[Development of a microbiology data warehouse (Akita-ReNICS) for networking hospitals in a medical region].

The active involvement of hospital laboratory in surveillance is crucial to the success of nosocomial infection control. The recent dramatic increase of antimicrobial-resistant organisms and their spread into the community suggest that the infection control strategy of independent medical institutions is insufficient. To share the clinical data and surveillance in our local medical region, we developed a microbiology data warehouse for networking hospital laboratories in Akita prefecture.

Asymmetry of Rb+ conduction emerged under bi-ionic conditions in epithelial maxi-K+ channels.

K(+) channels permit more than one ion within their conducting pathway at any given moment and show a saturating single-file behavior. The conduction of Rb(+) shows an unusual behavior, a so-called "Rb(+) anomaly," and it has been used to probe the mechanism of the ion conduction through K(+)-selective channels. Under the bi-ionic condition of K(+) and Rb(+), we carried out patch-clamp single-channel current measurements in MaxiK(+) channels from mouse submandibular acinar cells.

A new approach to medical and clinical knowledge management by using the Medical Cells strategy.

The authors previously designed managing and sharing medical information units called "Medical Cells". The authors measured clinicians' satisfaction with the Medical Cells, and experiences with the performance of the Medical Cells within an existing electronic medical record system. The Medical Cells were useful in obtaining correct medical knowledge, and had a significant impact on managing and sharing medical information within the EMRS.

An XML-based integration method for different types of patient data in cardiology.

Clinical data consist of a wide variety of information. Database software that covers all types of clinical data is ideal. Patient data in cardiology were converted into an XML-format by tags that cardiologist selected.

Gestational length affects a change in the transepithelial voltage and the rNKCC2 expression pattern in the ascending thin limb of Henle's loop.

To examine whether the functional and morphologic conversion of the neonatal ascending thin limb (ATL) of Henle's loop is related to gestational length, we evaluated the transepithelial voltages (Vts) of ATLs in perinatal mouse, hamster, rabbit, and rat kidneys. In isolated microperfused tubule preparations, Vts of neonatal ATLs were 23.8 +/- 1.

Chloride-dependent intracellular pH regulation via extracellular calcium-sensing receptor in the medullary thick ascending limb of the mouse kidney.

The extracellular calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) located in either luminal or basolateral cell membranes of various types of renal tubules including proximal tubules, Henle's loop and collecting ducts has been thought to play a fundamental role in electrolyte metabolism. To further identify the physiological roles of the CaSR, we examined the effects of Ca(2+) and calcimimetics neomycin (Neo), gentamicin and gadolinium chloride (Gd(3+)) on the intracellular pH (pHi) of in vitro microperfused mouse medullary thick ascending limb (mTAL) cells of Henle's loop, by loading the cells with fluorescent pH indicator 2',7'-bis-(2-carboxyethyl)-5-(and-6)-carboxyfluorescein and measuring the ratio of fluorescence emission at 530 nm after exciting the dye at 490 and 440 nm. In a steady-state condition in Hepes-buffered solution, the pHi in the mTALs was 7.

Phylogenetic, ontogenetic, and pathological aspects of the urine-concentrating mechanism.

The urine-concentrating mechanism is one of the most fundamental functions of avian and mammalian kidneys. This particular function of the kidneys developed as a system to accumulate NaCl in birds and as a system to accumulate NaCl and urea in mammals. Based on phylogenetic evidence, the mammalian urine-concentrating mechanism may have evolved as a modification of the renal medulla's NaCl accumulating system that is observed in birds.

Suppressive effects of red wine polyphenols on voltage-gated ion channels in dorsal root ganglionic neuronal cells.

Polyphenols are ubiquitous plant metabolites with multiple pharmacological properties. Using whole-cell patch-clamp current recording techniques, we studied the effects of polypnenols extracted from red wine (purity > 90% from Cabernet Sauvignon grape wine) on the activities of voltage-operated Na+-, K+-, and Ca2+-channel currents in mouse dorsal root ganglionic neuronal cells. The polyphenols suppressed all of the channel activities with half-effective concentrations of about 2.

Delayed expression of large conductance K+ channels reshaping agonist-induced currents in mouse pancreatic acinar cells.

Epithelial secretory cells display cell-specific mechanisms of fluid secretion and express large conductance voltage- and Ca2+-activated K+ (Maxi-K) channels that generate the membrane negativity for effective Cl- exit to the lumen. Rat and mouse pancreatic acinar cells had been thought to be peculiar in this sense because of the previously reported lack of Maxi-K channels. However, this view is not entirely correct as evidenced in the present paper.

Involvement of GTP-binding protein in pancreatic cAMP-mediated exocytosis.

We studied cAMP-mediated exocytosis in rat pancreatic acinar cells. We monitored changes in the membrane capacitance (DeltaC), which reflects the granule fusion/retrieval process, with whole-cell patch-clamp capacitance measurement. The rise in cellular cAMP, caused indirectly by receptor activation by vasoactive intestinal polypeptide or directly by dibutyryl cyclic AMP, was able to induce an increase in DeltaC independently of cellular Ca2+.