The Apparent Lack of the Risk of Intussusception Immediately After Rotavirus Vaccination Among Japanese Infants.

Rotavirus vaccines carry a small risk of intussusception mainly 1-7 days after vaccination in the United States of America, Europe, Australia, and Latin America where the background rate of intussusception is relatively low. Such risks are undetectable in Africa and India where the background rate is the lowest. Because few studies were carried out in high-background-rate countries such as Japan, we examined how intussusception occurred in infants living in Akita prefecture, Japan, while the vaccines were sold in the private market.

Radial dependence diagnosis of inductively coupled Ar plasma based upon optical emission spectroscopic measurement with spectral reflectance compensation.

This study proposed a simple method to evaluate the spectral reflectance of the inner wall of a vacuum chamber. A method for calculating spectral emission coefficients by taking the spectral reflectance of the chamber inner wall into account was proposed. Furthermore, plasma diagnosis based on optical emission spectroscopic (OES) measurement was performed so as to obtain radial dependence of electron temperature Te and density Ne of a radio frequency inductively coupled Argon (Ar) plasma by applying a collisional-radiative model to radially resolved emission spectra of the Ar plasma assuming axial symmetry.

Effect of ankle joint fixation on tibialis anterior muscle activity during split-belt treadmill walking in healthy subjects: A pilot study.

Objectives: This study aims to examine the characteristics of muscle activity change of the tibialis anterior (TA) muscle in healthy adults while they walked on a split-belt treadmill with one fixed ankle.

Patients And Methods: This randomized controlled trial was conducted between November 2017 and July 2018. Fourteen healthy male individuals (mean age 31.

Biological sources of variations of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase 5b in a healthy Japanese population.

Background: Tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase 5b (TRACP5b) is a bone resorption marker that is mainly used in clinical management of osteoporosis. For proper interpretations of test results for serum TRACP5b, we explored their biological sources of variation, esp. age-related changes, and associations with other bone-related markers in healthy Japanese adults.

Elevation of Serum Acid Sphingomyelinase Activity in Children with Acute Respiratory Syncytial Virus Bronchiolitis.

Acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) is a lysosomal enzyme that hydrolyzes sphingomyelin into ceramide, a bioactive lipid to regulate cellular physiological functions. Thus, ASM activation has been reported as a key event in pathophysiological reactions including inflammation, cytokine release, oxidative stress, and endothelial damage in human diseases. Since ASM activation is associated with extracellular ASM secretion through unknown mechanisms, it can be detected by recognizing the elevation of secretory ASM (S-ASM) activity.

Detection in Japan of an equine-like G3P[8] reassortant rotavirus A strain that is highly homologous to European strains across all genome segments.

Equine-like G3P[8] rotavirus A strains with DS-1-like backbone genes have emerged since 2013. An equine-like RVA/Human-wt/JPN/15R429/2015/G3P[8] strain possessing I2-R2-C2-M2-A2-N2-T2-E2-H2 was detected in Japan in 2015. Its VP7 gene was ≥ 99.

Fibrinogen alpha C chain 5.9 kDa fragment (FIC5.9), a biomarker for various pathological conditions, is produced in post-blood collection by fibrinolysis and coagulation factors.

Background: Fibrinogen alpha C chain 5.9 kDa fragment (FIC5.9) is a new serum biomarker for chronic hepatitis that was discovered by proteomics analysis.

Elevation of Serum Acid Sphingomyelinase Activity in Acute Kawasaki Disease.

Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute systemic vasculitis that affects both small and medium-sized vessels including the coronary arteries in infants and children. Acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) is a lysosomal glycoprotein that hydrolyzes sphingomyelin to ceramide, a lipid, that functions as a second messenger in the regulation of cell functions. ASM activation has been implicated in numerous cellular stress responses and is associated with cellular ASM secretion, either through alternative trafficking of the ASM precursor protein or by means of an unidentified mechanism.

Incidence of intussusception as studied from a hospital-based retrospective survey over a 10-year period (2001-2010) in Akita Prefecture, Japan.

One concern about rotavirus vaccines is its possible association with intussusception. Thus, it is necessary to determine the baseline incidence for intussusception in the first year of life in places where rotavirus vaccines are introduced. However, few safety data exist for the period at which the first dose of Rotarix and RotaTeq are allowed to administer in Japan.

A herbivorous mite down-regulates plant defence and produces web to exclude competitors.

Herbivores may interact with each other through resource competition, but also through their impact on plant defence. We recently found that the spider mite Tetranychus evansi down-regulates plant defences in tomato plants, resulting in higher rates of oviposition and population growth on previously attacked than on unattacked leaves. The danger of such down-regulation is that attacked plants could become a more profitable resource for heterospecific competitors, such as the two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae.

Development of a sandwich ELISA for the 5.9-kDa fibrinogen alpha C chain fragment detected by serum proteome analysis.

Purpose: We previously identified novel biomarker candidates in heavy consumers of alcohol using serum proteome analysis. Among several candidates, a 5.9 kDa peptide identified as a fragment of the fibrinogen alpha C chain (FIC5.

Suitability of the predatory mites Iphiseiodes zuluagai and Euseius concordis in controlling Polyphagotarsonemus latus and Tetranychus bastosi on Jatropha curcas plants in Brazil.

One of the most promising plant species for biofuel production in Brazil is the physic nut Jatropha curcas. Major phytosanitary problems include the attack of two pest mite species, the broad mite Polyphagotarsonemus latus and the spider mite Tetranychus bastosi. Owing to pesticide-related problems, there is an increasing demand for sustainable environmental-friendly control methods such as biological control.

Results after supracricoid horizontal partial laryngectomy.

Objectives: This study analyzed oncological and functional results of supracricoid horizontal partial laryngectomy.

Methods: A retrospective study was conducted involving 20 patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the larynx who underwent SCPL between 1996 and 2005 in Faculty of Medical Sciences of Santa Casa Hospital of Sao Paulo, Brazil. There were 18 male and 2 female patients with ages ranging from 39 to 74 years (median=58 years), of whom 19 were smokers and 14 alcoholics.

Selective neck dissection for treating node-positive necks in cases of squamous cell carcinoma of the upper aerodigestive tract.

Context And Objective: Modified radical neck dissection (MRND) is the classical treatment for neck metastases of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the upper aerodigestive tract. However, it may still be accompanied by significant sequelae. One alternative for this treatment would be selective neck dissection (SND), which has a lower incidence of sequelae.

Comparative study of the integration and viability of autonomised and nonautonomised autologous fat tissue grafts--experimental model in rabbits.

Background: The free transplant of fatty tissue has gone through several phases of interest over the last 100 years of medical history, having undergone cycles of use and disuse. In the present study we aimed to create, through a delaying process, an improvement in the integration and lower resorption rates of autologous fat grafts. Similar research has not been found in the literature, and this was the motivating factor for the present study.

Dexamethasone-induced prenatal alveolar wall thinning is associated with a decrease in EIIIA+ fibronectin isoform in the fetal rat lung.

Background: Glucocorticoid hormones play an important role in architectural and biochemical lung maturation. Although much of the molecular mechanism of their action in the lung is not fully understood, glucocorticoids directly or indirectly regulate lung maturation. Indirect effects of glucocorticoids may involve the modulation of cell-cell or cell-matrix interactions.

Distal pulmonary cell proliferation is associated with the expression of EIIIA+ fibronectin in the developing rat lung.

Fibronectin is known to regulate the development of the lung. The EIIIA segment of fibronectin is one of the major alternatively spliced segments and modulates the cell proliferative potential of fibronectin in vitro. But the specific role of the EIIIA-containing fibronectin isoform (referred to as EIIIA+ fibronectin) in pulmonary cell proliferation has not been explored in vivo as yet.

Prehistoric hawaiian fishponds.

One of the important technological concepts that was developed in the Hawaiian Islands is that of the fishpond. From the 14th to the 19th centuries, these sites served as aquariums for the raising of selected fish. From its inception until the 1900's, the fishpond progressed little in design and function.