A Study on Characteristics of Echoes from Planar Defects by the Ultrasonic Testing of Angle Beam Technique

The application of field-welded butt joints of flanges and web plates for steel girder bridges has been on the increase in Japan. Figure 1 is an illustration of such a field-welded joint. The thickness of the flange plate may at times be in excess of 75 mm. Radiographic testing has been used to inspect the quality of welded joints in the shop; however, taking into account material having a thickness that is beyond the capacity of the radiographic testing and the risk of using X-rays in the field, ultrasonic testing is applied to field-welded joints [1,2]

ダンナ ヒト ニ ナリタイカ ドンナ ヒト オ ソダテタイカ トクシュウ ダイガク ノ ゴガク キョウイク オ カンガエル

外国語、特に英語の教育が議論のテーマとなるのは、あれだけの年数を費やして役に立たないのでは意味がない、何かが間違っているはずだと思うからだろう。折しも国際化社会、就職難の時代である。パソコンくらい使えなくは、インターネットを使いこなせなくては、

A Case of Primary Cutaneous Basal Cell Carcinosarcoma

A 94-year-old man consulted our hospital due to a rapidly growing tumor on the left cheek. The histological diagnosis of the tumor was basal cell carcinosarcoma, which was composed of intermingled epithelial and mesenchymal components. The former was basal cell carcinoma, while the latter was spindle cell sarcoma. The tumor was completely resected with a 3-mm margin and the patient remained free of local recurrence or distinct metastasis for 2 years. We report here a case of cutaneous basal cell carcinosarcoma and a review of the literature

The Efficacy of Neoadjuvant Androgen Deprivation Therapy as a Prostate Volume Reduction before Brachytherapy for Clinically Localized Prostate Cancer

From September 2003 to December 2005, 188 patients who visited our hospital and allied institutions for the purpose of prostate brachytherapy were administrated hormonal therapy for volume reductions before brachytherapy. The pretreatment and posttreatment of prostate volume using a transrectal ultrasound volumetric study and the types and duration of hormonal therapy were analyzed. We administered 91 patients with Luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LH-RH) agonist, 49 patients with anti-androgen (bicaltamide/flutamide), and 48 patients with maximum androgen blockade (MAB). The duration of the hormonal therapy was 1-3 months for 49 patients, 4-6 months for 59 patients, 7-9 months for 40 patients, 10-12 months for 32 patients, and over 13 months for 8 patients. Before the initiation of hormonal therapy, the mean prostate volume was 35.12 ml (11.04-78.71 ml), and the average of prostate volume before and after hormonal therapy was 36.79 ml and 24.79 ml, respectively (a 32.4% reduction). The prostate volume reduction rate was 32.0% for the LH-RH agonist only, 18.1% for the anti-androgen only and 41.2% for the MAB. No statistically significant difference was observed for the duration of hormonal therapy between 3 groups. A three-month course of the neoadjuvant LH-RH agonist indicated a sufficient volume reduction effectiveness for a large prostate volume.</p

Inhibitory Effects of Glycyrrhetinic Acid on DNA Polymerase and Inflammatory Activities

We investigated the inhibitory effect of three glycyrrhizin derivatives, such as Glycyrrhizin (compound 1), dipotassium glycyrrhizate (compound 2) and glycyrrhetinic acid (compound 3), on the activity of mammalian pols. Among these derivatives, compound 3 was the strongest inhibitor of mammalian pols α, β, κ, and λ, which belong to the B, A, Y, and X families of pols, respectively, whereas compounds 1 and 2 showed moderate inhibition. Among the these derivatives tested, compound 3 displayed strongest suppression of the production of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in a cell-culture system using mouse macrophages RAW264.7 and peritoneal macrophages derived from mice. Moreover, compound 3 was found to inhibit the action of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) in engineered human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells. In addition, compound 3 caused greater reduction of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate-(TPA-) induced acute inflammation in mouse ear than compounds 1 and 2. In conclusion, this study has identified compound 3, which is the aglycone of compounds 1 and 2, as a promising anti-inflammatory candidate based on mammalian pol inhibition

Nursing students’ volunteer activities and motivating factors to continue them

本研究は看護大学生のボランティア活動の実態を把握し，ボランティア活動の継続意志と，ボランティア活動成果・継続動機との関連を明らかにすることを目的とした．調査対象者はA県B大学看護学科学生１・２・３年生の２３０名で質問紙調査を実施した．有効回答は１６２名であった．看護大学生の約８割が大学入学前にボランティア活動の経験があり，大学入学後ボランティア活動をしていない学生は全体の８割で，理由として機会がない，忙しくて時間がない，アルバイトしている等があげられた．ボランティア活動を継続したい学生ほど，人生が明るく喜びが広がるなどの意欲向上や人間関係の広がりがあるなどの成果を認識しており，ボランティアの継続動機につながっていた．しかし，多くの学生に継続意志があるにも関わらず，大学入学後にボランティア活動をしている学生は約２割であった．「機会がない」を理由にしている場合は機会があれば積極的に活動することにつながることが考えられる．ボランティアの情報提供を行い，ボランティアの活動成果が実感できるような働きかけが必要であることが示唆された．This study aimed to examine the current status of volunteer activities implemented by nursing college students and the relationship between their intention to continue volunteer work and achievements/motivation. We conducted a questionnaire survey involving ２３０ first-to third-year nursing students of University B in Prefecture A. We collected １６２ valid responses. Approximately ８０％ of the nursing students had experienced volunteering, while approximately ８０％ of the students had not participated in volunteer activities after entering the university, due to reasons such as being too busy and working part time. Volunteer activities produced positive results, such as a brightened life, shared joy, and improved enthusiasm for life, as well as a widened social circle, which motivated the students to continue their volunteer activities. Although most students had the intention of continuing their volunteer work, only approximately ２０％ were involved in such activities after entering the university. However, there were some students who cited “a lack of opportunities” as the reason. They are expected to become involved in volunteer work if they have a chance. It is important to provide students with sufficient information on volunteer work, and allow them to recognize the benefits of participating in such activities

BRCAness Predicts Resistance to Taxane-Containing Regimens in Triple Negative Breast Cancer During Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy

AbstractBackgroundTo provide optimal treatment of heterogeneous triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), we need biomarkers that can predict the chemotherapy response.Patients and MethodsWe retrospectively investigated BRCAness in 73 patients with breast cancer who had been treated with taxane- and/or anthracycline-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). Using multiplex, ligation-dependent probe amplification on formalin-fixed core needle biopsy (CNB) specimens before NAC and surgical specimens after NAC. BRCAness status was assessed with the assessor unaware of the clinical information.ResultsWe obtained 45 CNB and 60 surgical specimens from the 73 patients. Of the 45 CNB specimens, 17 had BRCAness (38.6% of all subtypes). Of the 23 TNBC CNB specimens, 14 had BRCAness (61% of TNBC cases). The clinical response rates were significantly lower for BRCAness than for non-BRCAness tumors, both for all tumors (58.8% vs. 89.3%, P = .03) and for TNBC (50% vs. 100%, P = .02). All tumors that progressed with taxane therapy had BRCAness. Of the patients with TNBC, those with non-BRCAness cancer had pathologic complete responses significantly more often than did those with BRCAness tumors (77.8% vs. 14.3%, P = .007). After NAC, the clinical response rates were significant lower for BRCAness than for non-BRCAness tumors in all subtypes (P = .002) and in TNBC cases (P = .008). After a median follow-up of 26.4 months, 6 patients—all with BRCAness—had developed recurrence. Patients with BRCAness had shorter progression-free survival than did those with non- BRCAness (P = .049).ConclusionIdentifying BRCAness can help predict the response to taxane, and changing regimens for BRCAness TNBC might improve patient survival. A larger prospective study is needed to further clarify this issue

Circulating miR-203 derived from metastatic tissues promotes myopenia in colorectal cancer patients

Sarcopenia frequently occurs in metastatic cancer patients. Emerging evidence has revealed that various secretory products from metastatic tumours can influence host organs and promote sarcopenia in patients with malignancies. Furthermore, the biological functions of microRNAs in cell-to-cell communication by incorporating into neighbouring or distal cells, which have been gradually elucidated in various diseases, including sarcopenia, have been elucidated. We evaluated psoas muscle mass index (PMI) and intramuscular adipose tissue content (IMAC) using pre-operative computed tomography imaging in 183 colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. miR-203 expression levels in CRC tissues and pre-operative serum were evaluated using quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Functional analysis of miR-203 overexpression was investigated in human skeletal muscle cells (SkMCs), and cells were analysed for proliferation and apoptosis. Expressions of several putative miR-203 target genes (CASP3, CASP10, BIRC5, BMI1, BIRC2, and BIRC3) in SKMCs were validated. A total of 183 patients (108 men and 75 women) were included. The median age of enrolled patients at diagnosis was 68.0 years (range 35-89 years). High IMAC status significantly correlated with female gender (P = 0.004) and older age (P = 0.0003); however, no other clinicopathological factors correlated with IMAC status in CRC patients. In contrast, decreased PMI significantly correlated with female gender (P = 0.006) and all well-established disease development factors, including advanced T stage (P = 0.035), presence of venous invasion (P = 0.034), lymphovascular invasion (P = 0.012), lymph node (P = 0.001), distant metastasis (P = 0.002), and advanced Union for International Cancer Control tumour-node-metastasis stage classification (P = 0.0004). Although both high IMAC status and low PMI status significantly correlated with poor overall survival (IMAC: P = 0.0002; PMI: P &lt; 0.0001; log-rank test) and disease-free survival (IMAC: P = 0.0003; PMI: P = 0.0002; log-rank test), multivariate Cox's regression analysis revealed that low PMI was an independent prognostic factor for both overall survival (hazard ratio: 4.69, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.19-10, P = 0.0001) and disease-free survival (hazard ratio: 2.33, 95% CI: 1.14-4.77, P = 0.021) in CRC patients. Serum miR-203 expression negatively correlated with pre-operative PMI level (P = 0.0001, ρ = -0.25), and multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that elevated serum miR-203 was an independent risk factor for myopenia (low PMI) in CRC patients (odds ratio: 5.16, 95% CI: 1.8-14.8, P = 0.002). Overexpression of miR-203 inhibited cell proliferation and induced apoptosis via down-regulation of BIRC5 (survivin) expression in human SkMC line. Assessment of serum miR-203 expression could be used for risk assessment of myopenia, and miR-203 might be a novel therapeutic target for inhibition of myopenia in CRC