Outbreak of Salmonella Braenderup Infection Originating in Boxed Lunches in Japan in 2008

There have been only 2 reports of a large-scale foodborne outbreak arising from Salmonella enterica serotype Braenderup infection worldwide. On August 9, 2008, an outbreak originating in boxed lunches occurred in Okayama, Japan. We conducted a cohort study of 786 people who received boxed lunches from a particular catering company and collected 644 questionnaires (response rate:82%). Cases were defined as those presenting with diarrhea (≧4 times in 24h) or fever (≧38℃) between 12 am on August 8 and 12 am on August 14. We identified 176 cases (women/men:39/137);younger children (aged＜10 years) appeared to more frequently suffer severe symptoms. Three food items were significantly associated with higher risk of illness;tamagotoji (soft egg with mixed vegetables and meat) (relative risk (RR):11.74, 95% confidence interval (CI):2.98-46.24), pork cooked in soy sauce (RR:3.17, 95% CI:1.24-8.10), and vinegared food (RR:4.13, 95% CI:1.60-10.63). Among them, only the RR of tamagotoji was higher when we employed a stricter case definition. Salmonella Braenderup was isolated from 5 of 9 sampled cases and 6 food handlers. It is likely that unpasteurized liquid eggs contaminated by Salmonella Braenderup and used in tamagotoji caused this outbreak

A Difficult Differential Diagnosis of Acute Cholecystitis in a Patient With Steroid-induced Diabetes

An impairment of gallbladder motility due to autonomic neuropathy may cause cholestasis and result in gallbladder stone formation. Diabetes is one of risk factors for acute cholecystitis. Diabetes and steroid use are associated with the susceptibility to bacterial infections, we are apt to diagnose steroid-induced diabetic patients manifesting symptoms of cholecystitis as having acute bacterial infective cholecystitis. Here, we report a very rare steroid-induced diabetic patient complicated with gallbladder torsion-induced necrotizing cholecystitis due to a floating gallbladder

Clinical Presentation of Cervical Myelopathy at C1–2 Level

Study DesignSingle-center retrospective study.PurposeTo clarify the clinical features of cervical myelopathy at the C1–2 level.Overview of LiteratureMethods for distinguishing the affected level based on myelomere symptoms or dysfunction of the conducting pathway were established. However, no symptoms have been identified as being specific to the C1–2 level segment.MethodsWe evaluated 24 patients with cervical myelopathy due to spinal cord compression at the C1–2 level. Preoperative neurological assessment were investigated and compared with the rate and site of compression of the spinal cord using computed tomography-myelography.ResultsImpaired temperature and pain sensation were confirmed in 18 of the 24 patients with that localized to the upper arms (n=3), forearm (n=9), both (n=2), and whole body (n=4). Muscle weakness was observed in 18 patients, muscle weakness extended from the biceps brachii to the abductor digiti minimi in 10 patients, and in the whole body in 8 patients. Deep tendon reflexes were normal in 10 patients, whereas hyperactive deep tendon reflexes were noted in 14 patients. The rate of spinal cord compression was significantly higher in patients with perceptual dysfunction and muscle weakness compared with those with no dysfunction. However, no significant difference in the rate and site of compression was identified in those with dysfunction.ConclusionsPerceptual dysfunction and muscle weakness localized to the upper limbs was observed in 58% and 42% of patients, respectively. Neurological abnormalities, such as perceptual dysfunction and muscle weakness, were visualized in patients with marked compression

Interaction between NANOS2 and the CCR4-NOT Deadenylation Complex Is Essential for Male Germ Cell Development in Mouse

Nanos is one of the evolutionarily conserved proteins implicated in germ cell development and we have previously shown that it interacts with the CCR4-NOT deadenylation complex leading to the suppression of specific RNAs. However, the molecular mechanism and physiological significance of this interaction have remained elusive. In our present study, we identify CNOT1, a component of the CCR4-NOT deadenylation complex, as a direct factor mediating the interaction with NANOS2. We find that the first 10 amino acids (AAs) of NANOS2 are required for this binding. We further observe that a NANOS2 mutant lacking these first 10 AAs (NANOS2-ΔN10) fails to rescue defects in the Nanos2-null mouse. Our current data thus indicate that the interaction with the CCR4-NOT deadenylation complex is essential for NANOS2 function. In addition, we further demonstrate that NANOS2-ΔN10 can associate with specific mRNAs as well as wild-type NANOS2, suggesting the existence of other NANOS2-associated factor(s) that determine the specificity of RNA-binding independently of the CCR4-NOT deadenylation complex

Stable Operation of a 300-m Laser Interferometer with Sufficient Sensitivity to Detect Gravitational-Wave Events within our Galaxy

TAMA300, an interferometric gravitational-wave detector with 300-m baseline length, has been developed and operated with sufficient sensitivity to detect gravitational-wave events within our galaxy and sufficient stability for observations; the interferometer was operated for over 10 hours stably and continuously. With a strain-equivalent noise level of $h\sim 5 \times 10^{-21} /\sqrt{\rm Hz}$, a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 30 is expected for gravitational waves generated by a coalescence of 1.4 $M_\odot$-1.4 $M_\odot$ binary neutron stars at 10 kpc distance. %In addition, almost all noise sources which limit the sensitivity and which %disturb the stable operation have been identified. We evaluated the stability of the detector sensitivity with a 2-week data-taking run, collecting 160 hours of data to be analyzed in the search for gravitational waves.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Two modes of surface roughening during plasma etching of silicon: Role of ionized etch products

Atomic- or nanometer-scale surface roughening has been investigated during Si etching in inductively coupled Cl{2} plasmas, as a function of rf bias power or ion incident energy E{i} , by varying feed gas flow rate, wafer stage temperature, and etching time. The experiments revealed two modes of surface roughening which occur depending on E{i} : one is the roughening mode at low E{i}  < 200–300 eV, where the root-mean-square (rms) roughness of etched surfaces increases with increasing E{i} , exhibiting an almost linear increase with time during etching (t < 20 min). The other is the smoothing mode at higher E{i} , where the rms surface roughness decreases substantially with E{i} down to a low level < 0.4 nm, exhibiting a quasi-steady state after some increase at the initial stage (t < 1 min). Correspondingly, two different behaviors depending on E{i} were also observed in the etchrate versus √E{i} curve, and in the evolution of the power spectral density distribution of surfaces.Such changes from the roughening to smoothing modes with increasing E{i} were found to correspond to changes in the predominant ion flux from feed gas ions Cl{x}[+] to ionized etch products SiCl{x}[+]caused by the increased etch rates at increased E{i} , in view of the results of several plasma diagnostics. Possible mechanisms for the formation and evolution of surface roughness during plasma etching are discussed with the help of Monte Carlo simulations of the surface feature evolution and classical molecular dynamics simulations of etch fundamentals, including stochastic roughening and effects of ion reflection and etch inhibitors