Changes in brain proteasome dynamics associated with aging.

In the nervous system, proteasomes are important for proteolysis and cellular homeostasis of neurons and glial cells and for brain health. Proteasome function declines with age in many tissues, including the nervous system, and this decline affects many of the nervous system processes important to brain health and may be related to age-related cognitive decline. Therefore, we analyzed the factors that contribute to this decline in function using the brain of mice from different months of life.

Generation of magnetic biohybrid microrobots based on MSC.sTRAIL for targeted stem cell delivery and treatment of cancer.

Background: Combining the power of magnetic guidance and the biological activities of stem cells transformed into biohybrid microrobots holds great promise for the treatment of several diseases including cancer.

Results: We found that human MSCs can be readily loaded with magnetic particles and that the resulting biohybrid microrobots could be guided by a rotating magnetic field. Rotating magnetic fields have the potential to be applied in the human setting and steer therapeutic stem cells to the desired sites of action in the body.

The Lectin-Like Domain of Thrombomodulin Inhibits β1 Integrin-Dependent Binding of Human Breast Cancer-Derived Cell Lines to Fibronectin.

Thrombomodulin is a molecule with anti-coagulant and anti-inflammatory properties. Recently, thrombomodulin was reported to be able to bind extracellular matrix proteins, such as fibronectin and collagen; however, whether thrombomodulin regulates the binding of human breast cancer-derived cell lines to the extracellular matrix remains unknown. To investigate this, we created an extracellular domain of thrombomodulin, TMD123-Fc, or domain deletion TM-Fc proteins (TM domain 12-Fc, TM domain 23-Fc) and examined their bindings to fibronectin in vitro by ELISA.

Cells Rely on Microbial Interactions Rather than on Chlorotic Resting Stages To Survive Long-Term Nutrient Starvation.

Many microorganisms produce resting cells with very low metabolic activity that allow them to survive phases of prolonged nutrient or energy stress. In cyanobacteria and some eukaryotic phytoplankton, the production of resting stages is accompanied by a loss of photosynthetic pigments, a process termed chlorosis. Here, we show that a chlorosis-like process occurs under multiple stress conditions in axenic laboratory cultures of , the dominant phytoplankton linage in large regions of the oligotrophic ocean and a global key player in ocean biogeochemical cycles.

Oxygen use and survival in patients with advanced cancer and low oxygen saturation in home care: a preliminary retrospective cohort study.

Background: The role of oxygen therapy in end-of-life care for patients with advanced cancer is incompletely understood. We aimed to evaluate the association between oxygen use and survival in patients with advanced cancer and low oxygen saturation in home care.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study at a primary care practice in suburban Tokyo.

Differential Roles of Dendritic Cells in Expanding CD4 T Cells in Sepsis.

Sepsis is a systemically dysregulated inflammatory syndrome, in which dendritic cells (DCs) play a critical role in coordinating aberrant immunity. The aim of this study is to shed light on the differential roles played by systemic versus mucosal DCs in regulating immune responses in sepsis. We identified a differential impact of the systemic and mucosal DCs on proliferating allogenic CD4 T cells in a mouse model of sepsis.

Anti-adhesive effects of human soluble thrombomodulin and its domains.

We reported previously that leukocyte β2 integrins (LFA-1 and Mac-1) bind to the serine/threonine-rich domain of thrombomodulin (TM) expressed on vascular endothelial cells (VECs). Recombinant human soluble TM (rhsTM, TMD123) has been approved as a therapeutic drug for septic disseminated intravascular coagulation. However, the roles of TMD123 on the adhesion of leukocyte integrins to VECs remain unclear.

Abdominal pain and nausea in the diagnosis of streptococcal pharyngitis in boys.

Objectives: This study was designed to assess the accuracy of gastrointestinal symptoms, including abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting, in the diagnosis of Group A streptococcal (GAS) pharyngitis in children and to determine differences in diagnostic accuracy in boys versus girls.

Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study included 5,755 consecutive patients aged <15 years with fever in the electronic database at a primary care practice. Gastrointestinal symptoms were recorded in the database according to the International Classification of Primary Care codes, and the data were extracted electronically.

Correlation between patients' reasons for encounters/health problems and population density in Japan: a systematic review of observational studies coded by the International Classification of Health Problems in Primary Care (ICHPPC) and the International Classification of Primary care (ICPC).

Background: The Japanese health care system has yet to establish structured training for primary care physicians; therefore, physicians who received an internal medicine based training program continue to play a principal role in the primary care setting. To promote the development of a more efficient primary health care system, the assessment of its current status in regard to the spectrum of patients' reasons for encounters (RFEs) and health problems is an important step. Recognizing the proportions of patients' RFEs and health problems, which are not generally covered by an internist, can provide valuable information to promote the development of a primary care physician-centered system.

Final diagnoses and probability of new reason-for-encounter at an urban clinic in Japan: A 4-year observational study.

Past clinical data are not currently used to calculate pretest probabilities, as they have not been put into a database in clinical settings. This observational study was designed to determine the initial reasons for utilizing home visits or visits to an outpatient urban clinic in Japan.All family medical clinic outpatients and patients visited by the clinic (total = 11,688) over 1460 days were enrolled.

Fournier's gangrene during ACTH therapy.

Fournier's gangrene is an infectious necrotizing fasciitis of the perineal, genital, or perianal regions and is uncommon in children. Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) is effective for the treatment of infantile spasms; however, suppression of immune function is one of the major adverse effects of this approach. We encountered a 2-month-old boy with infantile spasms that had been treated with ACTH and had developed complicating Fournier's gangrene.

Low cholesterol is associated with mortality from stroke, heart disease, and cancer: the Jichi Medical School Cohort Study.

Background: We investigated the relationship between low cholesterol and mortality and examined whether that relationship differs with respect to cause of death.

Methods: A community-based prospective cohort study was conducted in 12 rural areas in Japan. The study subjects were 12,334 healthy adults aged 40 to 69 years who underwent a mass screening examination.

Multi-projection of lenticular displays to construct a 256-view super multi-view display.

A new super multi-view (SMV) display system that enables the number of views to be increased is proposed. All three-dimensional (3D) images generated by multiple multi-view flat-panel displays are superimposed on a common screen using a multi-projection system. The viewing zones of the flat-panel 3D display are produced in the pupils of the projection lenses and then imaged to the observation space by a screen lens.

[Family medicine and functional somatic syndromes].

Between psychosomatic medicine and psychiatry, FSS (functional somatic syndromes) patients are often visiting a family doctor. For FSS, the role of family physicians is large, but the family physicians are not required for the role of diagnosis and treatment of FSS. Rather, appropriate referral to a specialist to exclude organic disease is important and a role as the coordinator is large to the patient to refuse a psychiatric consultation.

Risk charts illustrating the 10-year risk of myocardial infarction among residents of Japanese rural communities: the JMS Cohort Study.

Background: Risk charts that depict the absolute risk of myocardial infarction (MI) for each combination of risk factors in individuals are convenient and beneficial tools for primary prevention of ischemic heart disease. Although risk charts have been developed using data from North American and European cardiovascular cohort studies, there is no such chart derived from cardiovascular incidence data obtained from the Japanese population.

Methods And Results: We calculated and constructed risk charts that estimate the 10-year absolute risk of MI by using data from the Jichi Medical School (JMS) Cohort Study--a prospective cohort study which followed 12 490 participants in 12 Japanese rural communities for an average of 10.

Risk charts illustrating the 10-year risk of stroke among residents of Japanese rural communities: the JMS Cohort Study.

Background: Risk charts are used to estimate the risk of cardiovascular diseases; however, most have been developed in Western countries. In Japan, currently available risk charts are based on mortality data. Using data on cardiovascular disease incidence from the JMS Cohort Study, we developed charts that illustrated the risk of stroke.

Continued high risk of stroke in treated hypertensives in a general population: the Jichi Medical School Cohort study.

Although it is confirmed that antihypertensive treatment for hypertension (HT) reduces stroke, it is uncertain whether the risk of stroke in controlled hypertensives is as low as that in normotensives. To address this question, we examined the risk of stroke in hypertensives with or without antihypertensive treatment in the general population. A total of 11,103 men and women were enrolled in for this multi-center, population-based cohort study.

Incidence of total stroke, stroke subtypes, and myocardial infarction in the Japanese population: the JMS Cohort Study.

Background: Previous reports indicated that the incidence rate of stroke was higher in Japan than in Western countries, but the converse was true in the case of myocardial infarction (MI). However, few population-based studies on the incidence rates of stroke and MI have been conducted in Japan.

Methods: The Jichi Medical School (JMS) Cohort Study is a multicenter population-based cohort study that was conducted in 12 districts in Japan.

Linear relationship between blood pressure and stroke: the Jichi Medical School Cohort Study.

Hypertension is a major risk for stroke; a linear or J-shaped relationship between blood pressure (BP) and stroke have been reported. The authors examined the relationship between systolic and diastolic BP and risk of stroke in the general population in Japan. The study included 11,097 men and women who were divided into quintiles by systolic BP and diastolic BP in each sex.

Job strain and biological coronary risk factors: a cross-sectional study of male and female workers in a Japanese rural district.

To investigate the association between job strain and biological coronary risk factors, a demand-control questionnaire was applied to 138 male (mean age 51.5) and 166 female (50.8) workers in Japanese rural town.

Smoking and risk of all-cause mortality: the Jichi Medical School (JMS) Cohort Study.

Background: There have been comparatively few large-scale cohort studies analyzing all-cause mortality due to cigarette smoking. The goal of this analysis is to investigate the relationship between smoking status and all-cause mortality, and to evaluate the effect of smoking in the Japanese.

Methods: The baseline data were collected between 1992 and 1995.

[Evidence-based diagnosis in clinical practice: a patient with hypercholesterolemia].

Evidence-based diagnosis(EBD) is a method for clinical problem solving. The practice of EBD comprises five steps(formulating answerable clinical questions, searching for the best available evidence, critical appraisal of the evidence, application of the evidence to the patients, evaluation of execution of steps 1-4) as well as EBM. I present a case for studying the practice of EBD.