Comparison of the clinical characteristics of TAFRO syndrome and idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease in general internal medicine: a 6‐year retrospective study

Background Although thrombocytopenia, anasarca, fever, reticulin fibrosis and organomegaly (TAFRO) syndrome was first described as a variant of idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease (CD), patients with TAFRO syndrome demonstrate more aggressive clinical features. Because these patients may present with fever of unknown origin, general physicians need to recognise its characteristic laboratory data and clinical features during hospitalisation. Aims to describe the features, symptoms and characteristics of TAFRO syndrome and to compare them to those of idiopathic CD. Methods This was a retrospective study of patients with histopathologically confirmed TAFRO syndrome and idiopathic multicentric CD who were diagnosed and managed between April 2012 and June 2018 in a Japanese university hospital's General Medicine Department. Results We found that the hospitalisations were significantly longer among patients with TAFRO syndrome compared to those with idiopathic CD (median: 87 days; range: 34–236 days vs median: 30 days; range: 13–59 days; P Conclusions TAFRO syndrome may present as an infectious disease with an aggressive clinical course. Our study highlights the importance of giving significance to chief complaints and laboratory data. Physicians need to recognise the clinical and laboratory features of this disease to avoid missing this potentially fatal disorder

綾部市への人口移動における移住、定住政策の評価

Even as the total population of Japan declines, the depopulation of rural areas and the overconcentration in Tokyo must be perceived and addressed as interconnected problems. In recent years, there has been a growing trend to “return to the countryside,” which has seen mainly the younger generation moving from urban areas to rural districts, especially in the underpopulated areas. Migration, along with the preservation of the resident population, and the reinforcement and revival of regional areas are considered important policies for regional municipalities in this era of regional revitalization. This study analyzed interviews conducted with five families who have moved to the rural districts of Ayabe City in Kyoto Prefecture, which can be called a municipality with advanced migration. Thus, it examined whether the migration and settlement policies developed by Ayabe City are viable and effective. The results indicated that the policies were not necessarily the cause of migration. Instead, it was suggested that the “human connection” was the most important reason for migration from urban to rural districts

都市と農村交流における域学連携教育モデルの可能性―「あやべ大学」の実践的取組事例より―

　Although farming villages have been reevaluated amid the trend of returning to the countryside, the proportion of depopulated areas in municipalities nationwide has been on the rise, and the problem of increasing shortages of human resources due to depopulation in rural areas is becoming more serious. During this time, it will be important for the future sustenance of local communities to consider a new exchange model between urban and rural areas focusing on the population of concern that is becoming apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to increase the value of the existence of depopulated areas. This study aimed to clarify the significance and issues of collaboration between universities and local communities in exchanges between urban and rural areas based on a case study of interdisciplinary cooperation efforts called “Ayabe University,” which is active mainly in the Shigasato area of Ayabe City, Kyoto Prefecture, and interview surveys conducted there. We will empirically show the possibilities and problems of the interdisciplinary education model based on the perspectives of residents in accordance with the four indicators of the interaction, value discovery, problem-solving practice, and knowledge sharing types discussed in previous studies

SIRIUS Project. IV. The formation history of the Orion Nebula Cluster driven by clump mergers

The Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC) is an excellent example for understanding the formation of star clusters. Recent studies have shown that ONC has three distinct age populations and anisotropy in velocity dispersions, which are key characteristics for understanding the formation history of the ONC. In this study, we perform a smoothed-particle hydrodynamics/$N$-body simulation of star cluster formation from a turbulent molecular cloud. In this simulation, stellar orbits are integrated using a high-order integrator without gravitational softening; therefore, we can follow the collisional evolution of star clusters. We find that hierarchical formation causes episodic star formation that is observed in the ONC. In our simulation, star clusters evolve due to mergers of subclumps. The mergers bring cold gas with the clumps into the forming cluster. This enhances the star formation in the cluster centre. The dense cold gas in the cluster centre continues to form stars until the latest time. This explains the compact distribution of the youngest stars observed in the ONC. Subclump mergers also contribute to the anisotropy in the velocity dispersions and the formation of runaway stars. However, the anisotropy disappears within 0.5 Myr. The virial ratio of the cluster also increases after a merger due to the runaways. These results suggest that the ONC recently experienced a clump merger. We predict that most runaways originated from the ONC have already been found, but walkaways have not.Comment: 15 pages, 21 figures, and 3 tables, accepted for MNRA

Assessing the Geomechanical Responses of Storage System in CO2 Geological Storage: an Introduction of Research Program in the National Institute for Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)

AbstractThis paper overviews studies being conducted in the National Institute for Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) on the fluid-rock mechanical interaction associated with CO2 geological storage (CGS). Our studies include the extension of TOUGH-FLAC simulator developed in LBNL to CGS under the geologic conditions of Japan where the young sedimentary basins underlain by so-called “soft rocks” are postulated to be the place of CO2 storage. Experimental studies and basic studies on the petrophysical properties of “soft rocks” are also the important parts of the whole research program to elucidate their mechanical behaviors under the conditions in and around a CO2 reservoir and its caprock

Enhanced Autophagy and Reduced Expression of Cathepsin D Are Related to Autophagic Cell Death in Epstein-Barr Virus-Associated Nasal Natural Killer/T-Cell Lymphomas: An Immunohistochemical Analysis of Beclin-1, LC3, Mitochondria (AE-1), and Cathepsin D in Nasopharyngeal Lymphomas

This study investigated autophagy in 37 cases of nasopharyngeal lymphomas including 23 nasal natural killer (NK)/T-cell lymphomas (NKTCL), 3 cytotoxic T-cell lymphomas (cytotoxic-TML) and 9 B-cell lymphomas (BML) by means of antigen-retrieval immunohistochemistry of beclin-1, LC3, mitochondria (AE-1) and cathepsin D. Peculiar necrosis was noted in EBV+ lymphomas comprising 21 NKTCL, 2 cytotoxic-TML and 1 BML. Lymphomas without peculiar necrosis showed high expression of beclin-1, macrogranular cytoplasmal stain of LC3 with sporadic nuclear stain, a hallmark of autophagic cell death (ACD), some aggregated mitochondria and high expression of cathepsin D, suggesting a state of growth with enhanced autophagy with sporadic ACD. EBV+ NKTCL with the peculiar necrosis, showed significantly low level of macrogranular staining of LC3, aggregated mitochondria and low expression of cathepsin D in the cellular areas when degenerative lymphoma cells showed decreased beclin-1, significantly advanced LC3-labeled autophagy, residual aggregated mitochondria and significantly reduced expression of cathepsin D, suggesting advanced autophagy with regional ACD. Consequently it was suggested that enhanced autophagy and reduced expression of lysosomal enzymes induced regional ACD under EBV infection in NKTCL

Novel hemagglutinating, hemolytic and cytotoxic activities of the intermediate subunit of Entamoeba histolytica lectin

Galactose and N-acetyl-D-galactosamine (Gal/GalNAc) inhibitable lectin of Entamoeba histolytica, a common protozoan parasite, has roles in pathogenicity and induction of protective immunity in mouse models of amoebiasis. The lectin consists of heavy (Hgl), light (Lgl), and intermediate (Igl) subunits. Hgl has lectin activity and Lgl does not, but little is known about the activity of Igl. In this study, we assessed various regions of Igl for hemagglutinating activity using recombinant proteins expressed in Escherichia coli. We identified a weak hemagglutinating activity of the protein. Furthermore, we found novel hemolytic and cytotoxic activities of the lectin, which resided in the carboxy-terminal region of the protein. Antibodies against Igl inhibited the hemolytic activity of Entamoeba histolytica trophozoites. This is the first report showing hemagglutinating, hemolytic and cytotoxic activities of an amoebic molecule, Igl

EFFECT OF ROXITHROMYCIN ON PHAGOCYTOSIS-CONNECTED OXYGEN CONSUMPTION AND OPSONIZING ACTIVITY IN WHOLE BLOOD

The modulation of host antimicrobial activity by antibiotics is of therapeutic importance. The effect of serum on drug activity is also of clinical interest. We studied the effect of roxithromycin on the opsonizing time of plasma and the oxygen consuming activity of phagocytes in peripheral whole blood that reflects in vivo bacteremia more than isolated serum and granulocytes. Roxithromycin has no effect on the opsonizing activity at any concentrations we examined. At lower concentration (<50μg/ml), roxithromycin does not give any effects on zymosan-stimulated oxygen consumption either. At the highest concentration (200μg/ml) we examined, the antibiotic however decreases it to the extent comparable to that reported in serum-free reconstituted in vitro system. These results indicate that roxithromycin has modulatory effects neither on anti-microbial oxygen metabolism of phagocytes nor on the opsonizing activity of plasma at pharmacological concentration, but is inhibitory on the former at its toxic concentration. On the other hand, serum proteins have no effects on drug toxicity in this context in comparison to in vitro studies (24, 30)

COMPARISON OF SIX COMMERCIALLY-AVAILABLE DNA POLYMERASES FOR DIRECT PCR

The use of a "direct PCR" DNA polymerase enables PCR amplification without any prior DNA purification from blood samples due to the enzyme\u27s resistance to inhibitors present in blood components. Such DNA polymerases are now commercially available. We compared the PCR performance of six direct PCR-type DNA polymerases (KOD FX, Mighty Amp, Hemo KlenTaq, Phusion Blood II, KAPA Blood, and BIOTAQ) in dried blood eluted from a filter paper with TE buffer. GoTaq Flexi was used as a standard DNA polymerase. PCR performance was evaluated by a nested PCR technique for detecting Plasmodium falciparum genomic DNA in the presence of the blood components. Although all six DNA polymerases showed resistance to blood components compared to the standard Taq polymerase, the KOD FX and BIOTAQ DNA polymerases were resistant to inhibitory blood components at concentrations of 40%, and their PCR performance was superior to that of other DNA polymerases. When the reaction mixture contained a mild detergent, only KOD FX DNA polymerase retained the original amount of amplified product. These results indicate that KOD FX DNA polymerase is the most resistant to inhibitory blood components and/or detergents. Thus, KOD FX DNA polymerase could be useful in serological studies to simultaneously detect antibodies and DNA in eluents for antibodies. KOD FX DNA polymerase is thus not limited to use in detecting malaria parasites, but could also be employed to detect other blood-borne pathogens