Cortical activity associated with the maintenance of balance during unstable stances.

Background: Humans continuously maintain and adjust posture during gait, standing, and sitting. The difficulty of postural control is reportedly increased during unstable stances, such as unipedal standing and with closed eyes. Although balance is slightly impaired in healthy young adults in such unstable stances, they rarely fall.

Adsorption characteristics of bovine serum albumin onto alumina with a specific crystalline structure.

Bone cement containing alumina particles with a specific crystalline structure exhibits the ability to bond with bone. These particles (AL-P) are mainly composed of delta-type alumina (δ-Al2O3). It is likely that some of the proteins present in the body environment are adsorbed onto the cement and influence the expression of its bioactivity.

Characteristic microbial community of a dry thermophilic methanogenic digester: its long-term stability and change with feeding.

Thermophilic dry anaerobic digestion of sludge for cellulose methanization was acclimated at 53 °C for nearly 5 years using a waste paper-based medium. The stability of the microbial community structure and the microbial community responsible for the cellulose methanization were studied by 16S rRNA gene-based clone library analysis. The microbial community structure remained stable during the long-term acclimation period.

Zinc supplementation improves the outcome of chronic hepatitis C and liver cirrhosis.

We treated patients with C-viral chronic hepatitis (CH) and liver cirrhosis (LC) with polaprezinc and determined prospectively the effect on long-term outcome. 62 patients were enrolled. Of these, 32 were administered 1.

A case of asymptomatic intraductal papillary neoplasm of the bile duct without hepatolithiasis.

A 65-year-old woman was found to have dilatation of the intrahepatic bile duct in the right anterior segment during a general health. Laboratory data were within normal ranges and no solid mass was detected in her abdominal computer tomography (CT) or nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). However, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) demonstrated an obstruction of the right bile duct.

The transcriptome of HCV replicon expressing cell lines in the presence of alpha interferon.

We have used DNA microarray analysis of human hepatoma and epithelial carcinoma cells expressing hepatitis C virus (HCV) subgenomic replicons to test whether HCV replication alters gene expression and influences the alpha interferon (IFN-alpha) response. We directly compared the HCV replicon system with a similar system based on a subgenomic replicon of the West Nile virus (WNV) subtype Kunjin virus. We found that in contrast to WNV replicons, persistent replication of HCV replicons did not significantly alter the transcriptome of infected cells nor did it inhibit the nature of the IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs).

West Nile virus inhibits the signal transduction pathway of alpha interferon.

West Nile virus (WNV) is a human pathogen that can cause neurological disorders, including meningoencephalitis. Experiments with mice and mammalian cell cultures revealed that WNV exhibited resistance to the innate immune program induced by alpha interferon (IFN-alpha). We have investigated the nature of this inhibition and have found that WNV replication inhibited the activation of many known IFN-inducible genes, because it prevented the phosphorylation and activation of the Janus kinases JAK1 and Tyk2.

Genome-wide analyses of avian sarcoma virus integration sites.

The chromosomal features that influence retroviral integration site selection are not well understood. Here, we report the mapping of 226 avian sarcoma virus (ASV) integration sites in the human genome. The results show that the sites are distributed over all chromosomes, and no global bias for integration site selection was detected.

Transcription of dbpA, a Y box binding protein, is positively regulated by E2F1: implications in hepatocarcinogenesis.

Human hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most common cancers in the world. We previously showed that dbpA, a member of the Y box family of proteins, could accelerate the process of inflammation-induced hepatocarcinogenesis, and that dbpA is more abundantly expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma than in non-tumorous tissue. In this study, to clarify the mechanism by which expression of dbpA is enhanced in the proliferative state, we examined the transcriptional activity of the dbpA promoter region.

Somatic mutation and SNP in the promoter of dbpA and human hepatocarcinogenesis.

Human DNA-binding protein (dbpA) is a member of a Y-box binding protein family containing a cold shock domain. The increased expression of Y box binding proteins in somatic cells is associated with cell proliferation and transformation. Recently, we isolated a splicing variant of dbpA as a candidate for the cellular recombinogenic protein that leads to genomic instability and inflammation-mediated hepatocarcinogenesis.