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BACKGROUND: Organic acids on the surface of human hands contribute to the barrier against transient pathogens. This is the first study to explore the synergistic contribution of lactic acid and other hand environment-related features on the antibacterial properties of the hand surface. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We estimated the contribution of fingerprint depth, skin pH, stratum corneum water content, skin temperature, and sweat rate of the hands to the infection barrier using an observational survey of 105 subjects. The relationship between each factor and the antibacterial activity of the hands was analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficient. We performed molecular dynamics simulations to study the interaction between lactic acid and bacterial membranes. RESULTS: The amount of lactic acid on the hands and skin temperature contributed positively to the antimicrobial activity (r = 0.437 and P = 3.18 × 10-6 , r = 0.500 and P = 5.66 × 10-8 , respectively), while the skin pH contributed negatively (r = -0.471, P = 3.99 × 10-7 ). The predicted value of the combined antimicrobial effect of these parameters was [antimicrobial activity] = 0.21 × [lactic acid] - 0.25 × [skin pH] + 0.26 × [skin temperature] + 0.98. The coefficient of determination (R2 ) was 0.50. CONCLUSION: The increase in the amount of non-ionic lactic acid due to lower pH and improvement in the fluidity of the cell membrane due to higher temperatures enable the efficient transport of lactic acid into cells and subsequent antimicrobial activity. The proposed mechanism could help to develop an effective hand infection barrier technology.

Background: We evaluated the outcome of radical prostatectomy to provide information about long-term survival following this procedure. Methods: One hundred and twenty-three otherwise healthy Japanese patients with clinically localized tumors underwent radical prostatectomy. Treatment outcomes were measured in terms of clinical progression-free survival, prostate cancer-specific survival and overall survival. Overall survival was compared with expected survival of age-matched Japanese men. Results: For these 123 patients, clinical progression-free survival and prostate cancer-specific survival at 10 years were 72.5% and 86.4%, respectively. Results of Cox multivariate analysis showed that only pathological stage (P = 0.047) and tumor grade (P = 0.009) were independent predictors of clinical progression. Only tumor grade was a statistically significant independent predictor (P = 0.048) in terms of prostate cancer death. Both the 10 and 15-year overall survival rates for these 123 patients were 58.6%, whereas the expected survival of age-matched Japanese men was 65.0% at the 10-year follow up, and 43.8% at the 15-year follow up. Conclusions: The long-term overall survival in this surgically treated group is comparable to the expected survival rate of age-matched Japanese men. These results might be useful in counselling patients with clinically localized prostate cancer.

FAXOCR is a device that reads handwritten characters on a faxed form. However, it is difficult to extract fields for character recognition when the form image includes deformation or noise. In order to cope with such a problem, special forms have been used with constraints on the format structure. This paper proposes a method of field extraction in which a general form can be read without constraints on the form structure. In the method, the feature points extracted from the form image and the feature points of the form model are matched. The deformation of the form image is estimated, and the position of the field is determined. Since the feature points can be extracted from the tables, character sequences, and illustrations which are contained in ordinary forms, the method can be applied to general forms with diversified structures. The estimation of deformation is robust to disappearance of feature points or to new appearance of excessive feature points, and the method is robust to degradation of the form image due to noise and other disturbances. The proposed method was applied to 650 general form images of 50 different kinds with deformations inherent to fax, and its effectiveness was demonstrated. The method has also been applied to field data, and performance at a practical level (form rejection rate of 3.5%) has been obtained. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electron Comm Jpn Pt 3, 87(12): 60–72, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience. wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ecjc.20130

Background: No significant differences in gross and light- microscopic features have been reported between preclinical and overt Cushing’s adenomas. In this study, the ultrastructural differences between the two syndromes was attempted to be clarified. Methods: Two preclinical Cushing’s syndrome adenomas and two overt Cushing’s syndrome adenomas obtained from surgical extirpation were examined in an electron microscopic study. Results: Light microscopically, the adenomas of both syndromes were composed predominantly of clear cells, with few compact cells. Ultrastructurally, the prominent differences were of development in each organelle: the preclinical Cushing’s adenomas had undeveloped mitochondria, which were smaller in size and had sparse cristae, lysosomes and polysomes, whereas the overt Cushing’s adenomas contained well-developed mitochondria which were larger in size and were filled with abundant cristae, smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER), lysosomes and polysomes. Conclusions: Preclinical Cushing’s syndrome adenomas were ultrastructurally characterized by a reduced number of cellular organelles such as mitochondria and SER, which are necessary to synthesize glucocorticoid hormones. However, examination of a greater number of adenomas will be required to be able to draw conclusions on the ultrastructural differences between the two syndromes.

The effect of hyperglycemia on the localization and metabolism of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) was examined to elucidate the pathogenesis of deteriorations of electroretinogram oscillatory potentials in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. GABA is localized primarily in amacrine cells in the diabetic retina. GABA content and activities of glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) and GABA transaminase (GABA-T) in the retina and superior colliculus (SC) were determined. GABA content and activities of GAD and GABA-T remained unchanged in retinas and SCs of diabetic rats. Alterations in the GABAnergic system of the retina could not be observed. GABA metabolism may have no relation with visual dysfunction in diabetes mellitus.

This case of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with alcoholic liver fibrosis, which was not associated with hepatitis viruses, was accompanied by hypoglycaemia. The immunoreactive insulin level was low and other hormonal examinations were almost normal. Immunohistochemical studies showed a high level of insulin-like growth factor II (IGF2) peptide in the HCC section and the size heterogeneity of serum IGF2 investigated by western blot revealed a large form at approximately 15 kDa. These results suggest that the HCC with alcoholic liver fibrosis produced IGF2 and that the hypoglycaemia was caused by tumour-associated IGF2.

1. Using a whole-cell voltage-clamp technique and fura-2 fluorescence measurements, the actions of extracellular adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) in single cells of an epithelial cell line (A6), were investigated. 2. ATP (0.1-1000 microM) induced currents in cells held under voltage clamp. The sequence of purinergic agonist potency in activating the currents (2-methylthio ATP > adenosine 5'-diphosphate (ADP) > ATP > alpha, beta-methylene ATP) was consistent with that of P2y receptors. 3. Reversal potentials (Erev) of the currents under various ionic conditions suggest that potassium channels and non-selective cation channels were responsible for the ATP-activated conductance, which was permeable to calcium. 4. ATP activated the currents in a calcium-free extracellular solution. In the presence of extracellular calcium, the currents were completely inhibited with 10 mM EGTA in the pipette. 5. ATP (10 microM) increased the intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) whether cells were bathed in a solution containing calcium or not. 6. These results indicate that ATP evoked a calcium-dependent cation conductance, permeable to calcium, through P2y receptors by releasing calcium from intracellular stores in A6 cells.

Tetracarbonylhydridoferrate was found to be effective for the selective reduction of α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds to the corresponding saturated alcohols. The reactions proceeded stereospecifically and (−)- and (+)-neodihydrocarveol were obtained exclusively from (+)- and (−)-carvone respectively. The reaction mechanism is briefly discussed.