Association between forest and greenspace walking and stress-coping skills among workers of Tsukuba Science City, Japan: A cross-sectional study.

Objectives: Recently, "sense of coherence" (SOC) as a concept of stress-coping, has been gaining considerable attention. Although many studies have investigated the factors related to strong SOC, we found little evidence about the associations between SOC and habits that are easy to perform in everyday life. The aim our study was to examine the prevalence of workers who engage in forest walking and greenspace walking and examine their association with SOC score. Study design: A cross-sectional study. Methods: An anonymous, self-report web questionnaire was conducted in November 2017. The study population included 19481 workers belonging to the Tsukuba Science City Network and data of 6466 participants (3965 men and 2501 women) were analyzed. Results: The percentage of participants who engage in forest and greenspace walking at least once a year were 55.9% and 75.9%, respectively. Associations between forest/greenspace walking and SOC score were calculated using Chi-squared tests. Multinomial logistic regression analyses with SOC score group (strong/middle/weak) as a dependent variable and forest/greenspace walking as explanatory variables were performed. Statistically significant positive associations were observed between strong SOC and those who engaged in forest/greenspace walking after adjusting for socioeconomic factors. The odds ratios for strong SOC were 3.65 (95% CI â€‹= â€‹1.70-7.85) for forest walking at least once a week and 2.12 for greenspace walking (95% CI â€‹= â€‹1.54-2.92) at least once a week. Conclusions: Our findings suggested that forest/greenspace walking may enhance workers' stress-coping skills.

Oral mizoribine pulse therapy for steroid-dependent focal segmental glomerulosclerosis.

A 24-year-old woman with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis was referred to our hospital for treatment of nephrotic syndrome. Though she experienced partial remission following treatment with prednisone and cyclosporine, she had a relapse of nephrotic syndrome when her prednisone was tapered off to 30 mg/day. The prednisone could not be tapered to less than 30 mg/day due to repeated relapses. After introduction of oral mizoribine (MZR) pulse therapy, the patient's prednisone was tapered to 15 mg/day and she had no signs of relapse for more than 1 year. This case suggests that oral MZR pulse therapy is a good therapeutic option for patients with steroid-dependent nephrotic syndrome.

Adenofibroma of the endometrium after tamoxifen therapy for breast cancer: MR findings.

We report a case of adenofibroma of the endometrium in a 69-year-old woman. This patient was receiving tamoxifen therapy after surgery for breast cancer. Magnetic resonance imaging showed an intracavitary mass containing multiple cystic components. We suggest adenofibroma as a possible diagnosis in cases of uterine masses with multiple cystic components and no clinical evidence of malignancy.

FDG-PET findings in sclerosing hemangioma of the lung: a case report.

We report a case of sclerosing hemangioma of the lung that showed an intermediately increased accumulation of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) on positron emission tomography (PET). We suggest that FDG-PET may be useful for considering a lesion as benign or low-grade malignant.

Increase in doxorubicin cytotoxicity by inhibition of P-glycoprotein activity with lomerizine.

Acquired resistance to chemotherapy is a major problem during cancer treatment. One mechanism for drug resistance is overexpression of the MDR (multidrug resistance)1 gene encoding the transmembrane efflux pump, P-glycoprotein (P-gp). Calcium channel blockers such as verapamil, nifedipine and nicardipine have been shown to reverse cellular drug resistance by inhibiting P-gp drug efflux. This study evaluated whether a new calcium channel blocker, lomerizine, influenced doxorubicin (Dox) cytotoxicity and P-gp activity in a P-gp-expressing cell line compared to a non-expressing subline. Verapamil, and even more markedly, lomerizine, increased cellular uptake of calcein transported by P-gp in a P-gp-expressing erythroleukemia cell line, K562-Dox. Ten microM of lomerizine reduced the IC50 of doxorubicin in the K562-Dox from 60000 ng/ml to 800 ng/ml, whereas the IC50 of doxorubicin in the K562 subline was only marginally affected by these drugs. Lomerizine showed greater reduction in P-gp efflux than verapamil at an equimolar concentration. These results suggest that lomerizine has the clinical potential to reverse tumor MDR involving the efflux protein P-gp.

Inhibitory effect of human immunodeficiency virus protease inhibitors on multidrug resistance transporter P-glycoproteins.

The objective of this study was to determine whether human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) protease inhibitors (saquinavir, ritonavir and nelfinavir) interact with other HIV protease inhibitors and/or HIV reverse transcriptase inhibitors (zidovudine, didanosine, lamivudine, zalcitabine and sanilvudine). We measured transport of nelfinavir, an HIV protease inhibitor which is known as a substrate for the multidrug resistance transporter P-glycoprotein (P-gp), in an epithelial monolayer model and Ki for P-gp of some drugs by a calcein flux assay. Transport in a basal to apical direction was 2-fold greater than apical to basal flux for nelfinavir, Ki for P-gp of a potent P-gp inhibitor cyclosporin A was 1.09 microM and those of ritonavir and nelfinavir were 111 microM and 28.6 microM, whereas all HIV reverse transcriptase inhibitors gave high K1 values. These data show that nelfinavir, which is a substrate for P-gp, inhibits a P-gp function as a drug efflux pump and that HIV reverse transcriptase inhibitors do not inhibit P-gp.

[Study of carrier rate and immunity to group B streptococcus (GBS) in unmarried women].

In order to study the carrier rate and immunity to Group B streptococcus (GBS) of unmarried women, an urinary culture was taken and blood serum was assayed by ELISA for type-specific antibody in female students. Heretofore there have been very few reports about GBS in unmarried women in Japan. The validity of urinary culture as a substitute for vaginal culture was initially studied. The carriage of GBS was evaluated by vaginal, anal and urinary cultures in 90 pregnant women. Carrier detection were 18 carriers (20.0%) by vaginal culture, 22 carriers (24.4%) by anal culture and 18 carriers (20.0%) by urinary culture. Fifteen of the 18 subjects (83.3%) detected as carriers by vaginal culture carried the same strain of GBS in urine. Therefore, an urinary culture appears to perform as well as the vaginal culture as a convenient test for GBS. Nineteen (16.2%) of 117 unmarried women had positive urinary cultures for GBS. Among the 19 with positive cultures for GBS, 3 (15.8%) were type Ia, 3 (15.8%) were type Ib, 8 (42.0%) were type III and 5 (26.4%) were other types. Type II was not detected. From the type-specific antibody assay, the histogram of ODI (optimal density index) frequency of types Ia, Ib and III showed a concentration in a relatively narrow range at low ODI, while that of type II was dispersed over a relatively wide range.

Effects of drugs and metabolic inhibitors on the acute toxicity of T-2 toxin in mice.

The antidotal effects of antiinflammatory agents, inhibitors of bioamine syntheses, an opioid antagonist and other pharmacological agents on lethal toxicity, leukocytosis and ear inflammation, were investigated in mice subcutaneously administered or topically exposed to T-2 toxin, a trichothecene mycotoxin of Fusarium species. The acute lethal toxicity of T-2 toxin was reduced by administration of the steroidal anti-inflammatory agents, prednisolone and dexamethasone, and prolongation of survival times was demonstrated with an antihistaminic agent, diphenhydramine, and an opioid antagonist, naloxone. Prednisolone also antagonized leukocytosis and the increment of ear weight caused by T-2 toxin. These findings suggest that the action site(s) of steroidal anti-inflammatory agents is involved in the development of the toxic actions of T-2 toxin, and the implications of the results with bioamines and opioids are also discussed.