Removal of TiO Nanoparticles During Primary Water Treatment: Role of Coagulant Type, Dose, and Nanoparticle Concentration.

Nanomaterials from consumer products (i.e., paints, sunscreens, toothpastes, and food grade titanium dioxide [TiO]) have the capacity to end up in groundwater and surface water, which is of concern because the effectiveness of removing them via traditional treatment is uncertain.

Preoperative and postoperative optical coherence tomography findings in patients with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment involving the macular region.

Purpose. To evaluate morphologic changes of the macula, we observed eyes with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) involving the macular region by optical coherence tomography (OCT). Subjects and Methods.

Use of the kidney injury molecule-1 as a biomarker for early detection of renal tubular dysfunction in a population chronically exposed to cadmium in the environment.

Cadmium (Cd) has been found as an environmental pollutant in Mae Sot district, Tak province, Thailand. Prolong exposure to high levels of Cd of the resident increases high risk of Cd toxicity especially to kidney which is the primary target of Cd. In order to investigate the early effect of Cd induced renal dysfunction, a kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1), a novel biomarker of renal tubular dysfunction, was measured using an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

[An elderly patient with large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma(LCNEC)for whom chemotherapy with irinotecan and split-dose cisplatin(CDDP)proved very effective].

Large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma(LCNEC)is a rare malignant disease with a poor and the clinical outcome. Although no standard chemotherapy regimen has been developed, LCNEC should be treated in a manner similar to that used for small cell lung cancer because of their similar chemosensitivity and aggressive characteristics, even though LCNEC is classified as non-small cell lung cancer. A 78-year-old man was admitted with the complaint of convulsions on the left side of his body.

Long-term developmental outcome after early hemispherotomy for hemimegalencephaly in infants with epileptic encephalopathy.

This study aimed to identify the effect of early hemispherotomy on development in a consecutive series of 12 infants with hemimegalencephaly (HME) demonstrating epileptic encephalopathy. Mean age at onset was 20.4 days (range, 1-140), mean age at surgery was 4.

Distribution of and factors contributing to chronic kidney disease in a middle-aged working population.

Objectives: To clarify the distribution of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and the factors contributing to its development and progression in middle-aged Japanese workers/employees.

Methods: This was a retrospective study involving 3,964 men and 2,698 women aged 35-64 years in 2009 who had been followed-up until 2003. Data on proteinuria determined with a dipstick and glomerular filtration rate estimated from serum creatinine concentration (eGFR) were collected in the annual health check-ups.

Increased Ki-67 immunoreactivity in the white matter in hemimegalencephaly.

Hemimegalencephaly (HMG) is a developmental brain disorder characterized by an enlarged unilateral hemisphere with cortical malformation comprising abnormal hypertrophic cells. To address the proliferative status of HMG, Ki-67 immunoreactivity was investigated in HMG specimens obtained during epilepsy surgery. Nine HMG tissues were stained with a Ki-67 antibody and Ki-67 labeling index in the malformed cortex, and the underlying white matter was measured separately and compared with tissues from focal cortical dysplasias and normal brains from autopsy.

Surgical management of cortical dysplasia in infancy and early childhood.

Purpose: To describe operative procedures, seizure control and complications of surgery for cortical dysplasia (CD) causing intractable epilepsy in infancy and early childhood.

Methods: Fifty-six consecutive children (less than 6years old) underwent resective epilepsy surgery for CD from December 2000 to August 2011. Age at surgery ranged from 2 to 69months (mean 23months) and the follow-up was from 1 to 11years (mean 4years 4months).

A prospective study of psychosocial work characteristics and long sick leave of Japanese male employees in multiple workplaces.

The aim of this study was to identify psychosocial work characteristics associated with long sick leave in a large population of male Japanese employees in multiple workplaces. We examined various psychosocial work characteristics (job overload, job control, supervisor support, coworker support, support by family and friends, role ambiguity, role conflict, intragroup conflict and intergroup conflict) of employees in six factories at the base line. We then conducted a follow-up survey on the recorded long sick leaves of ≥ 30 continuous days taken by the employees due to any medical condition.

Prevalence of drug resistance and culture-positive rate among microorganisms isolated from patients with ocular infections over a 4-year period.

Purpose: To investigate the microbial isolates from patients with ocular infections and the trend in the emergence of levofloxacin-resistant strains over the past four years from 2006 to 2009 retrospectively.

Patients And Methods: The subjects were 242 patients with ocular infections or traumas treated in our hospital including outpatients, inpatients, and emergency room patients. Most of them needed urgent care presenting with eye complaints, traumas, or decreased vision.

Organic carbon recovery and photosynthetic bacteria population in an anaerobic membrane photo-bioreactor treating food processing wastewater.

Purple non-sulfur bacteria (PNSB) were cultivated by food industry wastewater in the anaerobic membrane photo-bioreactor. Organic removal and biomass production and characteristics were accomplished via an explicit examination of the long term performance of the photo-bioreactor fed with real wastewater. With the support of infra-red light transmitting filter, PNSB could survive and maintain in the system even under the continual fluctuations of influent wastewater characteristics.

Possible involvement of signal transducer and activator of transcription-3 in cell-cell interactions of peritoneal macrophages and endometrial stromal cells in human endometriosis.

Objective: To investigate interactions between peritoneal macrophages and endometrial stromal cells (ESCs) involved in the development of endometriosis.

Design: Clinicopathologic and in vitro studies.

Setting: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Department of Pathology, Kumamoto University Hospital.

Dioxin exposure in breast milk and infant neurodevelopment in Vietnam.

Objectives: Dioxin levels in the breast milk of mothers residing near hot spots of dioxin contamination areas in South Vietnam remain much higher than in unsprayed areas, suggesting that fetuses and breast-fed infants may be exposed to high levels of dioxins. The present study investigated the association of infant neurodevelopment in early infancy and dioxin exposure during the perinatal period.

Methods: The study involved 216 mother-infant pairs living near the Da Nang airbase, a dioxin contaminated area in Vietnam.

Cutaneous plasmacytosis: report of 6 cases with or without systemic involvement.

Background: Cutaneous plasmacytosis and systemic plasmacytosis are rare entities arising primarily in patients of Japanese descent. The origin and exact pathogenesis are poorly understood.

Objective: We sought to determine clinicopathologic features of cutaneous and systemic plasmacytosis.

[Clinical features of congenital myasthenic syndrome in Japan].

Objective: We examined the clinical and neurophysiological features of Japanese patients with congenital myasthenic syndrome (CMS).

Method: Subjects were five patients who were diagnosed with CMS on the basis of clinical course, repetitive nerve stimulation (RNS), and genetic analysis.

Results: Four patients manifested motor retardation within one year of birth, while one manifested motor intolerance at three years of age.

Search for the Θ+ pentaquark via the π(-)p→K(-)X reaction at 1.92 GeV/c.

The Θ(+) pentaquark baryon was searched for via the π(-)p→K(-)X reaction with a missing mass resolution of 1.4 MeV/c(2) (FWHM) at the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC). π(-) meson beams were incident on the liquid hydrogen target with a beam momentum of 1.

Carbon dioxide capture and nutrients removal utilizing treated sewage by concentrated microalgae cultivation in a membrane photobioreactor.

A highly efficient microalgae cultivation process was developed for carbon dioxide capture using nutrients from treated sewage. A submerged-membrane filtration system was installed in a photobioreactor to achieve high nutrient loading and to maintain a high concentration and production of microalgae. Chlorella vulgaris, Botryococcus braunii and Spirulina platensis were continuously cultivated with simulated treated sewage and 1%-CO(2) gas.

Novel pathological abnormalities of deep brain structures including dysplastic neurons in anterior striatum associated with focal cortical dysplasia in epilepsy.

Object: Some patients are not seizure free even after epileptogenic cortical resection. The authors recently described a case of frontal lobe epilepsy cured after the resection of periventricular white matter and striatum, in which dysplastic neurons were revealed. The authors attempted to confirm similar cases.

Impact of perinatal dioxin exposure on infant growth: a cross-sectional and longitudinal studies in dioxin-contaminated areas in Vietnam.

Dioxin exposure levels remain elevated in residents living around former US Air Force bases in Vietnam, indicating potential adverse impacts on infant growth. In this study, 210 mother-infant pairs in dioxin-contaminated areas in Vietnam were recruited at the infants' birth and followed up for 4 months. Perinatal dioxin exposure levels were estimated by measurement of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/furans toxic equivalent (PCDDs/Fs-TEQ) in breast milk.

The effects of continuing and discontinuing smoking on the development of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the healthy middle-aged working population in Japan.

Objectives: The strength of the association between smoking and the development of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the healthy middle-aged working age population has not been established.

Methods: This was a retrospective 6-year observational study involving 4,121 male and 2,877 female workers who were free of primary kidney disease, diabetes mellitus, severe hypertension, and the signs and symptoms of CKD. Proteinuria was detected by a dipstick method, and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was estimated by the equation of the Japan Society of Nephrology.

High gamma activity of 60-70 Hz in the area surrounding a cortical tuber in an infant with tuberous sclerosis.

Purpose: To detect the epileptogenic region causing epileptic spasms in an infant with tuberous sclerosis (TS).

Methods: We applied a multiple band frequency analysis to video electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings of the infant's scalp. We also performed computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and magnetoencephalography (MEG) of the brain in order to ascertain the epileptic focus.

Microbial diversity of soils on the banks of the Solimões and Negro rivers, state of Amazonas, Brazil.

Analysis of bacterial diversity in soils along the banks of the Solimões and Negro rivers, state of Amazonas, Brazil, was by partial sequencing of the genes codifying the rDNA16S region. Diversity of operational taxonomic units (OTU) and of the divergent sequences obtained were applied in comparative analysis of microbiological diversity in the two environments, based on richness estimators and OTU diversity indices. The higher OTU diversity in the Solimões was based on the higher number of parameters that evoke this.

Focal cortical myoclonus in rolandic cortical dysplasia presenting as hemifacial twitching.

A 2-year-old girl presented with brief episodes of left hemifacial twitching. On ictal electroencephalography, repetitive focal spike discharges appeared at the right fronto-centro-temporal regions; these discharges preceded the onset of each twitch by 12 ms. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a linear abnormal signal intensity in the subcortical white matter at the right postcentral gyrus, where a cluster of dipole sources was detected by magnetoencephalography.