Comparative Study of Muscle Hardness during Water-Walking and Land-Walking Using Ultrasound Real-Time Tissue Elastography in Healthy Young People.

Compared with land-walking, water-walking is considered to be beneficial as a whole-body exercise because of the characteristics of water (buoyancy, viscosity, hydrostatic pressure, and water temperature). However, there are few reports on the effects of exercise in water on muscles, and there is no standard qualitative assessment method for muscle flexibility. Therefore, we used ultrasound real-time tissue elastography (RTE) to compare muscle hardness after water-walking and land-walking.

A Case of Paroxysmal Cold Hemoglobinuria Possessing Moderate Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria-Type Erythrocytes.

BACKGROUND Paroxysmal cold hemoglobinuria (PCH) is an autoimmune hemolytic disease caused by the Donath-Landsteiner (DL) antibody. Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) is a non-autoimmune hemolytic disease that is caused by a dysfunction in the synthesis of the glycosyl phosphatidylinositol anchor protein, resulting in the deregulation of the complement cascade and hypersensitivity for a hemolytic attack against erythrocytes. The mechanisms of these 2 hemolytic diseases are distinct.

Transformation of Acute Myeloid Leukemia with Deletion of Chromosome 7q and Additional Abnormalities in Chromosome 8 in a Patient with Essential Thrombocythemia.

This is a case report of a 60-year-old male patient with essential thrombocythemia (ET) that progressed to acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in approximately 9 years. His platelet count decreased approximately 8 years after ET treatment with hydroxyurea (HU) and aspirin. The dose of HU was reduced because of suspected myelosuppression due to HU; however, myelosuppression did not improve.

Large polypoid angiomyofibroblastoma of the vulva: report of a case.

We report a case of angiomyofibroblastoma which arose in the vulva of a 46-year-old woman. The tumor formed a large pedunculated polypoid mass, measuring 14 cm in maximal dimension, which hung down from the right labium majus. It consisted of a dense or loose proliferation of fibroblastic and myofibroblastic cells on an edematous background, and the tumor cells occasionally exhibited an increased cellularity around well-developed, medium-sized or small blood vessels.

Restricted infection of murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) in neonatal mice with MCMV-induced sensorineural hearing loss.

Background: Congenital infection with human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is known to be a causative agent of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL).

Objectives: To clarify the nongenetic etiology of SNHL by identifying the Cytomegalovirus (CMV)-infected region in the cochleae.

Study Design: We established an animal model of SNHL by injecting neonatal Balb/c mice with intracerebral murine Cytomegalovirus (MCMV) within 24h after delivery.

Mixed endometrial stromal and smooth muscle tumor: report of a case with focal anaplasia and early postoperative lung metastasis.

A rare case of a mixed endometrial stromal and smooth muscle tumor arising in the uterus of a 74-year-old woman is reported. The patient underwent hysterectomy for an enlarging uterine mass, and a large intramural tumor, showing marked central hyaline necrosis with calcification, was found. The tumor consisted of an admixture of a low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma (ESS) and a fascicular proliferation of spindle cells suggesting smooth muscle differentiation, and a characteristic 'star-burst' appearance was found.

Radiologic assessment of a self-shield with boron-containing water for a compact medical cyclotron.

The cyclotron at our hospital has a self-shield of boron-containing water. The amount of induced radioactivity in the boron-containing water shield of a compact medical cyclotron has not yet been reported. In this study, we measured the photon and neutron dose rates outside the self-shield during cyclotron operation.

Molecular changes induced by bisphenol-A in rat Sertoli cell culture.

Bisphenol-A (BPA) is an industrial chemical and is known to act as an endocrine disrupter. This study was designed to evaluate how BPA regulates Sertoli cell (SC) signal molecules. Purified rat SCs were cultured and treated with BPA (200 µmol/l) at various time points.

Prediction of pregnancy rate by blastocyst morphological score and age, based on 1,488 single frozen-thawed blastocyst transfer cycles.

Objective: To present an estimation of the pregnancy rate after IVF or intracytoplasmic sperm injection stratified by blastocyst morphology and age.

Design: Retrospective analysis.

Setting: Private IVF clinic.

The effects of severity of oligozoospermia on Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) cycle outcome.

The objective of this study was to explore the relationship between the severity of oligozoospermia and the development of embryos and clinical outcome in patients undergoing ICSI. A total of 908 intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycles involving women of < or =37 years of age were included in this study. The patients were divided into four treatment groups according to the results of an analysis of their husbands' semen: (A) mild oligozoospermia that ranged from 10 x 10(6)/ml to <20 x 10(6)/ml (n=283), (B) mild to severe oligozoospermia that ranged from 5 x 10(6)/ml to <10 x 10(6)/ml (n=192), (C) severe oligospermia that ranged from 1 x10(6)/ml to <5 x 10(6)/ml (n=259), and (D) very severe oligozoospermia that ranged from 0 to <1 x10(6)/ml (n=174).

A healthy birth after intracytoplasmic sperm injection using ejaculated spermatozoa from a patient with Kartagener's syndrome.

Objective: To report a healthy birth that was achieved by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) with use of ejaculated spermatozoa from a patient with Kartagener's syndrome.

Design: Case report.

Setting: Private infertility clinic.

Sec22b is a negative regulator of phagocytosis in macrophages.

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is proposed to be a membrane donor for phagosome formation. In support of this, we have previously shown that the expression level of syntaxin 18, an ER-localized SNARE protein, correlates with phagocytosis activity. To obtain further insights into the involvement of the ER in phagocytosis we focused on Sec22b, another ER-localized SNARE protein that is also found on phagosomal membranes.

Formation of specific dipolar microenvironments complementary to dipolar betaine dye by nonionic peptide lipids in nonpolar medium.

This paper describes the host-guest interaction between nonionic peptide lipids and solvatochromic dipolar betaine dyes in nonpolar aprotic organic solvent. We have serendipitously found that the colour of Reichardt's Dye (referred to as ET(30) hereafter, although the term ET(30) has been used as a polarity parameter) in chlorobenzene unusually blue-shifted in the presence of L-glutamic acid-derived peptide lipid 1 with a benzyloxycarbonylated Gly headgroup. Since it is widely accepted that ET(30) shows negative solvatochromism, i.

Stimulation of endometrium embryo transfer can improve implantation and pregnancy rates for patients undergoing assisted reproductive technology for the first time with a high-grade blastocyst.

Objective: To evaluate whether stimulation of endometrium embryo transfer (SEET) can improve implantation rate and pregnancy rate (PR) for patients undergoing assisted reproductive technology (ART) for the first time by injecting embryo culture supernatant into the uterus before blastocyst transfer (BT).

Design: Randomized, controlled trial.

Setting: Private in vitro fertilization clinic.

Fertilization and pregnancy using cryopreserved testicular sperm for intracytoplasmic sperm injection with azoospermia.

Objectives: To report fertility for men with obstructive (OA) and nonobstructive (NOA) azoospermia after frozen and thawed spermatozoa recovered from the seminiferous tubules and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and to evaluate the factors other than spermatozoa.

Design: Retrospective clinical analysis.

Setting: Male infertility clinic for testicular sperm extraction and freezing/thawing (cryoTESE) and assisted reproductive technologies clinic for ICSI.

A simple method to induce differentiation of murine bone marrow mesenchymal cells to insulin-producing cells using conophylline and betacellulin-delta4.

The present study was conducted to establish a method to induce differentiation of bone marrow (MB)-derived mesenchymal cells into insulin-producing cells. When mouse BM-derived mesenchymal cells were cultured for 60 days in medium containing 10% fetal calf serum and 25 mM glucose, they expressed insulin. Addition of activin A and betacellulin (BTC) accelerated differentiation, and immunoreactive insulin was detected 14 days after the treatment.

Stimulation of endometrium embryo transfer (SEET): injection of embryo culture supernatant into the uterine cavity before blastocyst transfer can improve implantation and pregnancy rates.

Objective: To evaluate whether stimulation of endometrium embryo transfer (SEET) by injecting embryo culture supernatant (ECS) into the uterus before blastocyst transfer (BT) can improve implantation and pregnancy rates.

Design: Randomized, controlled trial.

Setting: Private in vitro fertilization clinic.

Involvement of syntaxin 18, an endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-localized SNARE protein, in ER-mediated phagocytosis.

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is thought to play an important structural and functional role in phagocytosis. According to this model, direct membrane fusion between the ER and the plasma or phagosomal membrane must precede further invagination, but the exact mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we investigated whether various ER-localized SNARE proteins are involved in this fusion process.