High serum levels of both carcinoembryonic antigen and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 in a patient with sigmoid colon cancer without metastasis

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and carbohydrate antigen (CA)19-9 are well known as the most common tumor markers of colon cancer, and levels are used not only for preoperative assessment of extent and outcome of cancer, but also postoperative monitoring of recurrence. We encountered a patient with sigmoid colon cancer showing abnormally high serum levels of CEA (311.1 ng/ml) and CA19-9 (5731.2 U/ml) preoperatively. We could not detect any metastases on computed tomography (CT) or 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/CT. Sigmoidectomy and lymph node dissection were performed. Pathological analysis revealed well-differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma of the sigmoid colon with cancer cells infiltrating to the subserosa, but no lymph node metastases. As of postoperative day 60, serum levels of CEA and CA19-9 were 3.4 ng/ml and 9.2 U/ml, respectively, without any further anti-tumor treatment. This represents a rare case of sigmoid colon cancer with high levels of tumor markers in sera that improved following sigmoidectomy without further anti-cancer treatment

Prospective longitudinal comparative study of health-related quality of life in patients treated with radical prostatectomy or permanent brachytherapy for prostate cancer

To determine health-related quality of life (HRQOL) after radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP) or permanent prostate brachytherapy (BT), third party-conducted QOL surveys were prospectively compared. Between 2004 and 2005, 37 patients underwent RRP and 36 were treated with BT. A QOL survey consisting of the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form (SF-36), the University of California, Los Angeles, Prostate Cancer Index (UCLA-PCI) and the International Prostate Symptoms Score (IPSS) was completed prospectively by a research coordinator at baseline, and at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after treatment. The RRP patients scored well in general QOL except at 1 month after surgery, with their mental health better than at baseline by 6 months after surgery. Disease-specific QOL in RRP patients received a low score at 1 month for both urinary and sexual function, though urinary function rapidly recovered to baseline levels. BT patient QOL was not affected by the therapy except in the IPSS score. However, general and mental health scores in BT patients were inferior to those in RRP patients. This prospective study revealed differences in QOL after RRP and BT. These results will be helpful in making treatment decisions.</p

miR-155, a Modulator of FOXO3a Protein Expression, Is Underexpressed and Cannot Be Upregulated by Stimulation of HOZOT, a Line of Multifunctional Treg

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in regulating post-transcriptional gene repression in a variety of immunological processes. In particular, much attention has been focused on their roles in regulatory T (Treg) cells which are crucial for maintaining peripheral tolerance and controlling T cell responses. Recently, we established a novel type of human Treg cell line, termed HOZOT, multifunctional cells exhibiting a CD4+CD8+ phenotype. In this study, we performed miRNA profiling to identify signature miRNAs of HOZOT, and therein identified miR-155. Although miR-155 has also been characterized as a signature miRNA for FOXP3+ natural Treg (nTreg) cells, it was expressed quite differently in HOZOT cells. Under both stimulatory and non-stimulatory conditions, miR-155 expression remained at low levels in HOZOT, while its expression in nTreg and conventional T cells remarkably increased after stimulation. We next searched candidate target genes of miR-155 through bioinformatics, and identified FOXO3a, a negative regulator of Akt signaling, as a miR-155 target gene. Further studies by gain- and loss-of-function experiments supported a role for miR-155 in the regulation of FOXO3a protein expression in conventional T and HOZOT cells

Iodine-125 Seed Implantation (Permanent Brachytherapy) for Clinically Localized Prostate Cancer

From January 2004 to March 2007, 308 patients with clinically localized prostate cancer were treated using iodine-125 (125I) seed implantation (permanent brachytherapy) at Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences. We evaluated the treatment’s effi cacy and morbidity in 300 prostate cancer patients who were followed up for more than 1 month after brachytherapy. Based on the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines, patients with a prostate volume of less than 40 ml in transrectal ultrasound imaging were classifi ed as low or intermediate risk. The median patient age was 67 years (range 50 to 79 years), the median prostate-specific antigen (PSA) value before biopsy was 6.95 ng/ml (range 1.13 to 24.7 ng/ml), and the median prostate volume was 24.33 ml (range 9.3 to 41.76 ml). The median follow-up was 18 months (range 1 to 36 months) and the PSA levels decreased in almost all patients after brachytherapy. Although 194 of 300 patients (64.7%) complained of diffi culty in urination, pollakisuria/urgency, miction pain, and/or urinary incontinence, all of which might be associated with radiation prostatitis during the fi rst month after brachytherapy, these symptoms gradually improved. 125I seed implantation brachytherapy is safe and eff ective for localized prostate cancer within short-term follow up.</p

Autopilot System for Kiteplane

This paper proposes an autopilot system for a small and light unmanned air vehicle called Kiteplane. The Kiteplane has a large delta-shaped main wing that is easily disturbed by the wind, which was minimized by utilizing trim flight with drift. The proposed control system for autonomous trajectory following with a wind disturbance included fuzzy logic controllers, a speed controller, a wind disturbance attenuation block, and low-level feedback controllers. The system was implemented onboard the aircraft. Experiments were performed to test the performance of the proposed system and the Kiteplane nearly succeeded in following the desired trajectory, under the wind disturbance. Although the path was not followed perfectly, the airplane was able to traverse the waypoints by utilizing a failsafe waypoint updating rule

ドウテキ パラメータ オ モチイタ ロボット セイギョ ニ カンスル ケンキュウ

京都大学0048新制・課程博士博士(情報学)甲第9242号情博第47号新制||情||12(附属図書館)UT51-2002-B749京都大学大学院情報学研究科システム科学専攻(主査)教授 足立 紀彦, 教授 熊本 博光, 教授 吉川 恒夫学位規則第4条第1項該当Doctor of InformaticsKyoto UniversityDA

An oceanic fragment in the Upper Cretaceous Miyama Formation of the Shimanto Belt, Kii Peninsula, Japan

An oceanic fragment comprising a complete pelagic sequence from basalt through chert to red shale was found in the Miyama Formation of the Shimanto Belt which is a typical accretion complex in Japan. The conformable sequence, from base, consists of MORB-type basalt, micritic limestone, CCH-type chert, TCH-type chert, MCH-type chert and red shale. CCH chert is alternating beds of calcareous chert and opaque-tuffaceous layers. TCH chert is non-calcareous interbedded chert with opaque-tuffaceous parting. MCH chert is bedded chert intercalated with clay parting. Radiolarian biostratigraphy confirmed that the sequence was continuous from Hauterivian-Barremian to Turonian-early Coniacian time. There also are systematic changes in geochemistry such as decreasing of negative Ce anomaly. These continuous changes of lithology might be due to the changes of depositional regime, that is, from the mid-oceanic ridge, ridge proximal regime above CCD, a slightly distant regime from the ridge, distant regime from ridge and approaching to a contiment, and continental margin regime where hemipelagic sediments accumulated. The depositional regime had moved away from a mid-oceanic ridge to near a trench by ocean spreading in Paleopacific ocean. The complete sequence provides kcy information to reconstruct the original situations of chert and accretion complex in the Shimanto Belt. MORB型の玄武岩から, ミクライト質石灰岩・層状チャートを経て, 半遠洋性の赤色泥岩にいたる連続的な遠洋性堆積物の重なりが, 紀伊半島の上部白亜系美山層中に見いだされた。チャートは, 下位からCCH, TCH, MCHの3つのタイプに岩質上細分される。CCH型は, 石灰質チャートと不透明鉱物に富む凝灰質層との互層であり, TCH型は非石灰質のチャートと不透明鉱物に富む凝灰質層と互層である。MCH型は非石灰質チャートと粘土鉱物を主体とする泥質薄層との繰り返しである。これらの重なりは, 放散虫化石の検討により, Hauterivian-BarremianからTuronian-early Coniacianにかけての連続した堆積物であることが確認された。また, 化学組成の検討から, Ceの負異常が系統的に減少していくことも認められた。このような岩質および化学組成の系統的な変化は, もともと中央海嶺付近にあった堆積場が, 古太平洋の海洋拡大によって徐々に中央海嶺から離れ, 水深を増加させてCCDよりも深くなり, かつ, 徐々に陸域に近づいていった過程を反映したものと解釈される。この遠洋性の重なりをもった海洋地殻の断片は, 四万十帯堆積物の起源や付加過程の解明に重要な情報をもたらすものである。Article地質学論集. 48:100-109 (1997)journal articl

Estimation of a Human-Maneuvered Target Incorporating Human Intention

This paper presents a new approach for estimating the motion state of a target that is maneuvered by an unknown human from observations. To improve the estimation accuracy, the proposed approach associates the recurring motion behaviors with human intentions, and models the association as an intention-pattern model. The human intentions relate to labels of continuous states; the motion patterns characterize the change of continuous states. In the preprocessing, an Interacting Multiple Model (IMM) estimation technique is used to infer the intentions and extract motions, which eventually construct the intention-pattern model. Once the intention-pattern model has been constructed, the proposed approach incorporate the intention-pattern model to estimation using any state estimator including Kalman filter. The proposed approach not only estimates the mean using the human intention more accurately but also updates the covariance using the human intention more precisely. The performance of the proposed approach was investigated through the estimation of a human-maneuvered multirotor. The result of the application has first indicated the effectiveness of the proposed approach for constructing the intention-pattern model. The ability of the proposed approach in state estimation over the conventional technique without intention incorporation has then been demonstrated