Usefulness of Computed Tomography in the Diagnosis of an Overdose

Computed tomography (CT) is superior for the detection of substances with low radiolucency in comparison with abdominal roentgenograms. In the present study, medical chart review was retrospectively performed for patients who were admitted and underwent plain CT including the stomach on arrival to investigate whether CT is useful for diagnosing overdose (OD). The subjects were divided into patients with OD who did not undergo gastric lavage (OD group) and those without OD (Control group). The presence of a radiopaque area (Hounsfield number over 100 on a range of interest of 3mm2) in the stomach on CT was defined as a positive finding. The average Glasgow Coma Scale in the OD group (n＝11) was significantly lower than that in the Control group (n＝137). Positive findings on CT were found more frequently in the OD group than in the Control group (100 vs. 19.7%, p＜0.0001). Based on the finding of a high-density deposition in the bottom of the stomach, the CT predicted OD with 98.5% specificity. Accordingly, CT findings of a high-density deposition in the stomach of a patient with a diminished consciousness may suggest the presence of a recent overdose

VV 655 and NGC 4418: Implications of an interaction for the evolution of a LIRG

VV 655, a dwarf irregular galaxy with HI tidal debris, is a companion to the lenticular luminous infrared galaxy (LIRG) NGC 4418. NGC 4418 stands out among nearby LIRGs due to its dense central concentration of molecular gas and the dusty, bi-polar structures along its minor axis suggestive of a wind driven by a central starburst and possible nuclear activity. We seek to understand the consequences of the ongoing minor interaction between VV 655 and NGC 4418 for the evolution of the LIRG, including the origin of the gas supply responsible for its unusual nuclear properties. We investigate the structural, kinematic, and chemical properties of VV 655 and NGC 4418 by analyzing archival imaging data and optical spectroscopic observations from the SDSS-III and new spectra from SALT-RSS. We characterize their gas-phase metal abundances and spatially resolved, ionized gas kinematics, and demonstrate that the gas-phase metallicity in NGC 4418 significantly exceeds that in VV 655. No kinematic disturbances in the ionized gas are observed along the minor axis of NGC 4418, but we see evidence for ionized gas outflows from VV 655 that may increase the cross-section for gas stripping in grazing collisions. A faint, asymmetric outer arm is detected in NGC 4418 of the type normally associated with galaxy-galaxy interactions. The simplest model suggests that the minor interaction between VV 655 and NGC 4418 produced the unusual nuclear properties of the LIRG via tidal torquing of the interstellar medium of NGC 4418 rather than through a significant gas transfer event. In addition to inducing a central concentration of gas in NGC 4418, this interaction also produced an enhanced star formation rate and an outer tidal arm in the LIRG. The VV 655-NGC 4418 system offers an example of the potential for minor collisions to alter the evolutionary pathways of giant galaxies.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

セイブンカ ト セイシ ケイセイ キコウ ニ タイスル プロテオミクス カラノ アプローチ

SRY （sex determining region on the Y chromosome） was a gene isolated as the testis determining factor on the Y chromosome in １９９０．The gene consisted of single exon and encodes a ２０４ amino acid protein. Since SRY protein has a HMG domain, which functions as DNA binding domain, it has been considered to be a transcription factor. Direct target of SRY, however, have not yet identified for １４ years. In this study, we have performed a proteomics approach to analyze the function of SRY. Twodimensional gel electrophoresis after over expression of SRY showed considerable down regulation in many proteins. Among the proteins, mitochondrial ６０‐kDa heat shock protein （HSP６０） and probable protein disulfide isomerase （ER６０） remarkably decreased. Since they were reported to be associated with cell proliferation and differentiation, we investigated the effects of SRY on cell cycle profiles. It was shown that the over‐expression of SRY negatively regulated the cell growth with significant S or G２／M arrest of cell cycle

RiceFOX: A Database of Arabidopsis Mutant Lines Overexpressing Rice Full-Length cDNA that Contains a Wide Range of Trait Information to Facilitate Analysis of Gene Function

Identification of gene function is important not only for basic research but also for applied science, especially with regard to improvements in crop production. For rapid and efficient elucidation of useful traits, we developed a system named FOX hunting (Full-length cDNA Over-eXpressor gene hunting) using full-length cDNAs (fl-cDNAs). A heterologous expression approach provides a solution for the high-throughput characterization of gene functions in agricultural plant species. Since fl-cDNAs contain all the information of functional mRNAs and proteins, we introduced rice fl-cDNAs into Arabidopsis plants for systematic gain-of-function mutation. We generated >30,000 independent Arabidopsis transgenic lines expressing rice fl-cDNAs (rice FOX Arabidopsis mutant lines). These rice FOX Arabidopsis lines were screened systematically for various criteria such as morphology, photosynthesis, UV resistance, element composition, plant hormone profile, metabolite profile/fingerprinting, bacterial resistance, and heat and salt tolerance. The information obtained from these screenings was compiled into a database named ‘RiceFOX’. This database contains around 18,000 records of rice FOX Arabidopsis lines and allows users to search against all the observed results, ranging from morphological to invisible traits. The number of searchable items is approximately 100; moreover, the rice FOX Arabidopsis lines can be searched by rice and Arabidopsis gene/protein identifiers, sequence similarity to the introduced rice fl-cDNA and traits. The RiceFOX database is available at http://ricefox.psc.riken.jp/

Characteristics of patients that experience cardiopulmonary arrest following aortic dissection and aneurysm

Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the characteristics of patients experience cardiopulmonary arrest (CPA) in the acute phase following aortic dissection and aneurysm (AD). Materials and Methods: Patients who were transported to this department from January 2005 to December 2010 and subsequently diagnosed with AD were included in this study. Patients with asymptomatic AD or those with AD that did not develop CPA were excluded. The AD was classified into four categories: Stanford A (SA), Stanford B (SB), thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) and abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). The frequency of witnessed collapse, gender, average age, past history including hypertension, vascular complications and diabetes mellitus, the initial complaint at the timed of dissection, initial electrocardiogram at scene, classification of CPA and survival ratio were compared among the patient groups. Results: There were 24 cases of SA, 1 case of the SB, 8 cases of ruptured TAA and 9 cases of ruptured AAA. The frequency of males among all subjects was 69%, the average age was 72.3 years old and the frequency of hypertension was 47.6%. There was no ventricular fibrillation (VF) when the patients with AD collapsed. A loss of consciousness was the most common complaint. The outcome of the subjects was poor; however, three patients with SA achieved social rehabilitation. Two out of the three had cardiac tamponade and underwent open heart massage. Conclusion: The current study revealed that mortality of cardiac arrest caused by the AD remains very high, even when return of spontaneous circulation was obtained. VF was rare when the patients with AD collapsed. While some cases with CPA of SA may achieve a favorable outcome following immediate appropriate treatment

Dusty Superwind from a Galaxy with a Compact Obscured Nucleus: Optical Spectroscopic Study of NGC 4418

We report our optical spectroscopic study of the nucleus and its surrounding region of a nearby luminous infrared galaxy NGC 4418. This galaxy has been known to host a compact obscured nucleus, showing distinct characteristics such as a very compact (similar to 20 pc) submillimeter and mid-infrared core and dusty circumnuclear region with massive molecular gas concentration. We detected dusty superwind outflow at greater than or similar to 1 kpc scale along the disk semiminor axis in both shock-heated emission lines and enhanced interstellar Na D absorption. This superwind shows basic characteristics similar to those of the prototypical superwind in the starburst galaxy M82, such as a kiloparsec-scale extended structure of gas and dust along the disk minor axis, outflowing components (multiphase gas and dust), physical conditions of the ionized gas, and monotonically blueshifting radial velocity field with increasing distance from the nucleus on the front side of the superwind. We also detected a moderately extinct starburst population in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey nuclear spectrum with a burst age of similar or equal to 10 Myr and stellar mass of similar or equal to 1 x 10(7) M-circle dot. It is powerful enough to drive the superwind within the dynamical age of the superwind (similar or equal to 10 Myr). On the basis of comparison between this starburst-superwind scenario and the observations in terms of the burst age, stellar mass, infrared luminosity, and obscuration in the optical bands, we argue that this superwind-driving starburst is separate from the submillimeter core even if the core is a very young star cluster. Therefore, this galaxy hosts both the enshrouded compact core and the superwind-driving circumnuclear starburst