[With the Characteristics of Chronic Pain Patients, Can the Therapeutic Effect of Antidepressant Duloxetine be Predicted?].

Background: Duloxetine, an antidepressant, is used for treatment of pain, but the factors related to its effectiveness are not well known, and therefore we have performed a retrospective study.

Methods: Over a 22-month period from June 2012 patients with pain lasting for 3 months or more, with an NRS of 4 or higher, and given duloxetine within 3 months from their first diagnosis, were extracted from the medical records. These patients were compared and studied regarding their scores of the HADS (hos- pital anxiety and depression scale) at the time of first visit, duration of the disease, type of patient, and treat- ment effect after 1 month.

Remifentanil and glucose suppress inflammation in a rat model of surgical stress.

Purpose: Postoperative stress produces an inflammatory response. Recent studies have shown that narcotic analgesics suppress the immune system. Nutritional management during perioperative care has also been reported to affect inflammation.

Anti-inflammatory effects of perioperative intensive insulin therapy during cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass.

Purpose: Recent studies have reported that controlling blood glucose with insulin can suppress systemic inflammation. In the present study, we evaluated how perioperative intensive insulin therapy (IIT) influences the inflammatory response in an artificial pancreas during cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass.

Methods: We randomly divided the patients undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass into two groups: an IIT group (n = 13) and a conventional treatment (CT) group (n = 12).

Catecholamine-resistant shock and hypoglycemic coma after cardiotomy in a patient with unexpected isolated ACTH deficiency.

Isolated adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) deficiency is an extremely rare disease in which ACTH-producing cells of the pituitary gland are selectively damaged. The resulting decline in ACTH production and secretion results in chronic secondary adrenocortical insufficiency. The patient in this case did not present with adrenal insufficiency symptoms prior to surgery.

Mechanism of inhibition by C-terminal alpha-helices of the epsilon subunit of Escherichia coli FoF1-ATP synthase.

The epsilon subunit of bacterial FoF1-ATP synthase (FoF1), a rotary motor protein, is known to inhibit the ATP hydrolysis reaction of this enzyme. The inhibitory effect is modulated by the conformation of the C-terminal alpha-helices of epsilon, and the "extended" but not "hairpin-folded" state is responsible for inhibition. Although the inhibition of ATP hydrolysis by the C-terminal domain of epsilon has been extensively studied, the effect on ATP synthesis is not fully understood.

Production of cloned pigs from adult somatic cells by chemically assisted removal of maternal chromosomes.

The present study demonstrated that brief treatment of in vitro-matured porcine oocytes with demecolcine results in a membrane protrusion that contains a condensed chromosome mass, which can be easily removed by aspiration. This simple, chemically assisted method for removing maternal chromosomes enabled the production of a large number of nuclear-transferred porcine eggs. The development of eggs whose chromosomes were removed by this procedure following transfer of somatic cell nuclei to the blastocyst stage was not significantly different among groups activated using different procedures (6% to 11%) and was also not different among donor cells of different origins (3% to 9%), except for cumulus cells (0.