27 displacements that arises from their hysteresis is eliminated by polynomial-approximation-based open-loop control. The interference between the X- and Y-scanners is also eliminated by the same technique. The usefulness of this wide-area scanner is demonstrated by video imaging of dynamic processes in live bacterial and eukaryotic cells. © 2013 AIP Publishing LLC

Eukaryotic ribosomal protein RPS25 interacts with the conserved loop region in a dicistroviral intergenic internal ribosome entry site

The intergenic region-internal ribosome entry site (IGR-IRES) of dicistroviruses binds to 40S ribosomal subunits in the absence of eukaryotic initiation factors (eIFs). Although the conserved loop sequences in dicistroviral IGR-IRES elements are protected from chemical modifications in the presence of the 40S subunit, molecular components in the 40S subunit, which interacts with the loop sequences in the IRES, have not been identified. Here, a chemical crosslinking study using 4-thiouridine-labeled IGR-IRES revealed interactions of the IGR-IRES with several 40S proteins but not with the 18S rRNA. The strongest crosslinking signal was identified for ribosomal protein S25 (rpS25). rpS25 is known to be a neighbor of rpS5, which has been shown to interact with a related IGR-IRES by cryo-electron microscopy. Crosslinking analysis with site-directed mutants showed that nucleotides UU(6089–6090), which are located in the loop region in conserved domain 2b in the IRES, appear to interact with rpS25. rpS25 is specific to eukaryotes, which explains why there is no recognition of the IGR-IRES by prokaryotic ribosomes. Although the idea that the IGR-IRES element may be a relict of a primitive translation system has been postulated, our experimental data suggest that the IRES has adapted to eukaryotic ribosomal proteins

Damage factors analysis for small embankment dams due to the Hyogoken-Nambu earthquake special to Hokudan Town

This study was performed to clarify which factors affected damage to take-ike (small embankment dams for irrigation in Japanese) of Hokudan Town on Awaji Island in western Japan due to Hyogoken-Nambu earthquake. Multivariate and ordinary statistical analysis were carried out using documentary data (181 damaged and 328 undamaged dams), and ordinary one was done for the results investigated in situ. The model for the multivariate analysis was created with 13 items and 94 categories for 4 groups (Location, Geology Structure, and History of Dam). As a result, the factors causing to damage for dam are (1) the nearest fault (Nojima, Mizukoshi and D2), (2) embankment volume (the larger the more), (3) angle of crest axis to epicenter (diagonal and normal), (4) distance to the nearest fault (less than 500 m), (5) distance to the epicenter (8 to 14 km which almost agree to the location of seismic intensity 7 JMA), (6) play view of dam axis (3 or 4 axes), (7) angle of crest axis to nearest fault (diagonal and normal), (8) elevation of dam site (over 100 m), (9) surface geology of dam site (non-cohesive soil), (10) era of construction (prior to 1891), and (11) soil properties of embankment (constructed of sand, smaller penetration resistance)

Weathering and locality of sandstone brand "muya-ishi" used in German Bridge and memorial stone monument of German prisoners

鳴門市域に分布する砂岩石材「撫養石」を用いて造られている「ドイツ橋」と「ドイツ兵の慰霊碑」の風化程度を評価するとともに，大正～昭和初期に採掘が行われていた石切場を推定した。聞き取りの結果，石切場は鳴門市中山の丘陵斜面で行われていたことが判明した。「ドイツ橋」と「ドイツ兵の慰霊碑」について， 目視による点検ならびに非破壊計測である色彩測定を実施した。その結果，林内にある「ドイツ橋」の風化程度は軽微であるが，強い直達日射を受ける「ドイツ兵の慰霊碑」の南西端の石柱で，顕著な亀裂が形成されていることを確認した。劣化の進行に対する対策としては，石材への直達日射の軽減や，石材表面への散水・洗浄を低減することで乾湿繰り返しを低下させることなどが考え得る

Formative processes of Naruto straits based on geomorphological and geological features

鳴門海峡に関する既存の地形・地質学的研究をレビューするとともに，海峡近隣の小鳴門海峡で掘削されたボーリング試料の分析を行い，新第三紀以降の鳴門海峡の形成過程についての議論を整理した。鳴門海峡は，基盤をなす和泉層群の差別侵食によって形成された岬地形に，約21万年前以降に海水が播磨灘側へ流入するようになって成立したと考える説が有力である。渦潮を伴う強い海流による海底の侵食が海釜を形成した。海水準変動により，氷期には鳴門海峡は陸化し，間氷期には水没する変化が繰り返されたと考えられる

Glycine insertion makes yellow fluorescent protein sensitive to hydrostatic pressure

Fluorescent protein-based indicators for intracellular environment conditions such as pH and ion concentrations are commonly used to study the status and dynamics of living cells. Despite being an important factor in many biological processes, the development of an indicator for the physicochemical state of water, such as pressure, viscosity and temperature, however, has been neglected. We here found a novel mutation that dramatically enhances the pressure dependency of the yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) by inserting several glycines into it. The crystal structure of the mutant showed that the tyrosine near the chromophore flipped toward the outside of the β-can structure, resulting in the entry of a few water molecules near the chromophore. In response to changes in hydrostatic pressure, a spectrum shift and an intensity change of the fluorescence were observed. By measuring the fluorescence of the YFP mutant, we succeeded in measuring the intracellular pressure change in living cell. This study shows a new strategy of design to engineer fluorescent protein indicators to sense hydrostatic pressure