Twenty years' use of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene sheet for an artificial cardiac pacemaker.

Physicians can prolongedly use expanded polytetrafluoroethylene sheets for fixation of artificial cardiac pacemakers to avoid pacemaker lead displacement. The sheets can also be used to prevent implant rejection in patients with metal allergies.

[Valve-sparing Aortic Root Replacement in Patient with Dissecting Ascending Aortic Aneurysm Complicated with Hemorrhagic Moyamoya Disease;Report of a Case].

A 62-year-old female with Moyamoya disease (MMD) had cardiomegaly pointed out by chest X-ray and was admitted to our hospital. Chest computed tomography (CT) scan and echocardiography revealed a large dissecting ascending aortic aneurysm 78 mm in diameter combined with severe aortic regurgitation and mild mitral regurgitation. She had a history of intracranial hemorrhage related with MMD twice.

[Giant aortic arch aneurysm following ligation of patent ductus arteriosus in an adult patient with Down syndrome; report of a case].

A 45-year-old male with Down syndrome( DS) had abnormal findings pointed out by chest X-ray and admitted to our hospital. He had undergone ligation of the patent ductus arteriosus 33 years before. Computed tomography showed a giant aortic aneurysm at the aortopulmonary window.

[Left atrial myxoma who presented cardiac arrest immediately after the onset of coldness of a leg; report of a case].

A 55-year-old woman visited the emergency department of our hospital with complaint of coldness and pain in her right leg. Two hours after the onset, she suddenly felt dyspnea and temporarily suffered cardiac arrest. Echocardiography revealed a left atrial tumor prolapsing into the left ventricle through the mitral valve.

Cloning and heterologous expression of the vibrioferrin biosynthetic gene cluster from a marine metagenomic library.

A biosynthetic gene cluster of siderophore consisting of five open reading frames (ORFs) was cloned by functional screening of a metagenomic library constructed from tidal-flat sediment. Expression of the cloned biosynthetic genes in Escherichia coli led to the production of vibrioferrin, a siderophore originally reported for the marine bacterium Vibrio parahaemolyticus. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first example of heterologous production of a siderophore by biosynthetic genes cloned from a metagenomic library.

Clinical activity after 12 weeks of treatment with nonbiologics in early rheumatoid arthritis may predict articular destruction 2 years later.

Objective: To investigate earlier prediction of future articular destruction in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: We randomly allocated patients with RA with disease duration < 2 years to different nonbiologic disease modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) therapies in a double-blind trial. Progression of articular destruction over the 96-week treatment period was assessed using the modified Sharp method.

[A case of polymyalgia rheumatica where a complication of large-vessel vasculitis was diagnosed by FDG-PET].

The patient was a 74-year-old female presenting with abrupt onset of fever and proximal muscle pains. She had been diagnosed with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR). On physical examination, there was no tenderness or dilatation of the temporal artery and ocular fundi were normal.

Efficacy of high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin therapy in Japanese patients with steroid-resistant polymyositis and dermatomyositis.

Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy was administered to 15 patients who were refractory to traditional steroid therapy [eight with polymyosis (PM), seven with dermamyosis (DM)] to evaluate its efficacy. Serum creatine kinase (CK) significantly decreased from week 1, and manual muscle test scores (MMT) and activities of daily living (ADL) significantly increased from week 2. Efficacy rates were 93.

Therapeutic effects of the combination of methotrexate and bucillamine in early rheumatoid arthritis: a multicenter, double-blind, randomized controlled study.

Disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) combination therapies are used widely, but there have been few reports clearly demonstrating that combination therapy is more effective than DMARD monotherapy. We conducted a multicenter, double-blind controlled trial in order to clarify that the combination of methotrexate and bucillamine is more effective than either alone. The subjects of this study were 71 patients with active rheumatoid arthritis within 2 years of onset.

A multicenter, double-blind, randomized, placebo controlled trial of infliximab combined with low dose methotrexate in Japanese patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: A placebo controlled, double-blind trial (DBT) was conducted for Japanese patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) despite treatment with low dose methotrexate (MTX) to evaluate the efficacy and safety of infliximab. Extended treatment with infliximab was conducted in an open-label trial (OLT).

Methods: In the DBT, 147 patients were randomly assigned and treated with a placebo or 3 mg/kg or 10 mg/kg infliximab at Weeks 0, 2 and 6, combined with MTX.

Prospective study of high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin for the treatment of steroid-resistant polymyositis and dermatomyositis.

Abstract High-dose intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy has been effective in treating many autoimmune and systemic inflammatory diseases. In the present prospective study, we evaluated the efficacy of IVIG for patients with polymyositis (PM) and dermatomyositis (DM) refractory to treatment with high-dose corticosteroids. PM/DM was defined as steroid-resistant when the muscle strength of a patient did not improve despite the administration of more than 50 mg prednisolone per day for more than 4 weeks.

An atmospheric dispersion model for the environmental impact assessment of thermal power plants in Japan--a method for evaluating topographical effects.

An atmospheric dispersion model was developed for the environmental impact assessment of thermal power plants in Japan, and a method for evaluating topographical effects using this model was proposed. The atmospheric dispersion model consists of an airflow model with a turbulence closure model based on the algebraic Reynolds stress model and a Lagrangian particle dispersion model (LPDM). The evaluation of the maximum concentration of air pollutants such as SO2, NOx, and suspended particulate matter is usually considered of primary importance for environmental impact assessment.