MUC1-C dictates neuroendocrine lineage specification in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDAC) and poorly differentiated pancreatic neuroendocrine (NE) carcinomas are KRAS mutant malignancies with a potential common cell of origin. PDAC ductal, but not NE, lineage traits have been associated with cell-intrinsic activation of interferon (IFN) pathways. The present studies demonstrate that the MUC1 C-terminal subunit (MUC1-C), which evolved to protect mammalian epithelia from loss of homeostasis, is aberrantly overexpressed in KRAS mutant PDAC tumors and cell lines.

End-of-life preferences of the general public: Results from a Japanese national survey.

Purpose: To determine under different End-of-Life (EoL) scenarios the preferences of the general public for EoL care setting and Life-sustaining-Treatments (LST), and to develop a new framework to assess these preferences.

Method: Using a 2-stage, geographical cluster sampling method, we conducted a postal survey across Japan of 2000 adults, aged 20+. Four EoL scenarios were used: cancer, cardiac failure, dementia and persistent vegetative state (PVS).

Language Barriers and Access to Psychiatric Care: A Systematic Review.

Objective: The objective of this study was to synthesize the available evidence regarding the impact of patients' language proficiency on access to psychiatric care.

Methods: A systematic literature search of PubMed, EMBASE, Medline, and PsycINFO was performed to identify studies published between January 1950 and July 2014 that examined the impact of language proficiency on access to and utilization of psychiatric services in the general population or among patients with psychiatric disorders. The keywords were psychiatry, language, utilization, access, and mental health care.

Dynamic changes in intracellular ROS levels regulate airway basal stem cell homeostasis through Nrf2-dependent Notch signaling.

Airways are exposed to myriad environmental and damaging agents such as reactive oxygen species (ROS), which also have physiological roles as signaling molecules that regulate stem cell function. However, the functional significance of both steady and dynamically changing ROS levels in different stem cell populations, as well as downstream mechanisms that integrate ROS sensing into decisions regarding stem cell homeostasis, are unclear. Here, we show in mouse and human airway basal stem cells (ABSCs) that intracellular flux from low to moderate ROS levels is required for stem cell self-renewal and proliferation.

Quality of life of Japanese seasonal allergic rhinitis patients is related to timing of pollen dispersal - multicenter analysis.

Conclusion: Both the symptoms score and quality of life (QOL) score increased in patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis as pollen dispersed, and nasal congestion, which had a strong effect on sleep, had the largest effect on the decrease in 'total QOL' in all the groups of patients.

Objectives: To assess QOL scores in patients with Japanese cedar (JC) pollinosis in relationship to timing of pollen dispersal.

Methods: A multicenter, inter-group, cross-sectional study was conducted in 905 adult symptomatic patients with JC pollinosis to investigate the Japanese Allergic Rhinitis Standard QOL Questionnaire (JRQLQ).

Standardized centile curves of body mass index for Japanese children and adolescents based on the 1978-1981 national survey data.

Background: The prevalence of overweight among Japanese children and adolescents has steadily increased during the last 20 years. Thus, we utilized the 1978-1981 data collected by the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry to construct reference curves of body mass index (BMI) for contemporary Japanese children and adolescents.

Methods: BMI reference values were derived using the LMS method as based on height and weight data from the cross-sectional national survey of Japanese children and adolescents conducted in 1978-1981 (14,012 boys and 13 781 girls, aged 1.

Gene transfer of truncated IkappaBalpha prevents tubulointerstitial injury.

Background: Severe proteinuria not only indicates the presence of progressive glomerular disease, but also causes tubular epithelial cells to produce inflammatory mediators leading to tubulointerstitial (TI) injury. We investigated the role of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) in tubular epithelial cells in the development of proteinuria-induced TI injury.

Methods: To specifically inhibit NF-kappaB activation, a recombinant adenovirus vector expressing a truncated form of IkappaBalpha (AdexIkappaBDeltaN) was injected into renal arteries of protein-overloaded rats, a model of TI injury characterized by infiltration of mononuclear cells and fibrosis.

The cross-sectional head circumference growth curves for Japanese from birth to 18 years of age: the 1990 and 1992-1994 national survey data.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to construct the cross-sectional head circumference growth curves, intended for clinical use, for the Japanese from birth to 18 years of age.

Subjects And Methods: Two sets of the national survey data on head circumference and height were utilized for the study: (1) The 1990 data collected by the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare on children below 7 years of age (n = 16 621, 8511 males, 8110 females). (2) The 1992-1994 data collected by the Research Institute of Human Engineering for Quality Life on children from 7 to 18 years of age (n = 10 183, 5610 males, 4573 females).

Testicular volume in Japanese boys up to the age of 15 years.

Unlabelled: Previous studies have indicated that Japanese children grow and mature significantly faster than Caucasian children, thus calling for a separate reference standard for each skeletal and sexual maturity index. To establish normal reference values for testicular volume in Japanese boys, we studied from 1985 to 1995, 900 healthy male children of 0 to 15 years of age for medical history, physical examination, height, weight, sitting height, and head circumference measurements, Tanner sex maturity stage, and testicular size. The testicular volume was determined using a Prader orchidometer by the same observer (N.

Genetic and environmental interaction in Japanese type 2 diabetics.

In Japanese type 2 diabetes, which occupies more than 95%, it is an increasingly important problem as a life-style related disease. The total diabetic population is estimated as approximately 7 million with a prevalence of approximately 6%. Along with genetically low postprandial insulin secretion, they are found to be less tolerable to being overweight to develop insulin resistance.

Western blot analysis of glycoproteins bearing Lewis(a) and sialyl-Lewis(a) antigens in human colorectal mucosa.

Glycoproteins (GPs) bearing Lewis(a) and sialyl-Lewis(a) antigens (Le(a), sialyl-Le(a)) derived from human colorectal carcinomas and their surrounding non-neoplastic mucosa (normal mucosa) were analyzed using Western blotting. GPs bearing Le(a) were detected mainly as segmental bands of M(r) 310, 220, 160, and 80 kDa in 80% of the normal mucosa, but these GPs were detected predominantly as broad bands ranging from high to low molecular weight (MW) in 71% of the carcinoma tissues. GPs bearing sialyl-Le(a) were detected only in 23% of the normal mucosa and limited on huge MW bands, i.

An in vitro model of cell migration: evaluation of vascular endothelial cell migration.

In vivo vascular endothelial cell (VEC) migration is thought to play a central role in the development of new capillaries as well as the resurfacing of large vessels. Recently, we have developed an in vitro VEC migration assay system based on the ability of VEC to migrate off of tissue culture microcarrier beads. For these studies, bovine pulmonary artery VEC were grown to confluence on Cytodex 3 microcarrier beads (MCB).

Pentoxifylline-induced modulation of human leukocyte function in vitro.

We previously demonstrated that pentoxifylline stimulated leukocyte migration in vitro and leukocyte accumulation in vivo and protects neonatal mice from experimentally induced Staphylococcus aureus infections. In the present studies we have investigated pentoxifylline's effect on human leukocyte function in vitro. In these studies we demonstrate that pentoxifylline at low concentrations (ie, 0.