Unveiling Protectionism: Regional Responses to Remaining Barriers in the Textiles and Clothing Trade

this chapter focuses on textile and clothing sector in boosting industrialization in developing countries.Textile and clothing industry, post-quota world

Who Cares ? Reflections on an International Multidisciplinary Symposium on Care Economy

One of the targets under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aims to reduce and redistribute unpaid care work, which is mostly done by women, through the provision of public services and the promotion of shared responsibility. In February 2019, experts from academia and international organizations gathered at Okayama University for an international symposium focused on the issues around unpaid and paid care work in relation to gender equality and sustainable society. This paper will first briefly summarize the issues in care work, with a focus on childcare and elderly care in a Japanese context, followed by a discussion of the key points from the symposium related to care-centered economic and social policies

Recurrence of Solitary Fibrous Tumor/Hemangiopericytoma Could Be Predicted by Ki-67 Regardless of Its Origin

Since the discovery of the NAB2-STAT6 gene fusion in 2013, solitary fibrous tumor (SFT) and hemangiopericytoma (HPC) have been considered the same disease. STAT6 nuclear stain is approved as a highly sensitive and specific marker to diagnose SFT/HPC from other tumors with similar histology. As the next step, detection of fusion variants that may predict clinical malignancy of SFT/HPC has been attempted. However, no fusion variants with a clear relation to malignancy have been identified. In this study, the clinical and histological backgrounds of 23 Japanese patients diagnosed with SFT/HPC from 2000 to 2019 at Kochi University Hospital were examined to identify factors potentially related to recurrence. A significant relationship to recurrence was detected for mitosis ≥ 1/10 HPF (400×), necrosis, and Ki-67>5%. These findings indicate that a deliberate investigation of histological features such as mitosis and necrosis is crucial for the clinical observation of SFT/ HPC patients. In addition, Ki-67 was revealed to be a useful parameter to predict recurrence in SFT/HPC patients

Demonstrating the undermining of science and health policy after the Fukushima nuclear accident by applying the Toolkit for detecting misused epidemiological methods

It is well known that science can be misused to hinder the resolution (i.e., the elimination and/or control) of a health problem. To recognize distorted and misapplied epidemiological science, a 33-item "Toolkit for detecting misused epidemiological methods" (hereinafter, the Toolkit) was published in 2021. Applying the Toolkit, we critically evaluated a review paper entitled, "Lessons learned from Chernobyl and Fukushima on thyroid cancer screening and recommendations in the case of a future nuclear accident" in Environment International in 2021, published by the SHAMISEN (Nuclear Emergency Situations - Improvement of Medical and Health Surveillance) international expert consortium. The article highlighted the claim that overdiagnosis of childhood thyroid cancers greatly increased the number of cases detected in ultrasound thyroid screening following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident. However, the reasons cited in the SHAMISEN review paper for overdiagnosis in mass screening lacked important information about the high incidence of thyroid cancers after the accident. The SHAMISEN review paper ignored published studies of screening results in unexposed areas, and included an invalid comparison of screenings among children with screenings among adults. The review omitted the actual state of screening in Fukushima after the nuclear accident, in which only nodules > 5 mm in diameter were examined. The growth rate of thyroid cancers was not slow, as emphasized in the SHAMISEN review paper; evidence shows that cancers detected in second-round screening grew to more than 5 mm in diameter over a 2-year period. The SHAMISEN consortium used an unfounded overdiagnosis hypothesis and misguided evidence to refute that the excess incidence of thyroid cancer was attributable to the nuclear accident, despite the findings of ongoing ultrasound screening for thyroid cancer in Fukushima and around Chernobyl. By our evaluation, the SHAMISEN review paper includes 20 of the 33 items in the Toolkit that demonstrate the misuse of epidemiology. The International Agency for Research on Cancer meeting in 2017 and its publication cited in the SHAMISEN review paper includes 12 of the 33 items in the Toolkit. Finally, we recommend a few enhancements to the Toolkit to increase its utility

Clostridium botulinum Type E Toxins Bind to Caco-2 Cells by a Different Mechanism from That of Type A Toxins

Cultured Clostridium botulinum strains produce progenitor toxins designated as 12S, 16S, and 19S toxins. The 12S toxin consists of a neurotoxin (NTX, 7S) and a non-toxic non-hemagglutinin (NTNH). The 16S and 19S toxins are formed by conjugation of the 12S toxin with hemagglutinin (HA), and the 19S toxin is a dimer of the 16S toxin. Type A cultures produce all 3 of these progenitor toxins, while type E produces only the 12S toxin. The 7S toxin is cleaved into heavy (H) and light (L) chains by a protease(s) in some strains, and the H chain has 2 domains, the N-terminus (Hn) and C-terminus (Hc). It has been reported that type A toxins bind to the intestinal cells or cultured cells via either HA or Hc. In this study, we investigated the binding of type A and E toxins to Caco-2 cells using Western blot analysis. Both the type E 7S and 12S toxins bound to the cells, with the 7S toxin binding more strongly, whereas, in the type A strain, only the 16S/19S toxins showed obvious binding. Pre-incubation of the type E 7S toxin with IgG against recombinant type E Hc significantly inhibited the 7S toxin binding, indicating that Hc might be a main binding domain of the type E toxin

Intraprostatic Botulinum Neurotoxin Type A Injection for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia:Preliminary Results with a Newly Purified Neurotoxin

Several studies have demonstrated the efficacy of intraprostatic injection of botulinum neurotoxin type A (BoNT/A) against symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The most commonly used BoNT/A product, Botox®, forms large complexes and composed of neurotoxin (NTX) as well as non-toxic components. We purified NTX lacking non-toxic components. We investigated the efficacy of this newly purified NTX for men with BPH. Ten male patients (mean age, 70.0 years) with BPH received 100 units (prostate volume [PV] ＜30ml) or 200 units (PV ｧ30ml) of NTX injected into the prostate via a minimally invasive outpatient technique. Evaluation included uroflowmetry, postvoid residual urine volume (PVR), PV, and International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) measured at baseline and 1, 3, 6, and 12 months post-treatment. The status of 7 of the 10 patients examined was found to have improved within 1 month of treatment. The mean IPSS decreased from 23.8±7.0 to 16.3±10.3 (p＝0.0093) at 1 month, to 14.9±8.2 (p＝0.0074) at 3 months, and to 16.9±7.3 (p＝0.018) at 12 months. The mean PV decreased from 47.8±21.2 to 39.2±19.5ml (p＝0.0076) at 3 months. The PVR improved at 3 and 6 months post-treatment. Intraprostatic NTX injection induces prostate shrinkage and is effective in men with BPH

A Dilated Odontoma in the Second Molar Region of the Mandible

A case of dilated odontoma in the second molar region of the mandible was reported. The patient was a 14-year-old female. Panoramic X-ray and CT examination revealed an oval ring-shaped radiopaque lesion accompanying a radiolucent area in the center at the left second molar region of the mandible. The left second molar and all third molars were not found. The lesion was diagnosed as odontoma and extirpated under general anesthesia. The lesion was a spherical mass of 12x9mm. Histologically, the mass was composed of dentin arranged in an oval ring shape with dentinal tubules. Inside the dentin, immature enamel was present. The central area of the mass was filled with fibrous tissue with a small nest of bone and cementum. Bone tissue was also observed in contact with the immature enamel layer. These morphological and histological features are compatible with those of a dilated odontoma

BIOMECHANICAL CONSIDERATIONS OF CMJ AND SQJ ON THE SAFETY MAT

The purpose of this study was to detect whether differences exist concerning the kinematic parameters of jump (SQJ and CMJ) on two different surfaces (RS and SS). Nine healthy students performed two jumps on two surfaces. Two factor repeated measure (ANOVA) was used for statistical analysis (

Immune Reactions Against Elongation Factor 2 Kinase: Specific Pathogenesis of Gastric Ulcer from Helicobacter pylori Infection

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is a definite causative factor for gastric ulcers (GUs). In the present study we detected a specific antigen of gastric epithelial cells (HGC-27) using cell ELISA, which was recognized by the sera of GU patients (n = 20) but not in patients with chronic gastritis (CG; n = 20) or in healthy volunteers (HC; n = 10). This antigen was over-expressed by a stressful (heat-stressed) environment, and was identified as elongation factor 2 kinase (EF-2K) by western blotting. The GU patients' lymphocytes stimulated by H. pylori specifically disrupted heat-stressed HGC-27 cells in a cytotoxic assay. In flow cytometry, the effector cells (lymphocytes) from GU patients were significantly differentiated to T helper type 1 lymphocyte (Th1) and cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) as opposed to those from CG patients. The target cells (HGC-27) expressed EF-2K and MHC-class I together with costimulatory molecules from heat stress. This antigen specific immune mechanism could have a prominent role in the pathogenesis of GU