New quantitative indices of cardiac amyloidosis with Tc-pyrophosphate scintigraphy.

Purpose: Amyloid light chain (AL) and transthyretin (ATTR) are the major subtypes of cardiac amyloidosis (CA). Tc-pyrophosphate (PYP) scintigraphy is used to differentiate ATTR from other CA subtypes. We adapted the standardized uptake value (SUV) for Tc-PYP and proposed two quantitative indices, amyloid deposition volume (AmyDV) and total amyloid uptake (TAU).

Association between community assemblage of flower colours and pollinator fauna: a comparison between Japanese and New Zealand alpine plant communities.

Background And Aims: Flower colour plays a major role in the attraction and decision-making of pollinators. Different functional groups of pollinators tend to prefer different flower colours, and therefor may lead to different flower colour compositions among different communities depending on the visual system of the dominant pollinators. However, few studies have investigated the linkage between pollinator fauna and flower colour composition in natural communities, a theme we explored in the present study.

[Underlying examination in the imaging of 89Sr bremsstrahlung radiation].

The radiopharmaceutical strontium chloride ((89)Sr) has been released as a new means of pain relief for painful bone metastasis in cancer patients. Because (89)Sr is a pure beta-emitting nuclide, it was considered difficult to know its distribution in the body from outside. Imaging with a gamma camera using bremsstrahlung radiation has been reported as one method, but there has been little detailed basic examination.

Potentiation of murine innate immunity by alpha-galacturonosyl-type glycosphingolipids isolated from Sphingomonas yanoikuyae and S. terrae.

Glycosphingolipids (GSLs) are components of the outer membrane of Sphingomonas species, commonly classified into two types, alpha-glucuronosyl ceramide (alpha-GlcACer) and alpha-galacturonosyl ceramide (alpha-GalACer), respectively. GSL-7 from S. yanoikuyae and GSL-13 from S.

Attenuation correction of myocardial SPECT by scatter-photopeak window method in normal subjects.

Objective: Segmentation with scatter and photopeak window data using attenuation correction (SSPAC) method can provide a patient-specific non-uniform attenuation coefficient map only by using photopeak and scatter images without X-ray computed tomography (CT). The purpose of this study is to evaluate the performance of attenuation correction (AC) by the SSPAC method on normal myocardial perfusion database.

Methods: A total of 32 sets of exercise-rest myocardial images with Tc-99 m-sestamibi were acquired in both photopeak (140 keV +/- 10%) and scatter (7% of lower side of the photopeak window) energy windows.

Liposomal glycosphingolipids activate natural killer T cell-mediated immune responses through the endosomal pathway.

Natural killer T (NKT) cells recognize lipid antigens, such as glycosphingolipids (GSLs), via CD1d and contribute to host defense against various pathogens. Here, we demonstrate that GSLs isolated from Sphingomonas bacteria and inserted into liposomes (GSL-liposomes) enhance the activation of NKT cells and dendritic cells (DCs). GSL-liposomes remarkably enhanced the production of IFN-gamma from splenocytes in vitro and this enhancement depended on the content of the pH-sensitive lipid dioleoyl-phosphoethanolamine (DOPE) in the liposomes.

[Chemoradiotherapy of unresectable and recurrent cholangiocarcinoma].

Unlabelled: This study is for chemoradiotherapy of unresectable and recurrent cholangiocarcinoma (CCC).

Subjects And Methods: Between April 2005 and March 2007, 5 patients were evaluated for unresectable and recurrent CCC. All patients were performed percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD) and treated with chemoradiotherapy.

Creation and characterization of Japanese standards for myocardial perfusion SPECT: database from the Japanese Society of Nuclear Medicine Working Group.

Objective: Standards for myocardial single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) adapted for a Japanese population were not available. The purpose of this study was to create standard files approved by the Japanese Society of Nuclear Medicine and to make known the characteristics of the myocardial perfusion pattern of this population.

Methods: With the collaboration of nine hospitals, a total of 326 sets of exercise-rest myocardial perfusion images were accumulated from subjects with a low likelihood of cardiac diseases.

Nocardioides aromaticivorans sp. nov., a dibenzofuran-degrading bacterium isolated from dioxin-polluted environments.

Seven strains of dibenzofuran (DF)-degrading bacteria isolated from dioxin-polluted environments were characterized. These isolates were able to grow with dibenzofuran as the sole carbon and energy source. During the growth with dibenzofuran, they produced a soluble yellow metabolite that exhibited a unique pH-dependent shift of absorption maxima.

Spontaneous regression in small cell esophageal carcinoma.

Spontaneous regression or remission of cancers has been defined as the disappearance of the malignancies without any treatment or with obviously inadequate treatment. Spontaneous regression is rare, while any case with a small cell carcinoma in the esophagus was not found in the literature. We experienced a 73-year-old man with small-cell carcinoma in the thoracic esophagus whom underwent esophagectomy with lymphadenectomy.

Occurrence of an alpha-galacturonosyl-ceramide in the dioxin-degrading bacterium Sphingomonas wittichii.

The chemical structure of two glycosphingolipids (GSLs) found in the dioxin-degrading bacterium Sphingomonas wittichii strain RW1 was investigated by means of mass spectrometry and (1)H-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. One of the GSLs was alpha-D-glucuronosyl-ceramide, commonly present in Sphingomonas spp., and the other was proved to be alpha-D-galacturonosyl-ceramide, whose sugar configuration has not been reported before.

The significance of telomerase activity in cancer lesions and the noncancerous epithelium of the esophagus.

Background: It is well known that telomerase activity is expressed in cancer cells. A recent study has revealed that weak telomerase activity was also detected in normal cells. Telomerase activity is thus thought to be useful as a diagnostic biomarker.