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Biomedical subjects

T Sone

Publications and source records attributed to T Sone.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

Construction of male and female PAC genomic libraries suitable for identification of Y-chromosome-specific clones from the liverwort, Marchantia polymorpha.

Unlike higher plants, the dioecious liverwort, Marchantia polymorpha, has uniquely small sex chromosomes, with X chromosomes present only in female gametophytes and Y chromosomes only in male gametophytes. We have constructed respective genomic libraries for male and female plantlets using a P1-derived artificial chromosome (pCYPAC2). With an average insert size of approximately 90 kb, each PAC library is estimated to cover the entire genome with a probability of more than 99.9%. Male-specific PAC clones were screened for by differential hybridization using male and female genomic DNAs as separate probes. Seventy male-specific PAC clones were identified. The male specificity of one of the clones, pMM4G7, was verified by Southern hybridization and PCR analysis. This clone was indeed located on the Y chromosome as verified by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). This result shows that the Y chromosome contains unique sequences that are not present either on the X chromosome or any of the autosomes. Thus, the respective male and female libraries for M. polymorpha offer an opportunity to identify key genes involved in the process of sex differentiation and this unique system of sex determination.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed2000

Apparent change of masking functions with compression-type digital hearing aid.

Signal perception ability under conditions of a narrow band masker in subjects with hearing aids was examined using a theoretical model of the auditory nerve fibre (ANF) with a deteriorated tuning curve in addition to measurements of actual masking function in subjects wearing hearing aids. The results obtained indicate that the apparent masking function could be affected by the frequency-gain character as well as by the degree of compression. Usually, the compression-type of amplification with flat and/or high-frequency weighted characteristics improves not only the apparent thresholds but also the apparent masked thresholds under conditions of lower frequency masking. On the other hand, a low-frequency masker amplified by a higher gain with low-frequency weighted amplification could cause larger upward-masking effects on the signal perception of the higher frequency signal in some conditions. The present study may contribute to our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of the effects of different amplification by the aid.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed2000

[Smoking behaviors among medical doctors in Fukui, Japan].

This study was conducted in order to identify the smoking prevalence among all doctors (N = 874) belonging to the medical associations in Fukui Prefecture and factors that might possibly indicate causal smoking habits. A survey was conducted from December of 1996 to February of 1997, using a self-administered questionnaire, and the response rate for the survey was 91%. The main results of this survey were as follows: The prevalence of smoking among male and female medical doctors was 28% and 8% respectively, which was lower than that of adults in the general population, but higher than that of doctors in the developed countries. The prevalence of smoking among doctors was almost highest when they were 20 to 29 years old, and that among medical practitioners with their own institution was higher than doctors employed by an institution. In particular, medical practitioners who did not smoke were more likely to restrict or ban smoking in their hospitals or clinics.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Molecular structure of rDNA repeat unit in Magnaporthe grisea.

The 8-kb repeat unit of M. grisea rRNA-encoding DNA (rDNA) was cloned as three subclones, pM50, pM21, and pM86. Nucleotide sequencing of these subclones uncovered the structure of an rDNA repeat unit similar to those of other ascomycetes. The intergenic spacer (IGS) of the rDNA cistron contained a repetitive (R) region, which was rich in two kinds of short tandemly repeated elements.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed2000

[A study on effective implementation of the Shinjuku Regional Occupational Health Center Program in Japan].

The Regional Occupational Health Center (ROHC) Program is aimed at improving occupational health services for small-scale enterprises (SSEs) with less than 50 employees. In 1993 the ROHC program began as a new policy announced by the national government, which entrusted the management to regional medical associations. The establishment of 347 ROHCs has completed in 1997. SSEs are able to use several services, such as workplace visits and health consultations at SSEs, but ROHCs have often been under-utilized. Purpose of this study was to discuss the effective implementation of ROHCs through a couple of surveys of potential and actual ROHCs users. Two surveys were conducted in the area of the Shinjuku ROHC. Survey 1: The subjects were 78 SSEs that used The Shinjuku ROHC between October 1996 and March 1999. A qualitative evaluation was carried out for 78 SSEs about users' positions, opportunities for use and kinds of consultations. Survey 2: The subjects were 50 users of the ROHC between April 1998 and March 1999. The effective response rate was 56.0%. A questionnaire survey was conducted on users' impressions before and after using the ROHC and on requests for further service. Survey 1 showed users' positions were office workers 36.5%, managers 32.0%, directors 17.0%, health nurses 9.0% and employees 3.5%, half of the users were recommend by the Labour Standards Inspection Office. The kind of consultation were on Industrial physicians, 22.9%, Occupational health control systems, 19.1% and ROHC functions, 16.8%. Survey 2 showed that almost but all users had misunderstood the ROHC's function before utilizing of its services, but many users were satisfied with the services provided. First, ROHCs need to make known their existence and the content of their services available to SSEs. Second, ROHCs have to improve their availability to SSEs. Third, ROHCs have to ensure the quality of their services to make users satisfied. And cooperation with other occupational health institutions will become important as the ROHC Program continues to develop.

Consumer Behavior↗
PubMed2000

Exposure of Japanese school children to smoking-related environmental factors.

Japan has no legal restrictions on cigarette advertising and vending machines. This lack of smoking control measures is a possible contributor to smoking initiation by adolescents. This study was conducted to provide primary data on environmental factors related to smoking, such as cigarette advertising and candy cigarettes, that influence elementary school children in Japan. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with a self-administered questionnaire at two elementary schools in Kitakyushu City, Japan in 1995. Questionnaire sheets were anonymously filled out by 282 elementary school children at school. The effective response rate was 91.5% (128 boys and 130 girls). Over 90% of respondents had seen cigarette advertising on TV, candy cigarettes and cigarette vending machines. Over 75% had at least one smoker in their family. Fewer female children expressed an intent to smoke in the future despite the fact that there were no significant sex differences in smoking-related experiences. Children were higher exposed to cigarette advertising on TV, candy cigarettes, vending machines and family members' smoking. Control of such smoking-related factors in the environment would be crucial to keeping children from initiating smoking behavior.

Advertising↗
PubMed2000

Household size related to prevalence of smoking in women in Japan.

We investigated the relationship between the prevalence of smoking in females and various social factors, such as household size. Ten thousand and sixty-nine subjects over 20 years of age were randomly selected from the general population of Mie Prefecture. The results showed that the habit of smoking was significantly associated with household size in women (P< 0.01), but not in men. Regarding household size, current smoking rate of women aged 20-59 who live in three-generation household was lower than those who live in others. Therefore, the steady replacement of the traditional three-generation household by smaller households in Japan may lead to an increase in the number of young women who smoke.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Behaviors and attitudes towards smoking among the nurses in Japan.

The study was carried to investigate on the actual conditions related to smoking of the nurses working in all medical institutions under a regional medical association in Mie Prefecture (regional medical institutions). Results obtained were as follows: smoking prevalence of female nurses is considered to be equal to that of the general female population in Japan. About 35% of the nurses with the smoking habit had an opinion to quit it, and about 45% of them practiced it seriously. Nearly 80% nurses favored restriction. In the way of thinking related to smoking, more than 90% of the nurses answered that women should not smoke for the health of the fetuses and infants, while only about 30% of them agreed to stop smoking working as members of the medical staff. The survey suggests that anti-smoking program is necessary to develop for smoking nurses working at medical facilities.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

[Factors related to smoking behavior of nursing students revealed by a cohort study].

PURPOSE: Through a cohort study, changes in smoking behavior of nursing students and the factors related to their smoking behavior were examined. METHOD: Research through anonymous questionnaires concerning smoking behavior was conducted on nursing students in the first to third grades (as of 1997) at two vocational schools of nursing located in the Tokyo Metropolitan area. The same research was conducted in the same manner on the same subjects the following year. RESULTS: The smoking prevalence among nursing students of the first and second grades as of 1997 had increased by 10% in one year, and that of nursing students of the third grade (to graduate in 1998) had increased by 5%. The average degree of nicotine dependence of the subjects, who replied that they smoked every day in both surveys, increased from 4.25 to 5.00. As to factors related to smoking behavior, the smoking behavior of friends largely influenced that of the nursing students. CONCLUSIONS: Education to prevent nursing students from smoking should be started as soon as possible at vocational schools of nursing, because the research showed that more than 70% of the smokers had actually thought of quitting and that their views toward smoking influenced later smoking behavior.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

[Estimating cost functions of cancer screening programs provided by municipalities].

OBJECTIVE: To estimate cost functions of cancer screening programs for stomach, lung, colorectal, cervical, and breast cancers provided by municipalities and to describe the relationship between the costs and the scale of cancer screening programs. METHODS: Subjects were all the municipalities in Japan. Questionnaires were sent to 3,182 subjects and 1,860 responses were received. Data obtained from questionnaires were the number of persons screened and the total cost of each program in the 1998 fiscal year. A cost function of each program was specified as a linear model, a power model, and a cubic model, and the fitness of each model was estimated. RESULTS: Long-run cost functions of all the cancer screening programs allowed better explanation of the relationship between the number of persons screened and the total cost than short-run cost functions. The average costs of stomach, colorectal, and cervical cancer screening programs increased and the average cost of the lung cancer screening program decreased, as the number of persons screened increased. The cost function of the breast cancer screening program could not be identified. CONCLUSIONS: It is necessary to estimate not only cost functions but also production functions of cancer screening programs using the data related to products, costs, and factors of production to evaluate the efficiency of cancer screening programs.

Cities↗
PubMed1999

The frost gene of Neurospora crassa is a homolog of yeast cdc1 and affects hyphal branching via manganese homeostasis.

The Neurospora crassa mutant frost has a hyperbranching phenotype that can be corrected by adding Ca(2+), suggesting that characterization of this gene might clarify the mechanism of Ca(2+)-dependent tip growth. The wild-type allele was cloned by sib selection using protoplasts from arthroconidia. RFLP analysis revealed that the cloned DNA fragment mapped to the fr locus. The nucleotide sequence of genomic and cDNA was determined. The deduced amino acid sequence showed homology to the Saccharomyces cerevisiae CDC1 protein, implicated in manganese homeostasis. The fr mutant was sensitive to Mn(2+), and a revertant allele whose product differs by one amino acid was tolerant to Mn(2+). Mn(2+) depletion induced the wild-type strain to hyperbranch, resulting in a morphology similar to that of fr. The fr mutant was also sensitive to calcineurin inhibitors. These results suggest that fr is involved in Mn(2+) homeostasis and point to a role for Mn(2+) in Neurospora branching.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1999

Impact of tranilast on restenosis after coronary angioplasty: tranilast restenosis following angioplasty trial (TREAT).

BACKGROUND: Tranilast is an antiallergic drug that suppresses the release of cytokines such as platelet-derived growth factor, transforming growth factor-beta1, and interleukin-1beta and prevents keloid formation after skin injury. Treatment with this drug reduced the restenosis rate after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty in a preliminary study. METHODS AND RESULTS: We conducted a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. A total of 255 patients with 289 lesions were randomly assigned to treatment with the oral administration of 600 mg/d tranilast, 300 mg/d tranilast, or a placebo for 3 months after successful angioplasty. Angiographic follow-up was done at 3 months, and a clinical follow-up examination was performed at 12 months. Two hundred ten (72.7%) lesions of 188 (73.7%) of the patients met the criteria and were eligible for the assessment of restenosis. The restenosis rates defined as >/=50% loss of the initial gain were 14.7% in the 600 mg/d tranilast group, 35.2% in the 300 mg/d tranilast group, and 46.5% in the placebo group (P <. 0001 for 600 mg/d tranilast vs placebo). The restenosis rates defined as percent diameter stenosis of >/=50% at follow-up were 17. 6% in the 600 mg/d tranilast group, 38.6% in the 300 mg/d tranilast group, and 39.4% in the placebo group (P =.005 for 600 mg/d tranilast vs placebo). CONCLUSIONS: The oral administration of 600 mg/d of tranilast for 3 months markedly reduced the restenosis rate after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1999

Bryophyte 5S rDNA was inserted into 45S rDNA repeat units after the divergence from higher land plants.

The 5S ribosomal RNA genes (5S rDNA) are located independently from the 45S rDNA repeats containing 18S, 5.8S and 26S ribosomal RNA genes in higher eukaryotes. Southern blot and fluorescence in situ hybridization analyses demonstrated that the 5S rDNAs are encoded in the 45S rDNA repeat unit of a liverwort, Marchantia polymorpha, in contrast to higher plants. Sequencing analyses revealed that a single-repeat unit of the M. polymorpha nuclear rDNA, which is 16,103 bp in length, contained a 5S rDNA downstream of 18S, 5.8S and 26S rDNA. To our knowledge, this is the first report on co-localization of the 5S and 45S rDNAs in the rDNA repeat of land plants. Furthermore, we detected a 5S rDNA in the rDNA repeat of a moss, Funaria hygrometrica, by a homology search in a database. These findings suggest that there has been structural re-organization of the rDNAs after divergence of the bryophytes from the other plant species in the course of evolution.

Blotting, Southern↗
PubMed1999

Skin roughness and wrinkle formation induced by repeated application of squalene-monohydroperoxide to the hairless mouse.

The present study examines the cumulative effects of sub-erythema application of squalene-monohydroperoxide (Sq-OOH), the initial products of UV-peroxidated squalene, to the skin of hairless mice. Sq-OOH was isolated by the methanol extraction and preparative HPLC method. Repeated topical application of 10 mM Sq-OOH to hairless mice for 3 weeks induced definite skin roughness and crinkle formation. 3-D surface parameter analysis revealed changes in all roughness parameters (number of furrows and crests, distance between a furrow and next crest, and irregularity) of the group treated with more than 3 mM Sq-OOH compared to the control group. These skin surface changes were not induced by squalene, squalene-monohydroxide (Sq-OH) or organic hydroperoxides such as tert-butyl hydroperoxide and cumene-hydroperoxide at 10 mM. Similarly, such changes were not induced by primary irritants, such as sodium lauryl sulfate and n-tetradecane under the same experimental conditions. Skin conductance decreased, following application of 10 mM Sq-OOH. Histological observation revealed that application of 10 mM Sq-OOH induced slight hyperkeratosis, moderate epidermal thickening and slight hyperplasia of sebaceous glands.

Administration, Topical↗
PubMed1999

Peptide specificity, HLA class II restriction, and T-cell subsets of the T-cell clones specific to either Cry j 1 or Cry j 2, the major allergens of Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) pollen.

BACKGROUND: Cry j 1 and Cry j 2 are thought to be the major allergens of Japanese cedar pollen. HLA class II types capable of presenting T-cell epitopes in both allergens and their role in induction of T-cell subsets are not well known. METHODS: CD4+ T (Th)-cell clones (TCCs) specific to either Cry j 1 or Cry j 2 were generated. HLA class II restrictions were determined by their reactivity to the T-cell epitope in the presence of antigen presenting cells sharing matched types. Interleukin (IL)-2, interferon-gamma, IL-4, and IL-5 contents in the supernatants of TCCs were estimated using enzyme immunoassay. RESULTS: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from patients induced proliferation with 100 microgram/ml Cry j 1 or 3-10 microgram/ml rCry j 2 stimulation. T-cell epitopes in Cry j 1 were presented to Th cells by the gene products of DRA1*01/DRB1*0901, DRA1*01/DRB5*0101, DQA1* 0102/DQB1*0602, and DPA1*01/DPB1*0501; those in Cry j 2 were restricted by DRA1*01/DRB1*0901, DRA1* 01/DRB1*1501, DRA1*01/DRB4*01, DRA1*01/DRB5* 0101, DQA1*0102/DQB1*0602, DPA1*01/DPB1*0201, and DPA1*01 and *0202/DPB1*0501. Type 2-like cells were preferentially induced in Cry j 1 stimulation, while an almost equal number of type 2- and type 1-like cells was induced in rCry j 2. CONCLUSIONS: No clear correlation existed between peptide specificity, HLA class II restriction and induction of Th-cell subsets, suggesting that the requirement of different dose of Cry j 1 or Cry j 2 to induce proliferation in PBMC may lead to distinguishable difference in induction of Th subsets between TCCs specific to Cry j 1 and Cry j 2.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

[Nuclear medicine of bone].

Bone scintigraphy using 99mTc-labeled phosphorous compounds was found to be the most frequently ordered nuclear medicine examination in a nationwide survey in Japan, and has been used for the detection of lesions and the evaluation of disease progression and response to therapy in various skeletal diseases. In this article, we review improvement of the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity for bone metastasis of not only nuclear medicine techniques, such as planar imaging, SPECT, early flow phase imaging and quantification of bone scintigraphy, and bone marrow scintigraphy but also such recently developed methods as bone mineral measurement, and bone metabolic marker assays. In addition, radionuclide therapy of intractable bone pain due to bone metastasis is also addressed.

Bone Density↗
PubMed1999

[Development of a simple method for the washout correction of 123I-IMP SPECT and its application to a quantitative rCBF method].

We have developed a simple method to correct the washout of tracer from the brain based on the two-compartment model in brain early SPECT using N-isopropyl-p-[123I]iodoamphetamine (123I-IMP). This correction was applied to a new quantitative method of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in combination with the microsphere method by continuous arterial sampling previously reported. Data acquisition of 123I-IMP early SPECT was started from 35 min after 123I-IMP i.v. injection, and the time activity curve of whole brain on anterior head planar images was monitored immediately after 123I-IMP i.v. injection for the correction of washout of tracer from the brain. The usefulness of this method was evaluated in 12 patients with various brain diseases by comparison with the results obtained from the super-early SPECT at 7-10 min after 123I-IMP i.v. injection. The washout rates in cases of early SPECT corrected by this method ranged from 16.91% to 39.34% with a mean +/- SD of 27.72 +/- 5.44%. The contrast of hypo- to hyperperfusion regions on early SPECT was improved by the correction of the washout, and its intracerebral distribution was similar to the simultaneously obtained super-early SPECT images. These results indicated that the present correction method for the washout was useful for more correct quantification of rCBF.

Brain↗