Efficacy of a Moderately Low Carbohydrate Diet in a 36-Month Observational Study of Japanese Patients with Type 2 Diabetes.

We previously showed that a non-calorie-restricted, moderately low-carbohydrate diet (mLCD) is more effective than caloric restriction for glycemic and lipid profile control in patients with type 2 diabetes. To determine whether mLCD intervention is sustainable, effective, and safe over a long period, we performed a 36-month observational study. We sequentially enrolled 200 patients with type 2 diabetes and taught them how to follow the mLCD.

Insulin degludec requires lower bolus insulin doses than does insulin glargine in Japanese diabetic patients with insulin-dependent state.

Background: The study presents a comparison of the glucose-lowering effects, glycemic variability, and insulin doses during treatment with insulin degludec or insulin glargine.

Methods: In this open-label, single-center, 2-way crossover study, 13 Japanese diabetic outpatients in the insulin-dependent state on basal-bolus therapy were assigned to receive either insulin glargine followed by insulin degludec, or insulin degludec followed by insulin glargine. Basal insulin doses were fixed in principle, and patients self-adjusted their bolus insulin doses.

A non-calorie-restricted low-carbohydrate diet is effective as an alternative therapy for patients with type 2 diabetes.

Objective: Although caloric restriction is a widely used intervention to reduce body weight and insulin resistance, many patients are unable to comply with such dietary therapy for long periods. The clinical effectiveness of low-carbohydrate diets was recently described in a position statement of Diabetes UK and a scientific review conducted by the American Diabetes Association. However, randomised trials of dietary interventions in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes are scarce.

[Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis in a patient with polycythemia vera].

Herein we describe the case of a patient with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) following polycythemia vera (PV) on whom hemodialysis was started 7 years later. A 66-year-old woman who had been treated for PV with hydroxyurea and phlebotomy for three years was referred to our hospital because of nephrotic syndrome. Renal biopsy performed at her local hospital revealed FSGS.

Liquid membrane operations in a microfluidic device for selective separation of metal ions.

A three-phase flow, water/n-heptane/water, was constructed in a microchannel (100-microm width, 25-microm depth) on a glass microchip (3 cm x 7 cm) and was used as a liquid membrane for separation of metal ions. Surface modification of the microchannel by octadecylsilane groups induced spontaneous phase separation of the three-phase flow in the microfluidic device, which allows control of interfacial contact time and off-chip analysis using conventional analytical apparatus. Prior to the selective transport of a metal ion through the liquid membrane in the microchannel, the forward and backward extraction of yttrium and zinc ions was investigated in a two-phase flow on a microfluidic device using 2-ethylhexyl phosphonic acid mono-2-ethylhexyl ester (commercial name, PC-88A) as an extractant.

Enzymatic degradation of p-chlorophenol in a two-phase flow microchannel system.

Enzymatic degradation of p-chlorophenol was carried out in a two-phase flow in a microchannel (100 microm width, 25 microm depth) fabricated on a glass plate (70 mm x 38 mm). This is the first report on the enzymatic reaction in a two-phase flow on a microfluidic device. The surface of the microchannel was partially modified with octadecylsilane groups to be hydrophobic, thus allowing clear phase separation at the end-junction of the microchannel.