Search

To examine whether eating status and dietary variety were associated with functional disability during a 5-year follow-up analysis of older adults living in a Japanese metropolitan area.A 5-year follow-up study.Ota City, Tokyo, Japan.A total of 10,308 community-dwelling non-disabled adults aged 65-84 years.Eating status was assessed using a self-reported questionnaire. Dietary variety was assessed using the dietary variety score (DVS). Based on the responses, participants were classified according to eating alone or together and DVS categories (low: 0-3; high: 4-10). Functional disability incidence was prospectively identified using the long-term care insurance system's nationally unified database. Multilevel survival analyses calculated the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for incident functional disability.During a 5-year follow-up, 1,991 (19.3%) individuals had functional disabilities. Eating status or DVS were not independently associated with incident functional disability. However, interaction terms between eating status and DVS were associated with functional disability; HR (95% CI) for eating together and low DVS was 1.00 (0.90-1.11), eating alone and high DVS was 0.95 (0.77-1.17), and eating alone and low DVS was 1.20 (1.02-1.42), compared to those with eating together and high DVS.Older adults should avoid eating alone or increase dietary variety to prevent functional disability. This can be ensured by providing an environment of eating together or food provision services for eating a variety of foods in the community.

Mushroom production has been growing in Brazil due to the culinary versatility of this food and its high nutritional value. However, few studies associating the aspects of its quality with the profile and preference of its consumers can be found in literature. Thus, in this study, we aimed to evaluate the firmness and biochemical composition of Shimeji and Shitake, as well as, the consumers’ profile and preference for purchasing these mushrooms. The mushrooms were characterized by firmness, protein and lipid content, total phenolic compounds, total flavonoids and antioxidation activity. In addition we carried out a survey on opinion of 308 mushroom consumers. The two mushrooms contain high protein content and low lipid content, and also expressive concentrations of bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity, suitable for these demanding functional food consumers. Shitake is approximately 4 times firmer than Shimeji and the highest levels for all analyzed biochemical attributes did not differ between the two studied mushrooms, except for protein content. The opinion survey indicated that young and adult women consume more mushrooms than men. Most of them buy mushrooms in supermarkets, and they are mostly higher educated people. No significant higher consumer preference for one of the two mushrooms analyzed was verified; however, most participants reported that they prioritize mushrooms which have characteristic aroma and flavor, smooth and juicy texture, being a convenient ingredient for a quick-cooking meal. RESUMO A produção de cogumelos vem crescendo no Brasil, devido à versatilidade culinária desse alimento e alto valor nutricional. Ainda são escassos estudos que associam os aspectos de sua qualidade com o perfil e preferência dos seus consumidores. Assim, nesse trabalho foi comparada a firmeza e composição bioquímica de Shimeji e Shitake, e verificado o perfil e a preferência dos consumidores para compra. Os cogumelos foram caraterizados pela firmeza, teores de proteínas, lipídios, compostos fenólicos totais, flavonoides totais e atividade antioxidade, além da realização de pesquisa de opinião com 308 consumidores de cogumelos. Os dois cogumelos contêm alto teor de proteínas e baixo de lipídios, além de concentrações expressivas de compostos bioativos e de atividade antioxidante, desejáveis aos consumidores exigentes em alimentos funcionais. O Shitake é aproximadamente 4 vezes mais firme quer o Shimeji e os maiores teores para todos os atributos bioquímicos analisados não diferiram entre os dois cogumelos, exceto para o teor de proteínas. A pesquisa de opinião indicou que mulheres jovens e adultas consomem mais cogumelos que os homens. A maioria deles adquire os cogumelos em supermercados, e são pessoas com escolaridade, majoritariamente, de nível superior. Não foi constatada significativa maior preferência dos consumidores por um dos dois cogumelos analisados, mas a maioria dos participantes relataram que na compra priorizam cogumelos com aroma e sabor característicos, textura macia e suculenta, e que permita rapidez no preparo de refeições.

Background Suppression of gastric acid secretion by proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) or potassium-competitive acid blocker (P-CAB) has recently been developed as a standard strategy for preventing gastrointestinal bleeding for patients receiving antiplatelet therapy after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). However, there has been limited evidences on the association between PPI/P-CAB administration and adverse cardiovascular events in patients undergoing PCI. Purpose We aimed to evaluate the prognostic impact of the prescription of PPI/P-CAB on clinical outcomes in patients after PCI. Methods This study is a subanalysis from the TWINCRE registry that is a multicentral prospective cohort including patients who underwent PCI at 12 hospitals in Japan between 2017 and 2019. Among registered patients, we ultimately evaluated 1,428 patients who were followed-up. They were divided into two groups by the prescriptions of PPI or P-CAB at discharge for the index PCI; the PPI/P-CAB group (n=1,023), and the Non-PPI/P-CAB group (n=407). The primary endpoint was major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) including death, acute coronary syndrome, stent thrombosis, hospitalization due to heart failure and ischemic stroke. Secondary endpoints was major bleeding events defined BARC3, 4 and 5. Results The average age of the study population was 70.3 years and 80.3% were male. Baseline clinical profiles were comparable between the groups, except that the PPI/P-CAB group included significantly higher rate of patients who had history of prior PCI (28.4% vs 18.7%, P=0.02). Additionally, there was no significant difference in the duration of dual antiplatelet therapy between the PPI/P-CAB group and Non-PPI/P-CAB group (average duration; 287±8 vs. 285±8 days, P=0.66). Overall, MACCE was developed in 132 patients (9.3%), and bleeding event was observed in 24 patients (1.7%) during 574 days of median follow-up period. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that patients in the PPI/P-CAB group had a significantly lower rate of MACCE than those in the Non-PPI/P-CAB group (Log-rank test, p=0.0003, Figure 1A). Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that the prescription of PPI/P-CAB still was independently associated with the primary endpoint (hazard ratio 0.532, 95% confidence interval 0.369–0.766, p=0.0007), even after the adjustment by diverse covariates. Whereas, there was no significant difference in the bleeding event (p=0.64, Figure 1B). Conclusion PPI or P-CAB therapy was associated with better clinical outcomes after PCI, independent of the incidences of severe bleeding events. Figure 1 Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None

Background The distal transradial approach (dTRA) for coronary catheterisation is a newly introduced alternative to the conventional transradial approach. This technique is expected to decrease the incidence of haemorrhagic complications and improve patient comfort. However, limited data are available regarding the application of this technique in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). This study investigated the feasibility and safety of the dTRA for primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with AMI. Methods This study included patients with AMI who underwent primary PCI via the distal radial artery across 3 Japanese hospitals between January 2018 and January 2019. Patients' background, procedural characteristics, and clinical outcomes including the incidence of haemorrhagic complications were analysed. Results This study enrolled 95 consecutive patients with AMI, including 68 patients (71.6%) with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), in whom distal radial artery puncture was attempted for primary PCI. The patients included 70 men (73.7%), and the mean age was 72.2±12.4 years. Among these patients, cannulation was successfully performed in 89 patients (93.7%). A 5-, 6-, or 7-French sheath (conventional or slender) was used in this study. Cannulation was performed using a forearm radial artery approach in patients in whom dTRA failed. PCI was successfully performed in all patients. The meantime to achieve haemostasis was 6.3±5.3 hours, and no major bleeding complications occurred. Based on The Early Discharge After Transradial Stenting of Coronary Arteries trial haematoma scale, grade I, II, and III subcutaneous haemorrhages were observed in 16 (16.8%), 4 (4.2%), and 1 patient (1.1%), respectively. No patient developed a haematoma > grade IV. In patients with STEMI, the mean door-to-balloon time was 39.4±31.9 min, and the mean puncture-to-balloon time was 19.7±14.2 min. Conclusions The distal radial approach is feasible and safefor primary PCI in selected patients with AMI.The application of the dTRA may serve as a less invasive strategy for the treatment of patients with AMI.

Purpose: To investigate age-related differences in outcomes of critically ill patients with sepsis around the world. Methods: We performed a secondary analysis of data from the prospective ICON audit, in which all adult ( >16 years ) patients admitted to participating ICUs between May 8 and 18, 2012, were included, except admissions for routine postoperative observation. For this sub-analysis, the 10,012 patients with completed age data were included. They were divided into five age groups - 80 years. Sepsis was defined as infection plus at least one organ failure. Results: A total of 2963 patients had sepsis, with similar proportions across the age groups (80 = 30.9%). Hospital mortality increased with age and in patients >80 years was almost twice that of patients 70 years was independently associated with increased risk of dying. Conclusions: The odds for death in ICU patients with sepsis increased with age with the maximal rate of increase occurring between the ages of 71 and 77 years. (C) 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

BACKGROUND: The incidence rates of breast cancer (BC) in Asian counties have been rising rapidly. The age-specific female BC incidence rates peak before menopause (around 40-50 years of age) in Asia, however treatment options for pre/perimenopausal patients are limited. Palbociclib (P) is an oral novel cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 (CDK4/6) inhibitor. The addition of P to endocrine therapy (ET) such as aromatase inhibitor or fulvestrant has been demonstrated improved progression-free survival (PFS) in phase 3 studies PALOMA-2 and PALOMA-3. This study is designed to evaluate efficacy and safety of P plus tamoxifen (TAM) in patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative advanced or metastatic BC regardless of menopausal status. This study is conducted as a Clinical Research Collaboration by National Cancer Center Hospital with research funding from Pfizer. TRIAL DESIGN: PATHWAY/NCCH1607 is a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, phase 3 study. Patients will be randomized 1:1 to receive either P (125 mg once daily, days1-21 of a 28-day cycle) or placebo in combination with TAM (20 mg once daily, continuously). Pre/perimenopausal women should receive concurrent ovarian function suppression with goserelin. Randomization will be stratified by prior ET for advanced/metastatic BC (1st line ET vs. 2nd line ET) and menopausal status (pre/perimenopausal vs. postmenopausal). KEY ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Eligible patients include women of any menopausal status with HR-positive, HER2-negative advanced or metastatic BC; candidates to receive TAM as 1st line or 2nd line ET for advanced/metastatic disease; ≥18 years of age; measurable or non-measurable disease (RECIST v.1.1); ECOG performance status 0-1; adequate organ function; have not received treatment with TAM (except for patients who have had more than 12 months from completion of adjuvant therapy with TAM); and have not received any CDK4/6 or phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) - mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors. SPECIFIC AIMS: The primary endpoint is PFS as assessed by the investigator. Secondary endpoints include overall survival (OS), 1, 2, and 3-year survival probabilities, objective response (OR), duration of response, clinical benefit rate (CBR), pharmacokinetics, safety, and patient-reported outcomes. STATISTICAL METHODS: The sample size was determined to detect a 38% reduction in the hazard of disease progression or death in P plus TAM arm with a 1-sided significance level of 2.5% and power of 80%. A stratified log rank test will be used to compare PFS between the 2 treatment arms. PRESENT ACCRUAL AND TARGET ACCRUAL: Target accrual of 180 patients will be enrolled within 23 sites among Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore. As of June 2018, 46 patients have been enrolled. CONTACT INFORMATION: This trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03423199 and UMIN000030816. For more information, email NCCH1607_office@ml.res.ncc.go.jp Citation Format: Noguchi E, Hata T, Nakamura K, Kuchiba A, Hayashi M, Hamada A, Yonemori K, Sohn J, Lu Y-S, Yap Y-S, Fujiwara Y, Tamura K. PATHWAY: Asian, multicenter, phase 3 trial of tamoxifen with or without palbociclib ± goserelin in women with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2018 Dec 4-8; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(4 Suppl):Abstract nr OT3-02-02.

We have investigated the laminar and the turbulent flow in superfluid 4He using a vibrating wire made of thin NbTi (φ 2.5 μm). The wire velocity as a function of applied force has shown a large hysteresis at the first cooling from normal fluid to the superfluid state. But after a couple of increasing and decreasing wire velocity we have found that the hysteresis vanished and the laminar and the turbulent flow are clearly separated at a critical velocity. The wire moving just after the first cooling must be influenced by remnant vortices nucleated through the superfluid transition. The appearance of the laminar flow below the critical velocity suggests that vortex strings on the wire seem to be selected as suitable sizes by a vibrating flow at higher velocities. We also measured the velocity dependence after immersing the wire directly into the superfluid and found that the laminar region expands up to a velocity much higher than the critical velocity observed above. This result indicates that remnant vortices are considerably reduced by the immersing method. © 2005 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.

We have studied the flow of superfluid 4He generated by a vibrating wire. As the drive force increases, the velocity of the wire grows in the laminar-flow regime, until it suddenly drops at the onset of the turbulent-flow regime. As the drive force decreases, the turbulence disappears at a critical velocity. This result suggests that the vortices on the wire are confined within a finite size, even in turbulence. We have measured the critical velocity of seven vibrating wires, whose resonance frequencies range from 0.5 kHz to 9 kHz, at 1.4 K and found that the critical velocity is almost constant below an oscillation frequency of 2 kHz and increases above this frequency. We have also observed the response of a vibrating wire in superfluid 4He at a low temperature of 30 mK. We find that the resonance frequency jumps upward at the same moment as the entry of the flow to a turbulent state. The frequency jump may be caused by vortex dynamics such as expansion, entanglement, and reconnection occurring in the turbulence. © 2006 American Institute of Physics.

転移をともなう腫瘍径10mm以下の直腸カルチノイドの2例を経験した.症例1は64歳,男性.占拠部位はRb,肉眼型はIsで腫瘍径は10mmであったが中心陥凹をみとめた,肝転移をともなっていた.症例2は65歳,女性.占拠部位はRb,肉眼型はIIaで腫瘍径は9mmであったが中心陥凹をみとめた.No.251リンパ節に転移をみとめた.2例ともカルチノイド徴候はみとめず,病理組織検査では深達度sm,lyO,vOで,核異型,mitosisは軽度でありclassical typeのカルチノイドの診断であった.転移をみとめた10mm以下の微小直腸カルチノイドの2例を経験した.2例とも中心陥凹をみとめた.

The effects of substrate temperature and surface stoichiometry on the growth behavior of InN were investigated in molecular beam epitaxy with in situ monitoring by reflection high-energy electron diffraction and spectroscopic ellipsometry. InN was grown on nitrided sapphire substrate or N-polarity GaN template. For both cases, InN layers were found in N polarity by coaxial impact collision ion scattering spectroscopy. At growth temperatures ranging from 470 to 590 °C, the N-rich condition was favorable for stable InN growth. Under the In-limited growth condition, the step-flow growth of InN was achieved on N-polarity GaN template at 580 °C with a growth rate of 1.3 μm/h. The FWHMs of X-ray rocking curves around InN (002) and (102) reflections were about 200–250 arcsec and 950–1100 arcsec, respectively. The InN layer grown with N polarity on GaN showed a Hall mobility as high as 800 cm2/V · s with a background electron concentration of 2.1 × 1019 cm—3 at room temperature.

Autopsy cases of isolated spinal neurosarcoidosis are extremely rare or none. To report an autopsy case of isolated spinal neurosarcoidosis without the involvement of other organs. A few reports of isolated spinal neurosarcoidosis are present, but no autopsy cases of isolated spinal neurosarcoidosis are present in the English literature. Japan. An autopsy case of isolated spinal neurosarcoidosis was examined pathologically. A 54-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of leg numbness and muscle weakness. Imaging modalities showed an irregular contour and a mass-like lesion in the spinal cord. No biopsies were performed. Clinical diagnoses were suspected sarcoidosis and malignant lymphoma. The patient was treated by steroids and anti-cancer drugs, but she suddenly died of unknown cause. An autopsy revealed fibrosis and non-caseating granulomata in the spinal cord. No acid-fast bacteria or fungi were recognized by special stains. A PCR revealed no acid-fast bacteria including tuberculosis. Other organs including the brain and lung showed no sarcoidosis lesions. A pathological diagnosis of isolated spinal neurosarcoidosis was made. Other pathological diagnoses were systemic congestion, lung emphysema, food impaction in the upper esophagus and larynx, cardiac hypertrophy and marked dilation of the colon. The cause of death was thought to be respiratory failure. We have reported a very rare autopsy case of isolated spinal neurosarcoidosis, with an emphasis on pathological findings.

Our purpose was to evaluate whether the maternal ophthalmic artery pulsatility index in normotensive pregnancies with small-for-gestational-age (SGA) fetuses is different from that in normotensive pregnancies with appropriate-for-gestational-age (AGA) fetuses. The cross-sectional study involved a group of normotensive pregnant women at > 34 weeks' gestation; 16 had fetuses that were AGA and 13 had fetuses that were SGA. Color and pulsed Doppler ultrasonography was performed in the ophthalmic arteries in each case and the pulsatility index and mean velocity were calculated. The heart rate and mean arterial blood pressure were also recorded. The pulsatility index of the ophthalmic artery (2.04 ± 0.39) in normotensive pregnant women with SGA fetuses was significantly lower than that (2.87 ± 0.64) in normotensive pregnant women with AGA fetuses (p < 0.05). The mean velocity (15.0 ± 2.7 cm/s) in the women with SGA fetuses was significantly higher than that (10.2 ± 2.7 cm/s) in the women with AGA fetuses (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference in maternal heart rate or mean arterial blood pressure between the groups. These results suggest that vascular resistance in the maternal orbital circulation is reduced in pregnancies that are normotensive but which are associated with SGA fetuses. Copyright © 1998 International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology

Our objective was to evaluate whether intratumoral-blood flow analysis could differentiate uterine sarcoma from uterine leiomyoma. Color and pulsed Doppler findings obtained from 41 patients with histologically proven uterine leiomyoma and five with uterine sarcoma (four leiomyosarcoma, one mixed mesodermal tumor) were retrospectively assessed. Intratumoral blood flow velocity waveforms were recorded, and the resistance index (RI) and peak systolic velocity (PSV) were calculated. There was no significant difference between the RI (median 0.647; range 0.422-0.896) in the uterine leiomyomas and the RI (median 0.663; range 0.330-0.774) in the uterine sarcomas. The PSV (median 61.6 cm/s; range 40.0-124.0 cm/s) in the uterine sarcomas was significantly higher (median 21.6 cm/s, range 6.3-48.6 cm/s) than that in the uterine leiomyomas (p < 0.05). When a cut-off value for the PSV of 41.0 cm/s (mean PSV of the uterine leiomyomas plus 2 standard deviations) was considered, the detection rate for uterine sarcoma was 80.0%, and the false-positive rate was 2.4%. These results suggest that the PSV within the tumor detected by color and pulsed Doppler ultrasonography could be useful for the preoperative differential diagnosis of uterine sarcoma.

Intrathecal drug delivery systems are becoming an increasingly common modality used by physicians to treat patients. Specifically, chronic spasticity secondary to multiple sclerosis (MS) may be treated with intrathecal baclofen (ITB) therapy when oral antispasmodics do not provide adequate relief. ITB therapy is effective, localizes drug delivery, and does not have the same degree of intolerable systemic effects often seen with oral and parenteral medications. As the use of intrathecal drug delivery systems has become more common, so has the incidence of adverse events. ITB administration requires the surgical implantation of indwelling catheters and a pump reservoir. Although this therapy is useful in treating spasticity, risks unique to intrathecal drug delivery systems include medication dosing errors, pump malfunction, infection, and catheter breakage or dislocation. To our knowledge intrathecal pump catheter migration into the spinal cord is a very rare complication with only 2 such complications reported. We present a case of an intrathecal baclofen pump catheter that was initially believed to have migrated into the spinal cord and the innovative use of cinefluoroscopy and digital subtraction used to identify catheter placement. Moreover, after confirmation of the catheter position within the spinal cord on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) our team elected to perform a laminectomy, which demonstrated that the catheter was not in the spinal cord but was surrounded by arachnoid adhesions. We hope our efforts will provide the clinician insight into the common difficulties that arise and how best to troubleshoot them to serve this specific patient population and prevent potentially life-threatening complications.

The specificity of chitinase C-1 of Streptomyces griseus HUT 6037 for the hydrolysis of the beta-1,4-glycosidic linkages in partially acetylated chitosan is different from that of other microbial chitinases. In order to study the primary structure of this unique chitinase, the chiC gene specifying chitinase C-1 was cloned and its nucleotide sequence was determined. The gene encodes a polypeptide of 294 amino acids with a calculated size of 31.4 kDa. Comparison of the amino acid sequence of the deduced polypeptide with that of other proteins revealed a C-terminal catalytic domain displaying considerable sequence similarity to the catalytic domain of plant class I, II, and IV chitinases which form glycosyl hydrolase family 19. The N-terminal domain of the deduced polypeptide exhibits sequence similarity to substrate-binding domains of several microbial chitinases and cellulases but not to the chitin-binding domains of plant chitinases. The previously purified chitinase C-1 from S. griseus is suggested to be generated by proteolytic removal of the N-terminal chitin-binding domain and corresponds to the catalytic domain of the chitinase encoded by the chiC gene. High-performance liquid chromatography analysis of the hydrolysis products from N-acetyl chitotetraose revealed that chitinase C-1 catalyzes hydrolysis of the glycosidic bond with inversion of the anomeric configuration, in agreement with the previously reported inverting mechanism of plant class I chitinases. This is the first report of a family 19 chitinase found in an organism other than higher plants.

To investigate the outcome of Japanese anorexia nervosa (AN) patients who were treated with the standard Japanese inpatient therapy.Of the 88 female AN patients treated with our inpatient therapy between January 1997 and December 2002, 67 (76.1%) who agreed to cooperate in this study were assessed by the Global Clinical Score (GCS) at admission and follow-up, 6.3±1.8 years after discharge. Their clinical characteristics at admission and discharge were also examined.Four (6.0%) patients had died before follow-up. BMI was significantly increased during inpatient therapy. At follow-up, excellent, much improved, symptomatic, and poor outcomes on GCS were 57.1%, 14.3%, 14.3% and 14.3%, respectively. Younger age at admission and larger BMI at discharge were significantly associated with a better outcome.This study shows the potential for the use of this method for the treatment of AN patients in countries without specialized eating disorder units.

A calmodulin-dependent nitric oxide synthase was significantly induced in the liver of rats treated intravenously with heat-killed Propionibacterium acnes and 5 days later with Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide. The apparent calmodulin-dependent and -independent isozymes were separated by Mono Q column chromatography after their partial purification by 2',5'-ADP-agarose affinity chromatography. Both enzymes had a molecular weight of 125,000 as determined by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and required NADPH, tetrahydrobiopterin, and dithiothreitol as cofactors. Their activities were completely inhibited by the specific nitric oxide synthase inhibitors NG-monomethyl-L-arginine and N omega-nitro-L-arginine at 80 and 800 microM, respectively. The peptide maps of these two isozymes with lysylendopeptidase and their reverse-phase column chromatographic profiles were indistinguishable. In the presence of bovine calmodulin, the purified calmodulin-dependent isozyme behaved as a calmodulin-independent isozyme on Mono Q column chromatography. The purified calmodulin-independent isozyme was converted to a calmodulin-dependent isozyme by EDTA and EGTA. Calmodulin blot analysis using 125I-calmodulin showed that the two isozymes bound calmodulin equally efficiently.

We stated that SART-stressed guinea pigs showing nasal mucosal hypersensitivity would serve as an animal model for the in vivo evaluation of antiallergic drugs. In the present study, the mode of action of Neurotropin on nasal allergy compared with those of antiallergic drugs was studied by using SART-stressed guinea pigs. Daily administrations of Neurotropin improved the methacholine-induced hypersecretion and histamine-evoked sneeze response, which are parameters of nasal mucosal hypersensitivity, and increased the density of muscarinic ACh receptors located on the nasal mucosa caused by SART stress. In addition, the inhibitory action on nasal secretion in a passively sensitized model was more intense in SART-stressed guinea pigs than in normal ones. Ketotifen and tranilast were also found to have marked effects on nasal secretion in the passively sensitized SART-stressed model, but only had weak effects on nasal mucosal hypersensitivity. Neurotropin significantly potentiated the action of ketotifen or tranilast. Thus, at least part of the inhibitory effect of Neurotropin on nasal symptoms such as watery secretion and sneezing is thought to have been brought forth through the regulatory action on nasal mucosal hypersensitivity, and its combined use with antiallergic drugs would be a very effective therapeutic regimen for nasal allergy.

A premolded normal straight joint for 66 kV cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) insulated power cables that requires less time and skill in jointing was developed for temporary applications. This plug-in type ethylene-propylene rubber (EPR) normal straight joint has an expected useful life of one year. In various tests carried out on the developed joints, it was shown that the joint can be assembled quickly (in about one hour) without requiring much skill. The initial characteristics tests revealed that these joints are satisfactory for 66 kV XLPE cables. The expected performance of the joints are confirmed in long-term tests and in subsequent residual performance tests. >

The transition to turbulence in the boundary flow of superfluid 4He is investigated using a vortex-free vibrating wire. At high wire vibration velocities, we found that stable alternating flow around the wire enters a turbulent phase triggered by free vortex rings. Numerical simulations of vortex dynamics demonstrate that vortex rings can attach to the surface of an oscillating obstacle and expand unstably due to the boundary flow of the superfluid, forming turbulence. Experimental investigations indicate that the turbulent phase continues even after stopping the injection of vortex rings, which is also confirmed by the simulations.

We have investigated the turbulence transition of the superfluid 4He flow generated by a vibrating wire. For a 1.2-kHz vibrating wire, we observed intermittent switchings between laminar and turbulent flows. The switching rate decreases with increasing temperature above 100 mK, until no occurrence of the switchings at 350 mK. For a 2.4-kHz vibrating wire, we find that the switching rate is much lower than that of the 1.2-kHz vibrating wire even at low temperatures. This result indicates that a mechanism causing the switchings is influenced by the temperature and the oscillation frequency of the superfluid flow. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007.

Prodromal angina occurring shortly before the onset of acute myocardial infarction (MI) has a cardioprotective effect in patients with acute MI by the mechanism of ischaemic preconditioning.1,2 However, it has been reported that several conditions, including aging and diabetes mellitus, may abolish the beneficial effect of prodromal angina.3,4 Recent experimental studies have reported that the cardioprotective mechanism of preconditioning is impaired by post-MI left ventricular (LV) remodelling.5 Patients with prior MI have an increased risk of developing acute MI. Once acute MI has occurred, the prognosis is worse than that for patients without prior MI. This study was undertaken to investigate the influence of prior MI on the effect of prodromal angina in patients with acute MI. This study enrolled 1076 patients with acute MI who underwent coronary angiography within 24 hours after the onset of chest pain. Acute MI was diagnosed by chest pain persisting longer than 30 minutes and concomitant ECG changes. Serum creatine kinase was measured every three hours. Peak creatine kinase concentration had to be more than twice the normal upper limit. Immediately after coronary angiography, reperfusion therapy was performed, if appropriate. Most (84%) of the patients underwent primary coronary angioplasty with (n = 584) or without coronary stents (n = 315). Contrast left ventriculography was performed before reperfusion therapy (n = 635) and at predischarge catheterisation (n = 656). Prodromal …

This paper presents an object-aware video surveillance system that is not only smart and friendly for users, but allows for transmission of the scene over limited bandwidth networks. The proposed system stores high-quality video data and associated object metadata, which includes ROI (region-of-interest) information. To satisfy bandwidth constraints and display important parts of the images fast and precisely, the stored images are efficiently transcoded in the compressed-domain based on the ROI information. At the receiver, effective display methods such as a mosaic style allow for an intuitive understanding of the important objects in the scene, as well as their movement over time

We have investigated the laminar and the turbulent flow in superfluid 4He using a vibrating wire made from a thin NbTi wire (φ 2.5 μm). We measured vibrating velocity of the wire as a function of driving force at 1.4 K and found that the laminar and the turbulent flow around the wire are clearly separated at a critical velocity. This phenomenon suggests that expansion of vortices attached on the wire causes the turbulence and those sizes are limited to an order of microns even in the turbulent flow. This limitation is considered due to tangle and reconnection of the vortices by oscillating flow. The critical velocity varies with frequency of the oscillating flow and the vortices seem to be confined closely at high frequencies. We also found a stable state of the vortices thickly attached on the wire by controlling cool down through the superfluid transition. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

To compare the use of two-dimensional, color Doppler and three-dimensional ultrasound for predicting the presence of a nuchal cord at birth.Eighty-five singleton pregnancies without nuchal cord and 35 with nuchal cord (30 with a single coil of cord, four with a double coil, and one in which the cord was coiled around the neck three times) were studied within 1 week before delivery using transabdominal three-dimensional sonography. Two-dimensional and color Doppler ultrasound were also conducted for comparison.Two-dimensional, color Doppler and three-dimensional sonography identified in utero 24 (69%), 29 (83%) and 25 (71%), respectively, of the cases of nuchal cord found at birth. There were no significant differences in overall diagnostic indices of each diagnostic modality for detecting nuchal cord. However, the ability to view the nuchal cord (subjective assessment of the ease of visualization of nuchal cord) was better with three-dimensional sonography than with two-dimensional or color Doppler ultrasound.Three-dimensional surface imaging does not provide more useful diagnostic information compared with two-dimensional and color Doppler ultrasound for detecting nuchal cord in utero.

2 , but we could not determine which becomes the standard regimen. We will confirm the safety of weekly nab-paclitaxel dosed at 100 mg/m 2 in Japanese women with HER2 negative metastatic breast cancer and subsidiarily evaluate the effectiveness of this regimen. Methods: Patients with metastatic breast cancer were pathologically confirmed adenocarcinoma of the breast. Less than 3 regimens for metastatic breast cancer were eligible for inclusion. Patients received nab-paclitaxel dosed at 100 mg/m 2 with 3.3 mg of dexamethasone as premedication on day 1, 8 and 15 of 28 day cycle. The primary endpoint was safety, which was defined as the percentage of patients who achieved 2 cycle of this regimen. Secondary endpoint was efficacy. Results: Thirty-nine patients were enrolled in this trial from plural facilities in Hokkaido, Japan. The mean age of patients was 60 years old (range : 43-77). Seventy-four % of patients have ER positive breast cancer and 41 % of patients have taken adjuvant chemotherapy. We defined the ratio of achieving two cycle of this regimen as the safety. Eighty-seven % of the patients were treated not less than two cycle of this regimen safely. The mean of relative dose intensity was 91.6 %. The most frequent adverse event was neutropenia. Grade 3 or 4 neutropenia was occurred in 44.7 % of the patients. There was no grade 3 or 4 neuropathy. Conclusions: Weekly nab-paclitaxel dosed at 100 mg/m 2 proved to be a safety regimen in this trial. The choice of this regimen is appropriate not only for first-line therapy of metastatic breast cancer but also for heavily pretreated metastatic breast cancer. Disclosure: All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.

A giant multiseptate cystic mass covering the whole left hemitruncus of fetus was detected by ultrasonography at 23 weeks of gestation. Color and pulsed Doppler ultrasonography revealed marked blood flow in the mass. No other anomaly or chromosomal abnormality was recognized. Although the cystic lesion increased in size with advancing gestation a male infant weighing 4096 g was delivered in good condition at term. Histological examination of the lesion demonstrated hemangiolymphangioma with hyperplasia of both capillaries and lymphoducts. The infant was treated effectively with OK-432 and interferon-alfa-2a.