Suppression of visually and memory-guided saccades induced by electrical stimulation of the monkey frontal eye field. I. Suppression of ipsilateral saccades

When a saccade occurs to an interesting object, visual fixation holds its image on the fovea and suppresses saccades to other objects. Electrical stimulation of the frontal eye field (FEF) has been reported to elicit saccades, and recently also to suppress saccades. This study was performed to characterize properties of the suppression of visually guided (Vsacs) and memory-guided saccades (Msacs) induced by electrical stimulation of the FEF in trained monkeys. For any given stimulation site, we determined the threshold for electrically evoked saccades (Esacs) at < or =50 microA and then examined suppressive effects of stimulation at the same site on Vsacs and Msacs. FEF stimulation suppressed the initiation of both Vsacs and Msacs during and about 50 ms after stimulation at stimulus intensities lower than those for eliciting Esacs, but did not affect the vector of these saccades. Suppression occurred for ipsiversive but not contraversive saccades, and more strongly for saccades with larger amplitudes and those with initial eye positions shifted more in the saccadic direction. The most effective stimulation timing for suppression was about 50 ms before saccade onset, which suggests that suppression occurred in the efferent pathway for generating Vsacs at the premotor rather than the motoneuronal level, most probably in the superior colliculus and/or the paramedian pontine reticular formation. Suppression sites of ipsilateral saccades were distributed over the classical FEF where saccade-related movement neurons were observed. The results suggest that the FEF may play roles in not only generating contraversive saccades but also maintaining visual fixation by suppressing ipsiversive saccades.     

Suppression of visually and memory-guided saccades induced by electrical stimulation of the monkey frontal eye field. II. Suppression of bilateral saccades

To understand the neural mechanism of fixation, we investigated effects of electrical stimulation of the frontal eye field (FEF) and its vicinity on visually guided (Vsacs) and memory-guided saccades (Msacs) in trained monkeys and found that there were two types of suppression induced by the electrical stimulation: suppression of ipsilateral saccades and suppression of bilateral saccades. In this report, we characterized the properties of the suppression of bilateral Vsacs and Msacs. Stimulation of the bilateral suppression sites suppressed the initiation of both Vsacs and Msacs in all directions during and approximately 50 ms after stimulation but did not affect the vector of these saccades. The suppression was stronger for ipsiversive larger saccades and contraversive smaller saccades, and saccades with initial eye positions shifted more in the saccadic direction. The most effective stimulation timing for the suppression of ipsilateral and contralateral Vsacs was approximately 40-50 ms before saccade onset, indicating that the suppression occurred most likely in the superior colliculus and/or the paramedian pontine reticular formation. Suppression sites of bilateral saccades were located in the prearcuate gyrus facing the inferior arcuate sulcus where stimulation induced suppression at < or =40 microA but usually did not evoke any saccades at 80 microA and were different from those of ipsilateral saccades where stimulation evoked saccades at < or =50 microA. The bilateral suppression sites contained fixation neurons. The results suggest that fixation neurons in the bilateral suppression area of the FEF may play roles in maintaining fixation by suppressing saccades in all directions.     

The significance of urine di-acetyl spermine level as a cancer marker for colorectal cancer

We analyzed the significance of the measurement of urine di-acetyl spermine (DiAcSpm) as a cancer marker for colorectal cancer treatment. We measured both the urine DiAcSpm(ELISA, normal range: 0-0.25 mumol/creatinine) and serum CEA (normal range: 0-5.0 ng/ml) of preoperative and postoperative colorectal cancer patients every month. We compared the positive rate from the cancer stage and the power of prognostic prediction. We divided the colorectal cancer patients into 4 groups: Group A: both levels were high; Group B: only the CEA level was high; Group C: only the DiAcSpm level was high; Group D: both levels were within a normal range. The positive rates of DiAcSpm and CEA from cancer staging were as follows: Stage 0: 62% and 9.5%, Stage I: 60% and 10%, Stage II: 70% and 42%, Stage III: 82% and 47%, and Stage IV: 88% and 63%, respectively. There was a significant difference (p < 0.0001) between both levels, especially for early-stage cases. The two-year survival rate was 0% in Group A, 100% in Group B, 72.7% in Group C and 100% in Group D. The difference among the 4 groups was significant (p < 0.0001). This showed that urine DiAcSpm predicted the prognosis after colorectal cancer surgery more exactly than serum CEA.     

Impact of total body irradiation on successful neutrophil engraftment in unrelated bone marrow or cord blood transplantation

Total body irradiation (TBI) has been thought to promote donor cell engraftment in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) from alternative donors. However, recent progress in HCT strategies may affect the clinical significance of TBI on neutrophil engraftment. With the use of a Japanese transplant registry database, we analyzed 3933 adult recipients (>15 y.o.) who underwent HCT between 2006 and 2013 from an 8/8 HLA‐matched unrelated bone marrow donor (MUD, n = 1367), an HLA‐mismatched unrelated bone marrow donor (MMUD, n = 1102), or unrelated cord blood (CBT, n = 1464). Conditioning regimens were divided into five groups: High‐TBI‐(>8Gy), Low‐TBI‐ (≤8Gy), and no‐TBI‐myeloablative conditioning (MAC), and Low‐TBI‐ and no‐TBI‐reduced‐intensity conditioning (RIC). In both MUD and MMUD, neutrophil engraftment rate was >90% in each of the five conditioning groups, and TBI was not associated with prompt neutrophil engraftment in multivariate analyses. Conversely, in CBT, TBI regimens had a higher rate of day‐30 neutrophil engraftment than no‐TBI‐regimens: 78% in High‐TBI‐MAC, 83% in Low‐TBI‐MAC, and 76% in Low‐TBI‐RIC versus 65% in No‐TBI‐MAC, and 68% in No‐TBI‐RIC (P < .001). Multivariate analyses in CBT demonstrated that TBI‐regimens were significantly associated with a higher rate of neutrophil engraftment. Subsequently focusing on CBT patients alone, TBI‐regimens were significantly associated with a higher rate of neutrophil engraftment in patients who received CBT with a 4/6 or less HLA allele‐match, or who had anti‐HLA antibodies. In summary, TBI‐regimens had no impact on neutrophil engraftment in the current practice of unrelated bone marrow transplantation. However, in CBT, TBI is still necessary to enhance engraftment.     

Japanese guidelines for atopic dermatitis 2017

Given the importance of appropriate diagnosis and appropriate assessment of cutaneous symptoms in treatment of atopic dermatitis, the basics of treatment in this guideline are composed of (1) investigation and countermeasures of causes and exacerbating factors, (2) correction of skin dysfunctions (skin care), and (3) pharmacotherapy, as three mainstays. These are based on the disease concept that atopic dermatitis is an inflammatory cutaneous disease with eczema by atopic diathesis, multi-factorial in onset and aggravation, and accompanied by skin dysfunctions. These three points are equally important and should be appropriately combined in accordance with the symptoms of each patient. In treatment, it is important to transmit the etiological, pathological, physiological, or therapeutic information to the patient to build a favorable partnership with the patient or his/her family so that they may fully understand the treatment. This guideline discusses chiefly the basic therapy in relation to the treatment of this disease. The goal of treatment is to enable patients to lead an uninterrupted social life and to control their cutaneous symptoms so that their quality of life (QOL) may meet a satisfactory level.The basics of treatment discussed in this guideline are based on the “Guidelines for the Treatment of Atopic Dermatitis 2008” prepared by the Health and Labour Sciences Research and the “Guidelines for the Management of Atopic Dermatitis 2015 (ADGL2015)” prepared by the Atopic Dermatitis Guidelines Advisory Committee, Japanese Society of Allergology in principle. The guidelines for the treatment of atopic dermatitis are summarized in the “Japanese Guideline for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Allergic Disease 2016” together with those for other allergic diseases.     

Explicit memory for type font of words in source monitoring and recognition tasks

We investigated whether people can consciously remember type fonts of words by methods of examining explicit memory; source-monitoring and old/new-recognition. We set matched, non-matched, and non-studied conditions between the study and the test words using two kinds of type fonts; Gothic and MARU. After studying words in one way of encoding, semantic or physical, subjects in a source-monitoring task made a three way discrimination between new words, Gothic words, and MARU words (Exp. 1). Subjects in an old/new-recognition task indicated whether test words were previously presented or not (Exp. 2). We compared the source judgments with old/new recognition data. As a result, these data showed conscious recollection for type font of words on the source monitoring task and dissociation between source monitoring and old/new recognition performance.     

Evaluation of a Noise Reduction Procedure for Chest Radiography

Background

The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of noise reduction procedure (NRP), a function in the new image processing for chest radiography.

Methods

A CXDI-50G Portable Digital Radiography System (Canon) was used for X-ray detection. Image noise was analyzed with a noise power spectrum (NPS) and a burger phantom was used for evaluation of density resolution. The usefulness of NRP was evaluated by chest phantom images and clinical chest radiography. We employed the Bureau of Radiological Health Method for scoring chest images while carrying out our observations.

Results

NPS through the use of NRP was improved compared with conventional image processing (CIP). The results in image quality showed high-density resolution through the use of NRP, so that chest radiography examination can be performed with a low dose of radiation. Scores were significantly higher than for CIP.

Conclusion

In this study, use of NRP led to a high evaluation in these so we are able to confirm the usefulness of NRP for clinical chest radiography.     

Transnasal endoscopic evaluation of swallowing: A bedside technique to evaluate ability to swallow pureed diets in elderly patients with dysphagia

BACKGROUND:

Endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (EES) is not commonly used by gastroenterologists to evaluate swallowing in patients with dysphagia.

OBJECTIVE:

To use transnasal endoscopy to identify factors predicting successful or failed swallowing of pureed foods in elderly patients with dysphagia.

METHODS:

EES of pureed foods was performed by a gastroenterologist using a small-calibre transnasal endoscope. Factors related to successful versus unsuccessful swallowing of pureed foods were analyzed with regard to age, comorbid diseases, swallowing activity, saliva pooling, vallecular residues, pharyngeal residues and airway penetration/aspiration. Unsuccessful swallowing was defined in patients who could not eat pureed foods at bedside during hospitalization. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify independent predictors of swallowing of pureed foods.

RESULTS:

During a six-year period, 458 consecutive patients (mean age 80 years [range 39 to 97 years]) were considered for the study, including 285 (62%) men. Saliva pooling, vallecular residues, pharyngeal residues and penetration/aspiration were found in 240 (52%), 73 (16%), 226 (49%) and 232 patients (51%), respectively. Overall, 247 patients (54%) failed to swallow pureed foods. Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that the presence of pharyngeal residues (OR 6.0) and saliva pooling (OR 4.6) occurred significantly more frequently in patients who failed to swallow pureed foods.

CONCLUSIONS:

Pharyngeal residues and saliva pooling predicted impaired swallowing of pureed foods. Transnasal EES performed by a gastroenterologist provided a unique bedside method of assessing the ability to swallow pureed foods in elderly patients with dysphagia.