Pharyngeal pressure due to high-flow nasal cannula devices in preterm infants.

Background: In infants, a high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) generates continuous positive pressure on the upper airway. This study aimed to evaluate the association between pharyngeal pressure and flow rate, and the association between pharyngeal pressure and bodyweight for two types of HFNC devices commonly used in preterm infants: the Optiflow Junior, hereafter "FP" (Fisher & Paykel, Auckland, New Zealand), and the Precision Flow, hereafter "VT" (Vapotherm, Exeter, NH, USA).

Methods: Pharyngeal pressure measurements were performed in 12 preterm infants who received HFNC support.

Modified setting of negative pressure in children with mild respiratory disease.

Background: Continuous negative extra-thoracic pressure (CNEP) can prevent children with apnea developing severe respiratory infection with endotracheal intubation. Little is known about children with mild acute respiratory disease, especially with a focus on clinical respiratory symptoms.

Methods: We conducted a prospective, observational study between July 2014 and July 2017 to evaluate the safety of a modified setting of CNEP in hospitalized children with symptoms of chest-wall retraction or nasal alar breathing without the requirement for immediate intubation therapy in a single center.

Current incidence of clinical kernicterus in preterm infants in Japan.

Clinical kernicterus in preterm infants has recently been reported in Japan, diagnosed on the basis of clinical findings during the neonatal and infancy periods. We investigated the incidence of clinical kernicterus in preterm infants <30 weeks gestational age (GA) based on a nationwide survey conducted in 233 certified educational facilities for neonatologists. The numbers of infants admitted and infants who died within 14 days after birth during 2011, and the number of infants who subsequently developed clinical kernicterus, were recorded.

Serum unbound bilirubin as a predictor for clinical kernicterus in extremely low birth weight infants at a late age in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Background: This study aimed to evaluate peak serum total bilirubin (TB) and unbound bilirubin (UB) levels in preterm infants with clinical kernicterus (KI) who were diagnosed by clinical findings during infancy.

Design/subjects: For this multicenter retrospective study, 18 Japanese extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants with clinical KI were included. Clinical KI was diagnosed based on the presence of motor developmental impairment with/without athetosis, and abnormal magnetic resonance imaging or brainstem auditory evoked potential findings during infancy.

[The diagnostic performance of color Doppler ultrasonography for newborn four cases of midgut volvulus accompanied by intestinal malrotation].

Midgut volvulus accompanied by intestinal malrotation is classified as a surgical emergency disease of the newborn, which emerges with the bilious vomiting or melena. This report presents four patients of this disease in our hospital, evaluated by color Doppler ultrasonography before surgical operation. All four patients were presented by bilious vomiting at the onset.

Novel treatment strategy for Japanese newborns with high serum unbound bilirubin.

Background: Serum unbound bilirubin (UB) is a measure of bilirubin not bound to albumin, and has been reported to be better than total bilirubin level at identifying infants at risk of developing bilirubin-induced neurotoxicity, including auditory abnormalities. A detailed treatment strategy for newborns with high serum UB has not been established. The aim of this study was to assess auditory outcomes in newborns with serum UB ≥1.

PGL proteins self associate and bind RNPs to mediate germ granule assembly in C. elegans.

Germ granules are germ lineage-specific ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes, but how they are assembled and specifically segregated to germ lineage cells remains unclear. Here, we show that the PGL proteins PGL-1 and PGL-3 serve as the scaffold for germ granule formation in Caenorhabditis elegans. Using cultured mammalian cells, we found that PGL proteins have the ability to self-associate and recruit RNPs.

Inhibition of alpha-synuclein fibril assembly by small molecules: analysis using epitope-specific antibodies.

The conversion of soluble peptides and proteins into amyloid fibrils and/or intermediate oligomers is believed to be the central event in the pathogenesis of most human neurodegenerative diseases. Existing treatments are at best symptomatic. Accordingly, small molecule inhibitors of amyloid fibril formation and their mechanisms are of great interest.

Conversion of wild-type alpha-synuclein into mutant-type fibrils and its propagation in the presence of A30P mutant.

Fibrillization or conformational change of alpha-synuclein is central in the pathogenesis of alpha-synucleinopathies, such as Parkinson disease. We found that the A30P mutant accelerates nucleation-dependent fibrillization of wild type (WT) alpha-synuclein. Electron microscopy observation and ultracentrifugation experiments revealed that shedding of fragments occurs from A30P fibrils and that these fragments accelerate fibrillization by serving as seeds.

Selective brain hypothermia protects against hypoxic-ischemic injury in newborn rats by reducing hydroxyl radical production.

We hypothesized that selective brain hypothermia (SBHT) decreases production of hydroxyl radicals (*OH) induced by hypoxia-ischemia (H-I) and reperfusion and attenuates neuronal damage in neonatal rat brain. Anesthetized 7-day-old rats were divided into a normothermia (NT) group (n=6) and a SBHT group (n=7) and subjected to 90-min H-I, followed by a 90-min recovery period. Brain temperature (BT) was regulated by a water-cooled metallic plate placed under the head.

Evaluation of change of cerebral circulation by SpO2 in preterm infants with apneic episodes using near infrared spectroscopy.

Background: In the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), hemodynamics in very low-birthweight infants are generally examined for oxygen saturation (SpO2), heart rate, respiration rate, and blood pressure. The present study examined how changes in cerebral circulation in preterm infants can be evaluated by the SpO2 monitoring method with near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to detect the cerebral circulation.

Methods: The study was conducted in 11 low-birthweight neonates with a mean weight of 1252 g (940-1948 g), mean post-conceptional age of 28.

New transcutaneous jaundice device with two optical paths.

Objectives: To confirm the accuracy and precision of transcutaneous bilirubin (TcB) values measured by a new device with two optical paths (JM-103) and the value of total serum bilirubin (TSB) level in clinical units of measurement.

Methods: For comparison of the levels of accuracy and precision of JM-103 and the old device (JM-102), serum samples were collected from 77 Japanese infants in three different hospitals including 24 preterm infants and 53 term infants. Measurement of TcB by JM-103 and JM-102 were performed on the forehead of each infant within 30 min before or after blood sampling.

Gly71Arg mutation of the bilirubin UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 1A1 gene is associated with neonatal hyperbilirubinemia in the Japanese population.

The serum bilirubin level of Japanese newborn infants in their first few days is significantly higher than that in Caucasian newborn infants, suggesting that there might be genetic risk factors for the development of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia in the Japanese population. Recently, it has been reported that a variant TATA box in the promoter region of the bilirubin UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 1 (UGT1A1) gene is associated with the development of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. This finding led us to the idea that a mutation, glycine to arginine at codon 71 (G71R), in the coding region of the UGT1A1 gene can cause neonatal hyperbilirubinemia.

Effects of child seats on the cardiorespiratory function of newborns.

Background: This study aims to determine the effect of differently positioned infant car seats on cardio-respiratory parameters in healthy full-term newborns.

Methods: We examined 15 healthy term newborns for respiratory compromise due to normal restraint in a recommended infant car seat. There are currently two types of car seats available in Japan: a chair-shaped car seat and a bed-shaped car seat.

Mutation (Ser284Leu) of neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor alpha 4 subunit associated with frontal lobe epilepsy causes faster desensitization of the rat receptor expressed in oocytes.

To date five mutations in two major constituents of neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) in the brain, i.e. alpha4 and beta2 subunits, have been identified to be associated with autosomal dominant nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy (ADNFLE).

Death effector domain-only polypeptides of caspase-8 and -10 specifically inhibit death receptor-induced cell death.

Caspase-8 and -10 are thought to be involved in a signaling pathway leading to death receptor-mediated apoptosis. The prodomains of these caspases are known to form fibrous structures in the perinuclear region when overexpressed, though the meaning of the structures remains unclear. In a previous study we showed that the overexpressed caspase-8 or -10 prodomain (PDCasp8 or PDCasp10) did not induce cell death, and we hypothesized that these prodomains interfere with the receptor-mediated cell death signaling pathway.

End-tidal carbon monoxide is predictive for neonatal non-hemolytic hyperbilirubinemia.

Background: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the value of an end-tidal carbon monoxide corrected for inhaled carbon monoxide concentration (ETCOc) at the early neonatal period. The value would be useful for predicting subsequent hyperbilirubinemia in non-hemolytic full-term infants.

Methods: The ETCOc levels were measured every 6 h during the first 72 h of life in healthy, full-term, non-hemolytic, newborn Japanese infants using a breath carbon monoxide analyzer.

Effect of dexamethasone therapy on pulmonary function in chronic lung disease: a comparison of disease types.

Background: In the present study, we investigated the effect of dexamethasone (DEX) therapy on extubation and pulmonary function in patients with chronic lung disease (CLD) who required long-term mechanical ventilation. In addition, we compared the effects of DEX therapy among CLD types.

Methods: Twenty-two CLD patients who were ventilator dependent for 28 days or longer received DEX therapy for the purposes of extubation.

A novel mutation of KCNQ3 (c.925T-->C) in a Japanese family with benign familial neonatal convulsions.

At present, only one mutation of KCNQ3, a KCNQ potassium channel gene, has been identified as a cause of benign familial neonatal convulsions type 2 (BFNC2). We found a T to C substitution (c.925T-C) on one allele of affected individuals in a Japanese family with BFNC but not on 200 alleles from healthy subjects.

Effects of hypoxia and reoxygenation on nitric oxide production and cerebral blood flow in developing rat striatum.

We investigated the role of nitric oxide (NO) in the regulation of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) during hypoxia and reoxygenation in developing rat striatum. The subjects were urethane-anesthetized 7- and 14-d-old rats. After 120 min of baseline measurements, the rats received an i.

[The role of nitric oxide in hypoxic-ischemic injury].

It has been shown that nitric oxide (NO) generating cells are distributed widely in the brain and NO may act both as a neurodestructive and a neuroprotective agent in the pathogenesis of hypoxic-ischemic and reoxygenation injuries. Induction of hypoxia-ischemia dramatically increases NO production in brain. It is supposed that neuronally derived NO mediates glutamate neurotoxicity.