Analysis of Obesity-Related Factors and their Association with Aromatase Expression in Canine Malignant Mammary Tumours

Shin, J.I.,Lim, H.Y.,Kim, H.W.,Seung, B.J.,Ju, J.H.,Sur, J.H. ACADEMIC PR 2016 JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE PATHOLOGY Vol.155 No.1

<P>This study was designed to investigate the role of obesity in canine malignant mammary tumours (CMMTs), by assessing aromatase expression and the regulatory roles of immune mediators such as cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX2), prostaglandin E-2 (PGE(2)), nuclear factor kappa beta (NF-kappa B), hypoxia inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1 alpha cc) and adipokines (i.e. leptin) in lean, optimal body weight, overweight and obese animals. Clinicopathological data, including the breed, body weight, body condition score and age and neutering status, were collected, together with histopathological characteristics (i.e. histological types, grading and lymphatic invasion). To determine the expression of each factor, immunohistochemistry was conducted with 60 samples of malignant CMMTs. CMMTs from overweight and obese animals had significantly elevated levels of PGE(2), and aromatase expression correlated significantly with PGE(2), NF-kappa B and leptin expression. However, no significant difference was observed in terms of histopathological characteristics. The results suggest that PGE(2), a known obesity-related immune mediator, could be upregulated in CMMTs from overweight and obese animals. In addition, PGE(2), NF-kappa B and leptin influenced the expression of aromatase, as observed in women. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.</P>

The gene expression profile of matrix metalloproteinases and their inhibitors in children with Henoch–Schönlein purpura

Shin, J.I.,Song, K.S.,Kim, H.,Cho, N.H.,Kim, J.,Kim, H.S.,Lee, J.S. Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2011 British journal of dermatology Vol.164 No.6

<P><B>Summary</B></P><P><B>Background </B> Because inflammatory cytokines are known to be potent inducers of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), and MMPs themselves can promote inflammation, we speculated that MMP activation might be involved in the pathogenesis of Henoch–Schönlein purpura (HSP) vasculitis.</P><P><B>Objectives </B> To investigate the gene expression profile of all known MMPs and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) in children with HSP and to examine the role, if any, of MMPs in the pathogenesis of HSP.</P><P><B>Methods </B> Peripheral blood samples were obtained from 10 patients with HSP (nine were in the acute stage, one had HSP nephritis) and four healthy controls. Peripheral blood samples were also taken from the nine patients with HSP when they reached the convalescent stage of the disease. From these samples, total RNA was purified and gene expressions were measured using real‐time polymerase chain reaction.</P><P><B>Results </B> MMP‐8 expression was decreased in patients with arthralgia (<I>P </I>=<I> </I>0·038), and MMP‐3 (<I>P </I>=<I> </I>0·03) and TIMP‐4 expressions (<I>P </I>=<I> </I>0·016) were elevated in HSP patients with nephritis. Soft tissue oedema was associated with decreased expressions of MMP‐26 (<I>P </I>=<I> </I>0·038) and MMP‐28 (<I>P </I>=<I> </I>0·038). MMP‐1, MMP‐8, MMP‐9, MMP‐10, MMP‐13, MMP‐16 and MMP‐26 levels were significantly higher in patients in the acute stage of HSP than in normal controls (<I>P </I><<I> </I>0·05). MMP‐9 (<I>P </I>=<I> </I>0·097) and MMP‐19 (<I>P </I>=<I> </I>0·054) levels decreased to borderline significance in patients in the convalescent stage compared with those in the acute stage. The duration of steroid administration was negatively correlated with MMP‐1, MMP‐2, MMP‐7, MMP‐10, MMP‐12, MMP‐19, MMP‐23 and TIMP‐1 levels (<I>P </I><<I> </I>0·05), suggesting a suppressive effect of steroids on the expressions of MMPs and TIMPs.</P><P><B>Conclusions </B> This is the first study to describe the expression profile of all known MMPs and TIMPs in children with HSP, and our results suggested that abnormal levels of MMP and TIMP activity may have a role in the pathogenesis of HSP.</P>

In vitro apoptotic effects of methanol extracts of <i>Dianthus chinensis</i> and <i>Acalypha australis</i> L. targeting specificity protein 1 in human oral cancer cells

Shin, Ji‐,Ae,Kim, Jae‐,Jin,Choi, Eun‐,Sun,Shim, Jung‐,Hyun,Ryu, Mi Heon,Kwon, Ki Han,Park, Hee‐,Min,Seo, Jin‐,Young,Lee, Soo‐,Yeon,Lim, Do‐,Won,Cho, Nam Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 2013 Head & neck Vol.35 No.7

<P><B>Abstract</B></P><P><B>Background</B></P><P>The aims of this study were to evaluate the apoptotic activities and molecular mechanisms of methanol extracts of <I>Dianthus chinensis</I> (MEDC) and <I>Acalypha australis</I> L. (MEAL) in human oral cancer cells.</P><P><B>Methods</B></P><P>The apoptotic effects and related molecular mechanisms of MEDC and MEAL on oral cancer cells were evaluated using MTS assay, DAPI staining, immunostaining, Western blotting, and reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction.</P><P><B>Results</B></P><P>Sp1 was overexpressed in oral tumor tissues compared with normal oral mucosa. Downregulation of Sp1 inhibited the growth of SCC‐15 and YD‐15 oral cancer cells. MEDC and MEAL inhibited cell growth and induced apoptosis in both cell lines by decreasing the expression of Sp1. In addition, treatment of cells with MEDC and MEAL decreased Mcl‐1 expression, which is a downstream target of Sp1.</P><P><B>Conclusion</B></P><P>Our results indicate that MEDC and MEAL are bioactive natural products that can potentially induce apoptosis of tumor cells that overexpress the Sp1 protein. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 2013</P>

A Pneumatic Pressure-Driven Microphysiological Systems for Multi-Throughput Microfluidic Circulation Culture

Shinji SUGIURA 한국생물공학회 2019 한국생물공학회 학술대회 Vol.2019 No.10

Evidence for estrogen receptor expression during medullary bone formation and resorption in estrogentreated male Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica)

Shinji Hiyama,Toshie Sugiyama,Seiji Kusuhara,Takashi Uchida 대한수의학회 2012 JOURNAL OF VETERINARY SCIENCE Vol.13 No.3

The temporal expression of estrogen receptor (ER)α and ERβ mRNA was examined in male Japanese quails. Femurs of quails receiving 17βestradiol underwent RTPCR and histochemical analysis 1 to 15 days after treatment. Untreated quails were used as controls (day 0). Between days 0 and 5, cells lining the bone endosteal surface differentiated into osteoblasts, which in turn formed medullary bone. Expression of ERα was already observed on day 0 and increased slightly during bone formation whereas ERβ was hardly detected throughout this process. After osteoclasts appeared on the medullary bone surface, this type of bone disappeared from the bone marrow cavity (days 7∼15). ERα expression simultaneously decreased slightly and ERβ levels remained very low. These results suggest that estrogen activity mediated by ERα not only affects medullary bone formation but also bone resorption.

Image Analysis of Cleft Lip from Moire Image Based on Symmetry Analysis

Shinji YAMADA,Huimin LU,Joo Kooi TAN,Hyoungseop KIM,Namiko KIMURA,Takako OKAWACHI,Etsuro NOZOE,Norifumi NAKAMURA 제어로봇시스템학회 2017 제어로봇시스템학회 국제학술대회 논문집 Vol.2017 No.10

About 4% of babies in Japan suffer from congenital anomalies. Cleft lip is the most common disorder among external malformations occurring at a rate of 1 in 500 people. The goal of treatment is to recover symmetric and functional lips and nose forms. However, in the case of unilateral cleft lip where the lips and nose themselves are shifted from the midline of the face, it is difficult to set the midline which is the symmetry axis for evaluating the degree of symmetry of the face. In this paper, we propose an image processing method for extracting the midline using zebra image and shadow image which are two dimensional image created based on three dimensional analysis. Also, we evaluate the degree of asymmetry of the face by using the midline as the axis. As a result of applying the proposed method to 25 cases, which indicated that the proposed method is useful.

Archetype Model-Driven Development Framework for EHR Web System

Shinji Kobayashi,Eizen Kimura,Ken Ishihara 대한의료정보학회 2013 Healthcare Informatics Research Vol.19 No.4

Objectives: This article describes the Web application framework for Electronic Health Records (EHRs) we have developed to reduce construction costs for EHR sytems. Methods: The openEHR project has developed clinical model driven architecture for future-proof interoperable EHR systems. This project provides the specifications to standardize clinical domain model implementations, upon which the ISO/CEN 13606 standards are based. The reference implementation has been formally described in Eiffel. Moreover C# and Java implementations have been developed as reference. While scripting languages had been more popular because of their higher efficiency and faster development in recent years, they had not been involved in the openEHR implementations. From 2007, we have used the Ruby language and Ruby on Rails (RoR) as an agile development platform to implement EHR systems, which is in conformity with the openEHR specifications. Results: We implemented almost all of the specifications, the Archetype Definition Language parser, and RoR scaffold generator from archetype. Although some problems have emerged, most of them have been resolved. Conclusions: We have provided an agile EHR Web framework, which can build up Web systems from archetype models using RoR. The feasibility of the archetype model to provide semantic interoperability of EHRs has been demonstrated and we have verified that that it is suitable for the construction of EHR systems.

Structural optimization to Support the Conceptual Designs of Mechanical Structures

Shinji Nishiwaki 한국자동차공학회 2006 한국자동차공학회 Symposium Vol.- No.-

Applying the Lessons of Asia: The IMF's Crisis Management Strategy following the Global Financial Crisis

Shinji Takagi 한국국제경제학회 2016 International Economic Journal Vol.30 No.3

The paper reviews the International Monetary Fund's (IMF's) non-concessional lending programs following the global financial crisis, with a view to understanding how the IMF applied the lessons of the Asian crisis in designing its approach to crisis management. For this purpose, the paper focuses on the 2008 programs in Hungary, Iceland, Latvia and Ukraine – the first of its kind since the early 2000s – and compares them with the 1997 programs in Indonesia, Korea and Thailand. Our analysis finds the European programs better funded and their structural conditionality more focused. Other than these, the overall thrust of the programs was similar: fiscal and monetary tightening, coupled with banking reforms. The real difference was not so much about content but about philosophy. Relative to the Asian programs, the European programs were characterized by more emphasis on ownership, greater collaboration among stakeholders, more realistic assumptions and greater transparency about the risks and the logic of policy actions, and more built-in flexibility of targets and policy options. This approach to crisis management incorporated the changes that had been made since the Asian crisis in the IMF's policies and procedures to manage capital account crises more effectively.

Steroid-refractory extensive enteritis complicated by ulcerative colitis successfully treated with adalimumab

( Shinji Okabayashi ),( Taku Kobayashi ),( Tomohisa Sujino ),( Ryo Ozaki ),( Satoko Umeda ),( Takahiko Toyonaga ),( Eiko Saito ),( Masaru Nakano ),( Maria Carla Tablante ),( Shojiroh Morinaga ),( Tosh 대한장연구학회 2017 Intestinal Research Vol.15 No.4

Extracolonic involvement of the gastrointestinal tract is extremely uncommon in ulcerative colitis (UC) and rarely found in the upper gastrointestinal tract or in postoperative cases since it typically responds to steroids. Here we report a case of UC complicated by extensive ileal inflammation that was refractory to steroids. A 20-year-old man was diagnosed with UC of typical pancolitis without ileal involvement and started treatment with pH-dependent mesalazine and oral prednisolone. Although his symptoms transiently resolved, the condition flared when the steroid dose was tapered down. Computed tomography revealed marked thickening of the ileal wall, and capsule endoscopy and balloon-assisted enteroscopy found diffuse mucosal inflammation with ulcers in the ileum. On the contrary, the inflammation in the colon and rectum was improving. Since the response to the second steroid course was inadequate, treatment with adalimumab and 6-mercaptopurine was initiated and finally achieved clinical and endoscopic remission. The investigation of small intestinal lesions is necessary in patients with UC whose clinical deterioration cannot be explained by colonic lesions. (Intest Res 2017;15:535-539)