Mitochondrial Metabolism in X-Irradiated Cells Undergoing Irreversible Cell-Cycle Arrest.

Irreversible cell-cycle-arrested cells not undergoing cell divisions have been thought to be metabolically less active because of the unnecessary consumption of energy for cell division. On the other hand, they might be actively involved in the tissue microenvironment through an inflammatory response. In this study, we examined the mitochondria-dependent metabolism in human cells irreversibly arrested in response to ionizing radiation to confirm this possibility.

Analysis of differentially expressed genes on human X chromosome harboring large deletion induced by X-rays.

We examined here normal human cells with large deletions encompassing the hypoxanthine-phosphoribosyltransferase 1 (HPRT1) gene on X chromosome. Expression levels of genes on X chromosome were analyzed by microarray and RT-qPCR method, and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were extracted. We found that DEGs were not limited to the genes flanking deleted regions but spread over the entire X chromosome.

No Intercellular Regulation of the Cell Cycle among Human Cervical Carcinoma HeLa Cells Expressing Fluorescent Ubiquitination-Based Cell-Cycle Indicators in Modulated Radiation Fields.

The non-targeted effects of radiation have been known to induce significant alternations in cell survival. Although the effects might govern the progression of tumor sites following advanced radiotherapy, the impacts on the intercellular control of the cell cycle following radiation exposure with a modified field, remain to be determined. Recently, a fluorescent ubiquitination-based cell-cycle indicator (FUCCI), which can visualize the cell-cycle phases with fluorescence microscopy in real time, was developed for biological cell research.

Molecular Configuration of Human Genome Neighboring Megabase-Sized Large Deletions Induced by X-Ray Irradiation.

The genomic landscape neighboring large deletions including the hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (HPRT) locus on human X chromosome in 6-thioguanine-resistant mutants originating from immortalized human fibroblast cells exposed to X rays was characterized by real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR)-based analyses. Among the 13 mutant clones with large deletions extending over several Mb, including the HPRT locus, revealed by 10 conventional sequence-tagged site (STS) markers, three clones bearing the largest deletions were selected for further qPCR analysis using another 21 STS markers and 15 newly designed PCR primer pairs. The results indicated that the major deletions were in very specific regions between the 130-Mb and 140-Mb positions containing the HPRT locus on the X chromosome and, contrary to our initial expectations, additional minor deletions were distributed in a patchwork pattern.

Finding Meaning in the Work of Nursing: An International Study.

Sixty nurses from five countries (Canada, India, Ireland, Japan, and Korea) took part in 11 focus groups that discussed the question: Do you consider your work meaningful? Fostering meaning and mentorship as part of the institutional culture was a central theme that emerged from the discussions. In this article, we begin with a background discussion of meaning and meaningful work as presented in the literature related to existentialism and hardiness. Next, we describe the method and analysis processes we used in our qualitative study asking how nurses find meaning in their very challenging work and report our findings of four themes that emerged from the comments shared by nurses, specifically relationships, compassionate caring, identity, and a mentoring culture.

[Implementation of integrated mental health care in an urban district of Tokyo].

Japan had a long history of long-term hospital care and is now trying to change it into community-based psychiatry. Implementing comprehensive approach that has already been proven effective through evidence based data in one particular community, one has to overcome several local barriers, if the same approach is to be implemented in different situations, such as differences in socio-cultural background and health care system. This is a report of the activities of Minato Net 21 pointing out the "local barriers" on implementing comprehensive approach in an urban district of Tokyo.