Designing optimal food intake patterns to achieve nutritional goals for Japanese adults through the use of linear programming optimization models.

Background: Simultaneous dietary achievement of a full set of nutritional recommendations is difficult. Diet optimization model using linear programming is a useful mathematical means of translating nutrient-based recommendations into realistic nutritionally-optimal food combinations incorporating local and culture-specific foods. We used this approach to explore optimal food intake patterns that meet the nutrient recommendations of the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) while incorporating typical Japanese food selections.

Nitric oxide modulation of endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor in agonist-induced depressor responses in anesthetized rats.

Vasodilators, such as prostacyclin, nitric oxide (NO), and endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF), released from the vascular endothelium are important in the maintenance of systemic blood pressure. Some studies have shown that NO affects EDHF-induced vasodilator responses in isolated perfused blood vessel segments. However, the effects of NO on EDHF-mediated dilation, and their contribution to systemic blood pressure, have not been clarified.

Long-Term Outcome of Sequential Therapy with Lamivudine Followed by Interferon-β in Nucleoside-Naive, Hepatitis B e-Antigen-Positive Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Genotype C Infection.

It is unclear whether the combination of a nucleos(t)ide analog and interferon (IFN) is superior to monotherapy for treating chronic hepatitis B. In this study, we report the long-term outcomes of sequential therapy using lamivudine followed by IFN-β. This study included 24 hepatitis B e-antigen (HBeAg)-positive patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype C infection who were treated with lamivudine alone for 16-32 weeks, then with both IFN-β and lamivudine for 4 weeks, and finally with IFN-β alone for 20 weeks.

In-line positioning of ultrasound images using wireless remote display system with tablet computer facilitates ultrasound-guided radial artery catheterization.

Ultrasound-guided procedures may be easier to perform when the operator's eye axis, needle puncture site, and ultrasound image display form a straight line in the puncture direction. However, such methods have not been well tested in clinical settings because that arrangement is often impossible due to limited space in the operating room. We developed a wireless remote display system for ultrasound devices using a tablet computer (iPad Mini), which allows easy display of images at nearly any location chosen by the operator.

Myeloid HIF-1 attenuates the progression of renal fibrosis in murine obstructive nephropathy.

Hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs) play an important role in the pathogenesis of renal fibrosis. Although the role of macrophage infiltration in the progression of renal fibrosis is well known, the role of macrophage HIF-1 remains to be revealed. To address this question, myeloid specific conditional HIF-1 knock out mice were subjected to unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO).

Fatal mechanical asphyxia induces changes in energy utilization in the rat brain: An (18)F-FDG-PET study.

Purpose: This study was designed to evaluate changes in brain glucose metabolism in rats following ligature strangulation.

Materials And Methods: Thirteen male Wistar rats were used in the present study, divided into control (n=7) and asphyxia groups (n=6, ligature strangulation). Positron emission tomography (PET) with 2-deoxy-2-[(18)F]fluoro-D-glucose ((18)F-FDG) was used to evaluate brain glucose metabolism.

Efficacy of drug screening in forensic autopsy: retrospective investigation of routine toxicological findings.

Toxicological analysis is indispensable in forensic autopsy laboratories, but often depends on the limitations of individual institutions. The present study reviewed routine drug screening data of forensic autopsy cases (n=2996) during an 18.5-year period (January 1996-June 2014) at our institute to examine the efficacy of the procedures and findings in autopsy diagnosis and interpretation.

The influence of season and air temperature on water intake by food groups in a sample of free-living Japanese adults.

Background/objectives: To examine the influence of season and climate (air temperature and humidity) on water intake by the food group in a sample of free-living Japanese adults.

Subjects/methods: Four-nonconsecutive-day, semi-weighed dietary records were collected from each of the four seasons in a single 12-month period (16 days in total). The influence of season and climate on individual water intake by the food group was analyzed using a mixed linear model.

Postmortem CT morphometry with a proposal of novel parameters for sex discrimination of the mandible using Japanese adult data.

Major human sex differences in the mandible after adolescence include the overall size as well as the shape of the chin and mandibular angle; however, objective interpretation of discrimination accuracy is difficult for these morphological indicators. The present study investigated measurements of the mandible for sex discrimination using postmortem CT morphometry in forensic autopsy cases of Japanese subjects after adolescence (age>16 years; male, n=116, and female, n=106), including the proposal of novel parameters representing the overall mandibular size and shape. The distance between the gnathion and condylus (gn-cdl), and bigonial width (go-go), as well as the angle formed by bilateral gn-cdl lines (Agn-cdl), correlated with bicondylar breadth (cdl-cdl), independent of the body height, showing no significant sex difference.

Role of adrenocorticotropic hormone in the modulation of pollinosis induced by pollen antigens.

Background: A mild restraint stressor suppressed an increase in the levels of Th2-dependent cytokines and IgE, thereby reducing the symptoms of pollinosis. In the present study, to clarify the mechanism of action of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) in improving the symptoms of pollinosis, we studied the effects of ACTH on the plasma level of histamine, mast cell number in nasal-associated lymphoid tissue (NALT) and the T cell differentiation in splenocytes.

Methods: The role of ACTH in the development of pollen antigen-induced pollinosis was studied in mice.

Repeated remote ischemic conditioning attenuates left ventricular remodeling via exosome-mediated intercellular communication on chronic heart failure after myocardial infarction.

Background: Remote ischemic conditioning (RIC) by repeated treatment of transient limb ischemia is a clinically applicable method for protecting the heart against injury at the time of reperfusion. In this study, we investigated the effects of repeated RIC on cardiac dysfunction after myocardial infarction (MI).

Methods And Results: At 4weeks after MI, rats were separated into the untreated (UT) group or the RIC-treated group.

Contribution of forensic autopsy to scene reconstruction in mass fire casualties: a case of alleged arson on a floor consisting of small compartments in a building.

A fire is an important cause of mass disasters, involving various forensic issues. Before dawn on an early morning, 16 male visitors in their twenties to sixties were killed in a possibly incendiary fire at a 'private video parlor' consisting of small compartments in a building. The main causes of death as determined by forensic autopsy were acute carbon monoxide (CO) intoxication for all of the 15 found-dead victims, and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy following acute CO intoxication for a victim who died in hospital.

Preference of surgical procedure for the forefoot deformity in the rheumatoid arthritis patients--A prospective, randomized, internal controlled study.

Objectives: The deformed rheumatoid forefoot may be treated with resection of lesser metatarsal heads combined with arthrodesis or resection of the first metatarsophalangeal joint. Recurrent hallux valgus deformity has been reported by resection. We performed a prospective, randomized, internal-controlled study to compare results between arthrodesis and resection.

Noninvasive metabolic syndrome model using an extremely small minipig, the microminipig.

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) induces serious complications; therefore, we developed a noninvasive MetS model using an extremely small minipig, the Microminipig. For 8 weeks, Microminipigs were administrated a high-fat and high-cholesterol diet (HFCD) for atherosclerosis and N(G)-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME) for inhibiting nitric oxide synthase. HFCD significantly increased serum low-density lipoprotein levels, l-NAME increased blood pressure and cardiac hypertrophy, and HFCD-induced aortal arteriosclerosis was accelerated by l-NAME administration.

Postmortem CT morphometry of great vessels with regard to the cause of death for investigating terminal circulatory status in forensic autopsy.

Postmortem CT (PM-CT) is useful to investigate the viscera in situ before opening the body cavities at autopsy. The present study involved a virtual morphometric analysis of thoracic and abdominal great vessels with regard to the cause of death as a possible index of terminal circulatory status in forensic autopsy cases, using PM-CT data of forensic autopsy cases within 3 days postmortem (n = 93). Perimeters and cross-sectional areas of the aorta and vena cava depended on the age and/or gender of subjects; however, when the vessel flattening index (vFI) was calculated as the ratio of the cross-sectional area (a) to the estimated circle area having the same perimeter (l), using the formula vFI = 4πa/l(2), the vFI showed distinct differences among the causes of death without significant postmortem time dependence.

Establishment of neutralizing rat monoclonal antibodies for fibroblast growth factor-2.

Fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) plays a critical role in endothelial survival, proliferation, and angiogenesis and is localized on the cell membrane by binding to heparan sulfate proteoglycans. Here we established a neutralizing monoclonal antibody, 1B9B9, against FGF-2 using the rat medial iliac lymph node method. 1B9B9 blocked the binding of FGF-2 to its receptor, inhibiting FGF-2-induced proliferation and corresponding downstream signaling in endothelial cells.

Postmortem urinary catecholamine levels with regard to the cause of death.

Previous studies suggested that serum catecholamines are useful for investigating stress responses in the death process. The present study analyzed postmortem urinary adrenaline (Ad), noradrenaline (Nad) and dopamine (DA) in serial forensic autopsy cases (n=199: 154 males and 45 females; age >9years; survival time <0.5-168h; within 10days postmortem) to investigate the differences among the causes of death with special regard to hyperthermia (heatstroke; n=11) and hypothermia (cold exposure; n=10); other cases included fatalities from injury (n=47), mechanical asphyxiation (n=18), drowning (n=14), intoxication (n=31), fire fatality (n=33) and natural death (n=35).

Percutaneous carbon dioxide treatment using a gas mist generator enhances the collateral blood flow in the ischemic hindlimb.

Aim: Highly concentrated carbon dioxide (CO2) is thought to be useful for ischemic diseases. We investigated whether treatment with a few micrometers of CO2 molecules atomized via two fluidnozzles (CO2 mist) exerts an angiogenic effect in a mouse ischemic hindlimb model.

Methods: Mice with unilateral hindlimb ischemia were divided into untreated (UT), 100% CO2 gas alone-treated (CG), mixed air (O2; 20%, N2; 80%) mist-treated (AM) and 100% CO2 mist-treated (CM) groups.

Severe low back pain in patients with rheumatoid arthritis is associated with Disease Activity Score but not with radiological findings on plain X-rays.

Objective: To investigate the prevalence and associated factors of severe low back pain (LBP) among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: This cross-sectional study included 201 patients with RA without prior spinal surgery. Severe LBP was defined as that with a visual analog scale (VAS) score of ≥ 50 mm within the previous 4 weeks.

Direct detection of Mycobacterium avium in environmental water and scale samples by loop-mediated isothermal amplification.

We previously demonstrated the colonization of Mycobacterium avium complex in bathrooms by the conventional culture method. In the present study, we aimed to directly detect M. avium organisms in the environment using loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), and to demonstrate the efficacy of LAMP by comparing the results with those obtained by culture.

Postmortem volumetric CT data analysis of pulmonary air/gas content with regard to the cause of death for investigating terminal respiratory function in forensic autopsy.

Postmortem CT (PMCT) is useful to investigate air/gas distribution and content in body cavities and viscera. The present study investigated the procedure to estimate total lung air/gas content and aeration ratio as possible indices of terminal respiratory function, using three-dimensional (3-D) PMCT data analysis of forensic autopsy cases without putrefactive gas formation (within 3 days postmortem, n=75), and analyzed the volumetric data with regard to the cause of death. When 3-D bilateral lung images were reconstructed using an image analyzer, combined lung volume was larger in drowning (n=12) than in alcohol/sedative-hypnotic intoxication (n=8) and sudden cardiac death (SCD; n=10), and intermediate in other cases, including mechanical asphyxiation (n=12), fire fatalities due to burns (n=6) and carbon monoxide intoxication (n=7), fatal methamphetamine abuse (n=7), hyperthermia (heatstroke; n=6) and fatal hypothermia (cold exposure; n=7).

The up-regulation of endothelin-1 and down-regulation of miRNA-125a-5p, -155, and -199a/b-3p in human atherosclerotic coronary artery.

Background: Previous studies have reported important roles of endothelin-1 (ET-1) and angiotensin II (Ang II) in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. However, the expression of these two proteins and the underlying mechanisms in human atherosclerotic coronary arteries are largely unknown.

Methods: We examined the expression of ET-1 and Ang II in pericardial fluid and coronary arteries from 25 individuals (n = 25) using enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay (ELISA) and immunohistochemistry.

Hsc70 contributes to cancer cell survival by preventing Rab1A degradation under stress conditions.

Heat shock cognate protein 70 (Hsc70) acts as a molecular chaperone for the maintenance of intracellular proteins, which allows cancer cells to survive under proteotoxic stress. We attempted to use Hsc70 to identify key molecules in cancer cell survival. Here, we performed mass-spectrometry-based proteomics analysis utilizing affinity purification with anti-Hsc70 antibodies; as a result, 83 differentially expressed proteins were identified under stress conditions.