Preparation of soft microcapsules containing multiple core materials with interfacial dehydration reaction using the (W/O)/W emulsion.

The soft microcapsules containing eucalyptus oil, ubiquinone and the fine water droplets could be prepared with interfacial dehydration reaction between hydroxy methyl cellulose and tannic acid using the water-in-oil-in-water type multiple (W/O)/W emulsion. The diameters of the microcapsules and the content and the microencapsulation efficiency of the core materials were significantly affected by the revolution velocity (Nr1) to form the (W/O) emulsion and the revolution velocity (Nr2) to form the (W/O)/W emulsion and the lecithin concentration. The mean diameters of the inner water droplets and those of the microcapsules were proportional to Nr1-1.25 and Nr1-0.11 for the revolution velocity (Nr1), respectively. With increasing the revolution velocity (Nr1), the content and the microencapsulation efficiency of the inner water droplets increased, while those of the oil phase decreased. The mean diameters of the microcapsules were proportional to Nr2-1.1. The content and the microencapsulation efficiency of the inner water droplets and those of the oil phase decreased with the revolution velocity (Nr1) and increased with the lecithin concentration.

[A Case of Effective Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy for Transverse Colon Cancer with Extensive Abdominal Wall Invasion].

A 68-year-old man with abdominal mass and anorexia was diagnosed with transvers colon cancer invading the abdominal wall. Considering the difficulty of curative resection, we first performed ileostomy. After surgery, the patient received mFOL FOX6 with bevacizumab as neoadjuvant chemotherapy. After 10 course of the regimen, computed tomography revealed shrinkage of the lesion, with the efficacy evaluated as a partial response. The patient underwent right hemicolectomy and partial resection of the abdominal wall. The pathological findings was ypT3(SS), ypN3, ly0, v1, ypPM0, ypDM0, ypRM0, ypStage III b. On histopathological examination, the efficacy of the chemotherapy was evaluated as Grade 1b. The patient received adjuvant chemotherapy with mFOLFOX6 and remains well without any evidence of recurrence more than 7 months after surgery.

Temporal changes of beta rhythms and rotation-related negativity reflect switches in motor imagery.

While motor imagery has been known as a powerful tool for neuro-rehabilitation in stroke patients, whether this technique is also effective for other brain disorders is unclear. For instance, patients with Parkinson's disease or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder who are impaired at real motor switching may benefit therapeutically from training that consists of switching their imagined motor movements, and eventually recover from the dysfunction. However, despite its importance little is known about exactly how switching mental images of one's actions is processed in the brain. Therefore, we set out to clarify this issue by measuring brain activity reflected in electroencephalograms as subjects switched an imagined hand rotation from one hand to the other during a motor-imagery task. By comparing electroencephalogram signals from repeated mental imaging of hand movements, we found a switch-specific decrease in the beta-band activity in parietal and frontal regions around 0.6 s after stimulus presentation. Further, we found rotation-related negativity in the parietal cortex at the same time as the decreased beta-band power. These results suggest that the parietal area is dynamically involved in the switching of imagined hand motion, and that frontal areas may have an important role in inhibiting mental imagery of the deselected hand's motion.

Simultaneous removal of colour, phosphorus and disinfection from treated wastewater using an agent synthesized from amorphous silica and hydrated lime.

An agent synthesized from amorphous silica and hydrated lime (CSH-lime) was investigated for its ability to simultaneously remove the colour, phosphorus and disinfection from the effluents from wastewater treatment plants on swine farms. CSH-lime removed the colour and phosphate from the effluents, with the colour-removal effects especially high at pH 12, and phosphorous removal was more effective in strongly alkaline conditions (pH > 10). Colour decreased from 432 +/-111 (mean +/- SD) to 107 +/- 41 colour units and PO4(3-)P was reduced from 45 +/- 39 mg/L to undetectable levels at the CSH-lime dose of 2.0% w/v. Moreover, CSH-lime reduced the total organic carbon from 99.0 to 37.9 mg/L at the dose of 2.0% w/v and was effective at inactivating total heterotrophic and coliform bacteria. However, CSH-lime did not remove nitrogen compounds such as nitrite, nitrate and ammonium. Colour was also removed from dye solutions by CSH-lime, at the same dose.

Nitrate-removal activity of a biofilm attached to a perlite carrier under continuous aeration conditions.

The nitrate-removal activity of a biofilm attached to a perlite carrier from an aerobic bioreactor used for treating dairy farm wastewater was examined by batch experiments under continuous aeration conditions. Despite aeration, the biofilm removed nitrate at a rate of 114.4 mg-N/kg-perlite/h from wastewater containing cow milk and manure. In a clone library analysis of the biofilm, bacteria showing high similarity to the denitrifying bacteria Thauera spp. were detected.

Effect of weekend 5-aminosalicylic acid (mesalazine) enema as maintenance therapy for ulcerative colitis: results from a randomized controlled study.

BACKGROUND: 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) is known to be effective in the treatment of active ulcerative colitis (UC). The aim of the current study was to investigate the effect of 5-ASA enemas, as a maintenance therapy for UC, when administered twice weekly as a weekend treatment regimen, compared to daily oral 5-ASA alone. We hypothesized that the weekend enema therapy would be better tolerated by patients who worked or attended school. METHODS: Between January 2004 and August 2005, patients with UC, in whom remission of the condition had just been induced, were randomly assigned to either: the weekend 5-ASA enema group (n=11), who received 1 g 5-ASA enemas twice a week on Saturday and Sunday plus oral 5-ASA 3 g/day for 7 days, or to the daily oral 5-ASA use only group (n=13), who received only oral 5-ASA 3 g/day for 7 days. The primary endpoint of the study was defined as the incidence of relapse. The study was stopped after 24 patients had been enrolled because an interim analysis showed a significant benefit of the weekend 5-ASA enema group. RESULTS: In the weekend enema group, 2 patients (18.2%) had relapses compared with 10 (76.9%) in the oral 5-ASA only group. The multivariate hazard ratio of relapse associated with weekend 5-ASA enema, relative to the oral alone group, was 0.19 (95% confidence interval, 0.04-0.94). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated the beneficial effects of adding weekend 1 g 5-ASA enema to daily 3 g oral 5-ASA as maintenance therapy for UC.

Holliday junction binding activity of the human Rad51B protein.

The human Rad51B protein is involved in the recombinational repair of damaged DNA. Chromosomal rearrangements of the Rad51B gene have been found in uterine leiomyoma patients, suggesting that the Rad51B gene suppresses tumorigenesis. In the present study, we found that the purified Rad51B protein bound to single-stranded DNA and double-stranded DNA in the presence of ATP and either Mg(2+) or Mn(2+) and hydrolyzed ATP in a DNA-dependent manner. When the synthetic Holliday junction was present along with the half-cruciform and double-stranded oligonucleotides, the Rad51B protein only bound to the synthetic Holliday junction, which mimics a key intermediate in homologous recombination. In contrast, the human Rad51 protein bound to all three DNA substrates with no obvious preference. Therefore, the Rad51B protein may have a specific function in Holliday junction processing in the homologous recombinational repair pathway in humans.