Loxoprofen enhances intestinal barrier function via generation of its active metabolite by carbonyl reductase 1 in differentiated Caco-2 cells.

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are used worldwide as antipyretic analgesics and agents for rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, but known to cause damage to the gastrointestinal mucosae as their serious adverse effects. Few studies showed the impairment of intestinal epithelial barrier function (EBF) by high concentrations (0.5-1 mM) of NSAIDs, but the underlying mechanism is not fully understood.

[Clinical Study of HoLEP for the Patients with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia who are on Oral Antithrombotics].

Recently, holmium laserenucleation of the prostate (HoLEP) was associated with less bleeding compared with transurethral resection of prostate. Since 2012, we have performed HoLEP for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) under continuous oral antithrombotics (OA). Between October 2004 and March 2015, 54 patients with BPH underwent HoLEP while on OA at our hospital.

Reduced blood loss and operation time in lumbar posterolateral fusion using a bipolar sealer.

Purpose: A bipolar sealer using Transcollation technology, a combination of radiofrequency energy and saline, can provide hemostasis at 100 °C, which is lower than that used in standard electrocautery. Previous studies of joint arthroplasty have shown that use of the bipolar sealer reduces blood loss and tissue damage during the operation. However, it is unknown whether a bipolar sealer reduces blood loss and tissue damage in lumbar posterolateral fusion (PLF) surgery.

[The 2014 measles outbreak in Osaka An epidemiological study for the elimination of measles].

Objectives: To examine and analyze the spread of measles in Osaka in 2014 and determine effective measures to prevent such occurrences.

Methods: We analyzed 47 cases of measles reported in Osaka, including one measles patient living in another prefecture where there was an outbreak. We focused on age distribution, the number of patients reported each week, estimated infection routes, history of measles vaccination, detection of viruses, and number of days it took to report the case after the onset of measles.

Reorganization of sensorimotor function after functional hemispherectomy studied using near-infrared spectroscopy.

Hemimegalencephaly is a rare congenital disease that occurs with intractable epilepsy and is a childhood developmental disorder. A functional hemispherectomy is indicated for the treatment of hemimegalencephaly with intractable epilepsy. We present a case of hemimegalencephaly in a 6-month-old male.

[Liver metastasis from sigmoid colon cancer showed a complete response to S-1 after recurrence with FOLFOX6 treatment].

A 48-year-old woman was referred to our hospital with complaints of appetite loss caused by a sigmoid colon cancer and multiple liver metastasis. To prevent bowel obstruction, a sigmoid colon resection was performed. On postoperative day 27, FOLFOX was begun for the liver metastasis.

Memory trace dependence on number of stimuli in magnetic mismatch negativity.

Mismatch negativity (MMN) reflects a comparison process between a deviant stimulus and the memory trace of standard stimuli. Although this memory mechanism has been investigated by many research studies, the development of memory representation still remains unclear. In this study, we focused on the development of sound trace underlying the MMN response.

The development of memory trace depending on the number of the standard stimuli.

The mismatch negativity (MMN) component of the event-related potentials reflects the automatic detection mechanism of sound change. MMN is elicited by a neuronal mismatch process between deviant (infrequent) auditory input and the sensory memory trace of the standard (frequent) stimuli. Although many previous studies have investigated MMN to reveal the sensory memory mechanism, the development of memory representation still remains unclear, in particular, the topographical aspect of the trace-development in sensory memory has not been clarified.

[Psychophysiological basis of smells].

There has been an increase in the use of psychophysiological techniques, especially event-related potentials (ERPs) to evaluate the effects of odor on the central nervous system. In the study of ERPs related to odor, there are two main methods of the odor presentation: (1) to investigate the olfactory ERP (OERP) or chemosensory ERP (CSERP), that is to calculate electrophysiological responses to odor stimulation as a trigger; (2) to compare ERP of mental functioning during the odor exposed condition with that of no odor exposure. The amplitude of contingent negative variation (CNV) varies with the odorant being present, when the odor is presented as a trigger and when it is administrated during a task.

Attentional distraction of CNV depending on the spatial focus.

To investigate the distraction of spatial attention to the task-irrelevant visual stimuli, contingent negative variation (CNV) was measured by using a forewarned reaction time task in 20 healthy subjects. The lasting emission of light, irrelevant to the CNV task, at each perimetric angle of 15 degrees, 30 degrees or 45 degrees to the fixated point was presented to the subjects. The amplitude of early CNV was small only under the light-emission at the angle of 30 degrees.

[Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) causing chylothorax].

A 28-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital complaining of chest pain and dyspnea. Chest radiographs showed left pleural effusion. The effused fluid obtained by thoracocentesis was milky, and so chylothorax was diagnosed.

[Phyllodes tumor of the prostate: a case report].

Prostatic phyllodes tumor is an unusual lesion for which there are only occasional reports in the literature. We encountered a phyllodes tumor of the prostate in a 36-year-old man who had complained of urinary frequency and dysuria for one month. In October 1998, he visited our hospital and had a transurethral resection of the prostate (TUR-P) for obstructive symptoms.

[Pulmonary Nocardia otitidis-caviarum infection in a patient with Cushing's disease].

While Nocardial infections are being diagnosed with increasing frequency, infection with Nocardia otitidiscaviarum remains relatively uncommon. We report a case of pulmonary Nocardia otitidis-caviarum infection in a 35-year-old man with Cushing's disease. This work describes the first case of nocardiosis in Japan caused by Nocardia otitidis-caviarum in Cushing's disease.

Prevalence of cervical lesions in rheumatoid arthritis: cross-sectional study on 263 patients.

Abstract Spinal lesions in upper and sublaxilar cervical vertebrae were studied radiologically in 263 patients (25 men and 238 women) with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Their average age was 58.9 years, and their disease duration was ranged from 6 months to 24 years (mean 13 years).

The anti-dementia drug nefiracetam facilitates hippocampal synaptic transmission by functionally targeting presynaptic nicotinic ACh receptors.

Nefiracetam, a pyrrolidone derivative developed as an anti-dementia drug, persistently potentiated currents through neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine (ACh) receptors (alpha7, alpha4beta2) expressed in Xenopus oocytes, and the potentiation was blocked by either the selective protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitors, GF109203X and staurosporine, or co-expressed active PKC inhibitor peptide. In primary cultures of rat hippocampal neurons, nefiracetam increased the rate of nicotine-sensitive miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents, without affecting the amplitude, and the increase was inhibited by GF109203X. In addition, the drug caused a marked increase in the glutamate release from electrically stimulated guinea pig hippocampal slices, and the effect was abolished by the nicotinic ACh receptor antagonists, alpha-bungarotoxin and mecamylamine.

Anterior floating method for cervical myelopathy caused by ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament.

Ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament lessens the sagittal diameter of the cervical canal and compresses the spinal cord anteriorly, and may produce severe disabling myelopathy. The anterior floating method is one of the anterior decompression and reconstructions used in the treatment of cervical myelopathy caused by ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament. This procedure consists of subtotal resection of vertebral bodies and discs, with slight thinning and release of the ossified ligament using air instrumentation.

Development of an instrument to measure postmortem lividity and its preliminary application to estimate the time since death.

A degree of postmortem lividity was related to a subcutaneous hemoglobin concentration, which can be measured by using light absorption. On the basis of this theory, the authors have developed an instrument utilizing a light to measure the degree of postmortem lividity. By using 42 corpses whose postmortem intervals were known, the authors examined the relationship between the actual postmortem intervals and the measurements, and found that there was significant correlation between them.

Effects of tolbutamide on cultured heart cells of mice.

To investigate the direct effects of tolbutamide on the myocardium, we studied the ultrastructure, direct effects of tolbutamide on the myocardium, we studied the ultrastructure, beating rhythm, cytotoxicity determining the 51Cr release from damaged cells and the 45Ca activity in the cultured heart cells of mice. After 48 h of cultivation, tolbutamide was added to give a final concentration of 0.37, 0.