Morphological and Biochemical Changes During Aging and Photoaging of the Skin of C57BL/6J Mice

The differences between the dorsal skin of 11- and 16-week-old C57BL/6J mice were examined morphologically and biochemically. The dermis of the 16-week-old mice was thinner than that of the 11-week-old mice due to decreases in the amounts of soluble collagen and elastin. Next, the changes in dorsal skin exposed to UVA irradiation for 8 weeks (576 J/cm2) were examined in 3 (younger)- and 8 (older)-week-old C57BL/6J mice. The thickness of the dermis was not significantly different between the UVA-irradiated and control mice in either the younger or older group. The increase in the amount of collagen was related to the increase in the level of soluble collagen in the younger mice. In contrast, it was related to the increase in the level of insoluble collagen in the older mice. In the UVA-irradiated older mice, the activity of the latent form of MMP-13 was significantly higher than that in the control mice. These results suggest that aging and UVA-induced photoaging in the skin are histologically and biochemically different phenomena

physical activity in heart failure patients

This study aimed that we were classification of physical activity in patients with heart failure categorized as New York Heart Association (NYHA) class I or II. We were a survey using a researcher- administered questionnaire, SF-8, the Specific Activity Scale (SAS), and the Scale to Measure Self-Care Behavior of Patients with Heart Disease. We included 70 patients who were treated in the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Hospital A. Regarding patient characteristics and clinical information after the cluster analysis, there were significant differences in the NYHA class (p = 0.001), BNP level (p = 0.012), self-management of medication adherence (p = 0.000), and exercise habits (p = 0.005). We summarized characteristics of each group as follows : Group A showed high tolerance to physical activity and near-perfect self-management; Group B showed moderate tolerance to physical activity but was not willing to commit to daily exercise and self-management; and Group C showed low tolerance to physical activity and often requested others to handle medication management. We needed that tolerance to physical activity and proposals for tailored instruction according to patient conditions, and needed that instructions tailored to the characteristics of heart failure patients in groups A–C

Is There Any Association between TV Viewing and Obesity in Preschool Children in Japan?

Obesity in children is a serious public health problem, and TV viewing is considered a potential risk factor. Since, however, no relevant association studies have been conducted in Japan, we evaluated the association between TV viewing and obesity using a population-based study conducted in a Japanese town. All 616 preschool children in the town were enrolled in February 2008, and a self-administered questionnaire to collect children's and parents' characteristics was sent to the parents. We dichotomized the time spent TV viewing and evaluated associations by logistic regression using a &#34;less than 2h&#34; category as a reference. The questionnaire was collected from 476 participants (77.3%), of whom 449 were available for the final analyses. Among them, 26.9% of preschool children reported 2 or more hours of TV viewing per day and 8.2% were defined as obese. In logistic regression analyses, there was no positive association in unadjusted (odds ratio [OR]1.11, 95% confidence interval [95% CI]:0.50-2.49) or adjusted models for exclusively breastfed status, sleep duration, or maternal factors (OR1.11, 95% CI:0.50-2.51). We also found no positive association between TV viewing and overweight status, possibly owing to the influence of social environment, low statistical power, or misclassification.</p

Impact of Breastfeeding on Body Weight of Preschool Children in a Rural Area of Japan: Population-based Cross-sectional Study

To investigate the effect of exclusive breastfeeding on the likelihood of Japanese preschool children being overweight, population-based cross-sectional survey data from M town in Japan were used. Using the population registry of this town, all 616 preschool children were identified, and a self-administered questionnaire was sent to their parents. The exposure variable of interest was exclusive breastfeeding from birth to 6 months, and the outcome variable of interest was the children being overweight at preschool age. Statistical analyses used included logistic regression and sensitivity analyses. In the final analyses, we included 448 preschool children. Although all point estimates indicated a protective effect, logistic regression analyses showed no significant reduction in being overweight due to exclusive breastfeeding in the unadjusted model (odds ratio (OR)0.70, 95% confidence intervals:0.30-1.64), the model adjusted for birth weight (OR0.70, 95% CI:0.30-1.63), the model adjusted for child lifestyle (OR0.71, 95% CI:0.30-1.67), or the model adjusted for parental factors (OR0.46, 95% CI:0.15-1.37). In sensitivity analyses, point estimates were not significant, but a protective effect was observed. In conclusion, our results suggest that breastfeeding might have a protective effect on Japanese preschool children against being overweight, although statistical significance was not observed due to the limitation of the statistical power of the findings.</p

Immunohistochemical detection of procalcitonin in fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma

A 25-year-old woman with fever and epigastric pain was referred to our hospital. Blood examination showed significant liver dysfunction, markedly high C-reactive protein (CRP 19.1 mg/dL) and procalcitonin (48.3 ng/mL) levels. Dynamic computed tomography showed a tumor approximately 120 mm in size in the right lobe of the liver, but with no abscess formation. The patient was hospitalized and started on antibiotics; her CRP level improved, but the procalcitonin level did not decrease. Histopathological examination of the liver tumor biopsy revealed fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma (FLC). Positive staining of the FLC with an anti-procalcitonin antibody suggested the production of procalcitonin

A Trial of Evaluation in Science Classes (1)

We have tried a new evaluation effective for both pupils and teachers in the science classes in a unit of earth science in the junior high school, which were conducted by two teaches in a classroom (i.e. team-teaching). The evaluation consists of achievement in each class and general estimation. In the evaluation, we have scarcely reflected achievement level of each class on the general estimation. At first, we set up an achievement standard of each class over the unit. Factors of the standard are learning attitude, scientifically-thinking, presentation and knowledge. Teachers have measured an achievement level of each pupil in every class under those standard, aiming to catch exactly pupil's situation of learning and to support and encourage them actually. The general estimation has been done through a couple of a better written test and a scientific performance test in the final stage of the unit, focusing mainly on pupil's abilities newly acquired in the unit. Pupils could take kindly to having the performance test, but many pupils have negative opinion to the question particularly on scientifically-thinking. It means that pupils still tend to regard main characteristics of science learning as memorization

〓

We investigated the daily life and the dietary habits of the aged by using questionnaires in Hishikari-cho, Kagoshima prefecture, in December 1996. We distributed 250 questionnaires ; 187 completed questionnaires were returned : the recovery rate was 75%. The results were as follows : Sixty-two percent of the respondents presently had their spouses. Forty-five percent of the women lived alone, whereas 65% of the men lived with their wives. Their main incomes were from pensions, and the main expenditures were for food expenses and social expenses. They were mainly occupied with housekeeping, gardening and farming as their daily activities. They had lots of communication with friends, neighbors and relatives through food exchanges and outdoor sports. On the other hand, they had little communication with their children\u27s families in daily life. Most of them paid attention to their health, being concerned with dietary habits, sleeping, exercises and living a regular life. The ratio of doing exercises was twice as high as that in the Ministry Health and Welfare national survey. Approximately half of the respondents had anxieties about their future, about health, losing spouse and the cost of living. Also nearly half of them wished to be taken care of by their children if they couldn\u27t live by themselves

再灌流後急性心筋梗塞患者におけるリバースリモデリングと非造影T1低信号梗塞コア

Background: Non-contrast T1 hypointense infarct cores (ICs) within infarcted myocardium detected using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) T1 mapping may help assess the severity of left ventricular (LV) injury. However, because the relationship of ICs with chronic LV reverse remodeling (LVRR) is unknown, this study aimed to clarify it. Methods and Results: We enrolled patients with reperfused AMI who underwent baseline CMR on day-7 post-primary percutaneous coronary intervention (n=109) and 12-month follow-up CMR (n=94). Correlations between ICs and chronic LVRR (end-systolic volume decrease ≥15% at 12-month follow-up from baseline CMR) were investigated. We detected 52 (47.7%) ICs on baseline CMR by non-contrast-T1 mapping. LVRR was found in 52.1% of patients with reperfused AMI at 12-month follow-up. Patients with ICs demonstrated higher peak creatine kinase levels, higher B-type natriuretic peptide levels at discharge, lower LV ejection fraction at discharge, and lower incidence of LVRR than those without ICs (26.5% vs. 73.3%, P<0.001) at follow-up. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the presence of ICs was an independent and the strongest negative predictor for LVRR at 12-month followup (hazard ratio: 0.087, 95% confidence interval: 0.017–0.459, P=0.004). Peak creatine kinase levels, native T1 values at myocardial edema, and myocardial salvaged indices also correlated with ICs. Conclusions: ICs detected by non-contrast-T1 mapping with 3.0-T CMR were an independent negative predictor of LVRR in patients with reperfused AMI.博士（医学）・乙第1529号・令和5年3月15

Effects of Interleukin-4-Transduced Tumor Cell Vaccines and Blockade of Programmed Cell Death 1 on the Growth of Established Tumors

Interleukin (IL)-4 exhibits strong antitumor effects and IL-4 gene therapy has been used clinically in the treatment of some types of cancer. In the present study, we evaluated the efficacy of IL-4-transduced tumor cell vaccines in combination with blockade of programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) and investigated the mechanisms underlying the antitumor effects of this therapy. A poorly immunogenic murine colorectal cancer cell line (i.e. MC38) was transduced to overexpress IL-4. In a therapeutic model, MC38-IL4 cells and anti-PD-1 antagonistic antibodies (Ab) were inoculated into parental tumor-bearing mice. Immunohistochemical analyses and tumor-specific lysis were also performed. Additive antitumor effects were observed when mice were treated with IL-4 in combination with an anti-PD-1 Ab. Immunohistochemical analysis of the therapeutic model showed marked infiltration of CD4+ and CD8+ cells into established MC38 tumors of mice treated with anti-PD-1 Ab. Significant tumor-specific cytolysis was detected when the splenocytes of mice treated with both IL-4 and anti-PD-1 Ab were used as effector cells. These results suggest that blockade of the interaction between PD-1 and programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) enhances the antitumor immune responses induced by IL-4. Thus, IL-4 gene-transduced tumor cell vaccines in combination with PD-1 blockade may be considered as possible candidates for clinical trials of new cancer vaccines

Effect of soy protein on the muscle in human

Background : In recent years, the number of bedridden people is rapidly increasing due to aging or lack of exercise in Japan. This problem is becoming more serious, since there is no countermeasure against it. In the present study, we designed to investigate whether dietary proteins, especially soy, had beneficial effects on skeletal muscle in 59 volunteers with various physical activities. Methods : We subjected 59 volunteers with various physical activities to meal intervention examination. Persons with low and high physical activities were divided into two dietary groups, the casein diet group and the soy diet group. They ate daily meals supplemented with 7.8 g of powdered casein or soy protein isolate every day for 30 days. Bedridden patients in hospitals were further divided into three dietary groups : the no supplementation diet group, the casein diet group and the soy diet group. They were also subjected to a blood test, a urinalysis, magnetic resonance imaging analysis and muscle strength test of the knee before and after the meal intervention study. Results : Thirty-day soy protein supplementation significantly increased skeletal muscle volume in participants with low physical activity, compared with 30-day casein protein supplementation. Both casein and soy protein supplementation increased the volume of quadriceps femoris muscle in bedridden patients. Consistently, soy protein significantly increased their extension power of the knee, compared with casein protein. Although casein protein increased skeletal muscle volume more than soy protein in bedridden patients, their muscle strength changes by soy protein supplementation were bigger than those by casein protein supplementation. Conclusions : The supplementation of soy protein would be one of the effective foods which prevent the skeletal muscle atrophy caused by immobilization or unloading