Tendons of the jaw adductor muscles of a hard prey crushing stingray exhibit similar adaptations to compressive and shear loads as those seen in mammalian tendons. Ventral intermandibular tendon from ...the cownose ray, Rhinoptera bonasus, has a prominent fibrocartilaginous pad that lies between a fibrous region of the tendon and the mineralized tissue of the jaw. Histologically the pad is similar to the fibrocartilaginous meniscus of mammals, and these tissues also share some biochemical traits. Proteoglycan (PG) content in the fibrocartilaginous pad is nearly four times higher than in the linearly arrayed tendinous tissue. The predominant PGs appear to be an aggrecan-like molecule and a decorin-like molecule. The decorin-like molecule is quite small when compared to mammalian decorin (20-80 kDa vs. 100-200 kDa). This study is the first to document adaptations to compressive/shear loading in tendon from a cartilaginous fish, and the similarities to the mammalian condition argue for the early evolution of this reactive ability of tendinous tissue.
A combination of 5-fluorouracil/folinic acid plus oxaliplatin (FOLFOX) is a standard regimen for the chemotherapy of metastatic colorectal cancer. The major dose-limiting toxic effect of oxaliplatin ...is neurotoxicity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the preventive effects of traditional Japanese medicines, goshajinkigan and shakuyakukanzoto on oxaliplatin-induced neurotoxicity with FOLFOX.
Between July 2006 and November 2008, a total of 44 patients with metastatic colorectal cancer received modified FOLFOX6 or FOLFOX4, as first-line chemotherapy at three institutions. They concurrently received either goshajinkigan (group A, n=20) or shakuyakukanzoto (group B, n=24) for neurotoxicity reduction.
The median number of treatment cycles and the median cumulative dose of oxaliplatin were 12 cycles (range, 4-19) and 898 mg/m(2) (range, 340-1255) in group A and 10.5 cycles (range, 6-20) and 845 mg/m(2) (range, 510-1480) in group B. Eighteen patients in group A and 24 in group B received oxaliplatin in a cumulative dose exceeding 500 mg/m(2). At a dose of 500 mg/m(2) oxaliplatin, grade 1-2 toxicity occurred in 10 patients of group A and in 7 of group B, but there was no grade 3 or higher toxicity in either group. The response rate of the 38 patients with measurable lesions was 50.0% (9/18) in group A and 65% (13/20) in group B.
The administration of traditional Japanese medicine may reduce oxalipatin-induced neurotoxicity without negatively affecting tumor response in patients with colorectal cancer who undergo FOLFOX therapy.
To elucidate the characteristics of recovery progression during long-term rehabilitation after moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury.
Longitudinal changes in consciousness, swallowing disorders, ...activities of daily living, and psychological and behavioural status were studied in 7 patients with moderateto-severe traumatic brain injury, using scores of the National Agency for Automotive Safety & Victim's Aid (NASVA score), Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), Dysphagia Severity Scale (DSS), Eating Status Scale (ESS), Functional Independence Measure (FIM), Cognitive-related Behavioural Assessment (CBA), and Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI). Scores were collected every month until discharge (median 359 days after injury), or until the study end date for those patients who remained hospitalized (432 days).
Patients were qualitatively classified into those who improved well in the early phase, in terms of consciousness, swallowing, and activities of daily living, and those with less or delayed improvement. Psychological and behavioural difficulties appeared to remain less improved than the other functions for longer periods in many patients. Statistical comparisons that included all 7 patients revealed a significant improvement in NASVA score, GCS, DSS, and ESS, but not in FIM, CBA, and NPI at discharge/at the last measurement compared with scores at admission.
Swallowing function is more responsive to long-term rehabilitation in patients with moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury, while neuropsychiatric and behavioural difficulties tend to persist for longer periods.
The Cross Seamount fishery is a hybrid troll, jig, and handline fishery that augments slow trolling methods by using frozen, cut and whole bait to induce feeding behavior around the fishing boat. ...Initially described as a yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) fishery, closer scrutiny has revealed that the catch is dominated by juvenile bigeye tuna (T. obesus). Schools of skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) are also found over the seamount but these are avoided by fishermen and, when skipjack tuna occur in mixed schools with the other species, the quite large size of the baits deters the capture of skipjack tuna. The fishery occurs year-round but fishing effort tends to subside periodically when larger tuna become available closer to shore - primarily during summer months.
We examined the acute and chronic effects of changes in training volume and intensity on the blood lymphocyte percentages and immunoglobulin levels in runners. Twelve runners participated in four ...10-d phases of low volume/low intensity (LV/LI), high volume/low intensity (HV/LI), or high volume/high intensity (HV/HI) running. Subjects were assigned to one of two different training group orders: 1) LV/LI, HV/LI, LV/LI, HV/HI; or 2) LV/LI, HV/HI, LV/LI, HV/LI. Venous blood was drawn at rest on days 1, 4, and 7; and 5 min post-exercise on days 1 and 7 of each 10-d phase. Lymphocyte subsets were determined by flow cytometry for CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, and HLA-DR+. IgG, and IgM levels were obtained by ELISA analysis. Immunoglobulin, CD8+ and HLA-DR+ levels, and pre-exercise plasma cortisol concentrations were not significantly affected by alterations in volume or intensity. A transient decrease (P < 0.05) was observed in CD4+ and the CD4/CD8 ratio 5 min post-exercise during the HV/LI and HV/HI phases. Results indicate that the exercise-induced lymphocyte subset reduction is transient and suggest that it is more dependent upon training intensity than volume, and the training order of exposure to the high-intensity stimulus may determine the magnitude of subsequent responses.
PROBLEM: The purpose of this study was to determine whether the serum macrophage‐colony stimulating factor (M‐CSF) level is associated with early pregnancy loss in unexplained recurrent spontaneous ...abortion (RSA) patients.
METHOD: We therefore compared preconceptional serum M‐CSF levels between unexplained RSA patients and controls. The former comprised 44 bed‐rest therapy patients and 43 intradermal immunization (IDI) patients receiving paternal lymphocyte therapy, who had experienced two and three or more consecutive first‐trimester pregnancy losses, respectively. The controls were 46 healthy non‐pregnant women. We also prospectively studied the association between M‐CSF levels during pregnancy and adverse pregnancy outcomes. Sera from a total of 31 pregnant women, including 16 of the bed‐rest therapy group and 15 of the IDI therapy group, were collected at the 4th, 6th, and 8th gestational weeks and were measured for M‐CSF levels, using the enzyme‐linked immunoadsorbent assay (ELISA) method established by Hanamura et al.
RESULTS: Serum M‐CSF levels were significantly lower in the non‐pregnant RSA patients (460.0 ± 185.6 U/ml; mean ± SD) than in the control group (726.5 ± 134.0 U/ml) and also were lower at the 8th, but not the 4th or 6th gestational week in those patients of both the bed‐rest and IDI therapy groups whose outcome was pregnancy failure.
CONCLUSION: Thus a low level of serum M‐CSF was found to be associated with unexplained recurrent pregnancy loss in both the preconceptional and conceptional phases. These results raise the possibility that M‐CSF may play an important role in the maintenance of pregnancy and that it can be used as a parameter for determining individuals at risk.
Metastatic colorectal cancer with KRAS codon 12 or 13 mutations is not currently treated with anti-epidermal growth factor antibodies. A recent retrospective study in Western countries raised the ...possibility that KRAS p.G13D mutation may not be absolutely predictive of non-response compared with other KRAS mutations from the findings of longer overall survival and progression-free survival following cetuximab treatment. We retrospectively investigated the relationship between KRAS status and cetuximab efficacy among Japanese patients.
Data of 109 patients from nine institutions in Japan were retrospectively analysed. All patients were refractory or intolerant to fluoropyrimidine, oxaliplatin and irinotecan, and they were treated with a cetuximab + irinotecan regimen. The response rate, disease control rate, progression-free survival and overall survival were compared according to KRAS status.
Overall, 76 (70%), 7 (6%) and 26 (24%) patients had KRAS wild-type, KRAS p.G13D and other KRAS mutations. Their various parameters were as follows: response rate: 30% (23/76), 14% (1/7) and 0% (0/26); disease control rate: 71% (54/76), 71% (5/7) and 54% (14/26); median progression-free survival: 4.6 months (95% confidence interval, 2.8-6.3), 4.1 months (0-9.9) and 2.1 months (1.5-2.8); and median overall survival: 11.2 months (6.4-16.0), 8.5 months (5.3-11.8) and 6.8 months (4.1-9.6), respectively.
Although no statistically significant difference in progression-free survival or overall survival was observed between KRAS p.G13D-mutant and other mutant tumours, the disease control rate was higher in KRAS p.G13D-mutant patients and a partial response was observed in one such patient. Our study suggested that cetuximab showed some activity in KRAS p.G13D-mutant colorectal cancer patients. Further research is warranted.
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