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Background/Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the association between the change in peripheral eosinophil count during postoperative pelvic radiotherapy and gastrointestinal (GI) toxicities in patients with cervical cancer. Patients and Methods: The medical records of 163 patients with cervical cancer who underwent postoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy between 2000 and 2016 were analyzed. Results: Among the peripheral blood cell counts, transient elevation of the eosinophil count was observed during radiotherapy. Of the 163 patients, 117 developed grade ≥2 diarrhea during radiotherapy, and 25 patients developed grade ≥2 late GI toxicities. In multivariate analysis, the maximum eosinophil count and age emerged as independent predictors of grade ≥2 acute diarrhea during radiotherapy, while bowel bag V40 Gy and age were predictive of grade ≥2 late GI toxicities. Conclusion: Early detection of transient elevation of eosinophil may facilitate early treatment of acute diarrhea during radiotherapy.

Acid-tolerant yeasts often inhabit extremely acidic environments: mine drain-ages, hot springs, and even fermented foods. Some of them also possess the ability to neutralize acidic media. However, the examples of these yeasts that are already known were isolated from acidic environments. In this study, the isolation of acid-tolerant yeasts from natural neutral aquatic environments and the identification of yeasts able to neutralize an acidic medium (acid-neutralizing yeast) in Japan were carried out. Various kinds of acid-tolerant and acid-neutralizing yeasts were obtained. In a neutralizing test using an acidic casamino acid solution adjusted to a pH of 4.0 with sulfuric acid, the obtained acid-neutralizing yeasts elevated the pH to approximately 7.0, and their neutralizing abilities were similar to those of previously reported yeasts that had been isolated from acidic environments. These results showed that acid-tolerant yeasts and acid-neutralizing yeasts exist widely in neutral environments, and little difference was found in the neutralizing abilities of yeasts obtained from neutral environments in comparison to those obtained from acidic environments.

A 6-year-old girl presented to hospital with a 4 day history of increasing neck pain. White blood cell count was normal with slightly raised C-reactive protein. The patient had a limited range of neck movement, and experienced enhanced pain with neck extension. X-ray and cervical computed tomography (CT) confirmed the diagnosis of cervical intervertebral disc calcification (IDC) and IDC with ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL), respectively. The symptoms improved after approximately 1 week following rest and oral acetaminophen. X-ray 6 months after onset confirmed the disappearance of the calcification. IDC is often reported in children, but IDC with OPLL is extremely rare and has not been previously reported in Japan. We believe that IDC with or without OPLL in children has a good prognosis when treated conservatively.

Objective The close relationship between fatty liver and metabolic syndrome suggests that individuals with fatty liver may have multiple coronary risk factors. In the present study, we investigated the relationships among fatty liver, abdominal fat distribution, and coronary risk markers. Methods and Results Eighty-seven pairs of men and 42 pairs of women who were matched for age and body mass index were enrolled in the present study. The obesity-related markers, abdominal fat distribution (examined by CT), and coronary risk markers were compared in subjects with and without fatty liver. The visceral fat area was significantly larger in the men with fatty liver than in the men without fatty liver. The plasma levels of triglyceride and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), as well as the homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance level, were higher in both males and females with fatty liver than in those without fatty liver, while the plasma levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and adiponectin were lower in the males and females with fatty liver. The plasma levels of apolipoprotein B, remnant-like particle cholesterol (RLP-C), and oxidized LDL were higher in men with fatty liver, but not in women with fatty liver. Conclusion Both males and females with fatty liver had lower insulin sensitivity, lower plasma levels of HDL-C and adiponectin, and higher triglyceride and LDL-C levels. However, the plasma levels of apolipoprotein B, RLP-C, and oxidized LDL were only higher and closely associated with fatty liver in men. Men with fatty liver had a higher risk of coronary disease than women with fatty liver.

The purpose of this paper is to consider methods of instruction in the proper use of conjunctions by Japanese learners of English by using corpus of English writing by Japanese university students and focusing on the role of conjunctions, which are considered to fulfill an important role in increasing cohesion. Three conjunctions were chosen for the analysis, and the Japanese, Chinese, Russian, Bulgarian and Turkish sub-corpora taken from the second version of the International Corpus of Learner English (ICLEv2) as well as a native speaker corpus LOCNESS-US were examined for the purpose of comparison. The analysis found that there is a statistically significant difference between native speakers of English and non-native learners of English regarding the use of above conjunctions as well as the sentence position in which they are used. The findings in this study has led us to the conclusion that, no matter what the mother tongue background of the English learner is, strategies are needed to increase cohesion of the text and correct use of conjunctions plays an important part in order to write texts that are logical and read like natural English.

Antiretroviral drugs, especially protease inhibitors (PI), are known to induce disorders of lipid and glucose metabolism. However, there are only a few reports of these side effects in patients treated with integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTI). We encountered the case of a 46-year-old man who had been treated for type 2 diabetes with diet and exercise. He contracted immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection two years earlier and received highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Three months before the current admission, HAART was switched from a non-nucleic acid reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) to an INSTI (raltegravir: 800 mg/day). He developed diabetic ketoacidosis and was admitted for treatment. The state of health prior to admission was not well documented but he showed no clinical signs of acute infection. Accordingly, diabetic ketoacidosis was considered to be associated with INSTI. Diabetic ketoacidosis was treated appropriately and blood glucose level was controlled with medications before discharge from the hospital. Although the present case does not provide direct evidence for raltegravir-induced diabetic ketoacidosis, we caution physicians about the potential of such side effect associated with the use of INSTI.

The patient was a previously healthy 23-year-old woman who made an outpatient visit to our hospital's Department of General Internal Medicine after developing pain and edema of the lower legs a week earlier. The patient was diagnosed with eosinophilic cellulitis (EC) based on an increased eosinophil count of 5,418/mm

Bacterial colonization in infancy is considered crucial for the development of the immune system. Recently, there has been a drastic increase in childhood allergies in Japan. Therefore, we conducted a prospective study with 56 infants on the relationship between gut microbiota in the first year of life and the development of allergies during the first 3 years. In the lactation period, organic acid producers such as Leuconostoc, Weissella and Veillonella tended to be underrepresented in subjects who developed food allergies (FA, n = 14) within the first two years. In the weaning period, children in the FA group were highly colonized by unclassified Enterobacteriaceae and two Clostridium species closely related to Clostridium paraputrificum and C. tertium, and the whole tree phylogenetic diversity index was significantly lower in the FA group. All of these differences in the weaning period were statistically significant, even after adjusting for potential confounding factors. A higher abundance of unclassified Enterobacteriaceae was also found in the other allergic group (n = 15), whereas the two Clostridium species were highly specific to the FA group. The mode of action of these Clostridium species in childhood food allergies remains unknown, warranting further investigation.

In the present study I investigate the use of lexical collocations in Japanese EFL learners' written English, with a special focus on the verb "take." I compare differences in the use of "take" in academic essays written by Japanese university students and by American university students, using the ICLE Japanese subcorpus as a learner corpus and LOCNESS as a reference corpus. I examined lexical collocations of "take" in terms of frequency, variety, overuse, and underuse. The results revealed that although the total frequency of "take" with noun combinations was higher in the Japanese EFL learner data, learners tended to overuse fixed expressions and did not use native-like collocations. The overall results suggest the need to expand collocational knowledge on the part of Japanese EFL learners, which may prove to be beneficial in producing more natural sentences. To achieve the above goal, I propose three suggestions in this paper. The first is that the process by which Japanese EFL students learn collocations needs to be clarified. The second is that collocational data retrieved from corpora should be put to use in classroom English texts. Lastly, there should be a greater awareness of the importance of teaching collocations to Japanese learners of English.

Objective: The Bethesda System (TBS) of uterine cervical cytology is a classification method that can improve accuracy in management and it includes descriptions on adequate specimens, human papillomavirus (HPV) involvement and estimated lesions. However, the judgment of atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASC-US) using TBS features complicated diagnostic criteria and poor reproducibility due to the definition of ASC-US. Of patients diagnosed with ASC-US in the initial cytology, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN)1-2 cases positive for high-risk HPV (CIN+) and benign cases in histology negative for high-risk HPV (B-) were selected for discriminant analysis based on Mahalanobis distance, in order to improve the accuracy of the ASC-US diagnosis. Study Design: ASC-US cases featuring koilocytosis with little nuclear atypia (koilocytosis) and squamous epithelial cells with nuclear atypia (SC with atypia), morphologically diagnosed with liquid-based cytology specimens prepared using ThinPrep were included. The nuclei of koilocytosis cases (CIN+, 8 cases, and B-, 10 cases) and SC with atypia (CIN+, 19 cases, and B-, 15 cases) were three-dimensionally analyzed to conduct a discriminant analysis based on Mahalanobis distance. Results: Discrimination rates were 78.9% for CIN+ and 66.7% for B- in koilocytosis, and 50.7% for CIN+ and 72.1% for B- in SC with atypia. Conclusion: The present method allows the objective analysis of nuclear chromatin, providing effective cytology regarding CIN+ in koilocytosis and B- in SC with atypia of ASC-US cases.

In the event of an outbreak of a high risk pathogen, such as hemorrhagic fever or smallpox, it is essential to start treating the patients and controlling infection immediately. It is a real possibility that these most dangerous pathogens be brought into Japan via well developed transportation system or terrorist attacks using biological agents, and they can be dealt with only by special BSL-4 (Bio-Safety Level 4) laboratories that satisfy BSL-4 specified by the WHO (1) . As there are no BSL-4 laboratories in operation in Japan as of 2012, it is an immediate requirement to develop a suitable environment for the operation of laboratories of this kind, in order to maintain effective health risk management for the Japanese people. In this research, we will discuss the necessary conditions for BSL-4 laboratories' operation in Japan.

Objective: It has been reported that the low level of consistency of diagnosis of atypical squamous cells cannot exclude high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (ASC-H) in uterine cervical cancer screening using the Bethesda System, indicating the necessity of a large-scale survey. We presented cases cytologically judged as ASC-H on our website and invited our members to give their opinions regarding the diagnosis by voting online. The Web voting results were analyzed and ASC-H was cytologically investigated. Study Design: Virtual slides of atypical cells in cytology preparations of 53 cases were prepared and presented on a website. ASC-H cases were divided into 42 cases sampled by brush scraping and 11 cases sampled by cotton swab scraping. Fifty-three cases cytologically judged as ASC-H were classified into benign and CIN2/3, and their patterns of arrangement of atypical cells and 8 cytological parameters were morphologically investigated. Results: The frequency of ASC-H diagnosis in the Web votes was low: 29.2% for brush-scraped and 26.2% for cotton swab-scraped cases. Three-dimensionality, coarse chromatin and irregular nuclei were significantly different between high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions and benign cases. Conclusion: Web-based surveys showed the difference of cytological findings between high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions and benign cases. To increase interobserver consistency, it may be useful to share information online, which avoids geographical and temporal limitations.

We investigated the correlation between fecal bacteria composition in early infancy and the prevalence of allergic diseases in late infancy. The fecal microbiota in the first 2 months was profiled using the 16S rRNA V6 short-tag sequences in the community and statistically compared between two groups of subjects who did and did not show allergic symptoms in the first 2 years (n = 11 vs. 11). In the allergic group, genus Bacteroides at 1 month and genera Propionibacterium and Klebsiella at 2 months were more abundant, and genera Acinetobacter and Clostridium at 1 month were less abundant than in the nonallergic group. Allergic infants who showed high colonization of Bacteroides and/or Klebsiella showed less colonization of Clostridium perfringens/butyricum, suggesting antagonism between these bacterial groups in the gastrointestinal tract. It was also remarkable that the relative abundance of total Proteobacteria, excluding genus Klebsiella, was significantly lower in the allergic than in the nonallergic group at the age of 1 month. These results indicate that pyrosequence-based 16S rRNA gene profiling is valid to find the intestinal microbiotal disorder that correlates with allergy development in later life.

Background Tubulointerstitial fibrosis (TIF) is seen as the final stage of progressive nephropathy, and the degree of TIF is reported to be a major determinant in renal outcomes. In recent years, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the zinc-finger transcription factor snail homolog 1 (Snai1) have each been implicated in the mechanism of TIF. The relationship between EMT and these transcription factors is unclear, however, so in this study we attempted to elucidate the correlation between the expression of Snai1 and clinical markers. Methods We performed immunohistochemical staining on human renal tissue obtained from patients with diabetic nephropathy (DN), IgA nephropathy (IgAN), minimal change disease (MCD) and minor glomerular abnormality (MGA) using anti-Snai1 and anti-vimentin antibodies. We counted Snai1-positive and Snai1/vimentin double positive tubular epithelial cells. Results Snai1 protein was mainly observed in the nuclei of flattened, damaged tubular epithelial cells, especially in IgAN and DN, and positive cell numbers were significantly higher in IgAN than in MGA, MCD or DN. Snai1/vimentin double staining showed that some vimentin-positive tubular epithelial cells also contained Snai1-positive nuclei, and double positive cell numbers were increased in IgAN and DN. Statistical analysis revealed positive correlations between Snai1/vimentin double positive cell numbers and proteinuria and creatinine in IgAN. Positive correlations were also seen between Snai1/vimentin double positive cell numbers and the severity of proteinuria in DN. Conclusions The results of this study indicate that Snai1 plays an important role in TIF in patients with progressive nephropathy.

The influence of antibiotic exposure in the early postnatal period on the development of intestinal microbiota was monitored in 26 infants including five antibiotic-treated (AT) subjects orally administered a broad-spectrum antibiotic for the first 4 days of life and three caesarean-delivered (CD) subjects whose mothers were intravenously injected by the similar type of antibiotics in the same period. The faecal bacterial composition was analysed daily for the first 5 days and monthly for the first 2 months. Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphisms in the AT subjects showed less diversity with the attenuation of the colonization of some bacterial groups, especially in Bifidobacterium and unusual colonization of Enterococcus in the first week than the control antibiotic-free infants (AF, n=18). Quantitative real-time PCR showed overgrowth of enterococci (day 3, P=0.01; day 5, P=0.003; month 1, P=0.01) and arrested growth of Bifidobacterium (day 3, P=0.03) in the AT group. Furthermore, after 1 month, the Enterobacteriaceae population was markedly higher in the AT group than in the AF group (month 1, P=0.02; month 2, P=0.02). CD infants sustained similar, although relatively weaker, alteration in the developing microbiota. These results indicate that antibiotic exposure at the beginning of life greatly influences the development of neonatal intestinal microbiota.

Objective Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a common cause of end-stage renal disease. However, the precise mechanism of DN, which involves the role of lipid, is still not fully understood. Lectin-like oxidized LDL receptor-1 (LOX-1) is a type II single-transmembrane protein that binds oxidized low density lipoprotein (Ox-LDL). This study examined the expression of LOX-1 mRNA in renal tissues from type 2 diabetes patients with DN using in situ hybridization (ISH). Patients and Methods Renal tissues were obtained from 15 type 2 patients with DN and 5 minimal change nephrotic syndrome (MCNS), membranous nephropathy (MN) and normal human kidney (NHK). Glomerular and tubulointerstitial LOX-1 mRNA expression was evaluated by ISH. Results The cells positive for LOX-1 mRNA were identified in the glomeruli of DN, MCNS, MN and NHK, however, there was no positive signal in the tubulointerstitial area in MCNS and NHK. Some cells positive for LOX-1 mRNA were detectable in the tubulointerstitial area in DN and MN. In the results of glomerular staining, there was no significant difference between them. There was a significant correlation between the tubulointerstitial LOX-1 expression and the degree of the tubulointerstitial damage and urinary protein in DN. Conclusion Increased expression of LOX-1 mRNA in the tubulointerstitial area may be closely linked to the development and progression of human DN, and in particular the tubulointerstitial damage.

Objective The loss of podocytes has been reported to have a role in the onset and progression of diabetic nephropathy (DN). Although structural changes such as podocyte hypertrophy are considered to be associated with podocyte loss, the relationship has not been thoroughly investigated using human DN renal tissues. Methods The subjects were 17 patients with DN diagnosed histopathologically by renal biopsy. Immunostaining was performed with antibodies for Wilm's tumor 1 (WT1) and synaptopodin (SPD), which are markers of podocytes, to determine the number of podocytes and assess podocyte hypertrophy. Results The number of podocytes was decreased in DN patients compared with the controls. An inverse correlation was observed between the number of podocytes and both the urinary protein excretion and the extent of mesangial expansion. Podocyte hypertrophy was also more marked in DN patients compared with controls. Conclusion Based on these results, podocyte loss and hypertrophy were suggested to be involved in the development and progression of human DN.

This paper discusses two studies which examine the usage of countable and uncountable nouns in the International Corpus of Learner English (ICLE) error-tagged Japanese sub-corpus. The first study examines major tendencies in the misuse of countable and uncountable nouns as found in the above corpus. Next, the second study examines how learners lexically determine that a noun can be used in both countable and uncountable forms. As a result, errors are classified into 3 types: errors using an uncountable noun as a countable noun, errors using a countable noun as an uncountable noun, and errors occurring when deciding between countable and uncountable nouns depending on the context. Based on the results of the second study, errors related to determining when to use a noun as countable or uncountable depending on context account for over 60% of the errors revealing a major tendency in the misuse of these nouns. It indicates that Japanese learners of English tend to have a fixed notion that specific nouns, especially abstract nouns, are uncountable. Results of the two studies suggest that recognition of countability or uncountability by Japanese EFL learners may be affected by the concept of a noun's concreteness or abstractness.

In this study, the English learner corpora from four different language learner groups will be analyzed: Japanese, Chinese, Italian, and French speakers, as well as two native speaker corpora for the purpose of comparison with the learner data. The results revealed that varieties of the usage of "feel" in respective learner corpora have unique tendencies, and they did not necessarily conform to the tendencies in the native speaker data. Also, it was found that differences existed between the learner corpora and the native speaker corpora in terms of the usage of adverbs and modifiers that collocated with the verb "feel". For example, in the learner corpora, words that modified the verb "feel" and expressed strength of emotion were very limited in number compared with the native speaker corpora. On the other hand, the native speaker data showed a tendency of using various adverbs, modifiers, etc., modifying the verb "feel" and specifically describing strength of emotion, certainty and so forth. The results of this study reinforce the assertion that emotion language is strongly affected by the learners' first languages and their socio-cultural experiences.

Although emotional expression has been studied from the perspective of many different disciplines, the study of the use of learners' emotional expressions in SLA has not yet been fully explored. This paper explores the learners' use of emotional expressions in the Japanese, Chinese, French and Italian learner corpora in spoken English against that of native speakers. The results show that 1) the use of emotion vocabulary differed according to the learners' language background and 2) strategies used in expressing emotions also differed according to the learners' linguistic background. Overall, the results of this paper have proven that Japanese students as well as the other non-native students do try to express emotions, in fact more frequently than native speakers of English. The difference seems to lie in how well they can use a variety of emotional expressions and their supporting strategies. Providing students with sufficient exposure to emotional expressions and their supporting strategies should be one of the most important instructional goals to implement.

A number of fluorescent benzothiadiazole dyes have been synthesised and their optical properties, when dispersed in a liquid crystal host phase, examined. These dyes have five linearly π-conjugated aromatic ring systems (both with and without ethene and 1,3-butadiene spacers). The liquid crystalline host medium, used was the nematic phase of MLC-2039. The emission colours observed ranged from green to red, depending on the unsaturated chains attached at the 4- and 7- positions of the bezo-2,1,3-thiadiazole core. A highly dichroic and efficient fluoresence was observed. The dye 4,7–bis[5-bis(phenylethenyl)thiophen-2-yl]-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole is of particular importance. This is the first example of a dye emitting strong red fluorescence (633 nm). When dispersed in MLC-2039, dichroic ratio values up to 12.3 were obtained.

Layered Li1+yNixCo1−2xMnxO2 materials were prepared by a solid-state reaction at 950 °C for 10 h in air and characterized by various methods. The cell performance depended on the composition. The rate performance deteriorated as Co content (1 − 2x) decreased. On the other hand, it improved as excess Li content (y) increased. The change of cell performance associated with composition variations was closely related to both the structural disorder (cation mixing) and the electrical conductivity (volume resistivity). The degree of cation mixing depended greatly on Co content (1 − 2x). On the other hand, the volume resistivity depended greatly on excess Li content (y). In other words, the cell performance was improved by the reduction of cation mixing and volume resistivity. Only Ni K-edge X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectra showed edge shifts to higher energy due to the oxidation of Ni as either Co content (1 − 2x) or excess Li content (y) increased. The unit cell size decreased as either Co content (1 − 2x) or excess Li content (y) increased. They are probably caused by the change from Ni2+ ( r Ni = 0.69 A) to the smaller Ni3+ ( r N i 3+ = 0.56 A). From these results, it is assumed that the reduction of volume resistibity is closely related to the increase of Ni3+ concentration in Li1+yNixCo1−2xMnxO2.

We have sequenced the insulin gene in 72 unrelated Japanese subjects (52 with type 2 diabetes mellitus and 20 with normal glucose tolerance). We identified 6 mutations and all were found at a low frequency (1% to 4%). Three mutations were new. These included a C-to-G substitution in the promoter region, a G-to-A substitution in codon-2 resulting in an Ala-to-Thr replacement in amino acid -2 of the signal peptide, and a G-to-A substitution in intron 2. We have no evidence that any of the mutations that we found are the cause of diabetes. Thus, mutations in the insulin gene do not appear to be an important genetic factor contributing to the development of diabetes in this population.

Background: Recently, an endothelin (ET-1) with a potent vasoconstrictive activity and stimulative activity of vascular muscular cell growth was discovered and blood ET-1 levels were higher in diabetic patients than in healthy subjects, suggesting that high ET-1 levels assist development and progression of diabetic microangiography. Methods: We examined renal function, and serum and tissue ET-1 levels in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats treated with a prostaglandin (PG) I2 derivative to investigate the effect of PGI2 in diabetic vascular disturbance. Results: Renal weight, urinary albumin, urinary N-acetyl-β,D-glucosaminidase (NAG) and serum ET-1 levels increased in STZ-induced diabetic rats, and a tendency to increase in renal tissue ET-1 levels was observed. Furthermore, electron-microscopic findings in the kidneys showed mesangial cell proliferation and mesangial matrix expansion which might be caused by diabetic nephropathy. The PGI2 derivative reduced urinary albumin and NAG levels in STZ-induced rats. It was considered, therefore, that the PGI2 derivative is effective in diabetic nephropathy. As the PGI2 derivative also reduced renal tissue ET-1 levels, improvement of diabetic nephropathy partially was considered to result from the reduction of renal tissue ET-1 levels. Conclusion: In STZ-induced rats, increased serum ET-1 levels and a tendency to increase in renal tissue ET-1 levels were associated with increases in urinary albumin and NAG levels, and these levels were decreased by a PGI2 derivative. These findings suggested that increased ET-1 concentrations assist development and progression of diabetic nephropathy, especially diabetic microangiopathy, and the PGI2 derivative may be effective for inhibition of diabetic microangiopathy mediated by reduction of ET-1 concentrations.

New mononuclear nitratocopper(II) complexes ([Cu(NO3){HB(3,5-iPr2pz)3}] (1) and [Cu(NO3){HB(3-tBu-5-iPrpz)3}] (3)) and a novel mononuclear hydroxocopper(II) complex ([Cu(OH){HB(3-tBu-5-iPrpz)3}] (4)) have been prepared. These complexes were characterized by X-ray analysis and IR, UV-vis, and EPR spectroscopies. Except for the dinuclear complex ([{Cu[HB(3,5-iPr2pz)3]}2(μ-OH)2] (2)), the complexes are mononuclear structures having square-pyramidal (1), trigonal-pyramidal (3), and distorted tetrahedral (4) geometry. In comparison with these structures and their physicochemical properties, the structural effects on the alkyl substitutions at the close 3-position in hydrotris(pyrazolyl)borates play an important role in modifying the coordination environment about a copper(II) center and their physicochemical properties.

We investigated the effect of T cell-dependent B cell activation on the production of IL-10 and IL-12 by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) obtained from patients with Graves' disease vs Hashimoto's thyroiditis, type 1 diabetes or normal controls. Incubation of PBMCs, from each of the subject groups, with a combination of anti-CD40 monoclonal antibodies and interleukin 4 (IL-4)-activated B cells, as shown by an increased level of soluble CD23. There was also a notable increase in the number of CD23(+)cells in PBMCs from patients with Graves' disease as compared to the other subject groups. This combination of B cell stimulants increased production of IL-10 in PBMCs obtained from patients with Graves' disease relative to those patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, type 1 diabetes, or the control subjects. The production of IL-12 showed wide variation that depended on the basal IL-12 level. In subjects with a low basal IL-12 level there was a positive correlation between the production of IL-12 and that of IL-10 from PBMCs stimulated with anti-CD40 antibodies plus IL-4. On the contrary, in the patients with a high basal IL-12 level, no change or a decrease of IL-12 production was observed after the stimulation. Thus, T cell-dependent B cell activation via a CD40 pathway triggers the overproduction of IL-10 and overcome the effect of IL-12 to shift the Th(1)/Th(2)balance to Th(2)dominance in patients with Graves' disease but not in Hashimoto's thyroiditis or type 1 diabetes.

To investigate whether the two free-radical scavengers, Cu, Zn- and Mn-superoxide dismutase (SOD), are changed in leukocytes of diabetic patients, and the alteration of these enzymes correlates with the diabetic state, we measured the activity and concentration of these enzymes in leukocytes from diabetic patients. Both Cu, Zn-SOD and Mn-SOD activities in neutrophils and lymphocytes were significantly lower in patients with non–insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus than in healthy controls. The concentrations of these enzymes in leukocytes from diabetic patients, however, did not differ from those in controls. Cu, Zn-SOD and Mn-SOD activities in neutrophils inversely correlated with HbA 1c concentrations. Myeloperoxidase activity in leukocytes was significantly reduced in NIDDM patients. These findings suggest that changes in these enzymes may affect the susceptibility to infection and immunocompetence of patients with diabetes.

Copper(I) carbonyl complexes with a series of hindered LR1,R2 ligands (L: hydrotris(pyrazolyl)borate, R1 and R2 are substituents at the 3- and 5-positions of the pyrazole ring, respectively), LR1,R2CuCO [R1, R2 = Me, Me (1), i-Pr, i-Pr (2), t-Bu, Me (3), t-Bu, i-Pr (4), Ph, i-Pr (5), Ph, Ph (6)] have been synthesized and characterized by 1H NMR and IR spectroscopy and elemental analysis. The molecular structures of 3 and 6 have been determined by X-ray crystallography. The electronic structures of copper(I) sites are characterized by means of 63Cu NMR spectroscopy and by the C⋮O stretching vibration. The sharp 63Cu NMR signals are observed for LR1,R2CuCO complexes in toluene at room temperature. The 63Cu NMR signals of copper(I) complexes with alkyl-substituted ligands (1−4) are observed in lower field than those of the phenyl derivatives (5, 6) correlating with the electron-density at the copper center. This argument is supported by the good correlation between the δ(63Cu) value and C⋮O stretching vibra...

Epicotyl segments(approximately 1 cm in length)of Vigna angularis(cv.Tanbadainagon)inoculated with Agrobacterium rhizogenes produced hairy roots and/or adventitious buds. Mikimopine and the predictable PCR band for rol gene were detected in the hairy roots, and plantlets obtained from the adventitious buds were negative for both products. These results suggested that the segments can induce the formation of adventitious buds without an infection of A.rhizogenes; therefore this possibility was examined. As a result, adventitious buds were formed from the segments on a hormone-free medium and promoted by low concentrations of 6-benzyladenine(BA) and 1-naphthaleneacetic acid(NAA). When the calli induced on the medium containing BA and/or NAA were transplanted onto the hormone-free medium, they induced an organogenic callus, which was growing with the formation of a green leaflike structure. Especially, the frequency of organogenic callus formations was very high in calli that had once produced adventitious buds. The development of shoots from organogenic callus was induced on the medium containing gellan gum with NAA. Shoots(more than 1 cm in length)cut from epicotyl segments and organogenic callus produced roots and developed actively on the hormone-free medium. The procedures obtained in the present study are useful for the genetic improvement of the plant via biotechnology.

Female preference for the different temporal features of advertisement calls by males was studied in the foam-nesting treefrog,Rhacophorus arboreus. Field observations showed that females were attracted to males making more calls, calling in more bouts of vocalization and leading choruses. In phonotactic experiments in the laboratory, however, females were attracted to vocalizations with more total notes while they were not attracted to chorus leaders.

Summary Suppression of the fibrinolytic activity plays an impotant role in the prevention of hemorrhage during pregnancy and labor. A hypofibrinolytic and hypercoagulable state may be established in the placenta during pregnancy. However, little infarcition is present in the normal placenta. This evidence demonstrates that the placenta maintains a fibrinolytic activity in spite of a hypercoagulation state. We studied the role of APC (activated protein C) on fibrinolysis in the placenta. (1) APC-PAI-1 (plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1) complexes were demonstrated in serum-free culture medium when human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were incubated with APC, indicating that PAI-1 was dissociated from receptor-bound uPA (urokinase type plasminogen activator) on the cell surface of HUVEC. This was also confirmed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), (2) APC antigen is located on the syncytiotrophoblast in first trimester placenta by immunohistochemistry. Taken together, these results suggest that APC could possibly play a significant role in fibrinolytic activity during early stages of gestation.

Objective: To increase the accuracy of the diagnosis of atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASC-US), ASC-US were divided into high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV HR+) and non-high-risk HPV (HPV HR-) cases to analyze the significance of binucleated cells with compression. Study Design: ThinPrep specimens of ASC-US were examined. This study included 21 CIN and HPV HR+ (CIN+), 19 benign and HPV HR- (B-) and 10 benign and HPV HR+ (B+) cases. The number of cells were examined by defining binucleated cells with their nuclei pressing against each other as positive compression, and their relation to the relative light units (RLUs) of the DNA Hybrid capture 2 (HC2) was determined. Results: 95.2% of CIN+ and 15.8% of B- cases were compression positive, while 4.8% of CIN+ and 84.2% of B- cases were compression negative, which was significantly different. The average number of cells with positive compression was 5.7 ± 5.3 in CIN+, 2.0 ± 0.7 in B- and 5.5 ± 1.5 in B+ cases, with significant differences between CIN+ and B- and between B- and B+ cases. The number of compression-positive cells increased as HPV HC2 RLUs became higher. Conclusion: Positive compression is useful in determining ASC-US with HPV HR+. The identification of positive compression is highly practical because it can be observed morphologically.

In the event of an outbreak of an infectious disease, the pathogen of which is highly contagious, or when there are patients suspected to be infected with such a pathogen, it is essential to start treating the patients and controlling infection immediately. As the transportation system has been well developed, there are more worries about terrorist attacks using biological agents now than ever before. It is a real possibility that even the most dangerous pathogens that are the causes of Class 1 infectious diseases specified in the Infectious Diseases Act, such as hemorrhagic fever or smallpox, be brought into Japan. Those most dangerous pathogens can be dealt with only by special laboratories that satisfy BSL-4 (Bio-Safety Level 4) specified by WHO (BSL-4 laboratories)(1). As there are no BSL-4 laboratories in operation in Japan at present, it is an immediate requirement to develop a suitable environment for the operation of laboratories of this kind, in order to maintain effective health risk management for the Japanese people. In this research, in order to put BSL-4 laboratories in operation in Japan, we will clarify what relevant environmental factors are in different types of possible locations. Based on that, we will propose to utilize those laboratories not only in emergencies, but also in normal times. We will also discuss the necessary conditions in the social environment of contemporary Japan for BSL-4 laboratories’ operation.Copyright © 2011 by ASME

We conducted a pilot attitude survey about attitude towards NIMBY (not in my back yard) facility with the students who major in ocean engineering and environmental engineering as subjects. The results found the following: facilities that are most often considered NIMBYs are a nuclear power plant, an industrial waste disposal facility, followed by a bio-research institute; if a NIMBY is established more than 50 km apart from the subjects’ residential area, its presence becomes acceptable; the degree of rejection lessens in the order of an isolated, uninhabited island, on a desert, and a submarine location. Also, the results showed that the best merit of building a BSL-4 facility offshore is that it can be relocated to another location if necessary. As a conclusion, a BSL-4 facility is most likely to be accepted to the local residents if it is built on a floating construction 50 km offshore, allowing to move to another location if necessary.Copyright © 2010 by ASME

Access dinghies were designed in Australia to improve the quality of life and extend the scope of people’s activity. Unlike other dinghy yachts, access dinghies are universal-design pleasure boats that allow a wide range of people to enjoy sailing, regardless of age, the degree of disability, and experience. In this research, a questionnaire survey was conducted on people enjoying access dinghies using the semantic differential method to investigate broadening of the range of spatial activities and the mental rehabilitation effect resulting from sailing access dinghies. The results demonstrated that sailing access dinghies has a positive mental effect upon people.Copyright © 2009 by ASME

Objective To determine the clinical usefulness of long-term intensive insulin therapy in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes. Patients and methods Various clinical indicators and potential of withdrawal from insulin therapy were investigated in 20 type 2 diabetic patients receiving treatment in the outpatient clinic over a period of 8 years after starting intensive insulin therapy between April 1997 and March 1999. Results The mean glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) was approximately 6.5%, and there was no significant increase in insulin dose over a period of 8 years after commencement of intensive insulin therapy. Withdrawal from insulin therapy could be sustained in previously untreated patients. Conclusion Our results indicated the clinical usefulness of intensive insulin therapy over the long term in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes and that such therapy could be especially useful for previously untreated patients.