STRAD Project for Systematic Treatments of Radioactive Liquid Wastes Generated in Nuclear Facilities

A new collaborative research project for systematic treatments of radioactive liquid wastes containing various reagents generating in nuclear facilities was started from 2018 initiated by Japan Atomic Energy Agency. The project was named as STRAD (Systematic Treatments of RAdioactive liquid wastes for Decommissioning) project. Tentative targets to be studied under the project are aqueous and organic liquid wastes which have been generated by experiments and analyses in a reprocessing experimental laboratory of JAEA. Currently fundamental studies for treatments of the liquid wastes with complicated compositions are underway. In the STRAD project, process flow for treatment of ammonium ion involved in aqueous waste was designed though the inactive experiments, and decomposition of ammonium ion using catalysis will be carried out soon. Adsorbents for recovery of U and Pu from spent solvent were also developed. Demonstration experiments on genuine spent solvent is under planning

Association between Mothers’ Attachment Styles and Parenting Stress among Japanese Mothers with Toddlers

Parenting stress is affected by various factors, including maternal attachment; however, the number of studies focusing on Japanese samples is limited. As such, we explored the association between mothers’ attachment styles and parenting stress among Japanese mothers with 18-month-old toddlers. This cross-sectional study was conducted in Sasebo City, Japan between 2018 and 2019. Anonymous self-reported questionnaires were distributed to 1399 mothers who attended an infant health check-up. We categorized maternal attachment style as secure, anxious/ambivalent, or avoidant, and conducted a multiple logistic regression analysis to evaluate the associations between each attachment style and parenting stress. Of the 1399 mothers, 529 responded to the survey (37.8%). About 40% reported experienced parenting stress. Further, approximately two-thirds showed a secure attachment style, 20% had an anxious/ambivalent style, and 15% had an avoidant style. In the multiple logistic regression analysis, the ambivalently attached mothers had a significantly higher level of parenting stress than those with secure attachment (odds ratio = 2.4, 95% confidence interval (1.5, 3.9)), but avoidantly attached mothers did not have a significantly higher level of parenting stress than those with secure attachment (odds ratio = 0.9, 95% confidence interval (0.5, 1.6)). The findings demonstrate that an anxious/ambivalent attachment style is associated with a higher level of parenting stress than a secure style. Thus, it is important for experts to understand the mother’s attachment style when offering childrearing support

Relationship between bone turnover markers and the heel stiffness index measured by quantitative ultrasound in post-menopausal Japanese women

Background: Osteoporosis in women is a serious health problem. The relationships between biochemical markers of bone turnover and bone mineral density (BMD) in women have been reported, but no study has examined relationships between tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase-5b (TRACP-5b) or bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BAP) and bone mass measured by quantitative ultrasound (QUS) in Japanese post-menopausal women. Aim: To investigate the serum TRACP-5b and BAP levels and to determine their associations with the heel stiffness index measured by QUS in post-menopausal women. Subjects and methods: The subjects were 510 post-menopausal women who were invited to participate in periodic health examinations in 2011–2013 (the Unzen Study). The heel stiffness index (bone mass) was measured by QUS. Serum samples were collected and TRACP-5b and BAP levels were measured. Results: Multiple regression analysis showed that a higher log (TRACP-5b) was correlated with a lower stiffness index (p = 0.014) and log (BAP) was not correlated with stiffness index after adjusting for covariates (p = 0.136). Conclusion: Higher rates of bone resorption are associated with a lower stiffness index in Japanese post-menopausal women. These results may indicate that high bone resorption affects bone mass more than bone formation, resulting in a low bone mass

Comparative Analysis of Genetic Alterations, HPV-Status, and PD-L1 Expression in Neuroendocrine Carcinomas of the Cervix

Neuroendocrine carcinoma of the cervix (NECC) is a rare and highly aggressive tumor with no efficient treatment. We examined genetic features of NECC and identified potential therapeutic targets. A total of 272 patients with cervical cancer (25 NECC, 180 squamous cell carcinoma, 53 adenocarcinoma, and 14 adenosquamous carcinoma) were enrolled. Somatic hotspot mutations in 50 cancer-related genes were detected using the Ion AmpliSeq Cancer Hotspot Panel v2. Human papillomavirus (HPV)-positivity was examined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based testing and in situ hybridization assays. Programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression was examined using immunohistochemistry. Somatic mutation data for 320 cases of cervical cancer from the Project GENIE database were also analyzed. NECC showed similar (PIK3CA, 32%; TP53, 24%) and distinct (SMAD4, 20%; RET, 16%; EGFR, 12%; APC, 12%) alterations compared with other histological types. The GENIE cohort had similar profiles and RB1 mutations in 27.6% of NECC cases. Eleven (44%) cases had at least one actionable mutation linked to molecular targeted therapies and 14 (56%) cases showed more than one combined positive score for PD-L1 expression. HPV-positivity was observed in all NECC cases with a predominance of HPV-18. We report specific gene mutation profiles for NECC, which can provide a basis for the development of novel therapeutic strategies

STRAD project for systematic treatments of radioactive liquid wastes generated in nuclear facilities

A new collaborative research project for systematic treatments of radioactive liquid wastes containing various reagents generating in nuclear facilities was started from 2018 initiated by Japan Atomic Energy Agency. The project was named as STRAD (Systematic Treatments of RAdioactive liquid wastes for Decommissioning) project. Tentative targets to be studied under the project are aqueous and organic liquid wastes which have been generated by experiments and analyses in a reprocessing experimental laboratory of JAEA. Currently fundamental studies for treatments of the liquid wastes with complicated compositions are underway. In the STRAD project, process flow for treatment of ammonium ion involved in aqueous waste was designed though the inactive experiments, and decomposition of ammonium ion using catalysis will be carried out soon. Adsorbents for recovery of U and Pu from spent solvent were also developed. Demonstration experiments on genuine spent solvent is under planning

Long-term safety and efficacy of alogliptin, a DPP-4 inhibitor, in patients with type 2 diabetes: a 3-year prospective, controlled, observational study (J-BRAND Registry)

Introduction Given an increasing use of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors to treat patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in the real-world setting, we conducted a prospective observational study (Japan-based Clinical Research Network for Diabetes Registry: J-BRAND Registry) to elucidate the safety and efficacy profile of long-term usage of alogliptin.Research design and methods We registered 5969 patients from April 2012 through September 2014, who started receiving alogliptin (group A) or other classes of oral hypoglycemic agents (OHAs; group B), and were followed for 3 years at 239 sites nationwide. Safety was the primary outcome. Symptomatic hypoglycemia, pancreatitis, skin disorders of non-extrinsic origin, severe infections, and cancer were collected as major adverse events (AEs). Efficacy assessment was the secondary outcome and included changes in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), fasting blood glucose, fasting insulin and urinary albumin.Results Of the registered, 5150 (group A: 3395 and group B: 1755) and 5096 (3358 and 1738) were included for safety and efficacy analysis, respectively. Group A patients mostly (>90%) continued to use alogliptin. In group B, biguanides were the primary agents, while DPP-4 inhibitors were added in up to ~36% of patients. The overall incidence of AEs was similar between the two groups (42.7% vs 42.2%). Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed the incidence of cancer was significantly higher in group A than in group B (7.4% vs 4.8%, p=0.040), while no significant incidence difference was observed in the individual cancer. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that the imbalanced patient distribution (more elderly patients in group A than in group B), but not alogliptin usage per se, contributed to cancer development. The incidence of other major AE categories was with no between-group difference. Between-group difference was not detected, either, in the incidence of microvascular and macrovascular complications. HbA1c and fasting glucose decreased significantly at the 0.5-year visit and nearly plateaued thereafter in both groups.Conclusions Alogliptin as a representative of DPP-4 inhibitors was safe and durably efficacious when used alone or with other OHAs for patients with type 2 diabetes in the real world setting