Relationship between the housing coldness/warmth evaluation by CASBEE Housing Health Checklist and psychological distress based on TMM Community-Based Cohort Study: a cross-sectional analysis.

OBJECTIVES: Previous studies have reported the relationship between housing environment and health, although due to cost and effort, it was difficult to conduct housing condition surveys on a large scale. The CASBEE Housing Health Checklist (the Checklist) made it possible to easily evaluate the housing condition from the resident's perspective. This study examined the relationship between housing coldness/warmth evaluation using the Checklist and psychological distress in a large-scale general Japanese population. STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. METHODS: We analysed data from 29,380 people aged ≥20 years who lived in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. As an assessment of housing coldness/warmth, we used the Checklist. We classified participants' total scores on the Checklist related to coldness/warmth into quartiles. The Kessler 6 scale was used as an indicator of psychological distress. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate the adjusted odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Adjusted OR and P-values for linear trends were calculated using the quartiles of the Checklists' score. RESULTS: Among participants in Q1 (i.e., poorer subjective house condition), the percentage of people with psychological distress was high. Compared to the highest quartile, Q1 showed poorer evaluation of housing coldness/warmth, and higher OR for psychological distress. The OR (95% CI) of psychological distress for Q3, Q2, and Q1 compared with Q4 were 1.93 (1.74-2.14), 2.82 (2.55-3.12), and 5.78 (5.25-6.35), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Housing coldness/warmth evaluation was significantly related to psychological distress. This finding suggests that maintaining a comfortable thermal environment at home could be important for residents' mental health.

Associations between six classical HLA loci and rheumatoid arthritis: a comprehensive analysis.

Although the HLA region contributes to one-third of the genetic factors affecting rheumatoid arthritis (RA), there are few reports on the association of the disease with any of the HLA loci other than the DRB1. In this study we examined the association between RA and the alleles of the six classical HLA loci including DRB1. Six HLA loci (HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB1, -DQB1 and -DPB1) of 1659 Japanese subjects (622 cases; 488 anti-cyclic citrullinated peptides (CCP) antibody (Ab) positive (82.6%); 103 anti-CCP Ab negative (17.4%); 31 not known and 1037 controls) were genotyped. Disease types and positivity/negativity for CCP autoantibodies were used to stratify the cases. Statistical and genetic assessments were performed by Fisher's exact tests, odds ratio, trend tests and haplotype estimation. None of the HLA loci were significantly associated with CCP sero-negative cases after Bonferroni correction and we therefore limited further analyses to using only the anti CCP-positive RA cases and both anti-CCP positive and anti-CCP negative controls. Some alleles of the non-DRB1 HLA loci showed significant association with RA, which could be explained by linkage disequilibrium with DRB1 alleles. However, DPB1*02:01, DPB1*04:01 and DPB1*09:01 conferred RA risk/protection independently from DRB1. DPB1*02:01 was significantly associated with the highly erosive disease type. The odds ratio of the four HLA-loci haplotypes with DRB1*04:05 and DQB1*04:01, which were the high-risk HLA alleles in Japanese, varied from 1.01 to 5.58. C*07:04, and B*15:18 showed similar P-values and odds ratios to DRB1*04:01, which was located on the same haplotype. This haplotype analysis showed that the DRB1 gene as well as five other HLA loci is required for a more comprehensive understanding of the genetic association between HLA and RA than analyzing DRB1 alone.

Surface-Specific Spectroscopy of Water at a Potentiostatically Controlled Supported Graphene Monolayer.

Knowledge of the structure of interfacial water molecules at electrified solid materials is the first step toward a better understanding of important processes at such surfaces, in, e.g., electrochemistry, atmospheric chemistry, and membrane biophysics. As graphene is an interesting material with multiple potential applications such as in transistors or sensors, we specifically investigate the graphene-water interface. We use sum-frequency generation spectroscopy to investigate the pH- and potential-dependence of the interfacial water structure in contact with a chemical vapor deposited (CVD) grown graphene surface. Our results show that the SFG signal from the interfacial water molecules at the graphene layer is dominated by the underlying substrate and that there are water molecules between the graphene and the (hydrophilic) supporting substrate.

Ca(2+)-induced switching of troponin and tropomyosin on actin filaments as revealed by electron cryo-microscopy.

Muscle contraction is regulated by the intracellular Ca(2+ )concentration. In vertebrate striated muscle, troponin and tropomyosin on actin filaments comprise a Ca(2+)-sensitive switch that controls contraction. Ca(2+ )binds to troponin and triggers a series of changes in actin-containing filaments that lead to cyclic interactions with myosin that generate contraction. However, the precise location of troponin relative to actin and tropomyosin and how its structure changes with Ca(2+ )have been not determined. To understand the regulatory mechanism, we visualized the location of troponin by determining the three-dimensional structure of thin filaments from electron cryo-micrographs without imposing helical symmetry to approximately 35 A resolution. With Ca(2+), the globular domain of troponin was gourd-shaped and was located over the inner domain of actin. Without Ca(2+), the main body of troponin was shifted by approximately 30 A towards the outer domain and bifurcated, with a horizontal branch (troponin arm) covering the N and C-terminal regions of actin. The C-terminal one-third of tropomyosin shifted towards the outer domain of actin by approximately 35 A supporting the steric blocking model, however it is surprising that the N-terminal half of tropomyosin shifted less than approximately 12 A. Therefore tropomyosin shifted differentially without Ca(2+). With Ca(2+), tropomyosin was located entirely over the inner domain thereby allowing greater access of myosin for force generation. The interpretation of three-dimensional maps was facilitated by determining the three-dimensional positions of fluorophores labelled on specific sites of troponin or tropomyosin by applying probabilistic distance geometry to data from fluorescence resonance energy transfer measurements.

Genome-wide linkage analysis of mandibular prognathism in Korean and Japanese patients.

The existence of familial aggregation of mandibular prognathism (MP) suggests that genetic components play an important role in its etiology. In this study, a genome-wide linkage analysis to identify loci susceptible to MP was conducted with 90 affected sibling-pairs in 42 families, comprised of 40 Korean sibling-pairs and 50 Japanese sibling-pairs. Two non-parametric linkage analyses, GENEHUNTER-PLUS and SIBPAL, were applied and detected nominal statistical significance of linkage to MP at chromosomes 1p36, 6q25, and 19p13.2. The best evidence of linkage was detected near D1S234 (maximum Z(lr) = 2.51, P = 0.0012). In addition, evidence of linkage was observed near D6S305 (maximum Z(lr) = 2.23, P = 0.025) and D19S884 (maximum Z(lr) = 1.93, P = 0.0089). Identification of the susceptible genes in the linkage regions will pave the way for insights into the molecular pathways that cause MP, especially overgrowth of the mandible, and may lead to the development of novel therapeutic tools.

Live-cell imaging study of mitochondrial morphology in mammalian cells exposed to X-rays.

Morphological changes in mitochondria induced by X-irradiation in normal murine mammary gland cells were studied with a live-cell microscopic imaging technique. Mitochondria were visualised by staining with a specific fluorescent probe in the cells, which express fluorescent ubiquitination-based cell-cycle indicator 2 (Fucci2) probes to visualise cell cycle. In unirradiated cells, the number of cells with fragmented mitochondria was about 20 % of the total cells through observation period (96 h). In irradiated cells, the population with fragmented mitochondria significantly increased depending on the absorbed dose. Particularly, for 8 Gy irradiation, the accumulation of fragmentation persists even in the cells whose cell cycle came to a stand (80 % in G1 (G0-like) phase). The fraction reached to a maximum at 96 h after irradiation. The kinetics of the fraction with fragmented mitochondria was similar to that for cells in S/G2/M phase (20 %) through the observation period (120 h). The evidences show that, in irradiated cells, some signals are continually released from a nucleus or cytoplasm even in the G0-like cells to operate some sort of protein machineries involved in mitochondrial fission. It is inferred that this delayed mitochondrial fragmentation is strongly related to their dysfunction, and hence might modulate radiobiological effects such as mutation or cell death.

Real-time observation of irradiated HeLa-cell modified by fluorescent ubiquitination-based cell-cycle indicator using synchrotron X-ray microbeam.

Fluorescent ubiquitination-based cell-cycle indicator (FUCCI) human cancer (HeLa) cells (red indicates G1; green, S/G2) were exposed to a synchrotron X-ray microbeam. Cells in either G1 or S/G2 were irradiated selectively according to their colour in the same microscopic field. Time-lapse micrographs of the irradiated cells were acquired for 24 h after irradiation. For fluorescent immunostaining, phosphorylated histone proteins (γ-H2AX) indicated the induction of DNA double-strand breaks. The cell cycle was arrested by irradiation at S/G2. In contrast, cells irradiated at G1 progressed to S/G2. The foci were induced in cells irradiated at both G1 and S/G2, suggesting that the G1-S (or S) checkpoint pathway does not function in HeLa cells due to the fact that the cells are functionally p53 deficient, even though X-ray microbeam irradiation significantly induces double-strand breaks. These results demonstrate that single FUCCI cell exposure and live cell imaging are powerful methods for studying the effects of radiation on the cell cycle.

Visualisation of cell cycle modifications by X-ray irradiation of single HeLa cells using fluorescent ubiquitination-based cell cycle indicators.

To explore the effects of X-ray irradiation on mammalian cell cycle dynamics, single cells using the fluorescent ubiquitination-based cell cycle indicator (Fucci) technique were tracked. HeLa cells expressing Fucci were used to visualise cell cycle modifications induced by irradiation. After cultured HeLa-Fucci cells were exposed to 5 Gy X-rays, fluorescent cell images were captured every 20 min for 48 h using a fluorescent microscope. Time dependence of the fluorescence intensity of S/G2 cells was analysed to examine the cell cycle dynamics of irradiated and non-irradiated control cells. The results showed that irradiated cells could be divided into two populations: one with similar cell cycle dynamics to that of non-irradiated cells, and another displaying a prolonged G2 phase. Based on these findings, it is proposed in this article that an underlying switch mechanism is involved in cell cycle regulation and the G2/M checkpoint of HeLa cells.

Tuning the deposition of molecular graphene nanoribbons by surface functionalization.

We show that individual, isolated graphene nanoribbons, created with a molecular synthetic approach, can be assembled on functionalised wafer surfaces treated with silanes. The use of surface groups with different hydrophobicities allows tuning the density of the ribbons and assessing the products of the polymerisation process.

Cerebral blood flow on xenon CT: correlation with the blood flow detected at the common carotid artery on ultrasonography.

To correlate cerebral blood flow (CBF) on xenon CT with the flow at common carotid artery (CCA) detected by color doppler ultrasonography, 82 patients (29 men, 53 women; 20-90 yrs) were examined. They included normal volunteers (n = 33), patients with cerebral infarction (n = 8), multiple lacunar infarcts (n = 12), dementia (n = 14), and parkinson disease (n = 15). Flow at the CCA was graded as extremely low (< 0.3 l/min), low (0.3-0.4), and normal (> 0.4). CBF was measured in the following distribution: anterior, middle, posterior cerebral arteries (ACA, MCA, PCA); white matter border zones (BZ); basal ganglia (BA), thalamus in two slices. CBF may be reduced in the BZ, cortical and deep gray matter with extremely low flow at CCA. We suggest that color doppler ultrasonography may aid in triage of patients for further CBF evaluation. As some overlap in CBF exists between normal and diseased groups with respect to low flow at CCA, color doppler ultrasonography must be evaluated in combination with xenon CT to reflect cerebral blood flow.

Overexpression of the PRAD1 oncogene in a patient with prolymphocytic leukemia with t(11;14)(q13;q32).

Prolymphocytic leukemia (PLL) was diagnosed by morphologic and immunophenotypical studies in a 72-year-old Japanese man. Massive splenomegaly was present but lymphadenopathy was minimal in this case. Chromosomal analysis of peripheral mononuclear cells showed t(11;14)(q13;q32) in all metaphases examined, except for one normal karyotype. Northern blot analysis of RNA prepared from leukemic cells obtained from the patient revealed overexpression of the PRAD1/cyclin D1 proto-oncogene, which has not been described previously in patients with PLL.

Bilateral epiretinal membranes: a new finding in Hunter syndrome.

Hunter syndrome or Type II mucopolysaccharidosis is a rare disorder of mucopolysaccharide metabolism. We report the cases of two brothers with Hunter syndrome with the previously undocumented ocular finding of bilateral epiretinal membranes. Epiretinal membranes are an uncommon finding in the paediatric age group.

The effectiveness of papilledema as an indicator of raised intracranial pressure in children with craniosynostosis.

Craniosynostosis management partially depends on the detection and treatment of elevated intracranial pressure (ICP). Examination for papilledema is considered to be the most reliable screening method for identifying raised ICP, but its effectiveness has not been defined. One hundred and twenty-two children with craniosynostosis who underwent funduscopic examinations and then Camino ICP monitoring were studied. All eye examinations were performed by an ophthalmologist after pharmacological pupillary dilation. Fifteen patients (12%) had papilledema. Subsequent ICP monitoring showed that the median ICP was 12.7 mm Hg, with 41 patients (34%) having elevated ICPs (> 15 mm Hg). Those with papilledema had higher ICPs (17.5 +/- 3.2 versus 12.7 +/- 5.5 mm Hg), were older (5.9 +/- 4.7 versus 1.9 +/- 2.6 years), and were more likely to have craniofacial syndromes (73 versus 41%) than those without papilledema (P < 0.05). Patients with both elevated ICPs and papilledema were older (5.9 +/- 4.7 versus 1.6 +/- 1.4 years) and more likely to have multiple-suture synostosis (92 versus 61%) than those with elevated ICPs and no papilledema (P < 0.05). The presence of papilledema was a specific (98%) indicator of raised ICP, but its sensitivity was age-dependent. It was 100% sensitive in children older than 8 years, but it indicated elevated ICP in only 22% of younger patients. These results suggest that ICP monitoring to document elevated ICP is unnecessary in children older than 8 years who have detailed ophthalmological examinations. In the younger child, the presence of papilledema reliably indicates elevated ICP but its absence does not rule out elevated ICP; formal ICP measurement has a greater role in detecting elevated ICP in these patients.

Production and partial characterization of the extracellular polysaccharides from oral Streptococcus salivarius.

The production of polysaccharides from sucrose by extracellular enzymes from oral Streptococcus salivarius isolates and the physico-chemical properties of water-insoluble products (IPs) were investigated. Extracellular enzymes from all the 18 strains tested produced insoluble alpha-D-glucans (IGs) as well as soluble beta-D-fructans, and formed adhering deposits on glass. Generally, the IPs (mostly IGs) of S. salivarius strains differed from the S. sobrinus IPs by (a) containing significant proportions of alpha-D-(1----4)-, in addition to alpha-D-(1----3)- and alpha-D-(1----6)-glucosyl linkages, and much higher proportions of alpha-D-(1----3) than alpha-D-(1----6) linkages, (b) being more susceptible to hydrolysis by mutanase than by dextranase, (c) possessing low or no streptococcal cell-agglutinating ability, and (d) showing weaker adhesion to a glass surface. The degree of the polysaccharide adherence differed greatly among the S. salivarius strains and, therefore, they were divided into three groups of adherence producers; heavy, moderate, and slight. The IPs of the three groups contained, generally in descending order, a higher proportion of higher-molecular-weight fractions, and consisted of higher proportions of IG containing higher proportions of -(1----6)-alpha-D and -(1----4)-alpha-D glucosyl linkages and (1----3,6) branches, but showed higher susceptibility to hydrolysis by mutanase as well as dextranase. Thus, the production and the properties of extracellular insoluble alpha-D-glucans from sucrose differ considerably between oral S. salivarius and cariogenic S. sobrinus.

Effects of long-term acidification of extracellular pH on ATP-induced calcium mobilization in rabbit lens epithelial cells.

ATP-induced calcium (Ca2+) mobilization was investigated in rabbit lens epithelial cells that had been cultured in a medium with pH of 7.4 (group 1), 7.2 (group 2), or 7.0 (group 3) for 10 to 21 d. Intracellular free Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i and pH (pHi) were measured by using fluorescent dyes, fura-2 and BCECF, respectively. The long-term acidification decreased the pHi to 7.15 +/- 0.01, from 7.22 +/- 0.01, in group 2 and to 7.09 +/- 0.01 in group 3. The administration of 10 micromol/l ATP produced an initial peak followed by a sustained increase in [Ca2+]i in the lens cells of group 1. Both the initial peak and the sustained increase in [Ca2+]i were enhanced in groups 2 and 3. The initial peak was abolished by pretreatment with 1 micromol/l thapsigargin, an ER Ca2+ pump inhibitor, but was not affected by the removal of extracellular Ca2+. On the other hand, the sustained increase was suppressed either by the thapsigargin treatment or by the Ca2+ removal. Treatment with only thapsigargin caused a sustained increase in [Ca2+]i that was greater in group 3 than in group 1. These results suggest that (1) the ATP-induced initial peak in [Ca2+]i is due to Ca2+ release from the intracellular stores, (2) the sustained increase in [Ca2+]i is mediated through either Ca2+ influx from the extracellular space or Ca2+ release from the store triggered by the Ca2+ influx, and (3) long-term, moderate acidification enhances both the initial peak and the sustained increase in [Ca2+)]i in rabbit lens epithelial cells. One possible mechanism of the ATP-induced Ca2+ influx seems to be a capacitative Ca2+ entry pathway.

Identification of epistatic interactions involved in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in the Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty rat.

The Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rat is an animal model for obese-type non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) in humans. Our present investigation was designed to identify epistatic interactions influencing NIDDM by performing least squares analysis of variance of all pairs of informative markers in 160 F2 progenies bred from an intercross of OLETF and Fischer-344 rats. We identified four interactions between Nidd15/of (chromosome 7) and Nidd16/of (chromosome 14), Nidd15/of and Nidd17/of (chromosome 15), Nidd16/of and Nidd18/of (chromosome 15), and Nidd16/of and Nidd19/of (chromosome 17), which account for a total of approximately 40% of the genetic variation of entire glucose levels after glucose challenge in the F2. The Nidd16/of locus, which is involved in three of four digenic interactions, and the Nidd19/of are likely to correspond to Nidd2/of and Nidd14/of, NIDDM loci previously identified in the F2 by single-QTL model and multiple-QTL model, respectively, while Nidd15/of, Nidd17/of and Nidd18/of loci reflect novel NIDDM loci. An aberrant increase of the entire glucose level due to synergism occurs in the double OLETF homozygote genotype of Nidd15/of and Nidd16/of, and of Nidd16/of and Nidd19/of, as well as in the OLETF homozygote genotypes of Nidd15/of and Nidd16/of, respectively, combined with the heterozygote genotypes of Nidd17/of and Nidd18/of. These findings demonstrate that inter-allelic interactions are likely to be an important component of NIDDM susceptibility.

Flow volume in the common carotid artery detected by color duplex sonography: an approach to the normal value and predictability of cerebral blood flow.

PURPOSE: To determine normal common carotid artery (CCA) flow volume, its relationship with age, and the predictability of cerebral blood flow (CBF) by color duplex sonography. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Forty-five healthy subjects (18 men, 27 women, 23-86 years old) and 13 patients (3 men, 10 women, 51-88 years old) without neurological disease underwent color duplex sonography. All 13 patients also underwent xenon CT. CCA flow volume in the healthy subjects was measured to determine normal values. This volume was divided by mean brain weight to estimate CBF, which was correlated with CBF measured by xenon CT in regions of ipsilateral internal carotid arteries (ICA). RESULTS: In healthy subjects, CCA flow volume ranged from 155.0-458.8 ml/min (mean+/-SD: 267.77+/-59.91), corresponding to an estimated CBF of 12.43-32.84 ml/min/100 g brain weight (mean+/-SD: 20.63+/-4.22). No relationship was found between flow volume and age. A good correlation was found between estimated CBF and CBF measured by xenon CT in regions of both ICAs (gamma=0.713, p=0.0062 on the left; gamma=0.686, p=0.0096 on the right). CONCLUSION: By using color duplex sonography, we established a set of normal CCA flow volumes, which do not decline with age. Estimated CBF derived from flow volume can predict actual CBF.

[An investigation on bacampicillin granules (author's transl)].

We investigated bacampicillin (BAPC) granules in the field of pediatrics. 1) Average serum levels after administration of BAPC granules at a dose of 10 mg/kg as ABPC were 6.8 mug/ml at 1 hour, 1.4 mug/ml at 6 hours. Average urinary excretion rate till 6 hours was 84.5%. Those results were almost same as those obtained with BAPC tablet. 2) We treated patients with acute tonsillitis, lacunar tonsillitis and acute bronchitis by BAPC granules at a dose of 30 approximately 40 mg potency/kg for 3 approximately 5 days, and excellent results were obtained. 3) In the case of streptococcal infections including scarlet fever, pharyngeal streptococci disappeared 1 approximately 2 days after administration and did not reappeared. 4) BAPC granules were easy to intake for children and no abnormal laboratory finding was observed. 5) BAPC granules seem to be useful for treatment of pediatric infections.

[Study on intravenous drip infusion therapy of cefotiam in neonates and infants].

Intravenous drip infusion (d.i.) of cefotiam (CTM) in neonates and infants produced the following pharmacokinetic and clinical results: In a 2 and 3 day-old neonates group, blood concentrations at 1 and 5 hours after intravenous drip infusion of 20 mg/kg of CTM were 33.0 micrograms/ml and 12.3 micrograms/ml, respectively. Thus high blood CTM levels were maintained in these cases. In a 4 day-old neonate, blood concentrations after 1 and 6 hours were 20.5 micrograms/ml and 5.8 micrograms/ml. respectively. In a 8-13 day-old neonates group, blood levels after 1 and 6 hours were 12.2-18.5 micrograms/ml and 0.7-2.4 micrograms/ml, respectively. Compared to the corresponding values in the 2 and 3 day-old neonates, the blood CTM levels in this group were low. Half-lives of CTM in the blood were 1.8-2.7 hours, 2.1 hours, 1.1-1.7 hours and 0.7 hour, in 2-3 day-old neonates, 4 day-old neonate, 8-13 day-old neonates and a 45 day-old infant, respectively. Half-lives tended to become shorter with increasing age. The 6-hour urinary recoveries ranged between 20.3 and 62.3%. Transport of the drug into the spinal fluid was also observed. The CTM was very effective in the treatment of 6 patients suffering from suppurative meningitis, septicemia, bronchopneumonia or UTI with ampicillin-resistant E. coli. The daily dose ranged between 41 and 175 mg/kg. The duration of the treatment was 5 to 18 days, with total doses of 0.72 to 16.25 g. In only one case, a transient eosinophilia was noted.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[Studies of aztreonam in neonates].

Absorption and excretion of aztreonam (AZT) in neonates were studied and its clinical evaluation in 10 cases of neonates was performed using 1 hour intravenous drip infusion. 1. Serum concentrations of AZT in 7 neonates younger than 11 days of age were lower than those in infants. 2. Serum concentrations of AZT in 5 neonates given 20 mg/kg reached their peaks at the end of intravenous drip infusion with an average value of 45.8 +/- 10.41 micrograms/ml, and T 1/2 was 2.77 +/- 0.32 hours on the average. 3. Serum concentrations of AZT in 2 neonates given AZT 25 mg/kg reached their peaks at the end of intravenous drip infusion at 31.1 and 33.4 micrograms/ml with little difference from the 20 mg/kg group. Half-lives of serum AZT in the 2 cases were 1.87 hours and 3.23 hours, respectively. 4. Urinary excretion rates of AZT in 7 neonates younger than 11 days of age in the first 6 to 8 hours after the administration were 18.8 to 50.0%, or 31.7% on the average, which was lower than the average excretion rate found with infants. 5. All the cases given AZT showed clinical results rated better than "effective". Effect of AZT was excellent on 3 UTI cases caused by Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae, but bacterial replacement (superinfection) of Enterococcus faecalis was observed when AZT was administered. 6. Transient elevations of GOT and GPT were seen in 2 cases when AZT administration was continued at length. Clinical side effect was not observed. 7. The most appropriate dosage and administration scheme of AZT against Gram-negative infections in neonates seems to be 40-60 mg/kg/day, b.i.d. or t.i.d.