Effects of Social Implementation Education for Assistive Device Engineers at NIT (KOSEN) through the Development of a Digital Reading Device for the Visually Impaired.

Assistive technology (AT) is any item, device, software, or product system used to enhance, maintain, or improve the functional abilities of people with disabilities. There are many people with disabilities in the world, including the visually impaired, the hearing impaired, and the physically impaired. We established the National KOSEN Support Equipment Development Network (KOSEN-AT) with technical college faculty members 10 years ago to assist these disabled and elderly people.

Probiotic Bifidobacterium bifidum G9-1 attenuates 5-fluorouracil-induced intestinal mucositis in mice via suppression of dysbiosis-related secondary inflammatory responses.

Bifidobacterium, a major component of the intestinal microbiota, has been clinically used for the treatment of diarrhoea and constipation. 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU), widely used for cancer chemotherapy, is known to frequently induce intestinal mucositis accompanied by severe diarrhoea. The present study examined the effect of Bifidobacterium bifidum G9-1 (BBG9-1) on 5-FU-induced intestinal mucositis in mice.

Apoptosis, Dysbiosis and Expression of Inflammatory Cytokines are Sequential Events in the Development of 5-Fluorouracil-Induced Intestinal Mucositis in Mice.

The chemotherapeutic agent 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) causes intestinal mucositis with severe diarrhoea, but the pathogenesis is not fully understood. In this study, we investigated the pathogenic effects of 5-FU in mice, focusing on apoptosis, enterobacteria and inflammatory cytokines. Repeated administration of 5-FU caused severe intestinal mucositis on day 6, accompanied by diarrhoea and body-weight loss.

Oral administration of Bifidobacterium bifidum G9-1 alleviates rotavirus gastroenteritis through regulation of intestinal homeostasis by inducing mucosal protective factors.

Human rotavirus (RV) infection is a leading cause of dehydrating diarrhea in infants and young children worldwide. Since therapeutic approaches to RV gastroenteritis are limited to alleviation of dehydration with oral rehydration solutions, more direct approaches to palliate symptoms of RV gastroenteritis are required. Treatments with probiotics have been increasingly recognized as alternative safe and low cost treatments for moderate infectious diarrhea.

Ocular Behçet's disease is less complicated with allergic disorders. A nationwide survey in Japan.

Objectives: Behçet's disease (BD) is a systemic inflammatory disorder polarised to the Th1 and Th17 immune systems. Allergic diseases are polarised to the Th2 immune system. The aim of the present study is to investigate the prevalence of allergic diseases in patients who have BD.

Actions of probiotics on trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid-induced colitis in rats.

We investigated the actions of probiotics, Streptococcus faecalis 129 BIO 3B (SF3B), in a trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid- (TNBS-) induced colitis model in rats. After TNBS was administered into the colons of rats for induction of colitis, the rats were divided into two groups: one group was given a control diet and the other group was given a diet containing SF3B for 14 days. There were no apparent differences in body weight, diarrhea period, macroscopic colitis score, and colonic weight/length ratio between the control group and SF3B group, suggesting that induction of colitis was not prevented by SF3B.

Modular analysis of gene networks by linear temporal logic.

Despite a lot of advances in biology and genomics, it is still difficult to utilise such valuable knowledge and information to understand and analyse large biological systems due to high computational complexity. In this paper we propose a modular method with which from several small network analyses we analyse a large network by integrating them. This method is based on the qualitative framework proposed by authors in which an analysis of gene networks is reduced to checking satisfiability of linear temporal logic formulae.

Identification of Human Intestinal Microbiota of 92 Men by Data Mining for 5 Characteristics, i.e., Age, BMI, Smoking Habit, Cessation Period of Previous Smokers and Drinking Habit.

The intestinal microbiota compositions of 92 men living in Japan were identified following consumption of identical meals for 3 days. Fecal samples were analyzed by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism with 4 primer-restriction enzyme systems, and the 120 obtained operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were analyzed by Data mining software focusing on the following 5 characteristics, namely, age, body mass index, present smoking habit, cessation period of previous smokers and drinking habit, according to the answers of the subjects. After performing Data mining analyses with each characteristic, the details of the constructed Decision trees precisely identified the subjects or discriminated them into various suitable groups.

Analysis of the human intestinal microbiota from 92 volunteers after ingestion of identical meals.

The intestinal microbiota composition of 92 volunteers living in Japan was identified following the consumption of 'identical meals' (1,879 kcal/day) for 3 days. When faecal samples were analysed by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism with several primer-restriction enzyme systems and then clustered, the patterns could be divided into 2 clusters. Contribution tests and partition modelling showed that OTU211 of the 35f-MspI system and OTU237 of the 35f-AluI system were key factors in the distribution of these groups.

Chronic refractory uveitis in a patient with childhood-onset cyclic neutropenia.

We report a rare case of chronic refractory uveitis in a patient with childhood-onset cyclic neutropenia (CN). A 19-year-old woman, who had a history of CN beginning at age 2, presented with bilateral chronic nongranulomatous uveitis, complicated cataract, retinal vasculitis, cystoids macular edema, and vitreous hemorrhage. She had recurrent episodes of oral ulcers, tonsillitis, genital ulcers, and folliculitis during neutropenic nadir.

Effects of Bifidobacterium bifidum G9-1 on Nasal Symptoms in a Guinea Pig Model of Experimental Allergic Rhinitis.

Recent studies of several animal models have shown beneficial effects of probiotics against allergic responses. However, few reports have examined the effects of probiotics on allergic nasal symptoms such as sneezing and nasal obstruction in animal models of allergic rhinitis. This study evaluated the efficacy of Bifidobacterium bifidum G9-1 (BBG9-1) on antigen-induced nasal symptoms using guinea pig models of allergic rhinitis.

Oral administration of Bifidobacterium bifidum G9-1 suppresses total and antigen specific immunoglobulin E production in mice.

Recent studies have suggested that oral bacteriotherapy with probiotics might be useful in the management of allergic diseases. We investigated the effect of oral administration of Bifidobacterium bifidum G9-1 (BBG9-1) on immunoglobulin (Ig) E production in BALB/c mice. Live BBG9-1 was orally administered to mice for 2 weeks from 1 week before ovalbumin (OVA)-immunization.

Efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetics of multiple administration of infliximab in Behçet's disease with refractory uveoretinitis.

Objective: Behçet's disease (BD) with uveoretinitis is a chronic refractory disease accompanied by ocular attacks. As the decrease in visual acuity due to ocular attack is seriously life-threatening, development of a new drug is anticipated. Since tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a) is involved in the symptoms of BD, particularly the activity of ocular symptoms, suppression of TNF-a might be effective in treating BD with uveoretinitis.

Raised plasma adrenomedullin level in Behçet's disease patients.

Abstract To investigate the role of plasma adrenomedullin (AM) in the pathogenesis of Behçet's disease (BD) patients with inactive ocular complications or ocular attack, 18 consecutive BD patients with ocular complications, including 1 BD patient with ocular attack, another group of 6 BD patients with ocular attack, and 10 normal volunteers were evaluated. All BD patients were regularly followed at ophthalmic outpatient clinics. Levels of both total and mature AM in plasma were measured by immunoradiometric assay.

Choroidal Tuberculoma in a Patient with Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome.

Background: In Japan, since the introduction of antituberculosis chemotherapy, the typical choroidal tuberculoma has been considered uncommon. A patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), because of the suppression of cell mediated immunity, faces the risk of tuberculous infection.Case: A 30-year-old Malayan man had continuous cough for 6 months.

[Choroidal tuberculoma in a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome].

Background: In Japan, since the introduction of antituberculosis chemotherapy, the typical choroidal tuberculoma has been considered uncommon. A patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), because of the suppression of cell mediated immunity, faces the risk of tuberculous infection.

Case: A 30-year-old Malayan man had continuous cough for six months.

Characterization of a novel giant scaffolding protein, CG-NAP, that anchors multiple signaling enzymes to centrosome and the golgi apparatus.

A novel 450-kDa coiled-coil protein, CG-NAP (centrosome and Golgi localized PKN-associated protein), was identified as a protein that interacted with the regulatory region of the protein kinase PKN, having a catalytic domain homologous to that of protein kinase C. CG-NAP contains two sets of putative RII (regulatory subunit of protein kinase A)-binding motif. Indeed, CG-NAP tightly bound to RIIalpha in HeLa cells.

[A case of AIDS complicated by progressive outer retinal necrosis].

Background: The retina may be involved in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Progressive outer retinal necrosis (PORN) is a liability.

Case: A 46-year-old female had repeated exacerbations of pulmonary tuberculosis since two years before.

Interaction of PKN with alpha-actinin.

PKN is a fatty acid- and Rho-activated serine/threonine protein kinase, having a catalytic domain homologous to protein kinase C family. To identify components of the PKN-signaling pathway such as substrates and regulatory proteins of PKN, the yeast two-hybrid strategy was employed. Using the N-terminal region of PKN as a bait, cDNAs encoding actin cross-linking protein alpha-actinin, which lacked the N-terminal actin-binding domain, were isolated from human brain cDNA library.

Translocation of PKN from the cytosol to the nucleus induced by stresses.

Effects of environmental stresses on the subcellular localization of PKN were investigated in NIH 3T3, BALB/c 3T3, and Rat-1 cells. The immunofluorescence of PKN resided prominently in the cytoplasmic region in nonstressed cells. When these cells were treated at 42 degrees C, there was a time-dependent decrease of the immunofluorescence of PKN in the cytoplasmic region that correlated with an increase within the nucleus as observed by confocal microscope.

PKN associates and phosphorylates the head-rod domain of neurofilament protein.

PKN is a fatty acid-activated serine/threonine kinase that has a catalytic domain highly homologous to that of protein kinase C in the carboxyl terminus and a unique regulatory region in the amino terminus. Recently, we reported that the small GTP-binding protein Rho binds to the amino-terminal region of PKN and activates PKN in a GTP-dependent manner, and we suggested that PKN is located on the downstream of Rho in the signal transduction pathway (Amano, M., Mukai, H.

Identification of Schizosaccharomyces pombe gene psk1+, encoding a novel putative serine/threonine protein kinase, whose mutation conferred resistance to phenylarsine oxide.

We have identified a novel putative protein kinase-encoding gene from Schizosaccharomyces pombe (Sp), designated psk1+, by using a highly conserved amino acid (aa) sequence motif to design amplification of DNA fragments using PCR. The putative translation product of psk1+ contains 436 aa, with a molecular mass of 49,317 Da. A single psk1+ was identified by genomic Southern blot analysis, and the genomic mapping indicated that psk1+ was localized in Sp chromosome III.

Functional characterization of the promoter region of the mouse protein kinase C gamma gene.

Promoter activity of protein kinase C (PKC) gamma gene was analysed by chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) assay using extracts from the cells transfected with various fusion constructs containing the 5'-flanking region of the mouse PKC gamma gene and CAT gene. Transient expression experiments in PC12 cells revealed that the upstream region of 87 bp from the transcriptional initiation site was sufficient for promoter activity. The region containing nucleotides 87 upstream from the transcriptional initiation site was shown to silence CAT activity in Balb/c3T3 cells, in which mRNA of PKC gamma was not detected, suggesting that this region might contain a transcriptional regulatory element for the cell type-specific expression of the PKC gamma gene.

Xenopus PKN: cloning and sequencing of the cDNA and identification of conserved domains.

cDNA clone encoding Xenopus laevis PKN has been isolated from Xenopus kidney library. Sequencing of this clone has revealed a single open reading frame encoding a protein of 901 amino acids. Immunoprecipitate from cytoplasmic fraction of COS7 cells transfected with this cDNA construct using antiserum against bacterially expressed Xenopus PKN revealed arachidonic acid-dependent autophosphorylation activity.