Design of Hemispherical Radio Frequency (RF) Capacitive-type Electrode Free of Edge Effects for Treatment of Intracavitary Tumors

A new hemispherical electrode to heat oral cavity cancer is proposed. The electrode does not produce a hot spot around its edge, a feature that usually arises when using radio frequency (RF) capacitive-type heating. The hemispherical electrode was designed by computer simulation using a 3-D finite element method. To assess its practicality and effectiveness, we built a prototype hemispherical electrode and evaluated its heating characteristics by phantom experiments. The heating effects on the phantom were measured by thermography. The concave phantom surface in contact with the hemispherical electrode showed a uniform increase in temperature, with no obvious edge effect. The proposed electrode allows non-invasive RF capacitive-type heating for intracavity tumors that was not previously considered possible, and should contribute to the multidisciplinary treatment of intracavity tumors

Structural mechanism and photoprotective function of water-soluble chlorophyll-binding protein

This research was originally published in Journal of Biological Chemistry. Daisuke Horigome, Hiroyuki Satoh, Nobue Itoh, Katsuyoshi Mitsunaga, Isao Oonishi, Atsushi Nakagawa and Akira Uchida. Structural mechanism and photoprotective function of water-soluble chlorophyll-binding protein. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 2007; 282, 6525-6531. © the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Retrospective analysis of definitive radiotherapy for neck node metastasis from unknown primary tumor: Japanese Radiation Oncology Study Group study

Objective: To investigate the optimal treatment method and risk factor of neck node metastasis from unknown primary tumors (NUP) treated by radiotherapy. Methods: Retrospective case study based on a multi-institutional survey was conducted by the Japanese Radiation Oncology Study Group. Patients pathologically diagnosed as having NUP from 1998 to 2007 were identified. Univariate and multivariate analyses of overall survival (OS), progression free survival (PFS), neck progression free survival (NPFS) and mucosal progression free survival (MPFS) were evaluated. Results: In total, 130 patients with median age of 65 years were included. Nodal stages N1, N2a, N2b and N2c were observed for 10, 26, 43, 12 and 39 patients, respectively. All the patients received radiotherapy (RT) with neck dissection in 60 and with chemotherapy in 67 cases. The median doses to the metastatic nodes, prophylactic neck and prophylactic mucosal sites were 60.0, 50.4 and 50.4 Gy, respectively. The median follow-up period for surviving patients was 42 months. Among 12 patients, occult primary tumors in the neck region developed after radiotherapy. The 5-year OS, PFS, NPFS and MPFS were 58.1%, 42.4%, 47.3% and 54.9%, respectively. Univariate analysis showed that lower N stage (N1?2b), non-bulky node (<6 cm) and negative extracapsular extension (ECE) status were the factors associated with favorable OS, PFS, NPFS and MPFS. Radical surgery proved to be a favorable factor of OS, NPFS and MPFS. On multivariate analysis, lower N stage and negative ECE status were correlated with improved survival. Conclusions: Lower nodal stage and negative ECE status showed a favorable impact on survival and disease control in patients with NUP treated by radiotherapy

The prospective study of the post-graduate education for the first-year-NICU nurses, regarding to the medical malpractice prevention : The comparison between self- and alter- assessmentof fundamental knowledge

本研究の目的は,新人看護師の就職後1年間における「医療事故防止上習得しておくべき知識」について,新人看護師の自己評価と臨床教育担当者による第3者評価をもとに,その習得状況の1年間の推移と,双方で「知っている」認識の一致状況を明らかにすることである.対象は2002年度,当施設新生児病棟に配属となった新人看護師5名とした.医療事故防止の観点から検討し独自に作成した「医療事故防止上重要な52項目」を用いて,就職時・4ヶ月後・8ヶ月後・12ヶ月後の計4回構成面接を行い,知識の習得状況を調査した.その結果は次のとおりである.1.「知っている」と判断された項目数は,個人別では就職時と比し,12ケ月後は有意に増加した.また質問52項目中,全新人看護師が「知っている」と面接者が評価した項目の割合は,就職時の12項目(23.0%)から12ヶ月後には35項目(67.3%)に上昇した.2.新人看護師と面接者の「知っている」の一致率は,就職時52%,4ヶ月後86%,8ヶ月後74%,12ヶ月後81%で,就職時と比べ12ヶ月後には高くなる傾向が認められた.3.質問52項目を4ヶ月後・8ヶ月後・12ヶ月後でそれぞれ「知っているべき」項目に分類し,全新人看護師が「知っている」と面接者が評価した割合は,4ヶ月後66%,8ヶ月後68%,12ヶ月78%であり,12ヶ月後新人看護師と面接者の「知っている」の一致率は84%だった.これらの結果から,新人看護師の教育担当者謹師は新人看護師が理解している内容を具体的に把握し,双方の「知っている・いない」の認識は一致しないことを意識して関わることが医療事故防止上の観点から重要である.Purpose: To demonstrate the tendency of knowledge acquisition for first-year nurses to practice clinical nursing by observing them for 1 year. Subjects and Methods: Five first-year nurses assigned to the neonatal ward in 2002 were interviewed at the beginning of the year and 4, 8 and 12 months after in order to assess the process of the acquisition of knowledge. We developed The Questionnaire called "Fifty-two Items of Important knowledge for Malpractice Precaution". It was used for data collection. Results: (1) The number of items judged I1known" to each 5 nurses had significantly increased at 12 months, compared with the number at the beginning. Out of the 52 items, the proportion judged "known" to all 5 nurses also rose from 23% at the beginning to 69% at 12 months. (2)The items judged "known" to all 5 nurses by themselves were objectively confirmed by the interviewer. The proportion of confirmed items in all "known" items were 71%, 88%, 72%, and 86%, at the 4, 8 and 12 month. (3) Minimal essential items of knowledge at 4, 8 and 12 months were respectively selected out of the 52 items. Those items, the proportion judged "known" to all 5 nurses resulted in 66,68% and 78%, at 4, 8 and 12 months, respectively. The proportion of confirmed by the in interviewer at 12 months resulted in 84%. Conclusion: The results indicate that is a discrepancy but were what first-year nurses say they know and what they actually know. Therefore it is important for senior nurses, who are responsible for training of first-year nurses, to be aware of it. And it is incumbent on senior nurses to ascertain the level of knowledge of their junior nurses to prevent malpractice

Pifithrin-μ, an inhibitor of heat-shock protein 70, can increase the antitumor effects of hyperthermia against human prostate cancer cells.

Hyperthermia (HT) improves the efficacy of anti-cancer radiotherapy and chemotherapy. However, HT also inevitably evokes stress responses and increases the expression of heat-shock proteins (HSPs) in cancer cells. Among the HSPs, HSP70 is known as a pro-survival protein. In this study, we investigated the sensitizing effect of pifithrin (PFT)-μ, a small molecule inhibitor of HSP70, when three human prostate cancer cell lines (LNCaP, PC-3, and DU-145) were treated with HT (43°C for 2 h). All cell lines constitutively expressed HSP70, and HT further increased its expression in LNCaP and DU-145. Knockdown of HSP70 with RNA interference decreased the viability and colony-forming ability of cancer cells. PFT-μ decreased the viabilities of all cell lines at one-tenth the dose of Quercetin, a well-known HSP inhibitor. The combination therapy with suboptimal doses of PFT-μ and HT decreased the viability of cancer cells most effectively when PFT-μ was added immediately before HT, and this combination effect was abolished by pre-knockdown of HSP70, suggesting that the effect was mediated via HSP70 inhibition. The combination therapy induced cell death, partially caspase-dependent, and decreased proliferating cancer cells, with decreased expression of c-Myc and cyclin D1 and increased expression of p21(WAF1/Cip), indicating arrest of cell growth. Additionally, the combination therapy significantly decreased the colony-forming ability of cancer cells compared to therapy with either alone. Furthermore, in a xenograft mouse model, the combination therapy significantly inhibited PC-3 tumor growth. These findings suggest that PFT-μ can effectively enhance HT-induced antitumor effects via HSP70 inhibition by inducing cell death and arrest of cell growth, and that PFT-μ is a promising agent for use in combination with HT to treat prostate cancer

Pro-survival role of HSP70 in human prostate cancer cell lines.

<p>(<b>A</b>) Three prostate cancer cell lines were treated with HT (43°C for 2 h). Before and after 4, 8, 12, and 24 h, lysates were prepared and the expression of HSP70 was assessed by immunoblot. β-Actin was used as the control. The number represents the ratio of the expression of HSP70 to that of β-actin, which was evaluated by densitometry using ImageJ. (<b>B</b>) Three days after transfection of HSP70 siRNA or control siRNA, the expression of HSP70 was assessed by immunoblot. β-Actin was used as a control. (<b>C</b>) Three cell lines, which had been pre-transfected with HSP70 siRNA or control siRNA three days before, were cultured. After 48 h, cell viability (%) was determined using the WST-8 assay. The results are shown as the mean ± SD of three wells. * <i>P</i><0.05 (Student's <i>t</i>-test) (<b>D</b>) PC-3 and DU-145, which had been pre-transfected with HSP70 siRNA or control siRNA 2 days prior, were cultured for the colony-formation assay for 12 days. The results are shown as the mean ± SD of three wells. * <i>P</i><0.05 (Student's <i>t</i>-test) (<b>E</b>) LNCaP, which had been pre-transfected with HSP70 siRNA or control siRNA 2 days prior, were cultured for 12 days, and cell viability (%) was determined using the WST-8 assay. The results are shown as the mean ± SD of three wells. * <i>P</i><0.05 (Student's <i>t</i>-test).</p