Posture Estimation Using Surface Electromyography during Wheelchair Hand-Rim Operations.

This study examined competitive wheelchairs that facilitate sports participation. They can be moved straight ahead using only one arm. Our designed and developed competitive wheel-chairs have a dual hand-rim system.

Use of a Healthcare Claims Database for Post-Marketing Safety Assessments of Eribulin in Japan: A Comparative Assessment with a Prospective Post-Marketing Surveillance Study.

Background: To understand the extent to which a large-scale healthcare claims database (DB) captures the safety profile of eribulin mesylate (Halaven, Eisai Co., Ltd., Japan), we compared patient characteristics, drug use, and adverse events (AEs) between data for patients treated with eribulin retrieved from a DB and data for metastatic breast cancer patients from a conventional prospective post-marketing surveillance (PMS).

A warped disk around an infant protostar.

Recent exoplanet studies have revealed that the orbital planes of planets are not always aligned with one another or with the equatorial plane of the central star. The misalignment has been ascribed to gravitational scattering by giant planets and/or companion stars or to fly-bys in stellar cluster environments. Alternatively, the misalignment could be natal: that is, such planets were born in a warped protostellar disk.

Possible involvement of iron-induced oxidative insults in neurodegeneration.

Involvement of iron in the development of neurodegenerative disorders has long been suggested, and iron that cannot be stored properly is suggested to induce iron toxicity. To enhance iron uptake and suppress iron storage in neurons, we generated transgenic (Tg) mice expressing iron regulatory protein 2 (IRP2), a major regulator of iron metabolism, in a neuron-specific manner. Although very subtle, IRP2 was expressed in all regions of brain examined.

[Intracranial malignant glioma presenting as subarachnoid hemorrhage].

Cerebral aneurysms are the predominant cause of spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). However, if an aneurismal cause has been excluded, there remains but a short list of meningiomas or metastatic lesions as possible causes. This article details a case of neoplasm that presented exclusively with SAH.

Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris FC triggers IFN-γ production from NK and T cells via IL-12 and IL-18.

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) benefit health as probiotics in a strain-dependent way. In this study, we investigated the immunomodulatory effects of Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris FC (LcFC) on dendritic cells (DCs), natural killer (NK) cells and T cells.

Validation of continuous and noninvasive hemoglobin monitoring by pulse CO-oximetry in Japanese surgical patients.

We evaluated the accuracy of noninvasive and continuous total hemoglobin (SpHb) monitoring with the Radical-7(®) Pulse CO-Oximeter in Japanese surgical patients before and after an in vivo adjustment of the first SpHb value to match the first reference value from a satellite laboratory CO-Oximeter. Twenty patients undergoing surgical procedures with general anesthesia were monitored with Pulse CO-Oximetry for SpHb. Laboratory CO-Oximeter values (tHb) were compared to SpHb at the time of the blood draws.

Examination of the usefulness of non-invasive stroke volume variation monitoring for adjusting fluid supplementation during laparoscopic adrenalectomy in patients with pheochromocytoma.

Purpose Of The Study: The measurement of stroke volume variation (SVV) using the FloTrac™ system (Edwards Lifescience, USA) is useful to estimate cardiac preload. We evaluated the benefits of SVV monitoring for adjusting fluid supplementation during laparoscopic adrenalectomy under anesthesia in patients with pheochromocytoma.

Subjects And Methods: Among 10 patients who underwent laparoscopic adrenalectomy for pheochromocytoma in our institution from June 2004 to December 2009, SVV was not monitored in 5 patients (group I) and in the other 5 patients (group II), SVV monitoring was performed.

[Preoperative second-derivative of photoplethysmography measurement predicts the hemodynamic response to general anaesthesia induction].

Background: Second-derivative of photoplethysmography (SDPTG) is a non-invasive method for the assessment of structural and functional arterial properties. We studied the hemodynamic responses to induction of anaesthesia and whether SDPTG could be used in predicting these responses.

Methods: SDPTG was performed in 71 subjects (35 males, 36 females) undergoing general anaesthesia for elective operation.

Expression profiling of mouse placental lactogen II and its correlative genes using a cDNA microarray analysis in the developmental mouse placenta.

The placenta is a highly differentiated organ essential for embryonic growth and development. In order to search for key molecules that are associated with mouse placental lactogen II (mPL-II) gene expression, we applied mouse cDNA microarray analysis to RNAs extracted from placentae on days 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 of pregnancy. Changes in gene expression were categorized between days 10 and 12, 12 and 14, 14 and 16 and 16 and 18 of pregnancy.

Age-related severity of dopaminergic neurodegeneration to MPTP neurotoxicity causes motor dysfunction in C57BL/6 mice.

This study investigated the influence of advancing age on dopaminergic neuronal degeneration induced by 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) intoxication from the perspective concerning the relationship between dopaminergic function and behavioral features. Young (10 weeks) and older (14-15 months) C57BL/6 mice were treated with one to four injections of MPTP (20 mg/kg at 2h intervals). Although young mice showed no mortality in either MPTP treatment, older mice exhibited mortality from only two injections of MPTP during the experimental period.

H MRS identifies lactate rise in the striatum of MPTP-treated C57BL/6 mice.

Mitochondrial dysfunction has been implicated in the death of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons in 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-treated experimental models of Parkinson's disease (PD). Here we utilized proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H MRS) to identify changes in energy metabolism in the striatum of MPTP-treated C57BL/6 mice. Remarkable increases in lactate/creatine (Lac/Cr) ratio were observed at 2 h and then quickly returned to about the basal level by 7 h after injection of MPTP.

Neural mechanisms underlying motor dysfunction as detected by the tail suspension test in MPTP-treated C57BL/6 mice.

Contradictory data on behavioral changes in MPTP-treated C57BL/6 mice have been reported, even though the toxin-treated mice have been widely used for non-clinical studies as an in vivo model of Parkinson's disease (PD). We found that the duration of immobility in the tail suspension test (TST) was significantly increased in MPTP-treated C57BL/6 mice as compared with control mice without a significant change in the locomotor activity (LA). Dopamine (DA) contents and protein levels of tyrosine hydroxylase and dopamine transporter in the striatum were profoundly decreased in the toxin-treated mice.

Differential effects of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine in the olfactory bulb and the striatum in mice.

The present study was undertaken to examine whether 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) causes damage of dopaminergic glomerular cells of the olfactory bulb (OB) in C57BL/6 mice. At 3 days after MPTP treatment, dopamine level in the striatum and the OB decreased to 13% and 84% of the control mice, respectively. While a small reduction of tyrosine hydroxylase protein level was observed in the OB of MPTP-treated mice, dopamine transporter (DAT) was undetectable at the protein level in this region.

Cathepsin gene expression in mouse placenta during the latter half of pregnancy.

Gene expressions and their interaction are complex and have not been definitely clarified in the placenta. To identify interactions of gene products previously not studied, we applied cDNA subtraction analyses to the placenta between days 12 and 16, days 12 and 14, days 14 and 16 of pregnancy. Among subtracted cDNAs cathepsin M, Q and R in PECs were specifically identified on days 14 and 16 pregnancy.

Serotonergic modulation of psychological stress-induced alteration in synaptic plasticity in the rat hippocampal CA1 field.

In order to elucidate possible involvement of the serotonergic neuronal system in the stress-induced alteration in synaptic plasticity, the effects of contextual fear conditioning (CFC) on long-term potentiation (LTP) in the hippocampal CA1 field were examined in 5-HT-depleted rats by pretreatment with 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine (5,7-DHT, 200 microg/rat, i.c.v.

Changes in synaptic properties in cortical-limbic communications induced by repeated treatments with fluvoxamine in rats.

There is evidence indicating that dysregulation of coordinated interactions of the cortical-limbic circuitry is associated with anxiety and mood disorders. Our previous study has reported that an enhancement of long-term plasticity in the "limbic-cortical" pathway produced by repeated treatments with fluvoxamine may be involved in the clinical effects of a selective serotonin (5-HT) reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). Here we assessed the effects of single and repeated treatments with fluvoxamine on the synaptic transmission and plasticity in the "cortical-limbic" pathway in vivo.

Analyses of mitogen-activated protein kinase function in the maturation of porcine oocytes.

The function of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) during porcine oocyte maturation was examined by injecting oocytes with either mRNA or antisense RNA of porcine c-mos protein, an upstream kinase of MAPK. The RNAs were injected into the cytoplasm of porcine immature oocytes immediately after collection from ovaries, then the oocytes were cultured for maturation up to 48 h. The phosphorylation and activation of MAPK were observed at 6 h after injection of the c-mos mRNA injected-oocytes, whereas in control oocytes, MAPK activation was detected at 24 h of culture.

Effects of spindle removal on MPF and MAP kinase activities in porcine matured oocytes.

Intracellular localization of maturation/M-phase promoting factor (MPF) and mitogen activated protein (MAP) kinase in mature oocytes has been examined by immunocytochemical methods and the authors of these studies have reported that they are localized on spindles during M-phase. Although these reports showed the relative localization of MPF and MAPK on spindles, it has never been shown whether these kinases are present in the cytoplasm and, if they are present, how many parts of the kinases are localized on the metaphase spindle. In the present study, we made quantitative analyses of MPF and MAP kinase localized on oocyte spindles by kinase assays and immunoblotting after removal of the spindles from porcine mature oocytes.