Development of Dembo-PCR for cattle in accordance with Japanese livestock quarantine guidelines.

Detection of microorganisms from bovine using real-time PCR (Dembo-PCR) is a comprehensive detection technique that was developed to detect pathogens causing bovine diseases. In Japan, the definitive tests for monitored infectious diseases, which are defined by law, are carried out at government agencies. On the other hand, the existence of pathogens other than monitored infectious diseases are not well understood.

Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma Complicated with Anti-3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-Coenzyme A Reductase Immune-mediated Necrotizing Myopathy: A Case Report.

A 75-year-old woman presented with significant muscle weakness after statin use. A muscle biopsy revealed necrotizing myopathy, and the patient tested positive for serum anti-3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMGCR) antibodies, leading to a diagnosis of anti-HMGCR immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy (IMNM). Computed tomography revealed intraperitoneal lymphadenopathy, which was diagnosed as a diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

Effect of Neurofeedback Facilitation on Poststroke Gait and Balance Recovery: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that supplementary motor area (SMA) facilitation with functional near-infrared spectroscopy-mediated neurofeedback (fNIRS-NFB) augments poststroke gait and balance recovery, we conducted a 2-center, double-blind, randomized controlled trial involving 54 Japanese patients using the 3-meter Timed Up and Go (TUG) test.

Methods: Patients with subcortical stroke-induced mild to moderate gait disturbance more than 12 weeks from onset underwent 6 sessions of SMA neurofeedback facilitation during gait- and balance-related motor imagery using fNIRS-NFB. Participants were randomly allocated to intervention (28 patients) or placebo (sham: 26 patients).

Concomitant improvement in anti-saccade success rate and postural instability gait difficulty after rTMS treatment for Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurological disorder characterised by motor and non-motor deficits. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over the bilateral primary motor cortex at a high frequency (5 Hz or higher) is reported to be a potential treatment of PD. We aimed to assess the effect of rTMS on eye movement control in patients with PD in their 'on' state.

Study on the Optimal Dose of Irinotecan for Patients with Heterozygous Uridine Diphosphate-Glucuronosyltransferase 1A1 (UGT1A1).

Uridine 5'-diphospho-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT), a metabolic enzyme of irinotecan active metabolite, has two genetic polymorphisms (UGT1A1*6 and UGT1A1*28). In UGT1A1 homozygous or heterozygous patients, metabolism is delayed and the risk of developing adverse effects is increased, and therefore, dose reduction of irinotecan is considered. However, the specific dose reduction rate of irinotecan for heterozygous patients is uncertain.

[Patient-Reported Outcome(PRO)to Measure Health-Related QOL in Lung Cancer Patients].

Lung cancer as progressive disease is often associated with a poor quality of life(QOL)which is related to a poor prognosis. We review the impact of patient-reported outcome(PRO)as an indicator of health-related QOL on the management of lung cancer patients. Cancer-specific PRO measures, which are primarily applied in scientific research for the past 30 years to compare the therapy outcomes and in drug development with adverse events.

Involvement of cortical dysfunction in frequent falls in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Introduction: Gait and balance disorders are common clinical features of Parkinson's disease (PD). Although falls significantly affect the activities of daily living (ADL) and quality of life (QOL) of patients with PD, the underlying neural mechanisms associated with frequent falls in PD patients are still unclear.

Methods: Hypothesizing that the cerebral cortex would contribute to frequent falls in PD, we obtained 3D T1-weighted images from 91 non-dementia patients with PD and performed voxel-based morphometric analysis (VBM).

Ultrasonication-based rapid amplification of α-synuclein aggregates in cerebrospinal fluid.

α-Synuclein aggregates, a key hallmark of the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease, can be amplified by using their seeding activity, and the evaluation of the seeding activity of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is reportedly useful for diagnosis. However, conventional shaking-based assays are time-consuming procedures, and the clinical significance of the diversity of seeding activity among patients remains to be clarified. Previously, we reported a high-throughput ultrasonication-induced amyloid fibrillation assay.

[Analysis of PEG-J associated complications in 14 adult patients treated with levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel].

We analyzed 14 patients in our hospital, who underwent levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel (LCIG) treatment through a percutaneous endoscopic gastrojejunostomy (PEG-J). The PEG-J related complications were observed in 10 patients (71.4%).

Effect of muscle strengthening exercise and time since onset in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A 2-patient case series study.

Exercise for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) can be expected to improve function at the early stage of disease, but improvement cannot be expected at the late stage. However, no report has investigated the correlation between the effect of exercise and time since onset. This study examined the relevance between the effect of muscle strengthening exercise and time since onset in patients with ALS.

Rehabilitation for a patient with anti-Yo antibody-positive paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration caused by breast cancer: A case report and literature review.

Rationale: Rehabilitation for paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration (PCD) has been indicated as necessary. However, there are only a few reports on rehabilitation in PCD. We describe the course of physical and cognitive functions and activities of daily living (ADL) in a patient with PCD and examine the effect of rehabilitation, along with a review of relevant literature.

Kamishoyosan and Shakuyakukanzoto promote recovery from paclitaxel-induced neurite retraction in PC12 cells.

Background: In chemotherapy, the full round of treatment must be completed as scheduled to achieve the strongest therapeutic effect. However, peripheral neuropathy, a severe side effect of the chemotherapeutic agent paclitaxel, can force the premature discontinuation of treatment. As some kampo practitioners have suggested that it may be possible to counteract such side effects, we analyzed the effects of Kamishoyosan, Shakuyakukanzoto, and Goshajinkigan in an in vitro model of paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy.

Pemetrexed-Induced Rash May Be Prevented by Supplementary Corticosteroids.

Pemetrexed, a chemotherapeutic drug, is highly active in non-small cell lung cancer and malignant pleural mesothelioma. Unfortunately, rashes are more commonly associated with pemetrexed than other chemotherapies, and it is recommended that patients receive corticosteroids (8 mg/d of dexamethasone) for 3 d, including the day of pemetrexed administration (day 1). However, the efficacy of corticosteroids in this context has not been fully verified.

[Questionnaire survey of musician's dystonia among students of a music college].

Musician's dystonia is known as a task specific dystonia. Though it is thought to occur during a long course of repetitive performance, the actual circumstances that precipitate this condition are not clear. According to factual reports this disease is not commonly known, probably because many of these patients may not have been visiting a hospital.

Reduced tongue pressure against the hard palate on the paralyzed side during swallowing predicts Dysphagia in patients with acute stroke.

Background And Purpose: Dysphagia is important for prognosis in patients with stroke because this condition can cause aspiration pneumonia or nutritional deficits. The present study investigated the relationship between tongue motor deficits and dysphagia in patients with acute stroke.

Methods: Maximal tongue pressure on the hard palate when swallowing 5 mL of water was measured using a T-shaped sensor sheet with 5 measuring points in 33 dysphagic and 31 nondysphagic patients with acute stroke.

Note: Unshielded bilateral magnetoencephalography system using two-dimensional gradiometers.

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) noninvasively measures neuronal activity with high temporal resolution. The aim of this study was to develop a new type of MEG system that can measure bilateral MEG waveforms without a magnetically shielded room, which is an obstacle to reducing both the cost and size of an MEG system. An unshielded bilateral MEG system was developed using four two-dimensional (2D) gradiometers and two symmetric cryostats.

Ulcerated plaques in the aortic arch contribute to symptomatic multiple brain infarction.

Background: The configuration of aortic plaque appears to be as important as its thickness when it acts as an embolic source to the brain. The frequency and clinical predictors of ulcerated plaque at the aortic arch identified using transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE) in patients with stroke were determined, and the association between the ulcer and recent ischaemic stroke, particularly multiple brain infarcts, which appear to indicate embolic stroke, was examined.

Methods: Aortic and cardiac embolic sources were evaluated using TOE in 360 patients with fresh ischaemic stroke proven by diffusion-weighted MRI, including 210 patients with a single infarct and 150 with multiple infarcts, as well as in 101 non-stroke control patients.

Relationship between tongue pressure and dysphagia in stroke patients.

Background: Although poststroke dysphagia is an important issue for determining prognosis, the pathophysiology of oral-phase dysphagia has yet to be clarified due to a lack of adequate devices and protocols. The present study investigated the relationships between swallowing pressure production by the tongue and dysphagia in stroke patients using a newly developed method of tongue pressure measurement with a sensor sheet system.

Methods: Subjects were 64 stroke patients, including 30 patients with dysphagia.

Atheromatous plaques at the origin of the left subclavian artery in patients with ischemic stroke.

Background: Atheromatous plaques of the aortic arch that extend to the origin of its branches may cause stroke. The frequency and clinical implications of plaque at the origin of the left subclavian artery (LSCA) in patients with recent ischemic stroke were investigated.

Methods: We studied 347 consecutive patients (223 men, 69 +/- 12 years) who developed symptomatic ischemic stroke and underwent transesophageal echocardiography (TEE).

Severe hyperthermia caused by four-vessel occlusion of main cerebral arteries.

We present the case of a comatose patient with acute large infarction of posterior cerebral and cerebellar areas and severe hyperthermia (max. 40.4 degrees C).

Changes in diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging findings in the acute and subacute phases of anoxic encephalopathy.

We report serial magnetic resonance imaging findings in a case of anoxic encephalopathy (AE). Diffusion-weighted images clearly showed early development of lesions in the cerebellum, cerebral cortex, and caudate putamen, along with delayed manifestation of lesions in the hippocampus, corpus callosum, and white matter. The present case is the first to demonstrate delayed development of postischemic changes in the hippocampus and deep white matter after AE on neuroimaging.

Paradoxical cerebral embolism causing internal carotid artery occlusion.

Paradoxical cerebral embolism (PCE) is defined to be a pathological condition in which emboli originating from the venous system reach the cerebral arterial circulation via the right-to-left (R-L) shunt. In patients with PCE, emboli originating from the venous system most commonly pass through the patent foramen ovale during Valsalva-provoking activities which increase the right atrial pressure above the left atrial pressure. The size of cerebral infarction caused by PCE is generally small, since the size of emboli which can pass through the R-L shunt is small.

Ischemic vasoconstriction and tissue energy metabolism during global cerebral ischemia in gerbils.

Vasoconstriction is known to occur in cerebral arterioles during ischemia and considered to be distinct from vasospasm seen after subarachnoid hemorrhage. To elucidate the mechanism and functional significance underlying ischemic vasoconstriction, we investigated the relationship between arteriolar constriction and tissue energy metabolism during bilateral common carotid artery occlusion in gerbils. Using video microscopy and microspectroscopy, the arteriolar caliber, the total hemoglobin (Hb) content, and the redox state of cytochrome oxidase (cyt.