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Biomedical subjects

S Saito

Publications and source records attributed to S Saito.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Omission of lymphadenectomy is possible for low-risk corpus cancer.

AIM: The objective of this study is to ascertain whether omission of lymphadenectomy is possible when endometrial cancer is considered low-risk based on intraoperative pathologic indicators. PATIENT AND METHODS: A total of 128 patients were deemed to be low-risk based on intraoperative evaluation, including frozen-section determination of grade and myometrial invasion. We divided these 128 patients into 2 groups, the total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (TAH-BSO) with lymphadenectomy (LA group, n=68) and the TAH-BSO without lymphadenectomy (non-LA group, n=60) group. The only adjuvant treatment used was chemotherapy, and the decision to use chemotherapy was based on stage, grade, or lymphovascular space involvement. A retrospective review of the medical records was performed, and disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS), operative time, estimated blood loss during operation, percentage of transfusion requirement, incidence of post-operative leg lymphedema and post-operative deep vein thrombosis were evaluated. RESULTS: The 5-year DFS and OS rates were 95.6% and 98.5% in the LA group, and 98.3% and 98.3% in the non-LA group, respectively, and were not significantly different. In the LA group, pelvic lymph node metastasis was observed in only 1 case. In the LA group, blood loss during operation, percentage of transfusion requirement and the incidence of post-operative leg lymphedema were significantly higher than those in the non-LA group. CONCLUSION: Lymphadenectomy did not provide a significant survival advantage in the patients with low-risk corpus cancer. Additionally, some peri- and post-operative morbidities and complications were increased by the addition of lymphadenectomy. The present findings suggest that lymphadenectomy should be limited for low-risk corpus cancer.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Surgical resection of tumors located in subcortex of language area.

OBJECT: Although functional mapping facilitates the planning of surgery in and around eloquent areas, the resection of tumors adjacent to language areas remains challenging. In this report, we took notice that the language areas (Broca's and Wernicke's) present at the perisylvian fissure. We posit that if there is non-essential language area on the inner surface of the Sylvian fissure, safe tumor resection may be possible even if the tumor is located under the language cortex. METHODS: The study population consisted of 5 patients with intrinsic brain tumors (frontal glioma, n = 3; temporal cavernous angioma, n = 1; primary malignant central nervous system lymphoma, n = 1) located in the perisylvian subcortex, in the language-dominant hemisphere. All patients underwent awake surgery and we performed intra-operative bipolar cortical functional language mapping. When the tumor was located under the language area, the Sylvian fissure was opened and the inner surface of the opercular cortex was exposed with the patient asleep, and additional functional mapping of that cortex was performed. This enabled us to remove the tumor from the non-functioning cortex. In our series, 4 of 5 patients had not language function on the inner surface of the operculum. Only one patient, a 52-year-old man with frontal glioblastoma (Case 3) had language function on the inner surface of the frontal operculum. CONCLUSION: We suggest that even perisylvian tumors located in the subcortex of the language area may be resectable via the nonfunctioning intrasylvian cortex by a transopercular approach without resultant language dysfunction.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Vacuum Rabi oscillations in a macroscopic superconducting qubit oscillator system.

We have observed the coherent exchange of a single energy quantum between a flux qubit and a superconducting LC circuit acting as a quantum harmonic oscillator. The exchange of an energy quantum is known as the vacuum Rabi oscillation: the qubit is oscillating between the excited state and the ground state and the oscillator between the vacuum state and the first excited state. We also show that we can detect the state of the oscillator with the qubit and thereby obtained evidence of level quantization of the LC circuit. Our results support the idea of using oscillators as couplers of solid-state qubits.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Parametric control of a superconducting flux qubit.

Parametric control of a superconducting flux qubit has been achieved by using two-frequency microwave pulses. We have observed Rabi oscillations stemming from parametric transitions between the qubit states when the sum of the two microwave frequencies or the difference between them matches the qubit Larmor frequency. We have also observed multiphoton Rabi oscillations corresponding to one- to four-photon resonances by applying single-frequency microwave pulses. The parametric control demonstrated in this work widens the frequency range of microwaves for controlling the qubit and offers a high quality testing ground for exploring nonlinear quantum phenomena of macroscopically distinct states.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Vaccines targeting tumour angiogenesis--a novel strategy for cancer immunotherapy.

AIMS: To review the concept of tumour angiogenesis and anti-angiogenic therapy, limitations of recently used anti-angiogenic therapeutics; provide an up-to-date overview of the growing number of reports on vaccines targeting tumour angiogenesis; and finally discuss potential complications and future directions in the development of more potent and specific vaccines. METHODS: A literature search was carried out from PubMed for indexed articles. The most important articles were analysed and discussed. FINDINGS: The search yielded a large number of important indexed published articles that were reviewed, screened and tracked for other relevant publications. The most relevant articles, including those previously published by authors, were analysed and discussed. CONCLUSIONS: Recently, different vaccine strategies have been reported to inhibit tumour growth and metastasis by induction of specific cellular and/or humoral immunity against angiogenesis-associated antigens in pre-clinical models, suggesting effective combination of anti-angiogenesis and cancer immunotherapy. Evaluation of tumour endothelial cells and clinical phase I study of the vaccines are recently ongoing, and should give us better insight into the possibilities of this novel strategy for cancer immunotherapy.

Cancer Vaccines↗
PubMed2006

Coincidence of a right retroaortic circumflex coronary artery and a right-sided aortic arch with a retroesophageal course of the left subclavian artery (arteria lusoria).

An anomalous branch of the right coronary artery was found in a 71-year-old male cadaver with a right-sided aortic arch. The anomalous artery arose from the proximal portion of the right coronary artery and ran in a retroaortic course, before reaching the posterior wall of the heart. It was recognized as the right-sided variation of the circumflex coronary artery. The aortic arch had as branches the left common carotid, right common carotid, right subclavian, and left subclavian arteries, in that order, and the descending aorta was located in the right thorax. The left subclavian artery arose from a Kommerell's diverticulum and ran behind the esophagus, and the left-sided ligamentum arteriosum was also connected at the diverticulum. Therefore, the right aortic arch was classified as type N according to Adachi-Williams-Nakagawa and type III-B1 in accordance with Stewart-Edwards. The Kommerell's diverticulum in this case seemed to press on the posterior wall of the esophagus.

Aged↗
PubMed2006

Association study between kynurenine 3-monooxygenase gene and schizophrenia in the Japanese population.

Several lines of evidence suggest that metabolic changes in the kynurenic acid (KYNA) pathway are related to the etiology of schizophrenia. The inhibitor of kynurenine 3-monooxygenase (KMO) is known to increase KYNA levels, and the KMO gene is located in the chromosome region associated with schizophrenia, 1q42-q44. Single-marker and haplotype analyses for 6-tag single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of KMO were performed (cases = 465, controls = 440). Significant association of rs2275163 with schizophrenia was observed by single-marker comparisons (P = 0.032) and haplotype analysis including this SNP (P = 0.0049). Significant association of rs2275163 and haplotype was not replicated using a second, independent set of samples (cases = 480, controls = 448) (P = 0.706 and P = 0.689, respectively). These results suggest that the KMO is unlikely to be related to the development of schizophrenia in Japanese.

Aged↗
PubMed2006

Percutaneous radio-frequency mandibular nerve rhizotomy guided by CT fluoroscopy.

We describe a new method for radio-frequency mandibular nerve rhizotomy under CT fluoroscopy. A patient with cancer had severe intractable and drug-resistant pain in his left mandibular region. Because he had an anatomic deformity due to cancer invasion and radiation therapy, we planned a mandibular nerve rhizotomy under CT fluoroscopic imaging. The needle was advanced to the mandibular nerve just caudal to the foramen ovale under real-time CT fluoroscopy, avoiding the cancer region. Pain scores of the patient were reduced after the nerve rhizotomy, without any complications.

Catheter Ablation↗
PubMed2005

Analysis of feeding behavior with direct linear transformation.

AIM: The sucking pattern of term infants is composed of a rhythmic alteration of expression and suction movements. The aim is to evaluate if direct linear transformation (DLT) method could be used for the assessment of infant feeding. SUBJECT AND METHODS: A total of 10 gnormalh infants and two infants with neurological disorders were studied using DLT procedures and expression/suction pressure recordings. Feeding pattern of seven gnormalh infants were evaluated simultaneously recording DLT and pressures. The other infants were tested non-simultaneously. We placed markers on the lateral angle of the eye, tip of the jaw, and throat. The faces of infants while sucking were recorded in profile. The jaw and throat movements were calculated using the DLT procedure. Regression analysis was implemented to investigate the relationship between suction and expression pressures and eye-jaw and eye-throat movement. All regression analyses investigated univariate relationships and adjusted for other covariates. RESULTS: Ten gnormalh infants demonstrated higher suction pressure than expression pressure, and their throat movements were larger than jaw movements. Two infants with neurological problems did not generate suction pressure and demonstrated larger movements in their jaw than throat. The simultaneous measurement (n=7) showed a significant correlation, not only between eye-jaw distance and the expression pressure, but also between eye-throat distance and suction pressure. The change in the eye-jaw distance was smaller than the changes in the eye-throat distance in gnormalh infants (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The DLT method can be used to evaluate feeding performance without any special device.

Humans↗
PubMed2005

High-speed gas sensor for chemosensory event-related potentials or magnetic fields.

The observation of odor and air exchange with high temporal accuracy is necessary to obtain strict chemosensory event-related potentials (CSERPs) or magnetic fields, as proposed by Evans et al. [Evans W, Kobal G, Lorig T, Prah J. Suggestions for collection and reporting of chemosensory (olfactory) event-related potentials. Chem Senses, 1993; 18: 751- 6]. No suitable method for real time observation of gas stimuli, however, has been available until now. We have developed a technique to measure accurately gas molecule concentrations with a high temporal resolution. We determined that attenuation of sound amplitude varies in a manner dependent on the average molecular weight through which the sound wave passes. Based on this principle, we have designed a high-speed gas concentration sensor utilizing ultrasound. We investigated the practical potential of this sensor using a chemosensory stimulator (olfactometer); we succeeded in observing rapid gas exchange between air and nitrogen with a 2 kHz sampling rate. The signal/noise ratio of the stimulus was greater than 42 dB. In a 20 min experiment we determined that, for this olfactometer, the gas onset latency was 79 ms and the rise time was 16 ms. No significant artifact to magnetic fields was observed, even when the sensor was situated near a whole head magnetoencephalography (MEG) system. These results indicate that this sensor could be used for the observation of odor and air exchange, as well as, for real time monitoring of odor stimuli during actual experiments with a participant.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2005

A multilayer membrane amperometric glucose sensor fabricated using planar techniques for large-scale production.

This paper reports on a multilayer membrane amperometric glucose sensor fabricated using planar techniques. It is characterized by good reproducibility and suitable for large-scale production. The glucose sensor has 82 electrode sets formed on a single glass substrate, each with a platinum working electrode (WE), a platinum counter electrode (CE) and an Ag/AgCl reference electrode (RE). The electrode sets are coated with a membrane consisting of five layers: gamma-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (gamma-APTES), Nafion, glucose oxidase (GOX), gamma-APTES and perfluorocarbon polymer (PFCP), in that order. Tests have shown that the sensor has acceptably low dispersion (relative standard deviation, R.S.D.=42.9%, n=82), a wide measurement range (1.11-111 mM) and measurement stability over a 27-day period. Measurements of the glucose concentration in a control human urine sample demonstrated that the sensor has very low dispersion (R.S.D.=2.49%, n=10).

Biosensing Techniques↗
PubMed2005

Functional MRI detection of activation in the primary gustatory cortices in humans.

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) has recently revealed that the transitions between the parietal operculum (Pop) and the insula (area G) and the ventral end of the central sulcus (cs) were activated with the shortest latency by instrumental gustatory stimulation, which suggests that the location of the primary gustatory area is in these two regions. However, studies using other noninvasive brain-imaging methods such as positron-emission tomography or functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with manual application of tastants into the mouth have been unable to confirm this. The present study examined cortical activation by repetitive stimulation of the tongue tip with 1 M NaCl with a computer-controlled stimulator and used fMRI to detect it. In individual brains, activations were detected with multiple comparisons (false discovery rate) across the whole brain corrected (threshold at P < 0.05) at both area G and frontal operculum (Fop) in 8 of 11 subjects and at the rolandic operculum (Rop) in 7 subjects. Activations were also found at the ventral end of the cs (n = 3). Group analysis with random-effect models (multiple comparison using familywise error in regions of interest, P < 0.02) revealed activation at area G in both hemispheres and in the Fop, Rop, and ventral end of the cs on the left side. The present study revealed no activation on the gyrus of the external cerebral surface except for the Rop. Taking MEG findings into consideration, the present findings strongly indicate that the primary gustatory area is present at both the transition between the Pop and insula and the Rop including the gray matter within a ventral part of the cs.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Effects of AM281, a cannabinoid antagonist, on systemic haemodynamics, internal carotid artery blood flow and mortality in septic shock in rats.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of AM281, a cannabinoid receptor antagonist, on systemic haemodynamics, internal carotid artery blood flow and mortality during septic shock in rats. METHODS: The study included three sets of experiments: measurements of changes in systemic haemodynamics and left internal carotid artery flow (30 animals divided into three groups of 10); measurements of biochemical variables (n=30); assessment of mortality (n=30). Male Wistar rats (7 weeks old) were randomly divided into three groups: group 1, control; group 2, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) i.v., Escherichia coli endotoxin 10.0 mg kg(-1) i.v., bolus; group 3, LPS 10.0 mg kg(-1) i.v.+AM281 1 mg kg(-1) i.v. Systemic haemodynamics, carotid artery flow changes and biochemical variables were assessed at pretreatment and 1, 2 and 3 h after the treatment was performed. RESULTS: Administration of AM281 could prevent the haemodynamic changes induced by sepsis. Tumour necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin 1-beta increased in the LPS i.v. and LPS i.v.+AM281 groups at 1, 2 and 3 h after treatment; significant differences were observed in these levels in the two groups at these times. Internal carotid artery blood flow remained fairly constant in the control and LPS i.v.+AM281 groups compared with baseline values. In the LPS i.v. group, it decreased at 2 and 3 h after the treatment compared with baseline values [at 2 h: control 12.7 (SD 0.9) ml min(-1), LPS i.v. 8.7 (1.4) ml min(-1) (P<0.05), LPS i.v.+AM281 11.5 (0.9) ml min(-1); at 3 h: control 12.7 (0.4) ml min(-1), LPS i.v. 7.7 (1.3) ml min(-1) (P<0.05), LPS i.v.+AM281 11.6 (1.0) ml min(-1)]. Significant differences in mortality within 6 and 12 h were found between the LPS i.v. and LPS i.v.+AM281 groups [6 h mortality: LPS i.v. 5/10 (50%), LPS i.v.+AM281 2/10 (20%), P<0.05; 12 h mortality: LPS i.v. group 10/10 (100%), LPS i.v.+AM281 5/10 (50%), P<0.05]. CONCLUSIONS: Administration of AM281 prevented changes in systemic haemodynamic and internal carotid artery blood flow and could improve mortality in experimentally induced septic shock in rats. These findings may have significant therapeutic implications in the treatment of septic shock.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Pyridalyl, a novel insecticide: potency and insecticidal selectivity.

Pyridalyl is an insecticide of a novel chemical class (unclassified insecticides). Toxicity of pyridalyl to two insect pest species, Spodoptera litura and Frankliniella occidentalis, an insect predator, Orius stringicollis, and a pollinator, Bombus terrestris, was evaluated in the laboratory. The insecticidal activity of pyridalyl against S. litura was evaluated using the leaf-dipping method. The potency of pyridalyl was highly effective against all development stages (2nd to 6th instar larvae) of S. litura. This compound was also evaluated against F. occidentalis using the direct spray method. For F. occidentalis, toxicity of pyridalyl was almost similar to that of acrinathrin, but greater than acrinathrin for adults. Then the toxicity of this product to the natural enemies, Orius stringicollis and the pollinating insect Bombus terrestris, was evaluated using the body-dipping method or direct spray method. No acute toxicity of this product was observed on these non-target insects. Moreover, the influence of pyridalyl to the nest of Bombus terrestris was evaluated using the direct spray to the inside of the nest. No apparent influence of this compound was observed by 21 days after treatment. The cytotoxicity of pyridalyl to the Sf9 insect cell line and the CHO-K1 mammalian cell line was evaluated using the trypan-blue exclusion method. High toxicity to the insect cell line, but almost no toxicity to the mammalian cell line, was observed. Thus, pyridalyl exhibited high selectivity in cytotoxicity between the insect and mammalian cell line as well as in insecticidal activity among insect species. We infer pyridalyl may be useful for IPM programs of greenhouse cultivation system.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Wolbachia and nuclear-nuclear interactions contribute to reproductive incompatibility in the spider mite Panonychus mori (Acari: Tetranychidae).

Maternally transmitted bacteria of the genus Wolbachia are obligate, intracellular symbionts that are responsible for cytoplasmic incompatibility in a wide range of arthropods such as insects and mites. Spider mites often show uni- and bidirectional incompatibilities among populations with and without Wolbachia. Therefore, we surveyed the presence of Wolbachia by PCR and then conducted crossing experiments among 25 populations of Panonychus mori to determine how Wolbachia are related to the incompatibility in this species. Five out of the 25 populations were infected with Wolbachia. These five populations were treated with an antibiotic (rifampicin) to eliminate Wolbachia. We carried out round-robin crosses among 20 Wolbachia-uninfected populations, five infected populations and five rifampicin-treated populations (30 x 30=900 crosses in total). Incompatibility among P. mori populations was caused by Wolbachia infection, nuclear-cytoplasmic interactions or nuclear-nuclear interactions. Wolbachia-mediated incompatibility was observed in crosses between uninfected females and infected males or between females and males harboring different Wolbachia strains. Nuclear-cytoplasmic interactions may be responsible for the unidirectional incompatibility in crosses between the two northern populations and one of the southern populations. Bidirectional incompatibility caused by nuclear-nuclear interactions was observed in 99 combinations of interpopulation crosses (99/300=0.33). Although no geographical trends were detected in the distribution of bidirectionally compatible populations, the results reveal a genetic divergence among P. mori populations.

Analysis of Variance↗