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Aim This paper describes the establishment of the first Japanese nurse practitioner graduate programme and legislative activities to institutionalize nurse practitioners in Japan. Background To address the super-ageing population, Oita University of Nursing and Health Sciences initiated the first academic graduate level nurse practitioner programme in Japan, based upon the global standard defined by the International Council of Nurses. Conclusion In 2010, Oita University of Nursing and Health Sciences graduated the first nurse practitioner. We believe that nurse practitioners will be highly valued in Japan for thoughtful nursing care to the fragile elders living in rural and urban Japan.

The characteristics of the fluorescence spectra of polyethylene 2,6-naphthalate (PEN) films were compared with those of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET). The fluorescence spectra of PEN films were found, by photoselection, to consist of two components, one peaking at 425 nm and the other at 445 nm, with their emission transition moments perpendicular to each other. The integrated excitation spectra of the PEN films were much more intense than those of PET. After the resolution of the integrated excitation spectra of PEN, most, but not all, of their component peaks corresponded to those of the absorption spectra. On the basis of this fact together with previous data on photodegradation, the spectral component peaking at 445 nm originated, at least partly, from traces of photochemical products generated by exposure during the measurements. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 105: 114–121, 2007

We have examined alterations in the hypothalamo-pituitary GH-somatic growth axis and the hypothalamo-pituitary LH-ovarian axis in a line of transgenic ICR mice expressing human GH (hGH) under the influence of the whey acid protein promoter. Transgenic female mice weighed twice as much as control females and were infertile. The size of the anterior pituitary (AP) was 1/3 that of the controls. In transgenic mice, acinar cells in the mammary and mandibular glands displayed hGH-immunoreactivity, and plasma hGH was detected by radioimmunoassay. In the medial basal hypothalamus (MBH) of transgenic females, the immunoreactive-GHRH level was decreased (P

Following induction of acute neuroinflammation by intracisternal injection of endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide) in rats, quantitative autoradiography was used to assess the regional level of microglial activation and glutamate (NMDA) receptor binding. The possible protective action of the antioxidant phenyl-tert-butyl nitrone in this model was tested by administering the drug in the drinking water for 6 days starting 24 hafter endotoxin injection. Animals were killed 7 days post-injection and consecutive cryostat brain sections labeled with [3H]PK11195 as a marker of activated microglia and [125I]iodoMK801 as a marker of the open-channel, activated state of NMDA receptors. Lipopolysaccharide increased [3H]PK11195 binding in the brain, with the largest increases (two- to threefold) in temporal and entorhinal cortex, hippocampus, and substantia innominata. A significant (> 50%) decrease in [125I]iodoMK801 binding was found in the same brain regions. Phenyl-tert-butyl nitrone treatment resulted in a partial inhibition (approx. 25% decrease) of the lipopolysaccharide-induced increase in [3H]PK11195 binding but completely reversed the lipopolysaccharide-induced decrease in [125I]iodoMK80 binding in the entorhinal cortex, hippocampus, and substantia innominata. Loss of NMDA receptor function in cortical and hippocampal regions may contribute to the cognitive deficits observed in diseases with a neuroinflammatory component, such as meningitis or Alzheimer's disease.

Background: Salivation plays an important role in the defence of the oesophageal mucosa against gastric acidic reflux and can be evoked by cholinergic stimulation. Both nizatidine and cisapride have been reported to increase acetylcholine concentrations in the cholinergic system. Aim: To investigate the effect of nizatidine and cisapride on salivary secretion, salivary epidermal growth factor and bicarbonate output. Methods: The salivary volume and concentration of salivary epidermal growth factor and bicarbonate were measured after the administration of nizatidine (150 mg), famotidine (20 mg) and cisapride (5 mg) in 30 male healthy volunteers. Results: Basal and stimulated salivary secretions were found to be increased after the administration of nizatidine and cisapride. In contrast, salivary secretion was not increased by famotidine. Although epidermal growth factor content was not augmented, nizatidine and cisapride administration also increased the bicarbonate output in mastication-stimulated saliva. Conclusions: Increased salivary secretion and bicarbonate output induced by nizatidine may be useful for the treatment of patients with gastro-oesophageal reflux disease.

Background: There is controversy about the effect of acid-suppressive therapy on Helicobacter pylori density and the severity of histological gastritis in the corpus. Aim: To evaluate the precise distribution of H. pylori, both on the surface mucus cells and in the surface mucus gel layer, by using Carnoy’s fixation and immunostaining for the detection of bacteria. Methods: A total of 19 peptic ulcer patients with H. pylori infection were studied. All patients received a 6-week course of treatment with omeprazole (20 mg/day). Before and after the therapy, H. pylori density in Carnoy-fixed tissue sections was examined immunohistochemically. The effect of omeprazole therapy on the severity of gastritis was also evaluated. Results: H. pylori density and the grade of gastritis significantly decreased in the antrum after omeprazole therapy. In the corpus, however, there were no significant changes in H. pylori density or the severity of gastritis after omeprazole therapy. Conclusion: Carnoy’s fixation and immunostaining was found to be useful for the detection of H. pylori in the surface mucus gel layer as well as on the surface mucus cells in biopsy tissue sections. By using this method, H. pylori density decreased in the antrum, but remained unchanged in the corpus after a 6-week course of omeprazole therapy.

Cytological evaluation of angiogenesis in endometrial aspirates We conducted a comparative study of angiogenesis observed in endometrial aspirates according to histological type. Cytological specimens from 14 cases of proliferative phase endometrium, 21 cases of endometrial hyperplasia and 18 cases of well-differentiated endometrial adenocarcinoma were used in the investigation. Immunohistochemical staining was performed according to standard methods using CD34 monoclonal antibody, and new vessels were examined. New vessels were identified in all of the histological types, but no morphological differences were seen. New vessels were observed in more cases of adenocarcinoma than in cases of normal tissue or hyperplasia, and the differences were significant. The difference between the maximum and minimum rates of occurrence of cell clusters possessing new vessels tended to be greater in adenocarcinoma than in the other tissue types (P

Hydrolysis of 1 in strongly basic aqueous solution afforded mono- and didemethylated products 2,3 and 4, that are postulated as the metabolites of 1 in some animals. This hydrolytic demethylation was shown to proceed stepwise via mono-demethylation to give 2 and 3, followed by their further demethylation to 4. The hydrolytic reactivity of 1–3 was rationalized based on MO calculation results and 13C nmr data.

Hydrolysis of 1 in strongly basic aqueous solution afforded mono- and didemethylated products 2,3 and 4, that are postulated as the metabolites of 1 in some animals. This hydrolytic demethylation was shown to proceed stepwise via mono-demethylation to give 2 and 3, followed by their further demethylation to 4. The hydrolytic reactivity of 1–3 was rationalized based on MO calculation results and 13C nmr data.

BACKGROUND The protease activity leading to degradation of the extracellular matrix was compared between human endometrial cancer and normal uterine endometrium. METHODS Conditioned medium from tumor cells and normal endometrial cells was subjected to electrophoresis on sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gel containing gelatin as a substrate. After electrophoresis, the gel was stained with Coomassie blue, and then the enzyme activity, expressed as the zone of dye clearing, was analyzed by densitometry. RESULTS Densitometric analysis showed that all the endometrial cancers expressed a very high molecular weight enzyme activity (Mr 220,000), which was not detected in medium from normal endometrial cells. The analysis also showed that in endometrial cancer the activity of a Mr 92,000 enzyme was always superior to that of a Mr 64,000 enzyme, which was in contrast to the situation for normal endometrium. CONCLUSIONS These results indicate that the expression of Mr 220,000 enzyme activity and the higher activity of the Mr 92,000 enzyme than the Mr 64,000 enzyme are involved in the malignant phenotype of native endometrial cancer.

Ž . 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin TCDD is the most toxic congener among polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans. These compounds are resistant to degradation and are ubiquitous environmental pollutants that become concentrated in animal tissues, climb the food chain, accumulate in adipose tissue and are excreted in breast milk in large amounts. The estimated daily dietary intake of these pollutants by breast-fed infants was reported to amount to 170 pgrkg per day at 2 months of age which is higher than the tolerable daily intake recomŽ mended by the WHO-10 most recently, 1]4 . pgrkg per day . In Japan, like other industrialized countries, dioxin contamination is a serious public problem. Recent government reports indicated that daily dioxin intake of average Japanese is

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the feasibility of a low cost, small size positioning assistance simulator system for skull radiography using the Microsoft Kinect sensor. A conventional radiographic simulator system can only measure the three-dimensional coordinates of an x-ray tube using angle sensors, but not measure the movement of the subject. Therefore, in this study, we developed a real-time simulator system using the Microsoft Kinect to measure both the x-ray tube and the subject, and evaluated its accuracy and feasibility by comparing the simulated and the measured x-ray images. Methods: This system can track a head phantom by using Face Tracking, which is one of the functions of the Kinect. The relative relationship between the Kinect and the head phantom was measured and the projection image was calculated by using the ray casting method, and by using three-dimensional CT head data with 220 slices at 512 × 512 pixels. X-ray images were thus obtained by using a computed radiography (CR) system. We could then compare the simulated projection images with the measured x-ray images from 0 degrees to 45 degrees at increments of 15 degrees by calculating the cross correlation coefficient C. Results: The calculation timemore » of the simulated projection images was almost real-time (within 1 second) by using the Graphics Processing Unit(GPU). The cross-correlation coefficients C are: 0.916; 0.909; 0.891; and, 0.886 at 0, 15, 30, and 45 degrees, respectively. As a result, there were strong correlations between the simulated and measured images. Conclusion: This system can be used to perform head positioning more easily and accurately. It is expected that this system will be useful for learning radiographic techniques by students. Moreover, it could also be used for predicting the actual x-ray image prior to x-ray exposure in clinical environments.« less

Purpose: Currently, dual energy subtraction is used for the separation of the soft tissue and bone. There are two methods of calculation: the filter method and the double tube voltage method. However, there are problems with these methods, such as an increase of exposure (double tube voltage method), and image quality degradation due to attenuation of x-rays (filter method). In the present study, we have developed a new method of separating bone and soft tissue by using a single x-ray exposure combined with object thickness measurement using the Microsoft Kinect sensor. Methods: We used a hand phantom as an object and measured the thickness of the object from a depth image obtained with the Microsoft Kinect. X-ray images were taken at different tube voltages (40 kV, 60 kV, 80 kV), and thicknesses of the two components were calculated from x-ray attenuation equation. A software program for an ImageJ Plugin was developed to obtain separated images, and the separated bone image was compared with the original image by visual evaluation and profile data. The thicknesses of the separated phalanx bones were also compared with those measured from CT images. Results: It was possible to obtain separated bone and soft tissue images using a single x-ray exposure. The gray values of the bone were greatly enhanced while those of soft tissue were diminished. A comparison with the CT images showed that the bone thickness error was less than 20.0% in phalanx bones. Conclusion: It was shown that the image separation of bone and soft tissue was made possible by using a single x-ray exposure combined with object thickness measurement. This method will be useful for the accurate evaluation of bone changes after a fracture without using any additional x-ray exposure.

Purpose: Microsoft Kinect has potential for use in real‐time patient position monitoring in diagnostic radiology and radiotherapy. We evaluated the accuracy of depth image data and the device‐to‐device variation in various conditions simulating clinical applications in a hospital. Methods: Kinect sensor consists of infrared‐ray depth camera and RGB camera. We developed a computer program using OpenNI and OpenCV for measuring quantitative distance data. The program displays depth image obtained from Kinect sensor on the screen, and the cartesian coordinates at an arbitrary point selected by mouse‐clicking can be measured. A rectangular box without luster (300 × 198 × 50 mm3) was used as a measuring object. The object was placed on the floor at various distances ranging from 0 to 400 cm in increments of 10 cm from the sensor, and depth data were measured for 10 points on the planar surface of the box. The measured distance data were calibrated by using the least square method. The device‐to‐device variations were evaluated using five Kinect sensors.Results: There was almost linear relationship between true and measured values. Kinect sensor was unable to measure at a distance of less than 50 cm from the sensor. It was found that distance data calibration was necessary for each sensor. The device‐to‐device variation error for five Kinect sensors was within 0.46% at the distance range from 50 cm to 2 m from the sensor. The maximum deviation of the distance data after calibration was 1.1 mm at a distance from 50 to 150 cm. The overall average error of five Kinect sensors was 0.18 mm at a distance range of 50 to 150 cm. Conclusions: Kinect sensor has distance accuracy of about 1 mm if each device is properly calibrated. This sensor will be useable for positioning of patients in diagnostic radiology and radiotherapy.

At the production line for our 14.1-inch LCD modules, arc-shaped wrinkles on the optical sheets and concentric circle patterns on the screen appeared after aging of the panels. The cause of these problems was found to be dome-shaped warp of the light guide of the backlight unit. Analysis of these phenomena led to several ideas on how to prevent these display luminance non-uniformity problems.

A protease from the culture supernatant of Bacteroides gingivalis 381, which hydrolyzes the chromogenic substrate Na-benzoyl-DL-arginine-p-nitroanilide (BAPNA), was partially purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation, gel filtration, and anion exchange chromatography. The molecular weight of this protease was determined by SDS-PAGE to be ca. 49,000. The optimum pH was around 7.6. The protease was stable at neutral pH and up to 40 degrees C. The isoelectric point was 4.9. The enzyme activity was enhanced by dithiothreitol, L-cysteine, and 2-mercaptoethanol and inhibited by p-chloromercuribenzoic acid, N-ethylmaleimide, and iodoacetic acid.

SUMMARY Investigations of charge-density waves (CDW) in 4Hb-TaS2 and the shifted Fermi level in a CoCl2 graphite intercalation compound (GIC) were performed by scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) and scanning tunnelling spectroscopy (STS) A discrimination of the surface electronic structure of the octahedral structure and of the trigonal-prismatic structure in 4Hb-TaS2 was made successfully in terms of the electronic properties. The measured value of the charge-density-wave gap in 4Hb-TaS2 at room temperature was about 85 meV. The shifted Fermi level in CoCl2-GIC was measured to be about 400 meV.

SUMMARY As a sample for initial study on biological materials by using scanning tunnelling microscope (STM), we selected phosphoric acid consisting of phosphorous atoms which play biologically an important role. We measured polyphosphoric acid coated on HOPG by STM and scanning tunnelling spectroscopy (STS) in air. In order to identify molecules on STM images, local I-V curves were taken simultaneously. The averaged I-V curves and the normalized conductance spectra of graphite coated with the acid show characteristics different from those of clean graphite surface. Around a step of the substrate, we found domains where normalized conductance spectra were different from those of clean graphite surface and ascribable to that of the adsorbed molecules.

SUMMARY We have directly observed the hydrogen-induced changes of the Si(111)7times7 surface using a scanning tunnelling microscope (STM). The 7times7 reconstructed atomic structure was formed on a clean surface of Si(111). But when the clean surface was dosed with typically 1–2 L [1 L (Langmuir) = 1·33 times 10−4 Pa. sec] hydrogen, the 7 times 7 image was gradually smeared out and then a 1 times 1 unreconstructed pattern appeared. After dosing with 5–10 L hydrogen, the STM image exhibited a new long-periodic structure together with the 1times1 structure underneath. These experimental results may be ascribed to the chemisorption of hydrogen atoms on clean Si surfaces.