Pinellic Acid Isolated from Quercetin-rich Onions has a Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor-Alpha/Gamma (PPAR-α/γ) Transactivation Activity.

Quercetin, a flavonol, is a functional compound that is abundant in onions and is known to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Quercetin and its glucoside are known to function as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) ligands and showed high PPAR- transactivation activity but little PPAR- transactivation activity in some reports. In this study, we demonstrated that an aqueous extract of a quercetin-rich onion cultivar increased transactivation activities not only of PPAR- but also of PPAR-.

Seasonal Fluctuations of Aroma Components of Essential Oils from Larix leptolepis.

Conifer resins are used as chemical raw materials for daily necessities. There have been many reports on the aroma components of turpentine oil from rosin, but there has been no reports on fluctuations in the aroma components through spring to late autumn. We speculated that the aroma components in the essential oils of deciduous coniferous larches might fluctuate during maturation of the foliage.

A Epidemiological Investigation of a Nosocomial Outbreak of Multidrug-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in a Critical Care Center in Japan, 2011-2012.

Volume 69, no. 2, p. 143-148, 2016.

A Epidemiological Investigation of a Nosocomial Outbreak of Multidrug-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in a Critical Care Center in Japan, 2011-2012.

In 2011, a multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (MDRAB) outbreak occurred at a Japanese critical care center (CCC) in a tertiary care hospital. Multidrug-resistance in Japan is defined as resistance to the antimicrobials amikacin, carbapenem, and fluoroquinolone. We conducted a retrospective epidemiological investigation of this outbreak to identify the risk factors for MDRAB respiratory tract acquisition in this hospital.

Utility of the triglyceride level for predicting incident diabetes mellitus according to the fasting status and body mass index category: the Ibaraki Prefectural Health Study.

Aim: The levels of lipids, especially triglycerides (TG), and obesity are associated with diabetes mellitus (DM). Although typically measured in fasting individuals, non-fasting lipid measurements play an important role in predicting future DM. This study compared the predictive efficacy of lipid variables according to the fasting status and body mass index (BMI) category.

Associations between metabolic syndrome and mortality from cardiovascular disease in Japanese general population, findings on overweight and non-overweight individuals. Ibaraki Prefectural Health Study.

Background: The impact of being overweight, as a component of the metabolic syndrome (MetS), for cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality was investigated and compared with the predictive value of MetS by 2 different definitions.

Methods And Results: A 12-year prospective study of 30,774 Japanese men and 60,383 women aged 40-79 years was conducted. The multivariate hazard ratio (HR; 95% confidence interval) of total CVD mortality for overweight subjects with >or=2 additional risk factors with reference to subjects with 0 of 4 MetS components was 1.

Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations and death due to intraparenchymal hemorrhage: the Ibaraki Prefectural Health Study.

Background: Few studies have examined the association between low levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and risk of intraparenchymal hemorrhage.

Methods And Results: A total of 30 802 men and 60 417 women, 40 to 79 years of age with no history of stroke or coronary heart disease, completed a baseline risk factor survey in 1993 under the auspices of the Ibaraki Prefectural Health Study. Systematic mortality surveillance was performed through 2003, and 264 intraparenchymal hemorrhage deaths were identified.

Human H5N2 avian influenza infection in Japan and the factors associated with high H5N2-neutralizing antibody titer.

Background: H5N2 avian influenza virus infection of humans has not been reported thus far. The first H5N2 avian influenza infection of poultry in Japan occurred in Ibaraki.

Methods: The subjects were workers at 35 chicken farms in Ibaraki Prefecture, where the H5N2 virus or antibody was isolated from chickens.

Comparison between computed tomography (CT) and autopsy findings in cases of abdominal injury and disease.

We report 10 autopsy cases involving fatal pathological changes in abdominal organs, for which findings of computed tomography (CT) on admission or after death were compared with autopsy findings. Two of the cases were death due to natural causes and eight were death due to traffic accidents. From the findings at autopsy, the causes of death were considered to be rupture of an aortic aneurysm in one case, gastrointestinal bleeding due to gastric cancer in one case, retroperitoneal bleeding in two cases, laceration of the liver in three cases, and traumatic rupture of the small intestine in three cases.

Metabolism and hepatic toxicity of flutamide in cytochrome P450 1A2 knockout SV129 mice.

Background: Flutamide, a nonsteroidal antiandrogen used for treatment of prostate cancer, causes a temporary increase in transaminase and in some cases severe liver dysfunction. It is dominantly metabolized by cytochrome P450 (CYP) 1A2 into 2-hydroxyflutamide (OH-flutamide), which has stronger antiandrogenic activity without obvious cytotoxicity to cultured hepatocytes. We hypothesized that another subsidiary metabolite might be responsible for induction of hepatotoxicity.

Effect of algal extract on H2 production by a photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobium marinum A-501: analysis of stimulating effect using a kinetic model.

We have established a system for hydrogen (H2) production from algal starch via lactic acid using a mixed culture of a lactic acid bacterium, Lactobacillus amylovorus, and a photosynthetic bacterium, Rhodobium marinum A-501. We found that the H2 production from lactate was stimulated in the presence of algal extract, which was obtained from algal biomass homogenate used as a substrate in the system by removing settleable solids including starch. To analyze the stimulating effect of algal extract on H2 production, we developed a kinetic model for H2 production by R.

Diphenylarsinic acid poisoning from chemical weapons in Kamisu, Japan.

We noted a new clinical syndrome with prominent cerebellar symptoms in apartment building residents in Kamisu, Japan. The well that provided drinking water contained diphenylarsinic acid, a degradation product of diphenylcyanoarsine or diphenylchloroarsine, which were developed for use as chemical weapons, inducing severe vomiting and sneezing. Characteristics of diphenylarsinic acid poisoning include brainstem-cerebellar and cerebral symptoms.

Hepatic portal venous gas and hyper-dense aortic wall as postmortem computed tomography finding.

Postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) is useful for diagnosis of cause of death not only by emergency physicians but also medical examiners or police surgeons conducting postmortem studies. However, postmortem biological conditions are quite different from those in the living body. Hepatic portal venous gas (HPVG) and a hyperdense aortic wall (HDAW) are often found by PMCT, although no significant autopsy findings are evident in the liver or aorta.

Right ventricular damage due to pulmonary embolism: examination of the number of infiltrating macrophages.

To investigate the pathological changes in the heart induced by pulmonary embolism, 20 autopsy cases of pulmonary embolism and 10 control cases of acute death from traumatic injury were examined. Adding to the routine hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining, immunostaining with CD68 pan-macrophage marker was performed on the specimens obtained from both right and left ventricular walls. The number of macrophages was counted semi-quantitatively in 100 random high-power fields (HPF).

Highly Selective Thioselenation of Vinylcyclopropanes with a (PhS)(2)-(PhSe)(2) Binary System and Its Application to Thiotelluration.

A novel, highly selective method for introducing organic sulfur, selenium, and tellurium functions into vinylic cyclopropanes has been developed on the basis of the relative reactivities of organic dichalcogenides and chalcogen-centered radicals. Upon irradiation with the light of wavelength over 300 nm, the reaction of vinylcyclopropanes with diphenyl disulfide and diphenyl diselenide proceeds smoothly to provide the corresponding gamma-(selenoethyl)allylic sulfides regioselectively in good yields. Similarly, vinylcyclopropanes undergo regioselective thiotelluration by use of a novel (PhS)(2)-(PhTe)(2) binary system, affording the corresponding ring-opened thiotelluration product in good yields.

Highly Selective Three-Component Coupling of Ethyl Propiolate, Alkenes, and Diphenyl Diselenide under Visible-Light Irradiation.

Just the right strength of carbon-radical trapping by diphenyl diselenide facilitates its selective three-component coupling with an electron-poor alkyne and an electron-rich alkene [Eq. (1)]. In contrast, (PhS) is too weak and (PhTe) too strong a radical trap, and polymerization of the unsaturated compounds and addition of (PhTe) to the alkyne occur, respectively.