Essential Immunoregulatory Role for BCAP in B Cell Development and Function

BCAP was recently cloned as a binding molecule to phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K). To investigate the role of BCAP, mutant mice deficient in BCAP were generated. While BCAP-deficient mice are viable, they have decreased numbers of mature B cells and B1 B cell deficiency. The mice produce lower titers of serum immunoglobulin (Ig)M and IgG3, and mount attenuated responses to T cell–independent type II antigen. Upon B cell receptor cross-linking, BCAP-deficient B cells exhibit reduced Ca2+ mobilization and poor proliferative responses. These findings demonstrate that BCAP plays a pivotal immunoregulatory role in B cell development and humoral immune responses

Cutaneous sarcoidosis in a chronic hepatitis C patient receiving pegylated interferon and ribavirin therapy

A 61-year-old Japanese woman suffered from a small, painful, subcutaneous nodule on the sole of her foot that was 10mm across in diameter during pegylated interferon (PEG IFN) and ribavirin (RBV) combination therapy for chronic hepatitis C. Skin biopsy revealed multiple non-caseating granulomas composed of epithelioid histiocytes with multinucleate giant cells, which was consistent with sarcoidosis. Ophthalmologic examination revealed uveitis. Thoracic computed tomography (CT) showed multiple bilateral hilar lymphadenopathies and a diffuse micronodular interstitial pattern of the lungs. Genetic analysis indicated a probable homozygous haplotype of A*02:01-C*15:02-B*51:01-DRB1*16:02-DQB1*05:02 in human leukocyte antigen regions. The patient was observed carefully without any additional medication because no significant systemic symptoms were noted. Combination therapy was continued for 2months afterwards. She was asymptomatic for over 3years of follow up, and repeated hematological and biological investigations and chest CT showed improvement. In conclusion, clinicians should bear sarcoidosis in mind as a complication during PEG IFN and RBV combination therapy. They should also be aware of the usually good prognosis of PEG IFN-induced cutaneous sarcoidosis in order not to prematurely discontinue a treatment necessary for liver disease; maintenance of PEG IFN treatment may be advised with careful follow up.ArticleHEPATOLOGY RESEARCH. 43(7):801-807 (2013)journal articl

福島県内病院における看護業務の看護補助者・他職種への委譲状況と看護師の認識との関連

目的：福島県における看護業務について看護補助者および他職種への委譲状況と看護師の認識の関連を明らかにする．方法：福島県内の病院に勤務する看護師を対象に現在の看護業務の委譲状況とそれぞれの看護師が考える看護に基づいた本来の看護業務の委譲のあり方に関して自記式の質問紙調査を行った．基本統計量を算出し，現在の委譲状況と本来の委譲のあり方の一致の程度について割合を算出し，看護職の認識による差をKruskal-Wallis検定で行った．結果：有効回答は14施設241部であった．療養上の世話は，現在ほとんど看護補助者と共に行っているが，本来は看護補助者と共に行うおよび看護補助者に委譲するという回答が多かった．診療の補助は，現在看護師のみが行い，本来も看護師だから行うとの回答が多かった．看護師の業務量が多いと認識している人ほど本来は看護補助者に業務を委譲するものと回答した．結論：看護師は療養上の世話は看護補助者と共に行うか委譲するとし，診療の補助は看護師だから行うとし，業務量が多いと認識している人ほど業務を看護補助者に委譲するものと考えていた．Purpose: To clarify the relationship between the status of nursing task delegation to nursing assistants and other professions in Fukushima Prefecture regarding their work. Methods: A self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted on nurses working in hospitals in Fukushima Prefecture regarding the current and desired states of delegation of nursing duties based on their view of nursing. We calculated basic statistics, and percentages for the degree of agreement between the current and the desired states of delegation. Results: The number of valid responses was 241 from 14 facilities. The majority of the respondents answered that they currently provided most of the assistance with patients' activities of daily living together with nursing assistants, and that this duty should be provided together with the nursing assistants or delegated to them. For example, 32.4% of foot baths are currently performed only by nurses, while 42.8% of nurses said it would be better to delegate this task. Those who perceived the workload of nurses to be high were more likely to say that some of their duties should be delegated to nursing assistants. Conclusion: The current study showed that nurses prefer to provide assistance with patients' activities of daily living with nursing assistants or to delegate this duty to them. They also prefer to assist medical treatment

An Active C-Terminally Truncated Form of Ca2+/Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Phosphatase-N (CaMKP-N/PPM1E)

Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase phosphatase (CaMKP/PPM1F) and its nuclear homolog CaMKP-N (PPM1E) are Ser/Thr protein phosphatases that belong to the PPM family. CaMKP-N is expressed in the brain and undergoes proteolytic processing to yield a C-terminally truncated form. The physiological significance of this processing, however, is not fully understood. Using a wheat-embryo cell-free protein expression system, we prepared human CaMKP-N (hCaMKP-N(WT)) and the truncated form, hCaMKP-N(1–559), to compare their enzymatic properties using a phosphopeptide substrate. The hCaMKP-N(1–559) exhibited a much higher value than the hCaMKP-N(WT) did, suggesting that the processing may be a regulatory mechanism to generate a more active species. The active form, hCaMKP-N(1–559), showed Mn2+ or Mg2+-dependent phosphatase activity with a strong preference for phospho-Thr residues and was severely inhibited by NaF, but not by okadaic acid, calyculin A, or 1-amino-8-naphthol-2,4-disulfonic acid, a specific inhibitor of CaMKP. It could bind to postsynaptic density and dephosphorylate the autophosphorylated Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II. Furthermore, it was inactivated by H2O2 treatment, and the inactivation was completely reversed by treatment with DTT, implying that this process is reversibly regulated by oxidation/reduction. The truncated CaMKP-N may play an important physiological role in neuronal cells.This work was supported, in part, by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (21590334) from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, and Culture of Japan and by a grant from the Japan Foundation for Applied Enzymology

Hitomi X-Ray Studies of Giant Radio Pulses from the Crab Pulsar

To search for giant X-ray pulses correlated with the giant radio pulses (GRPs) from the Crab pulsar, we performed a simultaneous observation of the Crab pulsar with the X-ray satellite Hitomi in the 2300 keV band and the Kashima NICT radio telescope in the 1.41.7 GHz band with a net exposure of about 2 ks on 2016 March 25, just before the loss of the Hitomi mission. The timing performance of the Hitomi instruments was confirmed to meet the timing requirement and about 1000 and 100 GRPs were simultaneously observed at the main pulse and inter-pulse phases, respectively, and we found no apparent correlation between the giant radio pulses and the X-ray emission in either the main pulse or inter-pulse phase. All variations are within the 2 fluctuations of the X-ray fluxes at the pulse peaks, and the 3 upper limits of variations of main pulse or inter-pulse GRPs are 22% or 80% of the peak flux in a 0.20 phase width, respectively, in the 2300 keV band. The values for main pulse or inter-pulse GRPs become 25% or 110%, respectively, when the phase width is restricted to the 0.03 phase. Among the upper limits from the Hitomi satellite, those in the 4.510 keV and 70300 keV bands are obtained for the first time, and those in other bands are consistent with previous reports. Numerically, the upper limits of the main pulse and inter-pulse GRPs in the 0.20 phase width are about (2.4 and 9.3) 10(exp 11) erg cm(exp 2), respectively. No significant variability in pulse profiles implies that the GRPs originated from a local place within the magnetosphere. Although the number of photon-emitting particles should temporarily increase to account for the brightening of the radio emission, the results do not statistically rule out variations correlated with the GRPs, because the possible X-ray enhancement may appear due to a >0.02% brightening of the pulse-peak flux under such conditions