The influence of gender, athletic events, and athletic experience on the subjective dominant hand and the determination of the dominant hand based on the laterality quotient (LQ) and the validity of the LQ.

This study aimed to reveal the influence of gender, athletic events and athletic experience on the subjective dominant hand and the dominant hand based on the laterality quotient (LQ). It also aimed to examine the validity of the Edinburgh Inventory (Oldfield, 1971). Males and females (n=3,726) living in 7 prefectures in Japan (age: 16-45 yrs) participated in this survey.

Agreement in depression determination among four self-rating depression scales applied to Japanese community-dwelling elderly.

Objective: In this study, we examined the characteristics of depression determination using four representative self-rating depression scales (Geriatric Depression Scale, GDS; Self-rating Depression Scale, SDS; Center for Epidermiologic Studies Depression Scale, CES-D; and Carroll Rating Scale, CRS) applied to Japanese community-dwelling elderly.

Methods: Subjects were 563 community-dwelling independent elderly living in twelve prefectures (330 males, 68,9±6.3 yr; 233 females, 68.

Impairment of B cell receptor-mediated Ca2+ influx, activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases and growth inhibition in CD72-deficient BAL-17 cells.

CD72 is a 45 kDa B cell-specific type II transmembrane protein of the C-type lectin superfamily. It was originally defined as a receptor-like molecule that regulates B cell activation and differentiation; however, its precise function remains unclear since more recent functional analyses, including a gene targeting study, suggest that CD72 may serve as a negative or a positive regulator of B cell signaling. In the present study, we analyzed the cell-autonomous function of CD72 in B cell receptor (BCR) signaling using CD72-deficient cells generated from mature BAL-17 cells.

Inhibitory coreceptors activated by antigens but not by anti-Ig heavy chain antibodies install requirement of costimulation through CD40 for survival and proliferation of B cells.

Ag-induced B cell proliferation in vivo requires a costimulatory signal through CD40, whereas B cell Ag receptor (BCR) ligation by anti-Ig H chain Abs, such as anti-Ig micro H chain Ab and anti-Ig delta H chain Ab, alone induces proliferation of B cells in vitro, even in the absence of CD40 ligation. In this study, we demonstrate that CD40 signaling is required for survival and proliferation of B cells stimulated by protein Ags in vitro as well as in vivo. This indicates that the in vitro system represents B cell activation in vivo, and that protein Ags generate BCR signaling distinct from that by anti-Ig H chain Abs.

Expansion of natural killer cells in mice transgenic for IgM antibody to ganglioside GD2: demonstration of prolonged survival after challenge with syngeneic tumor cells.

IgM antibodies to gangliosides, sialic acid-containing glycosphingolipids, have been shown to mediate anti-tumor effects in cancer patients with melanoma and neuroblastoma and to correlate with survival. Mechanisms by which the antibodies induce tumor suppression, however, have not been systematically studied. To investigate this point, we produced and characterized C57BL/6 mice transgenic for IgM antibody to ganglioside GD2.