Development on smart suit for dairy work assistance.

Our purpose in this study is to achieve an independent life and a social involvement for the elderly using KEIROKA Technology(fatigue-reduction) which makes it possible to improve the quality of chores and occupations by removing excessive strain and tiredness. The authors have developed power assist suits named "smart suit". The authors have evaluated the effect that the purpose of dairy work assistance, to measure EMG of the worker, compared to the potential of the surface of the non-wearing and wearing "smart suit".

Postural stabilization by trunk tightening force generated by passive power-assist device.

We are developing a passive power-assist supporter called Smart Suit Lite, which is a compact and lightweight power-assist device that utilizes the restoring force of elastic belts. Smart Suit Lite is designed not only to support muscles but also to stabilize the torso similarly to a corset. However, because a corset is always tight around the waist, negative effects caused by long-term use has been pointed out.

Efficacy and safety of mizoribine for the treatment of Sjögren's syndrome: a multicenter open-label clinical trial.

This multicenter clinical trial was performed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of mizoribine for the treatment of Sjögren's syndrome. Fifty-nine patients with a definite diagnosis of Sjögren's syndrome received 150;Smg of mizoribine daily for 16 weeks. The salivary secretion volume was determined at baseline, at weeks 8 and 16 after the start of the study treatment by the Saxon test, and clinical manifestations were assessed by the investigator and the patients using a 10-cm visual analog scale (VAS).

Mouse monoclonal anti-human thrombomodulin antibodies bind to and activate endothelial cells through NF-kappaB activation in vitro.

Objective: To clarify whether mouse monoclonal antibodies (mAb) against human thrombomodulin (TM), which react with human TM present on the endothelial cell (EC) surface, have anti-endothelial cell antibody (AECA) activity and influence antiinflammatory properties of human TM expressed on the EC surface in vitro.

Methods: Three preparations of mouse mAb against human TM that react with different sites of the human TM epidermal growth factor-like domain were tested for their ability to 1) bind to ECs, 2) modulate cytokine secretion from ECs, EC adhesion molecule expression, and neutrophil adhesion to ECs, and 3) stimulate nuclear translocation of NF-kappaB through the degradation of cytoplasmic IkappaB in ECs. Recombinant human interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) was used as a positive control, and mouse IgG1 and mouse IgG2a were used as negative controls.

A preliminary study of clinical assessment of left unilateral spatial neglect using a head mounted display system (HMD) in rehabilitation engineering technology.

Purpose: Unilateral spatial neglect (USN) is a common syndrome in which a patient fails to report or respond to stimulation from the side of space opposite a brain lesion, where these symptoms are not due to primary sensory or motor deficits. The purpose of this study was to analyze an evaluation process system of USN in various visual fields using HMD in order to understand more accurately any faults of USN operating in the object-centred co-ordinates.

Method: Eight stroke patients participated in this study and they had Left USN in clinical test, and right hemisphere damage was checked by CT scan.

Sjögren's syndrome associated with chronic hepatitis C, severe thrombocytopenia, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and diabetes mellitus.

A 74-year-old woman with Sjögren's syndrome and chronic hepatitis C (CHC) was admitted to our hospital in October 2003 for treatment of diabetes mellitus. She had the past history of recurrent thrombocytopenia, which was proven to be due to peripheral destruction. Although she had been diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) for 2 years, she had never felt palpitation.

Muscular polyarteritis nodosa as a cause of fever of undetermined origin: a case report and review of the literature.

We describe an unusual presentation of a localized form of polyarteritis nodosa (PAN) manifested by fever of undetermined origin (FUO). Biopsies of the gastrocnemius muscle revealed necrotizing arteritis and initiation of prednisolone (PSL) brought rapid response. The PAN localized to muscle is rare; furthermore, this disease presented as FUO is very rare.

Rheumatoid arthritis complicated with acute interstitial pneumonia induced by leflunomide as an adverse reaction.

A 49-year-old Japanese man with rheumatoid arthritis acutely developed a skin eruption and severe non-productive cough seventeen days after the administration of leflunomide. Because all bacteriology findings were negative, steroid pulse-therapy was initiated promptly due to the rapidity of chest X-ray progression and the deterioration of arterial blood oxygen pressure. Although cough was induced by methotrexate, interstitial pneumonia was not detected clinically before leflunomide administration.

Antiribosomal P protein antibodies in cerebrospinal fluid are associated with neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective: To investigate whether antiribosomal P protein antibodies (anti-P) are present in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and if presence of anti-P in CSF is more strongly related to the appearance of neuropsychiatric SLE (NPSLE) than anti-P in serum.

Methods: CSF and serum samples from 70 patients with SLE were used. Patients were divided into 4 groups: 21 patients with neurologic syndromes of the central nervous system (CNS); 19 patients with diffuse psychiatric/neuropsychological syndromes; 10 patients with complex presentations (neurologic syndromes of the CNS plus diffuse psychiatric/neuropsychological syndromes); and 20 patients without NPSLE based on diagnostic criteria for 19 NPSLE syndromes proposed by the American College of Rheumatology.

von Recklinghausen disease in a patient with X-linked agammaglobulinemia.

A 33-year-old man was referred to our hospital because of intractable cellulitis in his left lower leg. He was diagnosed with agammaglobulinemia at the age of 6 years and had been receiving gamma-globulin supplementation since then. Laboratory examination revealed a markedly reduced number of B cells, decreased protein amount of Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) in monocytes, and a single base substitution of C994-->T(missense mutation of Arg288-->Trp) in BTK gene, confirming the diagnosis of X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA).

Production of thromboxane A2 and prostaglandin i2 affected by interaction of heat aggregated IgG, endothelial cells, and platelets in lupus nephritis.

Objective: To examine the role of immune complexes in the prostanoid metabolism of glomerular capillary endothelial cells (EC) and platelets in lupus nephritis. Heat aggregated IgG (HA-IgG), instead of immune complexes, was incubated using an in vitro coculture system with human umbilical vein EC, instead of glomerular capillary EC, and platelets. The effect of complement component C1q and a novel imidazole-type thromboxane A2 (TXA2) synthetase inhibitor, DP-1904, on this prostanoid metabolism change was also investigated.