Prediction of the effect of electrical defibrillation by using spectral feature parameters.

This paper proposes a system for predicting the effect of electrical defibrillation using spectral feature parameters. The proposed method consists of two-stage prediction. The first stage involves predicting whether electrical defibrillation is "Successful" or "Ineffective.

Comparison of survival times of advanced cancer patients with palliative care at home and in hospital.

Objectives: One primary concern about receiving care at home is that survival might be shortened because the quality and quantity of treatment provided at home will be inferior to that given in the hospital. Although our previous study demonstrated a longer survival of those with home-based palliative care (PC), it lacked adjustment for some potential confounders including symptoms and treatments during the stay. We aimed to compare the survival times among advanced cancer patients receiving home-based and hospital-based PC with adjusting for symptoms and treatments.

KSHV Topologically Associating Domains in Latent and Reactivated Viral Chromatin.

Eukaryotic genomes are structurally organized via the formation of multiple loops that create gene expression regulatory units called topologically associating domains (TADs). Here we revealed the KSHV TAD structure at 500 bp resolution and constructed a 3D KSHV genomic structural model with 2 kb binning. The latent KSHV genome formed very similar genomic architectures in three different naturally infected PEL cell lines and in an experimentally infected epithelial cell line.

KSHV episome tethering sites on host chromosomes and regulation of latency-lytic switch by CHD4.

Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) establishes a latent infection in the cell nucleus, but where KSHV episomal genomes are tethered and the mechanisms underlying KSHV lytic reactivation are unclear. Here, we study the nuclear microenvironment of KSHV episomes and show that the KSHV latency-lytic replication switch is regulated via viral long non-coding (lnc)RNA-CHD4 (chromodomain helicase DNA binding protein 4) interaction. KSHV episomes localize with CHD4 and ADNP proteins, components of the cellular ChAHP complex.

KSHV episomes reveal dynamic chromatin loop formation with domain-specific gene regulation.

The three-dimensional structure of chromatin organized by genomic loops facilitates RNA polymerase II access to distal promoters. The Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) lytic transcriptional program is initiated by a single viral transactivator, K-Rta. Here we report the KSHV genomic structure and its relationship with K-Rta recruitment sites using Capture Hi-C analyses.

Oncolytic Reactivation of KSHV as a Therapeutic Approach for Primary Effusion Lymphoma.

Primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) is an aggressive subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma caused by Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) infection. Currently, treatment options for patients with PEL are limited. Oncolytic viruses have been engineered as anticancer agents and have recently shown increased therapeutic promise.

ZIC2 Is Essential for Maintenance of Latency and Is a Target of an Immediate Early Protein during Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Lytic Reactivation.

Bivalent histone modifications are defined as repressive and activating epigenetic marks that simultaneously decorate the same genomic region. The H3K27me3 mark silences gene expression, while the H3K4me3 mark prevents the region from becoming permanently silenced and prepares the domain for activation when needed. Specific regions of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) latent episomes are poised to be activated by the KSHV replication and transcription activator (K-Rta).

Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Hijacks RNA Polymerase II To Create a Viral Transcriptional Factory.

Locally concentrated nuclear factors ensure efficient binding to DNA templates, facilitating RNA polymerase II recruitment and frequent reutilization of stable preinitiation complexes. We have uncovered a mechanism for effective viral transcription by focal assembly of RNA polymerase II around Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) genomes in the host cell nucleus. Using immunofluorescence labeling of latent nuclear antigen (LANA) protein, together with fluorescence RNA hybridization (RNA-FISH) of the intron region of immediate early transcripts, we visualized active transcription of viral genomes in naturally infected cells.

Measuring body sway of bipedally standing rat and quantitative evaluation of its postural control.

Human generates very slow (<1 Hz) body sway during standing, and the behavior of this sway is known to be changed characteristically depending on the neural ataxia. In order to investigate the sway mechanism and mechanism of neural ataxia through this sway behavior, the present research proposes an experimental environment of rats under bipedal standing. By the experiment, we succeeded the measurement of six intact rats standing for over 200 seconds without postural supports.

Novel monoclonal antibodies for identification of multicentric Castleman's disease; Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus-encoded vMIP-I and vMIP-II.

Recent studies have indicated that vMIP-I and vMIP-II play important roles in the pathogenesis of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV)-related diseases due to the effects of these proteins on vascularization. We developed monoclonal antibodies against KSHV-encoded viral macrophage inflammatory protein-I (vMIP-I) and vMIP-II to study these expression profiles and reveal the pathogenesis of KSHV-related diseases. The MAbs against vMIP-I and vMIP-II reacted to KSHV-infected cell lines after lytic induction.

Age, gender, will, and use of home-visit nursing care are critical factors in home care for malignant diseases; a retrospective study involving 346 patients in Japan.

Background: We aimed to clarify the factors affecting outcomes of home care for patients with malignant diseases.

Methods: Of 607 patients who were treated in 10 clinics specialized in home care between January and December 2007 at Chiba, Fukuoka, Iwate, Kagoshima, Tochigi and Tokyo prefectures across Japan, 346 (57%; 145 men and 201 women) had malignant diseases. We collected information on medical and social backgrounds, details of home care, and its outcomes based on their medical records.

Characterization of Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus-Related Lymphomas by DNA Microarray Analysis.

Among herpesviruses, γ-herpesviruses are supposed to have typical oncogenic activities. Two human γ-herpesviruses, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), are putative etiologic agents for Burkitt lymphoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and some cases of gastric cancers, and Kaposi's sarcoma, multicentric Castleman's disease, and primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) especially in AIDS setting for the latter case, respectively. Since such two viruses mentioned above are highly species specific, it has been quite difficult to prove their oncogenic activities in animal models.

KSHV-infected PEL cell lines exhibit a distinct gene expression profile.

We analyzed the gene expression profiles of lymphocyte-originated tumor cell lines - primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) cell lines, T-cell leukemia (TCL) cell lines, Burkitt lymphoma (BL) cell lines - and two sets of normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) - in order to determine characteristic gene expression profiles for each of the former three groups. And we found that these cell lines showed respective typical gene expression profiles and classified into clear four groups, PEL, TCL, BL, and normal PBMCs. Two B lymphocyte-originated tumor cell lines, PEL and BL cell lines, clearly exhibited distinct gene expression profiles, respectively.

PCR with quenching probes enables the rapid detection and identification of ganciclovir-resistance-causing U69 gene mutations in human herpesvirus 6.

A single-nucleotide polymorphism detection assay using PCR with quenching probes (QP-PCR) was developed for the rapid detection of antiviral drug-resistance mutations of human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6). The mutations examined were in the HHV-6 U69 gene, and were single-base mutations in sequences known to be associated with ganciclovir (GCV) resistance in HCMV. We previously confirmed that they conferred GCV resistance to recombinant baculoviruses (Nakano et al.

Retrospective study on home care for patients with hematologic malignancies.

Objective: There is a lack of sufficient information on the employment of home care for the treatment of hematologic malignancies.

Methods: We provided home care to 580 patients from 1 January through 31 October 2007. Patients with hematologic malignancies were selected from these 580 patients; subsequently, by reviewing their medical records.

Moment combined partial least squares (MC-PLS) as an improved quantitative calibration method: application to the analyses of petroleum and petrochemical products.

A new quantitative calibration algorithm, called "Moment Combined Partial Least Squares (MC-PLS)", which combines the moment of spectrum and conventional PLS was proposed. Its calibration performance was evaluated for the analyses of three import petroleum and petrochemical products: gasoline, naphtha and polyol samples. The selected properties for these products included the research octane number (RON) and Reid vapor pressure (RVP) for gasoline, the distillation temperature at 10% (D 10%) for naphtha and the hydroxyl (OH) number for polyol.

Human herpesvirus 7 open reading frames U12 and U51 encode functional beta-chemokine receptors.

Human herpesvirus 7 (HHV-7), which belongs to the betaherpesvirus subfamily and infects mainly CD4+ T cells in vitro, infects children during infancy. HHV-7 contains two genes, U12 and U51, that encode putative homologs of cellular G-protein-coupled receptors. To analyze the biological function of the U12 and U51 genes, we cloned these genes and expressed the proteins in cells.

Human herpesvirus 7 open reading frame U12 encodes a functional beta-chemokine receptor.

Human herpesvirus 7 (HHV-7), which belongs to the betaherpesvirus subfamily, infects mainly CD4+ T cells in vitro and infects children during infancy. After the primary infection, HHV-7 becomes latent. HHV-7 contains two genes (U12 and U51) that encode putative homologs of cellular G-protein-coupled receptors.

Critical roles of c-Kit tyrosine residues 567 and 719 in stem cell factor-induced chemotaxis: contribution of src family kinase and PI3-kinase on calcium mobilization and cell migration.

Stem cell factor (SCF) has crucial roles in proliferation, survival, and differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells and mast cells through binding to c-Kit receptor (KIT). Chemotaxis is another unique function of SCF. However, little is known about the intracellular signaling pathway of SCF/KIT-mediated cell migration.

Major histocompatibility complex class I molecules are down-regulated at the cell surface by the K5 protein encoded by Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus/human herpesvirus-8.

The expression of major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) molecules at the cell surface was down-regulated in BC-3 cells infected with Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV)/human herpesvirus-8 at early times after treatment with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol acetate (TPA), and in HeLa cells transfected with the K5 gene of KSHV. However, an immunoprecipitation study on these cells with anti-MHC-I monoclonal antibody revealed that there was no significant reduction in the synthesis of MHC-I molecules. A pulse-chase analysis followed by endoglycosidase H digestion also demonstrated the stability and transport of MHC-I molecules from the endoplasmic reticulum to at least the medial-GOLGI: K5 antigen was clearly detected by immunohistological examination of samples from Kaposi's sarcoma, primary effusion lymphoma and Castleman's disease.