Molecular characterization of two anther-specific genes encoding putative RNA-binding proteins, AtRBP45s, in Arabidopsis thaliana.

RRM (RNA-recognition motif) domain is important for the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression including RNA processing. In our previous study, we found one anther- and/or pollen-specific gene (LjRRM1, previously named as LjMfb-U93) in model legume, Lotus japonicus. Because of the richness of genomic information of another model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana, for functional analysis, we identified and characterized the orthologous genes in A.

Measurement of the apparent diffusion coefficient in the liver: is it a reliable index for hepatic disease diagnosis?

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the validity of the hepatic apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) measurement. The influence of differences in measured location and administration of Buscopan (hyoscine butylbromide) for ADC were assessed.

Materials And Methods: SENSE-DWI (b = 0, 500) was obtained before and after Buscopan administration to 30 patients suspected of having a liver tumor.

Severe gastrointestinal involvement in paraneoplastic pemphigus.

Paraneoplastic pemphigus (PNP) is an autoimmune mucocutaneous disease, associated with neoplasia, which has characteristic clinical, histological and immunological features. While respiratory epithelial involvement has been described in several cases, lesions in the colon epithelium have never been reported. We describe a 57-year-old Japanese woman with PNP who had many aphthae-like erosions on the colon epithelium, in addition to typical mucocutaneous PNP lesions.

Dynamic enhanced MRI predicts chemosensitivity in breast cancer patients.

Background: Primary chemotherapy for breast cancer is effective as postoperative adjuvant therapy. However, one of the critical disadvantages was a treatment delay for patients with progressive disease. The present study attempts to clarify quantitative parameters on MRI which can be used to predict the sensitivity to treatment in breast cancer patients.

[Anesthetic management for cesarean section in a patient with moyamoya disease].

A 28-year-old female patient with moyamoya disease after hemorrhage into the cerebral cavity, and a history of an indirect blood-circulation reconstruction surgery at 19 years of age, was scheduled to undergo cesarean section at 34 weeks of gestation because of pregnancy toxemia. No symptoms and no abnormal shadow with MRI were observed preoperatively. To avoid intracranial hemorrhage and cerebral infarction, epidural anesthesia was performed.

[Assessment of whole body PET/MRI fusion imaging using automated software: usefulness of partial body fusion].

Purpose: In this study, we created a whole body fusion image of PET and MRI using automated software for fusion imaging, and assessed the accuracy of the software.

Materials And Methods: Twenty patients with abnormal FDG-PET findings underwent whole body MRI. Images from both modalities were automatically fused in two ways using software (Fusion Viewer, Nihon Medi-Physics Co.

Muscarinic receptor subtypes modulate the release of [3H]-noradrenaline in rat spinal cord slices.

Spinal muscarinic receptors are involved in the mediation of antinociceptive effects. The modulation of noradrenaline (NA) release on muscarinic receptor subtypes in the rat spinal cord was investigated in in vitro perfusion experiments. After rat spinal cord slices were preincubated in [3H]NA, the slices were perfused with a superfusion apparatus.

Pentobarbital inhibits L-DOPA-induced dopamine increases in the rat striatum: An in vivo microdialysis study.

Pentobarbital is reported to inhibit ketamine-induced dopamine (DA) release in the rat nucleus accumbens. The accumbens is a part of the limbic dopaminergic system in the brain, and the dopaminergic neural activity of other components may also be sensitive to pentobarbital. We investigated the effect of pentobarbital administration on DA release in the striatum known as DA-rich basal ganglia, and the interaction between pentobarbital and L-DOPA, using in vivo microdialysis techniques.

[The effect of isoflurane anesthesia on dopamine release in rat striatum with pretreatment of imipramine].

Background: Isoflurane anesthesia has been shown to have a possibility of inducing a biphasic effect on dopamine release in rat striatum. The current study investigated the effect of isoflurane on the extracellular concentration of dopamine in the rat striatum pretreated by a classical antidepressant, imipramine, using in vivo microdialysis techniques.

Methods: After intraperitoneal administration of 5 and 10 mg x kg(-10 of imipramine, the rats were anesthetized with 1 and 2.

Identification and estrogenic characterization of impurities in commercial bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (BADGE).

A sample of commercial BADGE was fractioned by HPLC and eight impurities including novel propyl derivatives (2), (5) and (6) were identified by NMR spectrometry, FAB-MS and GC-MS. The estrogenicity, both agonist and antagonist, of fractions containing these impurities was measured with a yeast two-hybrid assay incorporating the human (hER alpha) and a competitive binding assay for hER alpha (ELISA). In the yeast two-hybrid assay, estrogenic antagonist activity was found in two fractions, while estrogenic agonist activity was not found in any.

Living-related intestinal transplantation for a patient with hypoganglionosis.

A 14-yr-old boy with total parenteral nutrition-dependent short-bowel syndrome associated with hypoganglionosis underwent the LR-IT by using a 150 cm segment of distal ileum taken from a healthy donor. The graft vessels were connected to infrarenal aorta and inferior vena cava. The immunosuppressive regimen consisted of daclizumab, tacrolimus, and steroid.

Entropy indices vs the bispectral index for estimating nociception during sevoflurane anaesthesia.

Background: It is now possible to acquire and process raw EEG and frontal EMG signals to produce two spectral-entropy-based indices (response entropy and state entropy) reflective of analgesic and hypnotic levels during general anaesthesia (with the Datex-Ohmeda S/5 Entropy Module, Datex-Ohmeda, Helsinki, Finland). However, there are no data available on the accuracy of the Entropy Module in estimating nociception during sevoflurane anaesthesia.

Methods: Forty female patients were enrolled in the present study.

[The effect of topical application of the local anesthetic (lidocaine) on the emergence from general anesthesia: the rat experimental model].

Background: The current investigation was aimed on the effect of topical lidocaine application on the wound after back surgery and the emergence from general anesthesia in the rat.

Methods: Each group (n = 14) consisted of male SD rats weighting 290 to 320 g. After oro-tracheal intubation and epidural catheter placement under sevoflurane anesthesia (2.

Lymphomatous involvement of gastrointestinal tract: evaluation by positron emission tomography with (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose.

Aim: To demonstrate the (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography ((18)F-FDG PET) findings in patients with non-Hodgkinos lymphoma (NHL) involving the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and the clinical utility of modality despite of the known normal uptake of FDG in the GI tract.

Methods: Thirty-three patients with biopsy-proven gastrointestinal NHL who had undergone FDG-PET scan were included. All the patients were injected with 10-15 mCi FDG and scanned approximately 60 min later with a CTI/Siemens HR (+) PET scanner.

Prospective evaluation of pectoralis muscle invasion of breast cancer by MR imaging.

Background: Assessment of pectoralis muscle invasion is important for treatment planning for breast cancer. We evaluated the usefulness of breast magnetic resonance (MR) imaging for the detection of tumor invasion of the pectoralis muscle in breast cancer patients.

Materials And Methods: A total of 306 breast MR examinations were performed preoperatively.

[Comparison of cardiac output measured by pulseCO and that by vigilance during inferior vena cava clamping].

Background: PulseCO is a low invasive apparatus to measure cardiac output continuously from arterial pulse waveform (PulseCCO). It is thought that the accuracy of PulseCCO measurement is clinically acceptable with stable hemodynamics. We measured and evaluated PulseCCO during inferior vena cava clamp (IVC clamp).

Isoflurane anesthesia induces biphasic effect on dopamine release in the rat striatum.

The effect of isoflurane anesthesia on changes in the extracellular concentrations of dopamine (DA) and its metabolites (3-methoxytyramine (3-MT), 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) and homovanillic acid (HVA)) modulated by pargyline, monoamine oxidase inhibitor, was studied using in vivo microdialysis techniques. A microdialysis probe was implanted into the right striatum of male SD rats. Each rat (n=5-6) was given saline or the same volume of 30 or 75 mg kg(-1) pargyline intraperitoneally with or without 1 h isoflurane anesthesia (1 or 3%).

Effect of colony-stimulating factor and conventional- or high-dose chemotherapy on FDG uptake in bone marrow.

Purpose: Granulocyte or granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (CSF), usually used in conjunction with chemotherapy, may interfere with the( 18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) reading. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of CSF, conventional-or high-dose chemotherapy on bone marrow FDG uptake.

Methods: Two hundred and forty-one FDG PET scans obtained in 163 patients with lymphoma and no pathologically and radiologically proven bone marrow involvement were analyzed.

Halothane enhances dopamine metabolism at presynaptic sites in a calcium-independent manner in rat striatum.

Background: We have previously reported that halothane anaesthesia increases the extracellular concentration of dopamine (DA) metabolites in the rat striatum with no change in DA. Although the metabolism of catecholamines is a source of oxidative stress, there is little information about DA metabolism and anaesthesia. We assessed the mechanism(s) of enhanced DA metabolism induced by halothane.

The influence of lumbosacral cerebrospinal fluid volume on extent and duration of hyperbaric bupivacaine spinal anesthesia: a comparison between seated and lateral decubitus injection positions.

Unlabelled: We designed the present study to examine the influence of lumbosacral cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) volume on the spread and duration of hyperbaric bupivacaine spinal anesthesia when the injection is made with the patient in the lateral position compared with that when the patient is in a seated position. Seventy-four patients undergoing peripheral orthopedic or urogenital surgery with spinal block were enrolled. Lumbosacral CSF volumes were calculated from axial magnetic resonance images.

[Effects of propofol on hepatic venous oxygen saturation--a comparison with isoflurane or sevoflurane anesthesia].

Background: We performed a comparative study of propofol versus isoflurane and sevoflurane using continuous monitoring of hepatic venous oxygen saturation (ShvO2) during upper abdominal surgery in 26 patients.

Methods: Anesthesia was induced with propofol 2-2.5 mg x kg(-1) and vecuronium 0.

Multiphasic CT and MRI appearances of extramedullary multiple myeloma involving the stomach, pancreas, and bladder.

Multiple myeloma is a hematological malignancy characterized by the uncontrolled proliferation of clonal plasma cells. Skeletal involvement is one of its hallmarks, while extraosseous involvement is comparatively uncommon. There have been no previous reports of the imaging findings of multiple myeloma involving the stomach, pancreas, and bladder in the same patient.

Diagnostic value of FDG PET and salivary gland scintigraphy for parotid tumors.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the diagnostic value of the combination of F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET and Tc-99m pertechnetate salivary gland scintigraphy in parotid tumors.

Materials And Methods: Seventy-two patients with benign parotid gland tumors (n = 52), malignant parotid tumors (n = 12), and inflammation (n = 8) underwent both FDG PET and salivary gland scintigraphy within 1 week, and 66 of the patients also underwent gallium scintigraphy. All patients were negative on their first fine-needle aspiration (FNA).

Effects of epidural saline injection on cerebrospinal fluid volume and velocity waveform: a magnetic resonance imaging study.

Background: The phenomenon of epidural "top-up" (increased spread of local anesthetic due to epidural fluid injection) is explained partly by an epidural volume effect. This study was designed to investigate the change in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) volume and velocity waveform induced by epidural saline injection.

Methods: (1) Lumbar epidural catheters were placed in 28 patients.