Hierarchical Bayesian estimation for MEG inverse problem

Source current estimation from MEG measurement is an ill-posed problem that requires prior assumptions about brain activity and an efficient estimation algorithm. In this article, we propose a new hierarchical Bayesian method introducing a hierarchical prior that can effectively incorporate both structural and functional MRI data. In our method, the variance of the source current at each source location is considered an unknown parameter and estimated from the observed MEG data and prior information by using the Variational Bayesian method. The fMRI information can be imposed as prior information on the variance distribution rather than the variance itself so that it gives a soft constraint on the variance. A spatial smoothness constraint, that the neural activity within a few millimeter radius tends to be similar due to the neural connections, can also be implemented as a hierarchical prior. The proposed method provides a unified theory to deal with the following three situations: (1) MEG with no other data, (2) MEG with structural MRI data on cortical surfaces, and (3) MEG with both structural MRI and fMRI data. We investigated the performance of our method and conventional linear inverse methods under these three conditions. Simulation results indicate that our method has better accuracy and spatial resolution than the conventional linear inverse methods under all three conditions. It is also shown that accuracy of our method improves as MRI and fMRI information becomes available. Simulation results demonstrate that our method appropriately resolves the inverse problem even if fMRI data convey inaccurate information, while the Wiener filter method is seriously deteriorated by inaccurate fMRI information.     

Protection against hemorrhagic pneumonia of mink by Pseudomonas aeruginosa multicomponent vaccine.

An attempt to prevent epidemics of hemorrhagic pneumonia in mink due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa was made in the course of epidemics with injection of the multicomponent vaccine consisting of common protective antigen (OEP) of P. aeruginosa mixed with toxoids of protease and elastase of the bacillus. Enzootics of hemorrhagic pneumonia, due to P. aeruginosa serotype 8, broke out from August to October 1977 in a total of 13 sheds of 3 farms (A, B and C) which were located in the northeast area of Hokkaido. These farms were raising 7,452, 2,553 and 10,639 mink respectively. The mortality rate of the mink on farms A, B and C were 11.8%, 13.0% and 1.0% respectively. The vaccination was performed on the 3 farms 5, 8 and 21 days after the onset of the disease. Inoculation of each mink with 200 micrograms or 100 micrograms of each of the three components of the multicomponent vaccine was effective in most of the male and female groups of mink. The period required for revealing the effect of the vaccination was very short, in some cases only a few days. Administration of the vaccine 21 days after the onset of the enzootic was also effective.     

Multicenter Experience of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in WHIM Syndrome

Journal of Clinical Immunology - WHIM (warts, hypogammaglobulinemia, infections, and myelokathexis) syndrome is a rare disease, caused by CXCR4 gene mutations, which incorporates features of...     

Activities for laboratory medicine support after the Great East Japan Earthquake by the Japanese Society of Laboratory Medicine

The Great East Japan Earthquake caused a tragic tsunami and resulted in serious damage to north region of Japan on March 11, 2011. The Japanese Society of Laboratory Medicine, JSLM launched an ad hoc Committee to support Laboratory Medicine affairs in the affected area. We expected that laboratory testing demands would increase during the weeks following the disaster. We decided to support the use of Point-of-Care Testing. Many POCT devices use battery-powered analyzers. This is definite advantage for their use in areas with limited access to power and water supplies. We contacted many companies about the possibility of providing POCT devices, IVD reagents and/or any laboratory supplies including disposable materials. Finally, forty companies agreed to support this project and we received list of reagents materials for more than one hundred IVD tests. We entered this information on our web site and continued to update it as additional support was received. Once a request of support was received, communication were made to confirm the amount of material, the method of shipping/receipt and if any specific training that would be required for its use at the testing site. Also, we dispatched volunteer Medical Technologists for eight weeks to assist in the laboratory work. Some of the crucial points in recruiting volunteer laboratory professions are expenses and accommodations. We prepared not only accommodations but also transportation methods and covered all expenses including insurance and meals. Our relief activities have shown that Laboratory Medicine and Medical Technologists are useful in disaster-affected area.     

Botanical origin of Indian celery seed (fruit)

In the course of our study on the traditional medicines and foodstuffs used in Pakistan, we investigated the origin of Indian celery by using the analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence of nuclear rDNA and a phytochemical approach. We found that the source plant of the Indian celery containing coumarin derivatives such as seselin (1), bergapten (2) and isopimpinellin (3) was not common celery, Apium graveolens. Our results suggest the source plant is Seseli diffusum even though Indian workers reported that A. graveolens seeds contain the aforementioned compounds. In addition, a market survey of the Indian celery in Pakistan and related countries revealed that the Indian celery seeds in Pakistani markets are mainly composed of three species which have been confused in rural markets. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Neoadjuvant radiotherapy for locally advanced and high-risk prostate cancer

Men presenting with high-risk or locally advanced prostate cancer may benefit from a combination of radiotherapy and surgery to maximize local control. Adjuvant radiotherapy following surgery has improved biochemical progression-free survival, metastasis-free survival, lengthened the time to hormone therapy use and improved overall survival in three randomized-phase III trials. One surprising result of the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) 8794 trial and the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) 22911 trial is that treatment failure was mainly a result of lack of local control. This finding has led to a new appreciation of local control as a determinant of survival and the role for combined modality approaches within a multidisciplinary team in the treatment of high-risk and locally advanced prostate cancer. One emerging novel approach is the use of preoperative or intraoperative radiotherapy in addition to best surgical and systemic treatments. Preliminary results from clinical trials indicate low rates of intraoperative toxic effects, an advantage of short treatment times and smaller image-guided radiotherapy treatment volumes when compared with postoperative radiotherapy. Potential disadvantages include over-treatment of patients and lack of data on long-term toxic effects. We present the published treatment approaches and rational for preoperative and intraoperative radiotherapy and compare these methods to the utility of postoperative radiotherapy.     

Gene therapy for oral squamous cell carcinoma with IAI.3B promoter-driven oncolytic adenovirus-infected carrier cells

Although replication-competent oncolytic viral vectors have been developed to improve antitumor activity, the generation of high titers of neutralizing antibodies inhibits repetitive viral infection. Many studies have reported that oncolytic virus-infected carrier cells can overcome this viral induced immunogenicity. However, the effects of oncolytic virus-infected carrier cells in human oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) have not yet been examined. In the present study, simulating the clinical trial, we examined the antitumor activity of carrier cells infected with oncolytic adenovirus AdE3-IAI.3B in human OSCC. IAI.3B was highly activated in OSCC cells but not in normal cells. AdE3-IAI.3B killed OSCC cells in vitro but not normal cells. AdE3-IAI.3B-infected A549 carrier cells eradicated OSCC GFP-SAS tumors in nude mice. Anti-adenovirus neutralizing antibodies completely blocked the antitumor effect of AdE3-IAI.3B but did not block that of carrier cells. After the induction of anti-adenoviral CTL responses by immunization of adenovirus, administration of carrier cells induced complete regression of murine squamous cell carcinoma SCC7 tumors. Adenovirus-GM-CSF augmented the antitumor effect of carrier cells. The IAI.3B-driven oncolytic adenovirus-infected carrier cell system might prove useful in the treatment of OSCC and clinical trials of it should be conducted in the near future.