The Bacterial Community in the Western Region of North Pacific Intermediate Water.

The bacterial composition in North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW) was investigated in three different years and compared with that in other seawaters around Japan. The results indicated that bacterial composition was surprisingly stable at the same point in a mesopelagic water mass throughout the years and supported previous physicochemical observations that NPIW is distributed to Kumejima, Japan.

Genome Sequence of the Psychrophilic Bacterium Tenacibaculum ovolyticum Strain da5A-8 Isolated from Deep Seawater.

Some bacterial species of the genus Tenacibaculum, including Tenacibaculum ovolyticum, have been known as fish pathogens in the sea. So far, the only published genome sequence for this genus is for Tenacibaculum dicentrarchi, which could also be a fish pathogen. Strain da5A-8, showing 100% identity to the 16S rRNA gene sequence of T.

Increased MFG-E8 expression and its implications in the vascular pathophysiology of cocaine abuse.

The aim of this study was to examine the possible involvement of smooth muscle cell remodeling and the induction of MFG-E8 (milk fat globule protein epidermal growth factor-VIII) in vascular pathophysiology during cocaine administration in cultured cells and rats. Cocaine exerts bifurcate effects on vascular cells; it stimulates vasoconstriction through enhancement of catecholamine release at low doses, while it suppresses cardiovascular functions through inhibition of ion channels at high doses. Short-term exposure to a high concentration of cocaine (3 mM, 24 hr) resulted in cell death of A7r5 rat aorta-derived smooth muscle cells.

Aurantiacicella marina gen. nov., sp. nov., a myxol-producing bacterium from surface seawater.

A Gram-stain-negative, non-motile, mesophilic, aerobic, rod-shaped bacterium, strain 2A-8T, was isolated from surface seawater at Muroto city, Kochi prefecture, Japan. The strain produced myxol as a major carotenoid. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the strain fell within the family Flavobacteriaceae and was related most closely to the genus Aquimarina (91.

Verbal regulation of grip force in preschoolers.

The purpose of this study was to clarify the developmental processes in verbal regulation by preschool children. Participants were 152 typically developing children (74 boys, 78 girls) between 4 and 6 years of age (M = 5.3, SD = .

Evaluation of postmortem serum and cerebrospinal fluid levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone with special regard to fatal hypothermia.

The aim of the present study was to undertake, during routine forensic work, a comprehensive analysis of the serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and to examine hypophyseal TSH immunopositivity in relation to the cause of death, with particular regard to fatal hypothermia. Medicolegal autopsy cases (n=120; within 48 h postmortem; survival time, <24 h), including cases of blunt injury (n=9), sharp instrument injury (n=8), fire fatality (n=18), mechanical asphyxiation (n=10), drowning (n=21), poisoning (n=6), hypothermia (n=10), and acute ischemic heart disease (n=38), were examined. Serum and CSF TSH concentrations were measured using an electrochemiluminescence immunoassay.

Evaluation of postmortem S100B levels in the cerebrospinal fluid with regard to the cause of death in medicolegal autopsy.

Previous studies have suggested the usefulness of the postmortem serum S100B level as a marker of the severity of brain damage. In this study, we investigated the S100B level in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in serial autopsy cases (n=216, within 3 days postmortem), including those of blunt injury (n=34: fatal head injury, n=20; others, n=14), sharp instrument injury (n=9), mechanical asphyxiation (n=19), drowning (n=11), fire fatality (n=26), intoxication (n=20), hypothermia (cold exposure, n=16), hyperthermia (heat stroke, n=9), acute cardiac death (n=52) and pneumonia (n=20). The CSF S100B level showed a moderate postmortem time-dependent increase for acute cardiac death (r=0.

Immunohistochemical distribution of chromogranin A in medicolegal autopsy materials.

Chromogranin A (CgA) was recently reported as a marker of various stress responses. The aim of this study was to investigate the immunohistochemical distribution of CgA in human tissues in medicolegal autopsy cases as a basis for postmortem investigation of stress responses. The autopsy cases (n=30, within 48 h postmortem) comprised cases of mechanical asphyxia (n=15: strangulation, n=8; hanging, n=7) and acute myocardial infarction/ischemia (AMI, n=15).

Morphological and functional alterations in the adenohypophysis in cases of brain death.

In order to examine the function of the adenohypophysis during brain death, levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), growth hormone (GH), and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) were investigated during forensic autopsy. Cases examined were those of brain death (n=12; within 24h postmortem; time to cardiac death after cerebral death was diagnosed, approximately 4-25 days), including those in which the cause of death was head injury (subdural hematoma or brain contusion, n=10) and asphyxia (strangulation, n=2). The concentrations of ACTH and TSH were measured by enzyme chemiluminescent immunoassay (ECLIA), and that of GH by radioimmunoassay (RIA).

Analysis of postmortem biochemical findings with regard to the lung weight in drowning.

To clarify drowning death, positive evidence for aspiration of the immersion medium and the subsequent fatal mechanism is necessary. This study investigated biochemical findings with regard to lung weight in drowning cases of adults (n=56, >18 years of age, <48 h postmortem: salt water, n=19; fresh water, n=21; brackish water, n=16), using acute cardiac death cases (n=240) as controls. The biochemical markers used in this study were urea nitrogen (UN), sodium (Na), chloride (Cl), calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) in the blood and pericardial fluid (PCF).

Analyses of cardiac blood cells and serum proteins with regard to cause of death in forensic autopsy cases.

To investigate hematological and serum protein profiles of cadaveric heart blood with regard to the cause of death, serial forensic autopsy cases (n=308, >18 years of age, within 48 h postmortem) were examined. Red blood cells (Rbc), hemoglobin (Hb), platelets (Plt), white blood cells (Wbc), total protein (TP) and albumin (Alb) were examined in bilateral cardiac blood. Blood cell counts, collected after turning the bodies at autopsy, approximated to the clinical values.

Postmortem serum levels of pulmonary surfactant-associated proteins A and D with regard to the cause of death in medicolegal autopsy.

Pulmonary surfactant-associated proteins A and D (SP-A and -D) are tissue-specific components. Previous studies showed an increase in the postmortem serum SP-A level due to acute pulmonary alveolar damage and acute respiratory distress. The present study comparatively investigated serum SP-A and SP-D levels with regard to the cause of death in serial medicolegal autopsy cases (n=679, within 48 h postmortem).

Potential risk factors for sudden cardiac death: an analysis of medicolegal autopsy cases.

Chronic kidney disease and elevated serum C-reactive protein (CRP) have been suggested as clinical risk factors for cardiac attacks. The present study investigated postmortem blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine (Cr) and CRP levels in the peripheral blood of sudden cardiac death cases. Adult autopsy cases of ischemic heart diseases (n=153, >20 years of age), including acute myocardial infarction (AMI, n=71), recurrent myocardial infarction (RMI, n=47), acute ischemic heart disease without infarction (AIHD, n=27) and chronic ischemic heart disease (CIHD, n=8), were examined and compared with chronic congestive heart disease (CHD, n=24), spontaneous cerebral hemorrhage (SCH, n=17) and mechanical asphyxiation (n=32).

Evaluation of postmortem calcium and magnesium levels in the pericardial fluid with regard to the cause of death in medicolegal autopsy.

Previous studies have suggested the usefulness of postmortem serum calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) for investigating cause of death. The present study investigated their levels in the pericardial fluid of serial autopsy cases of adults within 48 h postmortem (n=385), including fatalities from blunt injury (n=57), sharp instrument injury (n=9), mechanical asphyxiation (n=28), salt- and freshwater drowning (n=14 and n=61, respectively), fire fatality (n=35), intoxication (n=23), hypothermia (cold exposure, n=12), hyperthermia (heat stroke, n=7), acute cardiac death (ACD, n=86), pneumonia (n=9) and spontaneous cerebral hemorrhage (n=11). The pericardial Ca level was independent of the postmortem interval, showing a value similar to that of the clinical reference range in cases other than saltwater drowning, while the Mg level was higher than the clinical reference range and showed a mild postmortem time-dependent increase.

Single-stranded DNA as an immunohistochemical marker of neuronal damage in human brain: an analysis of autopsy material with regard to the cause of death.

Single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) is a marker of apoptosis and programmed cell death, which appears prior to DNA fragmentation during delayed neuronal death. The present study investigated the immunohistochemical distribution of ssDNA in the brain to investigate apoptotic neuronal damage with regard to the cause of death in medicolegal autopsy cases (n=305). Neuronal immunopositivity for ssDNA was globally detected in the brain, independent of the age, gender of subjects and postmortem interval, and depended on the cause of death.

[Immunohistochemical distribution of single-stranded DNA in the brain in medico-legal autopsy cases of carbon monoxide intoxication].

To evaluate apoptotic neuronal damage by carbon monoxide (CO) in medico-legal autopsy cases, we investigated the immunohistochemical distribution of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) as a marker of apoptosis and programmed cell death in the brain. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded brain tissue specimens, including cerebral cortex of frontal lobe, substantia nigra of the midbrain and pallidum, from medico-legal autopsy cases of fire fatality (n=63), including cases with blood carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) of a lower (<60%) and a higher (>60%) level (n = 39 and 24, respectively), and CO intoxication without burns (n = 6) were examined, in comparison with acute ischemic heart disease (IHD, n = 29) and asphyxiation due to strangulation (AS, n= 14). In the pallidum, neuronal immunopositivity for ssDNA was significantly higher in fire fatality with a higher COHb level than in IHD (p<0.

Postmortem serum nitrogen compounds and C-reactive protein levels with special regard to investigation of fatal hyperthermia.

The present study analyzed serum levels of urea nitrogen (UN), creatinine (Cr), and C-reactive protein (CRP), which are very stable during the early postmortem period, for investigation of the cause of death with special regard to hyperthermia (heat stroke) in serial medico-legal autopsy cases (n = 429), excluding fatal injury, intoxication, and fire fatality. In this series, mechanical asphyxiation, drowning, and sudden cardiac death cases (n = 56, n = 43, and n = 212, respectively) usually showed low levels within postmortem reference ranges for these serum markers, although UN and CRP levels were mildly elevated in cases of sudden cardiac death and cerebrovascular stroke. There were concomitant significant elevations in serum levels of UN (>50 mg/dL), Cr (>2 mg/dL), and CRP (>2 mg/dL) for chronic renal failure, gastrointestinal bleeding, pneumonia, and hypothermia (cold exposure).

Autoinduction of tumor necrosis factor-alpha in FRTL-5 rat thyroid cells.

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) may play a role in the development of autoimmune thyroiditis such as Hashimoto's thyroiditis. In the present study, we examined whether TNFalpha induced its own expression in FRTL-5 rat thyroid cells. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) markedly increased TNFalpha mRNA levels in FRTL-5 cells as assessed by semiquantitative RT-PCR.