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Biomedical subjects

K Funasaka

Publications and source records attributed to K Funasaka.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Lead isotope ratios in urban road runoff.

Lead isotopic analyses of road runoff and airborne particulate matter have been carried out to elucidate sources of lead pollution at urban and suburban sites. While lead is often observed in road runoff in suspended form, suspended particle size had no relation to the lead isotopic distribution, as a result of comparison between runoff samples with total suspended solids and those with minute particles passed through a 75 microm sieve. Lead isotope ratios in airborne particulate matter in urban areas fell within a wider range than those in road runoff. Since there was little difference of the ratios between a heavy traffic-flow site and residential sites, airborne lead derived from vehicle exhaust was found to make little contribution to the contamination of road runoff. On the other hand, the ratios in road runoff at a suburban site showed the same range as those at an urban site. Lead in road runoff was therefore suggested to be produced on site by traffic related substances, such as tire wear, other than vehicle exhaust.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed2000

Relationship between indoor and outdoor carbonaceous particulates in roadside households.

Concentrations of particulate matter (PM) and carbonaceous particulates in indoor and outdoor air at roadside private households were measured in Osaka, Japan. The particulate samples were collected on filters using a portable AND sampler capable of separating particles into three different size ranges: over 10 microm, 2-10 microm (coarse) and below 2 microm (fine) in aerodynamic diameter. The filters were weighed and then analyzed for elemental carbon (EC) and organic carbon (OC) by thermal oxidation using a CHN CORDER. The results showed that indoor fine PM concentration is considerably affected by fine EC and the fine EC in indoor air is significantly correlated to that in outdoor air, r=0.86 (n=30, p<0.001). A simple estimation from EC content ratio in diesel exhaust particles indicated that about 30% of indoor particulates of less than 10 microm (PM10) were contributed from diesel exhaust. Additionally, the size characteristics of outdoor PM at roadside and background sites were examined using Andersen Cascade Impactors.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1999

A case study for wintertime observation of atmospheric particulates by an eye-safe laser radar.

Atmospheric particulates were monitored on a typical high concentration day in early winter in Osaka, Japan, using a compact and portable eye-safe laser radar system. The height of mixing layer was about 0.4 km at 8:00 and gradually increased to 0.8 km at 14:00. The development of the layer was in inverse proportion to the decrease of particulates near the ground surface. Analysis of particulates collected with high-volume air samplers showed that concentrations of elemental carbon (EC), lead and ammonium ion near the surface decreased significantly from morning to midday, while concentrations of sulfate, nitrate, sodium and calcium ions were almost constant. The results obtained in the preliminary study suggest that anthropogenic particulates such as EC and lead are on the rise with development of mixing layer from morning to midday.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1995

Study on cathepsin B activity in human thyroid tumors.

Cathepsin B activity was measured in human thyroid tissue obtained surgically from 2 patients with Grave's disease, 3 with follicular adenoma, 4 with papillary carcinoma, and 4 with follicular carcinoma. Three normal thyroid tissues were also studied. Comparisons were made between cathepsin B activity and clinical findings, including histopathological diagnosis and the presence or absence of extra-capsular invasion and metastasis. The abilities of original tumors to degrade type I and type IV collagen were also measured. Mean cathepsin B activities of both specimens with benign and those with malignant disease were significantly higher than those of normal thyroid. On cases of thyroid carcinoma, those with extra-capsular invasions and metastasis had the highest cathepsin B activities. Cases with high cathepsin B activities also tended to show high type I and IV collagen degrading abilities. These findings suggest that cathepsin B plays a role in the development of extra-capsular invasion and lymph node metastasis in human thyroid tumors.

Adenocarcinoma, Follicular↗
PubMed1995

Regional distribution of superoxide dismutase in the brain and myocardium of the stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rat.

1. Enzyme activities and contents of manganese and copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (Mn-, Cu/Zn-SOD) and oxygen free-radical scavengers were determined in the myocardium (right, left ventricle) and brain (cerebral cortex, hippocampus) of 15 and 31 week old stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP). 2. In 15 week old SHRSP myocardium, both Mn- and Cu/Zn-SOD activities were higher but in 31 week old SHRSP, these were lower than that in Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats. Further, correlation between Mn-SOD content and activity in 31 week old SHRSP myocardium showed that specific activity was lower than that in WKY. 3. In 15 and 31 week old SHRSP cerebral cortex and hippocampus, SOD content and activity showed a tendency to be lower than that in WKY. 4. These results indicate that enzymatically inactive or low-active Mn-SOD protein exists in SHRSP myocardium, and that the alteration of SOD may be one of the causative factors for the vulnerability of the myocardium and brain against O2-radicals.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

[Study of type I and IV collagenase activity in human thyroid diseases].

The activity of type I and IV collagenase was measured in thyroid tissue obtained from 6 non-diseased thyroids, 4 patients with Graves' diseases, 5 with follicular adenoma, 6 with papillary carcinoma and 4 with follicular carcinomas. The relationship between these enzyme activities and invasion or metastasis of the original tumors was studied. The activity of type I collagenase in papillary carcinomas and follicular carcinomas was higher than in non-diseased thyroids, Graves' disease and follicular adenoma. Carcinoma tissue with invasion beyond the capsule in particular had higher type I collagenase activity. Type IV collagenase activity in carcinoma with lymph node metastasis was higher than in non-diseased thyroids, Graves' disease and follicular adenoma, and especially higher than carcinoma without lymph node metastasis. These findings suggest that increased type I collagenase activity plays an important role in local invasion in thyroid carcinoma, and that increased type IV collagenase activity plays an important role in lymph node metastasis.

Adenocarcinoma, Follicular↗
PubMed1993

[Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) on human diseased thyroid cells].

Surgical materials obtained from 5 normal human thyroids and 19 diseased tissues (4 with Grave's disease, 4 adenomatous goiters, 3 follicular adenomas, 2 papillary carcinomas, 4 follicular carcinomas and 2 undifferentiated carcinomas) were investigated immunohistochemically using the avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex technique with anti-proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) antibody and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibody. The results of this study suggested the following: (1) Labeling indexes of PCNA positive cell nuclei were shown in high grade malignant cases accompanied by capsular invasion and lymph node metastasis, in undifferentiated carcinoma cells, and in proliferative lesions of benign diseases. These results suggest that PCNA is indicative of proliferative ability in thyroid diseases. (2) On thyroid tumors, EGFR regions with strong positive staining showed many PCNA positive cell nuclei. EGF appears to have a significant association with proliferative ability in thyroid diseases.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Morphological properties of human thyroid tumor cells in collagen gel culture and metastatic or invasive ability.

Using normal human thyroid cells and tumor cells, the reconstruction of various diseased cells in collagen gel as well as the relationship between the morphology of colonies in collagen-embedded culture and the biological behavior (benignity, malignancy, metastasis, and invasion) of the original tumors were studied. In collagen gel culture, normal thyroid cells reorganized follicle-like constructions, and follicular adenoma cells showed in vivo-like constructions. However, two different types of colonies were observed in cultures of cells from papillary carcinomas. One was the branching type with many outgrowths projecting to three dimensions and the other was the spherical type without any outgrowths. These spherical colonies were observed in all cases of papillary carcinoma, but varied from one case to another. Metastasis and invasion were detected during pathological examination in cases with a high ratio of spherical colonies. Our results indicate that cells from highly metastatic and invasive thyroid cancer form spherical colonies in the collagen gel culture, and that this collagen culture is a useful method for studying the heterogeneity of tumor cells as well as the metastasis and invasive ability of tumor cells in vitro.

Adenoma↗