Exposure of murine airways to leukocyte elastase (LE) induces inflammation and goblet cell metaplasia in the lung. Our aim in this study was to investigate the effects of the mucoactive agent, fudosteine, on these LE-induced effects in the murine lung. Balb/c mice were exposed to LE (10U/25μL/mouse) or to saline (25μL) intratracheally on days 1 and 8, and then treated with fudosteine (50μg/g body weight) or saline intraperitoneally from day 8 to day 12. On day 13, mice were sacrificed, and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and lung tissues were obtained. Lung tissues were examined by alcian blue/periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) staining to evaluate mucous glycoconjugates. BALF cells were counted and differentiated in culture, and the protein concentration in BALF samples were measured. Levels of interleukin (IL) -1β, IL-6, and keratinocyte-derived chemokine (KC) were measured in BALF samples by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Goblet cell metaplasia, as determined by PAS staining, was significantly higher in the bronchiolar epithelium of lung exposed to LE than in the saline-treated control. Total protein concentration, the number of neutrophils, lymphocytes and total cell number in BALF were all significantly increased by LE administration. These effects of LE were inhibited by treatment with fudosteine. In addition, the LE-induced increases in IL-1β, IL-6, and KC were significantly inhibited by the treatment with fudosteine. These results indicate that fudosteine regulates LE-associated lung diseases via modulation of inflammation and goblet cell metaplasia.

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Mixed-type gastric carcinomas show a progressive loss of glandular structure and a histological transformation from differentiated-type to undifferentiated-type carcinoma during the progression of the tumor. In this study, we determined the clinicopathological characteristics and genetic alterations of mixed-type early gastric carcinomas. The clinicopathological findings in 68 cases of early gastric carcinoma classified as mixed-type carcinoma (MTC) were examined and compared with 88 cases of differentiated-type carcinoma (DTC) and 50 cases of undifferentiated-type carcinoma (UTC). The expression of the phenotypic markers for human gastric mucin, mucin 6, mucin 2 and CD10 were examined. Furthermore, the presence of mutations in APC and TP53 and the microsatellite instability status of the tumor were also determined. MTCs had significantly increased depth of invasion, lymphatic vessel invasion, and lymph node metastases, compared to DTCs. UTCs also had significantly more lymph node metastases compared to DTCs. Both MTCs and UTCs had a higher incidence of human gastric mucin expression and a lower incidence of CD10 expression, compared to DTCs, (85.3% and 92.0% vs. 52.3%, P < 0.001 and P < 0.001; 13.2% and 6.0% vs. 30.7%, P = 0.01 and P < 0.001, respectively). MTCs showed a higher frequency of TP53 mutation compared to DTCs (42.6% vs. 27.3%, P = 0.04). This study shows that MTCs as well as UTCs are more aggressive tumors than DTCs. The differences in biological behavior among these groups may result from their different genetic backgrounds during the early stage of gastric carcinogenesis.

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To examine head swings associated with the use of baby soft carriers and to highlight the need for the careful use of these products. The head motion of babies was examined using dummy babies strapped into two types each of shoulder belt- and vest-type baby carriers. The adult carrying the ‘baby’ was required to run up and down 20 stairs over a period of 10s. A red circle marker was placed on the lateral angle of the baby's eye, with another marker placed on the backboard of the baby carrier. The motion of the baby's head was recorded using a portable video camera attached to the baby carrier and connected to a digital video recorder. The recording captured 30frames/s. Two-dimensional spatial coordinates of the selected points were calculated using direct linear transformation. Side directional and vertical swings were analyzed separately for upstairs and downstairs movement. Because the position between the video camera and the ‘baby’ was kept constant, differences in head swings between the different carriers could be evaluated by counting the number of pixels. Both shoulder-type baby carriers evaluated in the present study resulted in less head swing compared with the vest-type carriers. Regardless of whether the adult was running up or down the stairs, the side swing of the baby's head was significantly greater than the vertical swing. We recommend that shoulder belt-type baby carriers are used in preference over vest-type carriers and that adults carrying babies move slowly, especially when climbing stairs.

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We examined the association between irregular pit patterns and the complex tubular structures of colorectal tumors. A total of 244 resected colorectal epithelial tumors with type V pit patterns of Kudo's classification on magnifying endoscopy were studied. The tumors were confined to the lamina propria mucosae or submucosa. We histopathologically examined specimens and the tubular irregularity of in each lesion was graded into 5 grades (G0 to G4). The mean grades of tubular irregularity were compared between lesions with a type V_I pit pattern, showing an irregular surface and those with a type V_N pit pattern, showing a nonstructured surface; the depth of tumor invasion was also considered. The grades of tubular irregularity were as follows: G0, no fusionated structures; G1, fusionated structures localized at the base of tubules; G2, fusionated structures extending to the tumor surface; G3, fusionated structures occupying the entire tubules, and G4, interstitial tissue exposed on the tumor surface, creating a nonstructured appearance. The mean grade of tubular irregularity was higher in lesions with a type V_N pit pattern than in those with a type V_I pit pattern. Among lesions with a type V_I pit pattern, the mean grade of tubular irregularity tended to be higher in lesions with deeper invasion and was significantly higher in lesions with massive submucosal invasion than in those with slight submucosal invasion. An irregular pit pattern of G3 may be an indicator of massive submucosal invasion. The appearance of irregular pit patterns was closely linked to increasing complexity of tubules in colorectal tumors.

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Breathlessness is an unpleasant sensation related to respiration and is induced by hypercapnia or hypoxia. However, breathlessness is affected by psychological changes, especially anxiety. In this study we investigated how trait anxiety affected breathlessness induced by repetitive breath-holds. Breathlessness increased linearly with breath-hold trials. The subjects in the group of high trait anxiety (group H), whose scores were more than 43.2, had higher breathlessness as compared to the group of low trait anxiety (group L). Tidal volume (V_T) and V_T/T_I also increased linearly with breath-hold trials, but there was no difference between group H and group L. This study suggests that respiratory effort increases while repetitive breath-holds augment breathlessness. This research also suggests that breathlessness may increase in a subject who has high trait anxiety.

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Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by the presence of abnormal involuntary movements. One of the symptoms is a resting tremor at a frequency of between 3 and 6Hz. The oscillatory network producing the tremor is located in the brain; however, the origin of the tremor has not been fully determined. In the present study we examined EEG and EMG data and found the source localization for the resting tremor in the brain using a dipole tracing method. Coherencies between EEG and EMG were also calculated. Significant coherencies were obtained from the electrodes located at Cz, P3 and T3 in the patients who showed a resting tremor in their right hand. Negative EEG potential changes were also obtained from 30msec before until 10msec after the onset of tremor EMG. Source generators during this phase estimated by a dipole tracing method were located in the contralateral thalamus and the cortical hand motor area. The results suggest that the origin of the resting tremor of Parkinson's disease may exist in the oscillatory network of the thalamus and the cortical structure of the hand motor area.

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We investigated the types and numbers of inflammatory cells that infiltrated the ethmoid sinus mucosa in cases of chronic sinusitis in order to identify any associations with nasal polyp size and the grade of ethmoid sinus opacification on computer tomography images. The subjects were patients with chronic sinusitis who underwent endoscopic sinus surgery. Seventeen subjects also had bronchial asthma as a complication (six with aspirin-induced asthma, 11 with another form of asthma) and 24 did not have bronchial asthma as a complication (16 with allergic rhinitis, 8 with chronic sinusitis alone). The nasal polyps in the patients with bronchial asthma were significantly larger than those in the patients without bronchial asthma. Investigation of the numbers of infiltrating inflammatory cells according to polyp size revealed significantly more eosinophils as polyp size increased. In addition, infiltration of significantly more mast cells was observed when the polyps were large. Assessment of the grade of opacification of the ethmoid sinuses on computer tomography images showed a significantly higher grade of opacification in the patients with bronchial asthma than in the patients without bronchial asthma. Comparisons between the grade of opacification of the ethmoid sinuses and the number of infiltrating inflammatory cells revealed significantly more infiltrating eosinophils and mast cells in the patients with intense ethmoid sinus opacification. The above findings suggest that eosinophils and mast cells play a major role in forming the persistent inflammation of the sinus mucosa and nasal polyp tissue of patients with chronic sinusitis complicated by bronchial asthma.

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