Adult-onset Still's Disease during Pregnancy Treated with Tocilizumab.

A 28-year-old woman exhibited a spiking fever, arthritis, and liver disfunction when she was 22 weeks pregnant. She was diagnosed with adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD). As her condition was resistant to corticosteroid therapy, tocilizumab (TCZ) was selected.

Miliary Lung Metastases from Genital Large Cell Neuroendocrine Carcinomas.

We herein report two cases of miliary lung metastases from genital carcinoma in uterine cervix and endometrium. Notably, these patients were unable to receive any anti-tumor chemotherapy due to rapid progression causing respiratory failure, and they ultimately died of disease progression within only a month after the first visit to our hospitals. A postmortem examination confirmed the diagnosis of genital large-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC).

Secretion of miraculin through the function of a signal peptide conserved in the Kunitz-type soybean trypsin inhibitor family.

Miraculin, a glycoprotein that modifies sour tastes into sweet ones, belongs to the Kunitz-type soybean trypsin inhibitor (STI) family. To clarify the functional relation of miraculin with Kunitz-type STIs, we investigated its subcellular localization and trypsin inhibitory activity. In transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana, miraculin, fused to yellow fluorescent protein, localized to and outside the plasma membrane depending on the putative secretion signal peptide.

Antihypertensive medication versus health promotion for improving metabolic syndrome in preventing cardiovascular events: a success rate-oriented simulation study.

Background: In practice, it is difficult to compare the effectiveness of traditional antihypertensive treatment with that of health promotion in reducing incidence rate of cardiovascular disease (IRCVD, events/year). This simulation study compared the effectiveness of two approaches to reducing IRCVD in a sample population: a traditional approach, in which high-risk patients are treated with conventional antihypertensive medications, and a population-based approach, in which subjects participate in a health promotion program.

Methods: We constructed a simulation model for a sample population of middle-aged Japanese men whose systolic blood pressure (SBP) levels are normally distributed (130 ± 20 mm Hg).

Functional expression of miraculin, a taste-modifying protein in Escherichia coli.

Miraculin isolated from red berries of Richadella dulcifica, a native shrub of West Africa, has the unusual property of modifying a sour taste into a sweet one. This homodimer protein consists of two glycosylated polypeptides that are cross-linked by a disulfide bond. Recently, functional expression of miraculin was reported in host cells with the ability to glycosylate proteins, such as lettuce, tomato and the microbe Aspergillus oryzae, but not Escherichia coli.