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We performed laparoscopic and endoscopic cooperative surgery (LECS) for partial colectomy with partial cystectomy in an 80-year-old woman with sigmoidovesical fistula secondary to sigmoid diverticulitis. LECS was designed for local resection of the stomach for gastric submucosal tumors using the endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) technique. While conventional open abdominal surgery is very invasive, LECS has enabled surgeons to perform minimally invasive surgery. Although there have been no reported cases in which the bladder was laparoscopically resected after sigmoidovesical fistula division, we were able to safely resect the fistula and preserve the urethral opening by performing laparoscopic and cystoscopic cooperative surgery. There are no previously reported cases in which LECS was performed for partial sigmoidectomy and partial cystectomy ; therefore, we report this as a valuable case, with a review of the literature. We hope that further studies involving more patients will lead to the establishment of this procedure.

A 49-year-old Japanese man visited our hospital with chief complaints of difficulty with and bleeding during defecation. After a detailed examination, he was diagnosed with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) with multiple (five) colorectal cancers. The tumors were located in the right-sided, left-sided, and sigmoid colon, and the lower rectum. Regional lymph node involvement was observed, but no metastasis to other organs was detected. We, therefore, performed a laparoscopic total colectomy with superior mesenteric artery (SMA) and inferior mesenteric artery (IMA) lymph node dissection. We were able to perform minimally invasive and cosmetically acceptable surgery using laparoscopy instead of highly-invasive open abdominal surgery. Our search of the literature revealed no reported cases of laparoscopic total colectomy with lymph node dissection for FAP with multiple colorectal cancers, making the present case the first to be reported in the literature.

We investigated a mechanism of improving adhesiveness depending on sintering temperature for printed silver (Ag) electrodes prepared from nanoparticle ink on an insulating polymer layer as the under layer. The adhesion strength significantly improved by sintering the Ag electrodes at a temperature above the glass transition temperature ( T g ) of the polymer layer. In the sample with improved adhesiveness, the interfacial fusion between the printed Ag electrodes and polymer layer was observed in a cross sectional scanning electron microscope image. Based on this mechanism, we have successfully demonstrated the improvement in mechanical durability of organic thin-film transistors (TFTs) with printed Ag electrodes. The degradation of the organic TFTs after applying bending stress was significantly suppressed by interfacial fusion.

We encountered a patient with an adult Bochdalek hernia discovered asymptomatically. A 77-year-old Japanese woman visited a local clinic with chief complaints of melena and difficulty in defecation. Based on the results of the detailed examination in our hospital, she was diagnosed with a rectal gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) with a concurrent asymptomatic adult right-sided Bochdalek hernia. Because the tumor was large, laparoscopic abdominoperineal rectal amputation was performed after systemic imatinib therapy. During the surgery, we found a right diaphragmatic defect more than 13cm in long dia., through which the right hepatic lobe, colon, and greater omentum had prolapsed into the right thoracic cavity. No visceral adhesions were noted. No hernia sac was observed. Adult Bochdalek hernia is a relatively rare condition, and only three (incidentally discovered) cases of asymptomatic Bochdalek hernia, including the present case, have been reported in Japan. Here we provide a case report for the patient, who was followed-up without hernia surgery, plus a review of the literature.

症例は25歳，女性，未婚．2004年12月，左乳輪内側にしこり生じるも，自然消失．しかし，生理とともに再燃した．近医を受診したが，様子をみようといわれ不安になり，2月当院初診となった．触診，エコーで左乳輪下に膿瘍と思われるspaceあり，穿刺にて排膿なく，細胞診でも悪性所見なし．乳頭陥凹を認めず．発赤も軽く，切開せず経過観察となった．3月始め生理とともに発赤増悪し再来．エコーでspace拡大あり．切開排膿施行した．その後治癒と再燃を繰り返した．7月乳頭より圧迫にて排膿あり．3-0ナイロン糸を瘻孔開口部から挿入すると，乳頭より出てきた．そのまま糸をループ状に結紮，留置した．9月全身麻酔下に手術施行．通したナイロン糸をガイドに可及的に瘻孔を切除，乳頭内の責任乳管の開放と掻爬を行った．その後3カ月経過するも再燃を認めていない．

Appropriate and robust behavioral control in a noisy environment is important for the survival of most organisms. Understanding such robust behavioral control has been an attractive subject in neuroscience research. Here, we investigated the processing of wide-field motion with random dot noise at both the behavioral and neuronal level in Drosophila melanogaster. We measured the head yaw optomotor response (OMR) and the activity of motion-sensitive neurons, horizontal system (HS) cells, with in vivo whole-cell patch clamp recordings at various levels of noise intensity. We found that flies had a robust sensation of motion direction under noisy conditions, while membrane potential changes of HS cells were not correlated with behavioral responses. By applying signal classification theory to the distributions of HS cell responses, however, we found that motion direction under noise can be clearly discriminated by HS cells and that this discrimination performance was quantitatively similar to that of OMR. Furthermore, we successfully reproduced HS cell activity in response to noisy motion stimuli with a local motion detector model including a spatial filter and threshold function. This study provides evidence for the physiological basis of noise-robust behavior in a tiny insect brain.

Normal human islet cells are an ideal source for pancreas-targeted cell therapies, but the availability of human donor pancreata for islet isolation is severely limited. To effectively utilize such scarce donor organs for cell therapies, it is crucial to develop an excellent isolation, effective cryopreservation, and efficient gene transfer techniques for the transportation of isolated cells. In the present study, we investigate the effect of University of Wisconsin (UW) solution and ascorbic acid-2 glucoside (AA2G) on the cryopreservation of human islets. We also evaluate the gene transfer efficiency of a lentiviral vector expressing the E. coli LacZ gene, Lt-NLS/LacZ, in human islets. Human islets were isolated with a standard digestion method at the University of Alberta. Isolated islets were transported to Japan for 40 h and then subjected to cryopreservation experiments. The following preservation solutions were tested: UW solution with 100 micro g/mL of AA2G, UW solution, 100% fetal bovine serum (FBS), and CMRL supplemented with 10% FBS. Following three months of cryopreservation, the islets were thawed and analyzed for viability, glucose-sensitive insulin secretion, proinsulin gene expression profile, and in vivo engraftment. The islets were also subjected to monolayer formation with 804G-cell-line-derived extracellular matrix (ECM), followed by Lt-NLS/LacZ transduction. The viability, morphology, glucose-sensitive insulin secretion, proinsulin gene expression, and monolayer formation efficiency of the thawed cryopreserved islets are significantly better maintained by the use of UW solution. When AA2G (100 microg/mL) is combined with UW, such parameters are further improved. The adequate engraftment of UW + AA2G-cryopreserved human islets is achieved in the liver of nude mice. Efficient Lt-NLS/LacZ transduction is identified in monolayered islets cryopreserved with UW solution with AA2G. The present work demonstrates that the combination of UW solution with AA2G (100 microg/mL) would be a useful cryopreservation means for human islets. Human islets monolayer-cultured with 804G-derived ECM are efficiently transduced with a lentiviral vector Lt-NLS/LacZ.

Development of liver-targeted cell therapies, such as hepatocyte transplantation and bioartificial livers, requires a large amount of functional hepatocytes as needed. To achieve this development, establishing an excellent cryopreservation method of hepatocytes is an extremely important issue. Therefore, we performed a comparative review of cryoprotective effects of various cryopreservation solutions using primarily isolated porcine hepatocytes. Porcine hepatocytes were isolated with a four-step dispase and collagenase perfusion method. The obtained hepatocytes with the initial viabilities of 76%, 84%, and 96% were assigned to the following four groups for cryopreservation at −80°C: Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) + 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) + 12% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) (group A), University of Wisconsin (UW) solution + 12% DMSO (group B), Cell Banker 1 (group C), and Cell Banker 2 (group D). The hepatocytes in each group were thawed at 3 days, 10 days, and 5 months of cryopreservation and subjected to comparative analyses, including viability, plating efficiency, LDH release, ammonia removal test, and lentiviral gene transfer. These parameters were the most favorable in the hepatocytes cryopreserved with UW solution. Approximately 5% of thawed cryopreserved porcine hepatocytes expressed LacZ activity after lentiviral transduction. Intrasplenic transplantation of UW solution-cryopreserved hepatocytes improved the survival of rats treated with D-galactosamine. UW solution maintained the functions of cryopreserved porcine hepatocytes.

A space/time nodal diffusion code based on the nodal expansion method (NEM), EPISODE, was developed in order to evaluate transient neutron behavior in light water reactor cores. The present code employs the improved quasi-static (IQS) method for spatial neutron kinetics, and neutron flux distribution is numerically obtained by solving the neutron diffusion equation with the nonlinear iteration scheme to achieve fast computation. A predictor-corrector (PC) method developed in the present study enabled to apply a coarse time mesh to the transient spatial neutron calculation than that applicable in the conventional IQS model, which improved computational efficiency further. Its computational advantage was demonstrated by applying to the numerical benchmark problems that simulate reactivity-initiated events, showing reduction of computational times up to a factor of three than the conventional IQS. The thermohydraulics model was also incorporated in EPISODE, and the capability of realistic reactivity event an...

The purpose of this study is to investigate the life-cycle environmental assessment of urban sewage systems. LCE (life-cycle energy) is chosen as an indicator, and energy input to construction and maintenance of water treatment plants and drainage networks is estimated. Energy required for the production of input materials, machines and equipments, and for the construction of buildings is calculated based on a standard method of input-output analysis. Direct energy input to construction works and plant operation is estimated by using the standard construction work budget estimation manual of the Ministry of Construction and the actual plant operation data for the sewers in Fukuoka City. Although the calculation does not cover the entire life-cycle and the functions of sewage systems, it reveals that about 83% of the estimated total LCE is required for the operation of treatment plants and the remaining 17% for the construction of treatment plants and drains.

The energy consumption and the associated carbon dioxide emission induced by construction are calculated and compared among three east Asian countries including Japan, China and South Korea, where rapid economic development is taking place. Economic development is accompanied by improvement of various social infrastructures such as buildings and transportation systems. This induces the increasing energy demand for the production and distribution of materials such as iron and cement which are used for construction, and thus causes increasing impacts on the environment. Based on the standard input-output model, the energy consumption induced by unit final demand of construction sectors are calculated for the base year 1990. The results reveal that the construction sector as a whole plays an important role for energy consumption in each of the three countries. The share of the energy demand induced by construction sector in the total national energy consumption is 18% in Japan, while those in China and South Korea are 31% and 16% respectively.

The global warming has become a grave concern for mankind. Necessity of energy conservation in our daily life is advocated and policies for saving energy have been discussed in relation to urban environmental management. Here, growing attention has been paid to our lifestyles. In addition, however, we must consider the large amount of energy that are consumed for the improvement of urban infrastructures. Most of it is used through the input of materials such as irons and cements for construction works. From this viewpoint, the present study aims to analyze the energy consumption pertinent to urban infrastructure provision. Firstly, a method for analyzing such energy consumption is developed on the basis of the input-output model. Input of energy for a unit production expressed in monetary terms is calculated by using national input-output tables available today. It is shown that the input energy has been decreased remarkably during the 1955-1989 period in Japan. Secondly, estimation is made on the total energy value of the existing stocks of various infrastructures in the country. Thus this study aims to conduct the quantification of the life cycle environmental impacts related to the provision of various urban infrastructures.

Iwai, Y., Ishidao, T., Miyamoto, S., Ikeda, H. and Arai, Y., 1991. Solubilities of nonane vapor in styrene-butadiene copolymers at 100 and 130 °C. Fluid Phase Equilibria 68: 197-205. The solubilities of nonane vapor in styrene-butadiene copolymers were measured with a sorption apparatus at 100 and 130 ° C for mass fractions of nonane ranging from 0 to 0.17. It is shown that the UNIFAC-FV model can be applied to predict the solubilities of nonane in styrene-butadiene copolymers.

The present paper reviews activates relevant to the boiling water reactor (BWR) stability phenomenon, which has a coupled neutronic and thermal-hydraulic nature, from the viewpoint of model and code developments and their applications to the BWR stability solution methodology in Japan.

Background: Embryonic stem (ES) cells are widely used in therapeutic research as an unlimited source of cell therapy. Therefore, it is of great value to find a way to efficiently manipulate ES cells. HIV-1-derived lentiviral vectors are now considered to be an efficient vehicle for delivering genes into a variety of cells. In this study, we examined the efficacy of lentivirus-based gene delivery into mouse ES (mES) cells. Materials and methods: Recombinant HIV-I-based lentiviral vectors Lt-GFP, expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP), and Lt-LacZ, expressing E. coli LacZ gene in conjunction with neomycin resistance gene, were generated using a FuGENE 6 transduction method and used for transducing ES cells derived from 129Sv mice. Lentiviral transduction efficacy was evaluated by GFP expression assay using flow cytometry and by X-gal staining. The in vivo potential of developing teratoma of such transduced mES cells was examined in severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mice. Results: FuGENE 6 showed no considerable transduction-associated cytotoxicity. The expression rate of GFP and LacZ of mES cells increased on a multiplicity of infection (MOI)-dependent manner with the amount of Lt-GFP and Lt-LacZ used. Approximately 42% of mES cells were positive for GFP after infection of Lt-GFP at an MOI of 30. Notably, after G418 selection, nearly 100% of Lt-LacZ-transduced mES cells were positive for LacZ and formed teratomas in SCID mice. Conclusions: This work demonstrates that HIV-I-based lentiviral vectors are capable of transducing mES cells. Lentiviral vectors may facilitate an advance in the field of gene transfer and expression in various types of ES cells, including human ES cells.

Construction of a safe and functional bioartificial pancreas (BAP) that provides an adequate environment for islet cells may be an important approach to treating diabetic patients. Various types of BAP devices have been developed, but most of them involve extravascular implantation of islets in microcapsules or diffusion chambers. These devices have poor diffusive exchange between the islets and blood, and often rupture. To overcome these problems, we developed a new type of BAP composed of polyethylene-vinyl alcohol (EVAL) hollow fibers that are permeable to glucose and insulin and a poly-amino-urethane-coated, non-woven polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) fabric that allows cell adhesion. Porcine islets attached to the surface of the PTFE fabric, but not to the surface of the EVAL hollow fibers, allowing nutrient and oxygen exchange between blood flowing inside the fibers and cells outside. We inoculated this BAP with porcine islets and connected it to the circulation of totally pancreatectomized diabetic pigs. We found that blood glucose levels were reduced to a normal range and general health was improved, resulting in longer survival times. In addition, regulation of insulin secretion from the BAP was properly controlled in response to glucose both in vitro and in vivo. These results indicate that our newly developed BAP may be a potential therapy for the treatment of diabetes in humans.